There are a bunch of things in the music world that need to be discussed--the new Britney album, some new Eurovision songs, finally having the studio version of Danny's "Catch Me If You Can"--but with the Melodifestival final starting in less than two hours, Sweden's national selection for Eurovision has to take priority.
Half the time I don't know what I truly feel about any given entry until I have a gut reaction to how it ends up ranked. As of right now, though, I'd be happiest with a Danny win. I have a rising concern about the Moniker, though, and I'd certainly rather see Eric Saade take it instead of him.
In terms of solely my personal preferences--ignoring the odds of any of this actually happening--I'd be most pleased by a victory for Danny (in my top three favorite songs for this year as well as my favorite song and my favorite performance package of the entries remaining), Eric (there's still a missing ingredient for me, I'm frustrated that better similar entries in past years have been rejected and this one might win, and in the unlikely event that Danny should end up seriously challenging him the detachment I feel from Eric's entry would intensify, but when the song and presentation are taken together it's tough to deny that it averages out to be one of the night's best entries), Swingfly (a messy on-stage presentation, but the song is a lot of fun and gives me that rush of joy I wish I got from "Popular," even if I'm not sure that it's actually better in the long run), or Linda Bengtzing (she's had better songs and better performances but I love her and her infectious enthusiasm and enjoy "E det fel på mig"). I'd be fine with Brolle winning as well. After that, my enthusiasm would drop off precipitously, but it wouldn't feel like the end of the world if Sara Varga won. Despite its great production and great singer (though, truth be told, she's using a side of her voice here that I don't hugely enjoy), Sanna's song still leaves me cold. I like "The King" a good bit (yes, really) but feel like the Playtones' performance is a black hole for charisma. Any of the aforementioned choices would be better than the remaining two, though; Nicke Borg or the Moniker winning would leave me distraught.
Still, we should be in for a great show. Though songs I loved were lost along the way to Globen, I'm actually pretty happy with the line-up we'll be facing. Yes, two of the songs that would have made the best impression internationally were lost in Andra Chansen last week, but this year's final nevertheless includes mostly enjoyable songs that, even if they wouldn't make for great Eurovision entries, make for great entertainment.
Showing posts with label Linda Bengtzing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Linda Bengtzing. Show all posts
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Saturday, March 05, 2011
Jag kan klara mig själv, kan gå ut varje kväll, kommer hem när jag vill
The demo CD of the Melodifestival boxset is pretty fascinating. Fascinating enough that it's already got me wishing for a sequel, even if the singers are more Agnetha Körsvik and Anette Ingemarsson & Ida Segersten than Linda Bengtzing and Måns Zelmerlöw.
7-17 Jag ljuger så bra by poppostergirl
Noting the changes a song goes through between being demoed and being properly debuted is something only a schlager nerd would love--but that's what I am, so it's thrilling to hear the considerably different lyrics on Agnetha Körsvik's "Hero," the way "Night Of Passion" was completely rearranged (as well as lyrically tweaked) for the Poodles, or the different way Jessica Andersson sings "Jag ljuger så bra."
Often the changes were ultimately for the better; I prefer the lyrics to Charlotte's version of "Hero." Still, for those of us who will never get to sit with a songwriter as they hone a song into the best version of itself it can be, listening to demos like these is the next best thing.
As I mentioned recently, Linda Bengtzing's "Jag ljuger så bra" is quite possibly my favorite schlager song of all time, and definitely in the top ten. I had no expectations that Jessica Andersson's demo would surpass it in my affections, especially without the benefit of having ever been given the final polish a song actually to be released receives. It doesn't, but I'm very glad to have it.
Jessica, going solo after considerable Melodifestival success as half of Fame, faced a devil of a choice in 2006: if I'm remembering correctly, she could have sung either "Jag ljuger så bra" ("I'm Such a Good Liar") or "Kalla nätter" ("Cold Nights"), two of the best songs ever to compete in Melodifestivalen. She chose the latter, a Rachel Stevens-esque modern pop song, but unfortunately failed to make it out of her semifinal after a nervous performance that was better in theory than in reality. Linda took the former, a string-featuring classically styled schlager song with some of Ingela "Pling" Försman's best lyrics, and went straight to the final.
Jessica's demo reveals that she didn't sing "Jag ljuger så bra" with the spunk of Linda; Linda sells the song with charming bravado that enhances the lie of the song's protagonist, who brags to her ex about how life is better without him while secretly wanting him back. I'm glad she made the choice she did--both of them, in studio, are perfectly suited to the songs they ended up with. Still, hearing Jessica's voice on an uptempo schlager song makes me wish once again for the album we could have had if "Kalla nätter" and "Du får för dig att du förför mig" had taken off instead of the one we got once retro ballad "I Did It For Love" did well in 2010.
(Edit: a bit of research I should have done earlier reveals that Jessica was also offered and turned down "Evighet," which went to Carola and became the eventual winner of Melodifestivalen 2006. Also, as Alexander and this interview point out, "Jag ljuger så bra" was written specifically for and about Jessica, who was in the process of divorcing her husband at the time. However, when both the songs she sang on, "Jag ljuger så bra" and "Kalla nätter, were accepted into Melodifestivalen, she had to make a choice. She alludes to pressure from Bert Karlsson factoring into the decision she made and says that "Jag ljuger så bra" still feels, to her, like her song.)
You can purchase the gold edition of Melodifestivalen 10 År På Turné 2002-2011, which contains the demo CD, here (physical). I'm eager for my copy to arrive so I can start the two years it will probably take me to finish reading the included book.
7-17 Jag ljuger så bra by poppostergirl
Noting the changes a song goes through between being demoed and being properly debuted is something only a schlager nerd would love--but that's what I am, so it's thrilling to hear the considerably different lyrics on Agnetha Körsvik's "Hero," the way "Night Of Passion" was completely rearranged (as well as lyrically tweaked) for the Poodles, or the different way Jessica Andersson sings "Jag ljuger så bra."
Often the changes were ultimately for the better; I prefer the lyrics to Charlotte's version of "Hero." Still, for those of us who will never get to sit with a songwriter as they hone a song into the best version of itself it can be, listening to demos like these is the next best thing.
As I mentioned recently, Linda Bengtzing's "Jag ljuger så bra" is quite possibly my favorite schlager song of all time, and definitely in the top ten. I had no expectations that Jessica Andersson's demo would surpass it in my affections, especially without the benefit of having ever been given the final polish a song actually to be released receives. It doesn't, but I'm very glad to have it.Jessica, going solo after considerable Melodifestival success as half of Fame, faced a devil of a choice in 2006: if I'm remembering correctly, she could have sung either "Jag ljuger så bra" ("I'm Such a Good Liar") or "Kalla nätter" ("Cold Nights"), two of the best songs ever to compete in Melodifestivalen. She chose the latter, a Rachel Stevens-esque modern pop song, but unfortunately failed to make it out of her semifinal after a nervous performance that was better in theory than in reality. Linda took the former, a string-featuring classically styled schlager song with some of Ingela "Pling" Försman's best lyrics, and went straight to the final.
Jessica's demo reveals that she didn't sing "Jag ljuger så bra" with the spunk of Linda; Linda sells the song with charming bravado that enhances the lie of the song's protagonist, who brags to her ex about how life is better without him while secretly wanting him back. I'm glad she made the choice she did--both of them, in studio, are perfectly suited to the songs they ended up with. Still, hearing Jessica's voice on an uptempo schlager song makes me wish once again for the album we could have had if "Kalla nätter" and "Du får för dig att du förför mig" had taken off instead of the one we got once retro ballad "I Did It For Love" did well in 2010.
(Edit: a bit of research I should have done earlier reveals that Jessica was also offered and turned down "Evighet," which went to Carola and became the eventual winner of Melodifestivalen 2006. Also, as Alexander and this interview point out, "Jag ljuger så bra" was written specifically for and about Jessica, who was in the process of divorcing her husband at the time. However, when both the songs she sang on, "Jag ljuger så bra" and "Kalla nätter, were accepted into Melodifestivalen, she had to make a choice. She alludes to pressure from Bert Karlsson factoring into the decision she made and says that "Jag ljuger så bra" still feels, to her, like her song.)
You can purchase the gold edition of Melodifestivalen 10 År På Turné 2002-2011, which contains the demo CD, here (physical). I'm eager for my copy to arrive so I can start the two years it will probably take me to finish reading the included book.
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Not gonna be anything but loud
Melodifestivalen may have finished introducing new songs for the year, but there's still one thing we fans have to look forward to (besides Andra Chansen and the final): Melodifestival-related albums.
I'm not just talking about this year's Melodifestival album (and its exciting demos). We also have a number of artists who competed in this year's contest who are releasing albums. All except the last of the albums listed below is out already or will be released in the next few weeks. International customers should be able to buy any of the CDs listed below from Bengans or Megastore.
Melody Club have already released Human Harbour. You can listen to previews here.
Previews of In The Club, the new album from Danny, can be listened to here. It's only eight tracks, with one repeated from Set Your Body Free and including his earlier unnecessary cover of "In Your Eyes", but otherwise they almost all sound pretty great. Thanks to Swedish Stereo and Scandipop for the tip!
Making up for Danny's dearth of songs is Anniela's Electric, which, at fifteen tracks, includes the English version of her entry "Elektrisk" (and, somewhat bafflingly, a cover of September's "Sin Of My Own") and is out March 14. The quality ratio probably won't be quite as high, but I imagine will get some fun tracks out of it. Preview clips are here
.
Swingfly is repackaging his debut album with his Melodifestival entry and a new song with Pauline. It's out March 4 and is titled Awesomeness: An Introduction To Swingfly. Yes, really. That's going straight in this year's "Best Brilliantly Ridiculous Pop Words" contenders.
Linda Bengtzing gives us one new track, "Män i uniform," on her greatest hits album. Preview it here.
Sanna Nielsen has a new album out. Unfortunately, the previews have left me underwhelmed, especially considering the nice surprise of her Celine Dion-like last album, but maybe the songs sound better in full. Thanks to Schlagerfiasko for the preview link and to Scandipop who earlier debuted clips.
Anders Fernette's years-in-the-making album Run comes out March 11. His record label uploaded a few new songs from it to SoundCloud and they pretty much sound like I expected they would--if he's never been to your taste before, they won't win you over, but they work for me (in, admittedly, a not incredibly long term way).
