Carola

There have been at least two artists who have used the artist name Carola. Chronologically the first was a Finnish singer Carola Standertskjöld-Liemola (born in Helsinki, 3 March 1941 - died in Kirkkonummi November 12, 1997), who was a famous pop and jazz singer in Finland especially in the 1960s and the 1970s. The second is Swedish singer Carola Maria Häggkvist.

Carola Maria Häggkvist (born in Stockholm on 8 September 1966) is a Swedish singer and for a while a member of the Word of Life congregation. She appeared on television for the first time after winning a talent show in 1977. A couple of years later promoter Bert Karlsson discovered her and she was offered the chance to take part in Melodifestivalen 1982, the national preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest, but she turned it down. In 1983 she recorded the album Standby with Carola Häggkvist with the Swedish metal band Standby. However, in 1983, she decided to participate in Melodifestivalen with Främling, winning the contest with full points from all juries. This became her big breakthrough. A few months later, she represented Sweden in Eurovision in Munich, and a record was broken; 6.1 million Swedes, 84% of the population, followed the competition - a record that has still not been broken. She once again performed the song at 'Congratulations', the 50th anniversary Eurovision concert in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Her debut Främling sold one million copies, a Swedish sales record that will probably never be broken. Främling was also recorded in English, German and Dutch, after having ended up in third place at the Eurovision Song Contest. During 1983 and 1984 Carola released three albums with Mariann, the record company of Bert Karlsson, and they all sold very well.

In 1985 Carola started to collaborate with the Bee Gees. She recorded an album, Runaway, with songs written by Maurice and Robin Gibb and produced by Maurice. The record sold double platinum when released in Sweden the following year. After this album Carola left the pop scene for a while, embarking on a church tour together with Per-Erik Hallin, subsequently releasing the live album Carola & Per-Erik Hallin i Rättviks kyrka.

In Melodifestivalen 1990, Carola made a surprising comeback with Mitt i ett äventyr and ended up in second place. She released a new album, Much more. The following year she went for revenge, winning Melodifestivalen with Fångad av en stormvind. In the Eurovision Song Contest 1991 in Rome she practically tied with Amina from France. The rules at this point stated that if two or more entries ended up in a tie, they were to be separated by counting which of the entries had been awarded most twelves, but since both countries had been awarded the same number of twelves, the entries were separated by counting the number of 10s awarded. This was in Sweden's favour and an ecstatic Carola, cheered on by her team, did a short victory dance on the table, before entering the stage a second time. Later that year she recorded a Christmas album in Swedish – Jul.

Carola was the first Scandinavian pop artist to go to China, where she also released an album in 1992. After her tenth anniversary as an artist in 1993 she changed her focus and recorded a gospel album, My tribute, which was released in Scandinavia and 12 other countries. It also made her Gospel Artist of the Year in the Netherlands in 1994. She continued to release albums. 1994's Personligt indicated a change of direction, towards a rock sound. This was the first album with songs written by Carola herself.

In 1995 Carola made her debut as a musical actress, in the role of Maria in The Sound of Music, playing opposite Tommy Körberg. Three years later she sang the theme song in the Norwegian musical Sophie's World, which was released on the album Songs from Sophie's World. In 2002 she returned to the stage, making a short appearance as Fantine in Les Misérables in London.

In 1998 she left the pop mainstream road again, recording an album of psalms written by Lina Sandell, Blott en dag, and in 2001 an album with children's songs Sov på min arm. Later in 2001 she returned to pop with the album My show.

In 2003, Carola celebrated her 20-year anniversary as a recording artist. She released a compilation, Guld, platina & passion – det bästa med Carola and a boxed set of four CDs (Guld, platina & passion – det mesta med Carola) and topped the Swedish charts with her song När löven faller, which was originally written for Melodifestivalen 2003 but was disqualified.

In 2003, Carola released a Christmas album on two CDs; "Jul I Betlehem- Jubileumsutgåvan". The Christmas album was followed by religious album "Credo" in 2004 and the pop-religious album "Störst av allt" 2005.

All in all, Carola has released 15 original albums and is one of the most well-known artists in Sweden, where most people can sing the chorus of Främling. Her status as a national celebrity has made her more or less constantly followed by the tabloid press. She has often talked about her Christian faith, and she has been criticised for making critical remarks on the acceptance of homosexuality in Sweden. She has been a member of Christian congregation Livets Ord. She was married to Runar Søgaard, a controversial Norwegian Christian preacher, with whom she has a son, Amadeus, named after Mozart. After their divorce, she flaunted her single status by wearing a top saying LEDIG – "Available" in Swedish – on national television.

In November 2005, Carola confirmed that she would participate in Melodifestivalen again, after a fifteen year abscence. In 2006, she performed "Invincible", written by Thomas G:son, Bobby Ljunggren and Henrik Wikström. She performed the song in Swedish ('Evighet')in the Melodifestivalen and in English at Eurovision in Athens.

In mid January 2006, Carola confirmed that she had been to a clinic in Stockholm to receive Botox injections to remove the wrinkles in her forehead. According to the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, she paid between US$326 (2500 Swedish kronor) and US$391 (3000 Swedish kronor) to have these injections done.

And believe it or not, but Carola would be interested in another try at the Eurovisio n Song Contest. If she takes part in Melodifestivalen in 2008 she'll be the Eurovision-queen with the highest number of participations ever.