2013 Finalist: Sweden

Switzerland has done it. Spain, Luxembourg, Israel and Ireland too. Now is the big question whether Sweden would be ready to join the club of winning host countries. They would certainly want to.



Robin Stjernberg - You (Sweden 2013)

Maybe last year's victory made the Sweden a bit braver than they usually are, as the eventual winner was a song they hadn't really warmed to at first. Robin only reached the final through the Andra Chansen heat, but then convinced juries and televoters alike of his qualities.

(Well, in all fairness the televoters would still have preferred the song ending in second place, but that's another story.)

Robin is another one of these starry-eyed starlets that Sweden favoured sending off to the ESC lately and he really is an asset with his distinct voice and intense presence. Either you enjoy his show or not, he is sure to spark some sort of emotion in his audience. Which is a good thing.

Then there is the song, though. And then I'm not so sure anymore.

My first impression was that the whole package was a bit messy. Especially the beginning where precious seconds fly by without the verse taking any direction or pointing out where it is going. The chorus is strong and has a good hook, and the last thirty-forty seconds - where he bursts into his impressively high-pitched happy cry - are very strong, but now and then it feels like this song gets a little bit lost in the woods.

Potential winner:
You never can tell. Sweden has a way of breaking through to the international audiences and Robin himself is an intriguing force of nature. But my insticts tell me the song isn't strong enough.

So that's a no, then.

My grade: 3/5

But then again - Robin is going to perform as #16 in the final, just like Kikki Danielsson did in Gothenburg twenty-eight years ago. She was not predicted to do particularly well either but almost won the whole shebang and ended in third place. A good omen for Robin?



Kikki Danielsson - Bra vibrationer (Sweden 1985)