We don't have any new preview for Le Kid's album, but we do have a title--and, predictably for this group, it's amazing: Oh, Alright! Yes, still one of my most anticipated albums of the past few years, even if "Oh My God" did underwhelm me.
I'm not just talking about this year's Melodifestival album (and its exciting demos). We also have a number of artists who competed in this year's contest who are releasing albums. All except the last of the albums listed below is out already or will be released in the next few weeks. International customers should be able to buy any of the CDs listed below from Bengans or Megastore.
Melody Club have already released Human Harbour. You can listen to previews here.
Previews of In The Club, the new album from Danny, can be listened to here. It's only eight tracks, with one repeated from Set Your Body Free and including his earlier unnecessary cover of "In Your Eyes", but otherwise they almost all sound pretty great. Thanks to Swedish Stereo and Scandipop for the tip!
Making up for Danny's dearth of songs is Anniela's Electric, which, at fifteen tracks, includes the English version of her entry "Elektrisk" (and, somewhat bafflingly, a cover of September's "Sin Of My Own") and is out March 14. The quality ratio probably won't be quite as high, but I imagine will get some fun tracks out of it. Preview clips are here
.Swingfly is repackaging his debut album with his Melodifestival entry and a new song with Pauline. It's out March 4 and is titled Awesomeness: An Introduction To Swingfly. Yes, really. That's going straight in this year's "Best Brilliantly Ridiculous Pop Words" contenders.
Linda Bengtzing gives us one new track, "Män i uniform," on her greatest hits album. Preview it here.
Sanna Nielsen has a new album out. Unfortunately, the previews have left me underwhelmed, especially considering the nice surprise of her Celine Dion-like last album, but maybe the songs sound better in full. Thanks to Schlagerfiasko for the preview link and to Scandipop who earlier debuted clips.
Anders Fernette's years-in-the-making album Run comes out March 11. His record label uploaded a few new songs from it to SoundCloud and they pretty much sound like I expected they would--if he's never been to your taste before, they won't win you over, but they work for me (in, admittedly, a not incredibly long term way).
We don't have any new preview for Le Kid's album, but we do have a title--and, predictably for this group, it's amazing: Oh, Alright! Yes, still one of my most anticipated albums of the past few years, even if "Oh My God" did underwhelm me.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Don't need you tonight
Tonight's Melodifestival results were surprising, to say the least.
(Photo credit to Aftonbladet.)
E det fel på mej by poppostergirl
My jaw dropped (for the second time, but we'll get to that in a minute) at the news that Linda Bengtzing had won her semifinal and would be advancing straight to the final. It's welcome news for someone who loves Linda as much as I do and for anyone won over by her energetic, explosive schlager. Still, considering "E det fel på mig" is, at first few listens, not as good as her previous three entries and her staging was a little messy--not only did it seem to have taken several steps backwards into the past after the flirty, modern performance of "Hur svårt kan det va?", even the traditional old-fashioned schlager elements weren't executed as well as they could have been for the first two-thirds of the song (though Linda was a star, as always)--I was shocked that she'd been the night's top vote-getter. Shocked but, even if feeling that it was a teeny bit undeserved, pleased.
The Hunter by poppostergirl
Poor Melody Club ended up in seventh. I had inklings of trouble when I realized Kristofer's vocals weren't transferring too well to the Melodifestival context (he has a quirky voice which doesn't necessarily sound traditionally "strong" even when he's on form), but I never truly considered they'd be outside of the top five. I hope they get a radio hit out of "The Hunter"--it's the best they've sounded in years (and features a great guitar solo--seriously, how we can we have a drought of good guitar solos for so long and then have multiple so close together?)--and hope their upcoming album is of equal quality.
Nicke Borg drove the knife in even further by going straight to the final instead of Love Generation. A slick performance with pretty good vocals (a few of the girls were less good than the other two, but none were awful) and a good song had me hoping the girls would give the Melodifestival final a boost of modernity and international appeal, but even outside of the "how do we want to present Sweden to the rest of the world" dilemma, the whole package was deserving of advancing further than it did. Love Generation still have a chance to make it to the final. Unfortunately, they were sent to the top half of the second chance bracket, which means they'll be facing off against my other favorite AC contenders, Loreen and Jenny Silver.
Still, as we Melodifestival fans drown our sorrows, there's one thing to comfort us (well, one thing besides lovely Linda's fantastic direkt-till-Globen achievement): this year's songs are all finally on sale. You can buy the deluxe box set celebrating the past ten years here.
(Photo credit to Aftonbladet.)
E det fel på mej by poppostergirl
My jaw dropped (for the second time, but we'll get to that in a minute) at the news that Linda Bengtzing had won her semifinal and would be advancing straight to the final. It's welcome news for someone who loves Linda as much as I do and for anyone won over by her energetic, explosive schlager. Still, considering "E det fel på mig" is, at first few listens, not as good as her previous three entries and her staging was a little messy--not only did it seem to have taken several steps backwards into the past after the flirty, modern performance of "Hur svårt kan det va?", even the traditional old-fashioned schlager elements weren't executed as well as they could have been for the first two-thirds of the song (though Linda was a star, as always)--I was shocked that she'd been the night's top vote-getter. Shocked but, even if feeling that it was a teeny bit undeserved, pleased.The Hunter by poppostergirl
Poor Melody Club ended up in seventh. I had inklings of trouble when I realized Kristofer's vocals weren't transferring too well to the Melodifestival context (he has a quirky voice which doesn't necessarily sound traditionally "strong" even when he's on form), but I never truly considered they'd be outside of the top five. I hope they get a radio hit out of "The Hunter"--it's the best they've sounded in years (and features a great guitar solo--seriously, how we can we have a drought of good guitar solos for so long and then have multiple so close together?)--and hope their upcoming album is of equal quality.
Nicke Borg drove the knife in even further by going straight to the final instead of Love Generation. A slick performance with pretty good vocals (a few of the girls were less good than the other two, but none were awful) and a good song had me hoping the girls would give the Melodifestival final a boost of modernity and international appeal, but even outside of the "how do we want to present Sweden to the rest of the world" dilemma, the whole package was deserving of advancing further than it did. Love Generation still have a chance to make it to the final. Unfortunately, they were sent to the top half of the second chance bracket, which means they'll be facing off against my other favorite AC contenders, Loreen and Jenny Silver.Still, as we Melodifestival fans drown our sorrows, there's one thing to comfort us (well, one thing besides lovely Linda's fantastic direkt-till-Globen achievement): this year's songs are all finally on sale. You can buy the deluxe box set celebrating the past ten years here.
Finally
Twitter, the place I would usually go to with my quick, fairly uninformed opinions, seems to be down. I need somewhere to vent my first, unconsidered thoughts about the full versions of the fourth Melodifestival semifinal tracks, though, so here we go.
I'm hugely pleased with Melody Club's song; they may have just swept straight into my personal first place of this final (with--shhh--a chance at ending up my favorite song of Melodifestivalen 2011). That surprises me a little--I haven't truly loved their recent singles, so I expected a "like but not adore" case with "The Hunter"--but I'm thrilled about that surprise. Finally, we've got a pop-rock entry that really delivers.
I'm still a little concerned that Linda Bengtzing's "E det fel på mig" isn't quite up to her usual (incredibly high) standards, but I'm hoping in proper quality it will shine more. It's still energetic schlager which I know I'll enjoy, though. I'll definitely get swept up in the moment.
Love Generation's "Dance Alone" is a nice modern pop entry. I like it and will probably play it a lot over the course of the year, but it's difficult for me to say more because I keep getting drawn back to "The Hunter" every time I think I should listen to "Dance Alone" again.
Anders Fernette's "Run" is basically what I hoped it would be: pleasant pop-rock, light on the rock, with a nice melody to it (better than his past couple of singles, too). It still has no chance here, but hey, at least we're finally getting that album.
Linda Pritchard's "Alive" is the sort of ballad which probably, well, comes alive in its live performance. I do love the dramatic middle eight. "Something came alive" isn't my favorite key line for a song, though.
Nicke Borg's voice is unfortunately not my favorite kind of rock voice; in the hands of a performer with a less raspy, nasal voice, I could see myself enjoying "Leaving Home."
Julia Alvgard's "Better Or Worse" is better than its likely result in the contest will indicate. It's pleasant mid-tempo R&B-pop which I'm not enthusiastic about but which is fine.
Lasse Stefanz...well, it makes me feel like someone horribly uneducated making grand pronouncements about things they really know nothing about to say it, but I'd enjoy this song more with another singer. I know, I know, Lasse Stefanz are a much-loved dansband so there's clearly appeal in Olle's voice to many people who know much more about this style of music than I do, but I wish someone else was singing it. Not some glam female diva--just a different dansband.
Performances taken out of the equation, my personal preferences would probably be Melody Club and Linda Bengtzing direct to Globen and Love Generation and Anders Fernette to the second chance round (with Love Generation to the second half of the bracket and making it to the final while Anders goes into the top half, with Loreen making it to the final). Clearly that's not going to happen, but I'll be hoping for Melody Club, Love Generation, and Linda to advance (and whichever one of them failed to make it directly to the final going in the bottom half of the second chance bracket). I'm very nervous, though...
I'm hugely pleased with Melody Club's song; they may have just swept straight into my personal first place of this final (with--shhh--a chance at ending up my favorite song of Melodifestivalen 2011). That surprises me a little--I haven't truly loved their recent singles, so I expected a "like but not adore" case with "The Hunter"--but I'm thrilled about that surprise. Finally, we've got a pop-rock entry that really delivers.
I'm still a little concerned that Linda Bengtzing's "E det fel på mig" isn't quite up to her usual (incredibly high) standards, but I'm hoping in proper quality it will shine more. It's still energetic schlager which I know I'll enjoy, though. I'll definitely get swept up in the moment.
Love Generation's "Dance Alone" is a nice modern pop entry. I like it and will probably play it a lot over the course of the year, but it's difficult for me to say more because I keep getting drawn back to "The Hunter" every time I think I should listen to "Dance Alone" again.
Anders Fernette's "Run" is basically what I hoped it would be: pleasant pop-rock, light on the rock, with a nice melody to it (better than his past couple of singles, too). It still has no chance here, but hey, at least we're finally getting that album.
