We can say many good things about the spread of 30 songs that come into Melodifestivalen each year. This first heat alone has multiple songs that would feel at home in the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest, with glamrock pyrotechnics, haunting northern ballads, slick Swedish produced R’n’B pop and, wink, iconic comebacks that are huge spectacles of musical entertainment befit to reach hundreds of million this May.
Not every song in Melodifestivalen is, in my humble opinion, worthy of such a high accolade and to have a place on Europe’s biggest musical stage. And I want to write this article to talk about one of those.
Let me introduce you to ‘Copacabana Boy’.
I am privileged to be one of the perhaps 30-odd journalists who gets to listen to the Melodifestivalen songs each Tuesday morning of the season, starting the journey of the Speculation Storyline about who has the smash hit single and who is heading home early.
Writing reviews on our ESC Insight Bluesky account, I wasn’t generous about ‘Copacabana Boy‘ on first listen, describing it as “the most disaster of Melfest disaster bops” in this “Sean Banan from Wish” style dance track that is ultimately “bottom of the barrel quality.” Others were perhaps even more harsh. On ESC Forum, comments call the vocals “horrendous”, the production “like a draft demo forgotten in a desk drawer 15 years ago” and even Junior Lerin’s participation in itself as “atrocious.” On X there are comments describing the song as “a horror” and “one of my lowest rated NF songs”. And Aftonbladet’s Melodifestivalen columnist Markus Larsson did not hold back, describing the song as the equivalent of a “punctured whoopee cushion”.
There are thirty songs competing in Melodifestivalen, chosen from 3,888 submissions sent in last September. On a pure songwriting merit I can say with full confidence this is not one of the best thirty songs submitted to Melodifestivalen, almost certainly not in the top 300 and I won’t argue if you want to suggest that it’s not actually in the top 3,000.
But in performing here in Linköping, Junior Lerin is arguably the most important act for the success of the entire Melodifestivalen season.
And so much of that is because of Junior Lerin himself.
From Brazil For Love
Despite a list of artists taking part including last year’s 3rd place Greczula and a triumphant return to the pop world of A*Teens, artist Junior Lerin has been mentioned as much as anybody in the build up to Saturday’s heat.
Born in Brazil, Junior moved to Sweden and is married to Lars Lerin, a multiple prize winning artist and painter beloved in his own right, acting as an ambassador for the United Nations refugee support organisation and also hosting with his own dedicated museum in Karlstad. Junior works at said museum as its intendant as well as having his own distinguished photography career.
But what’s taken Junior to be flavour of the month in Sweden have been emotional TV appearances, the most high profile undoubtedly being Let’s Dance where he competed last year, coming 6th out of 15 participants. He also took part in Mot alla odds (Against all odds) a show where he and others of non-Nordic backgrounds learnt to ski to take part in the epic Vasaloppet 90 km cross country ski race as a relay.
Alongside the very public displays of grit and determination in dancing and skiing has Junior had opportunity to open up his soul to the Swedish people. He spoke about his love of dancing, but that his homophobic father back in Brazil forbid him from doing so as a child. He has spoken about his previous drug use, and how he stopped taking drugs on moving to Sweden and starting a new life with Lars.
Junior’s journey to Sweden, and his journey to becoming a minor celebrity here in the country, has been one where the challenges of his upbringing, alongside his unstoppable drive to try and succeed, has seen him become somebody that Sweden is folkkär, or beloved, by. And it was watching Junior struggle to stay upright on skis, and emote about his challenging upbringing, that caught the attention of one person in particular.
Fredrik Andersson, the songwriter for ‘Copacabana Boy’.
The Creator’s Inspiration
Fredrik explains that his idea for writing a song for Junior came from watching television one night and seeing Junior struggle, and that his story “went straight into my heart”, believing Junior was “so brave and courageous.”
For Fredrik, that meant his next train of thought was to write a Melodifestivalen song for Junior. While Fredrik’s had Melodifestivalen success writing Frans’ ‘If I Were Sorry’, he’s more synonymous with this competition for writing musical numbers for those with other backgrounds, such as poet Björn Ranelid’s ‘Mirakel’ and Hollywood wife Gunilla Persson’s ‘I Won’t Shake (La La Gunilla)’.
“I like doing these things of productions, and I like it when I know it’ll be a bit controversial and people have opinions like “Is he an artist?, Is he not an artist?
“But I hear in the corridors when people sing ‘Copacabana Boy’, those working here backstage and so on. People think it’s fun, and it’s going to go well regardless of the result.
“This song is basically the end of that whole journey from Let’s Dance and Vasaloppet to him daring to throw himself out there.”
