Boris René On Melodifestivalen Return and Full-Time Move to Music

Photo: Lizel Strömberg (ZEL photography)

Boris René first debuted as a solo artist in the Swed-pop scene in Melodifestivalen 2016 with a song he co-wrote, "Put Your Love on Me". As a fan of soul-pop and mo-town, even taking on a gig in a mo-town tour in Sweden with Afro-dite, René draws inspiration from these genres in his own artistry.  Following a qualification to the finals through the Andra Chansen wrong, René finished a respectable tenth place. Though some may not consider the placing to be a strong one, René had entered the contest entirely unknown as a musical artist. His only claim to fame beforehand was as a football player. René even was splitting his time between music and football over the past year.

René's qualification was a testament to the power of his charisma as a performer. The infectious quality of the song certainly helped, but endearing himself to the audience was what garnered him enough votes to qualify twice over in his first competitive run. Following the contest, he released a follow-up single, "Mon Amour," which despite being slightly slower in tempo was arguably a stronger composition with a production that utilized some well-placed strings.

René is now ready to commit to music full-time, having felt the weight of trying to split himself between two careers to be too much for his liking. "Last year went down and everything went well but I felt like right after Melodifestivalen, it was too much for me [mentally], just the travelling thing, going back and forth, I couldn't handle it. After a while, it became too much. So that was when I decided to switch full-time to music."

René maintains a positive outlook and aims to get the most out the experience of participating in Melodifestivalen. Being a newcomer to music, he sees himself as having much to learn. "People have been asking me if I'm a competitive person and I always answer [that] I compete with myself. It's the same thing this year that I come in with low expectations and just want to have fun. I try to picture myself as that little kid when I was standing in front of the mirror singing. That's my main goal, to come here and have that feeling with me and if I can give you that feeling also, that would be perfect."

Watch our full interview with Boris René here: