This will be the one

After today's show, my main question is this: when do they start production on mass-produced models of Måns? I want one. Valentine's Day wish?

I'm much more content with this week's results than last week. Well, in one sense, there's a strong similarity between the two weeks: there was one act I was willing to throw everyone else on the fire for as long as it got through--last week, Alcazar and this week, Måns Zelmerlöw. Both did, thank goodness. In results better than last week for me, though, the top four of Måns, H.E.A.T. (the other final qualifier), Amy Diamond, and Lili & Susie are probably just about the four songs I'm most likely to listen to, even if not necessarily in that order.

I'm still having trouble characterizing my feelings towards the semifinal as a whole. Song-wise, it felt more consistent for me than last week's, but also as if it was maybe missing out on the high highs to some degree. Medium highs? Yup, it had those. Me biting my lip with my hands clasped in front of me schlager-praying Måns made it through to the final? Of course. I'm just not sure that we got a true classic out of this semifinal, whereas I can easily see Alcazar's "Stay The Night" being just that for me.

Don't get me wrong: I'm dying for the studio version of Måns's song to come out and I'll probably play it incessantly and have loads of fun doing so. It could well turn out to have a lot more lasting power than I expect it to, and it's already a song I like--a song I love. It just feels a bit...light on the bottom for me. Does that make sense? I don't necessarily need depth in the sense of emotional depth in music (if it comes to that, I actually love the lyrics to "Hope & Glory"), but I'm left imagining would it would be like if the music itself had depth to it; to some degree "Hope & Glory" feels like it's bouncing along near the "top" so much (like the sort of thing you'd wave giant flags to crossed with cheesy marching) that it ends up feeling lighter as a result. This is just minor niggling, though, like the criticism you might give to A- work instead of the A+ you know the student's capable of. The song is still my easy favorite in the semifinal and at worst my second favorite song of the contest so far, with the potential for my opinion of it to improve and improve, something which it's absolutely done with further plays of the live version (to the extent that I may regret any reservations in the future). Måns is such a star, too. And does cartwheels!

(Have I mentioned on here yet that for something like a week now "Impossible," a track from his new album and the one he put the preview of on his site, has been for sale at Swedish-only digital music store Telia? I can't remember.)

The other final qualifier, rock band H.E.A.T., had a singer with a great voice. I wish their song had a little more impact to it, was catchier, but I liked them and it at the level I expected to. I don't know that I would have put them in my top two, but I was glad they were in the top four. Plus, you've got to love a group willing to play the game by using wind machines and putting their obviously best looking member (the drummer) shirtless on stage (and having the camera go back to him and pushing him to the front of the gropu when not performing whenever possible)

Lili & Susie and Amy's songs were both OK--maybe not as good as I was hoping for (though Lili & Susie's "Show Me Heaven" is the better of the two for me), but respectable entries.

All the sites I'd been reading had talked about their dislike for or problems with Markoolio's performance, but I was still surprised at how poorly the aimed-for humor of the staging came across. In theory, Dima Bilan's eccentric and over-the-top winning performance from last year as well as his earlier second place performance from 2006 should be prime fodder for satire that, even if the general public doesn't understand, is laughed at by Eurovision fans; heck, Sergey Lazarev and Dima managed to do so easily enough for a no budget short skit when they hosted an awards ceremony together (each mocking the other), even that would obviously never have sufficed as a Melodifestival performance. The execution here just didn't work.

Cookies 'N' Beans and Jennifer Brown both put in good performances of decent songs--songs I won't be in a rush to buy but am fine with. Ditto Lasse, I suppose.

Still standing

Help! With less than twelve hours left until we hear the first bit of "Hope & Glory" and with reports in about Måns's first set of rehearsals (though not the last one, which the press was strangely banned from), I can feel myself getting far more excited and nervous than someone who's never met the guy should be. I'm so desperate for the song to be good, for him to perform it well, and for him to get a good result that nothing I read is able to assuage my worries.

Let's just be honest and call it what it is: I'm a mess right now.

In news beyond that, I'm still cheering second most for Lili & Susie and Amy Diamond.

Evelyn...that's a lie

Sorry for the lack of posts over the past couple of days. Don't worry--you'll still have to put up with my overexcited screaming about Melodifestivalen in a few days. Speaking of which, Tobbe Ek of Aftonbladet reviewed the songs from this coming semifinal (I'm sure most of the other usual sources did, too, but it's all about knowing who's taste you can trust). Important points include:

-Lili & Susie's song is an '80's-style pop song in their style with the hook "Gimme gimme gimme, show me heaven." He likes the song and thinks it's catchy, but isn't quite as impressed as he wanted to be.
-Lasse Lindh's song is what you'd expect from him and a likely radio hit even if it isn't a likely Melodifestival hit.
-Jennifer Brown's song is mid-tempo and like Whitney Houston but without the high notes.
-H.E.A.T.'s song is like the Poodles' past two entries.
-Markoolio's ballad has a chorus hook with a melodic resemblence to Elton John's "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" from The Lion King. The song is comparable to Magnus Uggla's music.
-Amy Diamond's song has forgettable verses but a chorus completely different from them, one he seems to like or at least think gives the song a good chance. The middle 8 has BWO-style "moaning" (I'm presuming "oh oh oh"-ing) and the title is repeated a lot.
-Cookies 'n' Beans's song is a country-influenced ballad with a capella in the last chorus and one of the singers sounds like a young Dolly Parton.
-Måns's song has a big opening which makes it harder to sing than "Cara Mia" was and is more like "Brother Oh Brother" than his earlier Melodifestivalen track (which is fine with me), as well as a little cooler than "Cara Mia." The chorus hook is "I'm still standing for hope and glory" and many people will be singing it. When you think the song's over, the chorus comes back for one more time "convince those who doubted up until then," according to Tobbe.

In the meantime, I just realized Lili & Susie's "Evelyn" is on YouTube. Had I realized this when I was doing my Melodifestival write-up, I definitely would have linked to it--it's a perfect dramatic '80's-style (though technically very early '90's, I think) rock ballad for pop lovers. My love for it is all Alexander's doing--the version he posted, from their greatest hits, is totally different from the version on album The Sisters, so without him I never would have become completely addicted to this song. Sadly, it's not embeddable, but go listen to it here. I've got no words for it as well as no illusions that people will love it as much as I do, but hopefully you'll at least enjoy it.

But clickin' her heels wouldn't get her home

As with pretty much any semifinal, this coming Saturday's second Melodifestival semifinal brings with it some big names. As this past week showed, though, a big name won't necessarily get you through the competition.

As usual, this post is just intended to serve as a round-up of information already on the Internet; the credit for it goes to the sites below, which I am very much indebted to.

Sources: SVT, SR, Expressen, QX (1, 2, 3, 4), Gylleneskor, Sydsvenskan, Schlagerprofilerna

1.) Lili & Susie, "Show Me Heaven" (Susie Päivärinta/Calle Kindbom/Thomas G:son/Pär Lönn/Nestor Geli)
Sister duo Lili & Susie had a number of hits in the late '80's and early '90's (when the sisters distinguished between themselves by wearing different colors of lipstick) and make their united comeback to the world of music with a song they describe as an updated version of their old sound. The songwriters (who include Susie; Calle Kindbom, who did Fame's "Give Me Your Love" among other songs; and Thomas G:son, a songwriter who usually makes schlager and who can be hit and miss, though maybe that stems from his willingness to ship songs that don't make it into Melodifestivalen to other countries' national finals) agree, calling "Show Me Heaven" longing '80's nostalgia with a strong chorus and clear melody. The song has also been described by the sisters as a little like a dance version of their earlier hit "Bara du och jag" (a fact I cheered at, since I love that song) with the happiness of "What's The Colour Of Love," another hit of theirs. "Show Me Heaven" is said by people who've heard it to be a great song, just what you could want from their comeback. This won't be the sisters' first time in the contest, though--they entered with "Okey Okey" in 1989.

A greatest hits album with three new tracks--"Show Me Heaven," "Tease Me," and one more--will be released March 18.

To watch: oh, this is tough--the duo had a number of great '80's pop hits. I personally tend to go with "Bara du och jag" as my favorite of theirs (though it depends on the day; right now I'm madly in love with "Evelyn," kind of a power ballad but with more movement to it), but "Oh Mama" (complete with Depeche Mode-type hook at some points) might go over better, so here's that instead.



Actually, you know what, here's the fantastic "Bara Du Och Jag," too. It's just a clip of the music video, only 1:25 in length, so it's not too much of a time commitment.



2.) Lasse Lindh & Band, "Jag ska slåss i dina kvarter!" (Lasse Lindh)
Undeterred by the fact that the Melodifestival-voting public placed his subdued ballad "Du behöver aldrig mer vara rädd" sixth in its semifinal last year, singer-songwriter Lasse Lindh returns to Melodifestivalen with a song he describes as an in-your-face danceable track, the opposite of his last entry and the sort of song you open a concert with. He also says it's a classic Lasse song that is an attitude-filled fast indie-pop song which you're guaranteed to know the chorus of after one time.

To watch: his Melodifestival performance from last year of "Du behöver aldrig mer vara rädd"



3.) Jennifer Brown, "Never Been Here Before" (Jennifer Brown/Peter Kvint)
Jennifer Brown is new to Melodifestivalen but hardly new to the Swedish music scene: she's been releasing albums since 1994. Her big breakthrough, though, was in 1999 with the album Vera and the quirky-but-serious soul-pop track "Tuesday Afternoon." Jennifer is the sort of singer who has won critical praise and not the typical Melodifestival singer (though she's been rumored to be in the contest in the past)--"poppy" isn't an adjective I'd really apply to her and she's an artist you wouldn't be surprised at all to hear jazz or cabaret influences from her in music--but she's also done at least a few great pop tracks over the years (like "Trouble In Mind").

"Never Been Here Before" is written by Jennifer and Peter Kvint, the man behind both of Andreas Johnson's recent solo entries, Andreas and Carola's "One Love," and Sebastian's "When The Night Comes Falling," among other songs. They describe it as the saddest song Burt Bacharach never wrote, and elsewhere it's been said to be a soul ballad and quiet, with an appropriately fairly sedate, emotional performance.

To watch: the music video for "Tuesday Afternoon"



4.) H.E.A.T., "1000 Miles" (Niklas Jarl/David Stenmarck)
Rock group H.E.A.T. are new to Melodifestivalen and, with their appearance in it, will be introducing themselves to the mainstream Swedish music scene--they released an album in April, but I don't think they've registered on the average Swede's radar. Despite their image, from the very little I've heard of their own music, it's not full of heavy guitars; it's still rock, but it's "tamer" and with more of an emphasis on vocal melody than you might expect .

