'Cause radio plays our favorite song

What has happened to the Estonian national finals for Eurovision lately? They've been low on quality for the past couple years (with the exception of Rolf Junior, whose entry this year is still one of the best singles of the year). Some of the credit for the quality back in the first half or so of the '00s has to go to the team of Pearu Paulus, Ilmar Laisaar, Alar Kotkas, and lyricist Jana Hallas. They contributed some fun, poppy, but kind of classy entries, three of which won and got to represent the country in Eurovision.



Young Ines might not have won the 2000 ESC as many anticipated, but "Once In A Lifetime" is still a gem, mixing a gentle acoustic guitar sound with traditional Europop to create something completely endearing.



Lovely Swedish singer Anna Sahlene ended up singing "Runaway" in 2002 when Ines turned it down. Representing the host country that year, Sahlene did Estonia proud with her performance and the third place result it brought in. Once again, the Paulus/Kotkas/Laisaar/Hallas team turned in a great uplifting track.



Another Swede, Sandra Oxenryd, represented Estonia at Eurovision in 2006 (just beating out Ines in the national final). She failed to make it out of the semifinal despite some of the year's best choreographed group strutting. Come back to national finals somewhere, Sandra--it's been too long since 2008's "Superhero"!



If you're looking for more music by these songwriters, check out Ines's "That's All Because Of You," which was covered by Swedish group Friends as "Favorite Song (That's All Because Of You)." It's another great song in their catchy, upbeat, organic Europop style. "You Wanna Play Too Tough" is also highlight from them. The composers of the group are also part of the group 2 Quick Start, but I've got only the most cursory of knowledge of that group's material. It's in Estonian and more Eurodance, from what I've heard of it.

After 2006, the team had a few more entries in the national final, but none to rival the quality of their earlier work. It's a shame--fans of Eurovision could use them operating at the same level they used to

Tangentially, while we're talking about Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest, I have to recommend the documentary Estonia Dreams of Eurovision, which Len was kind enough to send me a few years ago. It's an interesting look at Estonia's preparations for hosting the contest in 2002, including the falling out between the duo that won for the country in 2001, the national final to determine who would represent Estonia in 2002, and the decision as to who would host Eurovision. It's much more entertaining than that description makes it sound, though.

Ines's debut album, Here For Your Love, isn't really available for sale any longer, but you can always keep an eye on eBay and hope to get lucky. Anna Sahlene's debut album, It's Been A While, released under the artist name Sahlene, is available on iTunes internationally here and digitally internationally here; it's really an enjoyable little album--check out the amusing "House" and her 2003 Melodifestival entry "We're Unbreakable." Sandra Oxenryd's album Through My Window is available digitally internationally here.

Can you keep a secret?

Tonight was what Melodifestivalen is about. Fantastic songs...and, in general, some fantastic results. Four of my big favorite top five songs made the top five and from there the four to make it to the next level were all the ones in my top five list. Heck, even the fifth placed song of the night was one I liked and would have placed sixth.

My least favorite were Next 3's reggaeton "Esta Noche" (I think "Baby (Give Me A Try)" on their MySpace is better) and Susanne Alfvengren's "Du är älskad där du går," but even then, they weren't bad songs. There was a bit of the ethereal nature-loving style of, say, Enya or "Den Vilda" about Susanne's song that I found nice, or at least expect I'll find nice in the studio version. Though I wouldn't say either of the boys who opened the performance did a bad job, Next 3's performance was to a large degree saved with the entrance of their main singer

As I mentioned below, Thorleifs were sixth in my ranking, but their catchy old school dansband song, complete with saxophones, was also one I enjoyed listening to; in a night this full of quality, though, it just couldn't make it past sixth in my personal rankings. I would have liked to see Anna Sahlene and Maria Haukaas Storeng take the group's place in the top five, but given that the group only made it to fifth and no further, I'm fairly free to enjoy their song as nearly-harmless fun.



Here's where we get into the top quality stuff, in no particular order. Sarah Dawn Finer, as expected, put her strong slightly grainy voice to good use and delivered the power ballad "Moving On" with all the power you could hope for. She made it to the second chance round and was the international jury's choice. Even if she should fail to qualify to the final through the second chance round (her section of which also includes Scotts, BWO, and Lili & Susie), my expectation is that the international jury would make her their choice (the other rounds' choices were Caroline af Ugglas, Amy Diamond, and Sofia) and she'd make it to the final that way. I hope she's there two weeks from now--she deserves to be.



