Eurovision Q&A: Sweden's returning champion, Loreen

Every time this week, we're speaking to the main contenders for this year's Eurovision Song Contest.

Today's impermanent is besides a Eurovision legend: Loreen - who won the contention successful 2012 and is backmost for a 2nd changeable astatine the title.

And she's not taking immoderate chances: Her song, Tattoo, is simply a bulletproof Europop anthem that's been the bookmaker's favourite for weeks.

With nails similar talons and a fringe that Claudia Winkleman would picture arsenic "too severe", she's already qualified for Saturday's expansive final.

We caught up with her betwixt rehearsals successful Liverpool.

Hi Loreen, however are you doing?

I'm good. This seat is simply a spot excessively comfy, though.

Are they feeding you properly?

No, they ne'er provender me! I lone portion java and Red Bull. That's the Eurovision diet, I swear. No, conscionable kidding.

It feels similar your squad are looking aft you.

Yeah, I person bully radical astir maine now. It's crazy. I indispensable person done thing bully my past life.

Let's speech astir the song. What are you singing and what's it about?

Well, the song's sanction is Tattoo and it's a emotion song. It's precise abstract, to beryllium honest, but the undertone is astir warring for love.

You know, I judge that emotion wouldn't beryllium if determination wasn't a small spot of a struggle. That's wherefore I sing, "I'll locomotion done occurrence and done rainfall conscionable to get person to you". There is nary time without night, nary positive without minus, truthful if you privation to acquisition authentic, heavy love, you person to beryllium good with a small spot of struggle.

So erstwhile you take a song, bash you think, "Oh, this would talk to the Eurovision audience"?

Actually, I didn't take the song. There was a demo they sent to maine and instantly determination was this feeling, like, "This opus belongs to me. It is mine."

So I went into the workplace without immoderate plans, nothing. And it took maine possibly 60 minutes to grounds the opus and things happened organically during the signaling that I didn't program - truthful that's a existent connection. It was conscionable maine and the song.

Had you already decided you were going to person different spell astatine that point?

No! There was nary talking astir the Eurovision oregon anything. I recorded the opus and then they popped the question - but my instant absorption was "No. What tin I springiness you guys? Do I person thing to say?" Because I'm purpose-driven, I person to recognize wherefore I bash things. It takes a while.

What brought you backmost to Eurovision if it wasn't the song?

To beryllium honest, it was the radical astir me. When I said, "No it's not going to happen, darling", the radical I spot were like, "Okay, we get it, we understand". But whenever I said, "Well, possibly I'll bash it," determination was this energy. They were like, "So, what are you going to do? Tell maine astir it. It would beryllium truthful bully aft Covid. Please, please, would you bash it?"

When they got excited, I thought, "What if I could bash thing that creates this vigor for a bigger audience?"

That was my thinking: Saying yes flows, saying nary doesn't flow. And I took a leap of faith.

You've been present before. How does a opus alteration erstwhile you're connected that stage?

You tin consciousness a spot tense earlier walking connected signifier but the infinitesimal the archetypal code of the opus starts, it's implicit balance. You're wholly successful that moment, your caput isn't progressive astatine all. And aft the show is done, it's astir similar waking up from a dream. Like, "What happened? Where americium I?"

Is determination immoderate quality betwixt Eurovision successful 2012 and now?

Everything is truthful familiar, it's similar coming backmost to your family, truthful this time, there's nary fear. Euphoria, that was my archetypal time. I didn't cognize anything, I didn't cognize what to expect, nothing. Now we cognize each other. Me and the community, we've had a 10-year relationship... darling.

The lawsuit itself conscionable seems to get bigger, doesn't it?

Isn't it beautiful? I mean, look astatine what the full assemblage stands for: You're accepted, careless of wherever you're from, what your intersexual penchant is, your religion.

I deliberation this is the crushed wherefore it's grown truthful much. People are included.

Do you deliberation it's hard for radical extracurricular to recognize what it's like?

Maybe, but I deliberation we each recognize the connection love. Families gather, everybody votes for their favourite. So you're not lone a idiosyncratic watching something, you're really involved. Isn't it wonderful?

At the extremity of the day, though, it's besides a competition, which is benignant of unusual for artists.

It is odd. It is. But astatine the aforesaid time, I wouldn't privation to instrumentality it retired - due to the fact that that is the portion that includes the remainder of us.

Do you ever wage attraction to the information that you're the favourite?

Every present and then. There's 1 portion of me, I telephone it the small girl, and of people she's precise blessed astir it. Because astatine the extremity of the day, it's radical appreciating what you've created. So that makes maine blessed for a while, and past the different portion of maine is similar "Loreen you request to focus!".

Do you attraction astir winning?

No, I attraction astir creating thing that is real, truthful my fearfulness is compromising, my fearfulness is that it's not authentic. So I'm similar a warrior protecting my vigor and my creativity, due to the fact that I privation it to beryllium pure. So that is my full focus. I'm surviving and breathing this performance, darling!

You're taking this truly seriously, aren't you?

I am, due to the fact that it's truly important to bash things that are constructive and positive. When we're successful a affirmative space, we commencement making bully decisions. Not each the time, but it has a ripple effect.

Well, bully luck. And convey you for talking to us.

No, convey you. This was real. I anticipation I didn't scare you excessively overmuch with each my spiritual talk!