Melodifestivalen season is upon us again. In fact, this time next month we’ll already know two of the qualifiers to the grand final in March. It’s a difficult one to predict this year – comebacks, big name artists who are entering the contest for the first time ever, acts who were successful last year coming back for another attempt, and then there are the fresh faced newcomers, like this chap Anton Ewald.
Well – we say newcomer, but Anton actually isn’t that much of a stranger to the Melodifestivalen stage, having been a dancer at the 2012 contest. It’s his first time as a singer though, and in fact he’ll be competing with his debut single, at that – ‘Begging’. Produced by one of the most talented producers in Sweden right now, Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, and with lyrics and melody from a man who has written more Meodifestivalen tracks (and indeed, Melodifestivalen winners) than we can even think of off the top of our head, Fredrik Kempe, ‘Begging’ goes into the contest as one of the ‘ones to watch’. Not just because of the songwriters on board, but also because of Anton’s star quality. Comparisons to Eric Saade are already being made (and are probably not unwanted, given Saade’s success in Melodifestivalen and outside of it too), but aside from their looks, there’s really not too much that the two have in common. For one, Anton’s got a much deeper voice when he sings. And as for the songs, in a Melodifestivalen context at least, well ‘Begging’ has probably got a lot more in common with say, the likes of David Lindgren’s ‘Shout It Out’, than it does with Saade’s ‘Manboy’ or ‘Popular’.
No artist wants to start off their career being compared to anyone else though, and so Anton goes into the contest wanting to prove himself as not just his own singer, but also as the trained choreographer and dancer that he is too. He’s going to be putting on a show, and it’s very much going to be his own show.
We had a chat with Anton at the Melodifestivalen press conference at the end of last year (actually we had a chat with a lot of the artists – but when we put it to a vote on Twitter yesterday, it was Anton’s words that most people wanted to read first). And so here’s what he had to say for himself;
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Scandipop: A nice surprise to see you here today Anton. It’s no secret that you’re a great dancer, and you’re obviously very skilled at going onto your phone and taking pictures of yourself for Twitter and Instagram……..
Anton: HA HA HA!
Scandipop: …….we knew all of that! But who knew that you were a singer as well?!
Anton: Well, ha ha, thank you for the first kind words….
Scandipop: Yeah, and the second ones too, they were from the heart….
Anton: Ha ha, yeah…..erm, I’ve always sang. It just wasn’t until recently that I figured – ok, let’s do something with this. As you know, I’m a dancer, educated at the Royal Swedish Ballet school here in Stockholm. So it was always dance, with me. But now I wanna take it up a notch, and start singing as well. As a solo artist.
Scandipop: Was it your stint on stage at Melodifestivalen this year that made you start thinking about taking the singing thing further, or even before that did you have an inkling that you would set the wheels in motion pretty soon.
Anton: No, it was even before this year. In fact I was actually singing at Melodifestivalen this year – I was in the choir that backed up Danny Saucedo, as well as dancing for him too.
Scandipop: Aaahhh, I didn’t know that. I didn’t see the mic pack tucked away under all those neon lights you were wearing.
Anton: Yeah we had our own little mics that we sang into. So it was there when it kind of got to a bigger scale, but I’ve always been a singer. Two years ago I was like, maybe I should start singing professionally. Maybe I can do something with both my dancing and my singing together.
Scandipop: So I guess Melodifestivalen 2012 was some good training for you – to do your thing as a dancer, and to be able to sit back and watch how all of the singers are coping at being the artists out there in the spotlight.
Anton: Yeah it was. You know, I love to entertain. I would say that I’m an entertainer. I’m not just a singer, not just a dancer, I’m an entertainer. That’s what I love to do. And that’s what I hope I’m gonna show with ‘Begging’ in Melodifestivalen.
Scandipop: Can you tell us about the song?
Anton: It’s up-tempo. R&B-pop, but with more of a pop vibe to it.
Scandipop: So it’s something people can definitely dance to?
Anton: Yes. And I’m actually gonna be choreographing the number as well. That’s scary, ha ha!
Scandipop: Christ, why don’t you just go and design the costumes as well, while you’re at it!
Anton: HA HA HA, no I got my own stylist for that. But yeah – I’m very involved with the number and the song. And that’s scary, but it’s also fun – I love it.
Scandipop: And if it all goes wrong, there’s no one to blame but yourself!
Anton: Exactly!
Scandipop: So what can we expect from you after Melodifestivalen? Do you think you might have an album ready to go when the contest is over?
Anton: Afterwards? Hmmm…we’ll see. But yes I’m aiming to have an album ready. But we’ll see.
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More words from Anton (in Swedish) over at SVT’s Melodifestivalen website, here.