Poor Anna Sahlene and Maria Haukaas Storeng placed seventh despite their classy catchy retro-pop, with its James Bond verses and schlager chorus, having a great melody to it and two good singers performing it. Maybe playing up the fact that Maria was from Norway and Anna had represented Estonia in their intro footage wasn't the way to go? No, I don't genuinely (fully) blame that, but the song and its singers deserved better. In a night this full of quality, though, it's maybe not surprising that people would be so busy voting for great songs that one of the great songs would slip through the cracks.



Star Pilots' "Higher" is Sunblock-esque '80's-sounding dance-pop song barely removed from the group's earlier hit "In The Heat Of The Night," though with some "Waiting For A Star To Fall" mixed in, as Rick pointed out. I was shocked when the song topped audience surveys during rehearsals and brushed it off as a fluke, but apparently the song managed to connect fairly well with television viewers, too, qualifying to the second chance round despite the unusual staging of singer Johan Becker standing off to the side (doing a pretty good job singing, too) while the rest of the group mimed and danced with some in-house dancers center stage. "Higher" will face off against Amy Diamond's "It's My Life" and then, should it survive that match-up, either Rigo's "I Got U" or Caroline af Ugglas's "Snälla Snälla."




Agnes's disco track "Love Love Love" qualified straight to the final. There is something about "Love Love Love" that prevents it from instantly grabbing you and refusing to let go like "Release Me" does, but, as Nick said, not many songs are as good as "Release Me." "Love Love Love" is a great fun disco track, the sort of song that celebrates life, and had a performance that found Agnes sporting giant hair and a gold jumpsuit. With her modern disco--when she's singing songs like "Release Me" and this--Agnes really is deserving of more international attention. How can fans of old-school disco not at least enjoy "Love Love Love"?



The night's other finalist truly surprised me. It's not that I didn't love Malena Ernman's "La Voix;" to the contrary, every schlager and disco-pop fiber of my body vibrating with excitement during the song. I really thought, though, that it wouldn't fully connect with the audience. As Swedish writers have pointed out and as I've often said, the issue with half-opera pop songs (here, with an dance-backed opera chorus and cool slightly electro or house-backed choruses) is that they lack a singalong-friendly chorus and, despite the fact that Malena started to have fun with the camera near the song's end, I thought the staging would come across to your average Swedish viewer as too aloof. To me, though, it was magic. It's a song I'm thrilled to have in the final.

What does this mean we have coming up? Next week will be Andra Chansen, the second chance round.

Out of the songs already qualified to the final, Alcazar, Malena, Måns, and Agnes are easily my favorites, followed by H.E.A.T and E.M.D., but that's speaking from a song perspective, not from the standpoint of what would get Sweden the best result at Eurovision.

(I still feel like I've got even more to say about this semifinal, so I may revisit it again soon.)

I'm gonna get stronger now

Oh, Sweden, you were so close to giving me the top five I'd been dreaming of! Poor Anna--she just can't get a break. I did always know Thorleifs were likely to be in the top five, though, and I like their song, too--I just loved five others so much more.

Still, four out of five favorites isn't bad...but "Killing Me Tenderly" is such a good song that it really deserved better than seventh.

Let's see what happens next...

Oh, and I still live in hope of some day getting more music from Jessica Andersson. I'll even be willing to overlook underwhelming "Kom," Jessica!

Edit: I'm going to enjoy Darin's performance and try to forget for a moment how painful this top four announcement is going to be.

Edit again: this night needs its own proper post. For now, though, if you didn't watch it live, SVT has videos of every performance--not just the disqualified ones--from this year's Melodifestival that you can watch.

Love love love

This week is destined to be one of heartbreak and exhilaration. Strong buzz surrounds several of the tracks, enough so that not all the rumored top-quality tracks can qualify directly to the final even in a best case scenario. It should make for a thrilling if stressful change from the semifinal of this past Thursday. As usual, all credit for the information goes to the sites below--I serve merely as an aggregator--and any mistakes are my own; please correct them in the comments if you notice any.

Sources: NT, SVT, The Local, Schlagerprofilerna (1, 2), Gylleneskor, QX (1, 2, 3); picture credit to The Local and QX

1.) Agnes, "Love Love Love" (Anders Hansson)
With Agnes reinvented as a properly brilliant popstar (though she's had her moments of brilliance in the past), there's a lot of interest from Melodifestival fans in "Love Love Love," which Agnes says was the first song she and Anders Hansson did together when they started working on what would become Dance Love Pop, her third album. The Idol winner is this week making her first appearance in Melodifestivalen, though a song she co-wrote (but never intended to sing in the contest herself) was originally chosen for an earlier edition of the contest before being disqualified.

