Loreen was born as Lorine Zineb Noka Talhaoui in Stockholm 1983 and is of Moroccan-Berber descent. Her family moved to the village Gryta just outside the city of Västerås where she grew up.
The first time Loreen go introduced to a wider audince was in 2004 when she entered the Swedish Idol 2004 competition where she finished in 4th place. In 2005 she released her first single The Snake together with the group Rob’n’Raz. The years that followed saw Loreen working as a host for the TV-show "Lyssna".
In 2011 Loreen was back in the spotlight as she entered Melodifestivalen 2011 with the song My Heart Is Refusing Me (which she co-wrote with Moh Denebi and Björn Djupström). The song came 4th in the second semifinal in Gothenburg and reached the Second Chance heat where she lost in the first sing-off duel to Sara Varga. Despite not qualifying to the final the song became a big success and entered the different swedish music charts. A follow up single named Sober was released in the autumn the same year.
In 2012 Loreen was offered to sing Euphoria at Melodifestivalen. She hesitated to enter the competition again but in the last days before the official presentation of the artists she decided to accept to take part.