Linda Pritchard's "Alive" is the sort of ballad which probably, well, comes alive in its live performance. I do love the dramatic middle eight. "Something came alive" isn't my favorite key line for a song, though.
Nicke Borg's voice is unfortunately not my favorite kind of rock voice; in the hands of a performer with a less raspy, nasal voice, I could see myself enjoying "Leaving Home."
Julia Alvgard's "Better Or Worse" is better than its likely result in the contest will indicate. It's pleasant mid-tempo R&B-pop which I'm not enthusiastic about but which is fine.
Lasse Stefanz...well, it makes me feel like someone horribly uneducated making grand pronouncements about things they really know nothing about to say it, but I'd enjoy this song more with another singer. I know, I know, Lasse Stefanz are a much-loved dansband so there's clearly appeal in Olle's voice to many people who know much more about this style of music than I do, but I wish someone else was singing it. Not some glam female diva--just a different dansband.
Performances taken out of the equation, my personal preferences would probably be Melody Club and Linda Bengtzing direct to Globen and Love Generation and Anders Fernette to the second chance round (with Love Generation to the second half of the bracket and making it to the final while Anders goes into the top half, with Loreen making it to the final). Clearly that's not going to happen, but I'll be hoping for Melody Club, Love Generation, and Linda to advance (and whichever one of them failed to make it directly to the final going in the bottom half of the second chance bracket). I'm very nervous, though...
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Better or worse
It's almost a week away, but this fourth semifinal of Melodifestivalen already has me worried...about results. I'm much more optimistic about song quality. As always, I have absolutely no inside sources, so I am indebted to the below mentioned sites for their information.
Sources: SVT, Poplight, Expressen (1, 2,), QX (1, 2), Aftonbladet (1, 2,), GD
Melody Club, "The Hunter" (Kristofer Östergren/Erik Stenemo/Jon Axelsson/Nicklas Stenemo)
Melody Club entering Melodifestivalen is a bit like the Ark entering in 2007 in some ways--a credible band with a sound not known for being in the contest--and different in others--I'd say Melody Club are a little more on a downward trend in popularity than the Ark were when they entered. The group, which recently lost a member due to personal legal issues, also has a style that is more synth-inflected pop-rock than the Ark's '70s rock preference.
Melody Club says that the self-penned "The Hunter," taken from their new album (out in March), isn't jaunty but is fast-paced, surging, and at points in a minor key.
To watch: Melody Club performing second album single "Baby (Stand Up)" back in 2004
Julia Alvgard, "Better Or Worse" (Manne Hjelm/Ola Holstad/Joar Lenz)
Like Jonas Matsson in the first semifinal, Julia's participation in Melodifestivalen is the result of winning the Web Joker contest Swedish broadcaster SVT ran this year for the second time. As a result, we've heard a version of the ballad "Better Or Worse," though it will have been tweaked for its television appearance.
Towatch listen: well, there aren't exactly many options, but thankfully we do have another song of hers which Damian uploaded to YouTube. Here's "I Was."
Lasse Stefanz, "En blick och nånting hander" (Alexander Bard/Ola Håkansson/Tim Norell)
Alexander Bard, songwriter behind Army of Lovers, early Alcazar, and BWO, may be the most internationally famous of that set of songwriters, but Ola and Tim found some middling international success with Secret Service (of "Flash In The Night"). Together they made up the Swedish equivalent of Stock Aitken Waterman (and even won Melodifestivalen in 1989 with Tommy Nilsson's "En dag"). Factor in an incredibly popular dansband and you've got a definite '80s flashback vibe, though Lasse Stefanz has continued with success into the present day. That's an understatement, actually--I wouldn't rush to brush off Lasse Stefanz's potential to do well this Saturday.
The group nearly competed in Melodifestivalen in 2009 with the song that became Thorleifs' "Sweet Kissin' in the Moonlight." This time, their lead singer says they described what they wanted in a song to the songwriter trio, who then made sure the song fit their requirements. He added that people will remember the last five seconds of the song for a while.
To watch: well, it's not the ideal choice based on song, but so you're viewing a decent quality video of something from the past ten years, here they are performing 2007 single "På egna vägar."
Linda Pritchard, "Alive" (Oscar Görres/Fredrik Kempe)
Linda has been a background dancer at Melodifestivalen and was in the early stages of one season of Idol, but her biggest exposure thus far came when she performed "You're Making Me Hot-Hot-Hot" in last year's Melodifestival.
Linda failed to make it out of her semifinal then, but she returns this year with "Alive." It's described as a vulnerable, powerful, stripped-down ballad written for her based on her demo version of last year's "Hollow" (sung in the contest by Peter Jöback). Linda says it is about feeling lonely but then realizing you are loved already.
Fredrik Kempe is of course well-known in Melodifestivalen at this point (with previous ballad entries including Sarah Dawn Finer's "I'm Moving On," "Hollow," and Simon Forsberg's entry this past weekend). Oscar is best known for his work with Danny as well as E.M.D.'s "Baby Goodbye," though he also co-wrote Linda's own "Miracle."
To watch: Linda performing "You're Making Me Hot-Hot-Hot" at least year's Melodifestival.
Anders Fernette, "Run" (Desmond Child/Negin Djafari/Hugo Lira/Ian-Paolo Lira/Thomas Gustafsson)
The Fame Factory winner and demo and background singer for many Cheiron-associated writers, the former Anders Johansson (or Anders J) floated through the '00s with a few hits but, especially in the second half of the decade, usually on the fringes of pop awareness. He's released a lot of music but is certainly no institution in Sweden, so this is a chance for the frequently one-man-Westlife-meets-Bryan-Adams sounding Anders to finally establish himself (and put out that album for which he's been releasing singles for the past four years).
Anders was originally meant to compete with "Don't Stop," but since songwriter Carl Falk had posted it on his MySpace, it was disqualified. Instead, he's performing a song from Desmond Child, famous for his '80s rock songs (Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" and "You Give Love A Bad Name," Aerosmith's "Dude (Looks Like A Lady) amongst others), Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca," Katy Perry's "Wakin' Up in Vegas," and about a million other songs. Let's hope this is something he put actually effort into as opposed to just reaching into a bottom drawer to fish out. The other songwriters have likewise written a conglomeration of songs (they fall in the "names pop up on random album tracks around the world" category), though nothing as internationally successful as Desmond's. They have worked with Anders before, including on ballads "If It's All I Ever Do" and "Without You."
Anders says "Run" is an uptempo song but more serious than "Don't Stop" with a simple but effective chorus that requires a good singer. "Run" was originally meant to be a single from a Celine Dion album that never happened.
To watch: the vast majority of videos of Anders performing are of dubious quality. Here's one of the more tolerable ones, Anders performing his cover of Eric Carmen's "Hungry Eyes."
Linda Bengtzing, "E de fel på mig" (Pontus Assarsson/Thomas G:son/Jörgen Ringqvist/Daniel Barkman)
Linda, despite her albums' tendency to have more pop-rock than ninety-five percent of people want from her, is known for one thing in Melodifestivalen, the contest that made her famous (though she'd been in Fame Factory before): schlager. Big, shiny, energetic, often flirty schlager. All her previous three entries--which include some of the best schlager you'll hear--have eventually made it to the final and she's improved significantly as a performer since her 2005 debut with "Alla flickor."
Pontus and Thomas are Eurovision national final veterans most associated with schlager, having written songs like Fame's "Vindarna vänder oss," Friends's "The One That You Need" and "Lysnna till ditt hjärta," and Carola's "Invincible." Jörgen, Daniel, and Pontus co-wrote Pernilla Wahlgren's "Jag vill om du vågar" from last year's Melodifestival.
Linda describes "E de fel på mig" as a typical Linda track, "a bulldozer on a ninety-degree slope without brakes. Unstoppable." She says it's about living a safe life but still dreaming of something else.
To watch: "Jag ljuger så bra" and "Alla flickor" may sneak slightly ahead of her 2009 entry "Hur svårt kan det va?" in my affections, but her performance of the latter is light years ahead of her performances of the other two, so here's "Hur svårt kan det va?"
Nicke Borg, "Leaving Home" (Jojo Borg Larsson/Nicke Borg/Fredrik Thomander/Anders Wikström)
The lead singer of the long-running rock group Backyard Babies goes solo with a rock song that is somewhat different from his group's material. Nicke says "Leaving Home" is a classic power ballad, at first stripped-down and then hard-hitting.
In addition to being co-written by Nicke and his wife, "Leaving Home" includes assistance from the Epicentre team of Fredrik Thomander and Anders Wikström. Their catchy hooks are often displayed in pop songs (for example, the oft-covered "Love Is All Around" and Alexander Schöld's "Den första svalan" in the 2009 Melodifestival), but given Nicke's rock style, their work with the Backyard Babies, the Poodles, Erik Grönwall, and Anders's membership in hard rock band Treat may be more relevant.
To watch: Nicke as part of Backyard Babies performing "Abandon."
Love Generation, "Dance Alone" (RedOne)
The four-person girl group follows up last year's self-titled semi-hit with another uptempo pop song from RedOne (most internationally famous for his work with Lady GaGa but who worked with Swedish acts like A*Teens and Darin before that), clips of which have been circulating after previews were posted in digital music stores.
To watch: unfortunately most of the group's performance videos are of low quality. Here's one from last summer of them performing "Love Generation."
Personal notes: LINDA BENGTZING LINDA BENGTZING LINDA BENGTZING. This week is pretty close to being all about Linda for me--I'd sacrifice any other entry to get her through. That said, she has a high standard to maintain, something which is going to work on my nerves until we hear reports on songs in the middle of the week. Worries about song quality and competition are guaranteed to have my mental state on a roller coaster all week.
Despite being quite happily able to "leave" half of Anders's songs, I really enjoy the other half and have tons of good will towards him. I'll be crossing my fingers that the has a good song. I'm never excited to hear that a song is recycled (and it sitting around without being snapped up in the intervening time isn't a great sign), but I'm still hopeful. I'm not sure how he's going to handle uptempo-friendly staging, though.
Love Generation's song should be fun. I'm not sure about their live performing skills, but there is more interest in them than your average fairly new girl group might have due to the RedOne connection--they're in with a chance. At the least, I imagine the song will get many iPod plays from me.
I've liked a number of Melody Club songs over the years and, though their latest album had fewer songs I connected with than ever before, I'm going to hope that this new song will be in keeping with the ones I have enjoyed.
