I don't know if this is what it seems

Well, I never would have seen this coming...

The composers and song titles for the Norwegian national final, the Melodi Grand Prix, were announced today. All of the composers are Norwegian, and I have to admit I'm not all that up on my Norwegian songwriters, but a few names jumped out at me.

The one I'm kind of most surprised at? Fred Ball and Hannah Robinson have a song called "Baby, Don't Stop The Music." You might have heard of Fred Ball through his Pleasure project--the song "Out Of Love" got some blog buzz for a while. He's also worked with Bertine Zetlitz. Hannah Robinson has done stuff with Rachel Stevens ("Some Girls"!), Annie ("Chewing Gum"!), and Sophie Ellis-Bextor ("Me And My Imagination"!), among others; for the sake of my continued attempts to promote Lorie's new album 2Lor En Moi?, it's also worth mentioning that she (along with Richard X and a bunch of others) co-wrote the fantastic "Le Bonheur À Tout Prix !" (though interestingly, she and Richard X [as well as Thierry Sforza] are only credited as "auteur," not "compositeur"--that's Paul Harris and Ian Masterson--which is the opposite of what I would have expected; I kind of think that can't be right...I must be misunderstanding it or something). "Baby, Don't Stop The Music" will definitely be a song to look out for, even if you don't usually pay any attention to the whole Eurovision thing.

Other names I recognize? Anne Hvidsten has written a song ("A Little More") for the contest--she released a solo album some years ago and has written songs outside of that, too. The songs I know her from are pretty much ballads, but she has a great way with ballads.

Paul should be pleased to see that Christian Ingebrigtsen has co-written a song for the MGP; it's called "Eastern Wind" and was written with Eivind Rølles.

I've heard of Mira Craig, but never gone out of my way to listen to her. Anyway, she's got a song called "Hold On, Be Strong" in it; she's definitely got her own very...distinct style.

At least two guys from 70's/'80's-sounding rock band Wig Wam have songs in the competition; guitarist Trond Holter has a song in it called "Get Up" (he wrote last year's "Wannabe," performed by Crash) and singer Åge Sten Nilsen has a song called "Would You Spend The Night With Me."

Moving beyond songwriters, it looks like Lene Alexandra must really be in the MGP--really, "Sillycone Valley," which I remember reading about (can't remember whether it was rumor or confirmed at the time), can't be for anyone else. There's been some talk about who's performing what, but there's been no big announcement of all the performers as of yet.

Thelo ta pada na do de me horai o kosmos

Greek singer Sakis Rouvas is probably most famous outside of Greece for his third place finish in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest. He would go on to co-host the contest in 2006 when it was held in Greece after Helena Paparizou's victory in 2005. He's released a lot of albums outside of that, though; he is releasing/just recently released another live album. This song, though, isn't live, though I think it's from that album.

Stous 31 Dromous--this is going to sound like kind of a weird comparison, but I just finished listening to a bunch of Motiv8 mixes before listening to this song, and, come to think of it, the opening music of this song kind of harks back to that era...a little? More chill than some, though. Anyway, dance-type music, though I wouldn't really call this dance-pop (maybe it is but, like I said, it just seems a little more chill than I usually associate that term with, though it does have energy, so maybe "chill" isn't really the right word; it's just not going for the stomper feel like "Ise oti thelo" was) underneath a catchy chorus, and you've got me sold! I feel like I should have a lot more to say about this song given how much I like it, but, for the moment, I don't--just that it's good. Another Dimitris Kontopoulos composition, and just as great as there others of his I've been loving since they were recommended. Really--this, Elli Kokkinou's "Ise oti thelo," and Kostas Martakis's "Astous na lene" are all such great home-runs of songs--he's definitely on my list to watch now.

I'm not really sure where you can buy the album this song is from, This Is My Live, but his album Iparhi Agapi Edo can be purchased here (physical) or here (digital).

Next up: maybe something British.

This could be the place where we start the rest of our lives

I was going to try to make it look like I wasn't obsessed with Blake Lewis's music by not making comments about him for a little bit...hah, we can see how long that lasted.

Audio Day Dream gets, in general, the Chart Rigger seal of approval. I can be kind of flighty with my tastes, but that should mean something to you all. My love of the album hasn't worn off at all, though, so I still definitely recommend picking it up.

I only found out today that he's actually playing in Ohio tonight...not that I would have had time to go anyway (nor is it super-close to me), and I'm not so sold on the format/arrangement of the live performances of "Break Anotha" in general, but he better come back at some point. While I'm here, please. In the meantime, I'll have to make do with this uber-cute (as well as uber-short) thank you to his fans.



