Jessica Andersson

Jessica Andersson
Jessica Andersson at Melodifestivalen 2010
Background information
Birth name	Jessica Arvidsson
Born	(1973-10-27) 27 October 1973 Spånga, Stockholm, Sweden
Genres	Pop
Years active	2003 – present
Associated acts	Fame Magnus Bäcklund

Jessica Elisabeth Andersson (born Jessica Arvidsson in Spånga, Stockholm on 27 October 1973) is a Swedish singer. She was part of the Swedish duo Fame with Magnus Bäcklund between 2002 and 2006 after they met at the reality television show Fame Factory. After the break up of the band, she developed a solo singing career, releasing two albums, Wake Up in 2009 and 40.14.4 in 2013. She also appeared five times in Melodifestivalen competitions, twice as part of Fame duo in 2003 and 2004 and three times as solo in 2006, 2007 and 2010. As Fame, she went on to represent Sweden in Eurovision Song Contest 2003 held in Riga, Latvia with "Give Me Your Love" finishing fifth.

Beginnings and in Fame Factory

Before becoming a TV celebrity, she worked amongst others as a singer in the floor show Svensk Schlager in Trollhättan where she resided. She also worked as a fashion model, including appearing in the magazine Café.

She gained fame after taking part in the 2002 series of the television show Fame Factory where she was pregnant through a relation with musician Jonas Erixon. The Swedish record manager Bert Karlsson proposed to put her in a duo with another Fame participant Magnus Bäcklund. The duo was called Fame. She was voted Sweden's sexiest woman in 2003.

In Fame

Fame was formed in 2003 and under that banner, she took part in 2003 in Melodifestivalen under the name Fame, with the "Give Me Your Love" that earned favour with the Swedish public and the jury winning in a landslide victory in Melodifestivalen 2003 at the Stockholm Globe Arena. They went on to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, eventually garnering 107 points, which put them in fifth place.

With Eurovision success, Fame put up a full studio album also titled Give Me Your Love. It included 14 tracks, 11 in English and 3 in Swedish. The tracklist had 8 songs performed by the duo, 4 solo tracks by Jessica Andersson herself (i.e. "Ett kort ögonblick", "Single Girl", "Anyway You Want It" and "Säg att du stannar kvar") and 2 solo tracks by Magnus Bäcklund

In 2004, Fame tried yet again for Melodifestivalen 2004, this time with "Vindarna vänder oss" ("The Winds Turn Us"), finishing just sixth overall. Fame folded in 2006, with both continuing with solo careers.

Solo career

Jessica Andersson took part in Melodifestivalen 2006 with the song "Kalla nätter" appearing in the third semi-final on 4 March 2006, but could not qualify to the final after coming fifth in her semi-final round.

Jessica Andersson took part in Melodifestivalen 2007 with the song "Kom" earning a place in the "Andra Chansen" (a second chance) on 10 February 2007. On 3 March 2007, in eliminations, she won the first round over Elin Lanto but lost the second against Sanna Nielsen and did not reach the final.

In the Melodifestivalen 2010, she took part again "I Did It for Love" first singing on 6 February 2010 in the semi-finals earning a "second chance" eventually qualifying for the Final 10 where she finished 8th overall.

She has regularly taken part in summer Diggiloo tour across Sweden several times. In 2007-2008, she played the female lead in the musical Little Shop of Horrors, that had a long run at the Halmstad theatre. She eventually won the Guldmasken award, equivalent to the American Tony Awards. She was picked for Trollhättans Park of Fame. In 2011, she took part in Let's Dance 2011 the popular series' sixth season in Sweden on the TV4 channel. She partnered with Kristjan Lootus winning the title on the finale broadcast on March 25, 2011.

Personal life

Andersson (born Arvidsson) lived in Spånga, Hagfors, Lidköping and Skövde, and since 1997 has been residing in Trollhättan. She married singer Rickard Andersson from 1994 to 1996 and has kept her husband's family name even after separation. She has one son, Liam born on 29 October 2002, from a relation with musician Jonas Erixon.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Musical theatre

• 2007-2008: Little Shop of Horrors - lead role

References