- 10 Facts
- Eurovision News
- Sweden
- Posted on April 28, 2024April 28, 2024
- bySimon Falk
They went into Melodifestivalen 2024 as huge favourites, and they ended up taking the crown and earning the right to represent the home country Sweden in Eurovision on home soil in Malmö Arena.
They are twin sensations Marcus & Martinus with the surname Gunnarsen, who with their entry“Unforgettable” are hoping to emulate Loreen’s success from last year’s contest.
But now it’s time to find out more about the Norwegian duo, so let’s delve in deeper.
Scroll down for 10 Facts about Marcus & Martinus.
10 facts about Marcus & Martinus
1. First all foreign act to represent Sweden in Eurovision
By winning this year’s Melodifestivalen Marcus & Martinus will now be the first fully non-Swedish act to represent Sweden in Eurovision – as they are Norwegians. American Ashley Haynes was a part of the winning Melfest 2020 trio The Mamas, but they didn’t get to represent Sweden in Eurovision as the competition was cancelled.
2. Became child stars at age 10
The now 22-year old twins won MGPjr in Norway in 2012 at the age of 10 with “To dråper vann” (“Two peas in a pod”), so they have been active in the music business more than half of their life span. The song peaked at number eight on the Norwegian singles chart.
3. Biggest hit still holds several records
In 2015 their single“Elektrisk” was released and it is their biggest hit to date. It stayed for 66 weeks in the official Norwegian singles chart, and it was the first song in the Norwegian language to be streamed more than 100 million times on Spotify. Their debut album “Hei”, where “Elektrisk” was included in a later fan special version, also placed well by staying 126 weeks on the album charts.
4. Identical twins – with slight differences
It’s the question they have been asked the most all their life: “How do we recognise one from the other?”. Here is the answer: Marcus is the older brother by 15 minutes and has slightly more curly hair (plus mostly stands to the left in pictures), and Martinus is the younger brother with a small birth mark above his lip. The latter isn’t that visible unless you get quite close!
5. Made an international career as teens
In 2016 – at the age of 14 – they started a big concert tour in seven European countries, selling out arenas in both Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Germany and Austria. It was also during that tour, that they made their first interview in English with our very own William Lee Adams in Stockholm during Eurovision that year.
6. Went to Sweden after Covid
When Covid hit, the twins had to halt all their activities like everyone else. And when the restrictions were finally lifted, they wanted to try and break through in Sweden, where they were just as popular as in their home country. They won Masked Singer in 2022 – as the first duo – and then went on to get 2nd place in Melodifestivalen 2023 with “Air”.
7. Won Melfest with same score as Loreen
They returned to Melodifestivalen in 2024 with “Unforgettable”, being heavy favourites from the moment they were rumoured as one of the contestants in the Swedish national final. They fulfilled the expectations, and together with their Eurovision winning songwriting team of Linnea Deb, Joy Deb(both winning in 2015) andJimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt (winning in 2023) they won Melodifestivalen convincingly with 177 points. That was the same score as Loreen achieved in 2023, so maybe that’s an omen before Malmö!
8. Opening the Eurovision final
At the delegation meeting in Malmö the host country were drawn randomly to perform as song nr. 1 in the Eurovision final on 11 May. And maybe performing first is another good omen for the brothers, because they performed as song nr. 1 in Melfest heat 5, winning that heat. Plus…. back in 1984, when the Herreys brothers won for Sweden, they also performed as song nr. 1! Let’s see how that plays out in a couple of weeks.
9. They play division football
When they aren’t travelling around touring or doing promo for their music, they play football for their local 3. Division team Mosjøen IL. The team was promoted from 4. to 3. Division in 2022 with especially Marcus playing a pivotal role in that. He scored no less than 18 goals in 22 matches for the team that season.
10. Have both a Swedish and Norwegian Eurovision winner as favourites
In a recent interview with Wiwibloggs we put the twins to the test, where they had to choose between a Swedish and Norwegian Eurovision winning artist in the form of Alexander Rybak from 2009 andMåns Zelmerlöw from 2015. They told us, that Rybak winning with“Fairytale” is their first core memory of Eurovision, but they still also love Måns’ winning entry“Heroes”.
Stay tuned to Wiwibloggs for more on Marcus & Martinus, and to find out 10 Facts about more of your favourite artists from Eurovision 2024!
Related Topics
- 10 facts
- Sweden
Simon Falk
Nordic correspondent for Wiwibloggs and Eurovision-fan since Herreys flashed their "Gyllene skor" in Luxembourg 1984.Eurovision in Malmö 2024 will be his 10th time watching the contest live, and he loves the crazy community that is the Eurovision fandom.You can follow him on his social media profiles.From Copenhagen, Denmark.