Her entry this year, described by Anders as a positive disco-pop song and by Agnes as an up-tempo song which is in the same style as Dance Love Pop and with a cool glamorous feel (with an appropriately glittery and glamorous performance, she says), is supposed to be great, though not quite as great as some of the others in this semifinal.

To watch: the music video for her most recent single, "Release Me." I've said it before, but I'll say it again: if there's one Swedish pop song from 2008 that I beg you to listen to, it's this classy breezy modern disco song.



2.) Star Pilots, "Higher" (Johan Fjellström/Joakim Udd/Johan Becker)
Star Pilots are a dance-pop project from Empire Studios. The voice on both their singles so far is Johan Becker, but originally the group was represented at performances and in photos by three other men. Those men have been swapped out for another group, though, one that this time includes Johan Becker.

Both the group's earlier singles have been '80's-inspired but modern dance-pop that sounds like a combination of Sunblock and Uniting Nations. One of those singles was a cover of Chesney Hawkes's "The One And Only"--a great cover--while the other, "In The Heat Of The Night," was completely original and absolutely fantastic; it's even getting a UK release. From the description of "Higher" by the songwriters (who are also behind songs like Verona's "Ti Sento," Alcazar's upcoming single "Burning," and production on the West End Girls' songs, among others), the group's entry in Melodifestivalen should be in the same vein as their earlier work. They say "Higher" is an uplifting kick of energy with one foot in the '80s and the other in the here and now, a radio hit with a club feeling and an international sound.

Dance music has a tendency to underperform in Melodifestivalen, but hopefully the group can deliver a great song.

To watch: the Top Gun-featuring music video for "In The Heat Of The Night"



3.) Susanne Alfvengren, "Du är älskad där du går" (Ingela "Pling" Forsman/Bobby Ljunggren/Henrik Wikström)
Filling in the weekly "singer big in decades past attempts a comeback or seeks more attention via Melodifestivalen" slot, Susanne will be singing a ballad co-written by Bobby Ljunggren. Bobby's written a number of Melodifestival songs in the past and even this year, but apparently the one to compare "Du är älskad där du går" to is Suzzie Tapper's "Visst finns mirakel" from last year. The co-writers say "Du är älskad där du går" is a calm, well-arranged, melodic ballad which grows and has hopeful lyrics. I've heard nothing to make me expect this to be anything other than your typical Bobby Ljunggren Lionheart ballad like the others we've recently heard. Susanne does think it's like her past work, though.

To watch listen: her '80's hit "När vi rör varann"



4.) Anna Sahlene & Maria Haukaas Storeng, "Killing Me Tenderly" (Amir Aly/Henrik Wikström/Tobbe Petterssen)
I love Anna Sahlene. Love her. Her second album may not have lived up to her consistently enjoyable first, but she's someone who I've been hoping to hear more music from for a while (giving us one of three million versions of "Brief & Beautiful" last year barely counts). I liked Maria Haukaas Storeng's debut album, too; it was a pleasant though not really exciting Idol contestant album. I never really fell in love with '60s-flavored "Hold On Be Strong," her top five-placed entry for Norway and a fan favorite in last year's Eurovision, though.

Still, I'm going to hold out some hope that a combination of Anna, a Swedish singer who took Estonia to third place in Eurovision 2002 but has failed to make it out of the semifinals in both her subsequent tries at Melodifestivalen (one with the fantastic "We're Unbreakable"), and Maria, a Norwegian singer who like Anna has a good voice and has been involved with songs I liked in the past (though I'd easily choose Anna's back catalogue over Maria's), yields something great. Even if the duet aspect feels kind of gimmicky to me, they're two singles I have a great amount of good will towards.

The songwriter include half of the team that so successfully jumped on the modern '70s-inspired falsetto pop bandwagon with Rongedal's "Just A Minute" last year. In a probably unsurprising turn of events, this year, they're jumping on the Amy Winehouse-induced '60s pop bandwagon with "Killing Me Tenderly," a song they describe as a cross-fertilization of Tina Turner and ABBA with today's sound and inspiration from Duffy, with a thought towards James Bond. Anna has added that it's a mid-tempo song kind of similar to "Hold On Be Strong." She says it has a groove to it which has a big, melodic chorus and verses that are a little funkier. Pauline was the song's demo singer and, given her recent singles' sound, we can probably glean from that information an idea of what the song sounds like, even if Pauline didn't want to sing it at Melodifestivalen. People who have heard the song generally reference Duffy, a fact which doesn't thrill me--I'm generally left cold by the songs in that style--but there is significant positive buzz surrounding "Killing Me Tenderly."

