Wikipedia

Heroes (Måns Zelmerlöw song)

"Heroes" is a song recorded by Swedish singer Måns Zelmerlöw written and composed by Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Joy Deb, and Linnea Deb. It was released on 28 February 2015 as a digital download in Sweden. It won the Melodifestivalen 2015 and represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 held in Vienna, which it also won.[4][5] It is the lead single for Zelmerlöw's sixth studio album Perfectly Damaged.

"Heroes"
Single by Måns Zelmerlöw
from the album Perfectly Damaged
Released28 February 2015
Genre
Length3:11
LabelWarner Music
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Joy Deb
  • Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad
Måns Zelmerlöw singles chronology
"Run for Your Life"
(2014) 		"Heroes"
(2015) 		"Should've Gone Home"
(2015)
Music video
"Heroes" on YouTube
Eurovision Song Contest 2015 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
English
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
  • Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad
  • Joy Deb
  • Linnea Deb
Finals performance
Semi-final result
1st
Semi-final points
217
Final result
1st
Final points
365
Entry chronology
◄ "Undo" (2014)
"If I Were Sorry" (2016) ►
Official performance video
"Heroes" (Semi-Final) on YouTube
"Heroes" (Final) on YouTube
"Heroes" (Reprise) on YouTube

Background

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Conception

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"Heroes" written and composed by Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Joy Deb, and Linnea Deb. It was recorded by Måns Zelmerlöw.[6][7]

Melodifestivalen

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Being Zelmerlöw's third participation in the selection, "Heroes" participated in the fourth semi-final of the 2015 edition of the Melodifestivalen which was held in Örebro's Conventum Arena on 28 February 2015.[8] The song was performed last at the fourth semi-final. It directly qualified to the final as it got one of the first two places.[9][10]

Right after the second chance, the running order of the final was revealed with "Heroes" being performed at the sixth position. "Heroes" won the selection with 122 points from the international jury and 166 points from the public, receiving 288 points in total, a record under the current voting system. The entry also beat the second placed song with a record margin of 149 points.[4][5][11][12]

As that Melodifestivalen was organised by Sveriges Television (SVT) to select its song and performer for the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, the song became the Swedish entrant, and Zelmerlöw the performer, for Eurovision.[13]

Eurovision

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"Heroes" at Eurovision.

On 21 May 2015, the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest was held in the Wiener Stadthalle (Hall D) in Vienna hosted by Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) and broadcast live throughout the continent. Zelmerlöw performed "Heroes" thirteenth on the evening. After the grand final it was revealed that it had received in its semi-final 217 points, placing first and qualifying for the grand final.[14] On 23 May 2015, he performed the song again in the grand final tenth on the evening.[15]

"Heroes" won the contest with a total of 365 points.[16] It is the third-highest-scoring song in the history of the contest from 1975 to 2015 (and fifth-highest if results from 2016 are converted to the older system).[17] It is also the first winning song, since the introduction of the split jury-televoting system in 2009, that has not won the televoting.[citation needed] "Heroes" defeated a record number of twenty-six other songs in the final, as it was the largest Eurovision Song Contest final ever with twenty-seven participating countries. "Heroes" received the highest percentage of possible points compared to any other Eurovision winner of the 2010 to 2019 decade.[18]

Aftermath

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As the winning broadcaster, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) gave SVT the responsibility to host the following edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. The contest was co-host by Zelmerlöw himself, who opened the first semi-final on 10 May 2016 performing "Heroes".[19] On 18 May 2019, in the 'Switch Song' interval act during the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 held in Tel Aviv, Conchita Wurst performed "Heroes".[20] On 22 May 2021, the interval act "Rock the Roof" in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 grand final features "Heroes" performed by Zelmerlöw.[21]

Critical reception

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Writing in The Independent, Kiran Moodley compared the song with David Guetta's "Lovers on the Sun", concluding "the resemblance is uncanny."[22] Writing for the same outlet in 2022, Ben Kelly named it 36th best Eurovision-winning song of all time, describing it as "a David Guetta production with slightly underwhelming country-style verses".[23]

Track listings

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Digital download[24] / CD single
No.TitleLength
1."Heroes"3:10
Digital download — Remixes[25]
No.TitleLength
1."Heroes" (B.o.Y Remix)3:44
2."Heroes" (7th Heaven Club Mix)6:30
3."Heroes" (Axento Extended Remix)5:09
4."Heroes" (Eray Oktav Remix) (Extended)5:28

Chart history

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[61] Gold 15,000‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[62] Gold 45,000‡
Norway (IFPI Norway)[63] Gold 20,000‡
Poland (ZPAV)[64] Gold 25,000‡
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[65] Platinum 40,000‡
Sweden (GLF)[66] 5× Platinum 200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Country Date Format Label
Denmark[67] 28 February 2015 Digital download Warner Music
Finland[68]
Norway[69]
Sweden[24] Warner Music Sweden
United Kingdom[70] Digital download Warner Music
Australia[71]
Italy[72] 9 March 2015

