schlagerparty

SORAYA IS DOING A KEY-CHANGE IN MOSCOW!

2009-04-05T16:14:00.000-07:00

OH MY DEAR GOD!!! Soraya, the Spanish hope for Moscow, has just confirmed on eurovision-spain.com that she will be singing a special version of La noche es para mí that isn't gonna be comercially released and will only be performed in Moscow in the rehearsals and in the final. The beginning of the song will be calmer and violin-based so that the song can build up more dramatically. They've also added more spanish-guitar sound and a big exploding ending preceded by a KEY-CHANGE!!!! Hurray!!!!
Soraya also explained that she'll be joined on the stage by 3 female backup-singer and two male dancers, one of them a cute Russian lad. They are preparing a BIG SURPRISE, something that has never been seen before at the Eurovision song contest. Soraya said :"Trust me, you're gonna be blown away." Can it still be more than a month until the Eurovision? I can't wait anymore!!!

Here's a link to her performance in Madrid last Friday.

Belarus, SWEDEN, and Armenia

2009-03-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

Who was it that said the history repeats itself? Well, if anything, this is definitely not a common phenomenon at the Eurovision Song contest. The copycats usually fail and the originality is awarded. So generally speaking the countries usually dare to experiment. However, every year there are a few exceptions.

Take Belarus for example. Ruslan (Oh Ruslan!) was obviously a real trend-setter in Belarus last year for it seems that Petr Elfimov would never dare to have second thoughts about that trend and prepare something fresh and originl for this year's ESC. But stil - a few adjustments had to be made so it wouldn't be too obvious: that explains the freshly-dyed blond hair and an interesting costume choice at the Belarus preselection.

Maybe that's why I get the feeling that it's almost the same song and performance we're gonna witness this year on the ESC stage. In any case, it's very likely that Petr's song ends up just like Ruslan's - if they don't decide to make a schlager version of the song instead, we were robbed last year when Ruslan changed to the rock version instead..

2 points.

Sweden! Another masterpiece written by Fredrik Kempe and performed by amazing Malena Ernman. Definitely the best key-change of the year. The song is briliantly composed and has something that I'm sure will please the eastern countries - that's where all those votes usually stay - among them. I really hope the song will manage to unite the two blocks, opera is highly appreciated in both - so it just might happen.

I give it a straight 12.

It's hard not to love Armenian song this year! This highly danceable oriental song is great for doing shimi-shimi based dancemoves, there are lots of shouting high tones and! there's a key-change too. Also, a very useful video was published a few days ago - will come quite handy before hitting the dancefloors of schlagerparties. I give this song an 8!

Here we go go go!!

2009-03-23T04:53:00.000-07:00

And what a fabulous beginning of our preview-review of the Eurovision 2009 songs indeed! Just a few days behind the schedule - Madrid unschlagertastic scene was very very happy upon my homecoming from Stockholm and demanded all the details and a reprise of me dancing with Tess at the Melodifestivalen Finalfesten...

(I wish) but worry not! - we will catch up - starting today.

Montenegro first - and schlager it is!! I've liked the song from the first time I heard it - it's catchy, has a short but effective bridge and a nice melody. Great for remixes and schlagerparties! Oh dear, all this sounds like an ad for the song but what can I do, it's a nice schlager! It's just the type of song that last year's ESC was lacking of. Let's just hope that Andrea gets herself a proper choreographer because she didn't quite know what to do on stage at Beovizija and the Greek preselection... And we want a nicer frock too. And a pair of Charlottes:

For now I'm awarding this song an 8. If improvements are made a higher mark is expected.

Czech republic! The lead-singer claims he can make me feel and sing like a gipsy - in a super-gipsy costume? I don't think so. I guess they were supposed to be funny or at least entertaining - it doesn't quite work out for me though. But at least it's an up-tempo song and that Tingaling vibe that won't leave the audience in Moscow indifferent. And just because the possible party-atmosphere that the song might bring, I'd give it a 3-points (in French).

Belgium. Well, at least it's better than last year. The song is just a bit silly but I have to admit (and I think I'm not the only one here) that the backing singers are fab and that we'll all eventually get used to the song and be doing the oh-yeah, oh-yeah singalong. The melody is catchy and the performance is expected to be a 60s' tribute but it's really hard to tell at this point. Let's give it a 4.
That's it for now, more coming up tomorrow!

What now?

