Anna Bergendahl

Anna Bergendahl is a Swedish pop singer who rose to fame on the reality television show Idol in 2008 prior to representing Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2010 with her chart-topping ballad "This Is My Life." Born on December 11, 1991, in Stockholm, she finished in fifth place on the 2008 season of the Swedish version of Idol. As a testament to her popularity on Idol, four of her performances from the show reached the Swedish singles chart in 2008: "Release Me," "Save Up All Your Tears," "Bleeding Love," and "Over the Rainbow." She subsequently signed a recording contract with Lionheart Records in 2009. Already well known from Idol, Bergendahl rose to new heights of fame in 2010, when she won the Melodifestivalen with the song "This Is My Life" and proceeded to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest, where she finished in 11th place. Written by Kristian Lagerström and Bobby Ljunggren, the latter a Melodifestivalen veteran with a long track record of success there, "This Is My Life" topped the Swedish singles chart for four straight weeks. A month later Bergendahl made her full-length debut with Yours Sincerely (2010), a collection of English-language songs released in association with Universal Music that topped the Swedish albums chart. ~ Jason Birchmeier