Swedish songwriter and music producer Anders Bagge has told the curious story of him being tricked by his friends and wife into competing in Melodifestivalen. 

Bagge is making his debut as a performer in Melfest this Saturday (February 19) having only started to sing publicly for the first time in 2021. 

Asked when the conversations about Melfest first began, Bagge said: “The honest, honest truth is that I was at a meeting with my partners in my record label. 

“My manager Mathias said to me: ‘OK, here’s a song that I do really like. Do you think it would be a good song for Eurovision?’. I said: ‘Hmm that’s a great song, even I could sing that one fantastically’. He said: ‘Did you say that you could sing it?’ I said: ‘No no, I just said it was fantastic’. 

“Then he just went away without me knowing and then he came back [and said]: ‘Oh it’s done Anders. You’re gonna be in Melodifestivalen!’” 

After hearing his manager tell him he was going to compete in Melfest, Bagge asked him in disbelief for clarification. 

“He said: ‘Yeah, you said you could sing it’. I said: ‘No! I said even I could sing it.’ 

“All of my friends at the table said: ‘Yeah, you said you could sing it’. So I was like: ‘Ohhh you tricked me.’” 

Participating in Melfest was not Bagge’s plan and not on his agenda, but having been tricked by his friends and manager he went to his studio to record the song himself. 

Thinking his recording was good quality he let his wife listen to it before revealing it to anybody else. 

“I showed her [my wife] my telephone and said: ‘If I press send the song will be sent to SVT and to my manager and to my friends and I will say yes’. 

“So I asked her if I should do this. She listened to the song. She said: ‘So what happens if you press…and she pushed the button!’ 

“I said to her: ‘What did you do?’ And she said: ‘I pushed send.’ 

“One minute later my manager calls saying: ‘That’s great. It sounds absolutely amazing’.” 

Bagge’s song Bigger Than the Universe was written alongside Jimmy Jansson, Peter Boström and Thomas G:son.

Image Credit – Marcus Järvinen