FOLLOW OUR BLOG THAT KEEPS UP2DATE ON SWEDEN'S MELODIFESTIVALEN & EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

May 30, 2009

Agnes (Melodifestivalen 2009) is Released on UK CHART looks like a No:1 smash



AGNES is right here right now in UK this week.
She has a massive club-hit with her new song 'Release Me' over in UK. Along with Star Pilots 'In the heat of the night' was new entry at 21. We know Agnes very well from her debut entry in Melodifestivalen 2009 with 'Love Love Love' but now she looks set to storm the UK Chart with her new
dance hit. That is already No:1 in the Uk i-tunes charts.
Is this the 'new' Madonna in da house! in her new video she looks like it.

Schlager-Hero's 6-Norway's Hanne Krogh & Elisabeth Andreasson (Bobbysocks)



Hanne Krogh Sundbø was only 14 years old when she recorded her first record in 1970. The next year Hanne
won Melodi Grand Prix in Norway. This took her to Eurovision Song Contest 1971 in Dublin, when she hoped to follow in Dana's (all kind of everything) footsteps from the previous year. 
Singing a song 'Lyyken Er' ('Happiness is') see this a fantastic clip of this song, she came in 17th place. Next Hanne started up her acting career for a few years, up until 1978 when she returned to the studio to make her debut LP 'Hanne Krough' (see LP cover pic- even starting early' the flanno' shirt craze of late 80's!) 
In 1984 she joined forces with Elisabeth Andreasson to form 'Bobbysocks' a new swing harmony pop duo. They sang 'La det swinge' in Melodi Grand Prix & went on to take home Norway's first ever Eurovision Song Contest victory of 1985. Now Bobbysocks are rumoured to make a comeback in Oslo 2010- Fingers crossed meanwhile 'Bobbysocks'
are our Schlager Hero's 6 from both Norway & Sweden- Hope to see the girls back together soon..


'Lyyken Er' Norway ESC 1971

May 27, 2009

FLASHBACK Euroband 'This is my Life' Iceland 2008 Wow! that was then.



This one FAN TASTIC Vid
from Euroband iceland's ESC Hope in 2008 - we hope Euroband and/or
Fridrik Omar qualify again soon in Iceland- Check out also Fridrik's new single
'I want to Know' - + YES 'its true' this talented Man
was on stage with Yohanna singing back-up in Moscow- showing there
is a lot more to Iceland than just Bjork....


May 26, 2009

Alexander Rybak's 'FAIRYTALE' continues on svt - Yet another fantastic tribute from Norway to Sweden- with Love!

tack svt.se -

Here if you want an 'encore'... some great interviews- before & after with ESC 2009 winner
Alexander Rybak , Marlena Ernman, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber & Patrica Kaas

May 25, 2009

Just What does Sweden need to get back on Top? A new-Look Sanna ?



Once again Sweden's result in Eurovision 2009 - Is opening a whole new debate
in Stockholm. Last year Charlotte Perrelli's ever popular 'Hero' finished a low 18th place ( 47 points )
For 2009 an world class opera singer Malena Ermann was very much the public's choice at Mf.
Yet the classic popera song 'La Voix' made only a 21st place ( 33 points )
The Melodifestivalen each year brings the very best of Swedish industry can offer for the international
stage, this year even with an international jury. The swedes are asking again what went wrong?

Eurovision is never any easy contest to win. Yet the ole days when the best song wins are over, today
of course you want still the best tune. Plus the very Best Top Performer ( and Mf found that with Malena this year )
also a show stopping performance that is better than anything else. Come on Sweden you have the talent
& some great song writers just rewind Mf 2009 see again-Velvet's 'The Queen' & Lili & Susie 'Show me Heaven'
or even Maria Haukaas & Anna Sahlene 'Killing me Tenderly' lets not ignore what Swedes are best at. Does anything really need fixing?

