Tonight she performs Melodifestivalen 2017’s last song Statements. QX took a quick date with Loreen before her third intermediate participation.

Loreen is one of the favorites in this year’s Melodifestival and tonight she competes with the song Statements. Both song and stage performance are very different from what we usually see on a Melodifestivalen stage. But Loreen has followed her heart and her version and has previously told that she is back at the Melodifestivalen because she has something to tell with Statements. And in front of three million viewers, Mello is a perfect forum to do so.
– I’m nervous, I wish I could say that I did this a couple of times and that everything is calm, but nothing is obvious. I have respect for this. There are so many elements in the performance that must be correct because otherwise it can be misinterpreted and that is not the point, she says when we meet in her box on Friday.

How did it feel to come here and do Statements in front of audience at rehearsal last Thursday?
– Good, But there is a lot to think about. And all of us have fought so hard for this and so I come here with a cold… It takes so much energy because I get so limited, and I usually do not be. And then I get fed up. Even if there was only one person sitting in front of me, I want to drive fully. I want to push it but I do not want to risk it getting worse. I place so much value in delivering.

But is it calm for Saturday?
– I hope so. Really. I take it easy… It looks like a kitchen in my hotel room. On my right side of the legend is a bowl of turmeric, a bowl of coconut oil, a bowl of honey and a bowl of ginger. I’m not joking. And I drink lots of water.

During your three minutes, a lot happens on stage, and there are many different references to everything from the lady who beats the Nazis with her purse to the French Revolution and Banksy. But you do not want to call the number political.
– Politics is getting so narrow… we are over politics. That is why I say we don’t need a statement. We are waiting for those in power to steer and set things in the right direction, and fall victim to their stupidity. I’m not a victim, I can take back the power and change… It starts here (Loreen points to her chest). The issue shows a small naive child, the thirteen-year-old who begins to get confused and feels fear, the twenty-year-old who is angry and begins to get involved, I who am the age I am, 30 plus, and the fifty-eighty-year-old who are the women I want to be. I want everyone to be able to connect with the performance, all the people on stage are parts of me.

You have already won Eurovision, do you feel that you are risking something by setting up again?
– People say that I am so brave doing this but why is it so brave. I do not think much about the competition, it does not let me bother. Of course I want to succeed but I am completely focused on making a good appearance and trying to get people to listen to what I have to say.

But do you understand that some will see your participation as a failure if you don’t win again?
– Yes, but it is human to think so. And it’s clear I’ll feel something if I don’t get through. But I do something completely different and this is a new chapter. I understand that some want me to do the same thing as theirs, and that I will disappoint some, but this is still me and my spiritual side is still there. I’m still me.

Ok, last question. After your participation in Reneés Brygga, you received headlines in the media that you are bisexual, even though you never put a label on yourself. Does it bother you that there is a need to put a label on you?
– There is probably some security in that, that you want to define. But for me… if it make you happy, fine, as well. I can be gay if you want. I can be gay, bi if you like, but the most important thing is that I do not see a difference between love… love is color, or colorless. What the hell, if love comes my way and it’s a woman, I should just say “No, no it must be a cock.” I don’t get the point.

• Source: https://www.qx.se/nyheter/139493/fem-minuter-med-loreen/
• Translation: via Google Translate, the translation may not be completely accurate