I first heard of Sakis Rouvas when he was announced as the representative of Greece at this years Eurovision Song Contest. I looked him up and listened to the three song choices and I liked what I saw. So when the night came for the song selection I tuned in to watch the show live online.
Now for someone that has never watched any selection show besides the Uk and Sweden I have to say that the Greek selection show was the most boring and drawn out process I’ve ever seen. I actually had to stop watching because I couldn’t stand it anymore and that was before he even sang the 3 songs that were competing! The good news is that something good did come of the show. I’ve discovered my absolute love of Sakis Rouvas! At the selection show they started by having Sakis sing a megamix of his old hits. One song in particular grabbed my attention and I loved it so much I ordered the album online that same night. The song is “Kai Se Thelo” and it premiered at the 2008 MAD Music Video Awards. That night he won Best Male Artist and when the song was released in July it topped the Greek Airplay charts for 10 weeks!
By now most of you that follow Eurovision will have heard his song, and it’s not bad but it’s definitely not what made me fall for him. For those of you that do not know who he is, Sakis is considered one of Greeces most successful aritsts of all time. He is definitely no stranger to Eurovision having won a 3rd place spot for Greece in 2004 and hosting the event in 2006. Sakis has had a spectacular career which began in 1991 and has continued on non-stop since then with 20 albums being released and 84 singles being released to radio throughout his career. He is well known not only for his music but for his work in film and television as well as for embracing his heart throb status which you can see for yourself based on these photos. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any other singer with as many shirtless photos as Sakis.
Once Eurovision is said and done it is believed that Sakis will release a new english album which will include the english version of “Kai Se Thelo.”
While vacationing in Stockholm last week I had the chance to meet up with Sweden’s #1 band – E.M.D. The band were so impressed with my knowledge of Swedish Pop that they invited me to join the band! After our first photo shoot I decided that E.M.D.T just didn’t have the same ring to it neither did T.E.M.D.
As you all know E.M.D have had a huge month with Melodifestivalen and their single ‘Baby Goodbye’ which has become the bands 4th #1 single in a row! This week the band re-released their album with some new tracks as well, if you haven’t picked up the album yet this is definitely the time to get on that!
In a time when E.M.D are deep in promotion for the album re-release and Melodifestivalen both Erik Segerstedt and Danny both released new singles this month as well! Now I don’t know if that’s a good idea exactly but I think they’re hoping the success of the band will help promote the individual singles as well and it definitely can’t hurt.
Now I absolutely LOVE Dannys new album”Set Me Your Body Free” but I am really impressed with Eriks latest single. The track was originally intended for E.M.D but when they went with “Baby Goodbye” Erik ended up releasing the track on his own. Does this mean that we’ll get another album from Erik? I imagine it depends on how well the track does but Erik told me personally that he is going to record an album and is hoping it will be out in the autumn.
It’s Tuesday morning in Stockholm, the glitter microphones, hydraulic platforms and wind machines have been packed up until 2010 and we begin the long wait until the winter when the planning for Melodifestivalen 2010 begins.
This was my 3rd trip to M’Fest and was the best yet! I managed to stalk almost every star this year and probably scared acouple of them as well. Mans Zelmerlow and E.M.D all know my on a first name basis now
I’m just at the airport waiting for a flight to the Uk where I’ll spend one more week before going back to Vancouver. On Wednesday I’m off to see Gareth Gates in ‘Joseph’… Secretly I hope that at the end of the show he comes out and sings ‘Anyone Of Us.’
Once I get home I’ll have a bunch of new music and stories to share but I couldn’t wait before posting this track. I don’t really know much about him but Erik Hassle is a singer/songwriter from Stockholm who took part in the 2008 Metro Music Challenge and came in second place.
The track is rocky pop and I’ve been listening to it on repeat since I got it the other day. I don’t know who I could compare him to… think McFly perhaps? It’s really catchy and he’s got a great voice.
So here I am in Stockholm and we’ve got almost a foot of snow outside from the last 2 days. Just when I thought Winter was over back in Canada it seems to have followed me here.
Last week I watched Andra Chansen in London England and let me tell you what an experience that was. To be able to watch Mfest with a bunch of other people that were just as into it as I was… it was pretty spectatular. There were roars of applause and some booing mostly when Lili and Susie failed to beat Sarah Dawn Finer. I know I really wanted Sarah to make it… but I just wish Lili and Susie would have made it through based on votes and that Sarah had won the International Jury vote. Of all the acts Lili and Susie were the only one to change their performance and they really did a great job. They deserved to be in the finale! I’m not sure that I like this years dueling system and I really want to see the final numbers of votes and see how it all played out.
