This Is Benjamin Ingrosso Part 2 (2024) Movie Script
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AFTER A SUCCESSFUL SUMMER TOUR IN SWEDEN,
BENJAMIN INGROSSO
IS NOW SETTING HIS SIGHTS ON EUROPE
#####
WITH HIS FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR.
THIS MARKS HIS FIRST BIG STEP
TOWARD FULFILLING HIS LIFELONG DREAM
OF BECOMING
SWEDEN'S NEXT GLOBAL POP ARTIST.
You know, sometimes I wish
someone could be inside my brain.
Everything is chaos, it's only negative.
I haven't walked my steps, I look like
shit, I'm stressed, I don't know anything.
Hubris.
Self-confidence.
Hate.
Terrible self-esteem, eating disorder.
"The song dropped on Spotify, you suck.
Europe tour not sold out, you suck."
Reviews will say,
"No one sang along to in Europe".
Everyone in Sweden will say "you suck".
Fuck, okay,
it's all just "you suck," right now.
Everything you do sucks, you suck.
That's my brain, it just...
I've gotten what I want all summer,
I'm still not happy.
Why should I go on some
Europe tour that might go to shit.
I just want to press pause.
Pause.
Swedish pop star
Benjamin Ingrosso
is going
on his first European tour.
In April he's going to
play clubs in Europe.
He'll play in places like
London, Paris, Berlin.
Small but
strategically important venues.
He's talked for years
about wanting to make it abroad.
Many talk about it,
very few succeed.
I might not have made clear
that I'm touring with 80% new material.
Entirely new songs.
As an artist and entertainer,
I'm looking forward to the challenge.
- Your Europe tour is coming up.
- It's so scary.
I don't really know what to
expect after this fantastic Swedish tour.
I'll probably be faced with,
"Right, this is reality."
THIS IS BENJAMIN INGROSSO PART 2
THREE WEEKS UNTIL THE EUROPEAN TOUR
- Hey buddy.
- Hey.
- Sleep well?
- No.
I'm just trying to...
My voice feels like this
all the time at the moment.
Today I think we'll really have,
and we almost do already,
the shape of the Europe Show.
Exactly, we'll add in
some of the filler things.
Exactly.
VIKTOR OLSN, MD/KEYBOARD
I need to take a shit.
- Good morning.
- Hey.
- Hey.
- Hi.
How are you doing?
We're planning the Europe tour.
Right.
We could play a bunch of old songs,
but the vision is that we'll...
do this more as a showcase,
showing who Benjamin Ingrosso is in 2024.
Yeah, new chapter.
JOEL STRMGREN MD/MIDI
And then we'll do some kind of...
Then it's long, starts like this.
Cool, and get some '80s glitter in there.
This summer
exceeded all my expectations.
Now I'll start my next chapter.
Europe tour.
I don't really know
what to expect.
Guten morgen.
Back to the roots.
It's really scary,
it's like starting over again.
No one will know who I am.
I'll have to prove myself.
Gig after gig.
STOCKHOLM
It'll be fun to be
in some sweaty venue in Berlin.
And get to play in front
of a new kind of audience.
Who haven't seen anything.
No expectations.
TWO DAYS UNTIL THE EUROPEAN TOUR PREMIERE
- Hey, Johan.
- Hey.
It is what it is.
This doctor just told me my acid reflux
could be reaching my vocal chords.
When did this start?
The day before yesterday.
And how did it start?
Are you overworked?
Yeah, I've been rehearsing for three
weeks, so my voice has been worn.
The thing is, my falsetto is just gone.
It's like...
I'll write some prescriptions
but stay quiet as much as possible.
Completely quiet or can I talk a little?
As little as possible.
How is your voice?
DENNIS BRCHNER CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Right... you're hoarse?
You lost your voice?
And the doctors just say to be quiet?
And I brought these.
Nothing like this.
What is it? Fourteen countries in...
twenty-one days?
We'll start with a mix of everything?
No?
The Europe tour is, to us,
a really important part
of the bigger plan
to take the next step into the US.
Benjamin won't be
making any profit on this tour.
One of Sweden's best paid artists,
for live, stage performances,
who plays a stadium show
in Sweden for 40,000 people.
On Friday this week,
he'll play for 250 people.
It feels really fun and exciting
that we're heading out now.
I'm a little worried but I also know
he's a total hypochondriac,
which makes it hard to know
when to take it seriously.
Hey. He's got a problem.
He's been quiet
since we spoke to you last.
He's got a cough and a sore throat.
He's got no falsetto.
Do you feel sick, in your body?
Not really? So you can talk now.
Can I hear what you sound like?
Okay...
I haven't talked since Saturday.
You should definitely start
talking, do vocal exercises...
Thank, Johan, you're the best.
Why does this have to happen
on my first Europe tour, on the first day?
It happens now and then.
No.
Usually in moments
where you have to deliver.
- Yeah...
- You haven't spoken for 48 hours.
Now you're speaking normally.
HAMBURG
This is really cool.
Like, the power supply
for the stage is bigger than this.
This is so cool.
This is, to me...
Now I'm calm. Like...
This place is going to look packed.
Which is what I want.
I don't want a big empty venue.
Plus, I like it small and intimate.
This is what I've been envisioning.
This is perfect.
PREMIERE OF EUROPEAN TOUR
This is my first
show outside of Sweden.
Hamburg,
it's a crazy feeling to be here.
Should I say that?
