Charlotte Perrelli Returns to Melodifestivalen with a Ballad

Photo: Lizel Strömberg (ZEL Photography)

Charlotte Perrelli has a long history intertwined with Melodifestivalen. She first won the contest back in 1999 and went on to win Eurovision with the English-translated version of her entry, "Take Me To Your Heaven", the most Christmas-sounding non-Christmas song you've heard in ages. She won once again in 2008 with the song "Hero" but fared far worse at Eurovision, finishing 18th out of 25 entries at the final. After returning yet again just four years later in 2012, she flopped out with her non-qualification in the semi-final despite her entry "The Girl" being the strongest song of these three entires. Now she has returned with a completely different approach. Not only is her entry, "Mitt liv," in Swedish instead of English, gone are the schlager hooks and accompanying dance choreography. She's not even donning a sparkling dress, as "Mitt liv" is a simply country-influenced ballad which she will perform on stage with a guitar.

We caught up with Charlotte Perrelli at the first semi-final press conference of Melodifestivalen 2017 and spoke with her about this significant shift in genre. Afterwards, we also spoke with comedic-club-pop group De Vet Du, who attended the first day of rehearsals in shirts that read "Perrelli" to show their support for her. Watch our interview with both acts below: