A balaclava is an odd uniform for a pop singer, but it became the most visible thing about Felicia Eriksson. The Swedish singer, known for a time as FELICIA, was from 2022 the voice of Fröken Snusk, a music project that kept her face completely hidden. Why would someone with a strong voice and a growing audience choose to disappear behind a mask? The answer says a lot about what she was trying to shield, and how long that shield stayed up. The mask made the voice the headline. Felicia Eriksson was born on October 5, 2001.
The reason behind the mask
The mask was not simply a stage trick. Eriksson has said she kept covering her face because she wanted to avoid hateful comments about her appearance, and she has spoken about the body shaming she experienced during her time in Fröken Snusk. The project made her a familiar voice without making her a visible target. Then, in the spring of 2025, she was replaced in the role. It looked like a dead end. Instead, it became the moment she had to find out whether a career could survive under her own name.
Her response was to start again under her own name. When a reality show she had filmed before the exit later aired, the credits called her the original Fröken Snusk. The words were a reminder that she had been the person behind the mask, but the brand was no longer hers. She did not throw the mask away: she still partly covers her face. The habit was a shield from the hate she had already described, not a costume for attention. She was now competing as a solo artist, not as the hired voice of a mascot.
Melodifestivalen win and Eurovision
The bigger test came with Melodifestivalen, the Swedish contest that selects the country's Eurovision entry. She entered in 2026 with the song My System. In the final she won with 161 points. That victory gave her the right to represent Sweden at Eurovision. A singer who had once performed in anonymity now had a national stage, and the mask was only part of the story.
At Eurovision she came through the opening semifinal into the final. The stage was bigger, but she still partly covered her face. Eriksson has said the covering is tied to old wounds from the Fröken Snusk years. She also said she intends to remove the mask in time. For now, it is a compromise: a shield she keeps close while the voice in front of it grows steadier.
The solo shift began to show in the charts. My System went to number one in Sweden, reached number nine in Austria and number eight in Finland, and then appeared on sales and dance lists in the UK. That was a long way from the anonymous early days. Somehow, the voice had become famous while the face was still partly hidden. The song had left the masked era behind, even if its singer had not completely stepped out of it.
At the Rockbjörnen awards later that year, she was named Breakthrough of the Year. She accepted it while still keeping part of her face covered. The balaclava that once hid everything had become a smaller, carefully chosen presence. She has said the mask will not stay forever. For now, the face stays partly hidden, but the name Felicia Eriksson is out in the open. The full reveal can wait.