References

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  1. ^ "Sweden's Måns Zelmerlöw wins Eurovision Song Contest". USA Today.
  2. ^ The Daily Telegraph
  3. ^ Petridis, Alexis (May 11, 2023). "All 69 Eurovision song contest winners – ranked!". The Guardian. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Eurovision Sweden: Måns Zelmerlöw wins Melodifestivalen 2015!". esctoday.com. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  5. ^ a b Amster, Harry (14 March 2015). "Finalen i Melodifestivalen". SvD.se. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  6. ^ "Måns Zelmerlöw – Melodifestivalen". SVT.se. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  7. ^ "Zelmerlöw och JTR till final". Svenska Dagbladet. TT. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  8. ^ Petersson, Emma. "JTR och Måns Zelmerlöw är i final i Melodifestivalen 2015" (in Swedish). SVT. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  9. ^ Escudero, Victor M. (28 February 2015). "Last Melodifestivalen semi-final results". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  10. ^ Adams, William Lee (17 March 2015). "MELODIFESTIVALEN 2015: SVT RELEASE FULL RESULTS FOR ALL HEATS". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  11. ^ Halpin, Chris (14 March 2015). "MELODIFESTIVALEN 2015: MÅNS ZELMERLÖW WINS WITH "HEROES"". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  12. ^ "Måns Zelmerlöw slog alla rekord i Melodifestivalen 2015". svt.se. 2015-03-14. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  13. ^ "Sweden: Melodifestival 2015". Eurovisionworld.
  14. ^ "Official Eurovision Song Contest 2015 second semi-final scoreboard". Eurovision Song Contest.
  15. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2015". Eurovision Song Contest. 23 May 2015. ORF / EBU.
  16. ^ "Sweden Wins Eurovision Song Contest 2015". Sky News. Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  17. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest: Sweden's Mans Zelmerlow wins". BBC News. 22 May 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  18. ^ "Post | Aussievision – Eurovision from Down Under". 10 May 2021.
  19. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2016 first semi-final". Eurovision Song Contest. 10 May 2016. SVT / EBU.
  20. ^ "Switch Song (with Conchita Wurst, Måns Zelmerlöw, Eleni Foureira, Verka Serduchka) - Eurovision 2019". YouTube.com. 18 May 2019. Archived from the original on 16 June 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  21. ^ "Interval Act - Rock The Roof". Eurovision Song Contest.
  22. ^ "Sweden at Eurovision 2015: This is why Mans Zelmerlow won Sweden's sixth contest". The Independent.
  23. ^ Kelly, Ben (2022-05-10). "All 68 winning Eurovision songs ranked from worst to best". The Independent. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
  24. ^ a b "iTunes – Musik – Heroes – Single av Måns Zelmerlöw". iTunes. Archived from the original on 2015-04-03.
  25. ^ "iTunes – Musik – Heroes (Remixes) – EP av Måns Zelmerlöw". iTunes. 22 May 2015.
  26. ^ "ARIA Australian Top 50 Singles Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. 1 June 2015. Archived from the original on 30 May 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  27. ^ austriancharts.at – Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes
  28. ^ ultratop.be – Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes
  29. ^ ultratop.be – Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes
  30. ^ Mans Zelmerlow — Heroes. TopHit. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  31. ^ Hitparáda Singles Top 100
  32. ^ Steffen Hung. "danishcharts.com – Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes". Danishcharts.dk. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
  33. ^ "Euro Digital Song Sales Chart (The week of June 13, 15)". Billboard. 2 January 2013. Archived from the original on 30 May 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  34. ^ "Måns Zelmerlöw: Heroes" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  35. ^ lescharts.com – Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes
  36. ^ offiziellecharts.de – Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes
  37. ^ "Greece Digital Songs: 13 June 2015". Billboard. 2 January 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  38. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége.
  39. ^ "RÚV – Vinsældalisti Rásar 2". RÚV. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  40. ^ "Chart Track: Week 22, 2015". Irish Singles Chart.
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  42. ^ "FIMI/GfK Top of the music". Archived from the original on 2017-02-03.
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  44. ^ dutchcharts.nl – Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes
  45. ^ norwegiancharts.com – Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes
  46. ^ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  47. ^ "Airplay 100, Podcast (21 Jun), cca. minute 90" (in Romanian). Kiss FM (Romania).
  48. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
  49. ^ IFPI Slovakia Rádio Top 100
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  60. ^ "Årslista Singlar – År 2015" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  61. ^ "Austrian single certifications – Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  62. ^ "Danish single certifications – Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved 20 February 2021. Scroll through the page-list below until year 2018 to obtain certification.
  63. ^ "Norwegian single certifications – Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  64. ^ "Wyróżnienia – Złote płyty CD - Archiwum - Przyznane w 2021 roku" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  65. ^ "Top 100 Songs Annual 2015". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  66. ^ "Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes". IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  67. ^ "iTunes – Music – Heroes – Single by Måns Zelmerlöw". iTunes. 4 June 2015.[permanent dead link‍]
  68. ^ "iTunes – Music – Heroes – Single by Måns Zelmerlöw". iTunes. 4 June 2015. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015.
  69. ^ "iTunes – Music – Heroes – Single by Måns Zelmerlöw". iTunes. 4 June 2015. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015.
  70. ^ "Heroes: Måns Zelmerlöw: Amazon.co.uk: Digital music". Amazon.co.uk. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  71. ^ "Heroes – Single". iTunes Australia. 29 May 2015.
  72. ^ "Heroes: Måns Zelmerlöw: Amazon.it: Musica Digitale". Amazon.it. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
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Preceded by Eurovision Song Contest winners
2015 		Succeeded by
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