Christer Samuel Björkman (; born 25 August 1957) is a Swedish singer and television producer. He
represented Sweden in the
Eurovision Song Contest 1992 with the song "I morgon är en annan dag". From 2002 to 2021, he served as a producer of
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 ...
, and has remained an important figure in the production of Melodifestivalen and 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 ...
. He stepped down from this position after
Melodifestivalen 2021, and is currently working at Voxovation, a
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
-based company that focuses on expanding the Eurovision Song Contest brand into other markets.
Biography
Björkman was born in
Borås
Borås ( , , ) is a city (officially, a locality) and the seat of Borås Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 114,556 inhabitants in 2024. It is widely known for being a textile city, home to worldwide brands and companie ...
as the son of gaming entrepreneur Ulla Björkman (b. 1939). He never met his father while he was alive. He began working as a hairdresser, and soon had his own hair salon in Borås.
In 1985, Björkman started his entertainment career by recording a song called "Våga och vinn", which was produced by Bruno Glenmark.
Björkman won
Melodifestivalen 1992 with "
I morgon är en annan dag", and represented Sweden at the
Eurovision Song Contest 1992. He finished second last, Sweden's worst result at the contest since 1977. He entered Melodifestivalen a second and third time in
1993
The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as:
* International Year for the World's Indigenous People
The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
with "Välkommen till livet" 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 ...
with a song called "Välkommen hem" which finished last among the ten participants.
Alongside
Richard Herrey, Björkman founded the
Marcel Bezençon Awards in 2002.
From 2002 to 2021, Björkman held the positions of contest producer of Melodifestivalen and Sweden's head of delegation at the Eurovision Song Contest. During his last year as producer in 2021, he also hosted all of the shows.
Björkman was the show producer of the
Eurovision Song Contest 2013
The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 was the 58th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Euphoria (Loreen song), Euphoria" by Loreen. Organised by the Europea ...
in
Malmö
Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...
, following
Loreen
Lorine Zineb Nora Talhaoui (born 16 October 1983), known professionally as Loreen (), is a Swedish singer and songwriter. Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest, Representing Sweden, she won the Eurovision Song Contest in Eurovision Song Conte ...
's victory the year prior. He has acted as a juror at the national selections of other countries, and served as contest producer of the
Eurovision Song Contest 2016
The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Stockholm, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Heroes (Måns Zelmerlöw song), Heroes" by Måns Zelmerlöw. Organis ...
in
Stockholm
Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
following
Måns Zelmerlöw
Måns Petter Albert Sahlén Zelmerlöw (; born 13 June 1986) is a Swedish singer and television presenter. He took part in ''Idol 2005'', eventually finishing fifth, won the Let's Dance 2006, first season of ''Let's Dance (Swedish TV series), Le ...
's victory the year prior, as well as the , and contests. As such, he was responsible for putting the delegations' ideas for the staging of their acts into effect and for determining the running order of the shows. He returned to the Eurovision Song Contest as contest producer in , when the event was held in Malmö, following Loreen's second win the year prior, and will continue to assume the role for the contest.
Together with
Edward af Sillén, Björkman served as the Swedish commentator for the
Eurovision Song Contest 2021
The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 was the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's win at the with the song "Arcade (song), Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. The Netherlands was se ...
.
Björkman served as juror in many national selections for the Eurovision Song Contest and its spin-offs. In 2016, Björkman was chosen to be one of three expert jurors at the
Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in
Valletta
Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...
, Malta. In 2018, he was invited as an international juror for Sweden at
''Destination Eurovision 2018'', the French national selection for that year's contest. In 2019, he served as a member of the juries at ''
Eurovision – Australia Decides
''Eurovision – Australia Decides'' was an annual song competition organised by Australian public broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) and production partner Blink TV. It determined for the Eurovision Song Contest between 2019 and ...
'' and Albania's
Festivali i Këngës 58. In 2024, he served as judge at the
Luxembourg Song Contest.
Björkman was also one of the producers of the ''
American Song Contest
The ''American Song Contest'' is an American music reality competition television series based on the Eurovision Song Contest. The sole season of the series was hosted by Snoop Dogg and Kelly Clarkson; it consisted of eight episodes airing be ...
'' in 2022.
Personal life
Björkman is openly gay, and is married to Martin Kagemark.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjorkman, Christer
1957 births
Living people
People from Borås
Musicians from Västra Götaland County
Melodifestivalen winners
Swedish LGBTQ singers
Swedish gay musicians
Gay singers
20th-century Swedish male singers
21st-century Swedish male singers
20th-century Swedish LGBTQ people
21st-century Swedish LGBTQ people
Eurovision Song Contest entrants