From our special correspondent in Liverpool (UK)
She arrives in the lounge of the hotel where the interview is going to take place and, rather than greeting us with a simple polite hello, she opens her arms wide and hugs us. It is, she tells us, a good way to make a connection and to feel the energies emanating from a person. “My name is Loreen, and you? “, she continues, as if we could ignore her identity. Eleven years ago, the Swede won Eurovision with Euphoria, which became a hit across most of the continent. This year, at 39, she is participating again in the competition, in Liverpool, with Tattoos and is already the big favorite for a second coronation. We ask her how she is doing this Saturday, three days before her semi-final and a week before the final for which she will undoubtedly be qualified. “I feel very zen, calm, centered. This is not always the case, sometimes I am in all my states”, she confides to us with a broad smile. The exchange continues on this same register of humility, simplicity and assumed spirituality.
One week before the final, do you feel pressure?
I constantly feel pressure. But what matters is knowing why. My pressure comes from my desire to create something beautiful. It’s very important to me that my performance is authentic. So I try to turn the pressure into discipline to rebalance all that. I don’t want there to be any compromise. I want to make sure that my performance is 100% on the authenticity side, consistent with what I have in mind. If you start thinking about the competition, you put yourself in a state of mind conducive to making concessions on what it would take to make it work, on what is expected of us… And there it is. is finished.
A large number of Eurovision fans, as well as bookmakers, see you as the big favorite for victory. What does that remind you of?
It’s ambivalent. When people say you’re a favorite, it’s a way for them to express their love, to say they appreciate you. It is something beautiful that should not be dismissed. So there’s a part of me – the kid inside me, I would say – that would go, “Yeah! because I’m happy and grateful. I work very hard, live and breathe for my song since October, my life revolves around it. There’s another part of me, which I call the “disciplined” part, that keeps me away from all of this because I want to focus on my performance, on what I’m creating and I don’t don’t want my ego to interfere in that. My job, my goal, is to be creative.
What prompted you to participate again in Melodifestivalen, the Swedish selection for Eurovision, which brought you here?
My first reaction, when I was asked to participate again, was to say no. What could I suggest? How would that fit into my journey? What purpose ? I wanted to say, “I’ve done it before, you know? When I replied that I was not going to do it, people around me said they understood my decision. They wanted to respect my wish. But I felt like a disappointment. I thought more and announced that I might go. I then saw how genuinely enthusiastic these people I respect and love were. When I asked them why they were at this point, they said to me: “The period is difficult, with the Covid and all that. We just want to see something fun and we know that when you commit to something, you go all out. As so many people were rejoicing, I decided to give it a shot, it made me happy. It’s a bit like an act of faith. In my wildest dreams, I never imagined this was going to happen and, look at me now: I’m having the best time of my life! We don’t always know what we need. We can plan our life, but sometimes life has other plans for you.
Do you believe in fate?
To spirituality. I’ve been sensitive to it since I was little without explaining why. I am convinced that things happen for a reason, that we are all here for a reason. It’s obvious to me. I believe that everything is a question of energies. There are some things you can control and some you can’t. I believe we are here to learn, that religions are just a religion or no religion at all.
In 2017, you participated in the Swedish selection with “Statements”, which did not win favor with the Swedish public. Do you have the impression that there was a misunderstanding around this song?
I learned a lot from this experience. Statements was a reflection of what was happening inside me and also around me at the time: the political situation in the world and in Sweden with the rise of the extreme right. When people are afraid, they tend to turn to old ways of thinking, which is destructive. All my frustration was expressed in this performance. I wondered, “What’s going on?” It was as if I was trying to pull the audience and myself out of this torpor. Looking back, I see what I was proposing: I was trying to heal fire with fire. To be honest, I’m glad life told me that this energy couldn’t be sent out to the whole world, because it was mostly made up of frustration. There was no misunderstanding, it was the truth at the time. But would it have been constructive for a wider audience? My performance on Tattoos is more constructive, it gives tools to overcome the situations that we have to face. It’s healthier to deliver this message.
The extreme right has come to power in Sweden. How does it feel to represent your country in this context?
Honestly, I feel like a citizen of the world. I don’t believe in borders. They exist, that’s how it is. I proposed a performance in the national selection and the Swedes designated it for Eurovision. It’s a way of saying, “These are the values we believe in. But these values are not unique to Swedes, they can speak to everyone. I feel cosmopolitan, I represent people who have the same values as me.
Your scenography at Eurovision incorporates Berber symbols. What do they mean?
My performance on stage evokes nature as a source of energy. We have created a society around which takes a lot of our energy. We have to become, we have to be, we have to succeed… This tires us and disorients us. My performance reminds us that it is in nature that we draw our energy. We forget it. The symbols you are talking about have different meanings. One represents nature, the other, the Earth, another, women. I wanted to bring some of my Moroccan background which I think is what makes me connect to things so easily. At home, we always talked about spirituality, it was never weird. Some call him god, others otherwise…
This relationship to nature is what is most Moroccan in you?
Yes and also the way I envision what I create. Where I come from, we have a deep respect for music, we use it to heal, knowing its power. When you create something, it can generate energy that has an effect on others. As a child I saw how these chants were used, I didn’t realize it at the time, but as an adult I understood the effect they could have. In my performance, I also integrate dances, gestures from there.
La Zarra, who represents France this year, is Canadian and also has Moroccan origins…
It’s great because it’s consistent with the diversity wanted by Eurovision. It’s important to include people from different countries, from different backgrounds, with different ways of doing things. When I see the Spaniard Blanca Paloma, the Finnish Käärijä or La Zarra, I tell myself that, each in their own way, represents cultures. During Eurovision, there will be someone somewhere who will see them and say to themselves: “He or she represents me” and will feel included, happy to be included.
You already participated in Eurovision eleven years ago. Do you feel a sense of deja vu?
Some things have changed. The fan community is much larger today. At the time, there were already a lot of people interested in it but it became something bigger and bigger over the years. My first participation goes back so long that I have trouble remembering everything. Everything was going very quickly, I was discovering how it was going. Today, I can take a step back and observe how everything is organized. It’s a platform for millions of people and I want to impact those millions with constructive creative energy (laughs).