Thomas G:son
Thomas Gustafsson (born 25 February 1968) is a Swedish composer and musician from Skövde, Västergötland, Sweden, north-east of Göteborg. However, he is much more known nationally and internationally simply as Thomas G:son, his artistic name. Since 1998, Thomas has worked full time as a songwriter for the company G:songs. In addition to writing and composing songs for a living, he plays the guitar in a hard rock band. Thomas G:son is mostly known for the 58 songs he has written for national finals of eight different countries for the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC): 32 for Sweden, eleven for Spain, six for Norway, four for Finland, three for Denmark, two for Poland, one for Latvia, one for Romania and one for Belgium. He has also reached the Eurovision Song Contest five times, twice for Sweden, once for Norway, once for Spain, and once for Denmark.
[edit] Eurovision Song Contest
[edit] Eurovision Song Contest 2001
Thomas G:son wrote Lyssna till ditt hjärta for the 2001 edition of Melodifestivalen. The upbeat ABBA inspired song was performed by the young quartet Friends. From its Melodifestivalen victory, they went on to have a successful performance at the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 in Copenhagen, Denmark, placing fifth with the English version Listen To Your Heartbeat. The song sounded very much like the 1996 Belgian entry Liefde is een kaartspel, causing some controversy and earning it the nickname Listen to your Kaartspel among some Eurovision fans.[1].
[edit] Eurovision Song Contest 2006
This year, Thomas G:son has delivered the record amount of eight selected entries to three national finals - Sweden, Norway and Latvia. Six of them participated in the Swedish Melodifestivalen, sung by such Melodifestivalen and Eurovision veterans as Carola, Kikki Danielsson, Roger Pontare and former Afro-Dite member Kayo(all had represented Sweden at past ESCs), as well as Jessica Folker, a singer who already enjoyed international success. Such proliferation proved effective, as both Carola and Kikki reached the final of the contest, ironically taking the first and the last place, respectively. Carola and G:son's winning song was "Evighet" (Swedish for eternity) - it was performed at the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens, Greece in English as "Invincible", finishing 5th in the final, just like his 2001 entry "Listen To Your Heartbeat" did.
In the Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix, his entry performed by the drag queen duo Queentastic made it to the Super Final, but lost to Christine Guldbrandsen, a folk-ballad singer from Bergen.
Neither did Elina Furmane of Latvia make it through Eirodziesma; consequently, Thomas G:son had only one entry in that year's ESC.
[edit] Eurovision Song Contest 2007
In 2007, Thomas G:son experienced the peculiar situation of having two of his songs compete in Helsinki, neither of them being for his home country. Instead, the Norwegian, nationally famous musical artist Guri Schanke performed his fiery Latino song "Ven a bailar conmigo", (Spanish: Come Dance With Me). The song, which contains some elements of Argentine tango, was specifically ordered by the Norwegian state broadcaster NRK who invited Thomas G:son, who had already successfully composed three entries previously for Melodi Grand Prix, the Norwegian national final. Spain's 2007 entry "I love you mi vida" was also co-written by G:son, and was performed by boyband D'NASH.
[edit] Eurovision Song Contest 2010
In 2010 G:son sent his fifth Eurovision song in his fourth country: Denmark. He co-wrote the Danish entry "In a Moment Like This" sang by Chanée and Tomas N'evergreen.
