In 2012, Loreen won the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Euphoria.

A woman with thick black hair with a long fringe: This is an image that has remained in the memory of viewers of the Eurovision Song Contest, where Loreen won in 2012 with the song Euphoria. But a woman reminiscent of Grace Jones entered the Ljubljana hotel to talk to Vikend. “Sometimes I cover half my eyes with my palm to make people remember me,” she admitted with a laugh.

Maja Keuc, who now lives in Sweden, also sang at the concert celebrating Europe Day, do you know each other?

She interviewed me a year and a half ago, she is a nice woman. It’s nice when you inspire someone and when you see women in the music industry climb, they have a plan and dignity. We need more of that. Maja seems to have an idea of where she wants to go, it’s always nice to see.

Yes, we live in a time when women in pop culture are not afraid to stand up for their rights…

There have always been strong women in pop culture, Grace Jones in the 1980s, for example. Now, however, we are almost at the point where they will be completely equal, these are exciting times. But for that we have to thank our moms and their moms who fought for us. My great-grandmother is a good example. There was a war in Morocco at the time, her husband died, they wanted to marry her to someone else, but she didn’t want to because she loved her husband. She dressed like a man and fled to Algeria with the children. She opened a store, still dressed like a man, and only her family knew that a woman was hiding under her dress. She lived like that until the children grew up. The women in my family are extremely strong.

You mentioned Grace Jones, is it your inspiration?

Without a doubt. I’ve never heard Grace Jones talk about feminism in interviews, she’s feminism. It is what it wants to be. That is freedom. When you no longer think about how you should behave as a man or a woman. Grace is not removed by the rules. She is strong but graceful at the same time.

You recently cut your long hair, which was your trademark …

In a society where we have Trump and extremism, people are locked in their armor, we are afraid of the new, we want everything to stay as it is. I’ve always said that I’m not afraid of change, that change is good, but at the same time I knew I was a hypocrite if I didn’t change what comfort and safety meant to me. I am a nomad, I live everywhere, my safety was my hair. Everyone knew me after that and talked about it. But I’m not my hair. I thought about shaving my head for a year. It was scary, but I did it.

What did it look like?

My hairdresser was shaking, saying I didn’t even know what my head looked like. I said to her: It is the way it is, shave me! She was shaking, hair was falling around me, and the feeling was extremely liberating. When I looked in the mirror, I saw a lot of power. All women have it, but we hide it. Men are afraid of shaved women, perhaps because they see their power. They teach us to be in the background, but we must no longer hide.

Is it weird for you now to sing the song Euphoria because you look completely different and people see you differently?

No. I feel like a flower, first it was closed and mysterious, then it opened up and told the truth. Your body is not your spirit, the connection between people has nothing to do with hair, eyes and body. Even then, I was a spiritual person, the performance was so dark for a reason. I wanted people to not only watch but feel. I commanded: No glitter, no light!

And this at a festival where everything revolves around glitter and lights…

(laughter) Don’t get me wrong, I like glitter and lights, you might see me in glitter at a show tomorrow, but that show would be ruined.

The Eurovision Song Contest is taking place right now, are you following it?

I don’t like watching TV because I find it hypnotizing us. But my team tells me what’s going on, they send me photos because they know I don’t like television and that I prefer to get information from people.

Sweden is always successful on it, what is your secret?

We take production seriously, people are committed. Viewers like to be included, because the voice of the spectators counts at the Melodifestivalen. We have great musicians and they introduce us to music very early in school. But it’s also true that it’s extremely cold in Sweden, so we’re not on the beach, but in the studio (laughs).

What would you advise a small country to do to be successful at the Eurovision Song Contest?

Don’t look at the bookmakers, and the story matters. Some look at who won last year and imitate, and that kills creativity. My advice is for the state to trust the musician, and for the musician to create and tell his story. Don’t look at what others are doing, what Beyoncé is doing, she’s already doing what she’s doing, it’s already happening. You have to ask yourself what you want to do.

When you competed in the Eurovision Song Contest, there was euphoria around Euphoria before, we all knew you would win. What did you do most right?

I found inspiration in myself, no one knew what I was doing, not even the producer. I protected my creativity at every turn. I had no idea about bookmakers, I didn’t go to parties, I didn’t read the tabloids. To this day, I don’t know what they wrote about me and what photos they posted. I was told I needed to know I could improve on something, but I didn’t want to. I knew it would take a lot of my energy. If they told me they didn’t like the way I sang, it would hurt me. Much like when you love someone and open your heart to everything, good and bad.

Your music and image are different now than they were then, did you intentionally go in a different direction to get away from Eurovision?

I thought about it a lot. Am I ashamed to have been to the Eurovision Song Contest, isn’t that cool enough? I found out that I love Eurovision, I still like my performance today, I am grateful for everything Euphoria has given me. Many times someone told me that the Eurovision Song Contest is not cool, and I replied: Run somewhere! How could I say for such a wonderful experience that it’s not cool enough for me? Either way, we’re cool because we’re women, though (laughs). I know more and more every day that the Eurovision Song Contest was a gift and that I would do it again if I had something to say and felt I could change something.

• Source: https://www.delo.si/kultura/glasba/loreen-o-tem-zakaj-se-moski-bojijo-obritih-zensk/
• Translation: via Google Translate, the translation may not be completely accurate