Bert Willis Karlsson (born 21 June 1945) is a Swedish

record company "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and t ...

manager,

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

, and former

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

( Member of Parliament 1991–1994) and front figure of the

New Democracy New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a type of democracy in Marxism, based on Mao Zedong's Bloc of Four Social Classes theory in post-revolutionary China which argued originally that democracy in China would take a path that w ...

() party. As the owner and manager of the record company

Mariann Grammofon AB Mariann Grammofon or Mariann Records, formed in 1972 was a record company run by Bert Karlsson in Skara, Sweden. Since May 2006 the label is owned by Warner Music Group which still, as of 2016, releases music using the label. The label was so ...

, Karlsson became a familiar face to the Swedish public as the man behind singer Carola Häggkvist. In 1984 he started

Skara Sommarland Skara Sommarland is a summer park located 8 km east of Skara. It was founded in 1984 by Swedish entrepreneur Bert Karlsson. The park attracts 350,000 visitors annually. During the 1980s, it once attracted circa 800 000 people within one ye ...

, a theme park. In 1991, Karlsson and count

Ian Wachtmeister Count Ian Melcher Shering Wachtmeister af Johannishus (; 24 December 1932 – 11 November 2017) was a Swedish industrialist and politician. He was a member of the Riksdag, Swedish Riksdag from 1991 to 1994. He was the son of Count Ted Wachtmeiste ...

started the

populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...

political party ''

''. Attracting major media attention, and with a patriotic platform, the party received 6.7 percent of the vote in the

parliamentary election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

in September. With no previous political experience, Karlsson suddenly found himself elected to the

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

as a Member of Parliament. When the New Democracy party imploded due to internal struggles and failed in the 1994 general election, Karlsson went back to being a full-time businessman. He has started the popular Swedish

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

show '' Fame Factory'', (a programme somewhat similar to the British show ''

Pop Idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and pa ...

''), in which he played an important role. Many Mariann artists have entered

Melodifestivalen Melodifestivalen (; ) is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almo ...

, the Swedish qualifications for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

. From 1978 to 2005, approximately 120 songs from Karlsson's record company competed, and 14 of these went on to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song contest. Mariann artists include

Herreys Herreys (), sometimes Herrey's or Herrey, is a Swedish pop group, consisting of the three brothers Per Herrey (born 9 August 1958), Richard Herrey (born 19 August 1964), and Louis Herrey (born 3 November 1966). They won the Eurovision Song C ...

and Charlotte Perrelli, who went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest (

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

and

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, respectively). In March 2005, Karlsson filled out an application for membership in the Liberal People's Party during a television interview. When the party immediately responded with criticism of him, calling the move a media stunt, he did not go through with his application. Karlsson was a judge in the first five seasons of the TV show ''Talang'' on TV4, the Swedish version of ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...

'', between 2007 and 2011.

External links

Mariann Grammofon
- Official page
"Storskalig attack gör Bert Karlsson till vinnare"
5 March 2005

Dagens Nyheter (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major nationa ...

article on Karlsson and

.
"Här blir Bert folkpartist"
30 March 2005

Aftonbladet (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish language, Swedish daily tabloid newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. History and profile The newspaper was founded by Lar ...

article on Karlsson's membership application to the Liberal People's Party.
Liberal People's Party press release
30 March 2005

press release A press release (also known as a media release) is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing new information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public releas ...

from the Liberal People's Party following Karlsson's statements.
"Bert Karlsson ville bli folkpartist – men nekades"
- 30 March 2005

article on Karlsson's reaction to the party press release.
/ This is the jury, Tv4.se
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karlsson, Bert 1945 births Living people People from Skövde New Democracy (Sweden) politicians Swedish businesspeople Swedish record producers Swedish entertainers Swedish television personalities Melodifestivalen Political party founders Members of the Riksdag 1991–1994 Members of the Riksdag from New Democracy