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Sweden's Robin Stjernberg thought he couldn't go on... but he could!

30 May 2017 at 08:00 CEST
Robin Stjernberg has written 'I Can't Go On' Helena Nilsson
Robin Stjernberg represented Sweden in the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest. This year he made a comeback, not as an artist, but as a songwriter. "This has been much more fun," he said. We caught up with Robin in Kyiv prior to the Grand Final of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest.

Robin Stjernberg's music career started at an early age with the boyband What’s Up! together with Eric Saade, who represented Sweden in Eurovision in 2011. In that same year Robin was a contestant in Idols finishing in second place. In 2013 he represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest on home ground with his song You. "I don’t remember so much from Eurovision in Malmö. It was very intense but of course also fun," said Robin. "I do remember the audience and my three minutes on stage though. The rest went by incredibly quickly," he added. 

Robin's bumpy road

Since 2013 Robin has continued to work in the music industry full time, writing songs for both himself and other artists, however the path has not been smooth at times. "I couldn’t even write anything and that was really hard. However I learned so much from it and when I look back I feel that it was a necessary experience. I found my true passion in the process. It’s a lot of fun to get to work with other singers stories," explained Robin.  

Kyiv marked Robin's return to the Eurovision Song Contest, but this time as a songwriter, where he wrote I Can’t Go On for this year's Swedish representative, Robin Bengtsson. The story of their collaboration for 2017 began at a music camp last summer but they originally worked together in 2012. "We actually wrote a single together called Cross The Universe, so we've been working together for five years now," said Robin Bengtsson. 

Lowering the octaves, raising the stakes

When Robin Bengtsson first heard I Can't Go On he felt that the key was a little too high for him. "When we lowered the key it felt like my song. We have totally different ranges but I loved the song the first time I heard it," said Bengtsson. 

Whilst Robin Stjernberg enjoyed his time in Kyiv, he is not planning a comeback to Melodifestivalen or the Eurovision Song Contest just yet. "I kinda feel like that I want to do my own thing right now. So I get some muscles, because I don’t want just a quick hit. I need some substance in my music and really want to be respected as a musician and writer," he said. 

The two artists are good friends and colleagues but how much do they know about each other and about the Eurovision Song Contest? We challenged them to find out!

Robin Stjernberg is currently working on new music and would like to pursue his long-term goal of working abroad. Robin Bengtsson finished fifth in the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest this year. The future looks bright for the two Swedes, and who knows, maybe one day we'll see them in the contest again, but it remains to be seen whether that is as an artist or a songwriter - or both!