It stinks so bad in this toilet.
We're going to be playing together
for a month.
It's going to be so much fun.
We're just gonna go out there
and slay Hamburg.
Let's have fun. Let's enjoy this.
Let's fucking go.
Yes!
So awesome!
So crazy.
Pouring it out like water.
Rock and roll.
- No, but like...
- I got goosebumps.
I got goosebumps too.
They all yelled the lyrics,
so crazy!
It's been a long time
since I had this much fun.
Now I'm gonna look at my phone all night
and get some ego.
Let's go to Berlin.
When you dream wildly at home,
cooking pasta or whatever,
where do your thoughts go?
Well, I've dreamt
of a world tour.
I've always dreamt of having a
concert at Madison Square Garden.
That's my goal.
BERLIN
- Your breath is terrible.
- I know, I don't have a toothbrush.
There's a chemist here.
- Kisses.
- See you on the others side.
Let's show them the craziest fucking
rock and roll gig they've ever seen.
Let's fucking go.
MADRID
HELSINKI
This is fucking drugs.
COPENHAGEN
Izabella Scorupco writes, "king".
OSLO
Everyone's still there.
- What?
- They're still there.
- No.
- Yeah.
- Can I go out like this?
- Yeah, do it.
I was in the shower,
I thought it was done.
Thank you for tonight!
Take care of each other, be kind.
Now I'm gonna take a warm fucking shower.
MUNICH
Now we're going to some hit radio station.
We were supposed to do
another radio interview after this one
but his train is delayed so you'll meet
him after sound check instead.
She runs the whole radio thing,
she's a bit of a radio legend.
It feels very safe to have you with us.
What an ass-kisser.
Radio hit number one.
Easy, not so fast.
It's German radio, let's play
Look Who's Laughing Now.
- Hello there, hi.
- Welcome.
- Thank you.
- This is Benjamin and...
- Hi, Kim.
- Benjamin, nice to meet you.
Oh look at that, that's amazing.
- This direction.
- Cool.
My first European tour,
it's called Better Days Tour.
It's been a dream of mine
to be on tour in Europe
and I'm finally doing it at the moment.
I can imagine it's a crazy feeling
to see the audience of other countries.
Yeah.
I am a very positive guy.
And I think the world
is shit at the moment.
And I think that we should say
good things to each other.
And be kind.
- How you doing?
- I'm good, how are you?
- What was your name again?
- I'm Dave.
- Dave.
- Right.
- Mr Ingrosso.
- Yes.
- Hi, I'm Purple Disco Machine.
- I'm Benjamin Ingrosso.
- This is our new single...
- Honey Boy.
Again.
I'm Benjamin Ingrosso.
Yesterday was insane, one of the most
amazing nights of my life.
Hi, I'm Benjamin Ingrosso
and you're listening to 95.5 Charivari,
Munich's hit radio.
Perfect.
LONDON
- Hey.
- Hey, just checking in.
How are you feeling about today?
How's your voice feeling?
- My voice is better than ever.
- Great.
- Mm.
- We'll meet at Spotify at 12:40.
So you're there five minutes before 12:45.
I'm going there in like five minutes
to have my meeting before.
- Mm.
- Great.
I'll see you later.
- Yeah, love you, bye.
- Love you, bye.
It's almost like a political campaign,
getting the voters on our side.
Tonight we have
every music streaming platform,
all of their Heads of Editorial
are coming to see who he is
and if he makes sense for the UK.
We'll have people from the radio
and everything there.
It'll really be a showcase night.
What's great about Heaven
is that's it's like a breakout venue.
Every artist who's ever made it big,
has had a moment at Heaven.
So it's really important.
What defines making it abroad?
Is a top one hit on Billboard?
Or a top 100?
Is it that a certain
kind of people know who I am?
That's what's dangerous
about this dream.
You can't really define
what would make it successful.
- Awesome.
- Thanks.
Thank you so much, guys,
I'll see you later.
If I played a sold out
Madison Square Garden...
People would say, "You made it."
I'll say, "No, Harry Styles
did it 15 times in a row, I haven't."
Like...
I want to be the centre of attention,
it's like...
I think it's like, I never got the girls
as a kid, I didn't have friends.
So for me to get to be the one
everyone's looking at,
I was like, "that's it, now."
And that's when I got to be on stage.
I wanna hear everyone sing
"Give me something."
I can't really hear you!
What did you say? One more time!
Fucking hell,
that was no fun.
This was a catastrophe,
they were so disappointed.
- They definitely weren't.
- Yes.
That's your anxiety talking.
No, they wanted songs they knew
and could sing along to.
It was so good.
I did every song
worse than ever.
I hate having expectations for myself.
I hate being nervous, that's when...
I have a devil who wants to ruin things.
He ruins my
most important gigs.
- I thought this was the best one.
- What?
I want to be a superstar,
I don't want to fight so hard.
- It was so good.
- Benjamin, it was amazing.
You shouldn't have to feel like this,
you'll be doing this
for the rest of your life.
Spotify's here,
it's embarrassing.
"No one sang along, he's
an amateur, he can't sing, can't shine."
- Johnny from Live Nation, the promoter.
- Hi, amazing.
Sorry I didn't sing songs you could sing
along to. Thank you guys for coming.
I love your hat!
Wow.
I saw you.
Come here.
Like, I'm living the dream,
I get to go on tour and everything.
But the devil I have tells me, like,
"Come on little buddy, you're on a small
Europe tour, who do you think...?"
