At number six on the Eurovision Top 100 countdown, we again turn to Sweden, who gave us an all-timer with 2015’s winner “Heroes.”
2015 was a strong contest, and a personal favorite of mine. There were a number of very solid vocal performances at the grand final. Måns was certainly good enough in that department to justify his victory. It would have to be special in a number of areas to beat “Grande amore,” which in my first watch, it almost didn’t.
That contest produced four Top 100 entries: This one, “Grande amore” (Italy), “Rhythm Inside” (Belgium), and “Tonight Again” (Australia).
Vital Information: “Heroes”
| Song | Heroes |
| Performed By | Måns Zelmerlöw |
| Written By | Anton Hård af Segerstad, Joy Deb, & Linnea Deb |
| Country | Sweden |
| Year | 2015 |
| Language(s) Performed In | English |
| How It Fared | Won (365 Points) |
| Was It Fair? | Yes, and faced stiff competition |
What I Liked
Måns went out there in Vienna and put forth one of the most entertaining performances in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest. The staging was brilliant and inventive. You know it has to be good when future acts would try to capture a similar magic, but none topped Sweden in that moment. I will never forget the image of that stick figure with the balloon fist-bumping Måns. Those are the moments you remember about an amazing show.
You can count on one hand the number of Eurovision songs throughout seven decades that have staged better than this one, if there are any at all. There may not be. “Heroes” rewrote the book on Eurovision staging.
Other Facts
- Måns is participating in Sweden’s national selection competition, Melodifestivalen, in 2025 for the first time since his winning effort.
- While not every modern Swedish entry can say it, “Heroes” was written and performed at Melfest 2015 in English. For example, “Take Me To Your Heaven” won Melfest 1999 in Swedish, but was revamped and won Eurovision in English.
- Sweden hosted Eurovision the following year, 2016, and Måns joined Petra Mede to host. Since then, he has been a regular fixture in Eurovision circles.
- Måns performed 10th in the grand final running order in 2015.
- Sweden decisively won the second semifinal, getting 14 douze points while a few other countries got two each. In the final, Sweden received 12 douze points to Italy’s nine.
Rediscover the “Heroes” of Our Time
That means you can watch Måns’s winning performance on YouTube.
