E.M.D.- Mattias to appear in "Let's Dance"!

Firstly it was Danny Saucedo who took to the dancefloor, then band-mate Erik Segerstedt was in charge of a choir on "Körslaget". Now Aftonbladet reports here that Mattias Andréasson, the third member of all-conquering Swedish boyband E.M.D., will be appearing in the next series of "Let's Dance" which is TV4 Sweden's version of "Strictly Come Dancing"/"Dancing With The Stars". I wonder if he'll emulate Danny's success or will the judges be saying "Baby Goodbye" (groan) if it's murder on the dancefloor? All will be revealed soon, as the new series begins in January 2010.

The 2009-50: No.37 - Can't read my, can't read my, no you can't read my....

"Poker Face" - Lady GaGa.

One of the most overexposed (in every way!) music artists of 2009! No matter where in the world you were, you would always hear Lady GaGa. Everywhere you went, there was no escape.

I initially didn't like this song, but my resistance wore down very quickly and it remains for me one of the most enduring and refreshing pop songs of the year. And it's completely daft, in a good way. (Am not keen on her new stuff though - that "Video Phone" song with Beyonce is completely awful, and "Bad Romance" is still annoying me). Unfortunately we can expect to see a long line of inferior GaGa wannabes in the chart next year, which I'm not too excited about.

The 2009-50 is back on Thursday.

The 2009-50: No. 38 - Cause I'm not able to convince myself that I'm better off without you

"Release Me" - Agnes.

Proof that even if you don’t like an act, you only need one song to change your mind. In the case of Agnes Carlsson, this was it. I had never been a fan of hers, purely on the grounds that she beat my beloved Sebastian Karlsson in the second season of Swedish Idol - I’m not good at forgiving/forgetting, but this finally won me over (as did her Melodifestivalen entry "Love Love Love" eventually).

I'm particularly glad that she is achieving worldwide success now - the more Swedish artists taking over the world, the better!

The 2009-50: No. 39 - The negative move, it's killin' the groove

"We Don't Wanna Put In" - Stefane & 3G.

And now, "a bit of politics" as Ben Elton used to say, back in the day. In 2009 Georgia decided to submit a rather fab, disco-tastic 70s style groovy tune as its entry to the Eurovision Song Contest. So far so good, a song I actually liked in what was a generally poor year.

And then it was gone. The Georgians claimed that Russia (hosts of the 2009 contest) asked them to change the the lyrics of the song. Georgia refused, then just as the EBU was about to throw the rule book at them (no politics or any of that kind of stuff allowed. Yeah right.), Georgia withdrew from the contest, denying the people of Europe the chance to boogie on down to this fab song.

The 2009-50: No.40 - These are the good times in your life, so put on a smile and it'll be alright

"The Rain" - Calvin Harris.

Opening track on the great man's rather wonderful "Ready For The Weekend" album. This is a perfect example of the accessible dance music with a strong pop sensibility, a style which he does so effortlessly and so well. An uptempo song with an uplifting, if repetitive, chorus.

(Bizarre thing happened today, as whilst I was battling my way through the never-ending rainstorms, this song came on my iPod. What an appropriate title, I thought, as I proceeded to step into a great big puddle....!)

The way this chart is unfolding is as big a surprise to me as it is to anyone else (or not, as the case may be) as I've re-written the list of songs from no.35 to no.50 several times over the last couple of nights. Still got that slight paranoia that I might have left some songs out by accident, in which case they'll probably make an appearance in my 'ones that got away' list which should appear in the week beginning 14.12.2009.

The 2009-50: No. 41 - If you got something to say just get right down to it

"Say It" - Booty Luv.

It remains one of the year's more inexplicable mysteries that this addictively catchy comeback single by the dance-pop duo failed to make the chart impact which it deserved. That's all I've got to say.

The 2009-50: No. 42 - Now if she does it like this will you do it like that?

"Shake It" - Metro Station.

I suppose I should really have hated this, given that the band probably only got famous because it features the brother of Miley Cyrus - whose phenomenal success is completely lost on me, but then I'm not part of her target audience I suppose.

Anyway this was just a very catchy uptempo pop song which was good enough to succeed even without the famous-sibling connection.

Idol 2009: another one bites the dust

Sorry I don't have time for a full review this week, normal service should resume next weekend.

Reza is the latest contestant to be evicted from Swedish Idol, I thought she might go this week after being in the bottom two last week with Eddie (yes I missed him this week, it's just not the same without him. Pass the Kleenex).

The one thing that did shock me though, was Erik's appearance in the bottom two: it proves just how strong the competition is this year. No 'John and Edward' types in Swedish Idol !

Calle seems to be on the up - he has a great rock voice and is very very good at what he does but I still don't see him as solo-singer material: I think he would be better fronting a band.

