This will be the one

After today's show, my main question is this: when do they start production on mass-produced models of Måns? I want one. Valentine's Day wish?

I'm much more content with this week's results than last week. Well, in one sense, there's a strong similarity between the two weeks: there was one act I was willing to throw everyone else on the fire for as long as it got through--last week, Alcazar and this week, Måns Zelmerlöw. Both did, thank goodness. In results better than last week for me, though, the top four of Måns, H.E.A.T. (the other final qualifier), Amy Diamond, and Lili & Susie are probably just about the four songs I'm most likely to listen to, even if not necessarily in that order.

I'm still having trouble characterizing my feelings towards the semifinal as a whole. Song-wise, it felt more consistent for me than last week's, but also as if it was maybe missing out on the high highs to some degree. Medium highs? Yup, it had those. Me biting my lip with my hands clasped in front of me schlager-praying Måns made it through to the final? Of course. I'm just not sure that we got a true classic out of this semifinal, whereas I can easily see Alcazar's "Stay The Night" being just that for me.

Don't get me wrong: I'm dying for the studio version of Måns's song to come out and I'll probably play it incessantly and have loads of fun doing so. It could well turn out to have a lot more lasting power than I expect it to, and it's already a song I like--a song I love. It just feels a bit...light on the bottom for me. Does that make sense? I don't necessarily need depth in the sense of emotional depth in music (if it comes to that, I actually love the lyrics to "Hope & Glory"), but I'm left imagining would it would be like if the music itself had depth to it; to some degree "Hope & Glory" feels like it's bouncing along near the "top" so much (like the sort of thing you'd wave giant flags to crossed with cheesy marching) that it ends up feeling lighter as a result. This is just minor niggling, though, like the criticism you might give to A- work instead of the A+ you know the student's capable of. The song is still my easy favorite in the semifinal and at worst my second favorite song of the contest so far, with the potential for my opinion of it to improve and improve, something which it's absolutely done with further plays of the live version (to the extent that I may regret any reservations in the future). Måns is such a star, too. And does cartwheels!

(Have I mentioned on here yet that for something like a week now "Impossible," a track from his new album and the one he put the preview of on his site, has been for sale at Swedish-only digital music store Telia? I can't remember.)

The other final qualifier, rock band H.E.A.T., had a singer with a great voice. I wish their song had a little more impact to it, was catchier, but I liked them and it at the level I expected to. I don't know that I would have put them in my top two, but I was glad they were in the top four. Plus, you've got to love a group willing to play the game by using wind machines and putting their obviously best looking member (the drummer) shirtless on stage (and having the camera go back to him and pushing him to the front of the gropu when not performing whenever possible)

Lili & Susie and Amy's songs were both OK--maybe not as good as I was hoping for (though Lili & Susie's "Show Me Heaven" is the better of the two for me), but respectable entries.

All the sites I'd been reading had talked about their dislike for or problems with Markoolio's performance, but I was still surprised at how poorly the aimed-for humor of the staging came across. In theory, Dima Bilan's eccentric and over-the-top winning performance from last year as well as his earlier second place performance from 2006 should be prime fodder for satire that, even if the general public doesn't understand, is laughed at by Eurovision fans; heck, Sergey Lazarev and Dima managed to do so easily enough for a no budget short skit when they hosted an awards ceremony together (each mocking the other), even that would obviously never have sufficed as a Melodifestival performance. The execution here just didn't work.

Cookies 'N' Beans and Jennifer Brown both put in good performances of decent songs--songs I won't be in a rush to buy but am fine with. Ditto Lasse, I suppose.

Evelyn...that's a lie

Sorry for the lack of posts over the past couple of days. Don't worry--you'll still have to put up with my overexcited screaming about Melodifestivalen in a few days. Speaking of which, Tobbe Ek of Aftonbladet reviewed the songs from this coming semifinal (I'm sure most of the other usual sources did, too, but it's all about knowing who's taste you can trust). Important points include:

-Lili & Susie's song is an '80's-style pop song in their style with the hook "Gimme gimme gimme, show me heaven." He likes the song and thinks it's catchy, but isn't quite as impressed as he wanted to be.
-Lasse Lindh's song is what you'd expect from him and a likely radio hit even if it isn't a likely Melodifestival hit.
-Jennifer Brown's song is mid-tempo and like Whitney Houston but without the high notes.
-H.E.A.T.'s song is like the Poodles' past two entries.
-Markoolio's ballad has a chorus hook with a melodic resemblence to Elton John's "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" from The Lion King. The song is comparable to Magnus Uggla's music.
-Amy Diamond's song has forgettable verses but a chorus completely different from them, one he seems to like or at least think gives the song a good chance. The middle 8 has BWO-style "moaning" (I'm presuming "oh oh oh"-ing) and the title is repeated a lot.
-Cookies 'n' Beans's song is a country-influenced ballad with a capella in the last chorus and one of the singers sounds like a young Dolly Parton.
-Måns's song has a big opening which makes it harder to sing than "Cara Mia" was and is more like "Brother Oh Brother" than his earlier Melodifestivalen track (which is fine with me), as well as a little cooler than "Cara Mia." The chorus hook is "I'm still standing for hope and glory" and many people will be singing it. When you think the song's over, the chorus comes back for one more time "convince those who doubted up until then," according to Tobbe.

In the meantime, I just realized Lili & Susie's "Evelyn" is on YouTube. Had I realized this when I was doing my Melodifestival write-up, I definitely would have linked to it--it's a perfect dramatic '80's-style (though technically very early '90's, I think) rock ballad for pop lovers. My love for it is all Alexander's doing--the version he posted, from their greatest hits, is totally different from the version on album The Sisters, so without him I never would have become completely addicted to this song. Sadly, it's not embeddable, but go listen to it here. I've got no words for it as well as no illusions that people will love it as much as I do, but hopefully you'll at least enjoy it.

But clickin' her heels wouldn't get her home

As with pretty much any semifinal, this coming Saturday's second Melodifestival semifinal brings with it some big names. As this past week showed, though, a big name won't necessarily get you through the competition.

As usual, this post is just intended to serve as a round-up of information already on the Internet; the credit for it goes to the sites below, which I am very much indebted to.

Sources: SVT, SR, Expressen, QX (1, 2, 3, 4), Gylleneskor, Sydsvenskan, Schlagerprofilerna

1.) Lili & Susie, "Show Me Heaven" (Susie Päivärinta/Calle Kindbom/Thomas G:son/Pär Lönn/Nestor Geli)
Sister duo Lili & Susie had a number of hits in the late '80's and early '90's (when the sisters distinguished between themselves by wearing different colors of lipstick) and make their united comeback to the world of music with a song they describe as an updated version of their old sound. The songwriters (who include Susie; Calle Kindbom, who did Fame's "Give Me Your Love" among other songs; and Thomas G:son, a songwriter who usually makes schlager and who can be hit and miss, though maybe that stems from his willingness to ship songs that don't make it into Melodifestivalen to other countries' national finals) agree, calling "Show Me Heaven" longing '80's nostalgia with a strong chorus and clear melody. The song has also been described by the sisters as a little like a dance version of their earlier hit "Bara du och jag" (a fact I cheered at, since I love that song) with the happiness of "What's The Colour Of Love," another hit of theirs. "Show Me Heaven" is said by people who've heard it to be a great song, just what you could want from their comeback. This won't be the sisters' first time in the contest, though--they entered with "Okey Okey" in 1989.

A greatest hits album with three new tracks--"Show Me Heaven," "Tease Me," and one more--will be released March 18.

To watch: oh, this is tough--the duo had a number of great '80's pop hits. I personally tend to go with "Bara du och jag" as my favorite of theirs (though it depends on the day; right now I'm madly in love with "Evelyn," kind of a power ballad but with more movement to it), but "Oh Mama" (complete with Depeche Mode-type hook at some points) might go over better, so here's that instead.



Actually, you know what, here's the fantastic "Bara Du Och Jag," too. It's just a clip of the music video, only 1:25 in length, so it's not too much of a time commitment.



2.) Lasse Lindh & Band, "Jag ska slåss i dina kvarter!" (Lasse Lindh)
Undeterred by the fact that the Melodifestival-voting public placed his subdued ballad "Du behöver aldrig mer vara rädd" sixth in its semifinal last year, singer-songwriter Lasse Lindh returns to Melodifestivalen with a song he describes as an in-your-face danceable track, the opposite of his last entry and the sort of song you open a concert with. He also says it's a classic Lasse song that is an attitude-filled fast indie-pop song which you're guaranteed to know the chorus of after one time.

To watch: his Melodifestival performance from last year of "Du behöver aldrig mer vara rädd"



3.) Jennifer Brown, "Never Been Here Before" (Jennifer Brown/Peter Kvint)
Jennifer Brown is new to Melodifestivalen but hardly new to the Swedish music scene: she's been releasing albums since 1994. Her big breakthrough, though, was in 1999 with the album Vera and the quirky-but-serious soul-pop track "Tuesday Afternoon." Jennifer is the sort of singer who has won critical praise and not the typical Melodifestival singer (though she's been rumored to be in the contest in the past)--"poppy" isn't an adjective I'd really apply to her and she's an artist you wouldn't be surprised at all to hear jazz or cabaret influences from her in music--but she's also done at least a few great pop tracks over the years (like "Trouble In Mind").

"Never Been Here Before" is written by Jennifer and Peter Kvint, the man behind both of Andreas Johnson's recent solo entries, Andreas and Carola's "One Love," and Sebastian's "When The Night Comes Falling," among other songs. They describe it as the saddest song Burt Bacharach never wrote, and elsewhere it's been said to be a soul ballad and quiet, with an appropriately fairly sedate, emotional performance.

To watch: the music video for "Tuesday Afternoon"



4.) H.E.A.T., "1000 Miles" (Niklas Jarl/David Stenmarck)
Rock group H.E.A.T. are new to Melodifestivalen and, with their appearance in it, will be introducing themselves to the mainstream Swedish music scene--they released an album in April, but I don't think they've registered on the average Swede's radar. Despite their image, from the very little I've heard of their own music, it's not full of heavy guitars; it's still rock, but it's "tamer" and with more of an emphasis on vocal melody than you might expect .

Speculation before the announcement of who would sing the track included the Poodles, who sang the demo according to Gylleneskor, so that might give us an idea of what to expect (though a later Gylleneskor article actually said that David's brother Martin Stenmarck sang the first demo but there was never talk of him doing it in the contest). "1000 Miles" is described by its writers as being in the '80's hard rock style, a song about love that is a mix of Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, and glam rock. It's been submitted to the contest three times previously without making it in, but the writers attribute its inclusion this year to Melodifestivalen now being more open to other genres.

To watch: the group performing a song of theirs, "Bring The Stars," live



5.) Markoolio, "Kärlekssång från mig" (Patrik Henzel/Karl Eurén/Marko Lehtosalo)
Swedish comedic rapper Markoolio is marketed towards kids and isn't exactly what you would call popular or cool among older Swedes, and usually for a reason. His past two albums have at least had a couple of great tracks on them, though, the most notable being 2007's "Värsta Schlagern," a duet with Linda Bengtzing that parodied the formulaicness of the schlager style, describing each of the elements needed to make a schlager song. It used all those elements so successfully, though, that it actually ended up being a fantastic song and a big hit in Sweden, a rare feat for a schlager song that wasn't in Melodifestivalen (though the track was actually a Melodifestival reject).

"Kärlekssång från mig" may include several of the songwriters of "Värsta Schlagern" (who've worked with Markoolio on many other songs but who have separately been involved with Mendez's entries, B-Boys International and Paul M's "One Step Closer," and Verona's "La Musica"), but don't be expecting another fun up-tempo romp--the songwriters describe it as a ballad with a twist. Markoolio has said that the song and performance will include humorous lyrics, stripping, and him lying on the floor and crawling around (presumably mocking Dima Bilan), though with him, you can never tell if it's a joke or not. He's also said it's got humorous lyrics but he'll deliver it seriously...but said he won't say what's going on around him while he's singing.

To watch: the actually hilarious music video for "Värsta Schlagern"



6.) Amy Diamond, "It's My Life" (Alexander Bard/Bobby Ljunggren/Oscar Holter)
Young singer Amy Diamond is met with dislike by a surprising number of Melodifestival fans, while I'm convinced she's got the potential to solidify herself as a great popstar as she grows up--I mean, she already gave us a Rachel Stevens Junior song in last year's Melodifestival! Amy, at sixteen, is four albums into her recording career. Many of her songs have a reggae-light beat to them, but if her last album is anything to judge by, she seems to be moving into a more pure electronic pop direction.

With a songwriter line-up like this one, there's every chance Amy's entry this year will be a great pop song, and maybe the one to win over some of those doubters. Alexander Bard is currently the main man behind BWO (though his pop credentials run further back than that and include Army of Lovers and Alcazar), Bobby Ljunggren is one of those common Melodifestival faces who is deservedly respected (as just a small indicator of that, all of the top three songs in last year's Melodifestival were co-written by him) but just has so many songs in the contest that his name alone isn't a foolproof guarantee of a great song, and Oscar Holter is most familiar to me through his sharp biting electro dance remixes (though apparently he also co-wrote Sanna Nielsen's "I Believe It's You"). They describe "It's My Life" as an uptempo and electro dance song with attitude. Amy says it's completely different from "Thank You" and different from her earlier work in general.

To watch: her performance of "Thank You" from last year's Melodifestival



7.) Cookies 'N' Beans, "What If" (Robin Abrahamsson/Amir Aly/Maciel Numhauser)
Country trio Cookies 'N' Beans includes the lead singer of Oh Laura, who was also previously in Melodifestivalen as part of La Roxx in 2004. They've existed as a group since 2003, but didn't release their debut album, Tales From A Trailer Trash Soul, until 2007 (I've heard nothing from it and I don't think it made much of an impression outside of Sweden's country music scene, so this will be some big exposure for them). "What If" is said by its writers to be an expressive, dynamic song which takes hold and makes you want more. QX reported that the song is neither a ballad nor up-tempo and is similar to last year's "Visst finns mirakel" by Suzie Tapper (by these songwriters) from last year.

To watch: All YouTube turns up are some live performance videos, so here's one of a song called "Now It's Too Late" (I should mention, though, that some of their other songs are much more up-tempo)



8.) Måns Zelmerlöw, "Hope & Glory" (Fredrik Kempe/Måns Zelmerlöw/Henrik Wikström)
The other half of the most poptastic couple currently in existence, Marie Serneholt's boyfriend is the act oddsmakers are expecting to win Melodifestivalen. After taking fifth in Idol and winning Let's Dance (the Swedish version of Strictly Come Dancing or Dancing With The Stars), Måns Zelmerlöw debuted to the Melodifestival world with the up-tempo pop anthem "Cara Mia" in 2007. Despite the song only making it into the contest after previously qualified songs were disqualified and Måns not yet being an established artist (it was his first single), he captured the public and the media's attention, qualifying straight to the final, taking third, and going on to have one of the biggest hits of the year in Sweden.

The former underdog now has a lot of expectations on his shoulders. In addition to the aforementioned odds of winning, just following up a beloved song like "Cara Mia" is going to be tough. Even if "Hope & Glory" is fantastic, it may suffer in some people's eyes from not being the new fresh sound that "Cara Mia" was; by now, Fredrik Kempe, the main songwriter, has already won the whole contest in 2008 with Charlotte Perrelli's "Hero," a song many people compared to "Cara Mia." Many of the reviews of "Hope & Glory" have even called it "Hero" Part Two and Måns himself has said it's an epic upgrade of "Cara Mia" (though elsewhere he's also said that, though "Hope & Glory" might have resembled "Hero" when it was a demo, it's now much more "him" and grander than "Hero" was and tried to distance the song from "Cara Mia" by saying that, though it has a great chorus like that song, "Hope & Glory" is a little dancier with a little more '70's-influenced key change). Will it be going back to the same well too many times?

Still, the song, described by its authors as a hopeful love anthem and a song everyone will remember after its first listen--one with some disco-schlager influences and a little bit of the '70's but still modern--and one Måns has said he'll be dancing to (though he's also dropped the interest contest that the lyrics, about how life is difficult and we have to fight and create our own hope and glory, are like fighting a war on stage), is one many fans of the contest are excitedly anticipating, and the fact that early reports say it's great surely isn't hurting at all.

An album, MZW, will be released on March 25. Måns worked with Fredrik Kempe and Ishi (Lazee, Petter) on it and describes it as schlager-R&B with big choruses and a good beat. You can get an early taste of one of the tracks, "Impossible," on Måns's website.

To watch: Måns's 2007 semifinal performance of "Cara Mia"



What I expect my favorites from this final to be: Måns Zelmerlöw, Amy Diamond, and Lili & Susie. What can I say? I love my up-tempo dance-friendly electronic pop. I'm open to liking all of them, though.

Kungen för natt

One of the few good things about not being a Swedish speaker is that I can pretty much ignore awful Swedish lyrics. That can be particularly useful whenever Markoolio, a kid-oriented rapper, manages to come up with a good song--since the only time I ever have a chance at understanding Swedish lyrics anyway is when I really focus and even then I'll usually miss most of them, all I have to do is not think about it and I can just take the instrumental part and the sound of the words on their own merits. That doesn't really sort out the issue of Markoolio's voice, which is constantly in this probably put-on state of oddness, and there are times when to naturally and easily understand his lyrics would be wonderful (see "Värsta Schlagern," for example, and he may have some genuinely funny lines in his songs), but in general, it all adds up to a situation which allows me to appreciate a handful of his songs. As I've noted in the past, he's smart enough to rely heavily on female-sung hooks, which only makes it easier to appreciate some of his choruses.

I'm on the record as loving "Värsta Schlagern" and "Emma Emma" (one of those cases where not being a Swedish speaker comes in handy) and I like "Idollåten" from his previous album as well, but "Markoolio Anthem," the latest single from his new album, is decent as well, mainly because it's been so dressed up in Eurobeats and includes that whole Boney M/Lady GaGa "ma ma ma ma" section.

"Vacker & Rik," in its best moments, keeps the Euro feel of "Markoolio Anthem" and plays it up even more--just listen to that catchy chorus and tell me you aren't left wishing the whole song was in that style. Once again, it's mainly in the hands of some female singer, but even Markoolio's raps work better there, to the point where I find them great--they're more melodic, catchier, and surrounded by strong almost dance-disco type beats, as well as almost part of a back-and-forth with the female singer, albeit only an A-B-A one. Surrounded by catchy Europop music and female vocals--that's how I tend to like Markoolio best, and that's what this song gives us, at least for its chorus...and it's a good enough chorus that I've been listening to the whole song just to get to it.

To buy Markoolio's new album, Jag är konst, go here (physical) or here (digital).

Thing I learned about Markoolio today: he and Velvet used to be a couple. Random.

Next up: maybe that American singer, finally, or a French singer making a return to the music scene.

And I don't wanna stop

Am I ever going to stop writing about Melodifestivalen? No, probably not.

In interviews with QX, the first eight artists announced gave us a little more information about their songs.

Alcazar talked about "Stay The Night," with Tess saying it sounds like a combination of songs Alcazar have done earlier, with Andreas saying that it reminded him a little bit of "Knock On Wood."

BWO say they noticed that modern dramatic ballads do well, so presumably that's what they think "You're Not Alone" is. Apparently it's a song that shows off Martin's singing and they say it's this year's "Empty Room" and "Believe" (great...).

Måns Zelmerlöw says "Hope & Glory" is an upgrade of "Cara Mia," big and grand. He also reveals that there was another song he worked on with Fredrik Kempe and considered sending, a megaballad in a French march tempo, but (and this is why you have to love Måns) he decided that he "had to get to dance" or he would be "boring" otherwise. He hasn't sent in songs he's written to any other country yet (a song he co-wrote was in Romania's nationa final this year), but he has enough that he can and (probably) will.

I haven't mentioned this in a blog post yet, but the fact that Markoolio is the first joker announced has been discussed in the comments. Markoolio's song, "Kärlekssång från mig," is described, as Melodiment pointed out, as a ballad with a twist (and funny lyrics) and is from the writers of not just some of Markoolio's own songs (like "Värsta Schlagern") but also of 2005's B-Boys International and Paul M's "One Step Closer" and 2007's Verona's "La Musica." Damian pointed out an article in which Markoolio says there will be strippers, with Markoolio lying on the ground and crawling around. Speaking of Markoolio, I want to take another opportunity to praise "Emma, Emma" from his last album. It may have kind of cringeworthy lyrics, but if "Värsta Schlagern" was Markoolio doing a parody of schlager but actually making a brilliant schlager song with a lot of help from a female singer, "Emma, Emma" is the techno/Eurodance equivalent of it. All three of my preferred tracks from that album involved Markoolio being smart enough to delegate a lot of the hook duties and actual good parts of the song to a female singer, so it'll be interesting to see if he does that at all with "Kärlekssång från mig." I'm not counting on it, though.

With three joker spots left, the names being mentioned again and again are Marie Serneholt (would love her to be back with any music period, so a big yes from me), Orup, Darin (love him, obviously, but I'm not sure that I want him in Melodifestivalen), EMD, and Lutricia McNeal.

As Schlager Queen and Gylleneskor (among others) both reported, dansband Lasse Stefanz have declined to sing "Den Första Kyssen;" as they're the demo artists, if they refuse to sing the song, SVT has an option to disqualify the song entirely if they don't feel they can find anyone else they want to sing it. If that happens, another song--one of the ones that just missed the cut--would be chosen to replace it. In 2007, Måns's "Cara Mia" and Lustans Lakejer's "Allt vi en gång trodde på" were replacements, so you could potentially get something good out of a disqualification...then again, the current song could be great. The lists of the finalists (the songs chosen and those that just missed out) and the top 116 are posted on SVT's site (as PDFs--the former is here and the latter is here). I love going through in the months afterward and trying to figure out what songs released were Melodifestivalen rejects (I've got some list somewhere I should go find and see if anyone can add onto), so, though it's a bit early to do that with these lists, they may provide some entertainment in the future.

Jag är tillbaks?

With credit to PubliSpain, Naked, the debut album of Dutch singer Nikki, whose Kelly Clarkson-ish song "Bring Me Down" is really shaping up to be one of my favorite singles of the year, can be listened to in its entirety here. Good news: another version of "Brief & Beautiful" (though it plays as track 8, not track 9 as labeled)! Just what the world needed.

Surely Markoolio can't be imitating Lady GaGa's "Poker Face" in his new song ("The Markoolio Anthem")? I mean, the turnaround time given when "Poker Face" started taking off in Sweden...they just couldn't have done it quickly enough...could they? But what other (modern, unless we think he's going Boney M.) reason would there be for that very distinctive "ma ma ma ma" after the chorus (not the one near the chorus's beginning)? It's a heck of a coincidence otherwise.

I am beyond thrilled that finally, finally I was able to buy John Barrowman's "What About Us." My love of that song (an ultimate sing-along-in-your-car, clenched-fists sort of melodic power ballad) still remains at unhealthy levels--I'm blaming you, Gary Barlow.

Speaking of Popjustice-featured songs, I also love Britain's Got Talent winner George Sampson's debut single, "Get Up On The Dance Floor." Yes, he won for being a dancer, not any sort of musician, but that hasn't stopped me from playing this song (via its video), basically a mash-up of a bunch of famous dance tracks, multiple times. I will absolutely not back down on my love of this.