Now we all start to prepare for the finale on Saturday and speculation is rampant all over the place. When the songs were initially released Agnes and Malena immediately shot to number 1 but with Andra Chansen finished the new number 1 is… Caroline Ugglas! Not only is she number 1 on iTunes but various websites and newspapers are putting her as the public choice to win with EMD, Mans and Alcazar as the closest competition. Now someone correct me if I’m wrong but if Caroline won it would be the first time a song from Andra Chansen won the competition! I really do think the song is beautiful but IT CANT WIN! Personally I’m voting for Alcazar but I’d be happy with almost any of the songs winning except Caroline ok and maybe even HEAT. But seriously any of the other songs can win and I’ll be happy.
This week is all about stalking the schlager stars as almost every act is doing heavy promotion Thurs-Sunday in Stockholm. Tonight I’m off to see E.M.D do a performance at a club here in town, then throughout the weekend we will see and meet Lili and Susie, Velvet, Magnus Carlsson, Kevin Borg, Star Pilots, Alcazar, Sofia, Shirley Clamp and more.
I’ve already spent way too much on cds so I’ll be posting some stuff for you all very soon.
Today at 6pm I’m hopping on an Air Canada flight and heading to London England to begin my annual trip to Melodifestivalen.
I’ve loaded up my iPod with all my favorite Swedish track to get me in the mood. Seeing as I’ll be on a plane to the Uk for the next 9 hours I’ve added Scooch – Flying The Flag to my iPod as well and brought my portable speakers. I’m going to see if I can’t entice the cabin crew to give us a little show in the air.
I’ve already started planning my events in Stockholm which will include stalking as many stars as I can. On the “must meet” list this year is E.M.D, Velvet, Alcazar and Shirley Clamp. It looks like I’ll get to meet a few of them already so you can expect some great pictures when I get back.
For those of you that live in London you better be at the Harcourt Arms on Saturday night to watch Andra Chansen live! It’s tough but I’m voting for Star Pilots and Sarah Dawn Finer to go to the finalen. I hate to say that because I really want Lili and Susie to get through as well… but there’s only room for one and Sarah Dawn Finer blew me away with her performance last week.
So there won’t be a lot of updates and no new music while I’m gone… BUT as always I’ll be bringing back a bunch of new music when I come home and you will all benefit from that.
To keep you busy while I’m gone here are some gems for you!
It’s basically a 95% copy of their debut single but better! The singer featured on this track is Johan Becker who won Sweden’s Fame Factory in 2004. He is unbelievable live and together with the Star Pilots they put on a fun show. So fingers crossed that they do well on Saturday.
I STILL haven’t seen Slumdog Millionaire because everyone I know went and saw it without me so hopefully I’ll get to see it overseas. I’m not a huge PCD fan but they’re guaranteed a hit with this catchy track from the movie as their new single. The band are re-releasing their last album with Jai Ho to try and drum up more album sales since the album hasn’t done as well as expected. You’ll probably start hearing this track a lot in the next few weeks.
That’s it for now! Remember you can always reach me by e-mail at lanocty@hotmail.com
UPDATE: I JUST noticed that PPG posted about Janet Leon yesterday! Talk about great minds thinking alike. Make sure you check out her more in depth post Here.
Sometimes a song comes out and from the first notes it’s clear that there’s something special there. This is one of those songs; it has international number 1 written ll over it.
The singer is Janet Leon and you may be surprised to know that you may have heard of her before without even realizing it. Janet used to be in Swedish girl band – Play. The band originally launched in 2001-2002 and surprisingly the band had quite a lot of success in the USA which is where they are best known after they released a bunch of albums there.
When the band split in 2005 lead singer Janet Leon took the opportunity to start over with a solo career and it has been 4 years in the making.
Before you listen to the song let me tell you this. I would never sink so low as to post a song from a “joke” of a group like “Play” which I believe is everything that is wrong about North American pop music. Taking great songs from European pop acts… dumbing them down and having them sung by teenage girls and spoon fed to kids in the US. For that reason alone I was ready to judge Janet’s song really harshly… but WOW! This song is AMAZING. I honestly feel like if Leona Lewis hadn’t done Bleeding Heart already, this would have filled that slot as the big massive female power song of the year.