The album ultimately charted at #10 with 98,000 sales which, I have to say, is better than I was expecting. I just hope it's enough that the label is willing to invest in him and promotion in the future.

Oh, and on a more personal note, Last.fm tells me that last week I apparently listened to songs by Blake 285 times. The most I'd listened to any other artist in all my months of having Last.fm combined was 174 times. Oops.

Day after day, we'll find a way

The rest of the Melodifestivalen contestants, with the exception of the wildcards, were announced today and--thrillingly though not surprisingly (but I wasn't going to count on anything)--the name I was most hoping for showed up: Linda Bengtzing. Yes, I know, she's got some live singing issues (read Bollinger Bolshevik's much more witty description on that topic), but there's something about her voice, at least in studio, that I adore--maybe it's the way that she sings just so full-bore? Whatever; I'm thrilled that she's back, thrilled that she's got the writers of "Alla Flickor" and "Diamanter" behind her, and hopeful that we'll get another album after that (expect Blake-level freaking about it around that time).

She's hardly the only singer worth paying attention to, though. As I said yesterday, we'll hopefully get a bunch of new singers and songs that we currently have no idea how much we'll love, but name-wise, Melodifestivalen/Swedish pop fans are probably excited about BWO, Caracola, one of the girls out of Pay TV, and (though at some point I want to delve into some of the other songs I'm looking forward to beyond these "big names"...well, maybe that's not the right term for Caracola) today's featured singer, Charlotte Perrelli. I know I wrote about her not too long ago, but given that she'll be back to Melodifestivalen after winning it and then Eurovision in 1999, she's worth drawing your attention to again.

Closer--Charlotte will be singing the Fredrik Kempe and Bobby Ljunggren song "Hero" in Melodifestivalen (the same semifinal as Linda! I'm so worried, given the other names in the semifinal and the fact that we haven't even heard the wildcards yet) and if it's as good as some of the other uptempo schlagers she's given us in the past, we should all be in for a treat. "Closer," from her 2004 album Gone Too Long, is one of those. It's really just flawless Swedish pop, catchy, energetic, swooshy, and upbeat with a strong chorus and, yes, a key change. I love the music just after each chorus and the middle 8.

To buy Charlotte Perrelli's album Gone Too Long, go here (physical).

Next up: maybe a Greek song.

I know I don't deserve the love you give me...

Do you ever have those times where you listen to a song, think "that's OK," then don't listen to it again for a while before suddenly being struck by a desire to listen to it again and really getting into it? I've kind of fallen in mini-love with Westlife's "Something Right" today and yesterday. It's really a shame "Us Against The World" (a ballad) is going to be a single instead of something like this (and let's ignore their cover of "Home" entirely), which is more upbeat and, come to that, actually has a beat. Anyhow, I imagine you all probably already know who Westlife are--Irish boy band who are kind of infamous at this point, but, even if I'm not really on full album-level terms with them, I really do believe that they can sometimes be the vehicle for some good pop songs--"If I Let You Go," "World Of Our Own," "When You're Looking Like That," "Amazing," and "Hit You With The Real Thing" (if you liked the Backstreet Boys' harder-hitting uptempo songs from the days of yore, there's a good chance you'll enjoy that latter song, and if you miss their ballads from around 2000, "Amazing" is definitely a throwback to those) all come to mind, and I think we can put this song in that category.

Something Right--a mid-tempo upbeat pop song that kind of has a similar vibe to "World Of Our Own;" they'd work well played back-to-back. It's just been able to consistently bring a smile to my face so much the past day or two that I had to post it. The lyrics ("I know I don't deserve the love you give me/But now I understand that/If you want me/I must be doing something right") and the lovely, upbeat but not aggressively so music are a perfect match. It's just so easy to listen to...it's got a very reassuring feel to it.

To buy Westlife's album Back Home, go here (physical) or here (digital).

Next up: maybe something Swedish to go along with the next Melodifestivalen announcement.

Am I coming through, can you hear me crying out your name?

Sweden has announced the first have of its non-wild card Melodifestivalen entrants, those who will be competing in the first two rounds. It's pretty much what people were guessing. If it was all about artists, I'd be most excited about Ola (co-written by Tony Nilsson!), Velvet, and maybe Sanna Nielsen, but her song "Empty Room" is probably a ballad which is knocking down my excitement somewhat (at least Aleena Gibson is involved, though). Still, speculation at this point--as much fun as it is and as much as I'm going to keep doing it--is pretty pointless, because (hopefully) there's a good chance someone we've never heard of or weren't expecting much from will surprise us with a great song. The name(s) I'm most looking forward to won't be out until tomorrow, when the contestants for the third and fourth rounds, will be out, and then we'll still have to wait even longer for the wildcards.