I thought Linda Pritchard (and her song) were pretty underrated in 2010 and she's done nothing to dissuade my interest in her yet. A ballad admittedly isn't my first choice for anyone so I might not be able to rouse the excitement I'd like to, but she'll probably sing well and I wouldn't like to see her fall out of competition.
My guess as to my reaction to Lasse Stefanz: it will probably be contingent on their results. I'm not a huge dansband fan but if they pull a middling place, I'll probably like their song in a somewhat removed way; if they go straight to the final, though, I'm pretty likely to angrily think they "stole" some the spot of some act I liked more.
Rock ballads are rarely my thing (I'd rather have a big stadium-shaking crossover rock hit any day), particularly hard rock ballads, and I just don't see Nicke doing the big cheesy MOR power ballad I'd have a better chance of enjoying. Still, he's got good songwriters, so there's a little chance of a surprise.
Sources: SVT, Poplight, Expressen (1, 2,), QX (1, 2), Aftonbladet (1, 2,), GD
Melody Club, "The Hunter" (Kristofer Östergren/Erik Stenemo/Jon Axelsson/Nicklas Stenemo)Melody Club entering Melodifestivalen is a bit like the Ark entering in 2007 in some ways--a credible band with a sound not known for being in the contest--and different in others--I'd say Melody Club are a little more on a downward trend in popularity than the Ark were when they entered. The group, which recently lost a member due to personal legal issues, also has a style that is more synth-inflected pop-rock than the Ark's '70s rock preference.
Melody Club says that the self-penned "The Hunter," taken from their new album (out in March), isn't jaunty but is fast-paced, surging, and at points in a minor key.
To watch: Melody Club performing second album single "Baby (Stand Up)" back in 2004
Julia Alvgard, "Better Or Worse" (Manne Hjelm/Ola Holstad/Joar Lenz)Like Jonas Matsson in the first semifinal, Julia's participation in Melodifestivalen is the result of winning the Web Joker contest Swedish broadcaster SVT ran this year for the second time. As a result, we've heard a version of the ballad "Better Or Worse," though it will have been tweaked for its television appearance.
To
Lasse Stefanz, "En blick och nånting hander" (Alexander Bard/Ola Håkansson/Tim Norell)Alexander Bard, songwriter behind Army of Lovers, early Alcazar, and BWO, may be the most internationally famous of that set of songwriters, but Ola and Tim found some middling international success with Secret Service (of "Flash In The Night"). Together they made up the Swedish equivalent of Stock Aitken Waterman (and even won Melodifestivalen in 1989 with Tommy Nilsson's "En dag"). Factor in an incredibly popular dansband and you've got a definite '80s flashback vibe, though Lasse Stefanz has continued with success into the present day. That's an understatement, actually--I wouldn't rush to brush off Lasse Stefanz's potential to do well this Saturday.
The group nearly competed in Melodifestivalen in 2009 with the song that became Thorleifs' "Sweet Kissin' in the Moonlight." This time, their lead singer says they described what they wanted in a song to the songwriter trio, who then made sure the song fit their requirements. He added that people will remember the last five seconds of the song for a while.
To watch: well, it's not the ideal choice based on song, but so you're viewing a decent quality video of something from the past ten years, here they are performing 2007 single "På egna vägar."
Linda Pritchard, "Alive" (Oscar Görres/Fredrik Kempe)Linda has been a background dancer at Melodifestivalen and was in the early stages of one season of Idol, but her biggest exposure thus far came when she performed "You're Making Me Hot-Hot-Hot" in last year's Melodifestival.
Linda failed to make it out of her semifinal then, but she returns this year with "Alive." It's described as a vulnerable, powerful, stripped-down ballad written for her based on her demo version of last year's "Hollow" (sung in the contest by Peter Jöback). Linda says it is about feeling lonely but then realizing you are loved already.
Fredrik Kempe is of course well-known in Melodifestivalen at this point (with previous ballad entries including Sarah Dawn Finer's "I'm Moving On," "Hollow," and Simon Forsberg's entry this past weekend). Oscar is best known for his work with Danny as well as E.M.D.'s "Baby Goodbye," though he also co-wrote Linda's own "Miracle."
To watch: Linda performing "You're Making Me Hot-Hot-Hot" at least year's Melodifestival.
Anders Fernette, "Run" (Desmond Child/Negin Djafari/Hugo Lira/Ian-Paolo Lira/Thomas Gustafsson)The Fame Factory winner and demo and background singer for many Cheiron-associated writers, the former Anders Johansson (or Anders J) floated through the '00s with a few hits but, especially in the second half of the decade, usually on the fringes of pop awareness. He's released a lot of music but is certainly no institution in Sweden, so this is a chance for the frequently one-man-Westlife-meets-Bryan-Adams sounding Anders to finally establish himself (and put out that album for which he's been releasing singles for the past four years).
Anders was originally meant to compete with "Don't Stop," but since songwriter Carl Falk had posted it on his MySpace, it was disqualified. Instead, he's performing a song from Desmond Child, famous for his '80s rock songs (Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" and "You Give Love A Bad Name," Aerosmith's "Dude (Looks Like A Lady) amongst others), Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca," Katy Perry's "Wakin' Up in Vegas," and about a million other songs. Let's hope this is something he put actually effort into as opposed to just reaching into a bottom drawer to fish out. The other songwriters have likewise written a conglomeration of songs (they fall in the "names pop up on random album tracks around the world" category), though nothing as internationally successful as Desmond's. They have worked with Anders before, including on ballads "If It's All I Ever Do" and "Without You."
Anders says "Run" is an uptempo song but more serious than "Don't Stop" with a simple but effective chorus that requires a good singer. "Run" was originally meant to be a single from a Celine Dion album that never happened.
To watch: the vast majority of videos of Anders performing are of dubious quality. Here's one of the more tolerable ones, Anders performing his cover of Eric Carmen's "Hungry Eyes."
Linda Bengtzing, "E de fel på mig" (Pontus Assarsson/Thomas G:son/Jörgen Ringqvist/Daniel Barkman)Linda, despite her albums' tendency to have more pop-rock than ninety-five percent of people want from her, is known for one thing in Melodifestivalen, the contest that made her famous (though she'd been in Fame Factory before): schlager. Big, shiny, energetic, often flirty schlager. All her previous three entries--which include some of the best schlager you'll hear--have eventually made it to the final and she's improved significantly as a performer since her 2005 debut with "Alla flickor."
Pontus and Thomas are Eurovision national final veterans most associated with schlager, having written songs like Fame's "Vindarna vänder oss," Friends's "The One That You Need" and "Lysnna till ditt hjärta," and Carola's "Invincible." Jörgen, Daniel, and Pontus co-wrote Pernilla Wahlgren's "Jag vill om du vågar" from last year's Melodifestival.
Linda describes "E de fel på mig" as a typical Linda track, "a bulldozer on a ninety-degree slope without brakes. Unstoppable." She says it's about living a safe life but still dreaming of something else.
To watch: "Jag ljuger så bra" and "Alla flickor" may sneak slightly ahead of her 2009 entry "Hur svårt kan det va?" in my affections, but her performance of the latter is light years ahead of her performances of the other two, so here's "Hur svårt kan det va?"
Nicke Borg, "Leaving Home" (Jojo Borg Larsson/Nicke Borg/Fredrik Thomander/Anders Wikström)The lead singer of the long-running rock group Backyard Babies goes solo with a rock song that is somewhat different from his group's material. Nicke says "Leaving Home" is a classic power ballad, at first stripped-down and then hard-hitting.
In addition to being co-written by Nicke and his wife, "Leaving Home" includes assistance from the Epicentre team of Fredrik Thomander and Anders Wikström. Their catchy hooks are often displayed in pop songs (for example, the oft-covered "Love Is All Around" and Alexander Schöld's "Den första svalan" in the 2009 Melodifestival), but given Nicke's rock style, their work with the Backyard Babies, the Poodles, Erik Grönwall, and Anders's membership in hard rock band Treat may be more relevant.
To watch: Nicke as part of Backyard Babies performing "Abandon."
Love Generation, "Dance Alone" (RedOne)The four-person girl group follows up last year's self-titled semi-hit with another uptempo pop song from RedOne (most internationally famous for his work with Lady GaGa but who worked with Swedish acts like A*Teens and Darin before that), clips of which have been circulating after previews were posted in digital music stores.
To watch: unfortunately most of the group's performance videos are of low quality. Here's one from last summer of them performing "Love Generation."
Personal notes: LINDA BENGTZING LINDA BENGTZING LINDA BENGTZING. This week is pretty close to being all about Linda for me--I'd sacrifice any other entry to get her through. That said, she has a high standard to maintain, something which is going to work on my nerves until we hear reports on songs in the middle of the week. Worries about song quality and competition are guaranteed to have my mental state on a roller coaster all week.
Despite being quite happily able to "leave" half of Anders's songs, I really enjoy the other half and have tons of good will towards him. I'll be crossing my fingers that the has a good song. I'm never excited to hear that a song is recycled (and it sitting around without being snapped up in the intervening time isn't a great sign), but I'm still hopeful. I'm not sure how he's going to handle uptempo-friendly staging, though.
Love Generation's song should be fun. I'm not sure about their live performing skills, but there is more interest in them than your average fairly new girl group might have due to the RedOne connection--they're in with a chance. At the least, I imagine the song will get many iPod plays from me.
I've liked a number of Melody Club songs over the years and, though their latest album had fewer songs I connected with than ever before, I'm going to hope that this new song will be in keeping with the ones I have enjoyed.
I thought Linda Pritchard (and her song) were pretty underrated in 2010 and she's done nothing to dissuade my interest in her yet. A ballad admittedly isn't my first choice for anyone so I might not be able to rouse the excitement I'd like to, but she'll probably sing well and I wouldn't like to see her fall out of competition.
My guess as to my reaction to Lasse Stefanz: it will probably be contingent on their results. I'm not a huge dansband fan but if they pull a middling place, I'll probably like their song in a somewhat removed way; if they go straight to the final, though, I'm pretty likely to angrily think they "stole" some the spot of some act I liked more.
