Friends (Swedish band)

Friends was a Swedish dansband or pop group formed in 1999 and made up of Stefan Brunzell, Tony Haglund, Kristian Hermanson, Nina Inhammar, Kim Kärnfalk and Peter Strandberg. They were put together from auditions on the reality television show Friends på turne (Friends on Tour), made by Bert Karlsson for TV4. The show was a success and Friends competed on Melodifestivalen 2000, reaching second place. They won Melodifestivalen 2001 with "Lyssna till ditt hjärta" and represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 with the English version of the song, "Listen to Your Heartbeat.” Following their Eurovision participation, the Swedish delegation was forced to pay royalties to the team behind "Liefde is een kaartspel", the 1996 Belgian entry, making the song the first admitted case of plagiarism in Eurovision history.^[1]

Friends
Origin	Sweden
Genres	Dansband
Years active	1999–2002
Past members	Stefan Brunzell Tony Haglund Kristian Hermanson Nina Inhammar Kim Kärnfalk Peter Strandberg

The band split in 2002, with Inhammar and Kärnfalk forming their own duo Nina & Kim. In 2004, they attempted to represent Sweden with their song “En Gång För Alla” but came 7th in the second pre-selection round. After 2006, Kärnfalk continued as a solo artist.

Discography

Albums

• Friends på turné — 1999
• Blickar som tänder — 2000 (rereleased in 2001 as Lyssna till ditt hjärta with 2 additional songs)
• Listen to Your Heartbeat — 2001
• Dance with Me — 2002
• Best of Friends Vol. 1 — 2005
• Best of Friends Vol. 2 — 2006

Singles

• Vi behöver varann / Hennes ögon — 1999
• Vad jag än säger dig / Friends — 2000
• När jag tänker på imorgon / När jag tänker på imorgon (singback) — 2000
• Holiday / Nu väntar världen här utanför — 2000
• Listen to your Heartbeat (P3 radio version) / Lyssna till ditt hjärta (Swedish original) / Listen to your Heartbeat (English original) / Lyssna till ditt hjärta/Listen to your heartbeat (instrumental version) — 2001
• Aldrig igen (original Swedish version) / The One That You Need (original English version) / The One That You Need (beat bangers clubbers guide mix) / The One That You Need (beat bangers radio clearance mix) — 2002
• In the Heat of the Night / Vår kärlek är het — 2002
• Let Love Be Love (with Johnny Logan) ^[2]

References

1. Bakker, Sietse (9 August 2003). . Esctoday. Archived from the original on 14 February 2004.
2. "Johnny Logan Feat. Friends (2) – Let Love Be Love". discogs. Retrieved 22 May 2018.

Sources

• , Aftonbladet, Feb. 24, 2001. (in Swedish)
• , Aftonbladet, May 11, 2001. (in Swedish)
• , Aftonbladet, February 27, 2002. (in Swedish)
• , Aftonbladet, February 11, 2002. (in Swedish)
• , Aftonbladet, February 23, 2001. (in Swedish)
• , Aftonbladet, December 17, 2006. (in Swedish)

External links

• (in Swedish)

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Roger Pontare with "When Spirits Are Calling My Name"	Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001	Succeeded by Afro-dite with "Never Let It Go"