Representative Albums: "Vild & Galen", "Ingenting Att Förlora
Biography
In Linda Bengtzing's case, persistence paid off. A Swedish pop singer in the mold of Melodifestivalen veterans Lena Philipsson and Carola, Bengtzing literally battled her way to celebrity beginning with her appearance on the fourth and final season of Fame Factory. Long story short, Bengtzing never made it to the finals; however, she was selected to compete at Melodifestivalen 2005 during her stint on the show. Entering the national song contest with "Alla Flickor," Bengtzing finished last with zero "phone-in" points. She'd been trounced, but "Alla Flickor" nevertheless peaked at number eight on the Swedish charts. Another single, "Diamanter," followed on the heels of "Alla Flickor," peaking at a respectable number 32. Bolstered by her chart success, Bengtzing returned to Melodifestivalen the following year with "Jag Ljuger Sa Bra," a song originally intended for Jessica Andersson. Bengtzing finished seventh; regardless, "Jag Ljuger Sa Bra" went on to peak at number two on the charts. Her debut full-length, 2006's Ingenting att Forlora, managed to peak at number four and yielded another Top Ten single, "Kan Du Se." Bengtzing teamed up with novelty rapper Markoolio early in the following year for the comedic single "Varsta Schlagern." It would prove to be Bengtzing's first number one single. ~ Margaret Reges, All Music Guide
Linda Bengtzing (born March 13, 1974) grew up in Gullspång, a little village in Västra Götaland located in the west of Sweden). She released two singles in 1987 and 1989, however, she disappeared from the music industry for fifteen years.
In 2004 Linda took part in the fourth and the final season of Fame Factory but she went on the program at the same time as her song "Alla flickor" being selected to participate at Melodifestivalen 2005. Her song surprised everyone and she took part in the Melodifestivalen final after receiving sufficient votes in the 'Andra Chansen' (Second Chance) round. She finished in last place, scoring 15 jury points but receiving 0 points from the Swedish public's televoting. The single reached #8 in the Swedish charts and a few months "Diamanter", a song very similar to Alla flickor, reached #32.
Linda Bengtzing with Glenn Hysén at the Rampfeber TV show in 2006.
One year later she appeared again in Melodifestivalen. Her song, "Jag ljuger så bra", written first for Jessica Andersson, finished in the top two of the first heat and, therefore, was entered into the final. Linda's song came seventh out of 10 in the final in Stockholm's Globen. Whilst Linda may not have received many votes from the public the single rose to #2 in the Swedish charts, making it her greatest hit.
Days before the Melodifestivalen 2006 final, she released her first album, "Ingenting att förlora" (#4) and months later the second single from the album, "Kan du se" debuted at #7, though did not chart the next week.
In 2007 she released a new single, "Värsta schlagern", a parody on tradition Melodifestivalen entries. The song is rumoured to have been entered into Melodifestivalen 2007 but was not selected as one of the 32 songs to compete for the title in the live shows. The song is a duet together with Markoolio. Linda participated at Melodifestivalen 2008, competing in Heat 4 (Karlskrona) on the 1 March 2008, where she directly qualified for the final round. She went on to finish fith out of ten in the final, with 64 points from the juries but nothing from the public. The song was composed by Johan Fransson, Tim Larsson, Tobias Lundgren and is called Hur svårt kan det va? (How hard can it be?)[1]. Linda released her second album on the 19 February 2008, 4 days after the Melodifestivalen final. It has been reported that Linda's record company (Mariann Records) would not allow Linda to release her second album unless she entered Melodifestivalen 2008.