Speaking of Swedish artists and national finals, Swedish singer and friend of Marie Serneholt Anorah will be in the Danish national final singing "Laying Down My Cards." She can sing; the question will just be how good her song is.

Dans mon sac j'ai des mots de ma vie d'avant

Reallly quick post today! I know I just wrote about Lorie's new album a few days ago, but I really believe in its quality and so I thought I'd feature one more song from it, just in case anyone was on the edge about getting it...and also because I think, so far, it's my favorite (besides "Je vais vite," anyway).

L'amour autrement--opening with handclap-like beats and male "oh-ohh-oh-ohh"s, this uptempo catchy song is just perfect. It's lovely and danceable and just too floaty and slightly revvy and heavenly for words. Lorie refers it as the "80's song" of her album. Perfect light-but-not-too-light dance-pop--if Lorie can keep making songs this good, with this much quality (and she's got almost a whole album full of them at the moment), she really has arrived.

To buy Lorie's album 2Lor en moi?, go here (physical). There are a bunch of other great songs on the album--I really recommend it.

Next up: maybe that Swedish singer I've been meaning to write about.

Headed for perfect disaster

Obligatory Blake Lewis newsbreak!

Blake's said before that there was one song he didn't want on the album, and, in case you were wondering, we know what it is now: "I Got U." Which I love. He says he thinks it's a great song and that it's only because he didn't want too many ballads on the album (a cause I can definitely back). I don't know...part of me wonders if it's just because it was a little too cute for him...then again, he did co-write it, in which case maybe it really is genuinely because he didn't want too many ballads on the album.

He performed "How Many Words" on a talk show (though with "Break Anotha" as the primary performance), so it could be the new single, but it might not be as well. He's also been sick recently--bronchitis, if I'm remembering correctly?--and I think you can kind of hear that in some of his recent performances (though the Regis & Kelly one was better than others).

Speaking of "How Many Words," it's actually outselling "Break Anotha" on iTunes right now, probably not a good sign for a new single (though there are two different versions of "Break Anotha" competing with each other, the single and the one on the album), but maybe a good sign for "How Many Words"? Personally, I think it should be the "goodbye" song on Idol just because I'd find the "I'm letting you go, you're letting me down" hilarious in that context. No? Maybe not.

In the midst of all this Blake-mania, I'd be remiss if I didn't point you in the direction of Olga Loves Yuri (love the album review, may love the "'Break Anotha' vid appears to be conceived by 6 year-olds" headline even more) and The Zapping (which reviewed the album).

Hasta que me llores, como todos lo hacen por ti

I meant to write about this earlier, but oh well, now all the Spain news can go in one post.

It's been announced that Spanish singer Gisela will represent Andorra at Eurovision next year with the song "Casanova." Now, it's well established how much I like D'Nash, but if the following song-performancer-performer combination was an option (with good vocals) as opposed to just a presentation of an eligible song, I would've definitely wanted Gisela in Helsinki. Can she just enter this again?



On the topic of D'Nash, though, their new album, Todo va a cambiar, is out. Choosing which song to post was kind of difficult--I think I like "Hasta que me ames" best at the moment, but that leaked earlier and so has been around for a while, and "Esta vez sí" is pretty good as well...so I thought I'd just split the difference as post both for now.

Hasta que me ames--this is such great boy band stuff--how on Earth do they keep ending up with this? I have no idea, but I'm glad they do (by the way, if it's a cover, let me know!). Stick it out past the video game-sounding opening and you'll be rewarded with a really great chorus. I mean, this is just the sort of stuff that makes me think they're such a great group. Why can't the other boy bands out there come up with songs this good? If you liked their last album, you'll probably like this song too.

Esta vez sí--right, so the opening of this song really reminded me so much of something that I couldn't place and for a little while I was convinced it was a cover of something I'd heard, but apparently it was written by someone off of Operación Triunfo and released by him and his brother (going by the group name 2conSoul and with the song called "Tu serás mia"), so I guess it can't be--I don't think I've heard their version of it (though if there's some other cover of it out there that I might have heard, let me know on that as well!). Anyhow, there's some great piano going on at the beginning, in the middle 8, and throughout the song, as well as strings. I guess it's a ballad, but a moving one (in the sense of dynamism, not in terms of emotion) with energy which means, despite that big soaring chorus, it doesn't really feel like a ballad for most of the song. Lovely and catchy. And really really quality. Edit: I just did some looking about and it looks like that OT contestant I was referring to, Fede Monreal, also wrote one of my favorite D'Nash songs, "Lo haré por ti" (in addition to this album's "En medio de la calle")--I've got to do some more looking into him!

You can buy D'Nash's new album Todo va a cambiar here (physical).

Next up: maybe something French.