Coordinates: 13°10′N 59°33′W / 13.167°N 59.55°W / 13.167; -59.55

Barbados (ⁱ/bɑrˈbeɪdɒs/ or /bɑrˈbeɪdoʊs/) is a sovereign island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is 34 kilometres (21 mi) in length and up to 23 kilometres (14 mi) in width, covering an area of 431 square kilometres (166 sq mi). It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres (62 mi) east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about 168 kilometres (104 mi) east of the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and 400 kilometres (250 mi) north-east of Trinidad and Tobago. Barbados is outside of the principal Atlantic hurricane belt.

Barbados was initially visited by the Spanish around the late 1400s to early 1500s and first appears on a Spanish map from 1511. The Spanish explorers may have plundered the island of whatever native peoples resided therein to become slaves. The Portuguese visited in 1536, but they too left it unclaimed, with their only remnants being an introduction of wild hogs for a good supply of meat whenever the island was visited. The first English ship, the Olive Blossom, arrived in Barbados in 1624. They took possession of it in the name of the British king James I. Two years later in 1627 the first permanent settlers arrived from England and it became an English and later British colony.

Linda Birgitta Bengtzing (born March 13, 1974 in Gullspång, Sweden) is a Swedish pop singer, famous for her participation in the fourth season of Fame Factory in Sweden and for her entries at Melodifestivalen 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2011

Bengtzing (born March 13, 1974) grew up in Gullspång, a little village in Västra Götaland located in the west of Sweden). She released two singles in 1987 and 1989, however, she disappeared from the music industry for fifteen years.

In 2004 she took part in the fourth and the final season of Fame Factory but she went on the program at the same time as her song "Alla flickor" being selected to participate at Melodifestivalen 2005. Her song surprised everyone and she took part in the Melodifestivalen final after receiving sufficient votes in the 'Andra Chansen' (Second Chance) round. She finished in last place, scoring 15 jury points but receiving 0 points from the Swedish public's televoting. The single reached #8 in the Swedish charts and a few months "Diamanter", a song very similar to Alla flickor, reached #32.

Lars Magnus Carlsson (born June 24, 1974 in Borås, Sweden) is a Swedish singer and former member of the bands Alcazar and Barbados.

Magnus Carlsson grew up in Fristad, outside Borås. He attended comprehensive upper secondary school for 2 years with a focus on musical training, and four further years at the Faculty of Arts in Gothenburg University, where he studied to be a music and song/voice teacher.

Carlsson was first a singer in the Swedish dansband Barbados. Though near the end of 2002, he left Barbados and joined the pop-dance group Alcazar.

Carlsson participated in Melodifestivalen every year between 2000 and 2007 inclusive, except for 2004, either with Barbados, Alcazar or as a solo act.

At the end of 2002, Carlsson decided to leave Barbados, and on December 13, 2002, Carlsson became an official member of the pop group Alcazar. On January 24, 2003 he performed his last concert with Barbados.

In February 2006, he was a contestant in Melodifestivalen's semi-final in Karlstad with "Lev Livet!", composed by Anders Glenmark and Niklas Strömstedt, and qualified for the final in Globen.

Towe Jaarnek, born 13 June 1965, is a Swedish singer. At the Swedish Melodifestivalen 1991, she sang the song Ett liv med dig, which finished 2nd. In 1992 she sang a duet with the Swedish singer Peter Jöback. The song was More Than a Game, which was the official song for the 1992 European Football Championship.

Andreas Lundstedt (born Björn Helge Andreas Lundstedt, 20 May 1972) is a Swedish musician, who is best known as a member of the pop-dance group, Alcazar.

Born in Uppsala, Sweden, since childhood, Lundstedt had wanted to be a singer. At the age of five he took part in a talent competition for children and achieved second place. By the age of fifteen he appeared regularly on television and in shows as a member of the band Stage Four. The group consisted of four of the now most famous singers in Sweden; Lundstedt himself, Peter Jöback, Lisa Nilsson and Lizette Pålsson.

In 1998 Lundstedt was the founding member of Alcazar. They made their European breakthrough with the hit single "Crying at the Discoteque". After this success Alcazar had several more hit singles. One of them was "This is The World We Live In" (2004). Alcazar reunited in 2007 after a two-year break and today consists of Tess Merkel, Lina Hedlund and Lundstedt.

Lundstedt released one album and four singles in the years 1996-1997, and in 2006 he released a new single, "Lovegun"/"Nightfever", which includes a new song as well as a cover of the Bee Gees hit song "Night Fever". His most recent single is "Move", which also is going to be included on his forthcoming album.