Tove showed another side to her style with a very nice version of "Himlen är oskyldigt blå" which is a lovely song by the late and much-missed singer-songwriter Ted Gärdestad.

Mariette has also recovered her form over the past couple of weeks and is again a contender but I'll stick my neck out and predict that Calle will go next week, followed by Mariette, with the finalists being Tove and Erik. But as my predictions usually turn out rubbish it will probably be a Calle-Mariette final. Who knows? They're all good in their own way, and so much better than anyone on X Factor.

Quite excited at the prospect of the "Idol 2004-2009" DVD coming out in Sweden towards the end of this year, will definitely need to buy that one.

Album Reviews Round-Up

Trying to clear the decks before the pre-Christmas blogging (not to mention Christmas itself!) So here are some mini-reviews of some recent albums.

Firstly, "Conditions" by The Temper Trap.

I loved "Sweet Disposition" from the moment I heard it in that ad (for 4 Music if I’m right), and this song is one of the most welcome and underrated chart hits of this year. They are an Australian band now based in the UK - there is so much musical talent coming out of Australia now. "Conditions" is like a musical series of controlled explosions. OK so much of it is not original, and much of the time melody and hooklines are sacrificed in favour of atmosphere. Their ace card however is super vocalist Dougy Mandagi, whose powerful falsetto tones are the most distinctive I’ve heard in a long time. I would imagine that they are great live; we’re going to hear a lot more from them. Best track: "Sweet Disposition" (of course!)

"500 Dågar Om Aret" - Tomas Ledin

I continue to have a strong sense of loyalty to many of my ‘foreign favourites’ whom I’ve supported over the years. Like Tomas Ledin for example; who at 57 years old has had a music career spanning almost 40 years and he keeps on rockin’! Over recent years - and I say this as a fan - I feel his recorded output has deteriorated and he only seems to be capable of two songs - the ‘anthemic rocky one’ and the ‘acoustic ballad’. This album doesn’t really dispute that thinking, mixing up the smooth acoustic songs - some of them rather nice, don’t get me wrong - with the stadium-rockers like the title track and "Medelklassens Okrönta Kungar", (which got a lot of press attention at the time of the album’s release due to Ledin’s claim that it’s a rock anthem for the middle classes). His voice has deepened over the years, but vocally he still has it. The problem continues to be the unimaginative musical settings for his songs which are less varied now than in his ‘golden era’ of the 70s, 80s and early 90s. First single "Håll Ut" was disappointing on first hearing, and it still disappoints; I like the catchy foot-tapper "Ut på Vagarna Igen" though.

"Röd" - Kent

Loved and acclaimed by the Swedish critics and music fans alike, Kent continue to push the musical boundaries in a more electronic direction and manage to keep their music fresh on their new album. It starts bizarrely, with bells and a church choir, but it’s not long till the pounding, pulsating electro beats kick in, topped by Joakim Berg’s distinctive voice. If first single "Töntarna" didn’t really leave an impression, they make up for it for example with "Taxmannen", "Krossa Allt" and the epic "Sjukhus", the latter building up into a fast, funky, New Order-ish (yes, that good) adventure, and the outstanding, equally epic "Vals för S***n". If I have a problem with many of the songs on this album it’s that many of them are a bit too long and can overstay their welcome, but one thing is for sure - their electro-disco-rock-melancholy is in a class of its own. You can be sure that come awards season, they’ll be walking away with a few. Like all Kent albums they need some time to grow on you; and like the others, this definitely brings its rewards.

"Zij aan Zij" - Clouseau

Here’s a band which has rediscovered its joie de vivre, its musical mojo, call it what you will. Many bands go stale with the passing of time, but not Flemish-speaking Belgium’s most popular group of the last 20 years. After spending the mid to late 90s in easy listening territory, they rediscovered the excitement of their early days and their last 3 albums have been filled with power-pop guitar driven songs with anthemic singalong choruses which are just tailor-made for their annual residency at Antwerp’s Sportpaleis. Their trademark ballads are still there though, but even these are a bit more muscular - like the ‘With or Without You’-influenced title track. "De Juiste Vergissing" is a very good opening track whilst "Leve België" is interestingly, a song for unity in their divided country. "Zij aan Zij" may have nothing distinctively new or different to offer, but if you’re a Clouseau fan you will enjoy it, and it would appear that there is still a lot of life left in the Wauters brothers’ winning musical formula.

The 2009-50: No. 43 - Never thought that I would be the one falling down

"Lose Control" - Waldo's People.

Finland's Eurovision entry this year was a nostalgic journey back to the days of 90s dance. I played it a lot at the time - although maybe less so in the second half of the year, which would account for its relatively low position in my chart. Their performance at the contest was ultimately disappointing, but on record it remains a very catchy dance song, and I'm glad Finland chose it. But there was another song at Euroviisut which I loved so much more - and which will appear later on in my chart (clue: the singer is doing Euroviisut 2010, which is really really really exciting news!)

