Lena Philipsson

Lena Philipsson (born Maria Magdalena Filipsson on January 19, 1966, in Vetlanda) is a Swedish singer and media personality. Her career started with the single Boy/You Open My Eyes in 1984 and with her Melodifestivalen entries Kärleken är evig in 1986, Dansa i neon in 1987, and Om Igen in 1988. In the early 1990s her fame increased in Sweden, and she continued to release albums until 1997. In 2001, she had a stage comeback with the successful "Lena Philipsson Show," which was sold out for two and a half years around Sweden.

In 2004, she entered Melodifestivalen for the fourth time as a solo artist, with the song Det Gör Ont composed by Thomas Eriksson (Orup). She won Melodifestivalen and represented Sweden at the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul with an English version of the song, It Hurts. Despite being the third favourite to win the competition, she finished in sixth place. Her album Det Gör Ont En Stund På Natten Men Inget På Dan sold gold in nine days, with Det Gör Ont as its lead single. It also spawned the singles Delirium, Lena Anthem, and På Gatan Där Jag Bor. She released the album Jag ångrar Ingenting in 2005 and hosted Melodifestivalen in 2006. Her greatest hits album Lena 20 År was released in 2007.


Eurovision Song Contest 2004 Final - Istanbul
Entry for Sweden

Performer: Lena Philipsson
Song title: It Hurts
Song writer(s): Thomas Orup Eriksson
Song composer(s): Thomas Orup Eriksson

Sang in Position: 24
Final Position: 5
Total Points: 170

Ten lucky countries had qualified from the semi-final: Serbia & Montenegro, Ukraine, Greece, Albania, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Malta, Croatia and FYR Macedonia. These countries were to meet the strong opposition of the 14 already qualified countries: Turkey, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Russia, France, the United Kindom, Poland, Romania, Iceland, Austria, Belgium, Ireland and Norway. They would all sing on the impressive Istanbul stage which was built bearing in mind the motto of the 2004 contest, Under The Same Sky.

After a few countries had given their votes, it was clear that the winner would be from a three horse race including Ukraine, Serbia & Montenegro and Greece. These three contestants had also been hotly tipped by the press and the fans. Ukraine's Ruslana was the one to achieve this goal with her song Wild Dances. She had been on an extensive promotional tour in lots of European countries before the contest, which could have contributed to her victory. The already qualified countries in the Final didn't do significantly well: Nine of these entries ended up bottom-10 and only Turkey, Sweden, Germany and Spain made it to the top-10.

The 2004 Eurovision Song Contest Final was not only shown in the 36 participating countries, but also on television in Armenia, Kosovo, Puerto Rico, Australia and in the USA;

For the first time, a DVD would be released shortly after the event including both the Semi-Final and the Final.