Biography

Måns Zelmerlöw, whose full name is Måns Petter Albert Sahlén Zelmerlöw, was born on June 13th, 1986 in Lund, Sweden. His mother, Birgitta Sahlén, is professor of speech therapy at the University of Lund, and his father, Sven-Olof Zelmerlöw, is a specialist in surgery. Måns has a younger sister.

Måns came into contact with music at an early age. His parents signed him up for piano lessons, but he didn’t really enjoy it. One of his friends played the guitar, and Måns also practiced playing and this instrument was more to his taste, and he also enjoyed singing a lot.

He attended the music-oriented branch of the Lars Erik Larsson School in Lund and was part of the school choir project. In 2002 he played one of the brothers in the musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" which was performed at Slagthuset in Malmö. In his third year of high school, Måns played the lead role in "Little Shop of Horrors" at the city theatre in Lund.

2005-2006 - Idols / Let's Dance

The first major public appearance for Måns was in 2005 in the second season of the Swedish edition of Idols. He was able to convince the jury with his version of "Hero" (by Enrique Iglesias). After 8 weeks on the show, he finished fifth.

After Idols, Måns was initially unsure of what his future would look like. But finally in 2006 he was asked to take part in the first Swedish edition of the dance show "Let's Dance". After an initial hesitation, he took part. A complete success, because he finally won the first season with his dance partner Maria Karlsson, and it became a step stone for his further career.

In 2006 he also played the leading role of Danny Zuko in the Swedish version of the musical "Grease" in Malmö. He signed a recording contract and began to write songs.

2007-2008 - Melodifestivalen / Cara Mia / Stand By For

In 2007 Måns took part in the Melodifestivalen, the Swedish preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest, with the song "Cara Mia". He reached third place. However, "Cara Mia" quickly reached number one in the Swedish charts and even went double-platinum. His first album "Stand by for…" was released a short time later and also stormed the charts in Sweden and was awarded gold. Other singles were "Brother Oh Brother", "Work Of Art (Da Vinci)" and "Miss America". Måns made his debut as a presenter at Lilla Melodifestivalen 2007.

Måns played the role of Tommy in 2007/2008 in the musical "Footloose", which was performed in Gothenburg and Stockholm. In 2008 he was part of the "Diggiloo Tour" along with many other singers.

2009 - Melodifestivalen / Hope & Glory / MZW

In 2009 Måns took part again at the Melodifestivalen with the song "Hope & Glory". At first he led the competition, as he had received the most points from the jury. However, after the televoting points were awarded, he reached fourth place in the end.

His second album "MZW" was released shortly afterwards in March 2009. This also reached number 1 in the Swedish charts and was awarded gold.

Måns could also be heard as the dubbing voice of the character Lem in the Swedish version of the animated film "Planet 51".

2010 - Melodifestivalen / Christmas With Friends

At Melodifestivalen 2010 you could see Måns again, but this time as a host alongside Christine Meltzer and Dolph Lundgren. However, he also sang, for example the songs "A View To A Kill" in the show and "Eye Of A Tiger" together with the others.

In April Maria Haukaas Storeng’s single "Precious To Me" was released, on which Måns can also be heard besides her. In the summer they played the song live at various television appearances.

At the end of the year he was seen again in a musical: As Romeo in "Romeo and Juliet", which premiered at Göta Lejon in Stockholm in December. He was also previously seen in the associated casting show "Jakten på Julia", in which the role of Julia was casted, which in the end was won by Lisette Pagler.

In November 2010 Måns released the Christmas album "Christmas with Friends…", on which he interprets English and Swedish Christmas carols, some of them together with other artists.

In February 2011 he could even be heard in the cinema, as the dubbing voice of Flynn Rider for the Swedish version of Disney’s "Tangled", with the Swedish title "Trassel".

2011-2013 - Allsång På Skansen / Kära Vinter

In the following years Måns could still be seen as a moderator. Because he took over the moderation of the music show "Allsång På Skansen", which is popular in Sweden, for three summers from 2011 to 2013. The show has taken place once a week since 1990 in the open-air museum Skansen on Djurgården in Stockholm and is broadcasted live on television.