That Junior gets to be in Melodifestivalen, and gets to transform on stage into this most absurdly fabulous carnival alter ego, is what the people want to see. They have seen his journey as somebody who came to Sweden, trying to fit into the society, and going to give their all. Its like Junior is embarking on the final leg of his Svensk Klassiker (Swedish Classic), four endurance races of running, skiing, swimming and cycling, albeit its Swedish cultural television equivalent.
Even if Junior is not blessed with the dance ability, ski ability or let’s be honest vocal ability, the culmination of that journey creates goodwill entertainment. Whether they vote for him or not on Saturday, nobody following his journey is going to wish him ill as he performs in his highest profile three minutes of his Swedish life.
What Happens On Monday
One win that brand Melodifestivalen has in including Junior in this year’s show is this chance to give him three minutes on stage where the public can show their love for him. The other win comes after the show.
The other five songs, for all their musical qualities, big budget stagings and professional performances, are bringing to Melodifestivalen what you expect from Melodifestivalen. Junior’s appearance breaks that mould. From Luleå to Lund when offices around Sweden break for fika on Monday morning, as the coffee is being poured and cake being sliced up, let me ask you one question.
Which performance is the conversation starter?
Junior’s performance is going to be divisive. Those who know his journey and his story will be proud that he was brave enough to go out on stage and give his all. Those who instead hear the song as a standalone attempt to battle for Eurovision contention are going to argue about how terrible it is to be a part of Sweden’s biggest show.
And so the debates go. This isn’t a mellanmjölk, run-of-the-mill, Melfest-by-numbers performance. Viewers will feel something emotional watching. And will share that with colleagues on Monday morning. This song’s purpose here , beyond the celebration of Junior Lerin himself, is the purpose of getting people talking about Melodifestivalen. You can push the show on all the internet channels, news stations and throughout the 50-odd press accredited here in Linköping this week, but nothing beats the power of word of mouth. This is the song that means those stuck on endless loops of Netflix or YouTube who missed that Melodifestivalen has begun might stick terrestrial TV on next week, bringing more to Hela Sveriges Fest – this party for all Sweden – next week in Gothenburg.
Saturday’s Samba Star
I spoke to Junior Lerin after his first rehearsal on the Melodifestivalen stage, after his first ever singing performance in front of any form of live audience.
Junior Lerin rehearsing at the Saab Arena in Linköping (Photo: Stina Stjernkvist, SVT)
“I want to tell people that you don’t have to be cowardly in life. You life once, just put yourself out there. If you don’t offer yourself, others won’t offer you anything. You have to dare to go for it yourself in front of the whole audience.
“The audience in Sweden gave me a lot because the audience likes my bravery.
“Aha! If he can do it, I can do it too. So many people came to me [this past year] and told me “what self-confidence you have that you gave to me”. How inspiring, I inspire others.
“So now I’m here, I’m going to go for it, and it means a lot to me that the Swedish people show this love. So I offer everything good I have within me, I offer it to the people.”
And when Junior Lerin performs on Saturday night, watch out for the postcard before he performs. Walking onto stage to Käärijä’s ‘Cha Cha Cha’, Junior is interviewed by noll2 who ask him about his performance. He reveals there that he’s never sung before on a stage, and that he tried once at age nine, but everybody booed him.
“For me, Mello is like a dream, unreal. I never thought in my life that I’d be on stage, singing on Mello, dancing on Mello. But oh my god, it’s like… I don’t understand, life is like a miracle that can surprise me every single day. And it’s not just a small thing, it’s as big as it gets. And that’s why I say, I would like to invite all of Europe to dance.”
I was inside the arena for Friday’s first rehearsal. Junior Lerin came out to stage with as much applause as any of the big names. Within seconds of his performance I looked around to see so many smiles on the faces of the locals attending. People weren’t laughing, they were admiring. Admiring Junior’s bravery and his commitment to putting on a show for the people.
The Melodifestivalklubben audience poll confirmed this, with Junior a respectable 4th place with 11.4% of the votes in the audience. One audience member who voted for Junior told us that “well, I know he doesn’t sing the best, but I love that he puts on a show for us.”
Junior Lerin shows off his painted nails in the colours of the Swedish flag at the Melodifestivalen press conference in Linköping (Photo: Ben Robertson, ESC Insight)
When I was younger, I would have thrown proverbial toys out of prams at the sheer existence of this as a competing entry in Europe’s biggest and most successful National Final process. But today I understand that in a series like Melodifestivalen we need these entries to fill the drama until we get to the final at our national football stadium. This might be a competitive act on paper but it’s purpose in the competition is beyond the scoreboard, it brings the focus of love and support to the forefront, and it keeps the contest on everyone’s lips.
So if you are watching on Saturday and Junior Lerin’s ‘Copacabana Boy’ isn’t your thing, I hear you. But remember that this is the end product of a long build up in the media spotlight and the culmination of the Swedish people’s new found love for Junior, and his love in return to them.
There’s a place for that in Melodifestivalen’s six week extravaganza.