It’s one of the hottest annual events in Sweden. Last night Eurovision and Melodifestivalen stars were honoured at the annual QX Gay Gala. Oscar Zia took the top award of the evening when he was presented with the Gay Person of the Year award.
The Gay Gala is an yearly event held to celebrate and honour gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in Sweden.
Oscar Zia, who came out one year ago ahead of his Melfest 2016 appearance, was awarded Gay Person of the Year. It’s an award that has previously gone to fellow Melodifestivalen stars Magnus Carlsson, Andreas Lundsted and 2017 Melfest contestant Mariette Hansson.
In his acceptance speech, Oscar spoke to people yet to come out. He said, “Never doubt being yourself. When you take that little or big step you will feel freer, stronger, better looking and damn unbeatable.”
As well as accepting the award, Oscar also performed with the Stockholm Police choir.
Also heading to the winner’s podium were Måns Zelmerlöw and Petra Mede, who were awarded Duo of the Year for their work presenting the Eurovision Song Contest. Eurovision 2016 itself was the recipient of Swedish Television Series of the Year, with creative producer Edward af Sillén and the team there to accept the award.
Foreign TV Series of the Year went to the Norwegian teen drama Skam. Guests at Gaygalan were also treated to the Norwegian pop star Gabrielle who performed a special version of her 2014 song “5 Fine Frøkner”. The song was featured in a pivotal scene in Skam which has sent it to No.5 in the Swedish singles chart.
Also making an appearance at the gala was Saara Aalto. The Finnish star who found fame on The X Factor UK performed her iconic version of ABBA’s “The Winner Takes It All”.
Gala guest Mariette performs in semi-final two of Melodifestivalen, held this Saturday in Malmö. Who are your favourites in the second deltävling? Vote in our poll and have your say!
Ah now, I know exaggeration is okay at times, but Saara Aalto’s version of “The Winner Takes It All” is far from “iconic”! 🙂
3 – Saara
2 – Sarah Dawn
1 – Agnetha
I’m really happy for Oscar Zia. He’s so beautiful too. 🙂
Just hope Russia will decide already, Otava Yo are better than NAVI.
My two favourite things in the world: Eurovision and Skam are together! <3
@Zorrrrrrro I heard First channel was going to send someone of Tatar origin, like Tatarka, Alsou, Dina Garipova…
INSIDER INFORMATION! Otava Yo are most likely to represent Russia with bilingual (Russian-Ukrainian song). Here’s an example of their song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JQ0xnJyb0A