Zara Larsson on winning Swedish talent show aged 10: “I worried my career might be over”

Zara Larsson has shared her experiences winning a Swedish talent show aged 10.

• READ MORE: Zara Larsson: “Pop girls are expected to constantly reinvent themselves”

In a new interview with The Guardian, Larsson opened up about winning Talang as a young child, and its impact on her music career. Talang is part of the popular Got Talent series, and Larsson won with her rendition of Celine Dion‘s ‘My Heart Will Go On’.

“Back then, I never really had any worries or doubts about being successful, because I knew deep in my soul that I was destined to be an entertainer, which is why I entered Talang,” Larsson shared. “The only thing I was worried about was the speed with which I might get that success.

“After the show, I presumed it would be like: boom! I’m going to get signed, I’m going to be a superstar! But nothing happened for four years.

“I found that very stressful, and worried my career might be over. I went back to normality.”

Larsson recently released her new album ‘Venus‘, and spoke to NME about the album in a new interview earlier this month. She opened up about collaborating with producer Rick Nowels (whose credits also include Madonna and Lana Del Rey).

“Rick is a very, very, very stubborn person and so am I,” she said. “He would say, ‘I don’t like that,’ and I would say, ‘Well, I like that.’ We would do that back and forth,’” she continues. “At first, it was hard to vibe with him, but… he’s special. I learned so much about myself and songwriting. I really enjoyed that he expected stuff from me. He held me to a standard that I want to be held to.”

She also spoke to NME in 2023, where we asked her whether she was open to participating in Eurovision: “It’s still a no! But I would love to be an interval act.

“I’m a really big fan of Eurovision, I watch it every year,” she continued. “Eurovision and [our national selection show] Melodifestivalen are a big part of Swedish culture, and my boyfriend dances on that show every year. So yeah, I’d love to be part of it, but I don’t think I would want to be part of the competition.

“I’m also really scared because, like, I’m doing quite well in my life [and as] an artist. But what would happen if I [entered Eurovision and] didn’t get to the finals and they just voted me out? I feel like it would be like, ‘Oh wow, that’s the end of my career!’”

Larsson is midway through her UK and Ireland tour – take a look at any remaining tickets here and check out remaining dates below:

FEBRUARY

18 – O2 Academy, Birmingham 

21 – Roundhouse, London 

JUNE

21 – Fairview Park, Dublin