Eurovision 2019 spotlight: Sweden's John Lundvik with "Too Late For Love"...
Last year Sweden was trying to continue their winning average of 13 top ten finishes since 2000. With the ultra-smooth dance-pop of "Dance You Off" by Benjamin Ingrosso, the country wound up in seventh place, with surprisingly low results from the televate. As much as I love me some Scandi-pop, I felt this song too lifeless and calculated...
This year, the country's national selection program, Melodifestivalen, chose yet another male dance-pop singer to represent Sweden. Could this one be different than the last six guys they've sent in the late decade? Well, hell yes.
Sweden - "Too Late For Love" from John Lundvik
Lundvik, who was born in London, England, and adopted by a Swedish family who moved back to the southern city of Växjö when he was six. John had entered Melodifestivalen last year, where his piano ballad "My Turn" came in third and became a top ten hit in Sweden at #10. This time out John upped the tempo and added a gospel-inspired back-up group for his 2019 entry, "Too Late For Love". Written by Lundvik with Anderz Wrethov and Andreas Johanssen, the song about asking for a second chance pulled the song structure from "My Turn" and turned in a performance that's absolutely religious...
Lundvik also has the honor of having written a second entry in Eurovision, as his "Bigger Than Us" is going to be sung by Britain's Michael Rice. That tepid pool is one of the worst songs this year, so it's a relief that "Too Late For Love" is one of the best. John brings soul inflections in his delivery not seen in an entry from a country known for icy coolness. And it must be said that the four back-up singers truly make this record, with their joyful inclusion in the chorus simply euphoric (to pun another song). There is no doubt this will clear the semi-finals easily, especially with Norway, Denmark, Latvia, and Germany giving neighborly points, but also from the United Kingdom as well, who will appreciate this type of dance-pop, as well as thankful for his songwriting. And for the big show, while he isn't the oddmakers favorite, I definitely wouldn't count him out for being in the running, his live performance is already verified flawless many times already, as opposed to the male ballads in the running. (Rating: 10/10)
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Sweden has been participating in Eurovision since 1958, where they placed fourth their first year. The country as won the contest six times, the first being in 1974 with one of Eurovision's most famous results, ABBA's "Waterloo"...
A decade later in 1984, Mormon teen brother group Herreys took the prize with the nonsensical "Diggi-Loo, Diggi-Ley". So far it's the last song that opened the finals to go on to win the contest...
In 1991, Carola Häggkvist, who had come in third in 1983, returned to win in an unprecedented tie-breaker rule with "Fångad av en stormvind" ("Captured By A Love Storm")...
In the final Eurovision of the previous century, Charlotte Perrelli triumphed with her "Take Me To Your Heaven"...
In 2012, Loreen brought us one of the most loved and longest-lasting winners, "Euphornia". It remains one of my all-time favorite Eurovision songs...
And three years later in 2015 Måns Zelmerlöw and his wonderfully-staged "Heroes" is the country's most recent winner. He successfully hosted the show a year later, and is one of the best hosts ever...
As for my personal non-winning favorite, I would go back to 2014 with Sanna Nielsen's flawless "Undo", which came in third behind Conchita Wurst's "Rise Like A Phoenix" and the Common Linnet's "Calm Before The Storm"...
Sweden has also come in last place twice, once in 1977 for the embarrassing name-check of "Beatles". But their worst recently came in 2005 with an inexplicable tour-guide to "Las Vegas" by Martin Stenmarck, which placed 19th in the final only because they were top-ten the previous year. I mean, with even committing to this horrid concept, why dress your backup girls like this?
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