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36 Comments
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Vjera Brdar
14 days ago
Daddy Simon, always a pleasure to see you.
Actually, I only seen you once before, explaining the Mike Lee Torres situation… lmao
Reply
Sally
17 days ago
What happened to all the comments?
1
Reply
ANDREW BROWN
18 days ago
Failure upcoming, these boys can’t meep much votes.
-1
Reply
Sally
19 days ago
I can’t be the only one who finds that red-backed photo disturbing . . .
4
Reply
Milla
19 days ago
Reply toSally
I find it cool.
Reply
Alex
19 days ago
Reply toSally
The Weeknd’s Starboy album cover is literally the same style lol how is it disturbing
Reply
Sally
18 days ago
Reply toAlex
Grossly out of proportion and carnivorous
1
Reply
Milla
19 days ago
They know they are not among the top favorites. They have expressed worries in swedish media about not doing well when they are competing for Sweden. They have a leagcy to live up to because Sweden most of the time are doing well. So I guess they feel a bit pressure now. But they can only do their best..
1
Reply
Jessica Folcker
20 days ago
In tune with their cheap track: ‘They’re so unlikeable…’
Reply
Denis
20 days ago
Reply toJessica Folcker
Have you seen them in interviews?
-3
Reply
Jessica Folcker
20 days ago
Reply toDenis
Yes and it all seems forced, fake, plastic… I miss someone as genuinely happy and grateful to be there as Sam Ryder was.
2
Reply
Andrew
20 days ago
Reply toJessica Folcker
Oh I found Sam Ryder quite ungenuine. Might have been the rictus grin
-1
Reply
Vjera Brdar
14 days ago
Reply toAndrew
He was great to look at. Great hair, nice jumpsuit… Had to mute him tho.
Reply
Milla
19 days ago
Reply toJessica Folcker
If you consider that fake and plastic I have seen so many more horrific examples out there. They are nice people in comparison and care about their fans.
1
Reply
Denis
20 days ago
Marcus is slightly taller and Martinus has the birth mark
Reply
Jonas
20 days ago
ABBA, Carola, and Loreen all won Melodifestivalen having failed to win the previous year. They all then went on to win the Eurovision final. Another omen?
-3
Reply
alfie23
20 days ago
Reply toCviti97
Seconded.
6
Reply
Jimmy
20 days ago
Reply toJonas
I think it would be a huge compliment to Marcus & Martinus, particularly with this song, to be placed in the same category as ABBA and Loreen.
1
Reply
Jonas
20 days ago
Reply toJimmy
Perhaps. I think we can agree that Herreys comparisons remain valid, however.
Reply
Jimmy
20 days ago
Reply toJonas
We can.
Reply
Andrew Tate McRae
20 days ago
Sweden sent 3 black acts to Eurovision in a row. So the “first foreign act” line surely must be a joke, right?
Reply
Jonas
20 days ago
Reply toAndrew Tate McRae
Wrong.
-1
Reply
Anonymous91
20 days ago
Reply toAndrew Tate McRae
this comes across kinda racist honestly
1
Reply
Jimmy
20 days ago
Reply toAnonymous91
It’s definitely racist and utterly wrong.
1
Reply
Denis
20 days ago
Reply toAndrew Tate McRae
Eh, no…
Reply
Andrew
20 days ago
Reply toAndrew Tate McRae
I don’t think those black performers were foreign. I’m sure they were native Swedes x
Reply
Jimmy
20 days ago
Reply toAndrew Tate McRae
Ohmygod Andrew.
Reply
Sally
19 days ago
Reply toAndrew Tate McRae
Not everyone in Scandinavia is white. And they are not recent immigrants either.Geeze.
2
Reply
Alex
19 days ago
Reply toAndrew Tate McRae
They are all Swedish nationals, whereas M&M are Norwegians.
Reply
20 days ago
I absolutely love their Eurovision entry, but I’m mad that they’re 15th in the odds
Reply
Milla
20 days ago
Reply toSierri
I wonder if they are underrated. But the odds for finishing in the top 10 they sit currently in 9th place. Two different markets. Pretty strange at the same time.
-3
Reply
Thomas
20 days ago
Reply toMilla
Hard to get your head around … I agree
-1
Reply
Milla
20 days ago
Reply toThomas
It goes both ways I suppose. For those who don’t like it and for those who like it 😀
-1
Reply
Anonymous91
20 days ago
Reply toSierri
i like listening to it, it’s the similarity to bops from The Weeknd that makes it easy appealing for me personally
-1
Reply
Denis
20 days ago
Reply toSierri
Well those odds are not ranking. They are just winning chances. Being 15th in the odds do not mean they will end up 15th, just that they have 15th biggest chance to win. No one really think they will win in a year Sweden is hosting.
There is another odds though with chances to end up top 10 where they do better
-1
Reply