My only desire

Some pop songs are just transcendent.



(Video/song match is not ideal, to say the least.)

It's probably an overused word, to be fair, and in and of itself it probably shouldn't be taken to mean anything other than a way to say "brilliant," maybe hinting at a touch of class and an ability to draw out a bit of emotion--I'd say make you feel above emotion, like you've shed emotion and are just sort of free-floating--but that's far too cold a description for songs like this.

Swedish duo the Attic, gone from the music scene for far too long without an indication of when they'll return, specialize in dance music with pop appeal. Over the course of one and a half albums, several unattached songs, and multiple remixes, they've helped create more than a few special moments, but "In Your Eyes," a single from 2005, still stands as the song that makes me want to throw around words like "transcendent" and "transporting" with no regard for technicalities, only for the feelings those words stir up.

A lot like the song, actually--on paper, the lyrics read as ridiculously clichéd, trite platitudes that must have been set to paper in the course of two to five minutes, depending on how quickly Michael Feiner and Eric Amarillo can write. Brought to musical life in "In Your Eyes," though, they manage to accomplish that sneaky pop trick of surpassing denotations and even connotations to become beautifully evocative. Evocative--another one of those wonderful flowery words we semi-lazy writers love to use to make our writing sound much deeper than it actually is; with a million possible shades and gradations of emotions to evoke, how is the unclarified word "evocative" supposed to mean anything?

Sometimes that lack of clarity is just what is called for as a descriptor, though. The Backstreet Boys' "I Want I That Way" is incredibly evocative, even though I've heard different people find different emotions and derive different storylines from its conflicting words. The songwriters even played with lyrics that give the song a much more logical throughline before eventually settling on the much less clear but much more evocative version we all know and love.

"In Your Eyes" is, in straightforward words, a synth-filled electronic song with an uptempo backing beat, midtempo topline, and second person lyrics about feeling at home and loved in "your" eyes. None of those words, though, captures the gentle reassurance and life- and love-affirming beauty of the song as well as so-called overused-to-the-point-of-meaningless words like "transcendent." At this point, it's practically a cliché to write about how clichés may be cliché but still have truth to them, but, like a series of ever-reflecting mirrors, I've got to say right back that redeeming the cliché may be cliché, but, every now and then, it's still needed. There's a reason we come back to certain words over and over again--they're the only real match for the beauty we find in some music.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be over here trying to figure out how to work "effervescent" into my next review...whether or not the song actually involves any emission of bubbles.

(This post is half-inspired by Chart Rigger's D'luv and Moogaboo reminding me how much I love All Saints' "Pure Shores." Talk about evocative--the word "dreampop" instantly captures the song better than a post of, oh, say, similar length to this one could.)


(Edit: see more about "Pure Shores" at J. Mensah's.)

Make you smile again

Oh, thank goodness, I'm not totally crazy...

Last year, I was convinced that the version of Måns Zelmerlöw's "Miss America" being played on Swedish radio, at least some of the time, was different from the version on the album--subtly different, just really with enhanced drums, but I was sure that difference existed. Despite all my searching, though, I couldn't find anything to support that information. The only remixes available at the time were definitely not the version I thought I'd heard: they were all dance versions.

I only just saw that American iTunes has a remix by Grizzly, though, and as soon as I clicked the preview button, I heard louder drums but a still pop--not dance--song. That's got to be it. Why it was released to American digital music stores and not Swedish ones, I've got no idea. Bought it, of course, though it's not better than the original (which I really should have had on my singles countdown last year; just a case of taking him and it for granted).

Måns also appeared on game show Så ska det låta last night. If you've ever wanted to see him sing Linda Bengtzing's "Jag ljuger så bra" (!), Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours," Gyllene Tider's "Sommartider," Björn Afzelius's "Tusen Bitar," "Var ska vi sova inatt" (complete with performance that, if not earth-shattering, is at least literally floor-shattering), Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode," Frank Sinatra's "Come Fly With Me," you can watch the whole hour long show here. I'm sure clips will be on YouTube shortly if they aren't already. He's such a star. And he knows his international political history! Sigh.

