We’ve officially got another Melodifestivalen in the books of history, and what a historic win it was!  After all of the votes were talled, fan-favorite Yohio was edged out by international jury pick (and runner-up in the public vote) Robin Stjernberg with “You“.  Robin, who passed through the Andra Chansen round last week, is now the first and only Swedish Eurovision performer to pass through the repechage round on the way to victory. 

22-year-old Robin, who grew up not far from Malmö, was the runner-up on the 2011 edition of Idol.  He was the only performer that season to have not been ranked in the bottom two before the Final round, but just missed out on the victory by a 4% margin to Amanda Fondell.  Earlier, he was a member of the boy-band “What’s Up!” alongside 2011 Eurovision performer Eric Saade.

It’s always a bit of a special honor to be selected to sing for your country at Eurovision, but to be picked to represent your homeland as it hosts the world’s largest musical festival just brings it to another level.  The hometown crowd will scream just a little bit louder, the local press pays just a bit more attention, and the pressure is just a little bit more intense.  Some, like Ireland’s Niamh Kavanaugh or Azerbaijan’s Sabina Babayeva, rise to the challenge and bring home a strong result.  Others, like Norway’s Didrik Solli-Tangen, don’t fare quite as well.  Whether Robin will bring Sweden the rare double-victory is still to be seen (and, in a year like 2013, it seems that anything can happen and possibly will).  Regardless of the final result, Robin seems genuinely thrilled to be performing, and humbled at the opportunity.

You can’t really fake a reaction like that…