Speculation before the announcement of who would sing the track included the Poodles, who sang the demo according to Gylleneskor, so that might give us an idea of what to expect (though a later Gylleneskor article actually said that David's brother Martin Stenmarck sang the first demo but there was never talk of him doing it in the contest). "1000 Miles" is described by its writers as being in the '80's hard rock style, a song about love that is a mix of Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, and glam rock. It's been submitted to the contest three times previously without making it in, but the writers attribute its inclusion this year to Melodifestivalen now being more open to other genres.

To watch: the group performing a song of theirs, "Bring The Stars," live



5.) Markoolio, "Kärlekssång från mig" (Patrik Henzel/Karl Eurén/Marko Lehtosalo)
Swedish comedic rapper Markoolio is marketed towards kids and isn't exactly what you would call popular or cool among older Swedes, and usually for a reason. His past two albums have at least had a couple of great tracks on them, though, the most notable being 2007's "Värsta Schlagern," a duet with Linda Bengtzing that parodied the formulaicness of the schlager style, describing each of the elements needed to make a schlager song. It used all those elements so successfully, though, that it actually ended up being a fantastic song and a big hit in Sweden, a rare feat for a schlager song that wasn't in Melodifestivalen (though the track was actually a Melodifestival reject).

"Kärlekssång från mig" may include several of the songwriters of "Värsta Schlagern" (who've worked with Markoolio on many other songs but who have separately been involved with Mendez's entries, B-Boys International and Paul M's "One Step Closer," and Verona's "La Musica"), but don't be expecting another fun up-tempo romp--the songwriters describe it as a ballad with a twist. Markoolio has said that the song and performance will include humorous lyrics, stripping, and him lying on the floor and crawling around (presumably mocking Dima Bilan), though with him, you can never tell if it's a joke or not. He's also said it's got humorous lyrics but he'll deliver it seriously...but said he won't say what's going on around him while he's singing.

To watch: the actually hilarious music video for "Värsta Schlagern"



6.) Amy Diamond, "It's My Life" (Alexander Bard/Bobby Ljunggren/Oscar Holter)
Young singer Amy Diamond is met with dislike by a surprising number of Melodifestival fans, while I'm convinced she's got the potential to solidify herself as a great popstar as she grows up--I mean, she already gave us a Rachel Stevens Junior song in last year's Melodifestival! Amy, at sixteen, is four albums into her recording career. Many of her songs have a reggae-light beat to them, but if her last album is anything to judge by, she seems to be moving into a more pure electronic pop direction.

With a songwriter line-up like this one, there's every chance Amy's entry this year will be a great pop song, and maybe the one to win over some of those doubters. Alexander Bard is currently the main man behind BWO (though his pop credentials run further back than that and include Army of Lovers and Alcazar), Bobby Ljunggren is one of those common Melodifestival faces who is deservedly respected (as just a small indicator of that, all of the top three songs in last year's Melodifestival were co-written by him) but just has so many songs in the contest that his name alone isn't a foolproof guarantee of a great song, and Oscar Holter is most familiar to me through his sharp biting electro dance remixes (though apparently he also co-wrote Sanna Nielsen's "I Believe It's You"). They describe "It's My Life" as an uptempo and electro dance song with attitude. Amy says it's completely different from "Thank You" and different from her earlier work in general.

To watch: her performance of "Thank You" from last year's Melodifestival



7.) Cookies 'N' Beans, "What If" (Robin Abrahamsson/Amir Aly/Maciel Numhauser)
Country trio Cookies 'N' Beans includes the lead singer of Oh Laura, who was also previously in Melodifestivalen as part of La Roxx in 2004. They've existed as a group since 2003, but didn't release their debut album, Tales From A Trailer Trash Soul, until 2007 (I've heard nothing from it and I don't think it made much of an impression outside of Sweden's country music scene, so this will be some big exposure for them). "What If" is said by its writers to be an expressive, dynamic song which takes hold and makes you want more. QX reported that the song is neither a ballad nor up-tempo and is similar to last year's "Visst finns mirakel" by Suzie Tapper (by these songwriters) from last year.

To watch: All YouTube turns up are some live performance videos, so here's one of a song called "Now It's Too Late" (I should mention, though, that some of their other songs are much more up-tempo)



8.) Måns Zelmerlöw, "Hope & Glory" (Fredrik Kempe/Måns Zelmerlöw/Henrik Wikström)
The other half of the most poptastic couple currently in existence, Marie Serneholt's boyfriend is the act oddsmakers are expecting to win Melodifestivalen. After taking fifth in Idol and winning Let's Dance (the Swedish version of Strictly Come Dancing or Dancing With The Stars), Måns Zelmerlöw debuted to the Melodifestival world with the up-tempo pop anthem "Cara Mia" in 2007. Despite the song only making it into the contest after previously qualified songs were disqualified and Måns not yet being an established artist (it was his first single), he captured the public and the media's attention, qualifying straight to the final, taking third, and going on to have one of the biggest hits of the year in Sweden.