2009-03-19T10:15:00.000-07:00

We're all back home, arrangig photos which bring back so many memories while the songs of Melodifestivalen in all possible versions and remixes keep on rocking. This year's Melodifestivalen final was an amazing experience not just for me but for many experienced reporters who claimed that there has never been a voting so nerve-breaking and that they had never had more fun at Melodifestivalen final-week as this year. With all the promotional concerts, signings and guest appearances in clubs taken into accout Stockholm really turned into a promised land for schlager-fans.

If you thought that after so many events happening in the past week it was now time to take a break - you were obviously wrong. It is now time to see meet the contestants of this year's Eurovision song contest, listen to their songs - particularly their live performances if at all possible - and of course try to find out who the winner is gonna be. That is why I will be presenting and analysing the songs from tomorrow on with a steady tempo of, let's say, one song a day. Starting with Montenegro and finishing with Spain as decided on Monday 16th March when the official draw was held in Moscow.

I'm getting very excited about Moscow especially now that all the songs have finally been chosen. It's stil about 2 months away so we can take a very good look at every contestant. Until then, have a Månsy-cake!

We have a winner!

2009-03-14T14:47:00.000-07:00

After the most exciting voting ever, Måns winning the national juries vote, SDF winning the international jury vote and Malena with the final, and most important, public vote it was decided that Malena Ernman will represent Sweden in Moscow with the song La voix.

Snälla snälla came 2nd. Somehow I would have prefered if Caroline won but stil, what's a boy to do...

Not quite the song I wanted to win but anyway - it could be worse! EMD for example!

Congratulations to Malena and to Fredrik Kempe who won Melodifestivalen for the 2nd time in a row so he joins Lasse Holm and Monica Forsberg who co-wrote the winning songs of Melodifestivalen 1982 and 1983.

I stil think that Alcazar deserved to win. But anyway..

I'm so happy and sad at the same time that it's all over until next year... But no worries - we stil have the afterparty to go to!

THIS IS IT!!!

2009-03-14T11:29:00.000-07:00

This is the only night that Absolut vnilia doesn't work. I am now officially nervous. It's the most important evening of the year for me and I still can't thell who he winner's gonna be. That's also the best part of Melodifestivalen, the tension, the final heat, so many possible winners.... Let's leave it to the public vote and the juries. I'm just going to sit in the arena and enjoy the show as a fan of Melodifestivalen.

Let the best song win. Let's forget about all the predictions, polls, speculations and just enjoy the show!!!

Good mornig Stockholm!

2009-03-14T05:24:00.000-07:00

Waking up in the "morning" in Stockholm is one of the best sensations I've lived to feel in my life. Why? Well, not only is Stockholm one of the most beautiful cities in the world, there's also always something schlagertastic to do, see or visit.

Take last night for example. The night at Paradise started with some amazing Melodifestivalen parody performances by local drag-queens and continued with Velvet rocking it down to electric avenue with fantastic live performances of her greatest songs: Queen, Chemistry (just being releast in the UK), Take my body close, Fix me, Déjà vu... She's an amazing singer and the most interesting fact about her is that she's more famous abroad than she is in her Sweden-we-love. So much so that she didn't speak a word of Swedish last nigh, she was talking to her international audience in English all the time. And the diversity of her fans was pretty exceptional too: The majority were from the UK and Ireland, then I would imagine Germany, Belgium.. And there was one guy from Canada also, and one from Slovenia too ;-)

It was an amazing night, we heard some new Melodifestivalen 2009 remixes such as Stay the night and Moving on but it all ended too soon. I'm so used to the clubs of Madrid which usually close around 6AM so 3AM was way to early for me, but still - we had lots of fun and some fabulous schlager moments! Another great night in Stockholm!

We're going to try to see Maria Haukaas Storeng och Anna Sahlene this afternoon at Hötorget and then get ready for the grand finale!

And here are the rehearsal results!!

2009-03-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

I can't say much about the opening act apart that it's original, funny and simply amazing! The interval act is filled with music: one originally written by the script writer of the Melodifestivalen Edward (the one that was found hiding under the Queen Velvet's dress last Saturday) and the last year's winning song Hero - in emo version. Very interesting.

Let's have a word about the contestants.

Måns was great, perfect as usual. No mistakes, smooth and very confident performance. He looked a bit worried when EMD were performing though..

Caroline af Ugglas was THE SURPRISE of the night. Nothing new in her performance but it's obvious that she's this year's Sanna Nielsen with Empty room. People feel her song just the way she does and here's something that never happened before in Melodifestivalen: the usually reserved Swedes give applauses at the end of the act, however, that was not the case with Caroline. She got at least 3 applauses during the song, one of the best receptions in the arena.