Speaking of Måns, I never linked to one of my new favorite pictures of him or the comic strip that had me laughing for quite some time. I wish I lived somewhere where newspapers would publish comics referencing schlager stars. Oh, and CDOn confirmed that the only difference between the regular and deluxe editions of MZW is the booklet; the songs are the same.

Umm...to make this post seem slightly less pointless, did you know '80s Swedish group Secret Service (of "Flash In The Night") have a new single out? It's called "Different" and was an unreleased song unearthed while one member was moving boxes around.

Speaking of remixes and "Flash In The Night," I went on a mini-spree tonight, buying a couple of remixes by the Attic, the duo whose latest single was a cover of that old Secret Service hit but who quality-wise are one of the most reliable presences in the Swedish dance scene. At the end of 2008, Australian singer Candice Alley had her 2003 single "Falling" remixed by the Attic and released in the U.S. The Attic's reworking of the song suits it to a T, with the plaintive but commercial ballad-ish vocal part from Candice melding well with the fairly gentle dance beats underneath it. The other the Attic-related remix I bought was member Michael Feiner's fantastic remix of Daniel Lindström's "Saturday Night" (which is also not new but I've been meaning to buy from iTunes for some time). The song is much more interesting in this interpretation and, like the Attic's remix of "Falling," manages to be fun dance with some moving emotion behind it.

Fall into my arms tonight

I just got around to reading the description of Danny's new album on Ginza and was thrilled by one piece of information in it. We already knew that Andreas Carlsson wrote and produced "Utopia," that Danny wrote or co-wrote "Turn Off The Sound," and that "Radio" is the work of Michel Zitron (who's said to have done most of the tracks on the album; he's also the writer of "If Only You," among other things), but up until now I'd not known that The Attic--Eric Amarillo and Michael Feiner--also wrote a track on the album! Fantastic news, as well as something I have no idea why I wasn't calling for before--it seems like it should be a natural fit, so I hope it plays out as well in reality as it does on paper.

Speaking of Andreas Carlsson, Sweden now has its very own David Archuleta...only he's just won the whole contest.



(Sorry about the upload quality--the audio's fine, but the video's odd--I'll swap out the video for a better one when one's available.)

I really do love the sound of Kevin Borg's voice, but I'm already envisioning him ending up with an album that sounds...well, a lot like that track repeated over and over again. I hope I'm wrong, as I do love some good boy pop, but right now I'd guess runner-up Alice Svensson is going to end up making pop that's more fun and interesting than him (I'm very interested to hear music from her). Oh well--maybe he'll at least give us a "Crush"-level track. There's no good reason that Sweden, the home of so many brilliant songwriters, should end up giving us a "pleasant-but-uneventful" album like David A.'s as Kevin's debut, but that's what'll probably end up happening. It shouldn't be, though--would it be so much to ask for a bit of effort to be put in?

The Andreas Carlsson connection comes through the track he's singing there--it's the Idol winner song and it's written by Andreas (a judge on Idol this season) and Jörgen Elofsson. I think the teaming up again of two writers who'd given us such pop classics back in the late '90's/early 2000's may have got my expectations to high; ultimately, what "With Every Bit Of Me" is isn't as excellent as the best boy band ballads from that classic era. That said, I've already been listening to it more than I thought I would when I first heard it...maybe that bodes well. Or not.

Shadows of you

Another of the "how did I not know about this?" releases of the past few weeks is the latest from the Attic. They put out two long remixes of "Flash In The Night" a while ago, but in mid-September they finally released the proper radio version (as well as extended mixes), though as far as I know not in Sweden itself. I'm thrilled to be getting new material from them, though, and hopefully this means we'll get the other songs on their MySpace eventually, too. The Attic are brilliant makers of electronic pop/dance/house music; if you don't own their previous album, I highly recommend picking it up (it comes in two versions, both of which I love, but I think I'd have to go for the second version, Remember Tomorrow).