The former underdog now has a lot of expectations on his shoulders. In addition to the aforementioned odds of winning, just following up a beloved song like "Cara Mia" is going to be tough. Even if "Hope & Glory" is fantastic, it may suffer in some people's eyes from not being the new fresh sound that "Cara Mia" was; by now, Fredrik Kempe, the main songwriter, has already won the whole contest in 2008 with Charlotte Perrelli's "Hero," a song many people compared to "Cara Mia." Many of the reviews of "Hope & Glory" have even called it "Hero" Part Two and Måns himself has said it's an epic upgrade of "Cara Mia" (though elsewhere he's also said that, though "Hope & Glory" might have resembled "Hero" when it was a demo, it's now much more "him" and grander than "Hero" was and tried to distance the song from "Cara Mia" by saying that, though it has a great chorus like that song, "Hope & Glory" is a little dancier with a little more '70's-influenced key change). Will it be going back to the same well too many times?

Still, the song, described by its authors as a hopeful love anthem and a song everyone will remember after its first listen--one with some disco-schlager influences and a little bit of the '70's but still modern--and one Måns has said he'll be dancing to (though he's also dropped the interest contest that the lyrics, about how life is difficult and we have to fight and create our own hope and glory, are like fighting a war on stage), is one many fans of the contest are excitedly anticipating, and the fact that early reports say it's great surely isn't hurting at all.

An album, MZW, will be released on March 25. Måns worked with Fredrik Kempe and Ishi (Lazee, Petter) on it and describes it as schlager-R&B with big choruses and a good beat. You can get an early taste of one of the tracks, "Impossible," on Måns's website.

To watch: Måns's 2007 semifinal performance of "Cara Mia"



What I expect my favorites from this final to be: Måns Zelmerlöw, Amy Diamond, and Lili & Susie. What can I say? I love my up-tempo dance-friendly electronic pop. I'm open to liking all of them, though.

#48 Amy Diamond, "Thank You"

Thank you for all that you've done for me
Now I know what real love is supposed to be
Can't waste my time
So goodbye my baby, baby, baby
Thank you

If Rachel Stevens had had her solo career at 15, "Thank You" is what it would have sounded like. A throbbing electro beat and a skittery handclap type beat on top of that one add up to what you could imagine Rachel's up-tempo disco musical self sounding like if she had some of that youthful half-childish pep about her still. Swedish singer Amy Diamond, who released three albums before she turned sixteen, acquits herself well here, though, and I wouldn't swap her out for anyone; she's just young enough to keep the whole song playful--which it needs to be, given that that beat isn't dark enough to have tolerated much if any level of sultriness from the singer--but just old enough for her voice to not be too childish and for us to believe she could actually mean what she's singing. As Amy leaves a good-for-nothing boyfriend, there's genuinely no sadness, no regret--not even over time lost--from her. I can't help thinking that only someone still playing with puppy love could emerge this unscathed and bouncily happy from the experience. If all breakups felt like this, we'd spend all our time getting into relationships only for the purpose of getting out of them. The end result is a song that's not an angry brush-off to an ex, not really a bigging up of oneself, but just some pure pop fun.

Find it on: Music In Motion: Gold Edition

Love love love

Another Tuesday, another set of confirmed Melodifestivalen performers. The information on the songs, as usual, comes from SVT, QX, and Gylleneskor, and the photos are all from SVT. As always, I strongly encourage all Melodifestival fans to read Schlagerprofilerna, the best blog out their for Melodifestival information. Most of this set of all-female artists have competed in Melodifestivalen before.



Velvet, "The Queen" (Tony Nilsson, Henrik Janson)
Velvet's competed in Melodifestivalen twice before, with "Mi Amore" and, last year, "Deja Vu." This year, she returns with a Tony Nilsson co-penned track; given my on-the-record love for his work (Ola's "S.O.S.," "Natalie," "Can't Get Enough," "Love In Stereo," and "Feelgood" and Elin Lanto's "Discotheque," among other songs), you can bet I'm interested to hear this. Hopefully her entrance in Melodifestivalen means that her second album will finally come out--it'll be something like two years since the debut of "Fix Me" by then (and with a bunch of in between tracks in the meantime)! The description for this song calls it (I think) a kind of stuck-up retro song which people will either hate or love. Velvet says that it's a Velvet-type song with attitude, an up-tempo song that won't disappoint people who liked "Deja Vu."



Agnes, "Love Love Love" (Anders Hansson)
After the drama of a disqualified track in 2007, Agnes is finally in Melodifestivalen. The former Idol winner will be singing a song by the man behind her latest album, so we have reason to believe him and be excited when he describes "Love Love Love" as a positive disco-pop song. Agnes says this song was the first she worked on with Anders and that it's a little (a little?!) in the same style as the songs on the album.



Shirley Clamp, "Med hjärtat fyllt av ljus" (Ingela Pling Forsman/Bobby Ljunggren/Henrik Wikström )
Shirley Clamp returns to Melodifestivalen for the first time since 2005 and fourth time overall. Quite a lot has happened since then, including a movement away from the schlager of her 2004 and 2005 entries, the former of which, "Min Kärlek," is the big keeper. Her entry this year is described by its writers as a melodic mid-tempo song which is demanding of its singer and which is about being in the middle of life and realizing its true worth. Shirley, though describing it as a ballad (in two separate sources), also agrees that you can almost call it mid-tempo and calls it powerful, adding that it is more like her previous Melodifestival songs (though more mature) than like her last album. Its creators are certainly big Melodifestival names--will that add up to something great?