To watch: for Anna, I should probably post her great performance of "Runaway" from Eurovision, but I've always preferred "We're Unbreakable" (though "Runaway" is great, too), so here's her performing that at Melodifestival 2003



For Maria, here's "Hold On Be Strong" from the final of Eurovision 2008.



5.) Thorleifs, "Sweet Kissin' In The Moonlight" (Lina Eriksson/Mårten Eriksson)
Dansband Thorleifs have been around for a long time and have a large following among fans of the genre, enough to make their albums big sellers in Sweden. This is their first appearance in Melodifestivalen. They will be singing a song written by people who have done songs like Nordman's "I lågornas sken" from last year, Jessica Andersson's "Kom," Magnus Bäcklund's "The Name Of Love," and Marie Picasso's Idol winner's single "This Moment." "Sweet Kissin' In The Moonlight" is described by its writers as a Swedish shuffle with a spoonful of schlager and ABBA seasoning served up in a dance version.

To watch: I've got to be honest and say that I know pretty much nothing of the group's work, so if anyone wants to offer up a suggestion of something better to embed, please let me know. For now, though, here's an ad for their latest album that plays clips of some songs on it.



6.) Sarah Dawn Finer, "Moving On" (Sarah Dawn Finer/Fredrik Kempe)
Big-voiced Sarah Dawn Finer may have done work before 2007, but her big breakout occurred that year when she sung the MOR but great ballad "I Remember Love" to fourth place at the Melodifestival final.

She returns to the contest this year with a very different song, one co-written by Fredrik Kempe, and an incredible amount of buzz around her. Many people are saying "Moving On" is of winning class, but to write that is to understate all the positive things being said about it. Suffice to say that Sarah, who can almost surely be counted on to deliver vocally, seems to have come up with something incredibly special song-wise, too. It's described by its writers as a big, dynamic, dramatic, epic song which is hopeful but has a tiny bit of sadness in it. Sarah describes the song as a rollercoaster that takes one further in life after a setback and dares one to believe in oneself and pick oneself up when one falls. She adds that the performance will (if plans haven't changed since her interview with QX) be inspired by part of her name (presumably "dawn"), with the look and movements being inspired by an Asian film. Schlagerprofilerna's sources suggest that it's the sort of song that would be sung at the end of the first act of a musical.

If everything people are saying can be counted on as true, Sarah is not just the one to beat this week--she may very well be the one to take home the whole contest.

Sarah has a new album coming out after Melodifestivalen. She's already released one single from it, "Does She Know You." She's worked with Dilba, Magnus Tingsek, Fredrik Kempe, and writers from her last album.

To watch: Sarah performing "I Remember Love" in her semifinal in Melodifestival 2007



7.) Next 3, "Esta noche" (Michael Xavier Barraza/Jimmy Almgren/Adam Soliman)
Next 3 seems to be not just new to Melodifestivalen but new, period. The three person boy band will be singing a song which its writers (the primary one being Michael Xavier Barraza, with some of the group helping with lyrics) describe as a fusion of R&B, hip-hop, and Caribbean rhythms and a mix of rap, reggaeton, and pop in Swedish and Spanish (with a few English words). They say you could dance to it if you wanted to. Michael has also said that "Esta noche" is a rap/hip-hop song with a schlager-seasoned chorus, modern and with a Latin flavor and not influenced by ABBA.

To watch: a low quality video of the group performing a song of theirs called "Baby (Give Me A Try)." If the quality of this video leaves you still clueless as to what they sound like, YouTube also turns up what the poster claims is a studio recording of theirs called "Get Crazy" and "Baby (Give Me A Try)" is playing on their MySpace.



8.) Malena Ernman, "La Voix" (Fredrik Kempe/Malena Ernman)
The final spot of the fourth semifinal has since 2006 been taken by acts who at worst finished second in the final (Andreas Johnson) or, twice, acts who won the whole thing (Carola and Charlotte Perrelli). This year it goes to opera singer Malena Ernman. Malena, who frequently does comedic performances, might not incite excitement among many of you, but the name Fredrik Kempe, the writer of Måns Zelmerlöw's "Cara Mia" and Charlotte Perrelli's "Hero" (among other songs), might get your ears to perk up. Then again, others of you might be feeling that Kempe is wearing out his formula.

