Three years ago, Omar Rudberg crashed out of the Melodifestivalen semi-final in Leksand – beaten by both Dolly Style and the hidden talent Rebecka Karlsson. The following year he tried again, but was rejected by SVT and was not even allowed to participate in the competition. So it is an artist who is both eager to play and wants revenge that GP meets at the record label Ten's offices in Stockholm. But not a bitter one.

– No, not at all. The song that SVT didn't want, "Dum", now has just over nine million streams on Spotify. So it didn't matter that much, says Omar Rudberg with a happy smile.

In fact, Rudberg's failed Mello entry has been spun significantly more than many of the songs that actually made it to the 2020 final. Neither Mohombi's "Winners", Victor Crone's "Troubled waters" nor Robin Bengtsson's "Take a chance" have come close. Not even The Fooo buddy Felix Sandman's Mello seven "Boys with emotions" has done as well - and that is perhaps the most relevant comparison in this context. Because despite their young age, they both have a long and partly parallel history together.

From high school in Kungsbacka to pop star in The Fooo

It all started in the spring of 2013 when Ola Håkansson's company Artist House Stockholm discovered 14-year-old Omar Rudberg online. They brought him together with Felix Sandman, a fellow musician of the same age, and the two 15-year-olds Oscar Molander and Oscar Enestad. The band The Fooo was born.

– At that time I was in seventh grade at Varlaskolan in Kungsbacka. I should have actually been in eighth grade but had a year to spare, says Omar Rudberg.

He lived in Åsa just south of Kungsbacka and quickly became known as perhaps the most danceable and least studious in the boy band. When his career took off with a big US tour and a couple of notable opening gigs for Justin Bieber at the Globen, it became difficult for Omar Rudberg to focus on his grades or even get approved attendance from elementary school. But he managed. Omar Rudberg trudged through high school and was able to graduate from ninth grade with passing grades in 2015.

 

And then..?

– Then I focused on music. Full on. But I had actually planned to start studying at high school in 2020, it was kind of decided, but then I got the role of Simon in the new Netflix series “Young Royals”. And then all the time disappeared. The idea was that I would have gotten a driver's license too.

 

If you had to choose between a driver's license and high school, which would be more important?

– Getting a driver's license! It's faster and I get more out of it.

 

How do you feel about school now?

– I don't know. It doesn't hurt to have a high school diploma, but I also don't feel a great need to go to high school and learn about... well, the Middle Ages. Why should I read about it? I want to work as an actor and artist, and then the years with The Fooo were the best school you could imagine.

 

What did you learn during those years?

– Being welded together so early and so hard gives you experiences for life. I think it was in 2015 that we toured all over the US, from Los Angeles and Arizona to Texas and Miami, up to Atlanta, Washington, New York ... and then all the way back again. I remember sleeping on the floor in our little tour van. It was so extremely intense that you simply had to take things as they came, and it's educational.

 

Did you get along?

– In between. We were only 16-17 years old so it's clear that there were problems and arguments. Actually a lot of problems and arguments. It's tiring to live with each other while being professional and working together. We didn't get any space for ourselves at all. At the same time, we were probably all a bit immature.

 

Who was the hardest worker among you?

– (laughter) Felix was a real pain in the ass! But we were all pretty hopeless. I'm sure the others were annoyed with me too.

 

Omar Rudberg

 

 

 

Omar has followed in Felix Sandman's footsteps

After The Fooo lost a member and transformed into FO&O, failed in Melodifestivalen and finally split up in 2017, it was Felix Sandman who first made his mark on the music scene. The following year, he finished second in Melodifestivalen with “Every single day”, just behind his best friend and labelmate Benjamin Ingrosso, and in 2019, Sandman played supporting roles in two acclaimed Netflix series, the Swedish “Störst av allt” and the Norwegian “Hjem till jul”.

 

Now Omar Rudberg is making the same journey as Felix Sandman, albeit with a couple of years' delay. First in the role of Simon in the rewritten Netflix series "Young Royals", which begins filming its second season these days, and on Saturday will be his comeback in Melodifestivalen.

– I met Felix at a dinner last year and we were just talking about how crazy it was that we've been through the exact same thing one after the other.

 

Did you ask Felix for any tips?

– No, I didn't. The fact that I'll soon be able to stand on stage and sing in front of an audience is something I've really been looking forward to and feel I can do, but I also think filming fell into place quite well. It's still a whole new world that has opened up to me.

Omar Rudberg was tipped off by an acting friend (not Felix) that Netflix was looking for people for a new teen drama. Even though he had never acted before, he contacted the production company Nexiko and got the chance to audition for the role of Simon in “Young Royals.” And after various auditions, the role was his.

Major transition from stage to television recording

– The hardest thing for me was letting go of control. On stage I can be involved and control everything from camera angles and lighting to how my hair will look, what makeup I will wear and what songs I want to sing. On a film set or a TV series you just have to ignore all that, you can't and shouldn't control what's happening around you. I just have to think about being on stage and delivering my lines.

 

How was it then?

– It was a challenge. But also a fantastic opportunity for me and I definitely want to combine my artistic career with acting in the future.

 

And it certainly could be. "Young royals" has been so successful in many parts of the world that Omar Rudberg now has millions of followers on social media (by far the most among this year's Mello artists) and major magazines like Vogue are coming to Stockholm to report on the guy from Åsa who they call "a heartthrob destined for full-blown, main-stream superstardom". Translation unnecessary.

 

Do you have more and bigger TV projects in the pipeline?

– Yes, actually. But it's not completely clear yet and nothing I can talk about.

 

How's Saturday going then?

– Of course I hope for a place in the final. And once there, anything can happen.

 

Eurovision in Turin, how does it sound?

– If I were to win and get to go down to Turin in Italy, it would just be completely, completely crazy. So please send me there, I will do soo well.