13 May 2016

Eurovision 2016: Review: Sweden: Frans: If I Were Sorry

Frans Jeppsson Wall / Sweden / 2016 Eurovision Song Contest
Frans: Another Swedish winner?

And finally, for this year at least, our attention turns to host nation Sweden and their entry If I Were Sorry, a song which is co-written and performed by 17-year-old Frans.

Coming from someone so young, it's not surprising that the track is probably the most contemporary in the competition. An almost spoken narrative dominates the song and this in itself is conspicuous by an accent which sounds like a mixture of Eastenders combined with ABBA.

However, unlike Sweden's winner from last year, If I Were Sorry is a much more understated affair, backed by hip-hop dance rhythms in a style which unifies Ed Sheeran's pop/folk with Justin Bieber's electronic R&B. As such, it reflects all that is current about pop radio.

It has already sold well across some parts of Europe - unusually for a Eurovision song it has entered the UK Top 200 before a single vote has even been given. Whether this pre-Contest success will be enough to send Sweden to the top of the scoreboard for a second year in a row is questionable. The song is distinctive enough for it to score well, but whether the average Eurovision audience is ready to vote for it en masse is debatable.

With the news that no other Nordic country has made it through to the Final, it can expect some high points from its Scandinavian neighbours, no doubt helping it to settle somewhere within the Top 10.

What do you think?

Image by Albin Olsson (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons





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