Yeah, but we played a sold out
Berlin, that was 600 people.
"Yeah, 600. There's an arena around
the corner, you're not playing there.
And of those 600 people,
50% of them were Swedes."
And that's those old voices.
It's two different people,
you're never enough.
That's what's so dangerous, when that
other guy comes out when I'm on stage.
That's when I
lose control completely.
And he can come out
when I least need him.
Like when I'm at the piano, like...
And just when I'm about to play a ballad,
I'm in the zone,
he goes, "What are you playing at?
They think you're lame, Benjamin.
It's not 30,000 people in an arena,
it's 500 people."
I want the audience to see it and feel,
"Wow, this should be
on much bigger stages."
COLOGNE
Should I film it on reels or camera?
Camera.
Can I use your phone instead?
Damn it, I kind of need another shower.
Hey, everyone at home, this is Benjamin.
I'm calling from a very sunny Cologne.
There, I look ugly. We'll do another.
Hey, everyone, this is Benjamin,
calling from Cologne in Germany.
Damnit, it's so windy.
Why can't I just accept the way I look?
Can I borrow your cap?
Hey, everyone, this is Benjamin,
calling from a... Damnit!
Tim, I look like shit
and I don't know what to say.
- Try with the hoodie on?
- Let's do it again.
Hey, everyone, this is Benjamin.
I woke up this morning,
and I'm on the craziest Europe tour.
I don't really know what I've done
to deserve this love.
I fucking love you. Kisses.
- Do you have a toilet?
- Yeah, just here, and go upstairs.
Okay good, thank you.
I didn't look like this.
If my girlfriend showed me this,
"This is my new boyfriend."
I'd be like, "Okay...?"
They want to see a face, front on,
that looks good.
- Benji...
- Not a guy who... This guy isn't hot.
He looks like a rock star,
but not attractive.
Benji, breathe, calm down.
Tim, you're making me stressed,
so don't tell me to be calm.
I want to put up pictures of myself
on Instagram where I don't look ugly.
According to you.
Yes. I have dysmorphia.
I get all stressed in my body from...
I know, but that doesn't mean it's true.
He can get pretty insecure
when it comes to how he looks.
Everything from his clothes to, above all,
how he sees his weight
and his shape and all that.
Angles he feels like, "This is the only
angle I can take a picture from."
It limits him from having fun
with certain things.
He can be on stage, mid-performance,
and suddenly feel like he looks fat.
While he's burnt probably 5,000 calories
from jumping around like he does.
He's a very attractive guy
who looks good even when
he just woke up, swollen and all that.
I don't know what to call it.
Insecurity or low self-esteem
or something.
Benjamin, Benjamin, Benjamin!
That was pretty intense.
I mean, my voice is fucked.
Challenging audience.
And that meant I really went for it.
I was a bit too
theatrical today.
Tim is stressed by Jacob
because he wants more content.
Jacob is stressed
by Tim because he's stressed,
making Dennis stressed,
making me stressed,
making everyone unpleasant.
MILAN
Benji?
I'm not up for it.
You're not up for it?
- Are you sure?
- Mm.
There's a girl coming
to take photos with you.
I'll get a headache from having in-ears.
I get it, I'll tell them we'll
skip it, but can we do a photo with her?
- Is she here?
- I'll check.
I'll tell them
we'll skip the soundcheck.
I have to, just cause...
Yeah, come on.
Then you can rest for three hours.
- When is it full?
- 355 is full.
Why isn't it full?
They might be outside.
We'll have to fake it
'til we make it, right?
ARTISThe tempo right now
is so fucking...
Everyone wants so much from me.
Really I just need to...
rest.
Right now,
I don't feel like playing tonight.
Benjamin, Benjamin, Benjamin!
Are you ready?
Benjamin, Benjamin, Benjamin!
No.
They're not getting another
song. They can shout what they want.
The stage-patter was all...
No!
Benjamin, Benjamin, Benjamin!
Fuck...
Benjamin, Benjamin, Benjamin!
I don't want to.
Benjamin, Benjamin, Benjamin!
Fuck.
Grazie, thank you.
I'm very glad that you guys came tonight
and you guys suffered,
because you heard 80% new songs.
But you acted like you've heard it
thousands of times, so I appreciate that.
We're all Swedish here!
Yeah!
Who the fuck is that idiot
in the audience?
"We're all Swedish here!" Shut up.
They're not all Swedes in the audience.
Asshole.
"Don't think you are someone, you're
a Swedish artist, we're all Swedes here.
who the fuck do you think you are?
Speaking English in your patter, so lame."
Fuck!
WITH A FEW DAYS OFF FROM HIS HECTIC TOUR,
BENJAMIN MADE A TRIP TO SPAIN
TO SPEND TIME WITH HIS FATHER.
PALMA
Did you tell them 11:30?
My dad is special.
He's a very sensitive person.
He's very insecure.
But he's got a big heart.
But he struggles to know
where to put it sometimes.
I got to know my dad when he moved here.
When I was about nine years old
is when we...
got a real kind of relationship.
Before that I grew up with my Mum.
I didn't really have a father figure,
a role model.
So when I came here
when I was nine or ten, the first time,
it was like I just...
this is the guy I've been looking for
my entire life.
He smelled good,
he played the piano, he lived for music.
He wrote amazing music.
He cooked,
he had a restaurant, he dressed well,
he was tanned, he drove a car.
