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The saga of Molly Sandén: From Junior Eurovision to vocals for a movie

07 August 2020 at 16:00 CEST
Molly Sandén performed as an interval act at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Yerevan EBU / Elke Roels
Molly Sandén represented Sweden at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest back in 2006. In the 14 years since, she has accumulated a long list of achievements including her performance in the 2011 interval act and multiple gigs at the Swedish selection show, Melodifestivalen. Now, she can add lead vocals in the international Netflix movie 'Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga' to that list.

If you think of Sweden at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, you think of the Sandén sisters. Mimmi was the last Sandén sister to represent the Scandinavian nation with the song Du in Kyiv where she reached 6th place. Frida represented Sweden two years before that with the song Nu Eller Aldrig which reached 8th place. However, the best result for the Sandén family was set by Molly with the song Det Finaste Någon Kan Få which placed third, becoming Sweden’s best ever result at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

In 2011, when the contest was held in Armenia’s capital Yerevan, Molly was asked to perform as an interval act alongside Armenian Junior and Eurovision stars Vladimir Arzumanyan and Sirusho. During the final she performed her, then new song, Spread A Little Light.

Life after Junior Eurovision
By that time, Molly Sandén had already performed in the Swedish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest once before. The selection show, called Melodifestivalen, is the most prestigious music television show in Sweden in which she has now participated in three times. In 2009 with the song Så vill Stjärnorna (That’s what the stars want), in 2011 with the song Why Am I Crying and in 2016 with the song Youniverse. She reached the final with all her entries, but was not yet able to win Sweden’s ticket to the Eurovision Song Contest.

I participated in Junior Eurovision when I was younger and it was my biggest dream to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest.”

In 2020, Molly unexpectedly reached the Eurovision Song Contest - but on the silver screen. The movie Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga, which was released worldwide on Netflix in late June, follows Lars Ericksson (played by Will Ferrell) and Sigrit Ericksdottir (played by Rachel McAdams) as they chase their dreams of representing Iceland at the Eurovision Song Contest. Molly was selected to sing all the vocals for Sigrit.

Molly released an interview on her own YouTube channel. “I was so happy when I was approached to do this. It felt like my 12 year old self would have jumped up and down screaming as if she had won the Eurovision Song Contest just by getting asked to do this, and sing these songs” Molly said.

She continued: “I think that both Eurovision lovers and haters will be moved by this movie. It has everything. And the music is crazy good! The lyrics are a bit funny, but the music is great - for real!”

There are many memorable moments in the movie. A lot of Eurovision artists show up to sing together and Eurovision fans from all over the world were impressed by the song Húsavik in which Molly hits an exceptional long high note.

“When I heard the demo of Húsavik, I immediately got goosebumps. It is a very good song! I think it could have won the real Eurovision Song Contest!” Molly said.

Molly Sandén’s journey in music is the perfect example of how the Junior Eurovision Song Contest can be a first step to a great music career. Will we ever see Molly perform for Sweden on the Eurovision stage? Time will tell!