The 2009-50: No.44 - Lying in the grass, watching the stars come out

"Stars Come Out" - Calvin Harris.

One of the lesser-known tracks on his rather wonderful second album "Ready For The Weekend" which has probably been played to death at EuropeCrazy HQ by now. This is completely dance-tastic and I love the way it goes off on that little ravey tangent near the end.

Some thoughts before I go in search of zzz......

I'm now feeling very tired so won't be hanging around here for much longer tonight. Before I go...

• "Retro Saturday" is now on another break and will be back in January.
• When I'm refreshed and revived tomorrow I'll post my Idol review - "I just haven't watched it yet" as Michael Buble might sing :))
• I should also post an album roundup: this month's Square-Eyed will follow in the next few days.
• Also just realised I hadn't mentioned that the all-male Team Ola won Körslaget last week, which I'm very happy about although less happy that they are supposed to have (allegedly) ripped off a routine by the British winners 'Only Men Aloud' from that 'Last Choir Standing' thing on BBC-1 last year?
• Shamefully I haven't seen any of "Dansbandskampen" yet.
• Still obsessed with Melodifestivalen.
• Have decided not to watch "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here" - one of the very few celeb-reality shows which I bother with - any more, until they get some of the so-called 'celebs' to earn their money. Reason = Katie "Don't call me Jordan" Price = bush tucker trials night after night = not funny anymore, killing this show actually. I'm struggling to understand the reason for the "what trials Katie did next" show and ITV's obsession with this woman. Not that it would have anything to do with ratings and tabloid coverage then, would it???

The 2009-50: When I'm gone, who are you to mourn?

"Don't Bring Flowers" - Erik Hassle.

The song chosen to launch 2009's blog-land favourite and all-round wonderful new talent Erik Hassle in the UK - an uptempo guitar-pop grower with very sharp lyrics - predictably was too good to make the charts in this country.

Wisely, his record company have put the release of the fantastic "Hurtful" and the British version of his debut album - which was originally due for release here in November, slap-bang in X Factor season where decent music will sink without a trace, (and which fans of quality Swedish pop have been enjoying for a vast chunk of 2009) - on hold until February 2010, by which time he'll reach a much wider audience by supporting Mika on his British tour and, fingers crossed, finally achieve the success he deserves in this country.

The 2009-50: No. 46 - I sing now for all of you

(I haven't been around all day and was also off for a night out tonight, but I'm back now and ready to resume my devotion to the blogging cause and bring the latest instalment of my top 50 songs of the year.)

"Hold On" - Lazee featuring Neverstore.

A very acceptable blend of rap (Lazee) and indie rock (Neverstore) from Sweden. Regular readers won't be surprised that this is the first of very many songs by Swedish acts in my chart this year.

One significant thing about this song is that it did get released in the UK, had a fair amount of airplay on the music video channels, and even made the (increasingly influential) Radio 1 playlist. Yet despite that, it failed to make what (IMHO) has become an increasingly irrelevant and highly irritating UK top 40 singles chart. Being a fan of European music is a wonderful thing though, as it means that you have somewhere else to go when the music gets rubbish in your own country :)

The 2009-50: No. 47 - Ich bau ne Stadt für dich, aus Glas und Gold und Stein

"Stadt" - Cassandra Steen featuring Adel Tawil.

Whilst on holiday in Dusseldorf earlier this year, this song was a regular fixture on MTV and Viva music channels. Although Cassandra Steen was an unknown name to me, the person who made it a very special song is her duetting partner on this song, none other than Adel Tawil, who is better known as one half of Ich + Ich, and he also sang the German 'Prison Break' theme. He is probably my favourite German singer - I love his very distinctive voice and could probably listen to it all day! Anyway this is a very nice song which deservedly became a big hit in Germany.

P.S. By the way, I just found out this week that there is a new Ich + Ich album out (did you know about this, Rachel?) so will need to check that out some time soon :)

P.P.S. Hope those lyrics are correct, as my German is virtually non-existent I got them off a website :)

The 2009-50: No. 48 - You are the reason that I breathe, you are the reason that I still believe

"Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" - AH Rahman featuring the Pussycat Dolls.

The Pussycat Dolls may have been quick to cash in on 'Slumdog'-mania earlier this year, (the original version of the song was featured in the closing scenes of the movie) but this was a wise decision to team up with the song's original composer AR Rahman and remake the song. The result? Well, I thought it was the best thing they've ever done, and the song had such a wide appeal that even Doll-haters liked this song. An incredibly catchy song, from a highly enjoyable and genuinely original motion picture.

