Denmark’s Soren Torpegaard Lund, one of the favourites in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, has sparked a homophobic backlash in his progressive country with his electro-pop track, but he’s just trying to “stay true to myself”, he told AFP in an interview.<\/p>\n
Torpegaard Lund, 27, will compete in Vienna on May 16th with the song “For vi gar hjem” (“Before We Go Home”), an ode to the world of nightclubs.<\/p>\n
It “tells the story of growing up with love and temptation, and actually giving in to it, because that’s what we learn from, and that’s how we learn to be grown-up human beings,” he told AFP on a sunny afternoon in Copenhagen.<\/p>\n
Torpegaard Lund says one of his greatest memories is Austrian drag artist Conchita Wurst’s Eurovision victory in 2014, when he was 15 years old.<\/p>\n
“It made a big impact on me, just growing up as a queer kid,” he said, “finding out what my identity was and just putting it out there.”<\/p>\n
“That was a very cool moment.”<\/p>\n
Now, he’ll not only meet Wurst — who is one of the show’s presenters in Vienna — but will also fulfil his boyhood dream of being on the Eurovision stage.<\/p>\n
“I’m trying to really play it cool, but it is crazy to me that I’m going to be part of this.”<\/p>\n
– Backlash –<\/p>\n
His hip-swinging number in tight leather pants and a mesh top has however raised some eyebrows in normally liberal Denmark.<\/p>\n
“Some people in Denmark tried to tone my act down, and I also got some homophobic backlash from Danish people,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Fag in fishnets”, “homo in a box” and “HIV spreader” were among the hurtful comments he received on social media, he said.<\/p>\n
“I’m definitely going to channel just staying true to myself,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I hate to see that it’s still happening,” he sighed, referring to anti-gay attacks.<\/p>\n
“I also loved being able to reply … just being like, ‘you can’t touch me’.”<\/p>\n
“We can be here. You can be here. Everyone can be here at the same time,” he said.<\/p>\n
Originally from a small town in central Denmark, Torpegaard Lund never took to sports, setting him apart from other kids.<\/p>\n
Instead, he turned very early to musical theatre, piano, and singing.<\/p>\n
“There was nothing else for me that I could do so I kind of just went on that path,” he said.<\/p>\n
He attended Denmark’s National School of Performing Arts, and has since played the lead role of Tony in a Danish production of West Side Story, among other things.<\/p>\n
In February, Danes selected his song for Eurovision, with leading daily Politiken calling it “the right choice”.<\/p>\n
He is “an artist who is comfortable on stage, extroverted, with a choreography already ready that could easily fit into the Eurovision Song Contest,” the newspaper wrote.<\/p>\n
– ‘Create hope’ –<\/p>\n
Another challenge for Torpegaard Lund will be to rekindle Denmark’s interest in Eurovision, where it has lost some of its lustre after wins in 1963, 2000 and 2013.<\/p>\n
“I didn’t know that it was kind of cringe,” he said.<\/p>\n
“It was very, very big in the 1980s and 1990s in Denmark and then it kind of stumbled the last 10 years.”<\/p>\n
“But I feel like it’s definitely having its comeback, and the music industry is realising that it’s very cool for established artists to have a platform to show their music.”<\/p>\n
While focused on his performance, he’s also aware of the tensions around this year’s competition.<\/p>\n
Five European broadcasters, including Ireland and Spain, are expected to boycott the 2026 edition over Israel’s participation, and more than 1,000 artists have also urged a boycott.<\/p>\n
For the Dane, the priority is for people to pull together.<\/p>\n
“In times of crisis, we as human beings have always come together to try to create hope in different ways, and … celebrate some kind of hope together. And I’m proud of being part of that.”<\/p>\n
His act of rebellion?<\/p>\n
He has refused to translate his song into English, as is customary for smaller languages like Danish, and is proud to represent all of Denmark — including Greenland and the Faroe Islands — at a time when US President Donald Trump’s appetite for Greenland threatens its territorial integrity.<\/p>\n
“I’m proud of representing countries that need to fight for their own right, their own freedom.”<\/p>\n
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