Sweden: Carola returns to Melodifestivalen with a religious song

Carola will compete in the next Melodifestivalen, Sweden’s national final, through which Sweden chooses its entry in every Eurovision Song Contest. If she manages to win, this will be her fourth Eurovision participation!

With a Christian song Carola at Melodifestivalen 2020

According to the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, the 53-year-old singer will now be among the 28 participants at Melodifestivalen 2020, with a song that she herself wrote and has religious content. She is also a member of the Evangelical Church, “World of Life” and has devoted much of her life to the refugee issue. Together with her husband, Norwegian priest Runar Søgaard, they have adopted a girl from Africa whose parents had died.

Aftonbladet reports on the lyrics of the song:

It is written by herself, dedicated to her Christian faith and praises the love for Jesus Christ.

Fans, however, have welcomed the news with mixed emotions, as they believe Carola has closed her circle at Melodifestivalen.

Carola & Melodifestivalen

This will be Carola’s sixth participation in the Melodifestivalen, which she has won three times. In 1983 at the age of just 17 she won with “Främling” and represented Sweden for the first time in Eurovision, taking third place there. In 1991, in Rome with “Fångad av en stormvind”, she took her third victory for her country. Finally, in 2006 Eurovision in Athens she performed “Invincible” and reached the top5 for the third time, specifically in fifth place.

In 2008 she once again tried to find herself on the Eurovision stage, joining Melodifestivalen in a duet with Andreas Johnson, but only reaching the second chance round.