On December 19th, 2011 the album "Kära Vinter" was released. It is a re-release of "Christmas With Friends ...", which also includes the single "Kära Vinter".

In cooperation with the Barncancerfonden (Childhood Cancer Foundation) he released the single "Ett lyckligt slut" in 2012. You can also hear him in the song "Mountain Duet" with Anja Steinlechner, a song interpreted by the Swedish male choir Orphei Drängar.

For the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 Måns took part in the SVT TV show "Inför Eurovsion Song Contest" in which the jury consisting of Måns, Lena Philipsson, Gina Dirawi, Thomas Lundin, Lisette Pagler, and Christer Björkman as the presenter, judged the entries of the individual countries before the ESC.

During the many appearances as a host, Måns began to miss the music and so he announced in 2013 that he would record a new studio album. He went to Barcelona with some friends to write his new songs there. The first single from the new album was "Broken Parts". In autumn 2013 he again played one of the main roles, Dante, in a musical: the new edition of "Spök".

2013 was also the founding year of the Zelmerlöw & Björkman Foundation, a foundation set up by Jonas Björkman and Måns to support children and vulnerable youth in South Africa and to encourage them through education and the development of their creativity. Both of them had already been involved in charitable events, but the establishment of the foundation gave them further opportunities to track the results of their support.

2014 - Barcelona Sessions

At the beginning of 2014 another single "Run For Your Life" was released. The album "Barcelona Sessions" followed in February. It’s a much more personal album than the previous ones, formed by Måns’ new style of music.

2015 - Melodifestivalen & Eurovision Song Contest / Heroes / Perfectly Damaged

2015 turned out to be Måns’ big year. For the third time he took part at the Melodifestivalen, this time with the song "Heroes". With 288 points he won the competition and represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest.

He won the second semi-final with 217 points and qualified for the final. This took place on May 23rd, 2015, and he won this as well. With his song and his performance, in which he can be seen next to the animated stick figure MP, he was able to delight the audience and received a total of 365 points. This victory made him known all over Europe, and he stormed the top of the charts in various countries with "Heroes".

His fourth album "Perfectly Damaged" was released in June. In addition to many promo appearances and guest appearances at festivals all over Europe, a European tour finally followed, with which he was able to realize a great dream of him. As the second single the song "Should've Gone Home" was released from the album. The single was also released in French under the title "Je Ne Suis Qu’un Homme" and a special music video has been produced. In this video all movements are played backwards. In order for this to look appropriate in the video after editing, Måns memorized to sing the complete song backwards.

2016 - Eurovision Song Contest / Chameleon

In May 2016 the Eurovision Song Contest was held in Stockholm. Måns hosted the show together with Petra Mede. Måns presented his songs "Heroes" and the new single "Fire In The Rain" during the semi-finals and in the finals. He also sang the two now legendary interval acts "The Story Of ESC" and "Love, Love, Peace, Peace", which was later also released as a single. His fourth album was re-released under the name "Perfectly Re: Damaged" with "Fire In The Rain".

In the summer of 2016 Måns sang alongside Joshua Radin on his single "Belong".

From October 2016 he can be seen with Alexander Wiberg in "Chevaleresk", a small but fine TV show with and about style, but unfortunately only available in Swedish.

His seventh studio album "Chameleon" was released in December 2016. The first single of this album, "Hanging On To Nothing", was released in August. This single was also released in French in November with the title "Rien Que Nous Deux". Shortly before the album was released, another single, "Glorious", was released. With the new album, Måns went on a European tour again.

2017-2018 - Eurovision Song Contest

At the beginning of 2017 he took on a role as voice actor again, this time in the animated film "Trolls", in which he speaks and sings the character Branch (Swedish: Kvist).

In addition to "Trolls" you could hear him singing on another occasion in 2017, for the French re-edition of the musical "Saturday Night Fever", he sings the theme song "Stayin’ Alive" besides Julian Perretta and Francesco Yates, as well as another song, "Jive Talkin’".