Agnes was "como siempre", same outfit (FAB!), same choreography, I still don't like the way she sings the song, she doesn't quite deliver it.

The HEAT were as good as ever, fire on stage and again - great vocal performance by Kenny, the lead singer. Crowned as the best male vocalist of this year's Melodifestivalen, kenny recieves the crown humbly as shown above. Rock resurrection ;-)

Emilia has a very good song that makes everybody swing and has improved performance with more character. Pleasant to watch and listen and very enjoyable indeed. Plus, she's such a warm person and we can really feel that when she's performing.

Alcazar. They are tigers! They have to win. The first song that actually made the audience jump on their feet. The performance was strong, very confident and simply GREAT. And how FABULOUS is that jacket??! The winner.

Sarah Dawn finer gave a solid performance, incredible vocal and a good song. This is very good and would deserve to do better than I think it will. She doesn't have a strong fan-based audience like our next contestants: EMD. We could literally see 7-year old girls pushing their mobile phones to the limits with sending SMS non-stop during the show (the voting is open when the show starts). They had a great reception in the arena. I just don't get it. Oh, and they changed their costumes from black to white. Still not sure about the vocals either... I mean, they sound fine but I still don't know if it's because of the pre-recorder vocals. We'll see how high they end up, I hope not too high..

Sofia used the same costume, she's a good performer but she was holding back vocally. Nothing new in the choreography, drums are effective, I really liked it but the reception was weak. Can't anyone speak Greek in Sweden?

Molly was simply fantastic. Nice and clean performance, amazing vocal and a good and very effective song. May she do well in the final and surprise us. Go Molly!

Malena was very convincing and a serious candidate for Sweden's next representative at the Eurovision song contest. I'm very happy with her vocal, still a bit quiet at the beginning of both verses (Can you keep a secret?...) but stil, very very strong. Might win.

Finally, my prediction for the results:

1st place: Alcazar

2nd place: Caroline af Ugglas

3rd place: Malena

We'll see tomorrow!

We're going to Paradise tonight where we're gonna see Velvet perform and try to have a quick chat with her, ask her how she was doing since last Schlagerpride and of course, the Queen.

Hugz

The opening party and Shirley!

2009-03-13T04:13:00.000-07:00

Last night was one of those amazing nights that can only happen here in Stockholm. The opening party was very classy as usual with sublime lightning in order to preserve the delicate paintings and tapestry, the food was exquisite and champagne in abundance. And of course - les stars! We had a nice chat with Molly, Ingela "Pling" Forsman, Marcos Ubeda - both co-writers of her song Så vill stjärnorna. Then there was Måns, Sofia, Alcazar and Heat! Malena showed up last because she was the last to leave Globen. She was very busy mingling and talking to the other artists but she managed to tell me that she was very happy with her performance and that she sounded better than she did in the semifinal.

Molly was so sweet!! And humble! I couldn't stop telling her how great she was on stage, so good actually that I forgot to take photos of her. You can't believe how good she is until you hear her sing live.

Then I saw Fredrik Kempe standing all alone by the desert-table (pure coincidence, I won't let anyone think that I'm using irony here!) so I approached adn he actually remembered me from last year when we had this wonderful little talk about opera and pop music and the mixture of both - which come together so brilliantly in La voix. He was very happy with Malena's performance, and him too - like everyone else - was unable to tell who's gonna win the final on Saturday. Obviously we were talking about Eurovision 2008, Charlotte and how everything went in Belgrade, and I told him that after having listened to Hero virtually every day since it was released - I still haven't got tired of it. He agreed, it has layers, he said.

After talking to Fredrik it was time to go to this bar called Goldenhits where dame Shirley Clamp was having a concert!! It was so funny, after singing Fångad av en stormvind at the karaoke section I hit the dancefloor with my friends - just when they started playing Stay the night!! I simply HAD to go on the stage and do the fabulous Alcazar's choreography!! We were 2 guys doing the dance-moves when all of a sudden this philippine girl jumps on the stage and starts working it out and how!

After that - we were kindly accompanied off the stage by the security guards thus ending up right in front of the stage - that was when Shirley Clamp came on stage singing För den som älskar! She was absoultely fabulous! She was singing just in front of us! And she was sooooooo good! Amazing voice, pure quality! She also sang Med hjärtat fyllt av ljus and the Miracle which is the English version of Att älska dig and wraped up with Min kärlek. Shirley was great, the audience loved her and she decided to sing Min kärlek with the audience, that was so much fun! Especally when this lady - Margareta was her name, snatched the microphone from Shirley's hands, got herself on the stage and kept on singin Min kärlek. And then - she did it again! That's when the guards came in again, kindly escorted her off the stage, hilarious!!

