Moa Carlebecker, better known by her stage name Cazzi Opeia is a Swedish DJ, artist, singer and songwriter. She chose her stage name in reference to the constellation Cassiopeia. Cazzi has been in the Swedish music industry since 2009. She found immediate success when her first single was picked up and remixed by Tiësto! Her last single “Rich” was released in 2018, but she’s been very busy writing songs in the interim.

Hej Cazzi, thank you so much for finding time in your busy schedule this week to talk to us! Congratulations on being chosen for Melodifestivalen! How are you?

I’m feeling really grateful and so excited, it’s like so new for me this whole thing. I’ve been working with music a long time, but this thing is really new and I’m looking forward to it and I’m nervous of course, but I’m really grateful for finally being a part of this bubble of love and music and I grew up with Melodifestivalen of course, so my family’s really proud of me, so it’s a cool moment to live in.

You’re no stranger to the music industry. What made you decide to take part in Melodifestivalen this year?

Because we wrote this song at a song writing camp this summer and I felt then in the room that this is a song that I really really really like and I could definitely see myself do this in Melodifestivalen and so when it actually was selected I got really excited and it was like unreal for a little bit. This is happening now and I’m going to do it, but it’s really because of the song that it’s happening this year, because I felt when we wrote it that it went just straight to my heart and even now when I listen to it, I still get butterflies in my stomach and I still smile and get a really warm feeling, so it’s definitely a song that’s 100% me. It all just made sense when we wrote the song. So it’s definitely because of the song that this is happening.

Who were your influences in music at the beginning of your career?

I’ve always been a really pop girl and my heart beats for pop and I was listening a lot to the Spice Girls when I was a kid and I still do, I still really really love Spice Girls, their whole thing. And of course Freddy Mercury has been one of my big idols and ABBA of course so I listen to a lot of different music but mostly pop I would say. I’ve been listening to Freddy Mercury because he made such amazing songs but he’s also amazing on stage so he’s a big inspiration for me, but yeah pop I would say, everything that comes with pop is my favourite.

How did the collab with Tiësto come about?

That was actually my first ever released song “I Belong to You” that was my first single that I released after the whole Idol journey, so that was a big thing when he picked it up and made that remix together with Bauer and Lanford so my label just suddenly got that remix and they were like, “Are you okay with us and Tiësto releasing this?” and we were like “Hell yeah”! Release whatever you want guys, it sounds amazing! So that was a huge boost for me the first single I ever released and then I got that love from Tiësto and he played it on his tours. It was a really cool thing for me to start my career with that. Then I met him of course when he was here in Stockholm and he’s really really sweet and we talked about doing more stuff together but life happened it goes so fast. I really think he’s a cool dude and I respect him a lot. I think he’s a really talented person, so I was really happy with that collaboration. It was cool to join the EDM and House world, because of that I did a lot of night clubs performances and stuff, thanks to that so it really showed me a new world than the pop world in music.

What can you share about your song I Can’t Get Enough? For example, will your fans recognize any similarities to “Batman & Robin”?

It’s definitely pop and it’s a catchy tune but at the same time it has that not sad but melancholic vibe with a happy catchy tune, it will definitely get you on your feet, you’re not gonna be able to get enough out of it because it’s called “I Can’t Get Enough”. I mean I wouldn’t say it’s similar to “Batman & Robin” at all, it’s still pop but it’s a complete different thing. I still am [dancing to it] even if I heard it all year I still can’t sit still when the chorus hits. So hopefully that’s going to be everyone else’s reaction as well.

Are you excited to get back on stage?

You never know what’s going to happen with this Covid stuff and I’m mentally prepared for maybe something happening and it might be like this year with no audience, so I really hope everything just stays as it is now because that’s what I miss as well, is to perform for an audience, I haven’t done that in like 4 years so I’m really hoping that everything’s just gonna work out great and as planned, but we’ll see.

What sort of staging can we expect to see in your performance?

I don’t want to spoil anything. We’ve had the first rehearsal together with SVT and I just love working with the whole team, they are amazing and they’re so professional and it feels like they’re really listening to my ideas and my vision and from day one it has been like that. I’m honestly really happy with everything they’re doing and we have had the first rehearsal and it felt really good and like we set all the cameras and where I should look and the choreography and all that so now I’m just gonna rehearse that so I know everything so I can just relax on stage and have fun. I have time so that feels good that we have so much time so there’s nothing last minute stress or stuff like that, it feels really great with everything and it’s gonna be a colourful dreamy performance.

So it sounds like you’ll be dancing on stage?

I’m not a dancer but I have some moves, I can groove, but I’m gonna really focus on singing the song good and being present so, I didn’t take on too many moves, but I have some moves definitely.

What would be your first reaction if you win Melodifestivalen 2022 and what would it mean to you to represent Sweden at Eurovision Song Contest 2022?

I mean it would be such a huge honour of course, to represent Sweden. I mean who wouldn’t want to experience that!? That would be so cool. So if I won I would go bananas, I would probably cry happy tears and shout real loud, but I mean of course I would really want that, but at the same time I’m so grateful for everything that’s happening right now, so I’m just enjoying the journey and I just want to have fun with it all the way and maybe not think so much about that it’s a competition in a way. So I don’t really think about what if I won, I’m just taking it step by step and really trying to enjoy every meeting, every rehearsal, every fitting with my stylist, just enjoying all the steps, and it makes me nervous to think that it’s a competition so I usually never think about it. But if I won it, that would be crazy. Wow, of course that’s the goal, but it’s nothing I think about daily.

Are you a Eurovision fan? If so, do you have a favourite song or a memory about the Contest?

Definitely! 2012 when Loreen won the whole thing with “Euphoria”. I mean that moment was just so cool, I get goosebumps when I talk about it. She got like eighteen 12 points, it was so cool. So that’s definitely a moment that I’ll never forget and I was so happy for her and she was so amazing on stage, and her performance was so breathtaking and her moves were just ahhh! That whole performance was gold and I was so happy for her when she won the whole thing. That was really really cool. And that song still works when you hear it.

Tack så mycket Cazzi! We wish you the best of luck at Melfest! Do you want to share anything else or you maybe you have a message for your fans and the followers of ESCBubble?

I just want to say to everyone that I really can’t wait to share this song with you all and my performance with everyone and I really hope that this song will make everyone as happy as it makes me. And thanks for the love and support of course!

Cazzi will open the 3rd heat of Melodifestivalen 2022 on 19th February in Linköping.