Norwegians Marcus and Martinus Gunnarsen wanted to get rid of the status of teenage stars so hard that they became Sweden’s representatives in Eurovision.
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Malmö
“Yeah Marcus, you can show them a picture of that party poster.”
Only 15 minutes Marcus and by Martinus Gunnarsen with helps to understand the dynamics of the popular pop duo. Marcus is clearly the more outgoing of the two: he talks most of the time, sometimes takes the floor in the middle of his brother’s sentence, and on several occasions wants to show how he has learned Finnish sentences.
“I hope the Finns will be on our side and vote for us in Eurovision,” Marcus says first in English.
“I love you”, he then continues in fluent Finnish.
A moment later Marcus remembers that they will perform at the Bigday Summer Festival event in Vaasa next summer. As the headliner, Marcus adds right after. His brother then starts talking about the duo’s other future plans: a tour, a new book, the next album…
At the same time, Marcus scrolls through his cell phone to look for something he wants to show the Finnish journalists. That “something” is the poster of the Vaasa festival, where their name is the biggest.
“Finland has always had a special place in our hearts. We performed in Helsinki in February at the ice rink, and it’s great to be back now. It’s crazy. It’s a party”, says Marcus.
“Next time we will represent Finland in Eurovision,” Martinus continues and grins.
“Wrapper with”, Marcus finishes his brother’s sentence and starts to sing Cha Cha Chat.
The interview situation feels as wild a compliment as Finland’s talent show this year. It’s even ironic because of Marcus and Martinus Unforgettable is, on the other hand, very Swedish as a stage show: a classic pop song with a stylish staging.
The Gunnarsen brothers are glowing about how much they value their Finnish fans.
Brothers from a joke we get to the essential point. For the first time, Sweden has sent performers to the Eurovision Song Contest, none of whom are Swedish citizens.
Marcus and Martinus participated in Melodifestivalen already last year, but lost that time For Loreen. This year, the Swedes voted the 22-year-old duo as the performer of the home games.
The Gunnarsen brothers, who were born in Norway, say that representing Sweden is very important to them. They also know that Sweden has never won Eurovision two years in a row. In Malmö, they want to change this.
“We didn’t come here to finish fifth,” says Martinus.
It should not be considered very likely. In betting statistics, Sweden’s victory is considered practically impossible.
Major the reason for representing Sweden is the history of Marcus & Martinus. The brothers started their career in 2012, when they were only ten years old. They belong to the same generation of child stars as the Finns Isac Elliot and By Robin Packalen.
The problems are also similar.
“We wanted to take the next step from child and teen stars to adults. It seemed that it was not accepted in Norway. They wanted us to be seen as teen stars, so we had to do something to get out of the child star position,” says Marcus.
“Many do not have the patience to make a change in peace. Some think that they need to cause some kind of scandal to show that they are more mature and older. We haven’t wanted to do anything like that because we are role models for so many young people,” explains Marcus.
Martinus sits next to him and nods to show his agreement.
Correction on May 9, 2024 at 5:54 p.m.: In the caption of the first picture, it was first incorrectly written that Marcus is on the left in the picture. He’s on the right.
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