Well, Shirley sang with the audience again and then went to "the backstage" which basically consisted of tables to the right of the stage and naturally all the fans followed her. She was really nice! I told her that if she would have let me sing I defifnitely would't try to steal her microphone. We laughed, took pictures and then we were given a copy of her new single Med hjartat fyllt av ljus, brand new and signed by Shirley. I also had a chance to say hi to Bobby Ljunggren, he was in a great move after such an amazign little concert which consisted of his songs entirely... What a legend!

After talking to Shirley we just went back to our pints of cider and karaoke corner and dominated it! Främling, Värsta schlagern, Det gör ont, Hero.... What a night! Only in Stockholm!

Save the best for last

2009-03-12T12:27:00.000-07:00

Never before has it been more true than this year. Molly and Malena were both literally breathtaking. Goosebumps all the way to my.. well, goosebumps.

Molly has the most incredible combination of brilliant voice, sincere performance and simple yet very original song.

Malena improved her vocal performance from the semifinals when she sounded a bit hysterical when singing with her chest voice. All that is gone now, her voice is clean and they also added some very effective changes in the choreography.

I really can't tell you who the winner is gonna be. If last year was difficult to decide on the winner it's impossible to do so this year.

I would be very happy with Alcazar, Molly or Malena. Let the best one of the three win.

Ok, I think that's it for today! I'm kind of in a hurry and am actually late for the opening party at Stadhuset. I'll get you more details tomorrow.

I'm still a bit overwhelmed by the last two performances, they were simply amazing. Ok, gotta go!! Hugzz and love to you all who are reading my blog from Globen, Stockholm. Muack!

Alla Alla ALLA!!!

2009-03-12T11:21:00.000-07:00

Every year there's a song at Melodifestivalen that I don't like much or don't even care about but then a couple of weeks later comes clear that it has grown on me and I end up liking if not loving it. Last year it was Just a minute and thi year Sofia gets the grew-on-me award!! Yaay! It's not surprising though, I loved Sofia's song Hypnotised from MF 2007 and this one works pretty much the same way; oriental vibe, greek "pathos" and Sofia's amazing voice. I'm not sure about the Batman drums, though. I mean, I'm fed up with drums ever since Eurovision 2005. But the Greek language somehow works. It's co-written by Irini Michas, the amazing Swedish-Greek talent who also co-wrote the Fabulous Soraya's La noche es para mí.

Sofia herself told us that she doesn't believe she's gonna win. Neither do I but I still think it's a good song and I'm glad that the jury chose it.

Oh, my favourite part of the song is the refrain: Alla alla alla ithela - it's when I usually reproduce Beyoncé's moves from Crazy in love... am I the only on? I think not!

EMD?

2009-03-12T10:42:00.001-07:00

Ok, not quite my piece of cake. Not even the kind of cake I would eat after running 1000 miles or doing Madonna's daily gym routine... As one of my dear co-workers put it: it's overproduced! I mean, since at this year's Melodifestivalen pre-recorded back-vocals are allowed: can they actually sing? Well, to my surprise after watching an interview with them at the arena where they sang the chorus a-cappella, they do.

Well, they can, at least. We can never be sure if they're able to get through the whole song all by themselves. Especially because it's so repetitive! Well, at least it makes it harder to forget the lyrics.

Oh well. I have to admit, though, that the choreography is spotless, even if it's overproduced and that, uff, I've heard many many reporters here in the press center humming or whistling, well, the whistled part of the song.

In the end, as I usually come to the conclusion, it's not that bad. But I'm still not touching that cake!

I'm moving on - to a brither Dawn. Sarah Dawn.

2009-03-12T10:13:00.000-07:00

This little lady can really sing!! American father, British mother and Swedish herself, she gave us an amazing performance dominated b the rising sun and "a-new-beginning" ideology, Sarah Dawn Finer (SDW) is bringing us an oriental touch from the visual point of view and a strong occidental ballad from the musical.

The performance starts the same way it did in the final just as the dancers who appear to have broken out of restraint-jackets appear when the drums kick in. The backing vocalists join Sarah just before she gets lifted about 2 meters high. It works like this: she steps to the circular platform and closes the safety hatch behind her and after that what she basically has to concentrate on is holding her balance because that elevator thing is quite shaky when funcitoning, and of course she has to control herself so she doesn't start laughing like she did in one of the performances!