The 2009-50: No. 49 - One, two, three, four, uno, dos, tres, cuatro

"I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" - Pitbull.

As near as you’ll get to the good old "holiday hit", this one (see also "Hotel Room Service", our fondly remembered holiday hit from Turkey which narrowly missed out on a placing in this chart) gleefully sampled that Bucketheads riff and rumba-d all over our radios this summer. I can’t see him being anything else but a two hit wonder though, and his videos are sexist rubbish, but this song and its follow-up were particularly guilty pleasures for me in 2009. :)

The 2009-50: No. 50 - It's complicated, it always is, that's just the way it goes

"When Love Takes Over" - David Guetta featuring Kelly Rowland.

It always cheers me greatly to see a European act succeeding on the worldwide stage. This year belonged to French DJ, producer and remixer David Guetta, thanks to his work with the Black Eyed Peas and his own album of collaborations with major artists, in this case Kelly Rowland, which became one of the year’s biggest and most enduring dance tracks. Guetta even achieved the impossible: he made a record with Akon which I actually liked!

The 2009-50: introduction and criteria

OK so here we are, it's that time again, when I count down my 50 favourite songs of the year. Before I start, just a brief word on the criteria for selection:

• Most of the songs were released in 2009, although there is as usual that little grey area where I've featured a couple of songs which, although technically released in 2008, didn't reach my ears until 2009.


• There are also those songs which were released in the post-2008-50 period and made it into the 'ones that got away' list at the end of last year, therefore just missed out on this year's list: main casualty being Christian Walz.


• Only songs which have been commercially released this year are eligible, which rules out unreleased tracks: that's why Salem Al Fakir's as yet unreleased "Brooklyn Sun", despite being one of my favourite and most played songs of the year, is omitted (watch out for that one next year though....)

So here we go....

This week's Idol songs

It's "Love Songs" week (yawn)

But at least there are - finally! - a couple of songs in the Swedish language at least!!

Here (thanks as usual to Aftonbladet) is the list of who'll be singing what this week:

Tove Östman Styrke
1.”Sweet dreams” (Eurythmics)
2.”Himlen är oskyldigt blå” (Ted Gärdestad)

Calle Kristiansson
1.”Your song” (Elton John).
2.”To be with you” (Mr. Big).

Erik Grönwall
1.”My life would suck without you” (Kelly Clarkson).
2.”Always” (Bon Jovi).

Reza Ningtyas Lindh
1.”You've got a friend” (Carole King).
2.”When I need you” (Leo Sayer).

Mariette Hansson
1.”Ängeln i rummet” (Eva Dahlgren).
2.”Good riddance (Time of your life)” (Green Day).

Eddie Razaz: Model Idol!!

He may have been evicted from Swedish Idol last Friday, but in no time he's landed a new career as a fashion model. Yes, the gorgeous Eddie Razaz will be featured in a Swedish advertising campaign for top American designer Tom Ford! I can't wait to see the pictures.... :)))

Salem Al Fakir in Melodifestivalen 2010 !!!!

Did you really think I wouldn't mention it?????

Today SVT revealed the second 'joker' (wildcard) entry to next year's Melodifestivalen - and it is none other than my most favourite singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/musical genius, the outstanding Salem Al Fakir.

I've been through a lot of different emotions about this today - extreme excitement, disbelief, shock, further excitement, even more excitement, you get the idea :)

Anyway Salem will be appearing in Melodifestivalen 2010, where he will sing a song called "Keep On Walking" which of course he has also written himself.

For those who haven't heard any of Salem's music yet, I would recommend you take a trip over to Salem's MySpace (www.myspace.com/salem) or do a search for some of his videos over at YouTube.

And (quick plug time) don't forget to visit Planet Salem, which is my very own international fansite for the great man!!!! http://planetsalem.blogspot.com

Agnes finds love, love, love ....with Vincent!

Just been catching up with this weekend's Swedish showbiz gossip and was confronted with this article on Expressen's website which says that Agnes Carlsson's new boyfriend is none other than Vincent Pontare!!

(If you're not familiar with Vincent, he's a really talented singer, musician and songwriter - one of Sweden's best!)

I just love it when Swedish pop stars get together, don't you? First Måns and Marie, now Agnes and Vincent. It's a shame that Brolle and Elin split up though :(

Anyway I wish this new pairing all the best! Now when are we going to get a new album from Vincent? It's about time....!

Idol 13.11.09: Topplistan, duets, and hankies at the ready - Eddie's out :(

With Anders Bagge sick this week, it was none other than Ulf Ekberg from the mighty Ace of Base who sat in for him on the panel as guest judge. This week's theme was "Topplistan" - some current or recent hit songs - and for the first time this year we got the chance to hear duets involving the six remaining contestants.

