Alcazar 

is a Swedish eurodance group which has established themselves as one of Sweden's most successful music groups with a string of hits since their debut single in 1999. Worldwide Alcazar had sold records over 12 million between 2001 and 2004. Alcazar have also had success around the world with their song "Crying at the Discoteque", having charted in countries such as USA, Brazil, Australia, Japan and most countries in Europe.

The group formed in 1998 with three members: Andreas Lundstedt, Tess Merkel (born Therese Merkel, 18 April 1970,Nykoping, Sweden), and Annika Kjærgaard (born 18 May 1971, Bjarnum, Sweden). Their first single, "Shine On", was a hit in Sweden, but it was with their second release, "Crying at the Discoteque" (which heavily sampled Sheila B. Devotion's 1979 hit "Spacer") they achieved success across Europe. Both singles appeared on their debut album,Casino. Later editions of Casino contained a cover of The Human League's hit "Don't You Want Me" which also served as the third single off the album. In the United States, Alcazar gained moderate success. "Crying at the Discoteque" peaked at #44 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play and "Don't You Want Me" peaked at #30 on the same chart.

In December 2002, Andreas Lundstedt's boyfriend at the time, Magnus Carlsson, joined the group. The second album,Alcazarized, was released in Sweden in 2003 and became a big hit. Subsequently, it was released internationally in 2004, with new cover artwork and a slightly different track list.

In the autumn of 2004, Alcazar released "This Is the World We Live In". The song samples Diana Ross's 1980 hit single "Upside Down" and re-uses lyrics from Genesis' 1986 single "Land of Confusion". Their follow-up single, "Physical", also sampled an older hit: Londonbeat's "I've Been Thinking About You". The singles were followed up by the album Dancefloor Deluxe which was released in Sweden in August 2004. In the winter of 2004/2005, they released the Christmas single "Here I Am". Alcazar enjoyed considerable success in 2004 in their home country Sweden. 2005 saw the release of the single "Start the Fire". During the making of its music video, Kjærgaard had an accident in which she broke her foot.

In the autumn of 2005, the band decided to take a break. Andreas moved on to musicals and played the lead in "Saturday Night Fever" and Tess became a poker pro.

In May 2007, the band did a one-off performance in London at the legendary night club "G-A-Y" and invited their friend Lina Hedlund (born 28 March 1978, Hanebo, Sweden) to join them on stage. It all turned out to be a very successful combination and a few months later the "New Alcazar" was formed.

In January 2008, their first and comeback single "We Keep on Rockin'" was released. Music and lyrics by long time team member Anders Hansson. The single quickly turned into a hit and only a week after the release the single passed gold status in sales.

In March 2009, the new album Disco Defenders was released in Sweden. The album contains two discs. Cd one: 12 brand new tracks like, "We Keep on Rockin�", "Burning", "Harlem Nights", "Stay the Night" etc. Cd two: 11 best of songs, among them "Crying at the Discoteque", "This Is the World We Live In" and "Don't You Want Me".

Disco Defenders has received great reviews from the Swedish critics.

The single "Stay the Night" was Alcazar's entry in the Swedish pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest.