Alcazar

Alcazar biography

The group was created in 1998 with three members: Andreas Lundstedt, Tess Merkel (born Therese Merkel, 18 April 1970, Nykoping, Sweden), and Annikafiore Kjaergaard (born 18 May 1971, Bjarnum, Sweden). Their first single, Shine On, was successful in Sweden but it was with their second release, Crying At The Discotheque, that they achieved success across Europe. Both singles appeared on their debut album Casino. Later editions of Casino contained a cover of the Human League’s hit Don’t You Want Me, which also served as the album’s third single. In the United States, Alcazar gained moderate success. Crying At The Discotheque peaked at #44 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play and Don’t You Want Mepeaked at #30. In December 2002, Magnus Carlsson joined the group. The second album Alcazarized was released in Sweden in 2003 and became a big hit. It got an international release in 2004. In Autumn 2004 Alcazar released This Is The World We Live In. The track samples Diana Ross’s 1980 number one Upside Down and uses lyrics from Genesis’ 1986 single Land Of Confusion. Their follow-up single was entitled Physical. They released the album Dancefloor Deluxe in Sweden in August 2004. In the winter of 2004 they released the Christmas single Here I Am. Alcazar enjoyed considerable success in 2004 in their home country Sweden. This Is The World We Live In, Physical, Dancefloor Deluxe and Here I Am all achieved solid sales. 2005 saw the release of their single Start The Fire.Autumn of 2005 the band decided to take a break. Andreas moved on to musical (Saturday Night Fever) and Tess became a poker pro. In May 2007 the band did a one – off performance in London at legendary night club “G-A-Y” and invited friend Lina Hedlund to join them on stage. It all turned out to be a very successful combination and a few months later , the New Alcazar was formed. In January 2008 their first single We Keep On Rockin´ was released. Music and lyrics by long time team member Anders Hansson. We Keep On Rockin´ quickly turned in to a smash and only a week after release the single passed gold status in sales. In March 2009 the new album Disco Defenders was released in Sweden. The album contains two discs. Cd one: 12 brand new tracks like, We Keep on Rockin´, Burning, Harlem Nights, Stay the Night etc. Cd two: 11 best of songs, among them Crying at the Discoteque, This Is The World We Live In and Don’t You Want Me. Disco Defenders has received great reviews from the Swedish critics. Alcazar entered the Swedish pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest (Melodifestivalen) and reached 5th place in the final with the song Stay the night, which also became a big hit all over. During the summer Alcazar toured Sweden with their own show and was also part of the Rix fm festival. Alcazar worked a lot in Germany during 2009, doing TV shows and other performances. The German website www.alcazarworld.de was created. The famous childrens shoe store, Vincent Shoes, started collaborating with Alcazar in the autumn of 2009 and Alcazar designed a rubber boot and made a single for Vincent’s customers called One two three four. At the end of the year Alcazar did a cover of Wham’s classic Last Christmas, both the song and the video got a lot of praise. At the beginning of 2010 Alcazar announced that they would compete in Melodifestivalen again. This time with a song written by Tony Nilsson and Peter Boström, Headlines. On 20 February Headlines made it to Andra Chansen (second chance) after a splendid performance in Gothenburg.