If you fall into that last camp but still count yourself as a lover of Sweden's up-tempo disco-pop and schlager, prepare to be apologizing to Fredrik for every having doubted him. Sarah Dawn Finer's entry might have the biggest buzz of all going into this week, but the reviews of "La Voix" have gone beyond tantalizing (with even Sarah calling it cool and tough to beat): the song, described by its writers as a furious grandiose declaration of love set to the combination of pop and opera (and danceable), is, according to those who've heard it, going to send schlager fans into absolute meltdown...and maybe with the fact that Malena is (or at least was) planning a performance with what she describes as "good-looking broad-shouldered men" they'll have reason to be excited about more than just the song.

The pop and opera combination is a return to roots for Fredrik Kempe, whose debut single was the fantastic "Vincero," a techno-pop-meets-opera tour-de-force. If you've missed that Fredrik, have been left feeling like this year's contest has been a bit low on true stunners, or just live for Sweden's stormers, "La Voix" is apparently a song to wait for with baited breath.

To watch: Malena performing "Rosina's Cavatina." You'll see a lot of that humor and mugging I was talking about.



What I expect to love: this is one of those heats where I can see myself enjoying almost every song and finding multiple classics. I'm almost preemptively freaking out over Malena's song; I'm expecting it to be a revelation on "Alla Flickor" levels, only with a solid vocal performance. I'm anticipating Sarah Dawn Finer's song almost as much. Agnes and Star Pilots' songs are both ones I'm hoping and expecting to love (with me having slightly bigger hopes for Agnes). Despite all the positive things being said about it, I do have reservations about Anna Sahlene and Maria Haukaas Storeng's song, as I mentioned above, mainly for style reasons, but I'm cautiously hoping to enjoy the song. Next 3 are basically there as cannon fodder and I wasn't going to expect them to be anything else, but when researching this post, I listened to "Baby (Give Me A Try)" and actually liked it, finding it more interesting than I expected. The whole Caribbean rhythm thing makes me think "Esta noche" might have significantly less edge to it than that song and I still think they'll stand no chance against this line-up, but there's now actually at least a chance I might like their song. Maybe Thorleifs will have something decent--nice--but I'll be surprised if I love it and am already gearing myself up for being upset at them for taking a place from a song I think is much more deserving.

What if?

I'm sorry that I was a bit too busy for the past two days to do my Melodifestival announcement post at the time...here it is now, though. I don't know that there were a bunch of names worth getting exciting about in this particular announcement--and in fact some of these song and artist combinations we already knew--but there are at least a few. As usual, SVT and Gylleneskor are the sources for this information, the pictures come from SVT, and I strongly recommend you read Schlagerprofilerna if you want to keep up with all the Melodifestival news and gossip.



Cookies 'n' Beans, "What If" (Robin Abrahamsson/Amir Aly/Maciel Numhauser)
The singer from Oh Laura is a member of this country group (apparently she was also a member of La Roxx, who sang "(Are U) Ready Or Not" in Melodifestivalen 2004), which is singing a song described by its writers as an expressive and dynamic song which takes hold and makes you want more. An earlier report from QX said that the song was neither a ballad nor up-tempo and that it's similar to Suzzie Tapper's "Visst finns mirakel" (a song these songwriters wrote) from this year.



Nina Söderquist, "Tick Tock" (Johan Lyander/Matti Alfonzetti)
Nina, currently performing in the West End as the Lady of the Lake in Spamalot, is singing a song which the writers describe as up-tempo rock with a lot of energy, a rock diva sort of song with just a little bit of flamenco. Nina earlier also described the song as a tough rock song with a lot of energy. Both songwriters have done other songs for Melodifestivalen, but given "Tick Tock"'s rock description, maybe the most relevant song they've done is the Poodles' "Night Of Passion" in 2006.



Anna Sahlene & Maria Haukaas Storeng, "Killing Me Tenderly" (Amir Aly, Henrik Wikström, Tobbe Petersson)
Half of the songwriter team that so successfully jumped on the falsetto pop bandwagon with Rongedal's "Just A Minute" takes on another trend: '60's-inspired pop. That's what early reports of the song had told us "Killing Me Tenderly" had told us it was like, and with the songwriters' official description comparing it to Duffy, that's not being negated. Still, the songwriters also describing it as a combination of Tina Turner and ABBA--with inspiration from Duffy--with a little James Bond theme influence, maybe it won't be exactly like all the '60's knockoffs (and it's always that particular type of '60's music, you know?) we've gotten recently. The big thing for me here is the return of lovely Anna Sahlene, a Swede who took Estonia to third place at Eurovision in 2003 but has since failed to make it out of the semifinals in both her tries at Melodifestivalen. Her It's Been A While album was great and also featured the original version of Hilary Duff's "The Little Voice" (though for my money there are better tracks on the album). She's teamed up with Norwegian Maria, Norway's representative to 2008's Eurovision and one of the co-hosts of Norway's national final, the Melodi Grand Prix, in 2009. Maria's an artist I really like but I never fell for her '60's-sounding song, "Hold On Be Strong" (which apparently "Killing Me Tenderly" is a little like, according to Anna) as much as I wanted to or as much as many Eurovision fans did. Their combination here seems...I don't know, a little forced or something to me; I'm not sure I'm seeing the duet side as anything more than a novelty yet, but I'd like to like them together and their song (which as a demo was sung by Pauline, who apparently didn't want to sing the song at Melodifestivalen, and which it was rumored SVT wanted Brolle to sing before he ended up having other commitments), given my general goodwill towards both artists. Anyway, back to the song: Anna, too, compares it to Duffy, ABBA, Tina Turner, and Bond songs and says it's a mid-tempo song with a groove to it. She adds that it's got a big, melodic chorus and verses that are a litttle funkier.