Also on the front of tracks that will probably be marketed towards British kids but that I adore, we've also got Same Difference's "We R One." Paul already analyzed the video, so instead I'll just leave it at this: fantastic song and fantastic dance routine for the chorus, especially during the whole "together, together, we're coming undone" second half of the chorus. Just as he did when writing for Marie Serneholt's solo album, Jörgen Elofsson's done a great job of making a song that harks back to '90's pure pop but that's still enjoyable for today. I wish he'd make songs like this--as opposed to the ballads he seems to mainly produce now--more often.

Jag slänger in i mig första taxi jag ser

I've never heard a whole Markoolio album, but his duet with Linda Bengtzing was enough to interest me in getting a few of the songs from his most recent release, Värsta platten. Though the fact that I don't speak Swedish is surely hurting my ability to truly "get" these songs--there's got to be a lot of humor going on--I like all the ones I bought. One thing I like about Markoolio is that, judging based on these songs, he's not afraid of bringing in a female singer to accompany him and to give the songs the poppiness they need (lest they get a little too goofy and only appreciable on a novelty level), whether it's through significant backing vocals or an actual featured vocalist; he's a little like former Five singer Abs in that way (though he predates Abs's solo career).

Emma, Emma--with its techno or Euro-dance influence, this is in a completely different style than "Värsta schlagern" or "Ingen sommar utan reggae," which has a reggae beat (and which seems to get played on the radio constantly), but it's still catchy. Markoolio has a distinctive voice and style that I'm not sure I could handle over a whole album, but he's surprised me so far--maybe I could (I wouldn't bet on it, though). Regardless, the racing pace of this song, the woman's singing, and its general catchiness make it one of the album's stand out songs, from what I've heard (though if I had to listen to it repeatedly on the radio, I might change my mind). As for what it's about...well, let's just say it's about trying to get to Emma, and leave it at that.

To buy Markoolio's album Värsta platten, go here (physical) or here (digital). The female-sung part on "Idollåten" makes it possibly worth a listen (well, that's not the only good part, but I think it makes the song) and "Värsta schlagern" is definitely great.

Next up: maybe a young American singer.

Det börjar bra, nästan intressant

I can't take it. I can't leave that as the song for the day. We need something to brighten up the place, something definitely good but totally poppy and happy. And I know exactly what will fit the bill: the new (ish) song by Swedish singers Linda Bengtzing and Markoolio. Linda was a contestant on Fame Factory and has competed in Melodifestivalen in the past, and, though I don't know much about Markoolio, I do know he's released music before, too. The song has been written about at several places (including Schlagerblog, a blog which you really have to read if you're at all interested in Eurovision), so this is far from a breaking discovery, but it's still so great that I have to share it.

Värsta Schlagern--this song makes me desperately wish I could speak Swedish. It's basically (from what I understand) a parody of and homage to the schlager genre--it does everything the typical schlager song does, only taking it up another level and describing it all. Even if you can't understand the language to get all the jokes (if you want to know what all the lyrics mean, Popknark has translated them over at the Popjustice forums), it's still a fun, bright, happy pop song.

To buy the single for Markoolio and Linda Bengtzing's single "Värsta Schlagern", go here (physical) or here (digital). If you want more from Linda, you can grab her song "Ingenting Att Förlora" from the great blog You Don't Know Pop here.

Don't forget to vote for the best ten pop albums of all time--e-mail your choices to Adem of I'm Always Right at myfavouritepoprecord@gmail.com. Full details of the vote can be found here, but it's a great idea...and one randomly selected voter may even win a prize! Adem's decided to continue accepting entries up until March 1. This really is a great opportunity--all those annoying lists that leave off the best albums because they don't fit in with what's traditionally acceptable? This'll fight back against them. Choose whatever you think the best ten pop albums are and e-mail your list off; to sound for cliche for a moment, it's for a great cause...and more importantly, it's fun!

Edit: you can see pictures from Melodifestivalen rehearsals for the first round here; thanks to a commenter on ESC Today for the link (the link to ESC Today will also take you to some really minimal summaries of a few of the rehearsals)!

Next up: still hopefully someone from Norwegian Idol, but possibly another Swedish singer.