Rock ballads are rarely my thing (I'd rather have a big stadium-shaking crossover rock hit any day), particularly hard rock ballads, and I just don't see Nicke doing the big cheesy MOR power ballad I'd have a better chance of enjoying. Still, he's got good songwriters, so there's a little chance of a surprise.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Give you love in America
Twitter-worthy newsbites, some of which actually have appeared on Twitter:
EDITED! Clips Full versions (I'm listening to them as I write this) of several Le Kid songs previously unheard by everyone outside of a select few--"Escape," "America," and "We Are The Drums"--are streaming here full versions here (as well as one full new song, "Seventeen"). The poppy technicolor Swedish group's upcoming debut album is one to watch out for in a big way this year. These new songs are...dreamier than I expected, but in a good way. My guess is these are still demos, but they could very well be the final versions. In other Le Kid news, it looks like "Mercy Mercy" was at some point set for a release late this past December but then canceled--pushed back, I presume. Embedded below are the lovely clips of "Escape" and "America," which I cannot wait to buy and hear in their full versions (edit: you can stream the full versions here, as I said above); in terms of music tone, they kind of remind me of Gwen Stefani's "Cool" and the restrained disco princess side of Kylie, mixed with the best parts of the radio edit of MissMatch's "Breathe In Breathe Out" (which members of the group wrote). Edit: I couldn't help myself--I'm also embedding the clip of the somewhat spunkier "We Are The Drums." The verses kind of have a RedOne-meets-the-Ting-Tings feel, but the song is much better than that makes it sound. Could summer get here quickly, please?
"Escape" (it sounds like this cuts out just before the song fully takes off)
"America"
"We Are The Drums"
(If you haven't listened to swooshy, harder-hitting dance-pop "Telephone" or summery "Mercy Mercy" yet, this is definitely the time to do so.)
Via the latest issue of QX (via in turn Schlagerprofilerna), Linda Bengtzing's upcoming single "Victorious" is a Melodifestival reject and features Velvet. To be honest, as "oh my gosh, Swedish pop princesses colliding!" as that news is, I'd kind of prefer an all-Linda single, but that's just being picky.
As covered by Planet Salem, Chart Rigger, and Scandipop, I'm enjoying Staygold's new single "Backseat Love." The Prince-reminiscent song mainly features vocals from future Melodifestival contestant Salem al Fakir (disguised and under the alias Damien Adore), but in the live performance at the P3 Guld Awards, Robyn stepped in to provide the female vocals usually done by Lady Tigra.
We've finally heard a couple of songs from the reformed-and-featuring-in-a-reality-TV-series Swedish girl group Play. Modern sounding pop, insistent single "Famous" and its sparkly b-side "Girls" have caught my ear, although we'll see if they have lasting power; the problem with much of the output of Janet Leon (one of the artists featured in last year's season of said show) was that, though it took its leads from where pop is at now, many of the songs sounded anonymous over the long run.
In belated news, I've only just noticed that "DESTROY! DESTROY!", just possibly Swedish group DYNO's best song from what we've heard so far, is streaming in a quality better than what you can hear at MySpace over on their Facebook page, accessible whether or not you have an account. Synthy pop-rock that is very much worth your time on every level. Go over the #1 Hits From Another Planet to hear "Above & Beyond."
Speaking of synths, Xenomania-backed British singer Alex Gardner debuted the soulful singer-songwriter over synths sound via the full version of his debut single "I'm Not Mad" getting played on the radio recently; check out Xenomania News for instructions on listening to it or here for a clip. I've been a bit nervous about this project living up to this potential and now find myself in the strange situation of feeling unsure that "I'm Not Mad" is all I wanted it to be while simultaneously playing it much more than I expected. I've been wondering recently if Xenomania's output in the past year or so has always succeeded as matching up a great instrumental to a great vocal part (with, in general, the instrumentals exceeding the vocal melody, but at least not really fitting together), and "I'm Not Mad" kind of enhances the differentiation even more. Still, the song has gone straight into frequent rotation on my iPod, so I must really like it.
There's a low quality recording of Nanne performing her new single "I Natt Är Jag Din" here. The song sounds to have the production style you'd expect from Nanne (flirting with electro-rock), but I'm still not totally convinced. Sanna Nielsen's mid-tempo Celine Dion-like "Devotion," meanwhile, is proving with time to be more enjoyable than my original "OK" rating would indicate. It could still use a better ending, though.
EDITED! "Escape" (it sounds like this cuts out just before the song fully takes off)
"America"
"We Are The Drums"
(If you haven't listened to swooshy, harder-hitting dance-pop "Telephone" or summery "Mercy Mercy" yet, this is definitely the time to do so.)
Via the latest issue of QX (via in turn Schlagerprofilerna), Linda Bengtzing's upcoming single "Victorious" is a Melodifestival reject and features Velvet. To be honest, as "oh my gosh, Swedish pop princesses colliding!" as that news is, I'd kind of prefer an all-Linda single, but that's just being picky.
As covered by Planet Salem, Chart Rigger, and Scandipop, I'm enjoying Staygold's new single "Backseat Love." The Prince-reminiscent song mainly features vocals from future Melodifestival contestant Salem al Fakir (disguised and under the alias Damien Adore), but in the live performance at the P3 Guld Awards, Robyn stepped in to provide the female vocals usually done by Lady Tigra.
We've finally heard a couple of songs from the reformed-and-featuring-in-a-reality-TV-series Swedish girl group Play. Modern sounding pop, insistent single "Famous" and its sparkly b-side "Girls" have caught my ear, although we'll see if they have lasting power; the problem with much of the output of Janet Leon (one of the artists featured in last year's season of said show) was that, though it took its leads from where pop is at now, many of the songs sounded anonymous over the long run.
In belated news, I've only just noticed that "DESTROY! DESTROY!", just possibly Swedish group DYNO's best song from what we've heard so far, is streaming in a quality better than what you can hear at MySpace over on their Facebook page, accessible whether or not you have an account. Synthy pop-rock that is very much worth your time on every level. Go over the #1 Hits From Another Planet to hear "Above & Beyond."
Speaking of synths, Xenomania-backed British singer Alex Gardner debuted the soulful singer-songwriter over synths sound via the full version of his debut single "I'm Not Mad" getting played on the radio recently; check out Xenomania News for instructions on listening to it or here for a clip. I've been a bit nervous about this project living up to this potential and now find myself in the strange situation of feeling unsure that "I'm Not Mad" is all I wanted it to be while simultaneously playing it much more than I expected. I've been wondering recently if Xenomania's output in the past year or so has always succeeded as matching up a great instrumental to a great vocal part (with, in general, the instrumentals exceeding the vocal melody, but at least not really fitting together), and "I'm Not Mad" kind of enhances the differentiation even more. Still, the song has gone straight into frequent rotation on my iPod, so I must really like it.There's a low quality recording of Nanne performing her new single "I Natt Är Jag Din" here. The song sounds to have the production style you'd expect from Nanne (flirting with electro-rock), but I'm still not totally convinced. Sanna Nielsen's mid-tempo Celine Dion-like "Devotion," meanwhile, is proving with time to be more enjoyable than my original "OK" rating would indicate. It could still use a better ending, though.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Anything she wants
One of the best things to happen recently for those of us who love Swedish music is Cutting Room's decision to open a blog documenting all the work they're doing, mainly on the technical production side of music (like mastering). They've been the first place to go to read about new singles from Nanne (a cover of Tomas Ledin's "I nätt ar jag din"), Linda Bengtzing ("Victorious"--so it's in English?!), Brolle ("Anything She Wants"), and many others. If you're not checking the site regularly, I recommend starting to do so now (though I've also been tweeting some of the highlights).
Thursday, October 08, 2009
No way, not in this world I'm gonna fall for someone cheesy like yourself, find somebody else
Swedish music update:
Jessica mentioned Darin doing a cover of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" a few days ago and linked to a trailer for Idols which featured it (you may have to wait for an ad to play first). In typical Darin style, it sounds great; I imagine I'll like it more than the original. In all likelihood it was produced by Johan "Kermit" Bobäck. Apparently said cover, which puts an electronic beat beneath the song, will be released on Friday and is a new single.
In further Darin single news, Scandipop announced that "Breathing Your Love" will be released in the UK in November. Still a fantastic song (it took the #6 spot on my Favorite Singles of 2008 countdown).
Kim-Lian (a Dutch singer best known for the great "Teenage Superstar") and Linda Bengtzing (who like Scandipop I have to say is my Swedish diva of choice) have released the video for their much-anticipated (well, by maybe a couple dozen people online) collaboration "Not That Kinda Girl." It's way more poppy than I anticipated given Kim-Lian's move towards a somewhat harder pop-rock sound and comes across to my ears like a mix of Pink's "So What" and Lady Gaga with a big helping pure pop thrown in (though in retrospect I have to agree with a commentor who pointed out an "If U Seek Amy" similarity in the beat in the verses and with EurovisionEssex who called it "Katy Perry schlager"). We're not talking something that's going to get taken to the US or UK here, but if you love your Swedish pop (which I think we can at least partially count this as, given the Linda connection--though it's the lead single from Kim-Lian's upcoming album--and its songwriters), you'll probably enjoy this. It may not be schlager, but hey, at least it's got those schlagery "ah-hah"s and, if Linda still loves rock, she could do worse than to release songs in this vein. Plus: Linda in English! Not that she's ever needed it to make the amazingness of her songs apparent, but it's a nice treat.
(Before you say anything, yes, we all know the outfits are ridiculous.)
I really like Sweden's entry to this year's Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Sure, it probably won't do well, but to my ears, "Du," written by thirteen year old performer Mimmi Sandén (yes, another of the Sandén sisters) and co-written and produced by Alexander Kronlund and Ali Payami, does an admirable job of taking a pinch of relevant-to-contemporary-R&B-pop-radio production and mixing it with Swedish pure pop. I've had "ah oh ah" stuck in my head since the Melodimen wrote about it.
Oldish news: Basic Element's next single "Baby Baby" features work from Empire Music (Alcazar's "Burning," West End Girls, Star Pilots). They've previously collaborated on "Out Of This World" from their album Empire Strikes Back.
Jessica mentioned Darin doing a cover of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" a few days ago and linked to a trailer for Idols which featured it (you may have to wait for an ad to play first). In typical Darin style, it sounds great; I imagine I'll like it more than the original. In all likelihood it was produced by Johan "Kermit" Bobäck. Apparently said cover, which puts an electronic beat beneath the song, will be released on Friday and is a new single.