Måns was also part of the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 again. First you could see him in a sketch with the three Ukrainian hosts, showing them how to become the perfect ESC moderator. He is also the co-commentator alongside Edward af Sillén for Swedish television SVT.

In autumn 2017 Måns could be seen making his acting debut in Jordskott, a Swedish television series with crime and mystery elements. He can be seen in the second season in episode 7 and plays the character Henrik Riksäter.

Måns also remained loyal to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2018 as well, in this case co-hosted the British preliminary round in February 2018 alongside Mel Giedroyc at BBC Eurovision: You Decide. In the opening number he sang an ABBA medley with the former British ESC participant Lucie Jones.

Another single from the album "Chameleon" is "Happyland", which could also be heard more often in Germany, as it was chosen as the theme song for the children’s advertising campaign on the occasion of the company’s 50th birthday. "Happyland" was also published as a French version with the title "Happyland (Ce Monde Parfait)".

March 2018 started the second season of Chevaleresk with Alexander Wiberg and Måns on Swedish television. The Chevaleresk podcast was also available over the summer. And in October 2018 the book "Den Moderna Gentlemannen" was published by both, in which you can find a lot of stylish information related to the Chevaleresk series.

Måns’ and his life partner Ciara Janson’s son was born in May 2018. During the first months he devoted himself more to being a parent and worked on new songs in the background.

2019 - Eurovision Song Contest / Time / The Grand Wonderland Show

From 2019 there was again more official news regarding his music or television appearances. In February 2019 he was again the co-moderator besides Mel Giedroyc of the British preliminary decision at BBC Eurovision: You Decide, in which, among other things, he musically led through the most successful ESC songs in Great Britain.

In March 2019 Måns released his new single "Walk With Me", which he recorded with the Swedish singer Dotter. It was the first single of his new album and it was performed live for the first time at Melodifestivalen in the show Andra Chansen.

In May it was announced that he would release two more singles, "Better Now" and "Grow Up To Be You". He also traveled to Bolivia for Unicef and presented "Grow Up To Be You" in the associated TV gala.

That year he was part again of the Eurovision Song Contests, which was held in Israel. In the interval act, four ESC artists sang one song of each other, so Måns’ song "Heroes" was sung by Conchita Wurst, and Måns sang "Fuego" by Eleni Foureira, which was also released as a separate single. All of them sang a version of "Hallelujah" at the end.

A happy event took place in Croatia in September 2019: Måns married his life partner Ciara Janson, a British actress and voice-over artist who now also carries the name Zelmerlöw. They both live near London with Ciara’s son and the son of both of them.

On October 18th, 2019, Måns released his eighth studio album "Time", which is as he says is the most personal of his albums until that day. It represents a chronological journey in his life in two chapters. He presented the album during a small tour in Sweden. In November, the song "One" of the album was released as another single.

In November and December 2019 Måns was seen in the Christmas show "The Grand Wonderland Show", which was held at the Grand Hôtel Stockholm. There he presented classic English and Swedish Christmas carols, but also his own songs, in a specially revised composition.

2020 - Eurovision Song Contest / Tomten & Bocken

In 2020 he went to Australia, where he became a jury member at Eurovision: Australia Decides. On this occasion he also re-recorded his single "Walk With Me" with the Australian singer and ESC participant Dami Im, who both presented live in the preliminary round.

And Måns was also again a part at Melodifestivalen 2020. Together with Lill Lindfors he sang the song "Nygammal Vals" at the show Andra Chansen. In addition, he was inducted into the Hall Of Fame because of his victory at the ESC 2015.

So far, Måns had mainly released singles in English. A Norwegian / Swedish single was added in April 2020. He sings the single "Gamle Dager" together with the Norwegian artist Morgan Sulele, with Morgan singing the Norwegian text passages and Måns taking over the Swedish ones.

Another single from the album "Time" was released at the end of April, it was "On My Way". The song is a letter to his younger self. Well-fitting with this, the music video was provided with old private recordings from the corresponding time periods.

