It has been 30 years since Sanna Nielsen broke through as an artist. She has managed to win Melodifestivalen, host Allsången and sing her way through an entire nation. Now she is back in Mello with the song Waste Your Love. For domestic audiences, she talks about the buzz, the pressure, and the joy of making music three decades later.
MAGNUS RAGNVI PHOTO
We meet Sanna via Zoom. She is in the lobby of Scandic Malmö City, where she is currently doing a show in collaboration with comedian Robin Paulsson. Her hair is in a tight ponytail, and she is wearing a white jumper. Her smile is wide, even though she has a tight schedule after SVT announced the Melodifestivalen participants just a couple of days before our call.
Congratulations, how long have you been keeping the secret that you'll be competing in Melodifestivalen?
– Thanks. The entry was submitted in September. At the end of October, beginning of November, we received a response that the song had passed SVT's jury and was accepted for the competition. Sanna adds that it was a bit nerve-wracking waiting, but that she's glad she's experienced enough to keep her cool.
I do have a few years of experience, thirty to be exact, and I'm glad for that. So I felt I know how the process works when it comes to competitions like Mello. I know it takes time and that it might not happen. You can't be too eager. I'm glad I have children, because they take up my entire everyday life.
Does it feel strange that it's been 30 years since you started your career and 25 since you first
competed in Mello?
– Yes, it feels very strange. When someone pointed out to me that I'm celebrating my 30th anniversary as an artist in 2026, I thought: ”My God, did I break through when I was born?” I mean, considering so many years have passed, I should feel older on the inside! Sanna laughs and continues to say that it almost feels unreal when she looks back on her career.
– It’s very interesting when I go back and remember different moments from my career, it feels unreal. When I look through old albums and listen to all the songs I’ve recorded over the years, I realise how much I’ve accomplished. This is Sanna’s eighth time participating in Melodifestivalen. In 2014, she advanced to
The Eurovision final in Copenhagen and came third. Returning to the Melodifestivalen carousel once again was not a given for her.
"I had really closed that chapter after Eurovision 2014," she says. "I was happy and pleased with my performance and my third place." In 2025, Sanna was inducted into the Melodifestivalen Hall of Fame, which was established by SVT in 2020 to celebrate and highlight special achievements and unforgettable memories in the show's long history.
History.
– It was an honour to be chosen and I performed a long medley. Then I felt, ”this is my stage in a way”. We had already started planning for 2026, which is my anniversary year, and when I told my colleagues and record company that I was ready for a new chapter in Mello, they nearly fainted.
the neck. ”What do you mean? Are you ready for this?” they asked. I replied: ”I don't know, but we can give it a try.” For me, it's not just about the end goal, the will to win. I like the journey, it's important to have fun along the way too. Sanna started her career early, already at 11 years old.
– I’m happy and grateful that I got to start so early. When I was younger, I was obviously very ambitious and wanted to do everything and get ahead, I wanted to win Melodifestivalen, I wanted to do it all! That has of course been there and partly still is. But throughout my long journey, I’ve always had very good support thanks to my incredibly good parents, my management and the record label. They instilled in me from the start that it’s important to take things slowly, and they really encouraged me to be a child. It might sound boring, but I’m very grateful for everything I get to do and experience. Sanna says that there have been periods in her life where she has been sad and taken criticism and nasty comments from people to heart.
the music industry and on social media.
– I have often been hurt and wondered why I am not good enough as I am. But I have always known that this is how it is and that you have to learn not to take things to heart. I have worked a lot on strengthening my self-esteem and shedding performance anxiety. Today I feel stronger and I don't care as much about what other people think of me anymore. Sanna has previously said in interviews
that she would like to write songs on her own. When asked how the songwriting is going, she smiles and looks a bit embarrassed. She slowly shakes her head and says:
I've written a few song ideas, but I find it incredibly hard to tell if they're any good or not. I enjoy challenging myself and learning new things, but I'm a bit scared to open up my songwriting. I can sit at home and write, but I don't send it to anyone. I have the ideas on my phone and one day, perhaps, I'll dare to send them on. In addition to future dreams of writing her own songs, Sanna would like to act more, in a TV series or film.
– I'd like to be an actor in a series like Solsidan. I've done so many musicals and I find it very enjoyable. We'll see what the future holds.
3 Favourite songs in Melodifestivalen and Eurovision
“My first memory of Mello was when Carola Häggkvist won with ”Fångad av en stormvind". I was 7 years old and I was completely captured by the song and felt that I also wanted to stand on that stage.”
“Euphoria with Loreen is a modern classic that helped change Eurovision.”
“Céline Dion. She won Eurovision in 1988 with the song Ne partez pas sans moi, when she competed for Switzerland. It's a fantastic song.”
ANNA NIELSEN'S FAVOURITE SPOTS IN SWEDEN
Skåne. “I grew up in a small village outside Bromölla. I love visiting different places in Skåne; Österlen, Ystad and Barsebäck. I'm rarely there but it's very cosy.”
Dalarna. “I'm happy to go there in the winter. Especially now that I have children, it's fun to be in the snow. A couple of years ago, we celebrated Christmas in Dalarna with friends. It was very cold and the water froze. We couldn't cook all Christmas, but it was lovely all the same.”
Stockholm. “I live in Stockholm and when I'm free I enjoy going out into the archipelago. Utö is a favourite. It's lovely to wander around there and look at all the nice houses. It's nice to get away from the city for a while.”
Sanna Nielsen
Age: 41.
Occupation Singer, artist, presenter.
Bor Stockholm.
Family Partner Joakim Ramsell, guitarist, and 4-year-old son Gibson.
Background in brief: Sanna Nielsen first participated in various talent competitions at the age of 7. In 1996, she broke through at the age of 11 with the song "Till en fågel". Over the years, she has released several albums, had a large number of top-charting songs, toured the country many times over, received several fine awards for her fantastic singing, hosted "Allsång på Skansen" for seven consecutive summers, performed in several musicals and – not least – participated in Melodifestivalen seven times. The first time was in 2001. In 2014, she won Melodifestivalen and came third in Eurovision in Copenhagen with the song "Undo".
Currently This winter, Sanna is participating in Melodifestivalen for the eighth time. She will sing the song Waste Your Love in the final heat, which takes place in Sundsvall on February 28th. Melodifestivalen is broadcast on SVT. This spring and summer, Sanna will perform several anniversary concerts to celebrate 30 years as an artist.
