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MELODIFESTIVALEN

Norwegian twins to represent Sweden at Eurovision

Norwegian twins Marcus and Martinus won an easy victory in the Melodifestivalen competition on Saturday night, and will represent Sweden at Eurovision 2024 in Malmö in May.

Norwegian twins to represent Sweden at Eurovision
Norwegian band "Marcus and Martinus" perform during the Nobel Peace Prize concert on December 11, 2016 in Oslo, Norway. Photo: TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP.

Melodifestivalen 2024 finished on Saturday night and saw Sweden finally choose its entry for the upcoming 68th Eurovision Song Contest. The competition, which is to be hosted in Malmö in May, will see Norwegian twins Marcus and Martinus represent Sweden.

Despite not being Swedish nationals themselves, the twins can represent Sweden because their co-songwriters (Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Joy Deb and Linnea Deb) are all Swedes.

12 songs were in contention at Melodifestivalen on Saturday night, with a combination of public voting and 8 international juries (each with 50 percent weighting) giving the Norwegian twins an easy victory.

READ ALSO: Hotels, tickets and scams: What to know about visiting Malmö for Eurovision 2024

Twin brothers Marcus and Martinus Gunnarsen, originally from Elverum in Norway, won with their song Unforgettable. The international vote gave the twins 85 points, almost double the second placed finisher, Cazzi Opeia, with Give My Heart A Break.

The Norwegians also easily won the public vote, scoring 92 points. Medina’s Que Sera finished a distant second, on 61 points.

Their Melodifestivalen triumph is not the Norwegian twins’ first taste of pop success. They first emerged on the scene in 2012 as 10-year-olds when they won Melodi Grand Prix Junior, a Norwegian TV talent show. They’ve since won a Norwegian Grammy, the Swedish edition of The Masked Singer, and toured Europe.

The pair have also released three studio albums, all of which were Number 1 hits in Norway.

Eurovision 2024 will not be the Gunnarsen twins’ first experience of the competition — in 2017 they announced Norway’s points tallies in Kyiv.

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EUROVISION

Swedish police pleased after Eurovision weekend passes peacefully

Despite concerns that tension in the run-up to Eurovision could escalate into violence, Swedish police said they were pleased with how the week went.

Swedish police pleased after Eurovision weekend passes peacefully

A total of 20 people were taken into custody by police on the final night of Eurovision in Malmö. One person was arrested and is suspected of violence against a police officer. But despite the tension during the event, police described the night as calm, all things considered.

“I’m very pleased,” police commander Per Engström said in a statement. “The event could go ahead in a safe and secure manner, while police secured the opportunity for citizens to, in a democratic spirit, express various opinions – almost completely without disturbances.”

A major pro-Palestinian demonstration on Saturday afternoon went ahead peacefully, with organisers collaborating closely with police. Thousands of people marched through Malmö, carrying pro-Palestinian symbols, and some held up signs referencing EBU’s separate decision to disqualify The Netherlands’ entry Joost Klein after he was accused of inapproppriate behaviour towards a photographer.

Things got more tense when hundreds of people also gathered outside the arena during the final, with those protesters lacking a demonstration permit.

Swedish, Norwegian and Danish police formed a human chain to push people away when they tried to get through to the area where the Eurovision audience was queuing. People who didn’t move voluntarily were carried away, with some shouting “fuck the police”, “shame on you” and “you support genocide”, according to reporters on the scene. Police said they used pepper spray on some occasions.

Nobody was seriously injured in the protests, according to police.

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