[edit] National final entries
[edit] Melodifestivalen entries (Sweden)
- "Natten är min vän" by Cleo Nilsson (1999), 8th place
- "Lyssna till ditt hjärta" ("Listen To Your Heartbeat") by Friends (2001), 1st place (5th at ESC 2001)
- "Vem é dé du vill ha?" by Kikki, Lotta & Bettan (2002), 3rd place
- "Ingenting är större än vi" by Arvingarna (2002), 6th place (Semi-final)
- "Världen utanför" by Barbados (2002), 4th place
- "What Difference Does It Make?" by Poets (2002), 3rd place (Semi-final)
- "Hela världen för mig" by Sanna Nielsen (2003), 5th place
- "C'est la vie" by Hanson, Carson & Malmkvist (2004), 10th place
- "Tango Tango" by Petra Nielsen (2004), 4th place
- "Säg att du har ångrat dig" by Anne-Lie Rydé (2004), 4th place (Semi-final)
- "Långt bortom tid och rum" by Mathias Holmgren (2005), 4th place (Semi-final)
- "As If Tomorrow Will Never Come" by Katrina & The Nameless (2005), 3rd place (Semi-final)
- "Så nära" by Anne-Lie Rydé (2005), 5th place (Semi-final)
- "Evighet" ("Invincible") by Carola (2006), 1st place (5th at ESC 2006)
- "Ge mig en kaka till kaffet" by Östen med Resten (2006), 6th place (Semi-final)
- "Idag & imorgon" by Kikki Danielsson (2006), 10th place
- "Innan natten är över" by Kayo (2006), 6th place (Semi-final)
- "When Loves Coming Back Again" by Jessica Folcker (2006), 7th place (Semi-final)
- "Silverland" by Roger Pontare (2006), 4th place (Semi-final)
- "Amanda" by Jimmy Jansson (2007), eliminated in Second-Chance Round
- "Samba Sambero" by Anna Book (2007), 9th place
- "Här för mig själv" by Maja Gullstrand (2009), 8th place (Semi-final)
- "Du vinner över mig" by Mikael Rickfors (2009), 5th place (Semi-final)
- "Show Me Heaven" by Lili & Susie (2009), eliminated in Second-Chance Round
- "Thursdays" by Lovestoned (2010), 6th place (Semi-final)
- "I'm In Love" by Sanna Nielsen (2011), 4th place
- "E de fel på mig" by Linda Bengtzing (2011), 7th place
- "Something In Your Eyes" by Jenny Silver (2011), eliminated in Second-Chance Round
- "Run" by Anders Fernette (2011), 8th place (Semi-final)
- "Euphoria" by Loreen (2012)
- "Jag reser mig igen" by Thorsten Flinck & Revolutionsorkestern (2012)
- "Land of broken dreams" by Dynazty (2012)
[edit] Melodi Grand Prix entries (Norway)
- "Din hånd i min hånd" by Kikki, Lotta & Bettan (2003), 4th place
- "Anyway you want it" by Ingvild Pedersen (2003), 8th place
- "Absolutely Fabulous" by Queentastic (2006), 3rd place
- "Ven a bailar conmigo" by Guri Schanke (2007), 1st place (18th in ESC 2007 Semifinal)
- "Rocket Ride" by Jannicke Abrahamsen (2007), 2nd place
- "High on Love" by Reidun Sæther (2012)
[edit] Euroviisut entries (Finland)
- "Who Cares About A Broken Heart?" by Johanna (2002), 5th place
- "Say You Will, Say You Won't" by Ressu (2002), 4th place
- "I Can't Stop Loving You" by Kirsi Ranto (2004), 10th place (Semi-final)
- "Till The End Of Time" by Arja Koriseva (2004), 10th place
[edit] Spanish selection entries
- "I love you mi vida", by D'NASH (2007), 1st place (20th in ESC 2007)
- "Piénsame", Anael (2008), eliminated in Online-Voting
- "Te prefiero", Baltanás (2008), eliminated in Online-Voting
- "Nada es comparable a ti", Mirela (2009), 4th place
- "Amor radical", Rebeca (2009), eliminated in Online-Voting
- "Perfecta", Venus (2010), 4th place
- "Recuérdame", Samuel & Patricia (2010), 5th place
- "En una vida", Coral Segovia (2010), 2nd place
- "Beautiful Life", José Galisteo (2010), 7th place
- "Abrázame", Lucía Pérez (2011), 2nd place on Songs selection
- "Quédate conmigo", Pastora Soler (2012)
[edit] Eirodziesma entry (Latvia)
- "Heaven In Your Eyes" by Elina Furmane (2006), 8th place
[edit] Selecţia Naţională entry (Romania)
The girl duo Indiggo which was going to perform the song was disqualified because they didn't turn up in time for a rehearsal. Additionally, an instrumental version of the song was not sent in time to the TV company.
[edit] Piosenka dla Europy entries (Poland)
- "Viva la musica" by Man Meadow (2008), 3rd place
- "Love Is Gonna Get You" by Man Meadow (2009), 6th place
[edit] Eurosong entry (Belgium)
- "Addicted to you", Tanja Dexters (2008), 5th place (Semi-final)
[edit] Dansk Melodi Grand Prix entry (Denmark)
- "In a Moment Like This", Chanée & Tomas N'evergreen (2010), 1st place (4th in ESC 2010)
- "Let Your Heart Be Mine", Jenny Berggren (2011), 8th place
- "25 Hours a Day", Le Freak (2011), 4th place
[edit] Junior Eurovision Entries
[edit] Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2010
The Swedish entry for Junior Eurovision 2010, Allt jag vill ha, was written by G:son, with Arash, Robert Uhlmann, and Johan Bejerholm. In Minsk, it placed eleventh.
[edit] External links
- (Swedish) G:songs website