Marcus & Martinus have won the 2024 edition of Melodifestivalen and will go on to represent Sweden in Malmö at Eurovision this May.
But just how did the Norweigan Teen twin sensations become the Swedish entry for Eurovision 2024? Read on to find out more…
Who Are Marcus & Martinus?
Marcus and Martinus Gunnarsen were born in Elverum, Norway in February 2002, and raised in Trofors.
Despite being just 22, the pair have already had great success and a long career. They started out in 2012 as competitors in the children’s version of Melodi Grand Prix – MGPJr, which they won with ‘To dråper vann’, charting at #8 in Norway. They released a single, ‘Leah’ in 2013, followed by ‘Du’ and ‘Smil’ in 2014.
Rise To Teen Sensations
It wasn’t until 2015 that Marcus & Martinus really gained their fanbase – at just 13 years old, they released their first album, ‘Hei’ – going to #1 in the Norwegian album charts and #2 on the Sverigetopplistan. A few months later, they got their first Top 3 charting entry in collaboration with singer Katastrophe – ‘Elektrisk’ shot to #3 in Norway and became the twin’s first entry in Sweden’s charts too, at #8. It was nominated for ‘Song Of The Year’ at the Spellemann Awards and became the first Norwegian song ever to reach 100 million streams on Spotify – currently sitting at 108 million at the time of writing. Their follow-up single ‘Ei Som Dig’ reached #10 in the home country and was included along with ‘Elektrisk’ in the re-release of Hei (Fan Special) in November of that year.
’Together’ & ‘Moments’
2016 saw even more success for Marcus & Martinus – they achieved a #1 single in Norway with ‘Girls’, featuring Madcon, which was nominated for Song of The Year at the Spellemann Awards. The release of their second album ‘Together’ became their first #1 album in Sweden, second in Norway, and also charted in Denmark, Finland and Poland. They ventured out onto their first tour, aptly named ‘The Together Tour’ between 2016 & 2017. Marcus & Martinus also performed as the Young Talent Act at the Noble Peace Prize Concert in Norway in 2016.
Two documentaries were produced about them in 2017 – Sammen om Drømmen and Marcus & Martinus: Når barn blir popstjerner. In May of that year, they announced Norway’s jury points in the Eurovision Song Contest, and continued to release music – most notably ‘Like It Like It’, with rapper Silénto and their third album Number 1 album ‘Moments’. They also won the Spellemann Of The Year Award.
2018 & Onwards
In 2018, they went on tour to promote the ‘Moments’ album, before supporting Jason Derulo on his 2Sides Tour. They released their first EP a year later titled ‘Soon‘. Whilst not achieving much chart success at this time, 2021 saw their song ‘Belinda‘ featuring Álex Rose chart at #20 in Norway. After moving their base to Sweden, they continued to release music – winning The Masked Singer Sverige in 2022.
Melodifestivalen 2023
Marcus & Martinus were announced for Melodifestivalen 2023 with the song ‘Air’ at the end of 2022 – making their debut in the contest. After winning Heat 3 with 1.4 million votes, the pair went into the final as one of the favourites to win – eventually ending up coming 2nd to the eventual Eurovision winner, Loreen, with 138 points and 2.5 million votes.
Melodifestivalen 2024
Despite not initially planning to compete once again in Melodifestivalen due to Part 1 of their ‘We Are Not the Same Tour’ taking place in early 2024, Marcus & Martinus was announced as one of the 30 artists in the lineup for the 2024 contest. Their song, ‘Unforgettable’ was one of the favourites to win even before Melfest began, but looked to face tough competition from Danny Saucedo, Medina, Smash Into Pieces and Dotter.
However, after Heat 5 it looked to be an easy race to the finish line for Marcus & Martinus, who went into the final with a 69% chance of winning. The stage show was slick, professional and everything we’ve come to expect from Sweden at Eurovision – and the televote and international jury agreed. ‘Unforgettable’ came 1st in the jury with 85 points, and 1st in the televote with 92 Points scoring 177 points overall
Eurovision 2024
As this year’s host country, Sweden is automatically in the 2024 Eurovision Final alongside the rest of the Big 5. We’ll see their performance on May 11th in the Grand Final, and a snippet during Semi-Final 1 – in which Sweden is voting – on May 7th.
We wish Marcus & Martinus and Sweden the best of luck in Eurovision 2024!
You can follow Marcus & Martinus on Social Media…
Facebook – Marcus & Martinus
Instagram – @marcusandmartinus // @marcusgunnarsen // @martinusgunnarsen
TikTok – @marcusandmartinus
Twitter / X – @marcusmartinus