On August 21st, the song "Mirror" was released as a further single from the album. The song is dedicated to Måns’ wife Ciara.

Unfortunately, the corona pandemic also left its mark on Måns’ surroundings. The planned summer tour in Sweden and a third European tour could not take place and had to be postponed until further notice. The Zelmerlöw & Björkman Foundation could not, as usual, hold its annual big donation gala. As an alternative, the online charity concert "Walk With Us" was launched on September 7th, 2020, at which not only Måns but also other artists such as Dotter, Oscar Zia and many others performed.

The Christmas show by Måns and comedian Per Andersson "Tomten & Bocken – En Slags Julshow" was launched in November, taking into account the relevant safety requirements. Edward af Sillén will direct the show. The show was a mixture of a lot of music, Christmas carols, but also some of Mån’s hits, and various sketches and parodies. The premiere was on November 13th, 2020 at the Hamburger Börs in Stockholm. Unfortunately, after the corona measures were tightened, the show had to be cancelled after 7 shows. So it was decided to record the last show in front of an audience and to broadcast it later as an online stream.

Måns also wrote the new single "Alone On Christmas Eve" for the show, which was released on November 6th, 2020. A song for everyone who has to spend the Christmas days alone at home due to the pandemic.

2021 - Melodifestivalen / Circles and Squares / Come Over Love / Masked Singer Sverige

A brand new project by Måns was announced on February 10th, 2021, he was launching his first own wine, Hola MZ Cava by Måns Zelmerlöw. He associates his time in Barcelona with cava, so he decided on this type of wine first. It has been available across Europe via its own website since April and there are plans to bring out more wine varieties.

On February 19th, 2021 a new single, a duet with the Russian Polina Gagarina - the runner-up at the ESC 2015, was released: "Circles and Squares". The song was the official anthem for the World Figure Skating Championship, which took place in Stockholm from March 22nd-28th, 2021.

At the end of February, XPLORA.se announced that Måns would be the new ambassador for the smartwatch for children. An information film and four commercials were also shot, the first of them was released in May.

The Melodifestivalen was held again in Sweden in 2021. Due to the pandemic, however, it was different than usual without an audience and all shows took place in Stockholm. In the final on March 16th, 2021, Måns hosted the Swedish preliminary decision for the ESC besides Shima Niavarani and Christer Björkman. As an interval act, Måns also presented his new single "Come Over Love", which was released immediately after the show.

From March 26th, 2021, the weekly TV4 show "Masked Singer Sverige" was broadcasted, in which Måns was in the jury of the first season besides Pernilla Wahlgren, Felix Herngren and Nour El Refai. The show was hosted by David Hellenius and had 9 episodes in the first season.

At the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, Måns found another place in the show. As one of the former winners, he was seen besides Lordi and others at the interval act "Rock The Roof".

In summer of 2021, Måns toured through Sweden with his band The Agreement. Due to the Covid restrictions, these were only open-air concerts.

On August 17th, Måns launched his second wine. MZ Raval, a red wine. As a second red wine, this time in a 3 liter aluminum barrel, MZ Barrik complemented the MZ Wines portfolio from October 8th, 2021.

At the end of the year he could be seen in a popular Swedish comedy series, "Solsidan". His wife Ciara also made a guest appearance and they both played themselves in episode 8 of season 7.

2022 - MZ Wines / Masked Singer Sverige / What You Were Made For / Så Mycket Bättre / A Grand X-mas

2022 also began with various projects: The recordings of the second season of Masked Singer Sverige began in January. The broadcast of the new 9 episodes started on March 25th, 2022 on TV4.

On February 8th, Hola MZ Cava Rosé was launched as a fourth wine.

At Melodifestivalen 2022 he was part of the Skåne song sung by Oscar Zia in the first show and he was connected via video feed to give Oscar a comment.

