Zelmerlöw first entered the public eye in 2005, when he took part inseason 2 of the Swedish version ofIdol, which was broadcast onTV4. He came in fifth place overall, and was eliminated on 11 November after eight weeks on the show.[7] He had placed in the bottom three once and the bottom two twice.[7][8]
Zelmerlöw took part in the first season ofLet's Dance in2006, partnering with Maria Karlsson. They won the competition, defeating singerAnna Book in the final.[9]
In the same year, he also appeared in the Swedish version of the musicalGrease, playing the lead role of Danny Zuko. As a result, Zelmerlöw signed a record deal to release a solo album with M&L Records, a division ofWarner Music Sweden.[10]
In November 2006, it was announced that Zelmerlöw would compete inMelodifestivalen 2007, Sweden's national final for theEurovision Song Contest 2007, to be held inHelsinki,Finland.[11] He competed with the song "Cara Mia" in the third semi-final on 17 February 2007 inÖrnsköldsvik, and progressed to the final, which was held on 10 March atGloben inStockholm.[12] There his performance of "Cara Mia" finished in third place behind winnersThe Ark and runner-upAndreas Johnson.[13] "Cara Mia" was released as a single and Zelmerlöw's debut albumStand by For... followed shortly after.[14]The album reached number one in Sweden and was certified platinum byIFPI. Four singles were released from the album, all of which reached the top 50 in Sweden.Stand by For... was also released inPoland in September 2007.[15]
On 18 November 2008, it was announced that Zelmerlöw would again compete in Melodifestivalen, this time with the song "Hope & Glory".[19]The 2009 contest featured many former entrants, includingSarah Dawn Finer,Sofia,BWO andAmy Diamond. He took part in the second semi-final on 14 February 2009, and again progressed to the final on 14 March at Globen.[20] "Hope & Glory" ultimately placed fourth, despite receiving the most votes from the jury.[13]
In 2008, Zelmerlöw went back to the studio to work on his second solo album,MZW, which was released in late March 2009. It was certified gold by the IFPI and reached number one on the Swedish album charts. The album was also released in Poland. In 2009 he played a summer tour of Sweden performing songs from both albums.[21]
2010–2011: hosting Melodifestivalen andAllsång på Skansen
In January 2011, Zelmerlöw was announced as the replacement forAnders Lundin as presenter ofAllsång på Skansen, broadcast onSVT.[18] He also presented the show in 2012.[26]
In March 2013, Zelmerlöw revealed plans for his third studio album,Barcelona Sessions, unveiling a new single, "Broken Parts". He also performed a new track on Swedish television called "Run for Your Life".[27] In September 2013, Zelmerlöw unveiled the second single from the new album, called "Beautiful Life", and performed another album track entitled "Parallels". The album was released on 5 February 2014, preceded by "Run for Your Life".[28]
In the summer of 2013, Zelmerlöw presentedAllsång på Skansen on SVT and revealed that he was leaving the show in the final programme on 13 August.[29][30] SingerPetra Marklund replaced him.[30]
In 2015, Zelmerlöw again participated inMelodifestivalen with the song "Heroes", which scored 288 points and won the final.[33][34][35] In the same festival, he co-wrote the entry "Det rår vi inte för", which was performed byBehrang Miri, and which made it to the second-chance round.[36]
On 11 May 2015, Zelmerlöw revealed the artwork and track list for his fourth studio albumPerfectly Damaged, which was released on 5 June 2015.[37] On 17 May, Zelmerlöw performed the song "Heroes" inBelgrade during the first live show ofX Factor Adria.[38][39]
Leading up to theEurovision Song Contest 2015, Zelmerlöw was predicted as the winner by the majority of the betting companies.[40][41] Zelmerlöw participated in the second semifinal on 21 May, where he came first with 217 points (receiving the highest score from a record 14 countries) and qualified for the final.[42][43] Zelmerlöw won the Eurovision 2015 final, scoring 365 points.[44][45]
Throughout the summer of 2015, he made several appearances at music festivals in Sweden and Finland before embarking on a 17-date European tour in September. According to his Twitter and Instagram, before the European tour, he would make his way toShanghai,China for a visit, promoting his latest album "Perfectly Damaged".[46]
In the end of January 2016, Zelmerlöw travelled to Australia and sang atGuy Sebastian's 28 date Concert Tour "You..Me..Us Tour" as a surprise guest artist. Zelmerlöw and his band performed at two dates to the delight of Australian audiences who attendedJupiters Hotel and Casino,Gold Coast and regionalGrafton to see the Guy Sebastian show.[47]
Interval act 'Love Love Peace Peace' with Petra Mede and Måns Zelmerlöw during Eurovision Song Contest 2016
Zelmerlöw's seventh studio album,Chameleon, was released in December 2016. The lead single "Hanging on to Nothing", had been released the previous August. The song failed to chart on the Official Swedish Singles chart, but peaked at number 2 on the Heatseekers chart. On 5 November 2016 the French version of "Hanging on to Nothing" was released titled "Rien que nous deux" ("Only the two of us" in English).[citation needed]
In 2018 his song "Happyland", released on theChameleon album, was chosen by confectionery company Kinder to celebrate its 50th anniversary through commercials broadcast in European countries such as Germany and Italy.
