LONDON — Loreen’s favourite moment of Eurovision comes as she’s rolled onstage, lying flat between two horizontal screens and sporting spiky jeweled nails, waiting for the music to start.
It’s a moment of calm, about 40 seconds, when the Swedish singer can look at the audience and connect with the crowd, she says. It’s also a stark contrast to the energetic performance that follows, one that has her tipped to come first at the Eurovision Song Contest — for a second time.
Loreen won in Baku, Azerbaijan, at Eurovision 2012 with “Euphoria” and now it’s looking like she could do the double and triumph again more than a decade later with “Tattoo.”
If she does win it all, she’d only be the second person in Eurovision history to win twice — and it’s been 36 years since Johnny Logan pulled off that feat for Ireland.
Loreen has already made it through Tuesday’s semi-final to earn a place for Sweden in Saturday’s Grand Final in Liverpool. This time feels different, she says, with the nerves of not knowing what to expect gone.
“It’s like coming back to family. Everything is very familiar. And I also think that the experience that I’ve had these 11 years, like life — up, down, right, left, ding dong — has just taught me a lot,” she says, laughing according to AP. “This time feels more effortless, a more motherly energy going on.”
The 39-year-old singer has certainly been keeping an eye on the younger contestants, especially the more nervous performers, to help them feel more positive while bathed in the global spotlight of the competition.
Despite her success so far, Loreen initially turned down the opportunity to compete again, which disappointed the team around her and left her feeling flat. So she decided to consider the alternative.
“I could feel this little still of excitement in me and excitement outside of me. I’m like, My God, I know this rule. You follow the flow. You follow where it’s happiness and joy,” she says. “I’m like, universe, what are you trying to tell me man?”
The universe was right.
“Look at me now,” she adds. “I’m having the time of my life.”
With soaring vocals and an electronic beat, Loreen starts out her performance of “Tattoo” lying down. She slowly rises up, pushing the screen above her, until she’s standing fully, surrounded by images of intense weather, like she’s fought her way to the song’s finale.
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