Thorleifs, "Sweet Kissin' In The Moonlight" (Lina & Mårten Eriksson)
The long-running dansband will be singing a Swedish shuffle with a spoonful of schlager and a pinch of ABBA seasoning, served in a danceable (dansband?) style. It was originally called "Den första kyssen" (and Mårten's name was originally given as an obviously fake pseudonym--I wonder what changed to cause the reveal and what the original reason for it was, considering it's neither writer's first appearence in Melodifestivalen).



Scotts, "Jag tror på oss" (Lars "Dille" Diedricson/Martin Hedström/Pling Forsman)
Scotts, as I've mentioned here previously, are a dansband competing on SVT's still ongoing dansband competition song. Linda Bengtzing sung the demo for this track (and all of these songwriters helped create "Jag ljuger så bra"), described by its songwriters as rocky, energetic, and about love with obstacles. Earlier, it was described as fast Swedish guitar pop with a sharp chorus. The band has a single, "Om Igen," out at the moment and an album coming out before Christmas.



Susanne Alfvengren, "Du är älskad där du går" (Pling Forsman/Bobby Ljunggren/Henrik Wikström)
Susanne is big-in-the-'80's artist who, despite releasing some music earlier this century, I'm not familiar with. Her song is said by its songwriters (all Melodifestival stalwarts) to be a calm, melodic ballad which grows and has hopeful lyrics. "Du är älskad där du går" was originally announced as "Människobarn," but it's name has been changed.

Of note is the fact that the last joker has not yet been announced (though rumors that it will be E.MD. continue to fly around) and that the artist for "Higher" has not yet been announced, though Schlagerprofilerna reported that the reason for the latter is the fact that, though Star Pilots will sing the song, the group needs to be "recast."

Finally, SVT announced which artists will be in which semifinals today. This isn't the start order, but it still lets us know which artists will be going head-to-head.

Semifinal 1: Göteborg (Feb. 7)
Marie Serneholt, "Disconnect Me"
Scotts, "Jag tror på oss"
Shirley Clamp, "Med hjärtat fyllt av ljus"
Caroline af Ugglas, "Snälla, snälla"
Alcazar, "Stay The Night"
Nina Söderquist, "Tick Tock"
Jonathan Fagerlund, "Welcome To My Life"
Emilia, "You're My World"

Semifinal 2: Skellefteå (Feb. 14) (no exaggeration, I can't think of a better Valentine's Day present than Melodifestivalen)
H.E.A.T., "1000 Miles"
Måns Zelmerlöw, "Hope & Glory"
Lasse Lindh & Band, "Jag ska slåss i dina kvarter!"
Amy Diamond, "It's My Life"
Markoolio, "Kärlekssång från mig"
Jennifer Brown, "Never Been Here Before"
Lili & Susie, "Show Me Heaven"
Cookies'n Beans, "What If"

Semifinal 3: Leksand (Feb. 21)
Sofia, "Alla"
Mikael Rickfors, "Du vinner över mig!"
Maja Gullstrand, "Här för mig själv"
Rigo & The Topas Sound feat. Red Fox, "I Got U"
Molly Sandén, "Så vill stjärnorna"
Velvet, "The Queen"
BWO, "You're Not Alone"
Unannounced-so-far Joker

Semifinal 3: Malmö (Feb. 28)
Susanne Alfvengren, "Du är älskad där du går"
Next 3, "Esta noche"
Artist not yet announced, "Higher"
Anna Sahlene & Maria Haukaas Storeng, "Killing Me Tenderly"
Malena Ernman, "La voix"
Agnes, "Love Love Love"
Sarah Dawn Finer, "Moving On"
Thorleifs, "Sweet Kissin' In The Moonlight"

At first glance, that's a pretty good distribution of my likely personal favorites (not who I think will do well) among the four semifinals, which gives me at least something to look forward to each week. I think a lot of people will be looking to the first heat more than they have been recently. Is it too early for my hopes about 2009's Melodifestival to be getting really high?