He was everything that I just...
He had a man-purse.
He was everything I wanted to be.
Hey, nice. New haircut?
EMILIO INGROSSO FATHER
Dad, this is your best work.
Hey.
Hi, boys.
- How are you?
Great, how are you?
SA INGROSSO
STEPMOM
Question, do you have a nail file?
You want nail scissors?
No, I want, like...
Where all my hair stuff is,
there's a nail file.
Thanks.
- Okay...
- Should I do it for you?
- Do I just do this?
- Yeah.
Here.
- You're not biting anymore.
- No.
It looks better.
When you play the piano like this.
You have all the spices...
that you need on a pasta dish.
You're just mixing it wrong.
But if you do it right,
the flavours will fall into place
perfectly.
If you ask Max Martin,
he'll tell you everything I just did.
Imagine, if I just did this tour...
then just took a break.
That would be so nice.
Two years of just vacation.
Get a girlfriend.
Have a kid, be a young dad.
Start by ironing your own shirt.
"Dad, can you iron my shirt?"
"Dad". And I'm like "Dad"?
Can't even iron a shirt.
- Do you know how to use a coffee maker?
- No.
- Vacuum?
- Yeah, barely.
I can't open my eyes.
When I was little,
my mum would get a warm, wet towel,
she'd sit on my bedside
and dab me with the warm, wet towel.
"Good morning."
And I'd go, "Good morning, Mum.
I don't want to go to school."
I feel like that sometimes.
How are you doing?
My entire life kind of revolves around me.
I live in my own little movie.
And I can even get sick of it myself.
I can catch myself like,
looking myself up, looking at myself,
wondering what's next.
And I get stressed that I, like...
have a day off and don't do anything.
When I should just enjoy doing nothing.
And I wonder, like,
how do you feel genuine enjoyment?
And I often think...
I can live with myself.
But who the hell else
would want to live with me?
Like...
Enjoy the time you have
on your way to making it.
That part, when you're at the top,
you'll want to return to the feeling you
had when you were trying to make it.
I'm worried you want to
achieve so much that...
You drain yourself so that when
you're at the top, you're world famous,
and you're in a hotel room to sleep
and it's quiet,
you'll be terrified of the silence.
That's when you should be glad it's quiet.
"Silence, wow, I can finally breathe."
The artist shouldn't look after Benjamin.
Benjamin should look after the artist.
If you use your ego and success
to fill that little boy,
that just creates even more ego.
Right now,
you're fulfilling the artist, Benjamin.
But your Benjamin
needs to be fulfilled as well.
Very true, Dad.
Fifty-nine years old.
Very true.
- I love you.
- I love you.
No, hug Dad properly, none of that.
There you go.
- I love you.
- I love you.
- You're the best.
- You're the best.
Now I'll have some of that water.
I'm probably the most honest
person in Benjamin's life.
But we've had this relationship
from the start,
where I may have gone too far.
I think Benjamin has often been
very annoyed at me.
"Who the fuck do you think you
are, fucking know-it-all?"
Who's jacket is that?
Emilio's.
Sometimes I feel
really bad, thinking,
I should just be Dad,
say he's amazing, push on.
Pat him on the back
and say, great.
But I think
we understand each other.
I just want what's best for him.
- I love you.
- I love you.
- Good luck with everything.
- Drive safe.
AMSTERDAM
There, let's enjoy.
Let's enjoy.
Life is so good right now.
I'm healthy.
I'm on tour.
And I'm eating
a fucking good bread pudding.
We can get up there today
with this attitude,
just like, fuck you.
Fuck us, fuck me, fuck you.
- Fuck you, fuck me.
- Yeah.
Fuck me, fuck him.
Fuck you, fuck them.
- Fuck us.
- Fuck us, fuck we.
Amen.
Hey.
You're motherfucking sexy.
And I want to spend time
with you all my life, alright.
Okay guys, sing with me.
This tour has been so damn challenging,
I've learnt so much.
This is the tour where I feel comfortable
for the first time.
We've experienced
a lot of stuff.
That is unbelievable.
I'm so happy we've found
this amazing team.
On a scale of one to ten,
how much do you like us?
Enjoy being
in this sweaty club world.
Then we could suddenly be world famous.
Or we're here again next year.
And then we'll enjoy that too.
I just want to say thank you, I love you.
- Amazing.
- Big Swedish fan group.
I totally believe
he could be a big artist.
I didn't know any of the lyrics
but I think it was really good.
- Oh, I loved it.
- She has the t-shirt.
So that says a lot.
Hey, that was so good.
Yeah that was, like sexy.
That was the best you've done yet.
- Ever.
- Yeah.
That was...
Twenty-six year old fuck machine.
We're doing all the right things
to try to get where we want to go.
But he also understands
what we need to do to get there.
We're on the right fucking path.
It feels really good.
I've gotten good at travelling.
But I don't want to go home.
I don't want to go back to my routines,
the gym, eat at Beirut on Nybrogatan.
That's the past.
I want to tour.
I want to be in the studio.
I want to go to...
On my days off, I want to go to...
I don't know...
Madrid and have a two-day food safari.
Sessions in Milan for three days.
Go on tour for a week.
We've gone on tour
with only unreleased music.
But people still...
think it's my best tour yet.
I didn't think this tour
would be what it was.
I remember expecting it to be a hustle.
There'll be max 50 people
in the audience.
And they'll sing along to, like, one song.