In further Darin single news, Scandipop announced that "Breathing Your Love" will be released in the UK in November. Still a fantastic song (it took the #6 spot on my Favorite Singles of 2008 countdown).
Kim-Lian (a Dutch singer best known for the great "Teenage Superstar") and Linda Bengtzing (who like Scandipop I have to say is my Swedish diva of choice) have released the video for their much-anticipated (well, by maybe a couple dozen people online) collaboration "Not That Kinda Girl." It's way more poppy than I anticipated given Kim-Lian's move towards a somewhat harder pop-rock sound and comes across to my ears like a mix of Pink's "So What" and Lady Gaga with a big helping pure pop thrown in (though in retrospect I have to agree with a commentor who pointed out an "If U Seek Amy" similarity in the beat in the verses and with EurovisionEssex who called it "Katy Perry schlager"). We're not talking something that's going to get taken to the US or UK here, but if you love your Swedish pop (which I think we can at least partially count this as, given the Linda connection--though it's the lead single from Kim-Lian's upcoming album--and its songwriters), you'll probably enjoy this. It may not be schlager, but hey, at least it's got those schlagery "ah-hah"s and, if Linda still loves rock, she could do worse than to release songs in this vein. Plus: Linda in English! Not that she's ever needed it to make the amazingness of her songs apparent, but it's a nice treat.
(Before you say anything, yes, we all know the outfits are ridiculous.)
I really like Sweden's entry to this year's Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Sure, it probably won't do well, but to my ears, "Du," written by thirteen year old performer Mimmi Sandén (yes, another of the Sandén sisters) and co-written and produced by Alexander Kronlund and Ali Payami, does an admirable job of taking a pinch of relevant-to-contemporary-R&B-pop-radio production and mixing it with Swedish pure pop. I've had "ah oh ah" stuck in my head since the Melodimen wrote about it.
Oldish news: Basic Element's next single "Baby Baby" features work from Empire Music (Alcazar's "Burning," West End Girls, Star Pilots). They've previously collaborated on "Out Of This World" from their album Empire Strikes Back.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
#15 Linda Bengtzing, "Hur Svårt Kan Det Va?"
Se mig!
Hör mig!
Rör mig!
Hur svårt kan det va?
Linda Bengtzing returned to the world of schlager in her typical full-bore style. The Mika-styled verses of "Hur svårt kan det va?" might have taken a few listens to get used to, so obvious was the backing music's inspiration, but with time they've revealed themselves to be a perfect showcase for Linda and her always-trouble-with-the-boys subject matter. Here, though, she gets to be the aggressor, demanding attention in that indefatigable way only energy-filled Linda can as she simultaneously berates, flirts with, and pursues a boy who just doesn't seem to be getting what an opportunity he's being presented with. The sparkling schlager verses are as good as those of any of Linda's other schlager classics and yes, of course, we get a key change. A great key change, too, only lacking in comparison to her live performed version. Who'd have known we'd be able to say that? But all the practice obviously paid off, with Linda nailing her semifinal performance in Melodifestivalen and even managing to get a whole extra section out of the key change. Her happiness after that key change at having pulled it off was adorable, with her looking like she was going to bounce right out of her skin, fact which only enhanced her woman-next-door sort of appeal. The Swedish music scene just wouldn't be the same without her. Congratulations on the pregnancy, Linda, but I sign off on this petition 100%.
Find it on: Vild & Galen
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Always keep me in your mind
Doesn't Christer Björkman think he's getting all interesting and innovative with the way he's revealing contestants this year...
The man in charge of Melodifestivalen showed up on TV show Dansbandskampen, a reality show competition among dansbands, to offer "Jag tror på oss" (one of the 28 tracks already announced as being in 2009's Melodifestival) to Scotts (lead singer Henrik pictured above), a group that, as Europe Crazy pointed out, is one of the big favorites on the show (though there's some rules drama going on). "Jag tror på oss" had been sung (or reported as being sung) by Linda Bengtzing on the demo (in 2006, she sang "Jag ljuger så bra," written by the same people as "Jag tror på oss"), but there was some buzz that she might not be doing it in the contest and apparently that's turned out to be right.
Scotts have covered several great schlager songs while on the show--"Det gör ont," "Cara Mia"--but in dansband style, of course; it remains to be seen what "Jag tror på oss," originally described as fast Swedish guitar-pop with a sharp chorus, will sound like in their hands, if they do it.
(Hat-tip to Schlagerprofilerna.)
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
We don't care, we don't fight, we don't even know what's wrong or right
While I work on my thoughts about Linda Bengtzing's new album, I thought we'd flash back to her first album. I expect most people with interest in it may already own it, though, so I thought I'd use a slightly different approach; even if it's fairly--if not totally--well-known that Linda Bengtzing's debut album contained a cover (at least one), that subject at least has a chance of being new to people.You may have picked up on the fact that Linda's album track "Vad Hände Sen," a kind of dramatic rocky mid-tempo ballad with a powerful chorus, was co-written by Australian duo the Veronicas, Lisa and Jessica Origliasso, which was a pretty good indication that it wasn't originally in Swedish. The sisters recorded it, with the title "What's Going On" (or "What's Goin' On") as a demo for themselves, but the song ultimately ended up being given away for use by other artists, including Japanese singer Miz (the first artist to release it, I think, since the album with "What's Going On" came out in July 2004; interestingly, apparently she released an English language album in Sweden, with the Japanese language album containing her Japanese version of "What's Going On" as a bonus disc in some versions), Australian Idol winer Casey Donovan (who made it her second single, releasing it in February 2005), Australian singer Tania Mora (who included it on her November 2006 album Sanctity), and, of course, our Swedish singer Linda (who included it on her March 2006 album Ingenting Att Förlora).
It really is a song that fits Linda perfectly, as well as fits right in with the rest of the album. I've not heard more than clips of Miz's version and I haven't heard Tania's version at all, but if we're just talking about the flow of words, I think I may prefer the lyrics in Swedish--somehow, the line "what's going on?" doesn't feel like it has a proper ending to me. Yes, I realize it's a question and therefore doesn't have a "proper ending" and that you could argue the point of the song is that there isn't a proper nice neat resolution in terms of the story, but the phrase "what's going on" just lacks that punch or impact because of the sound of the words in it (or maybe the way it's delivered). I wish I knew more about phonics and language and could get across why, but "sen" just finishes off the line better for me than "on" does.
As for who singings it best? Don't make me choose! I love the sound of the Veronicas' voices (there's this sweetness amidst the strength) and how they work together, but Casey (who must have been, what, sixteen or seventeen when this was recorded?) delivers the chorus with more power and with a certain growl in her voice that gives the song a more aggressive edge that suits all the guitars. Then again, I adore Linda's voice, and there's a certain clarity to her version, multi-tracked as the vocal may be on the chorus, that I like--it helps prevent her from getting lost in all that dramatic backing music.
For the purposes of comparison, then, and just for a short time, I give you:
The Veronicas, "What's Going On" (leaked demo) (note that DSTP originally introduced me to the fact that the Veronicas had recorded demos of songs given by them to other artists--thanks guys!--though this particular version doesn't come from DSTP)
Casey Donovan, "What's Going On" (second single, peaked at #18)
Linda Bengtzing, "Vad Hände Sen" (album track)
(Incidentally, it's coming to something when I think more people reading here will have heard a Swedish language album track than an English language single from an Idol winner, isn't it?)
You can buy Linda Bengtzing's album Ingenting Att Förlora here (physical) or here (digital) and Casey Donovan's album For You here (physical). The Veronicas' version of "What's Going On" was never released on an album, but you can buy their latest album Hook Me Up here (physical).
Speaking of Linda, I mentioned earlier that she'll be on the Swedish version of Clash of the Choirs (Körslaget), and I just noticed today that it debuts March 29. Possibly more exciting is the fact that she'll be on Swedish musical gameshow Så ska det låta on April 5, teamed up with Brolle (who's one of her competitors on Körslaget, but I think I remember reading that Så ska det låta was filmed a while ago--wasn't it one of the things that got Carola and Andreas thinking of working together, or got Christer Björkman to think of them working together? Anyway, Brolle duets with her on her new album as well).
Next up: maybe that dance-pop.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Never perform under pressure
I was going to write about the new Linda Bengtzing album today, but then I saw the review in Expressen (it got zero little bug symbols--the equivalent of getting no stars or getting a bomb) and decided that, though it's not a review worth taking seriously, I still really needed to write about the album with more depth than I had originally planned, and that'll entail a few more listens. Instead, then, we're going with another female Swedish singer, one I've written about before but not here (over in my old HotStuff Files column): Sofia. No, not Sofia Berntsson of 2007's "Hypnotized," but a pop-rock artist from 2005. I think she was launched to take advantage of the popularity of singers like Kelly Clarkson, Ashlee Simpson, and Avril Lavigne (yes, I realize those are singers from different "eras" of pop) but to also appeal to "real" rock fans--that was the theory, anyway, but I don't think the album performed nearly as well as her record company was hoping it would.Afrodisiac--the first verse of this song never fails to make me cringe, but after that it gets better. Well, maybe not--it's more like after that one of two things happens: 1.) the lyrics go into "so bad it's good territory"--I mean, surely there's a certain trashy appeal to be gained from being able to sing along with "So you got a problem with your manly thing/Thought you said you're Mister Masculine"?, or 2.) the crunchy guitars take over and it doesn't really matter what she's singing anymore. Or maybe both. Though musically it's a lot rockier, the ultimate sentiment behind "Afrodisiac" isn't that different from what the restyled Sandy is telling Danny at the beginning of "You're The One That I Want" in Grease: I want you, but you better step up! The difference is that Sofia's way of taunting is a lot more mocking, obviously supposed to take advantage of that whole "I'm an angry edgy kinda dirty hot chick" angle to help her cross over to those (mainly male) older rock fans (see also: posing soaking wet for FHM). Luckily, the stop-start guitars that you'll hear in and near the chorus make sure that the song doesn't get lost or fail to be catchy.
To buy Sofia's album Lifetraveller, go here (physical).
Next up: maybe Swedish electro-pop or a singer with the same first name as the one I wrote about today.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Värför gör du som du gör?
