I run away until I see the light

In a slight comfort to those of us counting down the days until Melodifestivalen, Norway held the first semifinal of its national selection for Eurovision, the Melodi Grand Prix, recently. Some familiar names took place, including 2008's MGP winner Maria Haukaas Storeng, Eurovision fan favorite Lene Alexander, and long ago Idol contestant Gaute Ormåsen (as well as the less well-known but still recognizable to international pop fans Elisabeth Carew of several pleasant contemporary R&B-pop songs). Songs by Maria and Keep of the Castle, a hard rock group whose entry is nowhere near as good as Wig Wam's "In My Dreams," qualified directly to the final, but it's one of entrants that only made it to the second chance round that I've had spinning around in my head.



Like Gaute, Bjørn Johan Muri took second in a season of Idol, though in the more recent year of 2007, but of more interest to me than the pedigree of the singer is that of the song. "Yes Man," a gentle singer-songwritery song, a little like a Eurovision version of Owl City or Coldplay, is co-written by Simen Eriksrud and Simone Larsen. Simone is the German-born but longtime Norway-residing lead singer of D'sound, a band with a laidback pop sound that too often approaches jazz or chill too closely for me to honestly say I adore them. Still, they've had their moments over the years, and when they steer themselves towards what I tend to think of as a "Norwegian" singer-songwriter sound, they can make lovely little songs. Take, as an example, their 2003 single "Do I Need A Reason," taken from the only album of theirs I own in full, Doublehearted.



D'sound's singles from this year may not have made an impression on the Norwegian charts, but Simone is hardly hurting for success: she's behind the melody of Donkeyboy's "Ambitions," probably the biggest hit of 2009 in her adopted home country. Likewise, Simen Eriksrud co-wrote that song and many of the others on Donkeyboy's debut album. If you've somehow missed it thus far, I beg you to listen to "Ambitions," a completely enchanting debut single, now.



"Yes Man" isn't a song that seems like a good match for the Eurovision context, nor is it as good as "Ambitions" (even if "Ambitions" has its share of less than great lines, the end result is, through one of those miracles of pop magic, lyrics that end up with a feeling of complexity and emotion, whereas those of "Yes Man" don't tug on you in quite the same way; also, the vocals here really have nothing on the Donkeyboy boys and Linnea Dale on "Ambitions") but its delicate, pretty melody and production style is one I'm far from tired of hearing. I'd say hopefully it finds commercial success in Norway, but signs are good that so far that's already occurring: it's currently topping the iTunes chart there, beating out both of the songs that qualified ahead of it.

Can you keep a secret?

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

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

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



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



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



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




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



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

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

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

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

I'm gonna get stronger now

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

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

Let's see what happens next...

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

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

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

Love love love

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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



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

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



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

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

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

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



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



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

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



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

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

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

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

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



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

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



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

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

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

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



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

What if?

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



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



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



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



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



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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

...to win a destination in the center of my heart

Few of my favorite entries (without thinking about how they'll come off when performed or how well they'll do) in this year's contest are in the first semifinal, but a few are, so let's go through those. It's worth mentioning, though, that the performances tend to only make me think better of songs, though usually not drastically--songs I found forgettable and dull before become more recognizable to me.

Rebeka Dremelj, "Vrag Naz Vzame" (Slovenia)
I've had so many ups and downs with this song--the various reworkings of it, the revealing of the English version (which thankfully isn't the main version)--but I think at the end, I still really do enjoy it, even if I kind of have no idea what to actually expect it to sound like on the night (I'm basing my final opinion off the version on the Eurovision CD). And yes, I do have generally positive feelings towards Rebeka since I love the campy "Pojdi z menoj" and the campy-at-the-beach "To je prava noč," but I'd still like this Mediterranean-flavored uptempo Europop/dance song even on its own. Apparently rehearsals have revealed her performance to be an S&M-themed car crash, which will probably only make me love her more. This isn't an ultimate favorite of mine, but there's something about the way it sparkles that brings a sense of fun (even if it is about a woman declaring her independence) many of the entries in this semifinal lack.

Gisela, "Casanova" (Andorra)
...from one uptempo Europop song which has apparently had bad rehearsals to another. It's tempting for me to play off my enjoyment of this as just a "well, it's got a danceable Euro beat beneath it--of course I was going to like it!" sort of thing, but that wouldn't be giving the song proper credit; there's something about the cheesy happy "Casanova" that I find genuinely charming (and, since I started comparing them, I might as well say that I like it more than "Vrag Naz Vzame" as well).

Laka, "Pokusaj" (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
I'm not sure this technically belongs on the "love" list yet, but it's so close to the border of "like/love" that I had to mention it, especially because with the right performance I can see myself falling for it even more. One of the more unusual songs in this year's contest (even beyond the singer's unique voice), "Pokusaj" is...well, I'm not even really sure how to describe it. Part of me wants to compare it to the music for my much-beloved Spring Awakening, which isn't to say this sounds like typical musical fare--Spring Awakening's score was composed by Duncan Sheik and is more bold lush pop-rock than anything else. That's not a totally apt comparison, but maybe it'll begin to get across the way "Pokusaj" has a pop awareness of melody but also isn't afraid to switch between group chants, a minimal and more playful verse, a rushing piano section, and--well, really, you'll probably have to listen for yourself to get any idea of what it actually sounds like. It won't be for everyone, that's for sure, but I can see myself being madly in love with it by the time the contest ends.

