Christer Björkman sang for Sweden at Eurovision in 1992, but that’s just one of his many Eurovision-related accomplishments. Today he’s known as the producer of Melodifestivalen and the Head of Delegation for Sweden, as well as the show director of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö. We wanted to know what it’s like for him to be part of Eurovision’s “royal family”, so got up close and personal with him at the London Eurovision Party this past April. Christer discussed why it might be a good thing to place last, the unforeseen success of Hasse Andersson in Melodifestivalen, why Malmö was chosen as a host city over Stockholm back in 2013, and his roots as a hairdresser/salon manager.
You can see the full interview below. You can also read more about the mammoth production that is Melodifestivalen in this article by wiwiblogger William.
Christer Björkman is the worst case of a small dick syndrome, which is something he has in common with Simon Cowell. But who winds me up much more, is this awful hag from the Swedish delegation, who sat next to Mans in the Green Room and was completely freaking out and over the top with the voting results, as if she herself achieved something. She already annoyed me and made me want to skip the cheering parts the last years. She is always there and always out of bounds. So full Swedish smug and conceit, please let her get a… Read more »
The Simon Cowell-wannabe of Eurovision: he wants to make sure Sweden is always there on top specially after Loreen’s victory that helped this whole circus go up to his head … he acts like he’s Ola Sand sometimes … but I’d always like to remind him that his 1992 entry sucked big time and his almost last placing was more than well deserved back in the day … maybe some humility would come out of it .. but who am I kidding?
I love Christer Björkman. I mean, sure, sometimes I too like to rant about some specific decision he made that I personally disagreed with. For example choosing Petra Mede as a host for the ESC 2013 due to the fact that I didn’t like it when Petra hosted Melodifestivalen in 2009. I was so mad, because I really wanted Sarah Dawn Finer to host Eurovision. But Petra turned out to be the perfect host. She was f****n’ superwoman up there. Singing, making jokes, speaking english as well as french etc. She was AMAZING. And I think you’re being unfair by… Read more »
I think he’s trying too hard and his connection with EBU definitely help him. He’s extremely powerful and i wouldn’t rule out another Swedish victory the following 10 years. He desperately wants to be the man responsible for Sweden’s success in Eurovision. Ireland will lose the title of Eurovision queen.
esc1234: I think it’s more fair than the random order, where, for example, a great ballad’s chances could’ve been ruined because it followed five other ballads. The difference now is that the delegations actually have something to complain about, blaming a poor result on the running order. Hasse Andersson closed the Melfest final this year, while Måns performed at nr 6. I thought it was a surprisingly fitting last song, and made it stand out in a different way than it would had if it was performed at nr 4 or something like that. Måns was in the absolute middle… Read more »
Ewan:
To be fair, only the top 5 was revealed back then in Melfest, and I’ve read that his song was close to make it to the final round, narrowly beaten by Arvingarna. Those could be simply rumours, though, and Christer was last in his third attempt in 1999.
I dislike him and do not trust him. He was far too involved in the contest even before Mans’ win!
what really gets him going is the fact that they let eurovision become unfair. Lets dont forget that he proposed this…thing that the producers decide the order of appearance of the countries. And since i have watched melodifestivalen,no,this is not happening in order to create a better show. Mans didnt perfomed 1st or 2nd… quelle suprise!
Neeldess to say (and in relation to my comment), he is living in vicariously through the fame and success of Mans and other Swedes in MF and Eurovision. He can dream like the rest of the Eurovision entrants. But what’s with all that behavior? lol
@Europa he seems to be trying to make up for his own appalling result at eurovision (2nd last, then last at the following year’s melfest).
@europa: You missed the guy talking incessantly at the winner’s conference in Eurovision 2014… longest thank you list ever. He would not shut up. lol
Well when Mans won in Melodifestivalen i was not sure if he could win in EuroVision as well…But he did & bravo to him..
I agree about that…Christer just believed in Mans winning & he helped him all the way as he was big fan of EuroVision & executive producer of both Vision & Melodifestivalen since 2002..
Mr. Bjorkman was born the same year with my mother…And he was concieved the year that the 1st EuroVision kicked off in Lugano <3 🙂
He reminds me so much of those (fat) American moms who let their little girls join beauty pageants (Honey Boo Boo for instance).
europa:
I think it’s because Christer is involved in such a personal level with Melfest and the Eurovision, it seems to me like he’s a huge fan of it and is now basically living his dream, being involved in pretty much every stage of the Swedish participation.
Christer Bjorkman seems strangely obsessed with taking his younger clone’s victory as something of his own?
Do other showrunners really get this involved? Has whoever picked Conchita really been running around talking about their victory?