Flash In The Night (Radio Mix)--a cover, but a great one. If you know the Attic sound, this single's sound won't be surprising to you, but that doesn't make it any less great or less welcome. Unlike their Melodifestivalen entry but like the majority of their songs, "Flash In The Night"'s vocals actually come from them (well, one-half of them). Far beyond just doing great remixes, they make original material (and yes, I realize how much this song--which a welcome updating of an '80's song--fits into that category is questionable, but even if you don't want to count it, they've got more than enough songs fully of their own) that's even better, and they do it so well and so easily--thank goodness they're around. Please let them never go away!

To buy the Attic's single "Flash In The Night," go here (digital). Remember Tomorrow (which does not include this song) can be bought here (physical).

Next up: maybe a boy band or one man boy band.

You're gonna find this heart of mind will stand the test of time

Swedish music news update!

Diva extraordinaire (in the best possible way) Lena Philipsson releases her duet with Orup, "Nu när du gått," digitally September 22. Oswalds Popcorn has the review (lukewarm at best) and the single cover. Sigh. Why can't you just give us another amazing solo album, Lena? The album of duets, called Dubbel, comes out November 12.

Speaking of songs released digitally on September 22, Sebastian (Karlsson) releases his new single, "My Getaway," then, with an album, The Most Beautiful Lie, following on November 5; he says it's "more personal" than his previous albums. "Words & Violence," the lead single for his last album, remains an amazing track, so I'm really hoping he'll give us something that good again.

Agnes's new album, Dance Love Pop, comes out October 29. They played about half of another song from it on the radio a few weeks back; I've forgotten most everything about it by now (it was something about love or kissing or something, I think), but it sounded OK--it'd make sense on the same album as the electro-disco-pop "On And On."

Sonja Aldén has a new single called "Du får inte" out. I don't own it (yet), but should you want to buy it, you can do so here, as well as preview the whole track piece-by-piece.

I'm not sure if this is worth mentioning, but since we've got so many other Idol graduates in this post...Daniel Lindström's got a new single called "Saturday Night" out--listen to the semi-disco sounds of it here, if you're interested. Possibly of more interest is that one-half of the Attic, Michael Feiner, has remixed the track--listen to the remix at the same place. Now that's something I may end up buying... Speaking of the Attic, are we ever getting a real version of "Flash In The Night," one that's not a six minute long remix?

Rachel of Work Your Magic might be interested to know (if she doesn't already) that Brandur released another single, "Lifelong Lovesong."

Sophia Somajo released her debut album, The Laptop Diaries. From the preview clips, I don't really think it's going to be the sort of album for me--most of it might be too "out there"--but "Warm Blooded Murder" (embedded below) remains great (time's actually been much more friendly to it than I would have expected) and it sounds like there might be some real keepers amongst the left-field electronically created pop there too. Then again, it's a nineteen track album (if bought via iTunes), so that's a lot of songs to sort through--both an opportunity for lots of filler and more chances to get it right. Would it interest people more if I mentioned there's a track featuring Juvelen?

