Sweden doesn't seem to be "Sorry" about their choice of Frans as their auto-qualifier for the Eurovision Song Contest
Country: Sweden
Song Title: "If I Were Sorry"
Artist: Frans
Last year's entry: "Heroes" - Mans Zelmerlow (Winner)
I don't pay too much attention to the bookies when it comes to Eurovision predictions (especially when it's early in the season when all the contestants haven't even been fully decided), but one thing that's mystified me this season is their insistence that Sweden could potentially win the contest for another year in a row. Besides that being a rare occurrence in the first place, a country's entry the year after they've won is usually a nice victory lap - a way to say "Yes, we won last year, and here's an entry that's pretty good to show that we deserved to win, but we would prefer to not host again next year thank you." When I first visited this song, I thought Sweden had made an interesting choice with Frans' "If I Were Sorry" by going for something that didn't feel overly "Eurovision" as their victory lap. How does it hold up now that we're a few weeks away?
This daytime TV appearance is hopefully a little more "acoustic" than the final performance of this song will be, but it also highlights for me why this song really doesn't feel like a strong contender for a second Eurovision win. The gentler rendition actually feels perfect for daytime TV, but this straightforward staging feels a little too plain for the grand stage Sweden has planned for the contest. There's a nice indie pop feel to the song, which certainly((and confusingly)) worked in the favor of "Kedveshem" a few years ago, but this doesn't feel poised to reap the same rewards.
Frans' vocal performance is good (and close to how the song sounds on record), but I think he's not the best vocalist overall in the competition and he doesn't feel particularly suited to a big arena performance, which this is going to need to be. I don't think Sweden is going to see the same nul points result Austria did on their home turf last year, but I think a two-peat is far from likely in this year's final.