Kalomira, "Secret Combination" (Greece)
The chorus of this Greek pop-and-R&B song has grown on me to an almost ridiculous extent since Greece's national final, and it's often the Eurovision-related music that gets stuck in my head. Unfortunately, it's let down by a verse that's completely forgettable and really serves no purpose but to provide some filler until we can get back to the chorus (which I realize many would say is true of many Eurovision songs). Can we, I don't know, steal Armenia's verse or something (for the record, Armenia [Sirusho with "Qele, Qele"] is a fan favorite that's nowhere near a favorite of mine--it's listenable, don't get me wrong, and better than many other songs in this semfinal, but as of right now it just lacks that spark for me and the chorus doesn't hit as it should; I'm not against it qualifying to the final, but I would be against it winning...a good performance might up my opinion of it a lot, but I think I'd still be disappointed if [speaking in purely hypothetical terms] it placed really really highly in the end)?

A few notes on other songs: I keep going back and forth on Dima Bilan's song ("Believe" for Russia)...it's better than many others in this semfinal, but I just can't make up my mind about how much I actually like it. One moment I think it's fine, pretty good, the next I think I could love it, and then the next I think it's nothing special and am upset about a bunch of things related to it.

As a general rule, time has tended to diminish my ire for songs I really couldn't stand before. Except Belgium. That, though, is a song you won't soon be forgetting, so I'm not expecting it to get lost in the mix. Oh, and Estonia. I still don't like Ireland (and the musical sections of it that before I thought were actually tolerable seem to have been changed on the CD--am I imagining that?), but I'm more complacent about its existence now.m

Maybe worth mentioning as me having positive feelings towards them even if not loving them are Norway (Maria Haukaas Storeng with the '60's-sounding "Hold On Be Strong") and the Netherlands (Hind with "Your Heart Belongs To Me"). I just can't get enthusiastic about either, though; neither leaves me thrilled. I really like Maria generally and I get that "Hold On Be Strong" is classy, but I've been wondering: if it wasn't in English, would I really make it fully through the song? Maybe that's being too harsh; at the least, it sounds like the fairly simple presentation will be professional, which is a good word to describe "Hold On Be Strong" as well. There are parts of Poland's entry that I like, but it doesn't add up to anything for me; I guess the same could be said of Finland's entry to an even lesser extent--some nice guitar riffs and "hoo-hah"s, but the vocal melody on top of all that doesn't work for me.

All in all, my proper favorites are in Semi 2, but I'm still looking forward to tonight--see you all in a bit!

Let's reinvent the wheel

Thrilled about the '60's revival brought on by Amy Winehouse? Not particularly picky about the songs so long as they're in that style? You're in luck.

Whether you're a contestant in a national final for Eurovision...



(Maria Haukaas Storeng, "Hold On Be Strong," 1st in Norway's NF)



(Sandrine, "I Feel The Same Way," qualified to yet-to-take-place final in Belgium)

...or from Sweden...



(Amanda Jenssen, "Do You Love Me," Idol contestant and at #1 for seemingly ages)

Open this link in new window to hear a clip (I can't find anywhere for you to stream the whole thing)

(Pauline, "Loving You," recently released single)

Official site (ditto on the nowhere streaming the whole song thing)

(Veronica Maggio, "Måndagsbarn," recently released single)

...or a hotly tipped British Australian singer...



(Duffy, "Mercy")

...or a slightly less hotly tipped British singer...



(Gabriella Cilmi, "Sweet About Me")

...or a Canadian R&B singer searching for that elusive top 10 hit...



(Jully Black, "Seven Day Fool," which is actually a cover of a '60's song)

...or a Swiss singer who won a German talent contest...



(Stefanie, "My Man Is A Mean Man," with thanks to Turnaround!)

...that seems to be the sound to go for at the moment. Now, I don't really want to criticize these singers--many of them may have always pursued this style and may just have found that record companies are more interested in them now. Others may even have been successful in a similar style beforehand. Often these songs are good or great, and the singers may have other songs that are good even if I'm not particularly interested in their current single (I've been very interested to hear Gabriella Cilmi's "Don't Wanna Go To Bed" since PopJustice posted a clip of it). Not all of these songs are Amy-like, more just '60's sounding. But...well, I'm not the biggest Amy Winehouse fan, but I can't help feeling like some of this is kind of missing the point a bit as to why her songs took off in the first place. Still, forget the Grammys--I guess the true sign of having made it is having Eurovision contestants trying to sound like you.

