Måns & Christmas

A Christmas without Måns Zelmerlöw has been almost unthinkable for many years now. That Måns is particularly fond of these days is shown by the fact that - almost every year since the early years of his career - he either has released Christmas music, has taken part in major Christmas galas or has toured Sweden with his own Christmas shows.

This page gives an overview of the Christmas projects he has been involved with so far, categorised by subject area.

Music

At Melodifestivalen 2024, Måns joined the super boyband Björnzone in the mellanakt. The big reunion of the celebrated band took place on 29 November and, as a special surprise, Björnzone had a Christmas single in their luggage: A Christmas Song spreads the most wonderful Christmas spirit in typical boyband garb. The accompanying music video also plays with the typical clichés. A merry, funny and hot Christmas with Björnzone is guaranteed!

Christmas Christmas Everywhere is currently Måns´ last own Christmas single, released on 10 November 2023 ahead of the Christmas tour "Tomten och Bocken Rider Igen". It is a loving tribute to the Christmas season and a reminder of the power of Christmas to bring people together. The song was written by Peter Kvint and Sharon Vaughn.

These two also wrote, alongside David Lindgren Zacharias, the single Let´s Sing (It´s Christmas Time) for Carola and Måns. A song that Carola and Måns also sang together in their Christmas show A Grand X-Mas. The single was released two weeks before the premiere of the show on 11.11.2022. The music video for the single shows excerpts from the show.

A year earlier, in 2020, Måns released the single Alone On Christmas Eve, an outstretched hand to all those who had to spend Christmas alone due to the pandemic that year. The song was also part of the show Tomten och Bocken - En Slags Julshow with Per Andersson. Some excerpts from this show are shown in the music video, in which Måns also walks through wintry Stockholm.

Christmas was a big theme for Måns in 2011 and 2010, as an entire Christmas album was released in both years. At first Christmas With Friends was released on 15 November 2010, on which Måns presents 11 Christmas songs, classical and modern, in English and Swedish, and some together with fellow singers. On 19 November 2011, Kära Vinter was released as a re-release of Christmas With Friends, with a slight change to the track list. The eponymous single Kära Vinter, for example, is only included on this album.

The first Christmas music release was in 2007, when Måns and Agnes Carlsson, also known from Idols, appeared in the MQ clothing chain´s Christmas campaign. A duet with both of them was also released as a single for the campaign on 10 December 2007, a cover of the well-known Christmas song All I Want For Christmas Is You.

Christmas Shows

In the beginning, Måns was often part of a larger ensemble at Christmas shows (see next section), but in recent years he has performed as the main act in his own show or together with Carola or Per Andersson.

Måns has a special friendship and artistic collaboration with Per. In 2020, the year of the coronavirus pandemic, the two decided to produce a Christmas show together under the health and safety regulations in force at the time to bring people some joy again. Under the direction of Edward af Sillén, they created a mixture of sketches and parodies, as well as Christmas songs and hits by Måns. The result could be seen in the show Tomten och Bocken - En Slags Julshow. The premiere took place on 13 November 2020 at the Hamburger Börs in Stockholm. Unfortunately, the show had to be cancelled after 7 performances due to stricter regulations. The last performance was recorded and made available for online streaming a little later.

In 2023, the show with Måns and Per was finally to be continued. And so they went on a major Swedish tour with Tomten och Bocken Rider Igen in November and December 2023. This time, under the direction of Klas Wiljergård, they wrote new sketches and rehearsed new songs, while opera singer Sanna Gibbs made a guest appearance as a further musical highlight. A few of the gems from the 2020 show also found a place in the sequel. Following the success of the show, the two have already indicated that they will definitely return together.

Måns has also worked with Carola on several occasions. In addition to the Eurovision Song Contest, Carola is also known in Sweden as the Queen of Christmas, she has released several Christmas albums and songs and usually organises an annual Christmas concert in her castle. In 2022, Måns and Carola teamed up to organise a joint Christmas show, A Grand X-Mas, and toured Sweden´s arenas. Together with a 13-headed band and choir, they performed classic Swedish and English Christmas songs, as well as some other non-Christmas songs and, of course, some of their own hits.

However, The Grand Wonderland Show kicked off the big Christmas shows in 2019. From the end of November to December 2019, Måns and his 7-headed band Zappanone performed a mix of classic and original Christmas songs, as well as some of Måns´ own songs, to the traditional Christmas table in the winter garden of the Grand Hôtel in Stockholm.

Participation in Galas

In recent years, Måns has performed in his own Christmas shows, but before that he was a member of a larger ensemble in various established Christmas galas that toured Sweden every year with different well-known Swedish artists.

The Christmas gala "Stjärnklart" marks the beginning (at least as far as we know), in which Måns first took part in 2008 alongside Marie Fredriksson and Lisa Nilsson, among other artists, under the orchestral direction of Anders Berglund,. In 2014, he rejoined the Stjärnklart ensemble alongside Jerry Williams, Miss Li, Babben Larsson and Sonja Aldén, again under the direction of Anders Berglund. And the last time he accompanied the ensemble of the gala in winter 2017, when he was joined by the other two Eurovision winners Carola and Loreen, as well as Ace Wilder and Petra Marklund. That year, the Christmas gala was hosted by the well-known presenter David Hellenius.

In the winter of 2009, Måns toured Sweden with Sanna Nielsen, Shirley Clamp and Sonja Aldén and the "Julkonserten - Our Christmas". The Christmas gala celebrated its 20th anniversary that year and the four artists performed many classic and modern Christmas songs, but also sang a selection of their own Melodifestivalen hits. The gala also included various show acts, in which Måns played a special role as the only man alongside the three women. The continuation of Julkonserten followed in the winter of 2010, although Måns was heavily involved in other projects that year due to his leading role in the musical "Romeo och Julia" and he also released his own Christmas album "Christmas with Friends". So he was unable to take part in the entire tour, but he did appear as a guest in 7 shows. In 2012, Julkonserten should have continued with Måns again, accompanied by Hanna Lindblad, Anna Nilsson, Hannah Holgerson and a 15-headed band, but unfortunately the entire tour was cancelled.

In the year of his Eurovision victory in 2015, he joined the "Julgalan" ensemble and performed at some of the stops on the Christmas tour, including Karlstad, Lidköping, Helsingborg and Malmö.

In the winter of 2016, Måns was one of the changing artists who performed at the big "Vintergalan". In Malmö, for example, he sang some of his own hits as well as various cover songs in the show. In 2018, he also took part in the 6-day Vintergalan tour with other well-known artists from the show ensemble.

Eurovision winner Carola is also known in Sweden as the Queen of Christmas, as she usually celebrates the festive season every year with her own Christmas shows. Before she teamed up with Måns at "A Grand X-Mas", he was at first a guest alongside Mariette in an episode of her Christmas show "Carolas Advent" in 2019, which was also broadcasted on television.

In the year of the corona pandemic 2020, there were no big Christmas shows in arenas or similar in Sweden either, as it was usually the case. However, TV4 organised a Christmas show and brought together many popular artists at the Cirkus in Stockholm to each oft hem contribute a Christmas song to the program "Julkonsert från Cirkus - Late Night Christmas", including Måns with his Christmas single "Alone On Christmas Eve".

2021 saw the return of the big Christmas shows in Sweden and "The Show of Christmas" was organised in Stockholm at the Avicii Arena, featuring Måns, Lisa Nilsson, Miss Li, Harpo, Linnea Henriksson and Thomas Stenström, among others. The evening's emcee was Mark Levengood.