Björn Nils Olof Skifs (; born 20 April 1947) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, actor, and screenwriter.

Career

Björn Skifs formed his first musical group, Slam Creepers, in 1962. Slam Creepers split in 1969 and Skifs went on to form a new band, Blåblus (a farmer's or workman's shirt (blus, blouse) made from blue (blå, blue) fabric - a pun (blues)) in 1972. As the lead singer of

Blue Swede Blue Swede were a Swedish rock band fronted by Björn Skifs which was active between the years 1973–1979. Blue Swede released two albums of cover versions, including a rendition of " Hooked on a Feeling", which brought them international char ...

(another pun - blue + suede), the band had a No. 1 hit on ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1974 with a cover of Mark James's "

Hooked on a Feeling "Hooked on a Feeling" is a 1968 pop song, written by Mark James and originally performed by B. J. Thomas. Thomas's version featured the sound of the electric sitar (played by Reggie Young) and reached No. 5 in 1969 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 1 ...

". Skifs embarked on a solo career after Slam Creepers broke up in 1969 and previously he had recorded the duet ''Med varann'' with

Anni-Frid Lyngstad Princess Anni-Frid Synni Reuss, Countess of Plauen (born Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad on 15 November 1945), also known by her nickname "Frida", is a Norwegian-born Swedish singer, songwriter and environmentalist, who is best known as one of the foun ...

for his 1975 album ''Schiffz!''. Skifs appeared as The Arbiter on the original studio album for ''

Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

'', released in 1984. A single and video, ''The Arbiter (I Know the Score)'', was released in 1985. Skifs also recorded several demos for the album, including '' One Night in Bangkok'', later performed by

Murray Head Murray Seafield St George Head (born 5 March 1946) is an English actor and singer. Head has appeared in a number of films, including a starring role as the character Bob Elkin in the Oscar-nominated 1971 film ''Sunday Bloody Sunday''. As a mus ...

. Skifs did not perform the role on stage (in the original London production the character was played by Tom Jobe).

Povel Ramel Baron Povel Karl Henric Ramel (; 1 June 1922 – 5 June 2007) was a Swedish entertainer. Ramel was a singer, pianist, vaudeville artist, author and a novelty song composer. His style was characterized by imaginative wit, both verbal and musical ...

gave Skifs the Karamelodiktstipendiet award in 1984. Skifs has represented Sweden twice in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

, in the 1978 contest and in the 1981 contest. In 2000, he hosted Melodifestivalen, the Swedish heat of the Eurovision Song Contest, along with nine other presenters. In 2002, he had a major hit with the song "Håll mitt hjärta" (Hold My Heart), which is a Swedish version of Peter Hallströms song ''Same Ol' Story''. It stayed on

Svensktoppen ''Svensktoppen'' () is a weekly record chart airing at Sveriges Radio. Until January 2003, the songs had to be in the Swedish language. Svensktoppen has aired since 1962, except for the years 1982-1985. The last years before the January 2003 cha ...

from 27 April 2003 until 8 January 2006, for a total of 142 weeks. In April 2020, Skifs performed at the Swedish live-show ''En kväll tillsammans'', broadcast on SVT, which aimed to bring in money to the Swedish

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

risk groups. Skifs performed the song "Håll Mitt Hjärta" at the end of the show.

Discography

Albums

EP/Singles

* 1973 – "Sally var en reko brud" * 1973 – "

" * 1973 – "

Never My Love "Never My Love" is a pop standard written by American siblings Don and Dick Addrisi, and best known from a hit 1967 recording by the Association. The Addrisi Brothers had two Top 40 hits as recording artists, but their biggest success as songwri ...

" * 1973 – "Silly Milly" * 1975 – "

Michaelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was ins ...

" * 1976 – "Firefly" * 1977 – "Lady" * 1977 – "Tarantula" * 1978 – " Det blir alltid värre framåt natten" * 1978 – "Rococo rendez-vous" * 1981 – "

Fångad i en dröm "" (; "Captured in a Dream") is a song written and composed by Björn Skifs and Bengt Palmers, and the Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a ...

" * 1985 – "Vild och vacker" * 1985 – "The Arbiter (I Know the Score)" * 1991 – "Om igen" * 2010 – "

When You Tell the World You're Mine "When You Tell the World You're Mine" is a song recorded by Swedish singers Agnes Carlsson and Björn Skifs. The song was performed at the Wedding of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, and Daniel Westling on 19 June 2010. It was also the offic ...

" with

Agnes Carlsson Agnes Emilia Carlsson (born 6 March 1988), known mononymously as Agnes, is a Swedish recording artist. She rose to fame as the winner of Idol 2005, the second season of the Swedish Idol series. She was then signed to Sony Music, through which s ...

* 2011 – "Break the Spell" * 2012 – "Step Right Up"

Collections

* 1978 – ''Björns bästa'' / ''Björn Skifs' Greatest Hits'' * 1981 – ''Björns ballader'' * 1989 – ''Collection'' * 1990 – ''Björn Skifs'' * 1991 – ''Songs for you'' * 1997 – ''50/50'' * 2004 – ''Skifs Hits!''

Filmography

* ''

Drömkåken ''Drömkåken'' is a Swedish comedy film which was released to cinemas in Sweden on 28 October 1993, directed by Peter Dalle. The film is a remake of the 1986 Tom Hanks comedy film ''The Money Pit'', itself a remake of the 1948 Cary Grant comedy f ...

'' (1993) a.k.a. ''The Dream House'' * ''Joker'' (1991) * '' Strul'' (1988) a.k.a. ''Framed'' * ''Smugglarkungen'' (1985) a.k.a. ''King of Smugglers'' * ''Chess Moves'' * ''Privatdeckarna: Uppdrag Gran Canaria'' (1984) * ''Prima Veras saga om Olav den hellige'' (1983) * ''En flicka på halsen'' (1982) a.k.a. ''Saddled with a Girl'' * '' Sverige åt svenskarna'' (1980) a.k.a. ''Battle of Sweden'', a.k.a. ''Sweden for the Swedes'', a.k.a. ''The Drinking Man's War'' * ''

Toy Story ''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American computer-animated comedy film directed by John Lasseter (in his feature directorial debut), produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The first installment in the '' Toy Story ...

'' (Swedish voice of Woody) * ''

Toy Story 2 ''Toy Story 2'' is a 1999 American computer-animated film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The second installment in the ''Toy Story'' franchise and the sequel to '' Toy Story'' (1995), it was directed by John ...

'' (Swedish voice of Woody)

Notes

References

External links

Björn Skifs Official site (archived 2005)Björn Skifs at Blixten & Co agency (archived 2009)
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Skifs, Bjorn 1947 births Living people People from Vansbro Municipality Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1978 Melodifestivalen contestants Melodifestivalen winners Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Sweden Swedish male actors Swedish male singers Swedish-language singers Capitol Records artists EMI Records artists Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1981 Artists from Dalarna English-language singers from Sweden Blue Swede members