'Cause as long as you're with me, it's a winning streak

I'm not sure why, but I held off on getting too interested in any of this past year's Swedish Idol contestants at first--and for a while, in fact. I think runner-up Amanda Jenssen's '60's-inspired "Do You Love Me" is great now, but it was only after I'd been seemingly beaten over the head with it again and again that I finally caved in. I knew Marie Picasso's winner's single "This Moment" but didn't find it particularly compelling (it does have some interesting production or ideas but just ultimately failed to go anywhere for me), listened to clips of her album, read what other people thought about the album...but still resisted truly paying any attention to it.

I don't know if I can explain why I've had a reversal about Marie's second single "Winning Streak" then--maybe, like Amanda's single, I just had to hear it enough, or maybe I just had to be in the right mood. Whatever the reason, it's managed to capture me, making this the second day in a row that I'm posting some female-sung power ballad/adult contemporary pop type song--what's happening?

Winning Streak--stick it out past the first minute or so, which really serves as nothing more than a prelude or something that the rest of the song can then take off from (well, if it's going to build, it's got to start below where it's going to end up, right?)--it's at 1:06 where the song really begins to get going. It stays a power ballad of sorts, but it becomes much grander and with a beat underneath that keeps it from dragging and, along with the production, breathes life into the song. "Winning Streak" has a warm, encouraging, upbeat feel, and sometimes that's all you want.

To buy Marie Picasso's album The Secret, go here (physical).

Next up: maybe that older French song or a new-ish Swedish single. If I can manage to pull myself away from my new obsession.

She's a juvenile scam, never was a quitter

The most amusing thing I've seen in the past 24 hours:



(Taken from one of those TV shows where a singing celebrity/coach is paired with a celebrity not known for singing).

Oh Anthony. I do hope you're taking notes from this song and all those covers you've been doing at gigs lately for your next (entirely hypothetical) album. Of course, I'm still waiting for your dance-pop opus, so that'd do nicely too.

Then again, do you know who else performed "The Look" on a reality TV show?

Anthony to record "Cara Mia" Mark III, please!

I want to be loved, in love--that's enough, that's enough for me

My frustration with record companies continues: is there any reason Sibel's (twenty year old Swedish singer who was in Idol a few years ago but it just now launching her commercial career via Melodifestivalen) new album The Diving Belle should be licensed out to be available on some European countries' iTunes stores (including the UK) but not in the U.S.? The whole phased release argument certainly doesn't stand here--the odds of Sibel promoting her album is the U.S. must be virtually nonexistant, and certainly much worse than the odds of her promoting in, say, Norway. For that matter (and I'm sure it's just a licensing thing based on past agreements, but I still don't get it), why does, say, Greece get it but not, for example, Austria?

Anyway, I'm not sure if I'll end up buying the whole album or not, but for now I did get two tracks, "Make Believe" and "Walking Away." "Walking Away" (co-written by Kara DioGuardi, a piece of information more useful as trivia than as any guarantee of quality in my opinion) has some fantastic verses (with great use of strings!) and a good cute chorus that probably isn't "big" enough to scream world hit or anything, but the poppy-but-fleshed-out mid/up-tempo song is definitely a very enjoyable listen (there's a clip here; you'll get a taste of one of the verses near the end). The song I'm posting today, though, is the other one I picked up.

Make Believe--the first time I heard the preview of this song on iTunes, I thought it sounded great. I then listened to the full thing over on Sibel's MySpace and felt underwhelmed--it seemed a lot less good than the preview had made out. Still, I ended up returning to it several times, and now I think it's really won me over. The strong chorus that hooked me in from the preview is still great, but my appreciation for the more toned-down piano-based verses is growing. Speaking of the chorus, I think it's a good example of something I've mentioned a few times recently: what tends to really matter to me in terms of lyrics isn't necessarily what they actually mean but how they sound, and there's something about the whole miracle/lyrical thing I love the sound of (though I could see it being too much for some people). "Make Believe" is a very pretty pop song (kind of a mix between the very produced sound of much teen-pop [as well as having a lyrical sentiment that wouldn't be out of place in that genre at all] as well as more diva-does-adult contemporary/MOR and singer-singwriter sounds...maybe with a bit of Disney), but one that doesn't sacrifice its catchiness to be pretty.

To buy Sibel's debut album The Diving Belle, go here (physical; the physical copy comes out tomorrow) or, if your country's iTunes store has it, you'll be able to buy it here (there is an iTunes bonus track, which sounds pretty great). This song will only be posted for a short time, since I think it may be the next single and/or released for charity.

Next up: maybe something French.

Jag är solo i Stockholm

Gosh, we're just getting flooded with Swedish music videos now, aren't we?

Back when I wrote about Brolle's latest single, "Solo i Stockholm," I mentioned the little making of the music video clip we'd seen made me want to see the actual thing--any video with running towards the camera at a steadily increasing pace before falling to the ground dramatically in despair in the middle of a snow-covered landscape as the camera continues to pull away had to be worth seeing.

Well, it's out now...and I think the making of clip may have made it seem better than it was. It's fine, but not worth watching unless you really like the song (plus, in the aforementioned scene, I kind of wish they'd kept pulling away after he falls to the ground instead of cutting back to a closer-up shot of his back). The funniest thing about it may be that Aftonbladet is billing it as "Brolles heta kärleksvideo"--there's like five seconds of him lying shirtless in a bed with a girl, including a quick kiss, and that's it--otherwise there really couldn't be less love or fewer "hot" scenes in it. Still a great song, at any rate, though.

All your noise is messing with my head

D'luv may have beaten me to writing about Ashlee Simpson's new album cover, but I'm going to go for a hat trick of writing about artists or songs he dislikes and write about Ashlee today anyway. Her first album is one I associate with a very specific time period: my stepsister and cousin both bought copies of it when we were out in San Francisco and for about two weeks all I heard was that or the Spider-Man 2 soundtrack. I don't think I could hum anything beyond "Autobiography," "Pieces of Me," and "La La" from it now, but those are three great songs. I thought "Boyfriend," the lead single for her second album, was great, but couldn't stand "L.O.V.E." and never listened to her second album. I guess the point of all this reminiscing is to say that I was open to liking her new material but not guaranteed to like it. I really appreciated the thought behind the her Timbaland-penned third album lead single "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)," but it just didn't quite work for me--it was so close to being a great song, but just missing something, and it being that close and then missing out made it such a frustrating listen that I quickly moved on.

Thank goodness for Brad Walsh, then--I had a couple of his songs from a few years ago but hadn't followed him since (apparently he's dating Christian from Project Runway now), but if what he's done to "Outta My Head" is any indication, I should've been paying proper attention to him earlier, or at least to his remix work. His remix of "Outta My Head" isn't a radical reinvention of the song--instead, it's like he's just...finished it, made it complete. It's now got more electro crunch and more of a feeling of forward motion (which I am really thankful for).

Outta My Head (Brad Walsh Remix)

This remix was put up as a free download, but you can buy Brad Walsh's albums from iTunes here (digital) and the original version of Ashlee Simpson's "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" from iTunes (in the U.S.) here.

Next up: maybe something Swedish.

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.

Heaven help me

There's never a bad time to appreciate Charlotte Perrelli, right?

Here she is doing "Take Me To Your Heaven" at the German final, as part of a winners' medley with Ruslana and Marija.



Here she is doing a really pretty great cover of Madonna's "Like A Prayer" on Swedish TV (tiny bit of lyrics trouble, but nothing too distracting).



...and finally, let's remind ourselves one more time of the brilliant brilliant "Hero," which I'm hoping will win Melodifestivalen this coming weekend.

...que anticipabas un futuro catastrófico

I can't stand Ireland's entry this year, but I can understand what some people do see in it--and I'm not talking about in just a joke either; I can understand why it appeals to some people as a piece of music, and if I didn't dislike the turkey's voice so much, I too might be swept in by the early '90's dance catchiness of it.

HOWEVER...

I can see literally NO redeeming value in Spain's entry this year. There's no point ranting too much about it, as you can find others doing the same all over the Internet (and it was easy to see coming); if you're looking for a well thought out response to it, check out Chig's. I'll just say this: what started as a fantastic idea--opening up the national final of a country struggling to get good results in recent years to anyone--has sadly resulted in a joke entry backed by a private TV station (and rival of the TV station that runs the national final) winning out, easily getting the public's backing to go to Eurovision. What makes this a real shame is that some legitimately good and interesting entries lost out as a result.

If you want to try something different, go France's route--whether or not you like the song, there's no disputing that France getting Sebastien Tellier to enter "Divine" in the contest is an example of a Big Four country taking the contest seriously, and trying a new, interesting, and brave tack with their entry. "Divine" might not be to everyone's taste and it might not be very "Eurovision," but at the least it's an admirable effort.*



No one can say that's what that is.

*Note: there is one reservation I have about France: I kind of wish the entry was a little more Eurovision or at least a little catchier. Why? If "Divine" ends up not taking off, it could discourage other countries from being as bold as France is and other major artists from participating. In other words, it's not so much an objection to the track itself as a worry about what the ramifications might be if it fails, and thinking that maybe choosing a track a little more likely to stick with voters could help avoid that scenario. Of course, if "Divine" ends up doing well, then all my worries will be misplaced.

Get into the music

Random Melodifestivalen commentary from me primarily designed to make it seem like I have a reason beyond just listening to songs on repeat and hoping more will show up for still being here:

Schlagerprofilerna has the running order for the final (as well as 2007's and 2006's for comparison's sake)--and to be honest, it surprised me. Charlotte first? Not that that's a week starting spot, but I just somehow figured she'd be on last.

1.) Charlotte Perrelli
2.) Sibel
3.) Rongedal
4.) Linda Bengtzing
5.) Christer Sjögren
6.) Amy Diamond
7.) Sanna Nielsen
8.) Norman
9.) Frida
10.) BWO

In other news, Ola's single is now up for purchase (yes, I realize no one cares about this besides me), but Linda's still isn't (true for some others as well--I don't see BWO's or Caracola's yet either, among others) from iTunes (you can buy them all from other stores). Honestly, I know I shouldn't complain after getting so many songs I love to the final, but "Love In Stereo"--it, Ola, and its creators belong in the final, they really do. My over-the-top proclamations of love back from semifinal two still hold true--"Love In Stereo" is what I love about pop.