"Things haven't gone so well for Denmark, so I feel like there's a certain weight on my shoulders," he says when TT meets him at a café in Vienna ahead of the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Before singer Sissal took twenty-third place in the final in Basel last year, Denmark had failed to advance from the semi-finals five years in a row.
"Of course I want to advance to the final! But I'm not a winner; I think you've won just by getting here," says Søren Torpegaard Lund.
“Coffee in the back of my throat”
Also competing in the semi-finals is Norway's Jonas Lovv, who is not expected to finish in the top ten but is instead predicted to place 20th by bookmakers. However, Eurovision's governing body, the EBU, has told him to tone down his sexiness on stage, reports NRK.
Søren Torpegaard Lund has never heard anything like that, even though his act is one of the sexiest in the competition. He wears a revealing fishnet top, lots of eyeliner and sings in a glass cage - just like Eric Saade with “Popular” in 2011.
"I think many people choked on their coffee when they saw the number. They're not used to Denmark having such solid Eurovision numbers and putting in so much effort."
At the same time, he praises his Nordic colleagues.
"It feels like everyone has sent really good artists and songs this year. My number is very un-Danish and it feels like Felicia's is very un-Swedish. In that way, we've met. She's also an incredibly cool person."
Prepared
The 27-year-old competed in the Danish selection for Eurovision back in 2023, but is happy that it is only now that he has won and is getting to represent the country.
"I wasn't ready then for everything that comes with the competition - people screaming for me in town."
What are they shouting then?
"They scream "Søøøøøøren!" It's crazy. But I'm the same person inside, just regular Søren from Oure (a village on Funen with just under 500 inhabitants, editor's note)."
He says that he prepared himself mentally for the performance in Vienna, including by sleeping, eating right, and avoiding alcohol. He also had several meetings with his psychologist.
"We have developed a strategy, a motto: I will not go in to prove anything, but to share something. In this case, my vision, my music and my performance."
