Tracks...

As regular readers may have noticed, the blog hasn't been updated much lately. The main reason for that is because I have been extremely busy over the last few weeks. New management took over the place where I work and that has meant quite a few meetings, changes in the workplace etc. I had intended to keep on working there but something else unexpectedly came up.

I have been in talks this month with another company and as a result I will be starting a brand new job next week, running a business I don't really know anything about (!). However, I have decided it is time to move on to other things and hopefully this will be a fun new challenge.

But on to the business at hand - yes, it's time again for some tracks/videos that have caught my attention lately. This lot includes the return of Infernal (as Paw & Lina) as well as a comeback from Miss Marianne Faithfull. There are also two songs that feature Ariana Grande, although I'm not even a big fan! However, "Problem" has been sneaking up on my all summer and "Break Free" not only features dance prince Zedd but also a video inspired by the world of a certain Barbarella!

The highlight here though has to be the excellent "Monument" by Royksopp and Robyn! Hope you'll find something to enjoy here :)

Vi Har En Resulta...

Almost 1.2 million viewers tuned in on Saturday night to watch the Swedish Melodifestivalen final.



The results were hardly surprising - in fact, the four most likely to win songs ended up in the four top places. Sanna Nielsen won (after six successful entries in the past) with "Undo", while the more contemporary "Busy Doin' Nothin'" by Ace Wilder finished in second place (that song scored the most 12 points by the juries). Alcazar finished in third place, were very happy with the result and promised fans some new music and a European tour in the near future. Both the UK and French juries awarded Alcazar 12 points. And finishing in a very respectable fourth place was "Survivor" by Helena Paparizou - which did not qualify for the final right away, but was selected from the second change show.

The rather awful song by Anton Edwald, which had been tipped as a very potential winner (that is, before it debuted in the semifinal) thankfully finished in last place.

I personally would have loved it if Alcazar had won, but I didn't really expect them to. All in, fair results and I'm sure Sanna is thrilled to have finally won after so many successful attempts in the past.



Here are the full results from the final:

Draw	Song	Denmark	Estonia	France	Germany	Israel	Italy	Malta	Netherlands	Russia	Spain	UK	Jury points	Televote/SMS			Total	Place
														Votes	%	Points
1	"Natural"	—	—	—	—	1	—	2	—	—	1	—	4		3.0%	14	18	10
2	"Songbird"	—	4	1	4	—	6	—	10	2	2	2	31		6.4%	30	61	7
3	"Blame It on the Disco"	—	—	12	8	8	10	6	6	—	—	12	62		10.1%	48	110	3
4	"Yes We Can"	1	—	—	1	—	4	8	—	4	6	8	32		4.3%	21	53	8
5	"Bröder"	2	12	6	12	2	—	—	1	10	—	1	46		7.9%	37	83	5
6	"Survivor"	8	2	4	6	6	2	12	2	1	10	4	57		5.6%	27	84	4
7	"To the End"	10	8	2	—	4	1	4	—	6	4	—	39		9.3%	43	82	6
8	"Undo"	6	6	10	10	10	8	10	4	8	12	6	90		25.8%	122	212	1
9	"Efter solsken"	4	1	—	2	—	—	—	8	—	—	—	15		3.8%	18	31	9
10	"Busy Doin' Nothin'"	12	10	8	—	12	12	1	12	12	8	10	97		23.8%	113	210	2

Blame It On The DISCO...

As regular readers of this blog now, I have always followed the Swedish Eurovision song selection well. In the past 10 years, Melodifestivalen has often been even more fun to watch then the actual Eurovision. But sadly, this year has been a different story!

The songs have been more or less dreadful, the staging been as boring as any TV "talent" show and most of the performers looked and sounded like that's exactly where they should be - on something like X-Factor.

The final is next Saturday and the running order of the 10 final songs has been decided:

1. Anton Ewald – “Natural”

2. Ellen Benediktson – “Songbird”

3. Alcazar – “Blame It On The Disco”

4. Oscar Zia – “Yes We Can”

5. Linus Svenning – “Bröder”

6. Helena Paparizou – Survivor”

7. YOHIO – “To the End”

8. Sanna Nielsen – “Undo”

9.Panetoz – “Efter solsken”

10. Ace Wilder – “Busy Doin’ Nothin”

Out of these 10 songs, only two manage to be somewhat interesting. 

Sanna Nielsen has always done well in Melodifestivalen and her entry this year (almost a ballad version of Eric Saade's "Popular") is most likely to win, in my opinion. It's nothing terribly special, but compared to most of the rest of this years songs, it is a cut above the rest. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if it wins (that is, if the dreadful Ace Wilder track doesn't - it seems to be a big favorite in Sweden, for reasons unknown by moi).

Much less likely to win is this one. Ex-Eurovision winner (for Greece) Helena Paparizou didn't qualify straight to the final but got her ticket through Andra Chansen (Second Change) this weekend. The song seems to be going down very well in Sweden and might do quite well on Saturday - but if memory serves, a song that did not qualify straight to the final has never actually won. Again, not a fantastic song per se - but much better than most of the other entries.



BUT: there is one more thing that will make the final ever so worth it! The return of the glorious Alcazar!



"Blame It On The Disco" sounds quite a bit like their previous entry "Stay The Night" - but this time they decided to make their entrance a la Madonna (Confessions Tour). Dressed in their most glittery outfit, the injected a MUCH needed life and fun into an otherwise terrible boring competition. Of course I hope this will win on Saturday, but I suspect it just might be a bit too camp...

In any case: my favorite this year: