Welcome to That Eurovision Site’s 2024 Advent Calendar! Each day at 10:00CET we’ll be highlighting one of our favourite holiday themed songs from across the Eurovision sphere! today is 16th December and our featured song today is “Vintern jag var sexton” by Dotter, who has participated four times in Sweden’s Melodifestivalen. Happy Holidays!
Behind the 16th door on the TES Advent Calendar is…
About “Vintern Jag Var Sexton”
Translating as “The Winter I Was Sixteen” – Vintern Jag Var Sexton is about Dotter reminiscing about a previous relationship that ended, guess what, in the winter when she was sixteen, and how every time Christmas approaches, she can’t help but think about the relationship and it’s abrupt end just before the festive season.
The song was written alongside her husband Dino Medanhodzic, himself a successful songwriter, as well as perennial Eurovision songwriter Thomas G:Son, with Medanhodzic responsible for the song’s production.
What do we think?
I want to meet the genie who made the deal with Thomas G:Son and struck a deal with him that her must make four of the most overproduced garbage songs ever for the fifth to be absolutely magnificent. This is the latter, in case you were about to start wondering why I was writing about it.
This is Dotter at her absolute finest, and a great example of a direction I’d love her to take her music in on a more regular basis, because whilst a lot of her discography is *good* this is *great*. Mournful, nostalgic, melancholy, and in Swedish to sweeten pot, this beautiful track is everything I wish It’s Not Easy To Write A Love Song was. A sure-fire addition to the winter playlists of anyone who loves ballads as much as I do.
Dotter’s Eurovision Journey
Dotter has become something of a fan favourite in her four times entering Melodifestivalen. Debuting as a performer in 2018 with “Cry”, having co-written Mariette’s entry the year before, her best performance in Sweden’s selection came in 2020, coming just one point behind winners The Mamas with her song “Bulletproof” – She would return in 2021, and most recently in 2024 – reaching the final on both occasions. In addition to her Melodifestivalen pursuits, she served as Sweden’s jury spokesperson at Eurovision 2022.
What do you think of today’s song? As always, please let us know what you think by getting involved in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threads, tumblr, and Bluesky for more information about Eurovision 2025!
Photo Credit – Alexander Kot-Zaitsaǔ, Gabriel Luengas/Europa Press, KEiiNO, Sarah-Louise Bennett / EBU, Jonathan Vivaas Kise, DR, Luisa Sobral, Donny Montell, Darin, That Eurovision Site, Eleni Foureira, Urša Premik, Ochman, Bodine Monet (Collage by That Eurovision Site)
News Source – That Eurovision Site
Giwrgos Oiko