Opera Diva Wins Melodifestivalen

The winner of the 2009 Melodifestivalen has been selected to represent Sweden in the Eurovision contest. It's opera singer, Malena Ernman, who sings La Voix in both English and French to a throbbing disco beat. It should have strong multi-national, multi-generational appeal. How can it lose? I mean, this is the 35th anniversary of ABBA winning the Eurovision contest. Well, that satirical musical number presented at the finals in Stockholm might not go over well with this year's Eurovision host country, Russia. More on that later.

Melodifestivalen is bigger than ever. Here's an introduction to this year's event. There were four regional contests held around the country to select the semi-finalists for the finals in Stockholm. In additional, there was a second chance contest (andra chansen in Swedish) to select from those artists that did not make it through the semi-finals. The first regional show was right here in Göteborg. The event was televised live. According to reports, 3 million people watched that show. For perspective, Sweden only has a population of 9 million. In the United States, 100 million people would have to American Idol to achieve the same ratings success.

My take on the artists and songs in this year's contest can be described in one word: flat. There were some very lackluster performances and forgettable songs. Now, I like Alcazar, but their song, Stay the Night, was as limp as a semla sitting in milk. At least compared to this little ditty, which I love. And, Måns Zelmerlöw's Hope & Glory didn't have any. Måns was a favorite going in to the contest. Maybe next year. I still think he is the Enrique Iglesias of Sweden. E.M.D. with Baby Goodbye was pretty good but the song title was self-fulfilling. And Agnes, who I like, didn't deliver enough Love Love Love. Still, most had the requisite sing-along-pop and dance sensibility. Which is what Melodifestivalen is all about. The winner, Malena, wasn't expected to do well, but the public voted for her in big numbers.

Now, on to the controversy. At the finals, there was a parady skit and dance number that mocked Russia and its national anthem. The dance number had Matryoshka dolls and Cossacks and dancing bears. Oh my. Lots of Russian stereotypes. Offensive, maybe. But, funny as well. Oh, those nutty Swedes. Enjoy.




And, one final treat. In honor of ABBA's win at Eurovision 35 year's ago, here is a video of them singing Waterloo in Swedish at Melodifestivalen that same year.

New Music: Europop Goes the Weasel!

Remember back in the day when "bad" meant "good?" When it comes to some of the music from Europe, sometimes bad really is bad. And sometimes, it is so bad, it's actually good (deliciously so). The latter is reserved for what I call cheesy europop. You've heard it before: dramatic orchestral segments, hand claps, yodeling, cheering, sing-a-long choruses, and polka-esque interludes.

And now we can segue into some of my musical selections based upon listening to our new favorite Swede radio station - RIX FM, dancing to songs from Sweden's 2008 Melodifestivalen, and tirelessly scanning the Internet. All for your benefit.

Side Note: RIX FM has a show called the MorronZoo, Swedish for Morning Zoo. Of course, to our trained ears, it sounds like moron zoo. Which, I'm sure, is a lovely place to visit. But, please don't feed them.

Now, as I explained in a previous post, none of these songs are available on the US iTunes store. So, for all intents and purposes, you probably won't be able to purchase them any time soon. But, luckily, there is YouTube which has videos of all the songs mentioned below; most are live performances. The link for the song title goes to a video, while the link for the artist's name goes to an informational website.

Melodifestivalen 2008 Contestants

• Hero - Charlotte Perrelli [The winner of Melodifestivalen 2008; this song will represent Sweden in the Eurovision Contest. The beginning is kind of uninspiring, but the chorus is truly something to behold. It really makes you want to sing along at the top of your lungs. Well, I do. Still, not my favorite.]
• Lay Your Love on Me - BWO [The lyrics are just hilarious. But, you'll be shimmying your shoulders in no time. Very Eastern European. Love it!]
• Just a Minute - Rongedal [My favorite of all I heard. Had so much fun dancing to this. Think bastard love child of Mika and the Scissor Sisters.]

Swedish Idol Contestants

• If Only You - Danny (ft. Therese) [Sounds like a Summer romance song, European style. High swaying quotient]
• Brother Oh Brother - Mans Zelmerlow [At first, we thought this was Enrique; he rules the airwaves here. But, no, not quite. Fun, in the same vein - the Swedish Enrique!]
• Do You Love Me - Amanda Jenssen [Okay, the studio version sounds so much better. Still, love the voice. I think I do love her....well, not in that way. This I know.]

Miscellaneous Europopsters

• Voyage, Voyage - Kate Ryan [I liked one of Kate's previous songs (Je T'Adore), so I think this one may grow on me. My main problem with it is the repetition. Voyage sounds good once, but repeated twice is a little irritating.]
• Lollipop - Mika [But, what is he really trying to say? Oh that silly Mika.]
• Miss Blue - Vincent [At first, I thought the lyrics were "I'm psycho on you" but I've since been proven wrong. Yeah, "I'm stuck on you" is logical, but when has that ever stoped me. Regardless, this is a great "get in your car and drive with the windows down" song. I have to wait a few months for that, but still, I like the concept. Oh, and you should to be tapping your toes as well.]
• We Keep on Rockin - Alcazar [My favorite new song. D-I-S-C-O! There is a true Xanadu moment in the song around 2:20. And, um, the leather pants in the video. Hey now, hey now.]

Next time, maybe just a list of songs. :)