Linda Bengtzing's new album Vild & Galen is on the Swedish iTunes now, if you're interested in getting to listen to the clips of the songs. Alternatively, if you don't feel like bothering with changing your country on iTunes, you can listen to clips here.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Här är jag
Have you ever wondered what it would look like if Linda Bengtzing was having her photo taken at various places in Cuba? Now, thanks to her music new video, you can know! Update: oh, it's on YouTube, too.
Talk about cost efficiency--get your promo photos and new video done at the same time.
Seriously, though, even though nothing will probably be able to top her live performance of "Hur Svårt Kan Det Va?", I'm thrilled she actually got to make a music video--her first of her own*...awww! And she looks really cute throughout it.
On the other hand, if you've ever wanted to know what it would look like if Martin, Alexander, and Marina's heads were superimposed on two year old's bodies (though, typically for a BWO video, that's only the tip of the odd iceberg), you can watch the new BWO video in the same place.
Thanks to Robpop for the tip!
*There was the "Värsta Schlagern" video of course, but this is her first for her own song, I think.
Talk about cost efficiency--get your promo photos and new video done at the same time.
Seriously, though, even though nothing will probably be able to top her live performance of "Hur Svårt Kan Det Va?", I'm thrilled she actually got to make a music video--her first of her own*...awww! And she looks really cute throughout it.
On the other hand, if you've ever wanted to know what it would look like if Martin, Alexander, and Marina's heads were superimposed on two year old's bodies (though, typically for a BWO video, that's only the tip of the odd iceberg), you can watch the new BWO video in the same place.
Thanks to Robpop for the tip!
*There was the "Värsta Schlagern" video of course, but this is her first for her own song, I think.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Hur svårt kan det va?
DSTP interviewed Tim Larsson? About the new Linda Bengtzing album?
I'm about to read it as soon as I can calm down, but I had to mention it here.
I'm about to read it as soon as I can calm down, but I had to mention it here.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Det finns ingen väg tillbaka
Brief Linda Bengtzing newsbreak! Plus me being obsessive.You know you want to hear twelve year old Linda singing "Piccadilly Circus" (as well as several other covers), right? Head over to Eurocovers for that.
The tracklist for Vild & Galen popped up on CDOn not too long ago, but even better than that is the fact that we've got the list of songwriters from Schlagerprofilerna.
1. Hur Svårt Kan Det Va?
Johan Fransson, Tim Larsson & Tobias Lundgren
2. Utan Dig
Johan Fransson, Tim Larsson, Tobias Lundgren & Martin Landh
3. Inga Pojkar I Världen
Johan Fransson, Tim Larsson & Tobias Lundgren
(Note: she's performed this live already, but I don't think the production of the song in that performance gives an accurate impression of what to expect on album, given how different "Alla Flickor" sounded when she performed it for the same show.)
4. Idag, Imorgon Och Igår
Jeanette Olsson, Mads Haugaard, Annika Askman & Emmanuel Olsson
5. Grannarna Vaknar
Fredrik Berger
6. Det Första Guldet
Fredrik Berger
7. Vild & Galen
Johan Fransson, Tim Larsson & Tobias Lundgren
8. Sanningen
Johan Fransson, Tim Larsson, Tobias Lundgren , Nico Valsamidis & Fredrik Larsson
9. Om Du Vill
Henrik Thomson, Martin Landh & Linda Bengtzing
10. Varför Gör Du Som Du Gör? (duett med Brolle)
Tony Nilsson, Ingela Pling Forsman, Martin Landh & Alexander Schöld
11. Värsta Schlagern
Patrik Henzel, Karl Eurén, Niclas Arn & Gustav Eurén
I actually had a post listing the writers for 1, 3, 7, and 8 (and 11, of course, since that's already out) sitting as a draft for the past five days but kind of felt like I'd end up looking even crazier if I posted it. And now I've gone and mentioned it anyway! Anyway, those four tracks and track 2 (so, in recap, that's 1, 2, 3, 7, and 8) are all from the team that gave us "Alla Flickor" (though Niklas Edberger also co-wrote that) and a bunch of other fantastic songs. "Sanningen" was at one point mentioned as a potential single (back before Melodifestivalen and all this stuff). Niko and Fredrik are Groove Factory Productions, apparently, meaning they've got writing and/or production ties to Da Buzz's "The Echo," Velvet's "Deja Vu, and Danny's "Do or Die." They also did a track from Anna Book's most recent album, "Bara För En Dag."
In regards to 4, I know Jeanette Olsson mainly as a backing singer, but she's also a songwriter, having co-written songs like Kate Ryan's "L.I.L.Y.", "How Many Times," and "Only If I" (also, Sanne Salomonsen's 2005 Melodifestivalen entry "Higher Ground). I have heard of Emanuel Olsson (spelled "Emanuel") before, though it's probably best if I don't say the first time I heard his name and just skip straight to the fact that he co-wrote Sanna Nielsen's "Loneliness;" that'll be more relevant, too. Mads Haugaard is a name I didn't recognize, but apparently he co-wrote Bryan Rice's (ballady) "Everywhere You'll Be" and some songs I don't know. Annika Askman (another name I didn't recognize) was in the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix in 2007, but not with a song I remembered ("Fly," in case you all don't have to go look it up). I think she may have written for Sanne as well (she's at least in her band). (Jeanette's MySpace, Emanuel's MySpace, Mads's MySpace)
In regards to tracks 5 and 6, I know Fredrik Berger has done songs used by Darin ("Like No One") and Marie Picasso ("Winning Streak"), as well as Daniel Lindström, apparently.
Track 9: Henrik Thomson and Martin Landh (also involved in track 2) didn't ring any bells, but apparently Martin co-wrote "A Different Kind Of Love" from Melodifestivalen 2005, "Naughty Boy" from 2006, at least one Rednex song, and several tracks from the past two Martin Stenmarck albums (including the title track and "Den långa vägen hem" from this last one)--so in other words, I have no idea what to expect from him. No idea about Henrik, though there is a Henrik Thomsen who's apparently a guitar player and has done some writing for some rock artists I don't know. (Martin's MySpace)
Track 10 brings up so-far-not-put-a-foot-wrong Tony Nilsson (ToNi of the original "Natalie," co-writer or writer of Ola's "S.O.S.", "Love In Stereo," and version of "Natalie" and Alexander Schöld's "Jag hatar dig"). Ingela Pling Forsman--where do you even begin? Suffice to say you'll find her name on loads of Melodifestivalen entries (including Linda's "Jag ljuger så bra"), as lyricist. Alexander Schöld competed in this year's Melodifestival and, as previously mentioned, put out a single written by Tony just a little bit beforehand. Brolle was just recently discussed on this blog. (Tony's MySpace)
Seemingly absent is "Hemligheter," the single Linda was frustrated that her record company wouldn't let her release back when we were hearing about the drama between her and them.
Try to deny what you're feeling and you know that your heart will say no
Having slightly calmed down after last night, I'm going to attempt to write something more than "AMAZING!!!!" over and over again (though really, that's what I still want to do).
10 things I loved about Linda's and Charlotte's performances last night (I had to choose some arbitrary number or else it would basically end up as a second-by-second list of what they did), in no particularly order:
1.) the aforementioned pause and look right before Linda's key change--that determined, hah-I'm-going-to-nail-this-and-prove-that-I-can moment
2.) Linda beaming and looking like she's going to bounce right out of her skin after the key change--she radiated confidence throughout the performance and now really has this incredible energy and presence on stage (I know it's a cliché, but she's grown so much as a performer), but she was obviously hugely relieved and happy she pulled it off
3.) Charlotte's opening pose and mic grab--iconic
4.) Linda's little head-cocked-back strut during the first chorus (right before the first "se mig" section)
5.) The leaning and swirling camera bit in Charlotte's performance
6.) The three-part group hand point right before Charlotte's key change (LOVE this way too much! Possibly my favorite moment of the night)
7.) Charlotte's soaring vocals overtop those of the backing vocalists singing the chorus during the key change (you know how I mentioned in one of my year end round up entries a song that had the one moment in music in 2007 that most stuck with me, that just thinking about could get me excited about the whole concept of music? I think I've found my moment for 2008)
8.) Linda's "hah"(s) (not new, but I've always loved them)
9.) Charlotte's reaching-towards-the-audience hand gestures in the second chorus, with the wind machine on
10.) Linda's styling and outfit
Also, I'd like to add that I think Linda's dancers worked fabulously and that someone needs to upload Linda's post-qualifying performance to DailyMotion--she was just so excited that it made the performance even more fun to watch. Oh, and the fact that I loved all the group strutting in Charlotte's performance is a given.
Moving onto the other contestants, I was genuinely surprised when Sibel's song ended--"that's it?" I'm not trying to be snarky or anything, but I hadn't really even realized we'd had a chorus, let alone a climax--I couldn't believe the song was over. I'm not sure whether that's a function of the song itself (which from the previews sounded great, but maybe it didn't have a chorus that stood out enough) or Sibel singing the whole thing so dramatically that it was kind of flat in a way--nothing "popped" like it should have. I'm not saying that she or the song was bad by any stretch, or that they didn't deserve to go to Andra Chansen (Sibel sang very well and I adored the "You and I belong together/We share a hidden past/And nothing more than your forever/And mine is what I ask" lines)--but I am saying she didn't deserve to go straight to the finals instead of either of the two songs that qualified.
I was kind of surprised to read the negative reactions to Daniel Mitsogiannis online after the fact. I definitely love the song, but I'd go further than that: for a young Melodifestivalen debutante to have to do that much complicated dancing (all these leg movements and hip wiggles and twists) and still manage to pull off singing an uptempo song impressed me. In the hands of many other young performers, that could have been a total unequivocal crash-and-burn scenario, but I didn't feel like it was at all for him (though I'm not saying it rivaled the night's top performances!). Apparently Sweden (and online fans) disagreed, though, and he ended up taking seventh, although that could partly be down to schlager and dance-pop fans who might otherwise have voted for him focusing their efforts on Charlotte and Linda.
I'm not complaining, though--getting Charlotte and Linda straight to the finals is a dream result that makes for a fantastic-looking final, only marred for me by Christer Sjögren. The second chance round, taking place this next weekend, has the potential to make it even better; two acts will be chosen to make it to the final.