"Bodies" - Erik: He recovered well from his microphone failure at the start of the song. On the surface, a pretty undemanding song for his powerhouse vocals but he was wonderful and yet again it was no bother for him. His first Robbie song of the evening! Surely he'll make the final? I really want him to win it now.

"Curly Sue" - Eddie: a strange choice, giving Eddie one of Sweden's most played pop/rock songs of the decade when that kind of sound clearly isn't his comfort zone. Nevertheless it gave us another chance to be "head over heels" with Mr Razaz!!!!

"Halo" - Reza: As stated in my previous post, this is one of my most hated songs of 2009 so credit to her for doing a mainly controlled performance of it.

"Bad Day" - Calle: Nothing to do with "Idol", but IMHO my favourite cover version of this song was when Lee Mead sang it in "Any Dream Will Do". Anyway it was pretty restrained for Calle. Not bad, but not great either. Maybe a song-swap would have been better, with Eddie doing this and Calle doing "Curly Sue"?

"I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker" - Tove: another spirited performance from the quirky and probable winner-in-waiting, although for me slightly ruined by the fact that this is one of my least favourite songs of this decade.

"Bleeding Love" - Mariette: Another song which thankfully lacked Leona-style vocal gymnastics. Mariette was impressive again, but also restyled again - they're trying to turn her into something she isn't, and I don't think they know what image they want for her?

"If Only You" - Eddie & Reza: lucky Reza getting to duet with Eddie - it's a wonder anyone could concentrate on singing if they had to do a duet with him :) He looks and sounds like a pop star already so this was a good choice for him, maybe less so for Reza, but I enjoyed it. But that kiss at the end....lucky lucky Reza!!!

"Someone New" - Mariette & Calle: Surprisingly this was my favourite of the night's duets as it seemed quite natural and unforced, and showed off both singers' vocal abilities well on the Eskobar & Heather Nova song which was a great choice.

"Kids" - Tove & Erik: A chance to watch the two finalists in action - for I think they will be the last Idols standing this year - and they did a good enough job here although I don't particularly like this song anyway. I feel that neither of them will be traditional pop stars post-Idol; I could envisage Erik having a long and successful career in musical theatre whilst Tove is likely to emulate Amanda Jenssen's style with a more left-field musical approach. (I wonder what the "winner's song" will be this year? Same old same old I guess!)

Bottom two: Eddie and Reza - Eddie was becoming the 'king of the bottom two' but on Friday his nine lives finally ran out and he went home. I suppose it was time for him to go, as he doesn't have the vocal ability of the others, but this lovesick blogger will miss him so much :((((

Next week: the final five contenders participate for the final time in the TV4 studios before the latter stages of the contest head out to the arenas of Malmo, Gothenburg and finally Stockholm. Only four weeks to go till the final!

2009: the hate chart

Just doing the final preparatory bits for my top 50 chart of my favourite songs of 2009. (The 2009-50 starts this coming Thursday).

For me, 2009 has been a year of musical extremes. On the one hand there have been songs this year which I have loved and will continue to love for a long time to come: most of these will have escaped the ears of the general British listening public, but thankfully there is the pop blogging community where I manage to discover some wonderful pop music overlooked by the UK media/radio programmers.

For me, the UK top 40 singles chart in 2009 has, most of the time, been a no-go area of autotuned r'n'b landfill, or songs which have overstayed their welcome, fuelled by the most unimaginative radio playlists I can remember for many years.

Now as you know I try to be a positive, glass-half-full kind of person, not really into any kind of negativity but the fact remains that where there is love, there is also hate. And so, ladies and gentlemen, may I present my 2009 hate chart of songs which no radio playlist over the past year could live without - but I never want to hear them again!

1. "Mama Do" - Pixie Lott (aargh!)
2. "Halo" - Beyonce
3. "In For The Kill" - La Roux (the year's most overrated act)
4. "My Life Would Suck Without You" - Kelly Clarkson
5. "Fight For This Love" - Cheryl Cole
6. "T Shirt" - Shontelle
7. "Sober" - Pink
8. "Boom Boom Pow" - Black Eyed Peas
9. Any autotuned r'n'b rubbish (about 90% of the top 40!)
10. Anything by Florence and the Machine (the year's second most overrated act)

I would hope for an improvement in 2010, but then I remember that Scouting For Girls, The Ting Tings and Duffy haven't had a record out in a while :(((((

New presenters for Melodifestivalen in 2010

So, out goes Petra Mede (did she jump or was she pushed - can anyone tell me?) and in comes not one, not two, but three presenters. One of our favourite Swedish pop stars and twice MF finalist, Måns Zelmerlöw will present all six shows along with TV presenter/comedienne Christine Meltzer.

