Sweden basks in glory as Queen Loreen wins Eurovision

STOCKHOLM: Sweden was celebrating Sunday after Loreen won the Eurovision song contest, the Scandinavian country’s seventh title triumph, equalling Ireland’s record.

The Nordic country’s media was in a jubilant mood.”There is only one queen and her name is Loreen,” wrote the tabloid Expressen.

”What Loreen has achieved... is, without exaggeration, a greater feat than most of us realise,” the paper wrote, calling her title “pure perfection”. As well as clinching Eurovision glory with “Tattoo”, a pop anthem about unconditional love, the artist, Loreen had already lifted the trophy in 2012.

She is the second artist to achieve a Eurovision double 36 years after Johnny Logan for Ireland in the 1980s, and the first woman to do so. The Svenska Dagbladet (SVD) title said Loreen had “made history”, adding that her “participation lived up to all hopes”.

“She has not succumbed to the pressure,” the public broadcaster SVT said. But the success of the campaign has fuelled envy, SVD reported, including a campaign by an Irish bookmaker against voting for Loreen.

“It obviously didn´t work, but the annoyance with Sweden´s success and its always-perfect numbers has been spreading in Europe for the past 10 years, and it´s not about to subside,” SVD warned.

Exactly 50 years after ABBA´s victory in Brighton, with its hit Waterloo, Sweden is now preparing to host Eurovision for the seventh time next year. “Perfect timing,” the daily Dagens Nyheter said.