In February 2019, Zelmerlöw once again co-hosted BBC'sEurovision: You Decide alongsideMel Giedroyc. As show act both presented the musical history of the best British ESC moments.
On 1 March 2019 Zelmerlöw and Swedish singerDotter released the songWalk With Me.
Zelmerlöw announced in May 2019 that he would release the songsBetter Now andGrow Up to Be You.[51]
As part of theEurovision Song Contest 2019 interval act, he covered his favourite entry of 2018, "Fuego", byEleni Foureira, whilst theGreek singer covered "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" andConchita covered his song "Heroes",[52] before the acts convened for a version of "Hallelujah". Måns released his version of "Fuego" on iTunes, where the mention of the word "pelican" is removed due to the possible reference to the female anatomy.[53]
On 18 October 2019 Zelmerlöw released his eighth studio album,Time. As a third single, the songOne has been released on 21 November 2019 for digital download.
In November and December 2019 Zelmerlöw was seen in the Christmas show "The Grand Wonderland Show", which was held at the Grand Hôtel Stockholm.[54]
Zelmerlöw was part of the jury ofEurovision: Australia Decides 2020[55] and also performed the singleWalk With Me, which has been re-released with Australian singerDami Im on 6 February 2020.[56]
AtMelodifestivalen 2020, Zelmerlöw sang the song 'Nygammal Vals' as a duet withLill Lindfors in the show Andra Chansen, and he was also admitted into the Melodifestivalen Hall Of Fame.[57]
Zelmerlöw andMorgan Sulele released the SingleGamle Dager on 10 April 2020.[58] The song contains Norwegian and Swedish lyrics.
As the fourth single from Zelmerlöw's albumTime the songOn My Way has been released on 24 April 2020.[59]
Due to the pandemic,Melodifestivalen 2021 was held differently than usual, without an audience and with all 6 shows from Stockholm. There were separate presenters for each show. The final on 16 March 2021 was hosted by Måns Zelmerlöw,Shima Niavarani andChrister Björkman. Zelmerlöw also presented his single 'Come Over Love' as an interval act.[66][67][68][69]
Since 26 March 2021, Swedish television TV4 has broadcast a season ofMasked Singer Sverige every year in 4 seasons with 9 episodes each.[70] The 4 permanent members of the guessing panel are Måns Zelmerlöw, Pernilla Wahlgren, Felix Herngren and Nour El Refai. These were occasionally supplemented by guest appearances by other celebrities. The show has been hosted by David Hellenius since the beginning. A particular highlight of the show was the Viking's mask in the third season, behind which Zelmerlöw's wife hid without him having any idea.[71][72][73][74][75]
At theEurovision Song Contest 2021, Zelmerlöw appeared alongside other former winners, such asLordi, in the interval act 'Rock The Roof'.
In autumn 2022 Zelmerlöw took part in the Swedish television show "Så Mycket Bättre", in which various singers interpret each other's songs. It was recorded onGotland back in June. Måns guest-starred in 5 of the episodes and provided 4 new songs as his own renditions: "Faller (Tell Her)" byMolly Hammar, "Sober (Mer För Varandra)" byNorlie & KKV, "Hatar Dig" byDaniela Rathana and "This Is The One" byAnna Ternheim.[76]
Zelmerlöw and also Swedish Eurovision starCarola went on a big X-Mas tour named "A Grand X-mas" in November and December 2022 to 11 big arenas in cities across Sweden.[77][78][79] Together with a 13-headed band and choir, the two performed a mixture of modern and classic Christmas songs in English and Swedish, as well as their own (Christmas) songs. As a special encore, the two sang their ESC winning titles 'Heroes' and 'Främling' in a joint ballad. The pair's Christmas song "Let's Sing (It's Christmas Time) ' was released as a single in advance on 11 November 2022.