OK so far. Well done Måns, I'm glad he's doing this as he did so well during this summer's "Allsång pa Skansen" and "Sommarkrysset", that an alternative career in TV presenting was always going to be on the cards. I can't comment about Christine Meltzer as I haven't seen her in anything but hopefully she'll bring a few laughs to the show.

But what's the deal with Dolph Lundgren - yes, that Dolph Lundgren, him off the "Rocky" film - also being involved? Aftonbladet reports that he'll be on stage on the first and last shows and will be involved in the other shows, behind the scenes. Bit of an odd choice, this one, if you ask me.

Norsk MGP 2010: no news, only rumours

Lots of lovely Norwegian rumours flying around about who will be competing in the 2010 Norsk Melodi Grand Prix - everyone from Maria Haukaas Storeng, Venke Knutson and Mira Craig (this time as a singer rather than a songwriter) to Lene Alexandra, A1 (!) and Alexander Stenerud. It’s even been suggested that songwriter Rolf Løvland, who was responsible for Norway’s previous ESC winners by Bobbysocks and Secret Garden, will have a song in it next year.

VG reports that NRK won’t be confirming the names of any participants until December. In the meantime you can check out all the rumours and gossip at http://www.vg.no/musikk/grand-prix/

Idol 2009: 'World's best songs' week

A random (and arguable) theme, but as I said in an earlier post, one with the contestants firmly within their comfort zones.

Rabih: "All My Life": bits of this were ok, bits of it were pretty foul. He's gone, and not a minute too soon IMHO.


Mariette: "Because The Night": She does have a good voice and she performs effortlessly week after week, but I still can't 'connect' with her for some reason. I'm still not sure if this competition is the right forum for her talent.

Reza: "Summertime": She has grown on me over the weeks but she unfortunately fell victim to the 'why have one note when 10 will do' curse this week. Although her confidence and star quality is growing, I didn't think this song did her any favours.

Calle: "With A Little Help From My Friends": I thought he'd have been away a couple of weeks ago, but he lives to fight a few other days yet, complete with his 'guyliner'. A decent enough version of the song, Joe Cocker-style (and credit to him for attempting the mid-song Cocker-scream) but I still can't see him going too much further.

Tove: "In The Ghetto": it's a big ask to do an Elvis song, but Tove began by keeping it very simple - even down to her plain white dress - however it wasn't long till she was putting her individual stamp on the song.

Eddie: "If You're Not The One": the falsetto was dodgy and the stylist must have had an off day, but apart from that Eddie did his best on what is for me a rather boring song by one of my least favourite artists. It's time for the weekly dose of gratuitous Eddie screencaps.....

Erik: "The Show Must Go On": he is vocally for me the most consistent performer this year - give him anything and he will sing it well. The judges loved him - and I will be very happy if he wins it.

It's getting harder to predict the bottom-two at this stage of the contest - but this week it was Rabih and Mariette, with Rabih finally going.

Retro Saturday: Joe Jackson

Went into a shop today and they were playing a Joe Jackson song so the lightbulb went on in my head and I thought: "Retro Saturday"!

It's just over 30 years since the singer-songwriter Joe Jackson had his first UK chart hit with the (still wonderful) new wave classic "Is She Really Going Out With Him". This was followed by "It's Different For Girls" which gave him his biggest chart hit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKr2n-9p7WM

My favourite Joe Jackson song is "Steppin' Out" from 1983 which is a true classic. (My definition of a true classic is a song which still sounds as fresh and wonderful today as it did back then). Jazzy and uptempo, with a distinctive piano hookline and a very memorable video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnbj0w8iOeM

Retro Saturday: Jump The Gun

From time to time I like to feature a lost Eurovision classic in my Retro Saturday selection.

Back in 1988, Ireland hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, thanks to Johnny Logan's second win the previous year. They chose the band Jump The Gun to defend their title with "Take Him Home". Looking back, it was a pretty ambitious choice of song, starting off as a piano ballad and then it turns into as near to a rock song as you could get in Eurovision back in those days. For me it's one of the most underrated entries in Eurovision which I can remember, but I've always liked it. I wonder what became of Jump The Gun?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeiLkzqNcXY&feature=PlayList&p=7CC94C8B9D7E70C1&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=62

Retro Saturday: P.M. Dawn

As regular readers will know, a random thought will always lead to a Retro Saturday post.

And so it was this week that somewhere along the way I heard a clip of P.M. Dawn's "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss" which of course was based around that memorable sample of Spandau Ballet's "True".

"Set Adrift..." reached no. 3 in the UK chart in 1991 and still sounds incredibly fresh today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AOVf9p9ht4

In 1992, which was for various reasons a pretty incredible and memorable year both for musical and personal reasons, I loved "Reality Used To Be A Friend Of Mine" (that lyric was already mentioned in "Set Adrift...") and was particularly partial to the CJ McIntosh club mix which someone has very kindly posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9pTU2i1k4g&feature=related

EUROPE music awards????