Sofia, "Alla" (Nina Karolidou/Irini Michas/Dimitri Stassos/Henrik Wikström)
Sofia returns to Melodifestivalen after 2007's underrated "Hypnotized" (which, along with Andreas Lundstedt's "Move," was my easy favorite from that year's first semifinal). Her song for 2009 is described as a rock-inspired ethnic (Greek) pop song and heavy pop-rock with a cool riff, which sounds like a switch away from the maybe more Greek dance sound of "Hypnotized."



Lili & Susie, "Show Me Heaven" (Susie Päivärinta, Calle Kindbom, Thomas G:son, Pär Lönn, Nestor Geli)
The return of '80's pop duo Lili & Susie! And their song is described as longing '80's nostalgia with a strong chorus and clear melody, a song which won't disappoint those who like the duo; it's said to be a little like their earlier hit "Bara du och jag" in a dance version and have the happiness of "What's The Colour Of Love." I really need to do a post about them at some point--they really did have some great fun hits; I'm hoping "Show Me Heaven" will be great as well, as opposed to some of the not-so-great comebacks that have taken place. They'll be releasing an album of old songs but also with new material.



Amy Diamond, "It's My Life" (Alexander Bard/Bobby Ljunggren/Oscar Holter)
Just look at those writer names--that's some real pop and/or Melodifestival royalty right there, especially in the first two (Bard of Army of Lovers, early Alcazar, and BWO and Ljunggren of too many Melodifestival entries to name, though he was incredibly successful in last year's Melodifestival). I loved Amy's Melodifestival song last year, too, as well as the album that preceded it (and her earlier work), so I'm hopeful "It's My Life," described by its writers as an uptempo electro and dance song with attitude, will continue her growing up process while still being great.

Aftonbladet is also reporting that Marie Serneholt will be the next joker announced, which would be amazing news--I really want new music from her. Interestingly, apparently--in addition to the (not coming to fruition) rumored idea of her and Agnes dueting on "Love Love Love"--there was a proposal/interest from the contest in reuniting A*Teens to compete, but the group's members said no. Aftonbladet also says that Thorleifs, a dansband, will take over "Den första kyssen," the track Lasse Stefanz declined to sing.

You should know that I am head over heels for you

Sad that you weren't able to spend your last Saturday night watching Melodifestivalen? Why not try to ease the pain with your own Swedish TV mix-and-match (i.e., feel free to skip anything that doesn't interest you) special, taken from the past few months!

I'm sure other performers have used the spinny camera at the big climatic moment in the song trick, but now that Charlotte has so totally claimed it, I can't help thinking of "Hero" right in the middle of this performance of EMD's new single, "Jennie Let Me Love You," which they performed on Let's Dance. Still, I'm totally buying this when it comes out. (Plus, bonus points for the "twisted sheets"/"sore heart beats" rhyme--that should go right up there with "fire"/"desire.")



Anna Sahlene was BRILLIANT in musical gameshow Så ska det låta this past weekend. She was teamed up with Peter Johansson against Carola and Andreas Johnson, and not only did she prove herself (as if it needed further proving) to be a fantastic singer with a great knowledge of music (she and Peter ran away with the contest), she's also made me wish even more for another album from her. Heck, I'd take an album of disco covers at this point, something which we got a taste of from several of her performances. Unfortunately, though seemingly everything her partner performed has been uploaded on YouTube, most of Anna's performances haven't been yet. Still, you can watch the whole thing here if you want to, and you can watch her perform a slowed down version of "Runaway" below.




Time for a commercial break. I'm not sure if this ad is being run in the U.S. or UK (my guess is no, at least on the US front), but it's getting airing in Scandinavian countries, even causing Depeche Mode's "Enjoy The Silence" to creep up the iTunes charts there.



Taking us back into our regularly scheduled programming is Alcazar, performing their fantastic latest single "We Keep On Rockin'" (I was going to rave about it but never did, did I?) on Let's Dance. I'm beyond thrilled to have them back and can't wait to hear some more material from them. I think they're facing off against EMD on some upcoming TV show, too...



There's some great staging going on in September's performance of "Because I Love You" on Bingolotto. She really imbues those opening lines with emotion, and I love the use of lights for the transition into the more "dance" part of the song.



Not from TV--taken from her official website, in fact--but if you want to hear a few clips of Charlotte Perrelli working on songs for her new album in studio, go to near the end of this clip.

And what better way to end our Melodifestivalen substitute than with the track rejected from the 2006 Melodifestival that ended up being the biggest selling single in 2007? Courtesy of Så ska det låta again (though a different week), here's Amy Diamond and Fredrik Swahn singing it after winning.

You've got the best of me, you'll get the rest of what is left

I realized I hadn't actually been doing too much recapping or discussing of the results of Melodifestivalen here, so--though there are a bunch of blogs already doing a great job of that and if you're interested I realize there's a good chance you've already looked up the performances--here are my highlights from the past two weeks. Some are highlights because of the songs (meaning you may need to look beyond the performance), some are highlights because of the performance, and some are highlights because of both.

Also, I should mention that I've decided I'm not going to watch YouTube videos of the performances, at least for a while; after last week's disconnect between how I experienced the performances live (as in real time, not as in actually there!) and what they seemed like on playback, I've decided to avoid that.