2023–present:Nightcaps EP and Melodifestivalen return
January 2023, Zelmerlöw took on a presenter role alongsidePernilla Wiberg. He hostedIdrottsgalan, a major Swedish sports gala, aired live from theAvicii Arena in Stockholm onSVT1 on 16 January 2023.[80]
In 2023, as part of the lead-up for theEurovision Song Contest 2023 set to be held inLiverpool, he was a co-presenter of the weeklyBBC Sounds podcastEurovisioncast onBBC Radio 5. Zelmerlöw,Nina Warhurst, Daniel Rosney and Ngunan Adamu hosted the podcast, which provided further information and interviews about the ESC. Zelmerlöw was also involved in the two semifinals of the ESC, each time in a quiz match againstFilomena Cautela. As in 2017, he commentated on the final together withEdward af Sillén for Swedish televisionSVT.[81][82]
On 13 October 2023, a complete EP by Zelmerlöw and his band 'The Agreement' was released for the first time: 'Nightcaps'. This contains all three previously released singles 'Andetag', 'Running Low' and 'Perfectly Damaged' as well as two additional songs 'History' and 'Side Effects'.[83]
In winter 2023, Zelmerlöw did not only release the Christmas single "Christmas Christmas Everywhere", but also reunited with comedianPer Andersson.[84] Both returned and toured Sweden with the sequel to Tomten och Bocken, a new show named "Tomten och Bocken Rider Igen", directed by Klas Wiljergård.
January 2024 Zelmerlöw again hosted the 25th anniversary of theIdrottsgalan, the Swedish sports gala, alongsideCarolina Klüft, which was aired live from Stockholm.[85]
Zelmerlöw during his performance in Melodifestivalen 2025.
In late November 2024, Zelmerlöw was announced as one of the participants ofMelodifestivalen 2025,[89] ten years after his victory with "Heroes" and in his 20th anniversary year as an artist.[90] He competed in the fourth heat on 22 February 2025 inMalmö with the song "Revolution" and qualified directly to the final on 8 March.[91] In the finale he finished in second place, behind the winnerKAJ.[92]
In March 2014, while a guest on Swedish cooking showPluras kök [sv], Zelmerlöw commented that he consideredhomosexuality anavvikelse (English: deviation). On the show, he said he did not think there was anything wrong with homosexuality, but that it is not natural biologically, since it does not lead to reproduction. He later apologised repeatedly for his remarks, claiming that they were a miscommunication.[98][99][100][101] After his Melodifestivalen win a year later, the incident came under international media scrutiny, prompting a few members of gay, Swedish and Eurovision media to come to Zelmerlöw's defence.[102][103][104] He later said that he would date a man "if [he] got that feeling".[105][106]
Between 2008 and 2011, he was in a relationship with the Swedish singer and modelMarie Serneholt, a former member of the Swedish pop bandA-Teens.[107] In 2016, Zelmerlöw began dating British actressCiara Janson and they later announced their engagement.[108][109] In December 2017, Zelmerlöw announced that they were expecting a child together.[110][111] On 25 May 2018 he announced via social media that Ciara had given birth to their son.[112][113] The couple married on 5 September 2019.[114]On 9 August 2022, Zelmerlöw announced on Instagram that Janson had given birth to their second son. As of 2024, Zelmerlöw and Janson live on a vineyard inStaffanstorp, with Janson travelling to England every other week for her son from a previous relationship.[115]
On 8 July 2024, Zelmerlöw opened a coffee and wine trailer namedBeans and Grapes which is in the garden adjacent to the tennis museum inBåstad,Sweden.[116] The coffee and wine trailer is said to feature live music and have room for 50 guests.[117]
In March 2025, Janson filed for divorce, accusing Zelmerlöw of toxic and abusive behaviour. This caused a sensation in Sweden where they are very well known.[118][119][120][121] In May 2025,Sveriges Radio published an interview withDagens Nyheter, who disclosed that it had turned down an interview with Zelmerlöw due to demands he made; among those were not to allow Janson to comment on what he said in it or do an interview on her own.Göteborgs-Posten instead made the interview.[122]
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