Everything here, close to me, is just the way I want it to be

We're interrupting the boy band-esque ballad special in an attempt to snap me out of my mild obsession, though today's group is still, as promised, from Sweden. Roxette is one of those groups I am sure I should know more about, but with a back catalogue so huge, it's so difficult to know where to begin that I've not even tried yet; as a result, my familiarity with their work is extremely shallow, basically consisting only of knowing a few of their big hits (say, "The Look" and "It Must Have Been Love") and a few songs from places like #1 Hits From Another Planet, Spark*Pop, and Catchy Tunes of Sweden. However, when I saw the tracklisting for their newest single, I was intrigued: a single mix of "Reveal" (the original version was on their most recent greatest hits); a remix by one of the people behind the much-raved-about "With Every Heartbeat," Kleerup; and the remix I'm posting today, which is by the Attic, a group I'm coming to admire more and more. My first exposure to them was through a remix of Darin's "Who's That Girl," which I loved exponentially more than the original (and posted back in July or so), but at the time, I had no idea the Attic were a group, let alone that they'd done other songs. I later grabbed their remix of A*Teens' "I Promised Myself" from Catchy Tunes of Sweden, and enjoyed that, too, though I still hadn't made the connection that they were an actual group. When I heard their own songs, though, I had to buy their album, and I've not for one moment regretted it; I definitely recommend buying The One if you haven't yet (you can get it here). Their collaboration with Therese for this year's Melodifestivalen is in my top four from the contest, too, so I'm definitely eager to see what they do next.

Reveal (The Attic Remix)--unsurprisingly, the remix ups the tempo of the single mix, but it's still not exactly super-fast. The somewhat exotic opening of the single mix is taken as inspiration for the Attic's own bit of exotic flair. We also get, in very typical The Attic style, electronically processed voices and echoes, which make the song more playful. Some of the sadness of the single version is lost, but, despite the generally happy electronic beats, there's still a feeling of loss, or maybe giving too much, or something not quite joyful, that creeps in occasionally. That might be overstating it a little--it's certainly much happier and more hopeful than some of the other versions; I think what I'm trying to get across is that this is no storming dance remix nor incredibly boppy happy pop song, but it is great.

To buy Roxette's single "Reveal," go here (physical) or here (digital; you'll have to search for "Roxette"). The Kleerup remix is more melancholic and atmospheric, adding strings, and you'll also get the single mix.

Next up: possibly a return to the special, but maybe not; either way, I'm sad that it's the first Friday for a while that there won't be new Melodifestivalen songs.

How can you leave me now?

After my computer basically breaking at 2:03, I managed to get it up and running again just in time to see the beginning of Måns's performance...not as fab as the studio version, of course, but such an amazing song!

Edit: you know, I do like this MissMatch song, even if one of the girls is looking rather wide-eyed. Plus, they've got pyrotechnics! The fact that it's only sixth or so in my ranking of this heat is a testament to how strong this semifinal is.

Ahhh! Magnus is up!

Edit: leather! oooo!

Have I used the word brilliant to describe this song yet? Well, it is! To the final, along with Måns, please!

Edit: I think I may have to go buy all albums Therese has been involved in. As a performer, she is, to borrow a British word, "ace." She's spinning around on a platform! Oh, and now the shot cuts to looking down, and she's lying down on the platform, which is revealed to look like a CD! While the Attic stand in the middle and do very little, she has to provide the show...and I think she does a good job. Really, the spinning and the CD is enough for it to win my approval.

Edit: the Schlagerboys are so right...Sebastian has totally taken one of the Alcazar boys' costumes from 2003, but it doesn't quite fit him. As much as I love Måns's song, and I love Måns for singing it, Sebastian seems to be more of a solid performer--vocally, yes, but there's also just a certain presence he has.

Edit: Sonja, where are the seagull sound effects? They were totally taking your "my song washes over you like a wave" statement to the next level.

Edit: I want platforms like Nanne's. Nanne, you're such a great singer and performer--I just wish the instrumental part of your song had some extra punch, some more "oomph," was less acoustic.

Edit: the top 5--Nanne, Magnus (yay!), Sebastian, Måns (double yay! triple yay!), and Sonya (I'm afraid she's going to end up making the top 4...). I'm actually very happy with that, though, but that's conditional on the final result.

Edit: I really need to learn Swedish so I can understand this musical--I really like the idea of it.

Edit: wait, what's happening? Why are the credits rolling? Ohhh...maybe it was a joke?

Edit: Sebastian to the final...which normally I would be sort of pleased with, because I like the song, but Nanne will certainly take the other spot, which means, even if my two favorites both make it to the second chance, they can't make it to the final. Sad...but I'm still hoping!

