Alcazar (band)

:"See Alcazar for other meanings."Infobox musical artist |
Name = Alcazar

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Origin =flagicon|Sweden Sweden
Genre =Disco, Pop, Dance-pop, Euro-pop
Years_active = 1998 – 2005, 2007 - Present
Label = Sony BMG
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.alcazarworld.com Alcazar World]
Current_members = Andreas Lundstedt
Tess Merkel
Lina Hedlund
Past_members = Annika Kjærgaard
Magnus Carlsson

Alcazar is a Swedish pop group who had a string of hit singles during the early 2000s decade and are continuing successfully today.

Biography

The group was created in 1998 with three members: Andreas Lundstedt, Tess Merkel (born Therese Merkel, 18 April 1970, Nykoping, Sweden), and Annika Kjærgaard (born 18 May 1971, Bjarnum, Sweden). Their first single, "Shine On", was successful in Sweden but it was with their second release, "Crying At The Discoteque" (which heavily sampled from Sheila B. Devotion's 1979 hit, "Spacer"), that they achieved success across Europe.Song peaked # 6 in the Irish singles chart, staying in the Top-10 three weeks, being years 78th selling single. Both singles appeared on their debut album "Casino". Later editions of "Casino" contained a cover of the Human League's hit "Don't You Want Me", which also served as the album's third single. In the United States, Alcazar gained moderate success. "Crying At The Discoteque" peaked at #44 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play and "Don't You Want Me" peaked at #30.

In December 2002, Magnus Carlsson joined the group. The second album "Alcazarized" was released in Sweden in 2003 and became a big hit. It got an international release in 2004.

In Autumn 2004 Alcazar released "This Is The World We Live In". The track samples Diana Ross's 1980 number one "Upside Down" and uses lyrics from Genesis' 1986 single "Land Of Confusion". Their follow-up single was entitled "Physical". They released the album "Dancefloor Deluxe" in Sweden in August 2004. In the winter of 2004 they released the Christmas single "Here I Am". Alcazar enjoyed considerable success in 2004 in their home country Sweden. "This Is The World We Live In", "Physical", "Dancefloor Deluxe" and "Here I Am" all achieved solid sales.

2005 saw the release of their single "Start The Fire". During the making of its music video, Kjaergaard had an accident in which she broke her foot.

Melodifestivalen

Alcazar have twice taken part in the "Melodifestivalen", the competition that selects Sweden's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2003 "Not a Sinner, Nor a Saint" came third overall. But it became the biggest hit of all the songs in Melodifestivalen 2003 and won the National Finals Song Contest. It became Alcazar's first #1 single in Sweden and did sell gold.

In 2005 the song "Alcastar" failed to qualify for the final automatically, but eventually made it through after a second chance semi-final. However, the group again had to settle for third in the final, which was won by Martin Stenmarck's song "Las Vegas". But the song became a hit and only needed three days in stores to became Alcazar's second #1 single in Sweden.

Break & Band Changes

The band claimed that they needed a break during the autumn of 2005. Male lead singer, Andreas Lundstedt claimed that the band will be back in the summer of 2007.

In the meantime the male members launched solo careers. Lundstedt had appeared in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, as a member of six4one, a multi-national band founded for the sole purpose of representing Switzerland at the contest, whilst Carlsson has twice taken part individually in the Swedish Melodifestivalen.

Lina Hedlund was been announced as the replacement for Annikafiore. Lina Hedlund has previously entered Melodifestivalen on two occasions (2002, with her sister Hanna Hedlund, with the song 'Big Time Party' and the 2003 solo effort 'Nothing Can Stop Me').

Andreas' 'Expressen' blog was recently updated, telling Alcazar fans that the group will now be back together permanently, they will take part in a concert in Sweden in December 2007 and will then head into the studio to produce the groups third studio album, with new member, Lina Hedlund. The band is now including Tess Merkel and Lina Hedlund as female vocalists, and Andreas Lundstedt as male vocalist.

Performances

Alcazar reformed in July 2007 to perform at the London Astoria as part of a celebration of Swedish music master minded by producer Alexander Bard. They performed at the G-A-Y event on Saturday 21st July 2007 alongside BWO and a reformed-for-the-occasion cult band Army of Lovers. They performed three songs, "This Is the World We Live In", "Start the Fire" and "Crying At The Discoteque". However when pressed at the end of their set by club proprietor Jeremy Joseph on whether the band would reform, Andreas avoided offering a commitment other than that they would do future one-off appearances at G-A-Y.

The band performed again on Saturday 5th July 2008 at G-A-Y Astoria for Pride London 2008. They performed "This Is the World We Live In", "Sexual Guarantee/Don't You Want Me" and "Crying At The Discoteque" after BWO, and ended with a cover version of the Lipps Inc song "Funky Town" with BWO joining them on stage. They also performed on 28th June 2008 in Bologna for the Italian national Gay Pride parade.

Discography

Albums

*"Casino" — 2000
*"Alcazarized" — 2003
*"A Tribute to ABBA" — 2004
*"Dancefloor Deluxe" — 2004
*"Alcazar's fourth studio-album" — 2008

Singles

External links

* [http://users.telenet.be/alcazarmagic The longest running fansite on Alcazar]
* [http://getunderground.com/underground/columns/article.cfm?Article_ID=633 2002 Interview with Alcazar by Jake McGee]
* [http://www.alcazarworld.com The Official Website, Alcazar World]
* [http://www.magnusonline.se The Official Website, Magnus Carlsson]
* [http://www.dandyandy.se The Official Website, Andreas Lundstedt]
* [http://www.andreaslundstedt.com The Official Fansite, Andreas Lundstedt]