To run alongside our Swedish polls this month, the Eurovision Ireland team and friends have put together four of their Swedish favourites. Today is the turn of Sarah Rudman.

Take Me to Your Heaven – Charlotte Nilsson (1999)

This is very much a love/hate song and many probably dislike it for the fact that it denied Iceland their first ever win, but there’s no denying that Charlotte was out to claim the victory and gave a confident performance of a very typical Swedish entry. It also holds a lot of good memories for me as it won Eurovision on my wedding day, so every time I hear it or see the video of the winning performance, it takes me back to that time. I also remember that Charlotte never got presented with the winners trophy due to Dana International falling over as she walked on the stage!

Waterloo – ABBA (1974)

Who wouldn’t have this in their jukebox selection? One of the most popular and classic winners of all time . It also holds very fond memories for me as 1974 was the first ever Eurovision I watched, at the tender age of 9 years old.

Heroes – Måns Zelmerlow (2015)

Some love it, some hate it or hate Måns! The fact that this song won so convincingly in Melodifestivalen and then went onto win shows how a lot of people did like it. I love how the song starts quite slowly but draws you in, helped by the stick figures on the digital projection wall, then changed to a more uptempo sound, with a memorable chorus that you can easily sing along too. One of my fave winners of all time.

Euphoria – Loreen (2012)

When I first heard this on Melodifestivalen, I knew that Sweden were onto a winner. Modern, catchy, with memorable chorus, bringing Eurovision more into the 21st century and memorable stage performance from Loreen, with a backing dancer not looking unlike a security guard, falling “snow” and wild arm movements! It will be one of those performances included in Eurovision history videos for years to come.

Join us tomorrow, as we celebrate more of our Swedish favourites. Let us know what you think about Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest – either in the comments below or on our FACEBOOK and TWITTER pages.

Author: Richard Taylor

Source: Eurovision Ireland