What if the luvly
Sanna Neilson comes back, remember 'Empty Room' in 2008. In case you are wondering
Where is Sanna? We asked the same and found she is this week doing a major new Abba Tribute Show at
Berwaldhallen, Stockholm .Check out a little preview- in the interview clip below- as she sings 'Thank you for the music'


We just Luv Sanna - Your Country Needs You, comeback to Melodifestivalen soon?




Thanks to eventfoto TV for clip

May 23, 2009

schlager-Hero 5- Carola - One of Sweden's Biggest Melodifestivalen Stars EVER!




Carola Häggkvist her breakthough came at the age of 8, she won a Tv talent Contest Magasin TV show (Click to see Tv clip)
during this Tv broardcast she met Abba's manager Stig Anderson. He was amazed by the talented
youngster.
Yet her big breakthough came in 1983 when Carola was offered "Främling" wrote by Lasse Holm to sing in Melodifestivalen 1983- this song
went on to win & take Carola to ESC in Munchen. This contest was watched by 84% of the population at the time!
The song came 3rd that year and was also the title of her huge selling debut album in Sweden.
Carola became no stranger to Melodifestivalen coming 2nd in 1990 with "Mitt i ett aventyr" The following year she returned to win Eurovision Song Contest in 1991 with 'Captured by a Lovestorm' after a draw in the final votes with France. As Sweden won with more 12 points
Carola came back to Eurovision in 2006 with perhapes her best known entry "Evighet" which finished 5th. She almost entered Melodifestivalen in 2003 with a song called 'Autumn Leaf' it qualified for Mf yet it was not to be and Carola did not sing this new ballad. Yet it did become one of her best known hits "När löven faller" we found this wonderful Live performance of this lost entry, it gives us idea of how carola would have looked & sounded at Eurovision 2003 if the song won. Carola performed in Moscow 2009 (check out previous posts for a fab interview she gave) Carola we pay tribute to you- as a most worthy Schlager Hero-and please, please come back to Melodifestivalen very soon ..

You can read about our other 4 Schlager Hero's-
Just click on the Lable on the side-bar

That winning Performance from Alexander Ryak- Where to now- What is next for Rybak?


After his Historial win what is next for Alexander Rybak? Already he has a new song available just in homeland Norway.
This is called
" Funny Little World " he sung some of this new ditty during the Press Conference in Moscow. Its almost a Fairytale part 2 slower song- it has entered the Norwegian download charts already at No:2 - only 'Fairytale' is keeping it off the top slot.
Find out more about the new album
Alexander's album is ready to be released next month. All european release dates are on the Link & HEAR AN EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW of the Album - click on the new song TITLE above


Yes Thank You so much Moscow- What a night

May 21, 2009

Schlager-Heros will be going back to normal transmission now ESC is over- Just a clue, who will be next!!



I stumbled upon this 80'S Video Gem from Carola' the single was released
from a whole English Album she recorded with the Bee Gees. Recorded in
1985-6 the Album 'Runaway' was huge in Sweden & Norway.

May 20, 2009

New JURY Results Revealed from Eurovision Song Contest 2009




   As Europe returns to normal after the events in Moscow, it certainly was a memorable year in Eurovision for so many reasons mostly positive ones. Then also this is the 1 st year a jury of 
musical experts returned to the contest to add to the tele public vote, each 5 member jury 
was made up of Musical industry experts. Now those jury results have been separated to see what kind of impact they had on 2009 final count. So lets see how they voted...

1 Norway  - 312 points    
2 Iceland   - 260 points 
3 U K  - 223 points
4 France - 164 points
5 Estonia - 124 points
6 Denmark - 120 points
7 Turkey - 114 points
8 Azerbaijan - 112 points
9 Isreal - 107 points
10 Greece - 93 points
11 Moldova- 93 points
12 Bosnia & Herz - 90 points
13 Malta - 87 points
14 Germany- 73 points
15 Armenia - 71 points
16 Ukraine -68 points
17 Russia - 67 points
18 Portugal - 64 points
19 Croatia - 58 points
20-Lituania -31 points
21- Romania -31 points
22- Sweden - 27 points
23-Albania -26 points
24- Finland - 12 points
25- Spain - 9 points

So if we had gone back to a jury system voting that was last used in ESC 1996 exculsively this would have been perhapes the final results. Some big differences when you look outside the Top 2 winners. Here is another great clip from Alexander & his different reactions during the rehearsals and Eurovision week ; ) 

Thanks again to Eurovision.tv


May 18, 2009

Alexander Rybak- Is home for National Day 17th May 2009- "My God, What have I done!"