It was all we had

Pretty soon "Brief & Beautiful" is going to take the title of the most recycled song ever. Look, it's lovely--I'll admit that; it's got an exquisite melody. Though Norwegian singer Maria Arredondo's version didn't make my year end countdown of my favorite singles of 2007, it very well could have.



Spanish singer Edurne's Spanish adaptation "Fue Para Los Does" is lovely as well. I believe it was the first version to be released, with Maria's being second but the first to be released as a single (in Edurne's case it was initially just an album track).



For the international pop fan, another version really didn't seem necessary after those two--could any other version really bring anything new--well, new and desirable--to the table? Both Maria and Edurne have perfect voices for the song--they aren't the same, but both have qualities that mean they really bring out its emotion. We'd even got two separate arrangements as a result of Maria and Edurne's version. That meant that I wasn't really excited about Anna Sahlene's version, except for the hope it would mean more new material from Anna--there wasn't really anywhere new she could take the song.



Do you know what we have now, though? ANOTHER Spanish language version! But NOT "Fue Para Los Dos"--it's actually a whole different adaptation--it's got different lyrics. It's by Mexican group Timbiriche, who have called their new version "Vuelvo A Comenzar."



Plus, if you've REALLY not got enough of the song yet, there's always the demo at songwriter Hanne Sorvaag's MySpace page. At this rate, I'm expecting a version on the next NKD album and one by a Japanese artist or group that I'll probably never hear about...

Everything is going smooth tonight

Just kind of a hodge-podge of things today!

Oh no...I should have known writing about Bea Bronchal was a mistake--despite all my best efforts to wash them out with other music, I've had her songs running through my head literally ALL DAY. With that in mind, here's yet another of her amazing pop stompers; this one's called "Lo Prefiero" and was originally by Rebeca, who was in the running to represent Spain at Eurovision 2006 with it (Rebeca also had another song, "Que no daría yo," in the running), but from what I've heard, I prefer Bea's version. Is it going to scare all of you away when I say that it's got touches of reggaeton and pop-rock in it? It shouldn't--I know I'm overusing this phrase when writing about Bea, but it's a total pop stomper that, with its rapidfire vocals and "hey hey" chants, will be running through your head the rest of the day; there's no resisting that chorus. It's a song that makes me want to learn how to street dance.



Anyway, here's the Lithuanian song I've been meaning to post about the past few days. I really was going to post the song itself, but all I've found is a low quality mp3 that, to be honest, someone else frustrated with not being able to find the song probably just ripped from a video somewhere. Still, consider it the "featured song" of the day.



The singer's name is Mantas, and the song is "Lovefool Tonight," a fairly recent (past two months or so) single. It's got a little bit of a disco beat running through it, but it's kind of Robbie Williams-esque in a way (maybe not a million miles away from his version of "Lovelight"?). Despite one giant lyrical misstep, the song's really lodged itself in my head; it's not the sort of thing I expect to take the Internet by storm, and in fact I'll be more than glad to see it not really talked about elsewhere--I don't expect it would meet a very friendly reception--but I'm very glad it exists for my own sake. Could a Lithuanian music store open up somewhere on the Internet, please?

How on Earth did I miss this news earlier?

(Well, OK, I know how, but still!)

Apparently (according to an article in Aftonbladet from March 14) Fredrik Kempe and Anna Sahlene have formed a duo called Pomp, already have a record contract with Universal, are already working in the studio, have their eyes set on Melodifestivalen 2009, and have asked Jessica Andersson to join them and make the duo a trio. Fredrik, in a blog post, kind of hedged back a way from that a little bit, saying that they're just kind of testing and nothing is certain. Elsewhere, he says the music is "dansmusik med schlagertouch" ("dance music with a schlager touch").

Now, my natural preference would be for both or all three (if Jessica ended up saying yes) of those artists to have solo careers (I love all three of them as solo artists), but if we can't have that--and let's face it, we haven't had that for quite some time and there's not really any indication that's an option on the table; Fredrik's just been doing songwriting, Anna released her version of "Brief & Beautiful" in Estonia but that's all we've heard from her in terms of a commercial/pop career (though ESCToday did say an album would be out this year), and Jessica's doing musicals and released a track with Nordman--if it's a case of this or nothing, then I will definitely take this.

