THIS HANDSOME YOUNG man is Kevin Walker.

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He is a footballer. His father Patrick, from Carlow town, moved to Sweden where he manages a top-tier soccer team.

Kevin himself now plays professional soccer for a second-league side, GIF Sundsvall, where he occupies centre midfield.

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However Kevin is also a contestant on Swedish Idol, the country’s franchise of Pop Idol. In fact, he’s singing to win the competition in the final tonight. With Robbie Williams, who’ll be making an appearance on the show.

Here’s one of Kevin’s previous performances:

Kevin’s dual career has caused friction. Television station TV4 – which broadcasts both the league in which he plays and Swedish Idol – switched a match involving GIF Sundsvall so that Kevin could continue competing on the show, The Local reports.

He’s very popular with viewers for some reason.

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His father Patrick told The Local:

I’m getting approached by old women out on the street saying they are going to stop watching the show if Kevin gets voted off.

If anyone wants to watch Kev’s make-or-break performance tonight, it’s being broadcast internationally on the TV4 Player.

It’ll also have English commentary from comedian Greg Poehler, who said:

It will either be amazing or terrible or somewhere in between.

Here he is singing out his Irish roots with a bit of U2. Good luck tonight Kevin!

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