I didn't even bother watching the MTV Europe Music Awards last night and now that I've seen the results I'm pretty glad. What's the point of having a European Music Awards ceremony where the winners just duplicate the U.S. version? Apart from the best European act (maNga from Turkey) and best group (Tokio Hotel) and national act awards there is nothing to differentiate this. If it's a European awards ceremony then the nominees should only come from this continent.

Oh, and "Halo" - best single? I'm seriously worried about the musical taste of the MTV-viewers :(

Rant over!

This week's Idol songs

Thanks as usual to Aftonbladet for the info!

Rabih Jaber – ”All my life” (K-Ci & Jojo).
Mariette Hansson – ”Because the night” (Bruce Springsteen).
Reza Ningtyas Lindh – ”Summertime” (Fantasia Barrino version).
Calle Kristiansson – ”With a little help from my friends” (Joe Cocker version).
Tove Östman Styrke – ”In the ghetto” (Elvis Presley).
Eddie Razaz – ”If you're not the one” (Daniel Bedingfield).
Erik Grönwall – ”The show must go on” (Queen).

By the look of this list, everyone is firmly within their comfort zone and therefore it should be a solid week and I expect some great performances. Can't even predict who will go this week.

This week also presents me with a major challenge, as I have such an aversion to that Bedingfield man ("Gotta Get Thru This" excepted) that it's going to be very difficult to listen to Eddie singing that awful song....!

Album Review: "The Boy Who Knew Too Much" - Mika

Time for that "difficult second album" with the usual big dilemma - how do you follow a phenomenal worldwide success like "Life In Cartoon Motion"? More of the same? Something radically different?

In Mika's case, he's smart enough to know his audience so he doesn't venture too far away from the first album's blueprint.

Lead-off single "We Are Golden" kicks off the festivities and welcoming you back to Mika's very own flamboyant musical universe. On first hearing I hated this song but it soon grew on me, however my enthusiasm stopped short of the enduring love that I have for "Relax Take It Easy" and of course "Grace Kelly". I won't be the first or the last to suggest that Mika, how shall I say, uses little musical reference points in his songwriting and half the fun is spotting them, e.g. "We Are Golden" = "Heaven Is A Place On Earth"/"Walking On Broken Glass".

Two more reference points for "Blame It On The Girls" which is an extremely catchy piano-driven foot-tapper. It starts with that "That's Not My Name"-type drumbeat, by way of "No Scrubs", anyway it's a typical Mika song and I can see it as a single somewhere along the way.

For me, "Rain" (the second single) is the best track on the album and I can only describe it as a pure pop song with an insistent dance beat which will appeal to fans of Europop: this one will go big on the continent, no doubt.

"Dr John" sees Mika in more overindulgent mood although this has also grown on me. "Blue Eyes" takes the "Graceland"-era Paul Simon route, via "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", but it's not really one of my favourites despite there being nothing too wrong with it. As for "Good Gone Girl" this, like "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" is catchy and irritating in equal measures, but once that chorus is wedged in your brain you won't be able to remove it. As for "Touches You", well this throws in everything but the kitchen sink - gospelly vocals, over-indulgent falsetto vocals - and the result is reminiscent of "Love Today" only a bit more irritating.

Something completely different - "By The Time", which completely reins in Mika's trademark flamboyance and shows another more subdued side to the artist, which he may wish to develop as his career progresses. This for me is one of the best tracks on the album - it's pretty, quite dreamy, and very nice.

Back to the madness with "One Foot Boy" which, reference-point-wise, is a distant cousin of "We Are Golden" and the lyrics (my interpretation) could possibly be about journalists, or fans, or fame itself? Many of Mika's lyrics remain as ambiguous and private as the man himself.

As for "Toy Boy", can I say that this probably belongs more to musical theatre than on an pop album? I don't particularly like this song, it proves that Mika has great musical versatility and can write songs in a number of styles.

The album ends with "Pick Up Off The Floor" which may have become a fan-favourite already, but I really don't like it and can't see my opinion changing. It has a quite bluesy piano hookline and whilst I'm usually ok with his falsetto thing going on, it totally annoys me here.

Verdict: It's a good album however it's not a great one, and it's lacking a classic timeless song like "Grace Kelly" or "Relax". No great surprises here, it's Mika being Mika, which is fine by me. It's pleasing his current fanbase and not alienating anyone, however if he is to truly develop as an artist in the future, he may need to make some significant changes to his musical style.

Strictly halfway

We are now halfway through the latest series of "Strictly Come Dancing" (which for us dance fanatics is also running parallel with its U.S. version "Dancing With The Stars", now also being screened on the Watch satellite channel).

