Cazzi Opeia’s mother had to push the Melodifestivalen hopeful to work with Eurovision winning songwriter Thomas G:son. 

G:son invited Cazzi Opeia to write with him in 2022, shortly after she had won the American Song Contest as a songwriter. 

But it took encouragement from her mother for the pair to actually meet and work together. 

Speaking to The Euro Trip, Cazzi Opeia said: “The first time I worked with Thomas G:son I was super scared because he invited me to come and write with him.

“I said to my mom, ‘Thomas G:son is asking me for a session and I don’t know if I can do that. He is a legend in this area’. 

“She took my hand and she was like, ‘You are going there. You have no idea what this can open up for you’. 

“I was a little bit scared because he’s been making so many hits in this area. I was a little bit shy.” 

The pair ended up writing Loreen’s Melodifestivalen and Eurovision winning track Tattoo together with Peter Boström, Jimmy Jansson and Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt. 

G:son and Cazzi Opeia have since written together on a number of occasions, including last year when they worked on the 35-year-old’s second Melodifestivalen entry as a performer, Give My Heart A Break. 

They also wrote Jacqline’s debut Melodifestivalen contribution, Effortless, with Jacqline herself, Jansson and Dino Medanhodzic. The song will appear in the same heat of the competition as Cazzi Opeia’s own entry. 

“We write a lot together, and the song I’m going to perform this year was written by me, him and Jimmy who were also on Tattoo, and a girl named Ellen [Berg] who I write a lot of K-pop stuff with, so it’s a cool mix.” 

Berg was a co-writer of Alexa’s American Song Contest winning entry, Wonderland, alongside Cazzi Opeia herself, but her appearance on Give My Heart A Break is her first credit on a Melodifestivalen song. 

Cazzi Opeia will perform Give My Heart A Break in the third Melodifestivalen heat on Saturday (February 17).