Next up: a Dutch dance-pop group, I think.

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.

But I won't forget all that is unsaid

Yes, a certain Swedish trio-turned-quartet-turned-trio is back back BACK, and I'm very excited about that, but they'll be more to say when we actually hear the song, apparently going to Swedish iTunes on Monday. There's another Swedish artist who we've just heard is back with a new single, though: Anna Sahlene! ESC Today says that she'll be debuting her new single, "Brief And Beautiful," at Eurolaul.

Now, normally I would be jumping up and down at the thought of her return--I adore Anna--but there is something holding me back: "Brief And Beautiful"?! What are the odds it's the Hanne Sorvaag co-penned "Brief And Beautiful"? Don't get me wrong, I love that song (it nearly made my year end countdown as well) but we've already got two (great) versions of it, one from Norwegian singer Maria Arredondo and one from Spanish singer Edurne! Actually, scratch that--three, since Hanne put what I presume is her demo up on her MySpace. From the perspective of an international pop fan and temporarily ignoring whether or not she'll have success with the song (I'd love her to be successful, and I expect she'll sing the song well), that doesn't make this release an exciting prospect at all. Hopefully I'm wrong about what song it is.

Well, at least ESC Today says we'll be getting an album later this year--that's worth looking forward to. If it is Maria Arredondo's "Brief And Beautiful"/Edurne's Spanish language version "Fue para los dos," though, it doesn't look like it'll be all disco, so don't count on a bunch of stuff like "This Woman."

There's gotta be a way that's better than just getting by

From the Department of Weird or Surprising Covers:

• Portuguese singer FF does Martin Stenmark's "7milakliv" on his second album (renamed "Eu Só Quero Ser")

• German group Cinema Bizarre (who are awkwardly gothically styled) do Protocol's "She Waits For Me" as the b-side to their debut single

• American artist Lucas Prata (who did the good dance-pop "...And She Said") does B3's "All The Girls" for his latest single (and I'm surprised at how close a cover it is to the original--not dance-popped up like I'd expected)

• Icelandic singer Sigrún Vala does Shirley Clamp's "Min Kärlek" and Sahlene's "We're Unbreakable" as singles (renamed "Því ástin" and "Ekki gera neitt," respectively)

All of these, save for maybe the Sigrún Vala ones, are relatively recent (as in, from the past few months), I think.

(By the way, this post title isn't taken from any of the above songs but a new-ish American song I may actually like and post soon; super-cheesy title but pop-rock stylings, though not quite as hooky as I'd like. Literally everything I've seen has compared them to Avril, but don't think "Girlfriend" or "Sk8r Boi" Avril, sadly; too earnest for that. I could end up going off it quickly, though.)

Times can change and things can break, but you and I know where our hearts belong

Hi all! Sorry, but since I'm a little pressed for time today, it'll be a quick post; that doesn't mean the song's any less good, but it is less creative choice of singer. Anna Sahlene, or Sahlene as she went by for a while, is a Swedish singer who took Estonia to third place at Eurovision singing "Runaway" in 2002, but so far has criminally never made it out of the semifinals (not even to the second chance round) in Melodifestivalen, despite being a fantastic live performer and having had some great songs, though there's one of her two entries I prefer--and it's the one I'm posting today. If you've not heard anything else by her, though, I strongly recommend picking up her album It's Been A While (available on iTunes stores throughout the world); it's incredibly consistent and a truly great pop album. In fact, with such an abundance of great tracks on it, it's sort of a shame that I'm posting one of her best known songs, but I love it so much that I can't help it.

We're Unbreakable--sigh. I love this song. It works whether you're in a good mood or a bad one, whether you're just in the mood to sing along to something great or need some cheering up. It's once again one of those songs I don't want to call pop-rock because, though it's got guitars, they're just a part of the instrumentation, not particularly in your face or the overwhelming impression you leave the song with, so I'm not sure what to call it--just pop with guitars, I guess. "We're Unbreakable" is strongly upbeat in just the right fashion to never be annoying. In short, it's a fantastic pop song.

To buy Anna Sahlene's album It's Been A While, go here (physical; or check eBay) or here (digital) or visit iTunes, but remember that she was going by just "Sahlene" at the time. It's very much worth it--I guess it's a "girl pop" album, but that doesn't mean it's just for girls by any stretch. She went on to release Photograph afterwards, in a very different style, and then switch styles again for Melodifestivalen 2006, going disco. I really wish she'd release another album...though seeing her performing "Holding Out For A Hero" helped a little. Last I read she was due to star in a movie, I think.

Next up: maybe another female Swedish singer.