The first semifinal featured three songs that so far I can see myself listening to over the course of the year--well, maybe four, if Face-84's "Alla Gamla X" sticks with me. One of the three was dance-pop singer Velvet's "Deja Vu," which failed to make it to the second chance round or to the final. It keeps getting compared to Sonja Aldén's entry "Etymon" from a few years ago, but I prefer this, maybe because it's more danced-up.



Fifteen year old Amy Diamond, however, did make it through to the final with the young-sounding (but not in a bad or limiting way) pop song "Thank You."



Not too many other people--in Sweden or on the Internet--liked Michael Michailoff's "That's Love" like I did. The pop-rock song got compared to Andreas Johnson's entries from 2006 and 2007 as well as Karl Martindahl's "Love Turns Water Into Wine" from 2004, a comparison I can hear, but the payoff part of the chorus here works better for me--whereas after the similar introduction "Love Turns Water Into Wine" gives way to these smooth backing vocals singing "Love turns water into wine," "That's Love" gives you a more powerful, upbeat, singalong-oriented phrase, and that makes a huge difference for me. Ultimately, the chorus gets stuck in my head, and I don't mind it being there.



Onto the second semfinal's performances. Sanna Nielsen caused a real sensation in Sweden with her performance of the ballad "Empty Room," which had her in incredible vocal form (as usual). Sanna-mania is sweeping Sweden at the moment.



Someone not in incredible vocal form (watch out for that shout near the end, Alex!) was Alexander Schöld, but in studio I love his catchy pop-rock song "Den Första Svalan" (also, apparently I have the maturity level of a twelve year old boy, because I'm still not over that title yet). Plus, if his voice bothers you that much, it's an Epicentre song, so I imagine we'll be hearing another singer, probably someone off of an international Idol show, singing it within the next fifteen months. This is one of those songs that I don't expect most Melodifestival fans to love but that is exactly the sort of thing I enjoy.



Rongedal, like Sanna, qualified directly to the final, singing their fun Scissor Sisters/Bee Gees/Mika (take your pick)-esque entry "Just A Minute."



I was expecting to not like Andreas Johnson and Carola Häggkvist's entry "One Love" at all--I thought their earlier single together was just drippy--but not only did they put on a great performance (I even thought Carola was likable in it), I genuinely like their anthemic song. Doesn't mean I wasn't pleased to see them end up in the second chance round, though (now, if only it could have been Ola who got the other direct to final spot--I'm not at all confident in him making it through the second chance round).



...and speaking of Ola: all this is really just filling you in on songs I enjoyed, though, because my heart was totally sold in the three minutes it took for the first song to be performed. Ola may not be my type and his album may have been spotty, but boy, does he have dominion over my musical heart these days--well, him and the people making his best songs. "Love In Stereo" keeps getting compared to John Farnham's "You're The Voice" mixed with upbeat '80's pop, but it's very much in the vein of Ola's earlier hits "Natalie" and "S.O.S." as well. It's exactly what pop should be. Maybe it was the environment I was watching Melodifestivalen in, but I was so shocked to read almost all negative opinions of Ola's performance when perusing the Internet this morning--I thought it was really great. Plus, those chorus lyrics--"Give me love in stereo/Give me more of the attraction/'Cause I'm dying for some more" and "Give me love in stereo/Give me total satisfaction/'Cause I gotta have it all" are just demanding for me to find a use for them somewhere (Last.fm profile? Tagline here?). Please, Sweden, please vote him through to the final--I really fear for him, and we only know one of the groups he's up against so far (E-Type and the Poodles). He needs to be there!



I even liked Lasse Lindh's singer-songwritery "Du behöver aldrig mer vara rädd" as well--really, I just enjoyed this semifinal a lot. Great songs and great results--a top four I'm very happy with, even if I might have made one swap in the order.

It's all coming back

Me, in a Last.fm comment I left yesterday: "Heaven help us, 'I Love Europe' is going to do well, isn't it? If it knocks Velvet to fifth place or something, there WILL be trouble!"

And sure, you could blame any of the other three entries that qualified ahead of "Deja vû," but no, it is directly Christer Sjögren's fault. I even loved the performance of "Deja vû"! Sigh. Not really a shocking result, though, I guess.

Also--and don't kill me, schlager fans--but I loved Michael Michailoff's "That's Love." The fact that it took sixth while both Andreas Johnson's entries have sailed easily into the finals is ridiculous (don't get me wrong, I like Andreas, but his Melodifestivalen entries are far from my favorites of his songs--or maybe I just don't like his voice on them). Not that I expected it to do anything, or anyone else in blogworld to like it (well, at least Troy ranked it in his top half based on the one minute clips; I've got no idea what he thinks of it now).

I'm thrilled that Amy Diamond qualified to the final, though. That's a plus--I loved "Thank You" and her performance of it.

Sigh--well, I shouldn't be surprised--last year, two of my favorite three entries in the first semifinal were disqualified as well.

Edit: trying to look on the bright side, at least that means Swedes will be able to buy Velvet's entry from Telia (available already!), and hopefully it will hit the Internet sooner.