In spring there were news from Chevaleresk. In collaboration with High Coast Whisky, the first Chevaleresk whiskey was launched on April 14th: Primavera (Italian for spring). It is the first in a series of four based on the Italian names of the four seasons. The second whisky, Autunno (autumn) followed on 09/23/2022.

On May 20th there were more musical news: the new single "What You Were Made For" was released. It is in the 80s style and is the first single of the album coming in 2023, which will also be based on the music style of the 80s and early 90s. The music video for the single, also in the best 80s style, was released on July 29, 2022.

In the summer, Måns and his band The Agreement went all over Sweden on Unmasked Tour 2.0. In addition to well-known hits, Swedish cover songs and cover songs from the 80s, they also played the new single and a second new song "Midsummer Love". As a thank you to the fans, Måns also released the song as a single after the tour on September 2.

A major television project followed in autumn: he took part in the Swedish television show "Så Mycket Bättre", in which various singers interpret each other´s songs. It was recorded on Gotland back in June. Måns guest-starred in 5 of the episodes and provided 4 new songs as his own renditions: "Faller (Tell Her)" by Molly Hammar, "Sober (Mer För Varandra)" by Norlie & KKV, "Hatar Dig" by Daniela Rathana and "This Is The One" by Anna Ternheim. His songs were also interpreted in new ways by the other artists: "Cara Mia" by Norlie & KKV, "När jag gick bredvid dig" (Walk With Me) by Anna Ternheim, "Vi kan vinna" (Hope & Glory) by Nordman and "Heroes" by Johnossi. As a Christmas present to his fans, the 4 songs were also released as acoustic versions on December 23, 2022.

On November 1st there was another addition to the MZ Wines family. Just in time for the holidays, the previous successful cava got a big brother: the MZ Cava Magnum in the 1500 ml Magnum bottle.

It was already announced in the spring that Måns and Carola will be going on a big Christmas tour through the Swedish arenas in winter to present the joint show "A Grand X-mas". Together with a 13-headed band and choir, the two performed a mixture of modern and classic Christmas carols in English and Swedish. But of course they also perform their own Christmas carols, as well as some other songs in duet, like Måns´ "Children Of Tomorrow" or a cover of "You´re The Voice". As a special encore, the two sang their ESC winning titles "Heroes" and "Främling" as a joint ballad. The Christmas song "Let´s Sing (It´s Christmas Time)" was released as a single in advance on November 11th, 2022.

2023 - Idrottsgalan / Vårskrik / Nightcaps / Tomten och Bocken

In January 2023, Måns took on a presenter role again. Alongside Pernilla Wiberg, he hosted Idrottsgalan, a major Swedish sports gala, live from the Aviccii Arena in Stockholm on SVT1 on 16 January 2023.

On 1 February, the MZ Wines family received another addition. This time it was a new variety, a still rosé wine: MZ Rosé.

In March and April, a big tour through Sweden was on the schedule. This time, however, it was a premiere for Måns: with his Vårskrik Tour (Spring Cry), he went on a concert hall tour through 20 Swedish cities for the first time, plus a stop in London. He and his band "The Agreement" played to a seated audience.

In the spirit of the tour motto and as the opening song of the Vårskrik Tour, Måns recorded a single together with his band for the first time. The song "Andetag" was released on 7 April 2023, is in Swedish and inspired by Astrid Lindgren’s book character Ronja, the robber’s daughter.

At the same time, from 31 March 2023, the third season of Masked Singer Sverige was broadcast. Once again, Måns was on the jury alongside the old familiar cast and had to guess the celebrities behind the masks. And this time he had a particularly hard time, because even his own wife, Ciara Zelmerlöw, was hiding behind the Viking, without him having any idea about this.

Måns was also busy in May 2023. This year, the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 was held in Liverpool, UK (on behalf of Ukraine). The British broadcaster BBC produced various programmes around the contest. Among them was the new podcast about the ESC, the Eurovisioncast. Måns, Nina Warhurst, Daniel Rosney and Ngunan Adamu hosted the weekly podcast. And in the two semifinals of the ESC, Måns was also involved, in a small match against Filomena Cautela. And for Swedish television SVT, he commented on the final with Edward af Sillén, just as they did in 2017.

