Melodifestival is one of the most popular national TV programs that takes place every year in Sweden. Over a dozen musicians perform and hope to be voted winner by a combination of Swedish voters and an international jury. Winning Melodifestival is a big deal because the winner will then go onto Eurovision, a super popular annual TV program where musicians from over 40 countries compete to win.
Robin Bengtsson performing at Eurovision 2017.
The winner of Melodifestival 2017 was Swedish pop musician Robin Bengtsson who performed the song “I Can’t Go On.” The performance started with a close up shot of clean cut Bengtsson in a dark blue suit who then walked out on stage with four other male dancers also wearing suits. I originally thought there was no way Bengtsson could win – he’s too masculine for the fragile feminist fad that has encapsulated Sweden. But low and behold, Bengtsson made it to the final and walked away with a trophy.
Caroline af Ugglas performing her version of Bengtsson’s “I Can’t Go On” at Melodifestival Final 2018.
A year later the Bengtsson was present at the Melodifestival Final 2018 to present a trophy to the new Melodifestival winner. The host of Melodifestival spoke with Bengtsson for a few seconds and then the shot quickly changed to a stage where a number of dancers in sweat pants and t-shirts stood. A woman, who happened to be well known Swedish singer Caroline af Ugglas, started singing in slow melodramatic tones. The dancers started moving around in odd artistic movements that were over-dramatized.
To my surprise, the song was a cover of Bengtsson’s winning song. Poor guy! Melodifestival organizers gave him barely any spotlight on the program and didn’t even have him do a final performance of his winning song. Instead, they replaced his upbeat song with a horrible melodramatic version that fed into the fragile feminist fad.
Lauren Ell is an American blogger born and raised in Southern California and is currently based in Sweden. She discusses Epilepsy, Politics and Fun. Professionally Ell is an Online Marketing Consultant and Virtual Assistant. She is also founder and president of Republican Atheists. Connect with Lauren on Facebook and Twitter.