Made in Sweden is a Swedish television program produced by TV4 targeting music talents and helping them to create new musical projects. The program was broadcast for two seasons in 2009 and 2010 and was supervised by Swedish Idol series judges Anders Bagge, Andreas Carlsson and Laila Bagge. Made in Sweden was a company owned by the trio with the vision to find and coach talent on the difficult road to fame. Video clips were also distributed of music done for the show.
The first season of Made in Sweden was in the spring of 2009 and went on for 4 episodes. The judges went out to find two musicians who would be involved in preparing an album. The two selected acts were Janet Leon and Kim Fransson.
Janet Leon had been in search of a solo career since breaking up from the band Play. During the debut series, Janet worked on an album with the judges of Idol and renowned producers Laila Bagge, Anders Bagge and Andreas Carlsson. On 30 January 2009, Janet's debut solo album (resulting from the series) reached #3 on the Swedish Albums Chart.
As for Kim Fransson, during the program, he was shown assembling materials for a future album, cooperating with the judges and working with Desmond Child for a track on the album. The result was the self-titled album Kim with a track list including seven songs:
In the second season in 2010, the judges tried to reunite the Swedish pop group Play to record a single and an album. Laila Bagge has been Play's previous manager and Janet Leon from season 1 had been a previous member of Play. Three members from the original Play line-up were due to take part: Faye Hamlin, Anaïs Lameche and Rosanna "Rosie" Munter, but Rosie dropped out two weeks before filming, meaning Play had to search for a new member in their limited time. After a long search, their demo recorder for one of their songs, Sanne Karlsson, came in and Laila and Anders both thought she was right for the job. She joined the band and the cameras followed Play in their journey to get back in shape for the music industry. There was a lot of discussion on whether to choose "Girls" or "Famous" (Made in Sweden's original title tune) as the Play's new single, but in the end, "Famous" was chosen, as they thought it would most likely reach the music charts. It peaked at #1 in Sweden, and their electro-pop themed album Under My Skin reached #7 in Sweden. The season also comprised just four episodes. [1]
Play was a Swedish pop girl group. Faye Hamlin, Anna Sundstrand, Anaïs Lameche, and Rosie Munter formed Play's original lineup from the band's formation from 2000 until late 2003. After founding member Faye left the group, fifth member Janet Leon joined Play to fill Hamlin's position as lead singer. In 2005, the group officially announced an "indefinite break" and split up. At that time, Play had sold almost one million albums. Four years later, in 2009, the group reformed with a new lineup of three members consisting of Anaïs, Faye, and the sixth and oldest member of Play, Sanne Karlsson. In February 2011, an official statement was made that Faye had once again left the group in 2010 and would be replaced by Emelie Norenberg. It was announced in May 2011 that the band had separated for the second time.
Rosanna Bella Victoria Eriksdotter Munter is a former child actress and recording artist from Sweden. She is best known as a former member of the Swedish girl group Play and was in a collaborative project with White Lies bassist Charles Cave titled K.I.D.S.
Fanny Matilda Dagmar Hamlin, known professionally as Faye, is a former Swedish singer, songwriter, and model. She was the lead singer of the Swedish pop group Play in the early 2000s. In 2012, she debuted as a solo artist. Hamlin quit the music industry in 2014.
Anaïs Helena Lameche Bonnier is a Swedish former singer and one of the original members of the Swedish pop group Play. She is the only member of Play out of its seven different members to appear in all four different line-ups of the group. Before the band's split, she was also the last remaining original member of the group since Faye's second departure in January 2011. She quit the music industry in 2011.
Janet Ava Owji, also known by her stage name Janet Leon, is a Swedish singer, songwriter and A&R. Leon began her career as part of the pop group Play, for which she was lead singer 2003–2005. She rose to further prominence in Sweden with the release of her hit debut solo album Janet (2009) and the successful singles "Let Go" and "Heartache on the Dancefloor", both also released in 2009.
Agnes Emilia Carlsson, known mononymously as Agnes, is a Swedish recording artist. She rose to fame as the winner of Idol 2005, the second season of the Swedish Idol series. She was then signed to Sony Music, through which she released her self-titled debut album, Agnes, and follow-up, Stronger, both of which topped the Swedish Top 60 Albums Chart. In early 2008, it was announced that Agnes had parted ways with her record label, and was now signed to small independent label Roxy Recordings. Released on 28 October 2008, her third album, Dance Love Pop, reached number five in Sweden, 70 in Austria, 38 in France, 45 in Switzerland and 13 in the United Kingdom. With 200,000 albums sold worldwide this is her most successful album, 50,000 albums were sold in France, 40,000 in Sweden. Its first two singles, "On and On" and "Release Me" became international hits, reaching the top-ten in charts worldwide. "Release Me" topped the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs and peaked at three in the United Kingdom, selling over 900,000 copies worldwide.