From 23 May 2023, the third whisky in the Chevaleresk whisky series of the four seasons was offered for sale: Estate (Summer).

Summer 2023 brought a lot of new music. On 2 June, Måns released the EP "Så Mycket Bättre - Tolkningarna Extended", which included 3 new versions of Faller. A short time later, on 16 June, Måns & The Agreement released the single "Running Low". It is the song Måns originally wanted to compete with at Melodifestivalen 2015. And on 11 August, the third single from Måns & The Agreement followed: "Perfectly Damaged". Måns played the song that also gave the name to the album in 2015, a few times during the Heroes Tour 2015, but it remained unreleased until 2023.

The complete EP from Måns & The Agreement finally followed on 13 October: "Nightcaps", with the three previously released singles and two new songs: History and Side Effects.

In keeping with the season, the fourth and final whisky in the Chevaleresk seasons edition was released on 15 November 2023: Inverno (Winter).

Måns gave us a full Christmas program in winter 2023, not only releasing another Christmas single of his own with "Christmas Christmas Everywhere", but also reuniting with comedian Per Andersson. Both returned with Tomten och Bocken, but this time the pair took the big stages in 12 cities across Sweden and spread Christmas cheer with their new show "Tomten och Bocken Rider Igen".

2024 - Idrottsgalan / Björnzone / Tour / MZ Beans & Grapes

Måns started the new year in January 2024 by hosting the 25th anniversary of the Idrottsgalan sports gala alongside Carolina Klüft, which was broadcasted live from Stockholm.

And in the fourth season of Masked Singer Sverige, Måns was once again a permanent member of the jury alongside Pernilla Wahlgren, Felix Herngren, Nour El Refai and David Hellenius as host.

In March 2024, however, he could also be seen again at the Melodifestivalen final, this time in a very special role as a band member of Björn Gustafsson’s super boy band Björnzone, not only to win first place as the 13th participant, but above all the heart of host Carina Berg. Other members were the Swedish stars Eric Saade, Loa Falkman, Filip Berg, Adam Lundgren, Casper Jarnebrink, Victor Leksell, Boris René and Ulrik Munther. They may not have won Carina’s heart with their song "Still The One", but they took the hearts of every viewer in Sweden by storm.

In the summer of 2024, Måns went on a big summer concert tour with "Överallt men Ingenstans" throughout Sweden. He also performed three new songs in Swedish, which were intended as a taster for the upcoming Swedish album. Originally, a few stops in Poland were also planned during the tour, for which he recorded a new version of one of his previous singles together with Polish singer Ola Kędra: "Walk With Me / Chodź ze mną".

In the summer, he combined two of his great passions in a new project, wine and coffee. He rebuilt an old horse trailer into a pop-up lounge, opened it under the name "MZ Beans & Grapes" on a meadow in the heart of Båstad, and accompanied by a DJ and live music, small snacks as well as his wines from MZ Wines and coffee specialities with his own roast MZ Coffee, which will be available in the future, were served here throughout the summer. For 6 weeks, "MZ Beans & Grapes" became the trendy meeting place in the city.

On 30 October, there was a further addition to the MZWines wine range. With the "MZ Cape Collection", Måns has fulfilled a dream of his heart, as the wine comes from Wellington in South Africa from Napier Vineyards. It was in South Africa that Måns discovered his passion for wine, which is why this release means so much to him. It is a limited edition with only 1000 bottles and his wife Ciara also contributed to this edition and artistically designed the label.

The participants for Melodifestivalen 2025 were announced at the end of November and Måns will also be competing again. With his new song "Revolution", he wants to win again 10 years after his victory with Heroes and in his 20th anniversary year as an artist and represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest for a second time.

A few days later, on 29 November, the eagerly awaited reunion took place, as Björnzone returned with a new Christmas single "A Christmas Song". They also recorded a video clip to go with it, which, like the performance of "Still The One" before it, also plays with the typical boy band clichés.

November 2024