2018 Eurovision Reviews – Sweden

There is absolutely no denying that Sweden is a total powerhouse when it comes to Eurovision, with three recent wins, and a selection of Top 5 results. Having been in the Top 5 for the last four years, inclusive of a win, the pressure is well and truly on for this year’s representative Benjamin Ingrosso. After an interesting Melodifestivalen, Benjamin conquered and justifiably, and this year he will get his chance to bring his entry Dance You Off to the Eurovision stage. Will it be five from five for Sweden, or will we be dancing Benjamin off?

Benjamin competed in last year’s Melodifestivalen with what turned out to be one of our favourite national final songs not only in Sweden, but across all of the competing nations, but with a strong competition in Sweden, he ultimately lost out to Robin Bengtsson. This year, Benjamin stood out as a clear winner, at least from my perspective, and it didn’t come as a surprise that we would be seeing Dance You Off at Eurovision this year, and I am living for it.

For me, this is pretty much as good as pop gets, and trust Sweden to serve it up to us. They’re one of the few Eurovision nations who can consistently serve up a modern track that could find success in an international market, and Dance You Off definitely fits into that category. It’s a contemporary pop track that definitely has a youthful appeal to it, and being of that market myself, this is incredibly appealing to me.

I like that very quickly into the song, we’re already at the incredibly catchy chorus, after only a few lines of the first verse. The chorus is the money maker of this song, and although it’s a lot of falsetto, it’s balanced out by the verses, of which the second is longer. The song definitely follows the very traditional structure, finishing off with back to back choruses, but I enjoy that he uses that time to create some diversity and explore the different ranges of his voice. There’s this one note in the song that is the literal winning note for me, and it hits around 2 minutes 30, so if he absolutely nails that, I will truly be living for this.

The other stroke of genius we saw with this song was the staging in the national final. This is something we expect from Sweden, who consistently nail their stage performances year after year. They know how to make something fresh and interesting, and Benjamin’s stage performances pushes the boundaries in such a spectacular way. If they didn’t continue with this staging, I’d be incredibly surprised. As a viewer in the arena, it might not seem like a big deal, but watching that song staged in that way on a television screen is incredibly memorable.

All aboard… the Ingrosso train!

This is just so trendy. It’s youthful, it’s modern and it’s bound for another successful result at Eurovision. This is Top 5 material, and I’d be surprised and lowkey disappointed to see this fall outside of the Top 5. This is the perfect pop song, and the perfect pop song deserves a perfect score.

Our rating: 10/10

If you support Sweden at Eurovision, make sure to vote for Benjamin in our poll! Watch their official video below, and follow our Eurovision 2018 playlist on Spotify.