I'll base my decisions on my intuition

Yay! Anne Hvidsten is back, and with a great song! I realize "A Little More" probably won't be most people's favorite songs out of all the MGP 2008 songs, but so far, it's mine. That's not to say I want it to be sent to Eurovision--I don't think it would lend itself to that--but I love it. It's a lovely mid-tempo pop song with just a little bit of country influence, it's kind of female singer-songwritery and I imagine it could quite easily be called generic MOR or "radio pop," but if it is, it's a great sweet simple comforting example of it. I love the part where the guitars drop out to bring us into the chorus and Anne sings "but it's a little more than I can...handle, and it's a little more than I can...control," complete with backing vocals. The bridge right before that is great, too. And the verses. Basically, it's sweet and adorable and unassuming and I love it. And yes, I love Anne, so that might be slightly influencing my perception of the song (it was the first of the MGP songs I listened to), but I think this is just one of those songs that connects with me for some reason, that does all the right things for me to love it.

A Little More

Since no one else seems to like this song, though, we might as well deal with some of the other entries. Some songs of note, not necessarily because they're good:

Zuma's (no, not Jacob; a duo made up of two guys) "Always Always" is maybe worth a listen; it's very '80's. Then again, I liked Lustans Lakejer's very '80's entry from Sweden in 2007, so what do I know? I'm not sure that "Always Always" is quite as good as I'd like it to be, but so far I like it, and I'm looking forward to seeing the group live (let's hope that gives the song more life as well, though I could see it easily going the other way). I think it's about my second favorite song right now. Actually, let's post that, too:

Always Always

It's cases like Zuma's that remind me why I love these national finals so much--not only do they feature new songs you may like, they often introduce you to new artists you may love.

Pop lovers will probably also want to give at least one listen to the Fred Ball-penned "Baby Don't Stop The Music" by Michelle and Lene Alexandra's "Sillycone Valley" at the very least because they'll be two of the most discussed tracks in certain circles and because you might (or might not) like them. Shockingly, "Sillycone Valley" sounds more grown-up than you would expect given the title and singer--musically, at least (it's got kind of this Asian electro-pop feel). Lyrically, it's--unsurprisingly, given the singer--got lines like "if you wanna play my bongos/well you can play 'em till you blow your mind," so, um, pretty much what'd you'd expect in that department. It's still roughly my third favorite song at this point. "Baby Don't Stop The Music" is very Fred Ball-sounding, though I don't know that it's his best work. Still, it's nice to see decent electro-pop in a national final. Both could have trouble live, though; we'll see.

I really like Maria Haukaas Storeng, so I'm glad to see her in the MGP, but I'm not sure that I adore her Mira Craig-penned entry "Hold On Be Strong." It's not bad, though. People are also talking about Veronika Akelsen's "Am I Supposed To Love Again" (in a very positive way), but right now it's too lounge singer-y for me, though I could possibly see it growing with time. On the other hand, I could also see it doing so well that I end up building up a huge irrational dislike of it (and that's the way I see it going right now). The Christian Ingebrigtsen co-penned "Eastern Wind," sung by Torstein Sødal, is a big ballad and could conceivably do well if Norway is in a ballad mood.

Speaking of big, "Far Away" by King Of The Trolls is ridiculous in a Roger Pontare "Where The Spirits Are Calling My Name" kind of way, only even more over the top (who knew that was even possible?). Of course, I could probably have just told you that the singer looks like this


and you would've been able to guess what it sounds like. Actually, the instrumental bit after the chorus really reminds me of something, but I can't place it (edit: I think it's "Wild Dances"). All that said, for my sins, I may really like it. The song is very...energetic. We'll see what the live performance is like.

Pop-punk group Crash! are back with another entry; given how well they did last year, you might want to keep an eye on their entry "Get Up." I kind of slightly like Nicholas Carlie's "Colliding" in a generic radio rock ballad that I'll probably never listen to again after the national final season/a week kind of way.

You got to leave no stone unturned

Maria Haukaas Storeng, or just Maria, was in the same season of Norwegian Idol as blogger favorite Margaret Berger, but she's taken a decidedly different stylistic path; her debut album, Breathing, released in 2005, is full of great, if young-sounding, girl-pop, generally with guitars, though not heavy ones, and sometimes a hint of country. There were rumors of her participating in Melodi Grand Prix (Norway's Eurovision selection process) this year, but they turned out to be nothing. If you like girl-pop, I really recommend the album; there are a couple of disposable tracks, but overall it's really solid and enjoyable; choosing just one song was very difficult.

Should've--this isn't the best of her songs, but it is the one that first got me interested in her. Her music is almost always upbeat and fun, and this song's no exception (even if it is about learning from her mistakes), though it's a little less guitar-ish and country-influenced than some of her other songs (which are never unpleasantly guitar-based or really that country). It's also very light, and though I wouldn't say her songs are ever heavy, this one is probably a little lighter than most.

To buy Maria's debut album Breathing, go here (digital) or check iTunes. I really recommend checking out some of her other songs--she has some with more staying power, and it's a great album.

In the world of links, go visit the Schlagerboys for an exclusive interview with Melodifestivalen contestant Magnus Carlsson--they get great interviews, and they're always funny to read. In fact, their site is always hilarious, and great for keeping up with Eurovision.

The HotStuff Files has an alternate music video for Justin Timberlake's "What Goes Around...Comes Around," and it is truly brilliant. Really. Go watch it.

Next up: maybe that German band I said I was going to write about forever ago.