Then we'll hit the summer tour,
it'll be tight.
AFTER A SUCCESSFUL SUMMER TOUR IN SWEDEN,
BENJAMIN INGROSSO
IS NOW SETTING HIS SIGHTS ON EUROPE
#####
WITH HIS FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR.
THIS MARKS HIS FIRST BIG STEP
TOWARD FULFILLING HIS LIFELONG DREAM
OF BECOMING
SWEDEN'S NEXT GLOBAL POP ARTIST.
You know, sometimes I wish
someone could be inside my brain.
Everything is chaos, it's only negative.
I haven't walked my steps, I look like
shit, I'm stressed, I don't know anything.
Hubris.
Self-confidence.
Hate.
Terrible self-esteem, eating disorder.
"The song dropped on Spotify, you suck.
Europe tour not sold out, you suck."
Reviews will say,
"No one sang along to in Europe".
Everyone in Sweden will say "you suck".
Fuck, okay,
it's all just "you suck," right now.
Everything you do sucks, you suck.
That's my brain, it just...
I've gotten what I want all summer,
I'm still not happy.
Why should I go on some
Europe tour that might go to shit.
I just want to press pause.
Pause.
Swedish pop star
Benjamin Ingrosso
is going
on his first European tour.
In April he's going to
play clubs in Europe.
He'll play in places like
London, Paris, Berlin.
Small but
strategically important venues.
He's talked for years
about wanting to make it abroad.
Many talk about it,
very few succeed.
I might not have made clear
that I'm touring with 80% new material.
Entirely new songs.
As an artist and entertainer,
I'm looking forward to the challenge.
- Your Europe tour is coming up.
- It's so scary.
I don't really know what to
expect after this fantastic Swedish tour.
I'll probably be faced with,
"Right, this is reality."
THIS IS BENJAMIN INGROSSO PART 2
THREE WEEKS UNTIL THE EUROPEAN TOUR
- Hey buddy.
- Hey.
- Sleep well?
- No.
I'm just trying to...
My voice feels like this
all the time at the moment.
Today I think we'll really have,
and we almost do already,
the shape of the Europe Show.
Exactly, we'll add in
some of the filler things.
Exactly.
VIKTOR OLSN, MD/KEYBOARD
I need to take a shit.
- Good morning.
- Hey.
- Hey.
- Hi.
How are you doing?
We're planning the Europe tour.
Right.
We could play a bunch of old songs,
but the vision is that we'll...
do this more as a showcase,
showing who Benjamin Ingrosso is in 2024.
Yeah, new chapter.
JOEL STRMGREN MD/MIDI
And then we'll do some kind of...
Then it's long, starts like this.
Cool, and get some '80s glitter in there.
This summer
exceeded all my expectations.
Now I'll start my next chapter.
Europe tour.
I don't really know
what to expect.
Guten morgen.
Back to the roots.
It's really scary,
it's like starting over again.
No one will know who I am.
I'll have to prove myself.
Gig after gig.
STOCKHOLM
It'll be fun to be
in some sweaty venue in Berlin.
And get to play in front
of a new kind of audience.
Who haven't seen anything.
No expectations.
TWO DAYS UNTIL THE EUROPEAN TOUR PREMIERE
- Hey, Johan.
- Hey.
It is what it is.
This doctor just told me my acid reflux
could be reaching my vocal chords.
When did this start?
The day before yesterday.
And how did it start?
Are you overworked?
Yeah, I've been rehearsing for three
weeks, so my voice has been worn.
The thing is, my falsetto is just gone.
It's like...
I'll write some prescriptions
but stay quiet as much as possible.
Completely quiet or can I talk a little?
As little as possible.
How is your voice?
DENNIS BRCHNER CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Right... you're hoarse?
You lost your voice?
And the doctors just say to be quiet?
And I brought these.
Nothing like this.
What is it? Fourteen countries in...
twenty-one days?
We'll start with a mix of everything?
No?
The Europe tour is, to us,
a really important part
of the bigger plan
to take the next step into the US.
Benjamin won't be
making any profit on this tour.
One of Sweden's best paid artists,
for live, stage performances,
who plays a stadium show
in Sweden for 40,000 people.
On Friday this week,
he'll play for 250 people.
It feels really fun and exciting
that we're heading out now.
I'm a little worried but I also know
he's a total hypochondriac,
which makes it hard to know
when to take it seriously.
Hey. He's got a problem.
He's been quiet
since we spoke to you last.
He's got a cough and a sore throat.
He's got no falsetto.
Do you feel sick, in your body?
Not really? So you can talk now.
Can I hear what you sound like?
Okay...
I haven't talked since Saturday.
You should definitely start
talking, do vocal exercises...
Thank, Johan, you're the best.
Why does this have to happen
on my first Europe tour, on the first day?
It happens now and then.
No.
Usually in moments
where you have to deliver.
- Yeah...
- You haven't spoken for 48 hours.
Now you're speaking normally.
HAMBURG
This is really cool.
Like, the power supply
for the stage is bigger than this.
This is so cool.
This is, to me...
Now I'm calm. Like...
This place is going to look packed.
Which is what I want.
I don't want a big empty venue.
Plus, I like it small and intimate.
This is what I've been envisioning.
This is perfect.
PREMIERE OF EUROPEAN TOUR
This is my first
show outside of Sweden.
Hamburg,
it's a crazy feeling to be here.
Should I say that?
It stinks so bad in this toilet.