Edit: oh no! Sonya to the second chance!

Edit: no way! Nanne to the second chance! Who beat her?

Edit: ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!

I'm shocked and thrilled Måns is in the final, but Magnus's song is out of the running? Are you joking?

I'm starting my own alternative Melodifestivalen. Andreas, Cosmo4, and Magnus are all going to be in the final. Boooooo!!!!!

Edit: I don't like to look for alternative reasons for placings, but is the Swedish public just sick of seeing Magnus and Andreas? I don't understand at all how "Live Forever" could fail to make at least the second chance round. Seriously. I am hugely excited about Måns going straight to the final now, though (and I can't believe he and Sebastian beat Nanne), and how excited he was was adorable--he even jumped on the announcer's back! It does make me wonder about whoever is selecting the songs for Melodifestivalen--"Cara Mia" wasn't originally selected, only making it in because two other songs were disqualified. I just don't understand how a song as brilliant as "Live Forever" could fail to do anything in the competition.

Make me believe you

After a night of barely being able to sleep because I kept feeling compelled to go listen to the songs from this semifinal, I've reached a few conclusions.

My two absolute favorites that I'm desperate to see do well are definitely Magnus and Måns. Their songs are both bounce-around-the-room-like-a-crazy-person tunes that are instantly amazing (I know, now I'm overusing that word more than last year's Eurovision hosts) and I've run out of adjectives to describe them.

After that, I think my favorite is the Attic feat. Therese, though I don't expect it to do too well. Still, in my dream world, it would make it to the second chance round. The second second chance slot--well, I'd probably give it to Sebastian, just narrowly beating out Nanne, but, with performances, I'm sure Nanne will deserve to do very well.

Some random news about some Melodifestivalen contestants:

Jimmy Jansson and Sebastian have both updated their sites and have albums coming out in early March, both I've which I'm planning on buying. Jimmy's got a bunch of pictures on it (not necessarily new), but I think this one is the classiest:


Sebastian's new album is going to be called The Vintage Virgin (really?) and he'll be previewing some of the songs from it on his site.

Also on the subject of photos, this is definitely my favorite one of Måns:


So, anyhow, Magnus and Måns! Please, Sweden! I'm most worried about Måns--I could see him not even making it to the second chance, but, based on song along, he unquestionably deserves to be in the final, as does Magnus. Their songs--I can't even express how good they are.

All the stars in heaven will shine for me

Ohhhh, yes. It is on. At this rate, this semifinal is going to be better than the actual final. The songs...they're amazing. I'll update in just a couple of minutes.

I am incredibly impressed. All predictions were that this was going to be the best semifinal round, and so far it easily is, but I had no idea it was going to be this good. Wow. In no particular order, the best:

Magnus (opening with Bosson-esque "ohh"'s, this song is so good. It's fast, it's poppy, it's got everything you could possibly want in a song. My favorite of the round, I think, though there's so much quality here that title could end up shifting around a lot, but this was the song I found myself wanting to listen to while I was sitting around waiting for my computer to do some stuff, so it wins out for now. It's one of the favorites to make the final, and it better! To quote someone else, though--I can't remember who, or I'd cite it--it might be very Melodifestivalen but maybe not very Eurovision. I don't care, though--it's sensational. Really. I can't even begin to get across how good it is--just listen to it already!)

Nanne (I was a little worried at first because it's acoustic-sounding, but she is going to perform the heck out of this, I'm sure, which will really elevate the song. Catchy vocal part, catchy guitar, and some lovely orchestral-ish punctuation of the song...I just sort of wish it wasn't so acoustic. As I said, though, I'm sure my opinion of it will climb immensely when I see it performed--she's such a powerful performer and really makes you see how brilliant her songs are.)

