Christer Björkman
Birth name Christer Samuel Björkman Born (1957-08-25 ) 25 August 1957 (age 66)
Borås , SwedenGenres Occupation(s) Singer television producer Years active 1984–present
Musical artist
Christer Samuel Björkman (Swedish pronunciation:
[ˈkrɪ̌sːtɛr ˈbjœ̌rkman] ; born 25 August 1957) is a
Swedish
singer and
television producer . He
represented Sweden in the
Eurovision Song Contest 1992 with the song "
I morgon är en annan dag ".
[1] From 2002 to 2021, he served as a producer of
Melodifestivalen , and has remained an important figure in Melodifestivalen and the
Eurovision Song Contest . He stepped down from this position after
Melodifestivalen 2021 , and is currently working at Voxovation, a
Los Angeles -based company that focuses on expanding the Eurovision Song Contest brand into other markets.
[2]
[3]
[4]
Biography
Björkman was born in
Borås as the son of gaming entrepreneur Ulla Björkman (b. 1939). He never met his father while he was alive. He began working as a hairdresser, and soon had his own hair salon in Borås.[
citation needed ]
In 1985, Björkman started his entertainment career by recording a song called "Våga och vinn", which was produced by Bruno Glenmark.[
citation needed ]
Björkman won
Melodifestivalen 1992 with "
I morgon är en annan dag ", and represented Sweden at the
Eurovision Song Contest 1992 . He finished second last, Sweden's worst result at the contest since 1977. He entered Melodifestivalen a second and third time in
1993 with "Välkommen till livet" and
1999 with a song called "Välkommen hem" which finished last among the ten participants.[
citation needed ]
Alongside
Richard Herrey , Björkman founded the
Marcel Bezençon Awards in 2002.
[5]
From 2002 to 2021, Björkman held the positions of contest producer of Melodifestivalen and Sweden's head of delegation at the Eurovision Song Contest.
[6] During his last year as producer in 2021, he also hosted all of the shows.
[7]
Björkman was the show producer of the
Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in
Malmö , following
Loreen 's victory the year prior.
[8] He has acted as a juror at the national selections of other countries,
[9] and served as contest producer of the
Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in
Stockholm following
Måns Zelmerlöw 's victory the year prior,
[10] as well as the
2017 ,
[11]
2018
[12] and
2019 contests.
[13] As such, he was responsible for determining the running order of the shows.
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17] He returned to the Eurovision Song Contest as contest producer in
2024 , when the event was held in Malmö, following Loreen's second win the year prior.
[18]
Together with
Edward af Sillén , Björkman served as the Swedish commentator for the
Eurovision Song Contest 2021 .
[19]
Björkman served as juror in many national selections for the Eurovision Song Contest and its spin-offs. In 2016, Björkman was chosen to be one of three expert jurors at the
Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in
Valletta , Malta. In 2018, he was invited as an international juror for Sweden at
Destination Eurovision 2018 , the French national selection for that year's contest.
[20] In 2019, he served as a member of the juries at
Eurovision – Australia Decides
[21] and Albania's
Festivali i Këngës 58 .
[22] In 2024, he will serve as judge at the
Luxembourg Song Contest .
[23]
Björkman was also one of the producers of the
American Song Contest in 2022.
[24]
Personal life
Björkman is openly gay, and is married to Martin Kagemark.
References
^
"Christer Björkman" . Christerbjorkman.com. Archived from
the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2012 .
^ Gallagher, Robin (15 January 2017).
"Four more years: Christer Björkman to leave Melodifestivalen in 2021" . wiwibloggs.com . Wiwibloggs.
^ Bronson, Fred (19 March 2022).
"How Swedish Producers Helped Transform Eurovision Into 'American Song Contest' " . Billboard.com.
Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022 .
^
"Announcement: Eurovision Song Contest Latin America" . eurovision.tv . 12 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022 .
^
"Marcel Bezençon Awards | Eurovision Song Contest" . eurovision.tv . 1 July 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2023 .
^ Rowe, James (15 March 2021).
"Lotta Furebäck To Replace Christer Björkman As Head Of Delegation" . The Euro Trip Podcast . Retrieved 30 May 2023 .
^ Gallagher, Robyn (5 January 2021).
"Melodifestivalen 2021: Christer Björkman will host, joined by Måns Zelmerlöw, Oscar Zia, Lena Philipsson, Shirley Clamp and more" . wiwibloggs . Retrieved 30 May 2023 .
^
"Blog Archive " SVT presents Eurovision 2013 Core Team" . esctoday.com. Retrieved 8 August 2012 .
^
"BELGIUM: HADISE AND CHRISTER BJÖRKMAN TO JUDGE EUROSONG 2016" . wiwibloggs. 14 December 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015 .
^ Escudero, Victor M. (26 October 2015).
"Meet the core team for 2016" . Eurovision Song Contest. Retrieved 16 December 2015 .
^
"Christer Björkman: "I'm thrilled to be back!" " . eurovision.tv . 22 February 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2023 .
^
"It's time to meet the team behind Eurovision 2018!" . eurovision.tv . 7 March 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2023 .
^
"Ever wonder what it's like to be Eurovision's Contest Producer?" . eurovision.tv . 17 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2023 .
^
"Running order of the Semi-Finals revealed" . eurovision.tv . 8 April 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2023 .
^
"EXCLUSIVE: How is the Running Order being decided?" . eurovision.tv . 12 May 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2023 .
^
"Eurovision 2018: This is the running order of the Grand Final!" . eurovision.tv . 11 May 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2023 .
^
"Eurovision 2019: This is the running order of the Grand Final!" . eurovision.tv . 17 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2023 .
^
"Eurovision 2024 core team for Malmö is now complete" . Eurovision.tv . EBU. 11 September 2023. Retrieved 11 September 2023 .
^
"Melodifestivalen. Bilder, video och texter för media" . 16 November 2021. Archived from
the original on 16 November 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2023 .
^
"Destination Eurovision 2nd semi-final jury revealed – ESCXTRA.com" . 2 October 2023. Archived from
the original on 2 October 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2024 .
^ Eersel, Dennis Van (7 February 2019).
"Christer Björkman part of the jury for Australia Decides" . ESCDaily . Retrieved 27 January 2024 .
^ Adams, William Lee (21 December 2019).
"Festivali i Këngës 58: Jury member Christer Björkman on Albania finalists and American Song Contest" . wiwibloggs . Retrieved 27 January 2024 .
^ Abbes, Oranie (22 November 2023).
"Luxembourg 2024: International jury including Christer Björkman assess potential Eurovision singers" . wiwibloggs . Retrieved 27 January 2024 .
^
"The Eurovision Song Contest travels to America!" . eurovision.tv . 7 August 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2023 .
External links
Media related to
Christer Björkman at Wikimedia Commons
Participation Artists Songs Note: Entries scored out signify where Sweden did not compete
Countries Artists Songs
"Alt det som ingen ser "
"Amor d'água fresca "
"I morgon är en annan dag "
"Little Child"
"Ljubim te pesmama "
"Mister Music Man"
"Monté la riviè "
"Nei eða já "
"Nous on veut des violons "
"Olou tou kosmou i Elpida "
"
One Step Out of Time "
"Rapsodia "
"Sou fräi "
"Teriazoume "
"Todo esto es la música "
"Träume sind für alle da "
"Visjoner "
"
Why Me? "
"Wijs me de weg "
"Yamma Yamma"
"Yaz Bitti "
"Ze Rak Sport "
"Zusammen geh'n "
International National Artists