Friends (Swedish band)

Friends
Origin	Sweden
Genres	Dansband
Years active	1999–2002

Friends were 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" wearing sexy, tight, leather fitted clothing. Prior to the Eurovision performance, the Swedish delegation was forced to pay royalties to the team behind "Liefde is een kaartspel", an earlier Belgian entry, making the song the first admitted case of plagiarism in Eurovision history.

The band split in 2002, with Inhammar and Kärnfalk forming their own duo, Nina & Kim, which continued until 2006, after which Kärnfalk continued as a solo artist.

References

• "Friends firade hela natten", Aftonbladet, Feb. 24, 2001. (Swedish)
• "Kommer vi sämre än 16:e lämnar vi landet", Aftonbladet, May 11, 2001. (Swedish)
• "Gå ner i spagat och raka av sig håret", Aftonbladet, February 27, 2002. (Swedish)
• "En grammis på torsdag skulle inte sitta fel", Aftonbladet, February 11, 2002. (Swedish)
• "Ska man ha roligt bör man bli gay", Aftonbladet, February 23, 2001. (Swedish)
• "Här slutar hon – med en kyss", Aftonbladet, December 17, 2006. (Swedish)

External links

• Site with all facts on Friends
• Friends' thoughts on the ESC songs, Aftonbladet (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"