Released 28 February 2015 Genre Dance-pop
electropop Label Warner Music | Format Digital download Length 3:11 | |
 | ||
Writer(s) Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad
Joy Deb
Linnea Deb | ||
"Heroes" is a song by Swedish singer Måns Zelmerlöw. It was released on 28 February 2015 as a digital download in Sweden. The song was written and composed by Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Joy Deb and Linnea Deb. On 14 March, the song won Melodifestivalen 2015 and represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Vienna, Austria, which it won. It is the lead single for Zelmerlöw's sixth studio album Perfectly Damaged.
Contents
Critical reception
With 10 reviews from Wiwibloggs, "Heroes" received an average of 8.45 out of 10, the highest score at the final of Melodifestivalen based on their reviews. Robyn gave the song a perfect score of 10 and said that Måns was a charismatic performer. Deban gave the song a rate of 7.5 and said that Måns was "fabulously telegenic" and said "Heroes" is a weak entry without the visuals. Bogdan gave the lowest score for the song–3 out of 10– and said that the song was the child of David Guetta's "Lovers on the Sun" and Avicii's "The Nights". Denise described the song as a mix between Avicii and Coldplay and gave it 10 out of 10. Billy said that the song would certainly win Europeans' hearts and gave it 10 out of 10. Padraig described the song as "almost perfect" and gave it 9 out of 10. Angus said "Måns has demonstrated clear mandate to go to Eurovision" and gave it 10 out of 10. Ron praised the visual aspect of the performance and said "Heroes" was something deeper than all his previous songs in Melodifestivalen and gave it 9 out of 10. Sami said the song reminded of David Guetta and gave it 9 out of 10. William said the lyrics of the song made no sense and gave it 7 out of 10. Writing in The Independent, Kiran Moodley also compared it with the Guetta song, concluding "indeed the resemblance is uncanny."
Melodifestivalen
Being Zelmerlöw's third participation in the selection, "Heroes" participated in the fourth semi-final of the 2015 Melodifestivalen which was held in Örebro's Conventum Arena on 28 February 2015.
The song was performed last at the fourth semi-final. It direct qualified to the final as it got one of the first two places. Right after the second chance, the running order of the final was revealed with "Heroes" being performed at the sixth position. "Heroes" won the selection with 122 points from the international jury and 166 points from the public, receiving 288 points in total, a record under the current voting system. The entry also beat the second placed song with a record margin of 149 points.
Eurovision success
"Heroes" won the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with a total of 365 points. It is the third-highest-scoring song in the history of the contest. It is also the first winning song, since the introduction of the split jury-televoting system in 2009, that has not won the televoting.