At the end of the season of SVT's Swedish News, host Kristoffer Appelquist gave a monologue about political polarization when opinion leaders and debaters later set the tone together in the song Closed Clusters.
Famous voices with different opinions such as Annika Strandhäll (S), Dala-Demokratens Göran Greider, Ann Heberlein, Bert Karlsson and Hanif Bali (M) were some of the twenty or so participants in the "We are the world" -inspired video concert.
"Reconciling Christmas present"
Behind the satirical song is, among others, Michael Lindgren, known from Grotesco and executive producer for Swedish News.
- It would be like a kind of reconciling Christmas present.
I could not imagine that it would provoke such a discussion, says Michael Lindgren.
Debate among writers
The discussion in question took place on the wrong culture and leadership pages during the week, in the wake of the song release at Svenska Nyheter's season finale.
Nina Solimin writes in a comment in Svenska Dagbladet that she was personally happy that the participants in the song showed evidence of humor and self-distance.
Emanuel Karsten in Göteborgs-Posten thought the same, who also thought that the song was the best SVT has done for the debate.
Lead writer Ivar Arpi, who was also asked but declined to participate in the song, wrote in Svenska Dagbladet that "it is honorable to want to overcome the polarization, but does not appear completely honest of those who have invested so much energy in ugly others who share the same BED".
Petter Larsson writes in Sydsvenskan that he willingly shoulders the mantle to take on the role of a "humorless whiner" and sees a right turn in the selection of participants.
Larsson says that he "refuses to take the formation of a right-wing bloc of a caliber we have never seen before in Swedish history with a good heel kick".
Johannes Klenell answers in an essay in Arbetaren that Petter Larsson "acts as a party pooper" by pointing to the song as strongly right-angled.
But also that he is right in substance, Klenell also means that "impartiality has been shifted to the right".
"They said no"
Michael Lindgren says that if there was an over-representation of right-wing voices in the song, it is because fewer left-wingers wanted to participate.
- There were more who simply refused.
They did not want to join.
He believes that the debate that has arisen about the song and its message is important.
- It is a fun and good discussion.
That was exactly what we wanted.
If our fun little song can unlock the conversational climate in some way and if we air the locks in the Swedish public, that's great.