Stealing Wikipedia's chart thing (though it looks small and blurry here--sorry about that! If you click on the picture you can see the full size version), I think the toughest matchup in this knockout format for me is Ola versus Caracola--I love both acts' songs. I think ultimately I'd like Ola to win this matchup; however, I'd prefer Ola or Caracola to either of the acts in the top bracket, where of the two Sibel is my preference. If Sibel ended up making it to the final, I wouldn't be too upset, but I'd definitely prefer it if Ola or Caracola did.
In terms of the bottom half of the lineup, my favorites are Carola/Andreas Johnson and Thérèse Andersson; put head-to-head, I'm not sure yet who I'd like to see win, though I might end up going for Carola and Andreas in the end. I haven't heard their song in a while, so it's hard to say. I'd be happy with either, though!
10 things I loved about Linda's and Charlotte's performances last night (I had to choose some arbitrary number or else it would basically end up as a second-by-second list of what they did), in no particularly order:
1.) the aforementioned pause and look right before Linda's key change--that determined, hah-I'm-going-to-nail-this-and-prove-that-I-can moment
2.) Linda beaming and looking like she's going to bounce right out of her skin after the key change--she radiated confidence throughout the performance and now really has this incredible energy and presence on stage (I know it's a cliché, but she's grown so much as a performer), but she was obviously hugely relieved and happy she pulled it off
3.) Charlotte's opening pose and mic grab--iconic
4.) Linda's little head-cocked-back strut during the first chorus (right before the first "se mig" section)
5.) The leaning and swirling camera bit in Charlotte's performance
6.) The three-part group hand point right before Charlotte's key change (LOVE this way too much! Possibly my favorite moment of the night)
7.) Charlotte's soaring vocals overtop those of the backing vocalists singing the chorus during the key change (you know how I mentioned in one of my year end round up entries a song that had the one moment in music in 2007 that most stuck with me, that just thinking about could get me excited about the whole concept of music? I think I've found my moment for 2008)
8.) Linda's "hah"(s) (not new, but I've always loved them)
9.) Charlotte's reaching-towards-the-audience hand gestures in the second chorus, with the wind machine on
10.) Linda's styling and outfit
Also, I'd like to add that I think Linda's dancers worked fabulously and that someone needs to upload Linda's post-qualifying performance to DailyMotion--she was just so excited that it made the performance even more fun to watch. Oh, and the fact that I loved all the group strutting in Charlotte's performance is a given.
Moving onto the other contestants, I was genuinely surprised when Sibel's song ended--"that's it?" I'm not trying to be snarky or anything, but I hadn't really even realized we'd had a chorus, let alone a climax--I couldn't believe the song was over. I'm not sure whether that's a function of the song itself (which from the previews sounded great, but maybe it didn't have a chorus that stood out enough) or Sibel singing the whole thing so dramatically that it was kind of flat in a way--nothing "popped" like it should have. I'm not saying that she or the song was bad by any stretch, or that they didn't deserve to go to Andra Chansen (Sibel sang very well and I adored the "You and I belong together/We share a hidden past/And nothing more than your forever/And mine is what I ask" lines)--but I am saying she didn't deserve to go straight to the finals instead of either of the two songs that qualified.
I was kind of surprised to read the negative reactions to Daniel Mitsogiannis online after the fact. I definitely love the song, but I'd go further than that: for a young Melodifestivalen debutante to have to do that much complicated dancing (all these leg movements and hip wiggles and twists) and still manage to pull off singing an uptempo song impressed me. In the hands of many other young performers, that could have been a total unequivocal crash-and-burn scenario, but I didn't feel like it was at all for him (though I'm not saying it rivaled the night's top performances!). Apparently Sweden (and online fans) disagreed, though, and he ended up taking seventh, although that could partly be down to schlager and dance-pop fans who might otherwise have voted for him focusing their efforts on Charlotte and Linda.
I'm not complaining, though--getting Charlotte and Linda straight to the finals is a dream result that makes for a fantastic-looking final, only marred for me by Christer Sjögren. The second chance round, taking place this next weekend, has the potential to make it even better; two acts will be chosen to make it to the final.
Stealing Wikipedia's chart thing (though it looks small and blurry here--sorry about that! If you click on the picture you can see the full size version), I think the toughest matchup in this knockout format for me is Ola versus Caracola--I love both acts' songs. I think ultimately I'd like Ola to win this matchup; however, I'd prefer Ola or Caracola to either of the acts in the top bracket, where of the two Sibel is my preference. If Sibel ended up making it to the final, I wouldn't be too upset, but I'd definitely prefer it if Ola or Caracola did.
In terms of the bottom half of the lineup, my favorites are Carola/Andreas Johnson and Thérèse Andersson; put head-to-head, I'm not sure yet who I'd like to see win, though I might end up going for Carola and Andreas in the end. I haven't heard their song in a while, so it's hard to say. I'd be happy with either, though!
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Like a hero
Comments from me later!
Edit: YES! YES!!! YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!! YES!!!
Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you Sweden!
Back in a bit!
Edit again:
Linda!
Charlotte!
Ahhhhhhh! Amazing! The songs, the singers, the votes!
Still running on high at the moment...more later! For now, though, I'll say that 1.) "this is a story/of love and compassion/only heroes can tell" may be my favorite line of the year, and 2.) there's this moment I love, this pause and this look from Linda right before the key change, where you could just see her thinking "I'm going to nail this and prove I can do it--prove to all the doubters that I can sing!" Revenge for '05.
Edit: YES! YES!!! YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!! YES!!!
Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you Sweden!
Back in a bit!
Edit again:
Linda!
Charlotte!
Ahhhhhhh! Amazing! The songs, the singers, the votes!
Still running on high at the moment...more later! For now, though, I'll say that 1.) "this is a story/of love and compassion/only heroes can tell" may be my favorite line of the year, and 2.) there's this moment I love, this pause and this look from Linda right before the key change, where you could just see her thinking "I'm going to nail this and prove I can do it--prove to all the doubters that I can sing!" Revenge for '05.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Take it or leave it, you better believe it
So you'd think, with all the hype, it would be difficult for "Hero" to live up to expectations, right?
WRONG!
I'll be back with more thoughts when I'm done having my mind blown by this song. Seriously, I'm about ready to use up my yearly quota of exclamation marks.
Speechless.
(Listen to clips of the entries here.)
Edit: OK, back, and I'm sorry Sibel, you may have a great-sounding ballad and everyone may say you have a fantastic voice, but I have no time for it--I am going to be hoping against hope that it doesn't click with the voters, because I am petrified right now of it going direkt till Globen, and that simply is not an acceptable option. The only result I will accept it Charlotte and Linda to the final. That's it.
"Pame" is fantastic, and I totally love it; it also doesn't hurt that everyone says it's hindered by being overchoreographed, because that only makes it more likely it won't challenge for those top two spots, and therefore I can accept it into my heart. Any other week I would be backing that to the final all the way, but not this week!
Linda's verses are indeed very "Grace Kelly;" I love the song already--that chorus demands to be sung along with--and have a feeling it'll only get better once we hear the whole thing. Plus there's like this bubbly sound effect at the end! Love love love love love it.
Charlotte--oh, Charlotte, what do I not love about "Hero"? It's too amazing for words. "Amazing" doesn't even do it justice--I need a better word. Can we invent a new word for it? And can you imagine what it's going to be like when that keychange hits on Saturday? I think pop fans are going to explode or completely melt! The chorus is too perfect musically and lyrically--"this is a story, of love and compassion, only heroes can tell..."
On the less-love but see something in them front, Calaisa's song sounds sweet--not amazing, but probably enjoyable outside of a Eurovision context. I'm even liking Nordman's song more than I expected, though I think I might like it more with someone else singing it.
How am I supposed to wait for the studio versions of these songs? Argh!
So in recap: I am all about Charlotte and Linda this week and need them both in the final. I love Daniel's song as well, as long as it continues to stay non-threatening (and I imagine I've jinxed this whole thing now). I have no time for Sibel during this week--if I'm being honest, "That Is Where I'll Go" sounds like a genuinely great ballad, but I simply cannot have it being a threat, and that's something I've feared it would be from the beginning. Therefore, no support from me until after Melodifestivalen. At which point I will probably really like it.
(Note that I can handle people disagreeing with me, though, even about songs I love!)
WRONG!
I'll be back with more thoughts when I'm done having my mind blown by this song. Seriously, I'm about ready to use up my yearly quota of exclamation marks.
Speechless.
(Listen to clips of the entries here.)
Edit: OK, back, and I'm sorry Sibel, you may have a great-sounding ballad and everyone may say you have a fantastic voice, but I have no time for it--I am going to be hoping against hope that it doesn't click with the voters, because I am petrified right now of it going direkt till Globen, and that simply is not an acceptable option. The only result I will accept it Charlotte and Linda to the final. That's it.
"Pame" is fantastic, and I totally love it; it also doesn't hurt that everyone says it's hindered by being overchoreographed, because that only makes it more likely it won't challenge for those top two spots, and therefore I can accept it into my heart. Any other week I would be backing that to the final all the way, but not this week!
Linda's verses are indeed very "Grace Kelly;" I love the song already--that chorus demands to be sung along with--and have a feeling it'll only get better once we hear the whole thing. Plus there's like this bubbly sound effect at the end! Love love love love love it.
Charlotte--oh, Charlotte, what do I not love about "Hero"? It's too amazing for words. "Amazing" doesn't even do it justice--I need a better word. Can we invent a new word for it? And can you imagine what it's going to be like when that keychange hits on Saturday? I think pop fans are going to explode or completely melt! The chorus is too perfect musically and lyrically--"this is a story, of love and compassion, only heroes can tell..."
On the less-love but see something in them front, Calaisa's song sounds sweet--not amazing, but probably enjoyable outside of a Eurovision context. I'm even liking Nordman's song more than I expected, though I think I might like it more with someone else singing it.
How am I supposed to wait for the studio versions of these songs? Argh!
So in recap: I am all about Charlotte and Linda this week and need them both in the final. I love Daniel's song as well, as long as it continues to stay non-threatening (and I imagine I've jinxed this whole thing now). I have no time for Sibel during this week--if I'm being honest, "That Is Where I'll Go" sounds like a genuinely great ballad, but I simply cannot have it being a threat, and that's something I've feared it would be from the beginning. Therefore, no support from me until after Melodifestivalen. At which point I will probably really like it.
(Note that I can handle people disagreeing with me, though, even about songs I love!)
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