We're going to be playing together
for a month.
It's going to be so much fun.
We're just gonna go out there
and slay Hamburg.
Let's have fun. Let's enjoy this.
Let's fucking go.
Yes!
So awesome!
So crazy.
Pouring it out like water.
Rock and roll.
- No, but like...
- I got goosebumps.
I got goosebumps too.
They all yelled the lyrics,
so crazy!
It's been a long time
since I had this much fun.
Now I'm gonna look at my phone all night
and get some ego.
Let's go to Berlin.
When you dream wildly at home,
cooking pasta or whatever,
where do your thoughts go?
Well, I've dreamt
of a world tour.
I've always dreamt of having a
concert at Madison Square Garden.
That's my goal.
BERLIN
- Your breath is terrible.
- I know, I don't have a toothbrush.
There's a chemist here.
- Kisses.
- See you on the others side.
Let's show them the craziest fucking
rock and roll gig they've ever seen.
Let's fucking go.
MADRID
HELSINKI
This is fucking drugs.
COPENHAGEN
Izabella Scorupco writes, "king".
OSLO
Everyone's still there.
- What?
- They're still there.
- No.
- Yeah.
- Can I go out like this?
- Yeah, do it.
I was in the shower,
I thought it was done.
Thank you for tonight!
Take care of each other, be kind.
Now I'm gonna take a warm fucking shower.
MUNICH
Now we're going to some hit radio station.
We were supposed to do
another radio interview after this one
but his train is delayed so you'll meet
him after sound check instead.
She runs the whole radio thing,
she's a bit of a radio legend.
It feels very safe to have you with us.
What an ass-kisser.
Radio hit number one.
Easy, not so fast.
It's German radio, let's play
Look Who's Laughing Now.
- Hello there, hi.
- Welcome.
- Thank you.
- This is Benjamin and...
- Hi, Kim.
- Benjamin, nice to meet you.
Oh look at that, that's amazing.
- This direction.
- Cool.
My first European tour,
it's called Better Days Tour.
It's been a dream of mine
to be on tour in Europe
and I'm finally doing it at the moment.
I can imagine it's a crazy feeling
to see the audience of other countries.
Yeah.
I am a very positive guy.
And I think the world
is shit at the moment.
And I think that we should say
good things to each other.
And be kind.
- How you doing?
- I'm good, how are you?
- What was your name again?
- I'm Dave.
- Dave.
- Right.
- Mr Ingrosso.
- Yes.
- Hi, I'm Purple Disco Machine.
- I'm Benjamin Ingrosso.
- This is our new single...
- Honey Boy.
Again.
I'm Benjamin Ingrosso.
Yesterday was insane, one of the most
amazing nights of my life.
Hi, I'm Benjamin Ingrosso
and you're listening to 95.5 Charivari,
Munich's hit radio.
Perfect.
LONDON
- Hey.
- Hey, just checking in.
How are you feeling about today?
How's your voice feeling?
- My voice is better than ever.
- Great.
- Mm.
- We'll meet at Spotify at 12:40.
So you're there five minutes before 12:45.
I'm going there in like five minutes
to have my meeting before.
- Mm.
- Great.
I'll see you later.
- Yeah, love you, bye.
- Love you, bye.
It's almost like a political campaign,
getting the voters on our side.
Tonight we have
every music streaming platform,
all of their Heads of Editorial
are coming to see who he is
and if he makes sense for the UK.
We'll have people from the radio
and everything there.
It'll really be a showcase night.
What's great about Heaven
is that's it's like a breakout venue.
Every artist who's ever made it big,
has had a moment at Heaven.
So it's really important.
What defines making it abroad?
Is a top one hit on Billboard?
Or a top 100?
Is it that a certain
kind of people know who I am?
That's what's dangerous
about this dream.
You can't really define
what would make it successful.
- Awesome.
- Thanks.
Thank you so much, guys,
I'll see you later.
If I played a sold out
Madison Square Garden...
People would say, "You made it."
I'll say, "No, Harry Styles
did it 15 times in a row, I haven't."
Like...
I want to be the centre of attention,
it's like...
I think it's like, I never got the girls
as a kid, I didn't have friends.
So for me to get to be the one
everyone's looking at,
I was like, "that's it, now."
And that's when I got to be on stage.
I wanna hear everyone sing
"Give me something."
I can't really hear you!
What did you say? One more time!
Fucking hell,
that was no fun.
This was a catastrophe,
they were so disappointed.
- They definitely weren't.
- Yes.
That's your anxiety talking.
No, they wanted songs they knew
and could sing along to.
It was so good.
I did every song
worse than ever.
I hate having expectations for myself.
I hate being nervous, that's when...
I have a devil who wants to ruin things.
He ruins my
most important gigs.
- I thought this was the best one.
- What?
I want to be a superstar,
I don't want to fight so hard.
- It was so good.
- Benjamin, it was amazing.
You shouldn't have to feel like this,
you'll be doing this
for the rest of your life.
Spotify's here,
it's embarrassing.
"No one sang along, he's
an amateur, he can't sing, can't shine."
- Johnny from Live Nation, the promoter.
- Hi, amazing.
Sorry I didn't sing songs you could sing
along to. Thank you guys for coming.
I love your hat!
Wow.
I saw you.
Come here.
Like, I'm living the dream,
I get to go on tour and everything.
But the devil I have tells me, like,
"Come on little buddy, you're on a small
Europe tour, who do you think...?"
