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Listen to Your Heartbeat

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Wikipedia article




{{Infobox song

| name = Listen to Your Heartbeat

| cover = Listen_to_Your_Heartbeat.jpg

| alt = The official cover for "Listen to Your Heartbeat"

| border = yes

| type = single

| artist = Friends

| album = Listen to Your Heartbeat

| language = English

| released = 2001

| genre =

| length = 3:06

| label = Mariann Grammofon

| writer =

| next_title =

| next_year =

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}}

"'Listen to Your Heartbeat'" (originally released as "'Lyssna till ditt hjrta'"; ) is a 2001 song by Swedish pop band Friends. The song represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 after winning Melodifestivalen 2001, the Swedish national final for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Eurovision Song Contest



'Melodifestivalen 2001'

Melodifestivalen 2001 was the selection for the 41st song to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the 42nd time that this system of picking a song had been used. 1,567 songs were submitted to SVT for the competition, of which 10 were chosen to compete in the show. In the contest, "Listen to Your Heartbeat" would earn first in both the jury and televote, earning a total of 237 points.

At Eurovision

In a Q&A from February 24, 2001, Friends announced that the song would be performed in English for the Eurovision Song Contest 2001.

The song was performed 7th on the night of the contest, following 's Mumiy Troll with "Lady Alpine Blue" and preceding 's SKAMP with "You Got Style". The song received 100 points, placing 5th in a field of 23.

Plagiarism controversy



Before the contest, the song was accused of plagiarism, with some claiming that the song had plagiarized "Liefde is een kaartspel", Belgium's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1996, with "Listen to Your Heartbeat" facing disqualification. After "Listen to Your Heartbeat" won Melodifestivalen 2001, Agneta Thigerstrm, project manager of Sveriges Television Malmo said that "there is nothing to worry about and nothing that can change Friends' victory. And nothing will happen now."

On February 23, 2001, Bjrn Kjellman, in an interview on show 'P4', spoke about the similarities between the two songs. On the same day, Chris Boswell, host of Radio Sweden, played the song for judges at the 'Melodifestivalen 2001' after-party, to which most replied "It's just a coincidence".

On March 1, 2001, Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet ran a poll asking readers if they thought the song was plagiarism. The vote came to around 70% saying that they thought the song plagiarized "Liefde is een kaartspel". On a Belgian TV special in February 2001, Lisa del Bo, the singer of "Liefde is een kaartspel", voiced her opinion, saying that "It's very similar indeed, but I don't think it was active plagiarism. It might be on purpose." The EBU Reference Group eventually ordered that the matter had to be settled in court, with the song eligible to compete if the court did not find any evidence of plagiarism.

In 2003, it was announced that after Belgian music association SABAM had determined that the song was plagiarism. Composers of "Listen to Your Heartbeat", Thomas G:son and Henrik Sethsson, both denied the allegations, but after both SABAM and the lyricists and composers of "Liefde is een kaartspel" threatened a trial, the Swedish delegation eventually came up with a monetary settlement.

Critical reception



Per Bjurman, a writer for Aftonbladet, praised the song, saying that the song was "a hit of international caliber".

In popular culture



A Japanese translation of the song, sung by Prire, can be heard as the opening for the anime series 'Di Gi Charat Nyo!' from 2003.

References



Category:Eurovision songs of 2001

Category:Eurovision songs of Sweden

Category:Melodifestivalen songs of 2001

Category:Songs written by Thomas G:son

Category:Friends (Swedish band) songs

Category:2001 songs

Category:Mariann Grammofon singles

Category:2001 singles

Category:Songs involved in plagiarism controversies

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