Måns (I'm hoping Mans does really well with this song and then decides that he wants to continue with this musical direction, as opposed to the "singer-songwriter" direction he's threatening. Nanne's a singer-songwriter, too, but I suspect he means something less fun, and this song is AMAZING. He's probably singing "When someone loves like I do, dreams can true," but to me it sounds like "When someone looks like I do, dreams can come true," and that's what I'm going to imagine he's saying instead. I'm not sure how well he'll perform it, but on quality of the song, I'd love this to at least make it to the second chance and the final from there. Please, Måns, release a full album of music like this! He seems a little emotionless at points, but oh gosh...I love this song. It starts out dark and slower, with Mans's voice muffled, but it breaks out into fantastic dance-pop. As if that wasn't great enough, out of nowhere, we get handclaps. Handclaps! Oh my gosh, is it good. It may, ignoring the performances, steal the title of my favorite from Magnus.)

Sebastian (ahh, this is great as well, up there with some of the best of his work. Don't let my lack of words here fool you--I love it as well.)

The Attic feat. Therese (it can't be a coincidence that this song opens up with a reference to "human rights" when the theme song for Melodifestivalen last year, also made by the Attic, was called "Human Rights," can it? Very clubby, very good. Even it fails to make the final--and I wonder if it being so clubby might hurt it--I don't know how it couldn't be a club hit...I love it a lot.)

MissMatch (these girls will probably be overlooked, cursed with being in the toughest semifinal and not being famous ahead of time, and I have a feeling a lot of Melodifestivalen fans might not like it, but I like it--I hope we hear more from them. It's a little rocky without being what I would necessarily call pop-rock. Plus, it's got panting.)

Sonja also has a beautiful ballad that is growing on me, but with this much amazing up-tempo stuff, there are so many other songs I'd rather see make it through. The Shieda song is nice enough, but can't compete when up against songs like these. You can listen to all the songs here.

Please, please, please let the stream work tomorrow! My hopes for the final and second chance--well, it's tough. I'm narrowly going to go Magnus and Nanne based on the reports that Nanne's performance easily tops everyone else's (otherwise--and I can't believe I'm saying this--it'd be questionable for me as to whether she should even make the second chance. Oh, saying that feels awful!), but Måns is close, and I definitely want him at least in the second chance and making it to the final out of there (or maybe in the final instead of Nanne...I love his song so much!). The second second chance spot--between Sebastian and the Attic feat. Therese, for me. There are five absolutely top-quality songs in this round, though, and it's such a shame more can't make it to the final. In fact, given the new structure of the second chance round, there's no way more than three songs from this semifinal will end up being in the final, which is ridiculous.

I'm in music paradise! I can't believe how great this round is. It really is going to be better than the final, I think.

I've waited tonight

My incomplete guide to this week's Melodifestivalen semifinal.

I'm far from an expert on Swedish pop, but I thought I'd give some brief background based on what I do know about the artists who'll be competing this Saturday. (If any of this is wrong or you know more, please let me know!) Since Melodifestivalen seems to take over this blog on the weekends, I thought some information ahead of time might be a good idea to give a better idea of what to expect and what's happening.

1.) Måns Zelmerlöw--a former competitor on Idol (he took fifth) and later the winner of Let's Dance, Sweden's version of Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing With The Stars, so, even though he's only twenty, he's practically a veteran of televised performance competitions. Originally, he wasn't going to be in Melodifestivalen, but after Agnes's (who beat him in Idol) song and another one were disqualified, he was called in. He's described his song, "Cara Mia," as danceable, with some ABBA and BWO influences, starting out sad but building up to something much happier. Enjoy it while you can, though, because he's also said his CD will be in a more singer-songwriter style.

To watch: he hasn't released any music yet, but you can watch him singing Roxette's "The Look" on Idol.



2.) MissMatch--I don't know anything about them except that they're made up of two girls--does anyone know more? All I've got from their Melodifestivalen profile is that they're best friends and neighbors. Their song is called "Drop Dead." Expressen compares them to t.A.T.u, though I'm not sure why, and there's a reference to schlager, though the girls do say they're not typical schlager.

