HELLO POP FANS!

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.

So this post is going to be a mish mash of a lot of different things!

1. Melodifestivalen Semi-Final #2:

I learnt a valuable lesson last week; you can’t fully judge a song based on a one minute preview.  A performance can make or break a song no matter how good or bad it is and that’s what happened last week.

A lot of people seem to be divided on whether last weeks show was exceptionally strong or exceptionally weak in terms of song quality.  I still think the songs overall were weak but that some fantastic performances the artists managed to take them to the next level.

First off Mans rocked the place with that Pussycat Dolls – Buttons inspired performance.  I do think for the first time that this is a song that we’ve “heard before” but to echo a thought my my friend PPG – the lyrics are so great and set the song apart from some of its predecessors.  This is one of my favorite songs in the competition so far but I don’t think he’ll win with it.  I predict a 2nd or 3rd spot for Mans this year.

Lili and Susie have a weak song but with a fantastic performance managed to secure a second chance.  Now let me just say personally I LOVE the song!  It’s going to be a blast to sing it and hear it played while I’m in Sweden.  But it feels one dimensional and dated.  It’s what I would describe as ‘cheap’ pop music.  I absolutely LOVE the hand clapping bit at the end though   I also fell in love with Lili and Susie themselves after watching the show.  I didn’t really know a lot about this duo before this week but watching them on stage they had so much fun and really loved what they were doing.  I really hope they make it through the Second Chance round.

H.E.A.T were my biggest surprise of the night though and I loved their performance.  It was a really cool fusion of 80’s rock meets Schlager.  It’s what The Poodles tried to do twice but H.E.A.T actually pulled it off and they were rewarded with a well deserved spot in the final.

And finally my little Amy.  She is LUCKY to have get a second chance with that song.  I had such high expectations after last years song and considering that Alexander from BWO helped write this one.  She looked fantastic though and I want to know where I can get an Amy Diamond belt buckle!  Remember her Amy Diamond tee shirts last year?  I think she should start her own clothing line:  Gold Jackets and Glitter Capes.  I admit that the song has started to grow on me and I thought her vocals were stronger than some previous performances.  I think that I’m going to really start to like it more and more.  I predict that she won’t make it through the Andra Chansen though.

2.  Eurovision:

Although I only seem to ever talk about Sweden… the rest of Europe has been selecting songs to send to Eurovision for over a month now and I’ve started to fall in love with some of these tracks.

Denmark: Niels Brinck – Believe Again

Written by Ronan Keating who we all know writes a great pop tune.  This song has a fantastic beat and is very radio friendly.  I don’t really know a lot about Eurovision but from what I understand, it’s believed that this song won’t connect with the Eurovision viewers?  I hope this isn’t the case because If I was in charge this track would make top 5 for sure.

Iceland:  Jóhanna Guðrún Jónsdóttir – Is It True

This year many countries have decided to send a ballad to the competition.  For me a ballad is very very risky.  I think it’s very easy to write a ballad… but very very hard to write a good ballad.  The song needs to be really good to stand out from the crowd and have a really memorable performance.  Of all the ballads I’ve heard I like this one the most.  I know everyone in the Uk is in love with their ballad… but I was really un-impressed with the Uk entry.  Jóhanna has a very pretty voice and I really enjoy the arrangement of this track, it builds up a bit, has interesting backing vocals which really add to the peformance.  I think it could have been a bit more dramatic with the key change at the end… but she could do well with this.

Germany: Alex Swings Oscar Sings – Miss Kiss Kiss Bang

Wow!  I’m really impressed with this track from Germany.  It’s Micheal Buble meets Christina Agulera – Candyman.  It’s upbeat, great to sing along to and really fun.  Although the idea isn’t very new, it’s different from anything I’ve heard in Eurovision before which could be good for Germany this year!  Now all they need is to prove that they can sing it live and Germany could be in great shape.  Unlike No Angels disastrous performance last year.

3. Blog Watch:

I don’t know how to make a links section on this new blog so I can’t add the links to all my favorite blogs out there.  This week there are some great blogs to check out.  Karl over at Scanipop had a fantastic interview with Swedish Dance act – September which you can check out – Here.

Meanwhile DontStopThePop has introduced us to one of the more unique acts I’ve heard in awhile.  Elouise is being called the best un-signed act around… a title I don’t think she’ll be able to hold onto for very long.  Check out Elouise at DSTP – Here.

Later tonight I will post a NON MELODIFESTIVALEN post!  Shocking but true

WOW! THIS IS IT! Today the first 8 names were announced for Melodifestivalen 2009. There aren’t too many surprises here as most of these names were already flying about. The great news is that they are now official.

Mans Zelmerlow
BWO
Sarah Dawn Finer
Emilia
Alcazar – Stay The Night
Jennifer Brown

What I find amazing is that if there are such huge names in the first 8 acts announced just wait until the rest of the acts are announced! Each of the first 8 acts are established stars in Sweden with 6 of the 8 having made it to the finals of Melodifestivalen before.

You will all remember Emilia from her massive international hit single – Big Big World… she enters Melodifestivalen for the first time next year. Jennifer Brown also makes her competition debut next year. She’s been around for quite some time in Sweden and has released 4 albums over the last 15 years.

BWO – Paradise On Mars

Alcazar – I Love The DJ

The biggest question so far is what is going to happen between Alcazar and BWO! Both acts have competed multiple times in the competition and each of them have placed 3rd twice. It’s clear that both acts have a massive following but it’s going to take a unique song to really get the entire country to rally behind the act rather than relying just on the bands fan bases.