My friends say that I'm crazy, that I'm just wasting my time

Once again, I'm way too excited about Melodifestivalen, so I thought I'd run through the artists and songs for this Saturday's semifinal, as I did last year. I'm not an expert, though, so please feel free to add things or correct me where it's needed. Obviously I haven't heard the entries and I don't have any inside connections, so this information is all based on media sources that we've all got access to. In other words, it's just me trying to provide one place where all we know about the songs has been gathered (as well as provide some background for anyone who doesn't follow Melodifestivalen at all, since it'll be dominating this blog for a while). In fact, let's cover those sources to begin with--I'm very much indebted to the following sites and articles for this information: Schlagerprofilerna (I can't emphasize this enough--this blog is the absolute must-read site for anyone interested in getting some insight into the Melodifestivalen songs before we hear them; it is in Swedish, though, but unlike official reports on the songs, you'll actually get opinions on whether a song is good or bad in addition to descriptions of them), SVT's official Melodifestivalen site, QX (this article and that blog writer are the same, I believe), an Amy Diamond site, Gylleneskor.se, P4's rundown, Epicentre's site, ESC.info.se, and Wikipedia.

1.) E-Type and The Poodles, "Line Of Fire"
Artist-wise, this is a surprising combination of two groups that have both made the finals in the past. E-Type is the stage name of long-haired Swedish man Martin Eriksson, who's been releasing Eurodance music (though usually with a female vocalist, like NaNa Hedin, accompanying him by doing the choruses) since the 1990's, even working with Denniz Pop and Max Martin, and had yet another big hit in 2007 with "True Believer." His song "Paradise" took fifth in Melodifestivalen 2004. The Poodles, on the other hand, do hard/stadium rock that sounds straight out of the '80's (or '70's?). They rose to fame with their 2006 Melodifestivalen entry, "Night Of Passion," which took fourth. Apparently "Line Of Fire" isn't really a typical E-Type or Poodles song, but has a great chorus. Schlagerprofilerna describes it as "more poprock in a schlager costume than expected" and better than Melodifestivalen fans are expecting.

To watch: E-Type, "True Believer" (at Sommerkrysset)



To watch: The Poodles, "Night Of Passion" (live at Melodifestivalen 2006)



2.) Face-84, "Alla gamla x" ("All old exes" or "Every old ex")
A debuting group (the "84" comes from their common birth year). "Alla gamla x" is apparently a '60's-influenced dansband song. I don't know why, but for some reason I'm hopeful about it (its quality, not its chances). The composers (not the person who wrote the lyrics) also did Linda Bengtzing's "Jag ljuger så bra" (with Lars "Dille" Diedricson having done a lot more than that).

To watch: umm...well, YouTube gives us this low quality live performance of "Greased Lightning." They've not released any music yet.



3.) Velvet, "Deja vû"
Jenny Petersson, a.k.a. Velvet, the former backing vocalist turned pop and dance solo artist, is back to Melodifestivalen. Velvet's solo career began with pop-dance songs like her cover of "Rock Down To (Electric Avenue)" and "Don't Stop Movin'," but the 2006 Melodifestival found her singing the Latin-inspired pop track "Mi amore" (which shares composers with her entry this year), where she made it to the second chance round but no further (she's the reason for the actual new performances we got for the second chance round last year, as opposed to just rerunning clips of the original performance, if I remember correctly; her semifinal performance wasn't as good as she could do and she probably would have done better if given the opportunity to perform again). The new songs she's given us since then, "Fix Me" and "Chemistry," have been distinctly dance-pop (and great). We were supposed to get an album from her this winter, but I'm guessing it's been pushed back so that her performance here happens first, because it's now reported to be due out in spring. "Deja vû" is said to be very danceable and disco-y, and a "euroexplosion" able to deliver everything Verona's "La Musica" didn't.

To watch: the video for Velvet's single "Fix Me"



4.) Brandur, "Lullaby"
New to the Swedish scene, young Brandur has apparently been releasing music for a while in his home, the Faroe Islands. Apparently a few years ago he worked with Epicentre (Swedish production company behind loads of good songs, including "Love Is All Around," which seems to be slowly invading every country in the world; they've done LMNT's "Juliet" and...well, the list could go on and on) and wrote some songs, and he's worked with Lionheart and Aleena Gibson as well, so who knows, maybe if he gets to release an album off of this (which I wouldn't expect at all, at least in Sweden--given the other names in the semi, it's unlikely he'll go through), it'll include those. The music for "Lullaby," a sad soulful ballad with some jazz influence, was done by Henrik Wikström, who's been involved in lots of previous Melodifestivalen entries, mostly successful--Carola's "Evighet," Shirley Clamp's "Min kärlek," Måns Zelmerlöw's "Cara Mia"--and others not--2005's "Rain" by Josef Özer, poor Anna Sahlene's "This Woman." "Lullaby" has also been compared to George Michael's work.

To watch: the music video for "Concept Of Time." I wouldn't take this as any indication of what the song will sound like, though, beyond having the same voice on it.



And at any rate, there's too much shouty singing going on it that for me, so you could always try the one man boy band-like "Waiting In The Moonlight," obviously years older.



5.) Michael Michailoff, "That's Love"
A former Fame Factory contestant, from the same season as Magnus Bäcklund and Jessica Andersson (apparently he's released an album, but I think it went by pretty much unnoticed; at the least, I've heard nothing from it). "That's Love" is said to be '60's-influenced pop-rock (uh-oh...isn't that always the description we get for Andreas Johnson's entries? Peter Kvint's not involved, though), with some British elements. It's not predicted to do well, though if the singer was more famous it might have.

