Loreen (real name Lorine Zineb Nora Talhaoui) did not have a rosy childhood. Loreen's mother ran away from a planned marriage in Morocco at the age of fourteen. She fled to Sweden and had Loreen at 16. Soon after, she had five more children. "Children raising children in a never-ending chaos", is how the Swedish music star recalls her early days. She was the eldest among her siblings, which meant there was no time to grow up - she had to grow up right away and shoulder her heavy responsibilities. Singing became almost a sacred ritual and the only way to get in touch with one's emotions and thoughts. However, Loreen only had that luxury in the shower or in the toilet. She sang in the darkness of a few square metres and never thought it would come from behind the safety of the walls.
Fifteen-year-old Loreen was told by her grandmother that when you have the gift of a voice, you have to share it with others. Encouraged but not convinced. Then her sister reversed the psychology and called Loreen a frightened coward. This worked well and the sensitive soul signed up for the TV music competition Idol in 2004. For a shy personality, stepping out of the darkness and solitude to sing in the blinding light of lamps and cameras was, in her words, a traumatic experience. Coming fourth in the competition was a good start in her musical career. After the music project, Loreen started working as a producer and director in television, spending her nights in the studio and grabbing every opportunity to study. She even paid one of the TV engineers to explain from A to Z how things work in a recording studio. Exemplary attitude.
I immediately associate sound with image. If a song doesn't immediately bring images to her mind, Loreen takes it as a sign that the song is not hers. And no one better bother trying to convince her that something is technically impossible, because she will just point the finger at what to do to make her vision come true. Loreen's performances do not pander to sound, light and image - the show is what it should be.
There is no doubt that her first Eurovision win with Euphoria acted as a springboard, but Loreen reveals that at the time, she was filled with fears. What do you do when deep down you want to hide in the darkness of your childhood comfort zone, but you need to perform in front of nearly 200 million people on the other side of the screen? Loreen created an atmosphere and a set that was close to her own and set strict rules for the team. At Eurovision 2012, the siren and flashing lights briefly turned on before the song seemed like nonsense to many, but Loreen's decision caught everyone's attention and kept the energy in check. Euphoria was mysterious, full of mystical energy and Loreen was in her own shadow for most of the performance. Throughout the contest, she did not let anyone in her entourage even know what was being written about her, what was being said about her and what the rules of the Eurovision game were.
After eleven years, Loreen came back to win Eurovision again, with the bright and very frank "Tattoo". Symbolically, the 2023 performance was as different as night and day: a light colour scheme inspired by her Moroccan roots, a shadow at the back rather than the front, no fear of appearing vulnerable. However, the technical nuances of Tattoo's performance were a headache for the contest organisers. They were not allowed to hang LED platforms weighing almost 2 tonnes. Never mind, "Creativity requires compromise. It would be too scary if absolutely nothing in the creative process was limiting," says Loreen. Soon, another, equally effective solution was found and the screens, although different, were still on the Eurovision big stage, with Loreen taking her place between them. We'll bet you that there will be some interesting scenography in this round too. And there's a new album on the way.
Loreen's popularity is obviously growing like crazy, her catalogue is bursting with new releases, and she's constantly reinventing herself.