It was -chaos in Gardermoen Airport Oslo Norway. As Eurovision Song contest winner
Alexander Rybak just made it home for Norways National Day.
'Oh my god, what have a done' were Alexander's first words as approx 5,000 fans of the
new national Hero turned up to see him. 'This is amazing, I was expecting around 30-35 people' Above the noise of screaming fans, a local Brass Band played "Fairytale" which has overnight become a Norwegian
National Day standard.

courtesy of NRK Tv

One Man, One Song and One FAIRYTALE Landslide: Where is Rybak?



Here is a great review of Rybak at ESC 2009- Its in russian,
 but excellent  visuals well done- Channel One RU.



May 16, 2009

Carola's Interview during her Guest appearence in Moscow-She chats lots about ESC & her plans

What a fantastic interview -
Carola looks very happy & all ready for a new POP album release - we hope soon


May 15, 2009

"This is Our Song" from SAKIS ROUVAS for GREECE



Australia will soon sit down to watch the Terrific EUROVISION 2009 coverage on SBS Tv over 
the whole weekend Friday Saturday & Sunday. We shall see both semi finals & the Final, & the EURO Party's
will also go all weekend long.
Plus Australia has its own song in the ESC in Moscow !! Two Aussie songwriters
Cameron Giles-Webb and John Porteils did the co-writing on Greece's song "This is Our Night" via a mutual friend they volenteered for the songwriting job from hometown Sydney.

Dimitris Kontopoulos contacted a freind of ours to see if we were up for the lyric writing task! we said "Yep" Sakis has made a big splash with "Shake it" last time at ESC in 2004- When he ripped off his shirt. This year there has been secret rehearsals going on in London, where Greece plan to reveal a secret combination factor from Sakis on 
the night!! Just MORE of the same, like above
; )           sounds ok to me.   

May 12, 2009

SCHLAGERTUNES JURY-Top 12 Eurovision Favourites for 2009




1 NORWAY -ALEXANDER RYBAK
FAIRYTALE
2 BOSNIA HERTZ- REGINA
BISTRA VODA
3 ESTONIA- URBAN SYMPHONY
RANDAJAD (TRAVELLERS)
= 4 U K - JADE EWEN
ITS MY TIME
= 4 SWEDEN- MALENA ERNMANN
LAVOIX
6 ALBANIA- KEJSI TOLA
CARRY ME IN YOUR DREAMS
7 DENMARK-BRINCK
BELIEVE AGAIN
8 RUSSIA - ANASTASIA
MAMO
9 HUNGARY- ADOKZOLI
DANCE WITH ME
10 GREECE - SAKIS ROUVAS
THIS IS OUR NIGHT
11 ANDORRA- SUSANNE GEORGI
LA TEVA DECISIO
=12 ICELAND -YOHANNA
IS IT TRUE?
=12 SPAIN -SORAYA
LA NOCHE ES PARA MI

I was thinking a Top 10 of the songs I have on repeat plays
from this years ESC would be easy- after I heard them all- Even having seen their rehearsal
performances on Eurovistion.tv Then the task became harder it was extended
to a Top 12! There are a fair few songs that make me even cringe
( sorry- Czech Rep, Moldova )
afterall it is still all about the songs, lets see how these excellent tunes shape up in
the final countdown I hope all these 12 will make the final. Then Olso for ESC 2010
would be mighty fine..

