alcazar

Alcazar
Alcazar performing on Sommarkrysset
Background information
Origin	Sweden
Genres	Eurodance, Nu-disco, Pop, Dance-pop, Europop
Years active	1998 - Present
Labels	Universal, Sony, Edel
Website	Alcazar World
Members
Andreas Lundstedt Therese "Tess" Merkel Lina Hedlund
Former members
Annika Kjærgaard Magnus Carlsson

Alcazar during a concert in 2004

Alcazar is a Swedish eurodance group which has established themselves as one of Sweden's most successful music groups with a string of hits since their debut single in 1999. Worldwide Alcazar had sold records over 12 million between 2001 and 2004.^[1][2] Alcazar have also had success around the world with their song "Crying at the Discoteque", having charted in countries such as USA, Brazil, Australia, Japan and most countries in Europe.

Biography

The group formed in 1998 with three members: Andreas Lundstedt, Tess Merkel (born Therese Merkel, 18 April 1970, Nykoping, Sweden), and Annika Kjærgaard (born 18 May 1971, Bjarnum, Sweden). Their first single, "Shine On", was a hit in Sweden, but it was with their second release, "Crying at the Discoteque" (which heavily sampled Sheila B. Devotion's 1979 hit "Spacer") they achieved success across Europe. Both singles appeared on their debut album, Casino. Later editions of Casino contained a cover of The Human League's hit "Don't You Want Me" which also served as the third single off the album. In the United States, Alcazar gained moderate success. "Crying at the Discoteque" peaked at #44 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play and "Don't You Want Me" peaked at #30 on the same chart.

In December 2002, Andreas Lundstedt's boyfriend at the time, Magnus Carlsson, joined the group. The second album, Alcazarized, was released in Sweden in 2003 and became a big hit. Subsequently, it was released internationally in 2004, with new cover artwork and a slightly different track list.

In the autumn of 2004, Alcazar released "This Is the World We Live In". The song samples Diana Ross's 1980 hit single "Upside Down" and re-uses lyrics from Genesis' 1986 single "Land of Confusion". Their follow-up single, "Physical", also sampled an older hit: Londonbeat's "I've Been Thinking About You". The singles were followed up by the album Dancefloor Deluxe which was released in Sweden in August 2004. In the winter of 2004/2005, they released the Christmas single "Here I Am". Alcazar enjoyed considerable success in 2004 in their home country Sweden. 2005 saw the release of the single "Start the Fire". During the making of its music video, Kjærgaard had an accident in which she broke her foot.

In the autumn of 2005, the band decided to take a break. Andreas moved on to musicals and played the lead in "Saturday Night Fever" and Tess became a poker pro.

In May 2007, the band did a one-off performance in London at the legendary night club "G-A-Y" and invited their friend Lina Hedlund (born 28 March 1978, Hanebo, Sweden) to join them on stage. It all turned out to be a very successful combination and a few months later the "New Alcazar" was formed.

In January 2008, their first and comeback single "We Keep on Rockin'" was released. Music and lyrics by long time team member Anders Hansson. The single quickly turned into a hit and only a week after the release the single passed gold status in sales.

In March 2009, the new album Disco Defenders was released in Sweden. The album contains two discs. Cd one: 12 brand new tracks like, "We Keep on Rockin´", "Burning", "Harlem Nights", "Stay the Night" etc. Cd two: 11 best of songs, among them "Crying at the Discoteque", "This Is the World We Live In" and "Don't You Want Me".

Disco Defenders has received great reviews from the Swedish critics.

The single "Stay the Night" was Alcazar's entry in the Swedish pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Break and line-up changes

The band claimed that they needed a break during the autumn of 2005. Male lead singer, Andreas Lundstedt claimed that the band would be back in the summer of 2007. In the meantime the male members launched solo careers. Lundstedt had appeared in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, as a member of six4one, a multi-national band founded for the sole purpose of representing Switzerland at the contest, whilst Carlsson has twice taken part individually in the Swedish Melodifestivalen.

Lina Hedlund was announced as the replacement for Annikafiore.^[3] Lina Hedlund has previously entered Melodifestivalen on two occasions (2002, with her sister Hanna Hedlund, with the song 'Big Time Party' and the 2003 solo effort 'Nothing Can Stop Me'). Andreas' 'Expressen' blog was recently updated, telling Alcazar fans that the group will now be back together permanently, they will take part in a concert in Sweden in December 2007 and will then head into the studio to produce the group's third studio album, with new member, Lina Hedlund. The band is now including Tess Merkel^[4] and Lina Hedlund as female vocalists, and Andreas Lundstedt as male vocalist.

Melodifestivalen

Alcazar have taken part in Melodifestivalen, the annual competition that selects Sweden's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest, on numerous occasions. In 2003, "Not a Sinner, Nor a Saint" initially failed to qualify for the final, but got a wildcard in the second chance round, finishing 3rd overall. However, the song eventually became the biggest hit of all participating songs in Melodifestivalen 2003. It was Alcazar's first number 1 single in Sweden and was certified Gold.

During early 2005 Alcazar was offered a spot in the United Kingdom national selection for Eurovision Song Contest 2005 but refused the offer. Instead they tried their luck in Melodifestivalen 2005 with the disco tune "Alcastar". As in 2003, they originally failed to qualify for the final, but eventually made it through after the second chance semi-final. And once again, the group again had to settle for the 3rd place in the final, which was won by Martin Stenmarck's song "Las Vegas". Still, the song was a hit and became Alcazar's second number 1 single in Sweden.

Alcazar are once again participating in Melodifestivalen 2009, this time with the song "Stay the Night". After performing the song during the first semifinal in Scandinavium, Göteborg, they finished in the top 2 of a Melodifestivalen semifinal for the first time, thus qualifying directly for the final.^[5] If the final in Globen, having placed 3rd with the regional juries and 4th in the televote, the song finished 5th overall. The song managed to peak at number 2 on Swedish Singles Charts giving Alcazar another Top 10 single in Sweden.

Performances

Alcazar while performing at G-A-Y

Alcazar reformed in July 2007 to perform at the London Astoria as part of a celebration of Swedish music master minded by producer Alexander Bard. They performed at the G-A-Y event on Saturday 21 July 2007 alongside BWO and a reformed-for-the-occasion cult band Army of Lovers. They performed three songs, "This Is the World We Live In", "Start the Fire" and "Crying at the Discoteque". However when pressed at the end of their set by club proprietor Jeremy Joseph on whether the band would reform, Andreas avoided offering a commitment other than that they would do future one-off appearances at G-A-Y.

The band performed again on Saturday 5 July 2008 at G-A-Y Astoria for Pride London 2008. They performed "This Is the World We Live In", "Sexual Guarantee/Don't You Want Me" and "Crying at the Discoteque" after BWO, and ended with a cover version of the Lipps Inc song "Funkytown" with BWO joining them on stage. They also performed on 28 June 2008 in Bologna for the Italian national Gay Pride parade. On 31 December 2008, Alcazar once again appeared at G-A-Y Astoria at its new location, Heaven. The trio performed "We Keep On Rockin'", "This Is The World We Live In", "Sexual Guarantee", "Don't You Want Me", "Burning", "Funkytown", "Crying at the Discoteque" and ended with a cover version of the ABBA song "Happy New Year".

Discography

• 2000: Casino
• 2003: Alcazarized
• 2004: Dancefloor Deluxe
• 2005: A Tribute to ABBA
• 2009: Disco Defenders

References

External links

• 2002 Interview with Alcazar by Jake McGee
• The Official Website, Alcazar World