Sweden: Robin Bengtsson wins Melodifestivalen with 'I Can't Go On'
11 March 2017 at 23:02 CETAfter four semi-finals, a second chance round and tonight's final, Melodifestivalen 2017 is over. For the past six weeks 28 acts have been fighting for the honour of representing Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest, to take place in Kyiv this May. More than 30,000 people attended tonight's live show and many more followed the spectacular show broadcast on TV and online. For most of the evening, #melfest was trending globally on Twitter.
The participants
- Ace Wilder - Wild Child
- Boris René - Her Kiss
- Lisa Ajax - I Don’t Give A
- Robin Bengtsson - I Can’t Go On
- Jon Henrik Fjällgren feat. Aninia - En värld full av strider
- Anton Hagman - Kiss You Goodbye
- Mariette - A Million Years
- FO&O - Gotta Thing About You
- Nano - Hold On
- Wiktoria - As I Lay Me Down
- Benjamin Ingrosso - Good Lovin'
- Owe Thörnqvist - Boogieman Blues
Earlier, the original lyrics of I Can't Go On were amended in order to make them eligible for participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. The song is written by David Kreuger, Hamed "K-One" Pirouzpanah and Robin Stjernberg who represented Sweden at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö with the song You.
A thriller voting
The winner was decided by a mixture of televoting (50%) and international juries (50%).
The international juries came from Armenia, Australia, United Kingdom, France, Israel, Italy, Malta, Norway, Poland, Czech Republic and Ukraine. After the jury cast their votes, I Can't Go On was already leading:
While viewers at home had a slight preference for the jury's runner-up, their strong support for Robin Bengtsson helped him to win a narrow victory:
About Robin Bengtsson
Robin Bengtsson broke through when he finished third in Idol 2008 in Sweden. After his win, he got a record deal and released his first single. In the following years he released five more singles, and in 2014 his first EP came out. To make a fresh start, he changes his name in B Robin.
Last year, he returned as Robin Bengtsson and made his debut in Melodifestivalen. It turned into something of a hit debut that led to a place in the final, where he finished fifth.
Robin Bengtsson: "It's been a really good year for me. I've got to go around the country to play and meet the people who voted for me. My song Constellation Prize is still played on the radio, so it was really hard to top it this year. I try not to compare because it is a completely new line-up and a new track for me, but somewhere inside I wanted to be even better than last year." About his winning song, he says: "It brings a little more joy and momentum than last year. It is upbeat, funky and engaging in a different way."
Besides his love for music, Sweden's Eurovision hopeful dreams of having a car company with special cars.
Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest
Sweden first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1958 and is one of the most successful countries in the competition. Sweden has won the contest six times and has featured in the top five in five out of the last six contests. Sweden hosted the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm following the country's latest victory with Måns Zelmerlöw's Heroes.
Two previous Eurovision winners for Sweden participated in the 2017 competition; Charlotte Perrelli (1999) and Loreen (2012) however neither of them reached the final. Follow the full coverage of the 2017 contest in our live story feature. Roger Pontare (Sweden 1994 and 2000) and Krista Siegfrids (Finland 2013) also participated this year.
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