Laila Natali Bagge, formerly Laila Bagge Wahlgren, is a Palestinian Swedish singer, manager and songwriter.
Andreas Carlsson is a Swedish music producer and pop songwriter.
Sven Anders Bagge is a Swedish composer, lyricist, musician and record producer and partner with Peer Åström. The two songwriters / producers are known as Bagge & Peer. Bagge is also one of jury members for the TV4 singing show Idol from 2008 and onwards. Bagge is co-founder and co-owner with partner Christian Wahlberg of the Stockholm-based Murlyn Music Group AB, the international music production company they established in 1998. He participated in Melodifestivalen 2022, finishing in 2nd place, although winning the public’s vote.
Idol is a Swedish reality-competition talent show broadcast on TV4. It first appeared in August 2004, and became one of the most popular shows on Swedish television. Part of the Idols franchise, it originated from the reality program Pop Idol created by British entertainment executive Simon Fuller, which was first aired in 2001 in the United Kingdom.
The fifth season of Swedish Idol premiered on 3 September 2008 and continued until its grand finale on 12 December, when 22-year-old Kevin Borg was crowned winner. It was the first season to feature new judges Laila Bagge, Anders Bagge and Andreas Carlsson, a move that made it the first Idol series in the world to completely replace its judging panel. The series took advantage of guest judges including Charlotte Perrelli, Desmond Child and Cyndi Lauper, and the final 3 results show featured a performance by Leona Lewis, who sang "Forgive Me". For the second year running, the grand finale was held in Stockholm's Globen Arena with a live audience of 16,000 people, where operatic group Il Divo also sang live. Season 5 of Swedish Idol marked only the second time in worldwide Idol history where neither of the final two contestants were born in the show's home country. Winner Kevin Borg was born in Malta and runner-up Alice Svensson was born in Vietnam. The only other Idol contest to have this occur was Greece's Super Idol in 2004.
Anna Henrietta Bergendahl is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She took part in Swedish TV4 music program Super Troupers in 2004, and in Idol 2008 where she reached the Final 5 before being eliminated.
Idol 2009 was the sixth season of the Swedish idol series and was broadcast by TV 4. The jury, identical to the previous year, consisted of Anders Bagge, Laila Bagge and Andreas Carlsson. Peter Jihde, the show's host, was also a continuation of the previous year's cast. The audition cities visited during the spring of 2009 were Gothenburg, Gävle, Malmö, Stockholm and Umeå, respectively. Around 11,000 people applied for Idol 2009, establishing a new Swedish record.
Sanne Anna Sofie Karlsson is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She has contributed her vocals to Ghost vs Sanne, E-Type and Polyphonics amongst others, and is most famous for being a part of the Swedish pop group, Play.
Under My Skin is the fifth and final studio album by Swedish girlband Play, released on 21 April 2010. The first single off the album was "Famous". It debuted at #7 on the Swedish Albums Chart - their first entry on the chart. This was also the group's last album, as less than half a year after Faye left a second time the group also disbanded for a second time.
Kim Fransson, is a Swedish singer-songwriter, scoring Sverigetopplistan successes during 2009. He is particularly known for taking part in the first season of the series Made in Sweden, along with Janet Leon, where he collaborated with Anders Bagge, Laila Bagge, Andreas Carlsson for his debut album, also writing some of his own notable co-writing, such as "Here Comes the Night" with Fredrik Hallström.
The seventh season of Swedish Idol premiered on September 7, 2010 and concluded in December 2010 and was broadcast by TV4. Judges Anders Bagge, Laila Bagge Wahlgren and Andreas Carlsson continued to judge the show's contestants for their third year, along with, for the fourth consecutive year, Peter Jihde as host.
Idol 2011 was the Swedish Idol series' eight season and premiered on TV4 on 4 September 2011. Pär Lernström was the new host of the series, after Peter Jihde declined to return as host after Idol 2010. Two of the judges from earlier year returned, namely Anders Bagge and Laila Bagge Wahlgren, were joined in with two new judges, Alexander Bard and Pelle Lidell.
Idol 2014 will be the Swedish Idol series' tenth season, which will likely premiere in August 2014 and end in December 2014. After the completion of season 9, TV4 announced a tenth season, Idol 2014, airing in 2014. The season will, in addition to the competition, also celebrate the show's 10th anniversary. Alexander Bard, Laila Bagge and Anders Bagge will return as judges from last season. The season's host is the same as 2011 and 2013, Pär Lernström.
Kim was released in early 2009, and is a Kim Fransson studio album. and his debut album.