3.) Magnus Carlsson--former Barbados and Alcazar member turned solo artist. He competed in Melodifestivalen last year (he's actually competed in it every year since 2000 except for 2004) with the great "Lev Livet" (one of the three happiest songs of last year), making it to the finals and placing eighth. I think I've heard that there's been a lot of positive buzz around his song this year, "Live Forever," which he's said is '80's-ish (he compared it to a-ha, among other things), happy, and fast, and has said it's typical of his upcoming album (which he's also said will be pop and disco).

To watch: his performance of "Lev Livet" at Melodifestivalen 2006



4.) Shieda--I don't know anything about this group--does anyone? Their song is called "I mina drömmar" and, from what I can understand from their Melodifestivalen profile, is sung in three languages. From what I can understand from Expressen, their song is "ethnic" or "world" music.

5.) The Attic feat. Therese--the Attic released a brilliant album last year which they described as pop-house, and that's about right. They've been around for longer than that, though, releasing singles and remixing songs for other artists, and they made the music for Lena Philipsson's entrances at Melodifestivalen 2006 (she was the host). Therese, too, does really danceable music; she might be most famous for "Put 'Em High," which she did with Stonebridge, but her song "Time" is also great. Together listed as "The Attic feat. Therese," they'll be singing "The Arrival."

To watch (for the Attic): or actually, don't...just let it play so you can hear the music, but it's a typical dance video featuring a bunch of scantily clad women...which is a shame, because a truly brilliant song like this one deserves so much more. The album version is much better than this video mix, too (that quiet part in the middle doesn't exist). You don't see the two members of the Attic until the end, in the police line up.



To watch (for Therese): the music video for "Time."



6.) Sebastian--a former Idol contestant, he's a little bit of a rocker and was in the same season as Måns, ultimately placing second. He released a debut single that I couldn't stand ("Do What You're Told") but followed it up with the good "Indifferent" and the excellent (as in, one of the best singles of last year/this year) lead single for his new album, "Words And Violence." At the rate his singles are improving, his song for Melodifestivalen, "When The Night Comes Falling," should be absolutely out of this world. However, if I'm understanding his interview in Expressen correctly, he compares the song to Bruce Springsteen circa 1975, and I think it's also saying a lot of people have criticized it, but I could be completely wrong.

To watch: his live performance of "Words And Violence" on the Idol 2006 finale (not the season he was competing in).



7.) Sonya--or Sonja Aldén, as I guess she is going by. She used to be one of Shirley Clamp's backup singers. Sonya competed in Melodifestivalen 2006 with "Etymon," but didn't make it out of the semifinals. She also co-wrote the Poodles' fourth-placed "Night Of Passion." She's contrasted her song this year, "För att du finns," with "Etymon," saying that while the latter was energetic and wild, this year's is calm and will contrast with the many uptempo songs she's up against; it's a lighters-in-the-air sort of song, according to her. The co-writer of her song also worked on "Etymon," Carola's "Invincible," Shirley Clamp's "Min kärlek," and Alcazar's "Not A Sinner, Nor A Saint," among other songs.

To watch: her Melodifestivalen 2006 performance of "Etymon."



8.) Nanne Grönvall--brilliant and maybe crazy, Nanne's competed in Melodifestivalen a bunch of times, sometimes as part of a group and sometimes solo, and also tried to represent the UK once, too. In 2005, she was the viewer favorite with "Håll om mig", but the jury's votes were enough to give Martin Stenmarck the win. Her song this year is "Jag måste kyssa dig," which means "I Must Kiss You." She's definitely one of the contestants to beat, and with good reason; given her history in Melodifestivalen, her performance is sure to be entertaining and her song should be great.

To watch: her Melodifestivalen 2005 performance of "Håll om mig."



Sources: Moopy, ESC Today (1, 2), Catchy Tunes Of Sweden, Wikipedia, SVT's Melodifestivalen site, Expressen. A huge thanks to all of these sites!