Yeah, but we played a sold out
Berlin, that was 600 people.
"Yeah, 600. There's an arena around
the corner, you're not playing there.
And of those 600 people,
50% of them were Swedes."
And that's those old voices.
It's two different people,
you're never enough.
That's what's so dangerous, when that
other guy comes out when I'm on stage.
That's when I
lose control completely.
And he can come out
when I least need him.
Like when I'm at the piano, like...
And just when I'm about to play a ballad,
I'm in the zone,
he goes, "What are you playing at?
They think you're lame, Benjamin.
It's not 30,000 people in an arena,
it's 500 people."
I want the audience to see it and feel,
"Wow, this should be
on much bigger stages."
COLOGNE
Should I film it on reels or camera?
Camera.
Can I use your phone instead?
Damn it, I kind of need another shower.
Hey, everyone at home, this is Benjamin.
I'm calling from a very sunny Cologne.
There, I look ugly. We'll do another.
Hey, everyone, this is Benjamin,
calling from Cologne in Germany.
Damnit, it's so windy.
Why can't I just accept the way I look?
Can I borrow your cap?
Hey, everyone, this is Benjamin,
calling from a... Damnit!
Tim, I look like shit
and I don't know what to say.
- Try with the hoodie on?
- Let's do it again.
Hey, everyone, this is Benjamin.
I woke up this morning,
and I'm on the craziest Europe tour.
I don't really know what I've done
to deserve this love.
I fucking love you. Kisses.
- Do you have a toilet?
- Yeah, just here, and go upstairs.
Okay good, thank you.
I didn't look like this.
If my girlfriend showed me this,
"This is my new boyfriend."
I'd be like, "Okay...?"
They want to see a face, front on,
that looks good.
- Benji...
- Not a guy who... This guy isn't hot.
He looks like a rock star,
but not attractive.
Benji, breathe, calm down.
Tim, you're making me stressed,
so don't tell me to be calm.
I want to put up pictures of myself
on Instagram where I don't look ugly.
According to you.
Yes. I have dysmorphia.
I get all stressed in my body from...
I know, but that doesn't mean it's true.
He can get pretty insecure
when it comes to how he looks.
Everything from his clothes to, above all,
how he sees his weight
and his shape and all that.
Angles he feels like, "This is the only
angle I can take a picture from."
It limits him from having fun
with certain things.
He can be on stage, mid-performance,
and suddenly feel like he looks fat.
While he's burnt probably 5,000 calories
from jumping around like he does.
He's a very attractive guy
who looks good even when
he just woke up, swollen and all that.
I don't know what to call it.
Insecurity or low self-esteem
or something.
Benjamin, Benjamin, Benjamin!
That was pretty intense.
I mean, my voice is fucked.
Challenging audience.
And that meant I really went for it.
I was a bit too
theatrical today.
Tim is stressed by Jacob
because he wants more content.
Jacob is stressed
by Tim because he's stressed,
making Dennis stressed,
making me stressed,
making everyone unpleasant.
MILAN
Benji?
I'm not up for it.
You're not up for it?
- Are you sure?
- Mm.
There's a girl coming
to take photos with you.
I'll get a headache from having in-ears.
I get it, I'll tell them we'll
skip it, but can we do a photo with her?
- Is she here?
- I'll check.
I'll tell them
we'll skip the soundcheck.
I have to, just cause...
Yeah, come on.
Then you can rest for three hours.
- When is it full?
- 355 is full.
Why isn't it full?
They might be outside.
We'll have to fake it
'til we make it, right?
ARTISThe tempo right now
is so fucking...
Everyone wants so much from me.
Really I just need to...
rest.
Right now,
I don't feel like playing tonight.
Benjamin, Benjamin, Benjamin!
Are you ready?
Benjamin, Benjamin, Benjamin!
No.
They're not getting another
song. They can shout what they want.
The stage-patter was all...
No!
Benjamin, Benjamin, Benjamin!
Fuck...
Benjamin, Benjamin, Benjamin!
I don't want to.
Benjamin, Benjamin, Benjamin!
Fuck.
Grazie, thank you.
I'm very glad that you guys came tonight
and you guys suffered,
because you heard 80% new songs.
But you acted like you've heard it
thousands of times, so I appreciate that.
We're all Swedish here!
Yeah!
Who the fuck is that idiot
in the audience?
"We're all Swedish here!" Shut up.
They're not all Swedes in the audience.
Asshole.
"Don't think you are someone, you're
a Swedish artist, we're all Swedes here.
who the fuck do you think you are?
Speaking English in your patter, so lame."
Fuck!
WITH A FEW DAYS OFF FROM HIS HECTIC TOUR,
BENJAMIN MADE A TRIP TO SPAIN
TO SPEND TIME WITH HIS FATHER.
PALMA
Did you tell them 11:30?
My dad is special.
He's a very sensitive person.
He's very insecure.
But he's got a big heart.
But he struggles to know
where to put it sometimes.
I got to know my dad when he moved here.
When I was about nine years old
is when we...
got a real kind of relationship.
Before that I grew up with my Mum.
I didn't really have a father figure,
a role model.
So when I came here
when I was nine or ten, the first time,
it was like I just...
this is the guy I've been looking for
my entire life.
He smelled good,
he played the piano, he lived for music.
He wrote amazing music.
He cooked,
he had a restaurant, he dressed well,
he was tanned, he drove a car.
He was everything that I just...
He had a man-purse.
