Lena Philipsson

Lena Philipsson
Philipsson in 2012
Background information
Birth name	Maria Magdalena Filipsson
Born	(1966-01-19) 19 January 1966 (age 51)
Origin	Sweden
Genres	Pop, Schlager
Years active	1984–present
Labels	Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Website	Lena Philipsson.se

Maria Magdalena "Lena" Philipsson (also known as Lena Ph; born 19 January 1966) is a Swedish singer,songwriter and media personality. She represented Sweden in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest, finishing fifth.

Philipsson was born in Vetlanda, Sweden. She participated in the Swedish New Faces in 1982. Her career started with the single Boy/You Open My Eyes in 1984 and with her entries at Melodifestivalen in 1986, 1987 and 1988. In 1987, she released the song 'Aquarius 99', a duet with the Russian composer Igor Nikolaev. In 1989, she had great success with the album My Name, which included top hits "Standing In My Rain", "Why," and "Leave A Light". In 1991, she recorded a concept album and show about a female secret agent, 'Agent 006'. In the early 1990s, her fame increased in Sweden, and she continued to release albums until 1997. In 2001, she had a stage comeback; the Lena Philipsson Show was sold out for two and a half years around Sweden. In 2004, she returned after a seven-year hiatus from the album charts.

In 2004, she entered Melodifestivalen for the fourth time as a solo artist, with "Det gör ont". She made it through the semifinal process and emerged as the winner on 20 March 2004, going on to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the translated English language version "It Hurts". The song, composed by Thomas Eriksson, combined up-tempo and disco themes. Philipsson's stage appearance caused much controversy in the Swedish press and media because her performance, in a short fuchsia pink dress and high heels, consisted of dancing with the microphone stand in a fashion similar to Aerosmith's Steven Tyler.

Despite being the third favourite to win the competition, she finished in joint 5th place. The album, Det gör ont en stund på natten men inget på dan, went gold in nine days, with "Det gör ont" as its lead single. It also spawned the singles "Delirium", "Lena Anthem" and "På gatan där jag bor".