To watch listen: there is a minute long live performance clip instead, but for the sake of length, here's one of those montage videos set to his song "Shadows"



6.) Amy Diamond, "Thank You"
Just barely meeting the minimum age requirements, fifteen year old but will be sixteen by Eurovision singer Amy Diamond already has three albums under her belt, including the very good Music In Motion released just recently (honestly, if you like pop but usually think her music is too childish for you, it's worth giving some of the songs on Music In Motion a go--you'll be pleasantly surprised; try "Graduation Song," for example, or "We're In This Together"). She became famous with the big hit "Welcome To The City," and another of her songs, "It Can Only Be Better," has been discussed in Eurovision circles recently, as its writer has accused Paolo Meneguzzi's entry for Switzerland, "Era stupendo," of plagiarizing it. Her young age has led to some people commenting that she could be the "new Carola" (Carola was sixteen when she performed "Främling" at Melodifestivalen in 1983 and skyrocketed to fame). "Thank You" is said to be an upbeat pop song with some Motown influence and a "positive feeling."

To watch: the video for her latest single, the very cute pop song "Stay My Baby" (co-written by Max Martin)



7.) Suzzie Tapper, "Visst finns mirakel" ("Miracles exist/There are miracles")
Famous for her career in the '80's as part of Suzzies Orkester. "Visst finns mirakel" is said to be a very strong (in the sense of quality; sound-wise, it's said to be delicate) beautiful ballad with personal lyrics.

To watch: all YouTube has to offer is this minute long clip of a Suzzies Orkester song, "Dansa i Månens sken," from the '80's



8.) Christer Sjögren, "I Love Europe"
Another star from the past, this time the former lead singer of the dansband group Vikingarna, popular in the '70's and '80's. The song is described on SVT's site as having a "schlagermelodi," but apparently many listeners think it's more like "Las Vegas," more like a show tune than a real schlager song (another point of comparison was Dean Martin). Others say it has a good melody, though.

To watch: YouTube really does throw up some odd things sometimes, doesn't it? Take, for example, the following, apparently a mashup of a Vikingarna song and 50 Cent's "In Da Club" created by this man.



On a more, um, probably relevant note, here's Vikingarna performing a medley



At the moment, I'd say I'm most looking forward to Velvet, Amy Diamond, maybe Face-84 (just in a fun kind of cast-off way), and, after all this positive buzz, E-Type/the Poodles, which surprises me to say.

I'm never gonna give you up

Happy Thanksgiving if you're in the U.S.! One of the music-related things I'm thankful for: what Jesse McCartney says in this interview (which I'd looked for a while ago and hadn't been able to find until Turnaround posted it--thanks!). When discussing his new album, he mentioned a bunch of things. The first thing out of his mouth was "new image," which isn't necessarily bad but made me think "oh no, Jesse's going to go all Eric Dill wannabe-edgy credible rocker on us." But no! Look what he says:

• "retro '80's pop sound"
• "very synth-driven"
• "most of the record was done with programmed sounds, not a lot of live instrumentation" (is this not the opposite direction of that which every artist seems to go in? I love that!)
• "contemporary pop"
• Interviewer says that Jesse's always involved in writing his songs, feeding him an obvious credibility-building line, but Jesse's response is to correct him and say that after the last album he's learned that it doesn't have to be an album written all by himself--he just wants good songs (though he still loves to write)
  

And for those who are interested, Jesse says "Bleeding Love" might still end up on his album (though probably it won't fit with the style). Hmmm.

Anything else of report? He's writing songs that might be used by some boy bands, the new Menudo and Varsity. We can probably expect a single from Jesse in January and an album in March or April. I really think he could be the vehicle for some good music, some music I'd really like (and I've loved some of his stuff in the past), so I keep holding out hope this new stuff will be good. And you know who else said he was doing '80's-type pop and using synths? Blake Lewis.

Another thing I'm thankful for? John Barrowman's cover of "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic." I'm not saying that to be controversial or not controversial or because I think he/his character is fantastic on Doctor Who and I don't care if it's recommended ironically or what it says about my taste in music--I love it.

Neither of those things is related to today's post, though, which is the new single from fifteen year old Swedish singer Amy Diamond. Though she's young, she's already released two albums (one each in 2005 and 2006) and has another due out November 28. She released the lead single, "Is It Love," for it a while back, but the recently released second single is better.

Stay My Baby--written by Amy's frequent collaborator Tommy Tysper as well as Max Martin and Savan Kotecha (at least, according to my copy), "Stay My Baby" is a mid-tempo pop song with cute sound effects. It still sounds very young, like much of Amy's material does, though how much of that is her voice I'm not sure; at any rate, it's a good song and the youthfulness suits its cuteness.

Since this is a new single, it'll only be posted for a short time.

You can preorder Amy Diamond's new album, Music In Motion, here (physical). I quite like the sound of some of the preview clips, though I'm not sure yet whether or not I'm going to buy the whole thing. Speaking of the album, you know how I mentioned Belinda's "Takes One To Know One" when writing about her songs "If We Were" and "End Of The Day"? Well, Amy's got a version of it on the album--but, as I suspected when I saw it on Amy's album, it doesn't look like Belinda was the first one to sing it. Jorun Stiansen from Norwegian Idol has a version on her album.

Oh, speaking of preview clips, apparently you can listen to clips from three new songs from Blake Lewis's album here, if you want to; I haven't yet, but I imagine I'll cave and do so later.

Next up: maybe that Finnish singer.