Background
Because her mother is Swedish and her father is British, Shirley has dual nationality.
Because her mother is Swedish and her father is British, Shirley has dual nationality.
She has competed six times in Melodifestivalen between 2003 and 2014, reaching the final twice where she finished second in 2004 and fourth in 2005.
Shirley Clamp"s career began as a backing singer for various singers and groups, including Antique during their Eurovision Song Contest 2001 performance to name one. She started her solo career in 2003, when she took part in Melodifestivalen 2003 with the song "Mr. ". Finishing in 6th place in her semifinal, she lost the chance to qualify for the final.
Her big breakthrough came in Melodifestivalen 2004 with the song "Minister kärlek" (My love) composed by Ingela "Pling" Forsman.
She came fourth in the last semifinal and went on to take second place at Andra Chansen, the "second chance" semifinal, thus qualifying for the final. A little later, in May 2004, Shirley released her first studio album, Den långsamma blomman (The Slow Flower).
Her second studio album, Lever mina drömmar (Living my dreams) was released in April 2005. A year later, she released Favoriter på svenska, a special covers album, containing songs with lyrics in Swedish, such as Roxette"s "lieutenant Must Have Been Love" ("När kärleken föds").
Clamp appeared at Melodifestivalen again in 2009 with the song "Medical hjärtat fyllt av ljus".
She placed last in the first semi-final, but eventually received a Swedish #1 single with the song. She was also a commentator for SVT during the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. Shirley returned to Melodifestivalen in 2011 with "Shirley"s Angels", alongside Vera Prada and Jessica Marberger, with the song "I Thought lieutenant Was Forever." The trio competed in the third heat and advanced to Andra Chansen, where they were knocked out in the fourth duel against Pernilla Andersson.
3 years laters she tried her luck participating at Melodifestivalen 2014 with the song "Burning Alive" which was composed by Bobby Ljunggren, Marcos Ubeda, Sharon Vaughn and Henrik Wikstrom.Shirley competed in the third Semi-final and came 6th for a second time, failing to qualify for the next round.This was the 4th time she didn"t make it to the final, the first being on the 2003 contest.
As a performer 2003 - "Mr " (6th in semifinal) 2004 - "Minister kärlek" (2nd) 2005 - "Att älska dig" (4th) 2009 - "Medical hjärtat fyllt av ljus" (8th in semifinal) 2011 - "I Thought it was Forever" (Shirley"s Angels) (Knocked out in Andra Chansen round) 2014 - "Burning Alive" (6th in semifinal) As a composer 2003 - "You" performed by Pandora (Did not qualify for the final)*.