Sarah's brilliant, everybody loves her, she's great to talk to and is in general an amazing person, very cute indeed. All my best wishes to her and may she return soon to Melodifestivalen again.

Alcazar looking tough!!

2009-03-12T09:41:00.000-07:00

I'm just gonna say it strait right here right now to avoid every possible confusion: I love Alcazar and I want them to win! It's not just because I'm a fan, it's because I sincerely believe they have the best song, the best performance, the perfect package for the Eurovision. They are real professionals, the song is fresh and has something new to offer.

The rehearsal was great, they made a few changes with camera-work and the only obvious novelty on stage are the spotlights situated at the bottom of the back-screen.

The reporters in the press-centre are usually voting for the songs for their own research. From 1 to 10 my only "dix points" went to Alcazar. Molly's singing next, she's my 2nd favourite, for now.

One more thing about Alcazar's performence: if the choreography wasn't quite perfect in Göteborg, they've really improved it and brought it to impecable level.

I can't wait to see them perform on Saturday - and of course to meet them again tonight at the official opening party!

Emilia gets carola-ized!

2009-03-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

It's true! I can only imagine Carola watching the 1st semifinal obviously enchanted with Alcazar's performance but when seeing that Emilia got to the final as well she apparently gave her a call (at least that was what Emilia told us) and very humbly told her that she had some suggestions about the performance of her song You're my world. And indeed, the changes have been made!! We all loved how Emilia literally got into the groove, her shoulders being thrown forward and back in concordance with the rhythm of the song. She actually has that Carola's hair-movement that really gives the song an extra kick. And of course, there's no doubt among everyone who has seen one of her performances today that Emilia's final fingerpointing is dedicated to Jesus - another advice from her mentor ;-)

Feel the HEAT!

2009-03-12T07:13:00.000-07:00

The strongest performance so far, the HEAT were absolutely amazing! Okay, it might seem a bit odd to the majority of the shclager-fans but I honestly believe that Bon Jovi is running through my veins or my mum was listening to the band before I was born. You see, I don't particularly like rock music but this song is so catchy and the performance from the semifinal was so convincing that I was hooked from the 1st time I heard it. And now - I just saw them perform live... Amazing. Sweden is very unpredictable when it comes to voting so we never know - they just might win, or Caroline af Ugglas , in any case -that's what makes the show so intense!

All the best to HEAT, they're excellent performers, Kenny is a magnificen vocalist and I can only wish there would be more listenable, melodic rock-songs like this one on music festivals. However, I think that we all agree that 1 rock song in the final is perfectly enough ;-)

Agnes the magnificent!

2009-03-12T06:49:00.000-07:00

I love the song and the performance but, naturally, I was missing the golden outfit. I hope she was holding back vocally because there were some moments when she seemed out of breath... oh well. The backscreen images were the same, I don't think they're gonna change that for any of the songs, what they usually change are some choreography moves and camerashott. Måns had some extra LEDs installed on the fence of the boxing-ring, Agnes just some camera shots modified...

Here we go!!

2009-03-12T05:58:00.000-07:00

Hello Melodifestivalen fans, schlager-addicts and all of you who are at least remotely interested in "glitter och glamour" of the Scandinavias greatest entertainment event!

I'm starting this blog in order to bring you the freshest news and details from Globen and of course the parties and other festivities surrounding it!

Okay, I just saw Måns' first performance and let me tell you, the second the music burst from the speakers and the backscreens turned on I felt the same feeling as last year when Charlotte was first on stage, the amazingness of Melodifestivalen.

Obviously Måns was impecable with the dance routine, and he was holding back vocally so he kind of "broke" at the key-chage, but nothing like unfortunate Shirley from the 1st semifinal had to go through, poor girl. It's not gonna be anything like that for Måns, he's a charismatic performer and very powerfull indeed, oh, and gorgeous!, actually, he's so hot the heat of the spotlights seems like arctic ice compared to his sexy moves and charmig look. uff..

ANYway, let's keep up, the schedule is busy.

Caroline af Ugglas - personally I loved her yellow jacket! You have to be awared that the artists are still not doing dress rehearsals so she's probably not gonna wear it on saturday and will just go back to her white dress and fab turiquoise boots. Vocally she was good as usual and the song is, well, it's Caroline's, nothing left to say there.

Going back to the arena now to see Agnes!