Moscow's Opening Ceremony had some Diva performances from the likes of Carola - We R happy to see Dana International Back



HERE is the Russian NEWS Report- From the 'Grand Opening Ceremony' Show held over in Moscow. It featured some classic Eurovision winners during the opening show. For this Eurovision Gala Carola flew in from Stockholm - she sang her three past entry's for Sweden live on stage. If you advance the News clip to about 1 min into the clip you will find Reformed German band Genghis Khan doing 'Moscow' + Dutch band Teach in from 1975. Lys Assia came in from Switzerland to sing 'Refain' the very first Eurovision winner from 1956.




Finally Ruslana from Urkaine & Sir Dima Bilan the new Eurovision
 generation stop to chat as well

Spain's Soraya: They are calling her a Spainish Kylie in the Press Down-under. WOW -Take a look at her performance!

May 11, 2009

NORWAY's Alexander Rybak a New Interview from Moscow with Love- in english





Interview about Alexander Rybak's first Album release-Fairytales
Thanks to esctoday




Andorra's Susanne Georgi- She has a great Tune for Eurovision 09- Plus her video is rather Fab



I am not sure why this song is not alot more popular? I for one want to see Susanne in Eurovision Final.
She has made the Schlagertunes- ESC'09 Best of Top 12 -Watch this space... start.

May 8, 2009

ABBA's New Song 'Second Best to None' sung by Benny's staff of His Rival Hotel- Stockholm


How amazing is this tune! Bjorn & Benny have stopped dead any plans and Hollywood pressure, to do a Mamma Mia Movie follow-up.
Yet B&B show us they still have many more wonderful pop melodies in them ! So Benny has given this
great new tune to his staff down at the Rival Hotel that he owns. To think this could have easily been another Abba 
chart-topper ! I can almost imagine or hear Frida doing a lead vocal on the verses.

May 7, 2009

Lithuania have their own Justin Timberlake with Sasha Son his song 'Love' is growing on me I must say...

Russian Tv- REVIEW ESC Rehearsals & they Luv' Alexander (speaks Russian), Intars Busulus (Latvia) Lidia (Poland) & Brinck



Channel 1- in Russia, are keeping a keen eye on ESC
rehearsals in Moscow. Its good to see them
giving air time to scandinavian stars as well. In fact before
the euro circus began. This russian TV station travelled to
Oslo to do a whole special program with just the fairytale
fiddler himself Alexander Rybak. They must like him- 12 points due
from Russia- perhapes? ( there is some english comments also)
Below is Brinck for Denmark- what a great guy & performer

May 4, 2009

May 2, 2009

The Eurovision Songs begin in Moscow Russia for 2009

Over in sunny Moscow, Russia the rehearsals & press conferences have begun. As well as Olimpiyskiy Stadium is now open for the proceedings of the 54 th Eurovision Song Contest. So let the annual EURO party begin...we will keep an eye on the whole event- and soon compile My own SCHLAGERTUNES jury style votes for the Top 10 favourite songs- stay tuned !! I have noticed on many blogs comments have been made, saying this could be the year Eurovision returns to the West.

Below see the Eurovision Stage & Lighting during the very first rehearsal inside
Olimpiyskiy Stadium as Montenegro sing their entry... With John Travolta Jnr - Thanks to eurovision.tv


May 1, 2009

Malena's 'La Voix' Dress is revealed in Stockholm

Malena's "New" Snow Queen dress for the Moscow final has been revealed in the swedish press reports today. It has been the first time the dress has been seen, it was created by designer Camilla Thulin.
A real contrast to the black dress she wore in Melodifestivalen final. This time in a White classic 1800's style with futuristic wings and 365 ostrich feathers + turkish sequins from Istanbul ! this certainly sounds like a grand classic performance in the making. Not forgetting the 5 spunky dancers with Malena, to wear short jackets of velvet & silk in the same classic style. Camilla estimates the cost of the dress alone at 400,000 Svenska Krone's. blimey!

Malena is overjoyed and said she feels like Grace Kelly in the dress. It certainly made up for her recent last minute Russian Visa delays of earlier this week.
GO MALeNA..