THE QUEEN VISITS ANTWERP LOREEN TO PERFORM AT SUPERGAYS
really understood and appreciated the message I tried to give with my performance. We don’t have that many musical events. Eurovision and the Swedish finals that we call Melodifestivalen really bring people together here, and that’s nice. We need more of that. YOUR PERFORMANCE REALLY STOOD OUT, AND IT WAS VERY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT EVERYONE ELSE WAS DOING. HOW WAS THE CONCEPT CONCEIVED? The main reason why I said ‘yes’ to Eurovision, is because I wanted to create something that is more or less a wake up call. I wanted to make a statement about all the façades that we have to live with. I just wanted everything to be as simple as can be. We don’t need to hide behind all this make-up and shit that we wear, because it doesn’t have any effect. You should just be what you are, don’t try to be anything but yourself, and it will work.
Yeah, it’s a pretty gay event! And because of that, I think it’s great that an event like Eurovision took place in a city where they don’t really like homosexuals, or are afraid of them. I wasn’t happy with the way some of the locals talked about gay people, but I thought it was important for us to be there. Because this way the people there are forced to accept the fact that we’re here, and we’re not going anywhere. It’s a great statement. I was brought up in a Muslim liberal household, and I’ve been to Morocco, a Muslim country. I know that when people have some-
YOUR BIOLOGICAL PARENTS ARE BOTH MOROCCAN, AND YOU WERE RAISED BY YOUR MOTHER AND YOUR SWEDISH STEPFATHER. DID IT FEEL LIKE YOU WERE ALSO REPRESENTING MOROCCO DURING EUROVISION? No. I’m not a patriot at all. I like to mix up all different cultures. The thing I like about the Berber culture is their way of not being afraid of the spiritual part. They talk very easily about spirits, almost like Native Americans. And they think of music as a huge power, so that’s the part of my culture that I’ve taken with me. But I don’t believe in being segregated. Any country is my country. YOU WERE THE ONLY PERFORMER IN THE 2012 COMPETITION WHO MET WITH LOCAL HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS. WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO DO SO? Because it is important, and because I know how many of them feel. I have Moroccan roots, and I’ve seen situations where women don’t have the same rights as everyone, gay people don’t have the same rights as everyone. Not all humans have the right to speak their mind. Things like that have always been very frustrating for me. I actually planned these meetings a month before I came to Azerbaijan, because I think it’s our responsibility, as people who have it better, to do something about it and try and help people out. EUROVISION IS OF COURSE INCREDIBLY POPULAR WITH GAYS ALL OVER EUROPE. WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE FACT THAT THE FINALS WERE HELD IN A PLACE WHERE GAY RIGHTS ARE STILL VERY UNDERDEVELOPED?
thing against homosexuals, it’s often out of fear and a lack of understanding. And it’s also caused by not having gay people around you in your every day life. They’re afraid of things that are different, and we should show them that it’s not so different at all. We need to say “look, we’re here, and we’re not that strange. We’re the fucking same.” It’s too bad that in 2012, people still don’t understand these things. ‘Tekst: Martijn Tulp (eerder verschenen in Gay&Night Magazine)’
LOREEN
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WORLDOUTGAMES ANTWERP - 2013 - ANTWERP PRIDE
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