Marie Eleonor Serneholt (Swedish pronunciation:[maˈriːˈsæ̂ːɳɛˌhɔlt]; born 11 July 1983) is a Swedish singer and model. She was a member of the Swedish pop band A*Teens[1] from 1998 to 2004, and briefly pursued a solo recording career after the band dissolved.
By 2000, the A*Teens' first album, The ABBA Generation, had sold two million copies, and they became one of the most internationally successful Swedish pop bands.[3] By 2001, the group had sold more than six million albums. In 2004, it released a Greatest Hits album, and in 2006 the group broke up.[4]
Music hiatus (2005)
With the A*Teens split, it was rumored that Serneholt would be the first to pursue a solo career. This proved to be unfounded when Lennevald released his debut single in September 2004. In 2005, Serneholt was picked as the face of the Maybelline cosmetics line in Scandinavia. She also gave her voice for the Swedish versions of the movies Robots and Herbie: Fully Loaded.[5]
Enjoy the Ride (2006–2008)
In 2005, Serneholt called Jörgen Elofsson, who had written music for Britney Spears and Céline Dion. Elofsson was busy with other artists at the time, but Serneholt was adamant to have him produce an album for her. When she contacted him again later that year, he had just started collaborating with two relatively young and unknown producers, Richard Brandén and Pär Westerlund.[citation needed]
Serneholt at Gatufesten in Sundsvall, Sweden, in July 2006
Elofsson created the label Planet Six (a part of Sony BMG), and Serneholt signed her first recording deal as a solo artist. In February 2006, Serneholt's first single, "That's The Way My Heart Goes", premiered on Swedish radio with decent reviews and good response from the public. The single debuted at No. 2 on the Swedish Charts and reached No. 1 on the official Swedish Digital DownloadsChart, ensuring Gold Status on physical sales alone on 19 May 2006.[6]
The album Enjoy the Ride was released on 29 March 2006, debuting at No. 9 in her home country but dropping off the charts quickly, while the single's success was growing around the world with releases throughout Europe along with the album and with plans to release it in South and North America in 2007. In May 2006, Serneholt started a promotional tour in Germany coinciding with the German release of her album. She embarked on a Radio Station's Concert Tour of Sweden and Finland. In June, Serneholt released her second single, "I Need a House", which debuted at No. 2 on the Swedish Digital Downloads Chart, but failed on the physical sales as it reached only No. 40 in Sweden. The single was released in Europe in September 2006. On 19 August 2006, Serneholt performed at Voice '06 in the Kungsträdgården park in Stockholm.[citation needed]
On 3 December 2008, SVT confirmed Serneholt as the third of four wildcard artists for Melodifestivalen 2009. On 7 February 2009, during the first semi-final heat, she performed her new single, "Disconnect Me". She placed sixth of eight and did not advance to the finals. "Disconnect Me" (which also served as the first single from Serneholt's second album) was released on 25 February 2009.[citation needed]
In October 2009, it was announced that she would appear in a Swedish-language version of the musical Grease, resulting in fans questioning whether a follow-up to Enjoy the Ride would ever be released.[8]
Alongside Rickard Olsson, she co-hosted the semi-finals and finals of the Melodifestivalen 2011 contest.[9] In December 2011, she released a new single, "Himlen i min famn", under Warner Music Sweden.[10] She participated in the first semi-final of Melodifestivalen 2012 which was held on 4 February 2012 in Vida Arena, Växjö. She sang the song "Salt & Pepper", composed by Lina Eriksson, Mårten Eriksson, and Figge Boström. She finished sixth in the first round of voting and so was eliminated from the competition.[11] Serneholt presented the Sjuan's channel bingo show Bingolotto for two seasons in 2013–14.[12]
Serneholt was announced as one of the judges of the Swedish version of popular talent show The X Factor, which premiered on 9 September 2012. She competed as one of the celebrity dancers in Let's Dance 2015, broadcast on TV4,[13] where she was the runner-up.[14] In August 2015, she co-hosted the Swedish game show Fångarna på Fortet (alongside Gunde Svan) at Fort Boyard for TV4,[15] after Agneta Sjödin was injured in a bicycle accident.[16] In October 2015 it was announced that Serneholt would host the baking show Det stora tårtslaget on Sjuan in 2016.[17][18]
^Carlberg, Ingrid (15 April 2000). "Fabriken A-teens". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 27 January 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2015. Hittills har gruppen sålt två miljoner exemplar av debutalbumet "The Abba Generation", 200 000 i Sverige och resten utomlands.
