Foto: Anne-Marie Forker
One of only two artists (the other is Ireland's Johnny Logan) who managed to win the Eurovision Song Contest twice, Swedish singer Loreen visited Oslo's Sentrum Scene as part of her European Tour 2025, after selling out Rockefeller in 2023.
Loreen has a powerful voice, which she uses to add to the anthemic feel of many of her songs. But it's not just her voice that gains the audience's attention, it's her aura, her unique stage presence. Raising her trademark claw-like nails above her head with effortless command, it was clear that this artist had the crowd in the palm of her hand from the first song. Surrounded by a circle of light that looked like a portal, Loreen emerged, dressed in shining metallic clothes that resembled armour, like a being from another world.
Early highlights of the set included the upbeat electronic "Gravity" and "Statements", which contained elements of "Another Brick In The Wall" by Pink Floyd. Although there were times when Sentrum Scene transformed into a dance hall, there were also more delicate moments,such as an acoustic section with an enchanting performance of "My Heart is Refusing Me".
A surprise of the evening was that the blockbuster Eurovision hit "Euphoria" was not in the encore. It came towards the end of the main set. Loreen commented that she had been singing the song for around 12 years now (it's been 13 years since the song won Eurovision in 2012). It started gently, with a beautiful acoustic intro where Loreen sang an octave lower in places, giving her more room to build to the climatic second part of the song where lights burst around the venue and you could almost feel the ground shake from the weight of the joyous dancing. "Euphoria" was a hard act to follow, but it was followed up well with the romantic exuberance and melancholy of Loreen's single "Is It Love" and her second Eurovision hit, "Tattoo".
The encore was the emotional and atmospheric "Fire Blue", a ballad where Loreen uses her voice like an instrument and it ebbs and flows, swelling with emotion as she put her hand on her heart, a sign of gratitude (earlier in the evening she had told the audience she was grateful to "serve" them). The performance of "Fire Blue" alone proved that Loreen is so much more than a Eurovision star.