He was everything I wanted to be.
Hey, nice. New haircut?
EMILIO INGROSSO FATHER
Dad, this is your best work.
Hey.
Hi, boys.
- How are you?
Great, how are you?
SA INGROSSO
STEPMOM
Question, do you have a nail file?
You want nail scissors?
No, I want, like...
Where all my hair stuff is,
there's a nail file.
Thanks.
- Okay...
- Should I do it for you?
- Do I just do this?
- Yeah.
Here.
- You're not biting anymore.
- No.
It looks better.
When you play the piano like this.
You have all the spices...
that you need on a pasta dish.
You're just mixing it wrong.
But if you do it right,
the flavours will fall into place
perfectly.
If you ask Max Martin,
he'll tell you everything I just did.
Imagine, if I just did this tour...
then just took a break.
That would be so nice.
Two years of just vacation.
Get a girlfriend.
Have a kid, be a young dad.
Start by ironing your own shirt.
"Dad, can you iron my shirt?"
"Dad". And I'm like "Dad"?
Can't even iron a shirt.
- Do you know how to use a coffee maker?
- No.
- Vacuum?
- Yeah, barely.
I can't open my eyes.
When I was little,
my mum would get a warm, wet towel,
she'd sit on my bedside
and dab me with the warm, wet towel.
"Good morning."
And I'd go, "Good morning, Mum.
I don't want to go to school."
I feel like that sometimes.
How are you doing?
My entire life kind of revolves around me.
I live in my own little movie.
And I can even get sick of it myself.
I can catch myself like,
looking myself up, looking at myself,
wondering what's next.
And I get stressed that I, like...
have a day off and don't do anything.
When I should just enjoy doing nothing.
And I wonder, like,
how do you feel genuine enjoyment?
And I often think...
I can live with myself.
But who the hell else
would want to live with me?
Like...
Enjoy the time you have
on your way to making it.
That part, when you're at the top,
you'll want to return to the feeling you
had when you were trying to make it.
I'm worried you want to
achieve so much that...
You drain yourself so that when
you're at the top, you're world famous,
and you're in a hotel room to sleep
and it's quiet,
you'll be terrified of the silence.
That's when you should be glad it's quiet.
"Silence, wow, I can finally breathe."
The artist shouldn't look after Benjamin.
Benjamin should look after the artist.
If you use your ego and success
to fill that little boy,
that just creates even more ego.
Right now,
you're fulfilling the artist, Benjamin.
But your Benjamin
needs to be fulfilled as well.
Very true, Dad.
Fifty-nine years old.
Very true.
- I love you.
- I love you.
No, hug Dad properly, none of that.
There you go.
- I love you.
- I love you.
- You're the best.
- You're the best.
Now I'll have some of that water.
I'm probably the most honest
person in Benjamin's life.
But we've had this relationship
from the start,
where I may have gone too far.
I think Benjamin has often been
very annoyed at me.
"Who the fuck do you think you
are, fucking know-it-all?"
Who's jacket is that?
Emilio's.
Sometimes I feel
really bad, thinking,
I should just be Dad,
say he's amazing, push on.
Pat him on the back
and say, great.
But I think
we understand each other.
I just want what's best for him.
- I love you.
- I love you.
- Good luck with everything.
- Drive safe.
AMSTERDAM
There, let's enjoy.
Let's enjoy.
Life is so good right now.
I'm healthy.
I'm on tour.
And I'm eating
a fucking good bread pudding.
We can get up there today
with this attitude,
just like, fuck you.
Fuck us, fuck me, fuck you.
- Fuck you, fuck me.
- Yeah.
Fuck me, fuck him.
Fuck you, fuck them.
- Fuck us.
- Fuck us, fuck we.
Amen.
Hey.
You're motherfucking sexy.
And I want to spend time
with you all my life, alright.
Okay guys, sing with me.
This tour has been so damn challenging,
I've learnt so much.
This is the tour where I feel comfortable
for the first time.
We've experienced
a lot of stuff.
That is unbelievable.
I'm so happy we've found
this amazing team.
On a scale of one to ten,
how much do you like us?
Enjoy being
in this sweaty club world.
Then we could suddenly be world famous.
Or we're here again next year.
And then we'll enjoy that too.
I just want to say thank you, I love you.
- Amazing.
- Big Swedish fan group.
I totally believe
he could be a big artist.
I didn't know any of the lyrics
but I think it was really good.
- Oh, I loved it.
- She has the t-shirt.
So that says a lot.
Hey, that was so good.
Yeah that was, like sexy.
That was the best you've done yet.
- Ever.
- Yeah.
That was...
Twenty-six year old fuck machine.
We're doing all the right things
to try to get where we want to go.
But he also understands
what we need to do to get there.
We're on the right fucking path.
It feels really good.
I've gotten good at travelling.
But I don't want to go home.
I don't want to go back to my routines,
the gym, eat at Beirut on Nybrogatan.
That's the past.
I want to tour.
I want to be in the studio.
I want to go to...
On my days off, I want to go to...
I don't know...
Madrid and have a two-day food safari.
Sessions in Milan for three days.
Go on tour for a week.
We've gone on tour
with only unreleased music.
But people still...
think it's my best tour yet.
I didn't think this tour
would be what it was.
I remember expecting it to be a hustle.
There'll be max 50 people
in the audience.
And they'll sing along to, like, one song.
Then we'll hit the summer tour,
it'll be tight.