Before the first dance steps had even been taken in Series 7, the controversy was well under way. The BBC decided to replace one of the judges, legendary choreographer Arlene Phillips, with Series 5 winner Alesha Dixon. Accusations of "ageism" followed, which were heightened when the oldest professional female dancer, and series 4 winner, Karen Hardy was dropped from the show.

Controversy has continued to follow "Strictly" this year, recently a race row involving professional dancer Anton Du Beke who is alleged to have used a completely unacceptable racist term to describe his celebrity partner Laila Rouass after she had a spray-tan.

In its early weeks "Strictly" has been up against ITV's "X Factor" in virtually the same time slot, so dare I suggest that any publicity - even the most negative - is good publicity? Two weeks ago, the 'walk-off' by Brendan Cole following the judges' slaughter of his celebrity partner Jo Wood, seemed a little too fabricated for my liking - particularly as the same Mr Cole seemed just a bit too cheerful last week in spite of his partner, known to most people as being the dumped wife of Rolling Stones star Ronnie Wood, finally reaching the end of her "journey".

Aah, the "journey". That good old celebrity-reality-show cliche. It's not the taking part that counts, it's the journey. Thanks to this show, I've discovered myself/became a better person/became more confident/lost 3 stone in weight blah blah blah. And if you can't dance then that's even better.

I first came across the "Vote for the Worst" concept a few years ago whilst following American Idol. The idea was not to vote for the best or the most talented contestants, but for the worst, or the most entertaining for all the wrong reasons. Somewhere along the way, that idea caught on over here - it's viewer power taken to the extreme, sticking two fingers up at the judges which, although it's a good idea in theory, it means that good candidates are often sacrificed so that the truly rotten ones can remain, week after week, to entertain us. Remember the "Strictly Come Dancing" hall of shame...?

Series 1 - Christopher Parker

Series 2 - Julian Clary

Series 3 - Fiona Phillips

Series 4 - Peter Schmeichel

Series 5 - Kate Garraway

Series 6 - John Sergeant (the legend!)

Of course John Sergeant quit the contest at the stage last year when winning became a possibility: his is the standard by which all celebrity-reality-contestants are now measured.

The best thing about Mr Sergeant was his personality. This year's no-hoper is still in search of

one....

So far, Martina Hingis, Richard Dunwoody, Rav Wilding, Lynda Bellingham, Joe Calzaghe and Jo Wood have been voted off the show. I can't comment about Martina Hingis as I didn't see that show, however I've seen the rest and they've all been varying stages of rubbish - although I'd have liked Lynda Bellingham to stay as she was good fun. Last night brought a shock result as Ali Bastian/Brian Fortuna and Zoe Lucker/James Jordan (pictured below) were in the bottom two, despite receiving good scores from the judges. It was a difficult decision for the judges who had to evict Zoe who had been one of their favourites in this series. Neither of these dancers should have been in the bottom two: but then it's not really a dancing contest any more, is it?

Whilst the standard of dancing by the celebrities this year is reasonably high and in some cases exceptional (yes I mean Ricky Whittle and Ali Bastian - if it was just based on dancing then these would be the two finalists), there is still the dead wood, (as opposed to the dead Wood, who was thankfully voted off last week).

Above: Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna - they deserve better than the bottom two.

Above: Craig Kelly & Flavia Cacace - when will the nine lives run out?

Craig Kelly - better known to TV viewers as the guy off "Queer As Folk" who does a lot of voiceovers and then went into "Corrie" for a brief spell as factory owner Luke Strong - has become the darling of the "vote for the worst" brigade. You'd think he'd have used up his nine lives by now, but he lives to fight another day...especially as he so desperately, desperately, desperately wanted to make it to Blackpool.

For next week, "Strictly Come Dancing" will return to its spiritual home - the Tower Ballroom. Who could forget the brilliant Jill Halfpenny and Darren Bennett winning there in 2004? Hopefully the change of venue for one week only will bring some much-needed magic to this series.

This series is distinctly lacking in personalities, the judges often seem strained, Brucie's jokes are a ropey as ever, Tess Daly still has her foot stuck in her mouth and don't even start me on that band and those singers and the inappropriate matching of song choices to dance routines, and the past their sell-by date 'interval acts' (Jamie Cullum excepted)....yet in spite of all that I'm still enjoying "Strictly Come Dancing" - we need a bit of glamour in these dark times don't we?

Above: Natalie Cassidy & Vincent Simone: she's not that great, but she's having fun.

Above: Chris Hollins & Ola Jordan: no-one remembers his dancing because they're all watching the perennially underdressed Ola!

Above: Jade Johnson & Ian Waite: as Brucie would say, 'you're my favourites'. They deserve to do really well.
Above: Phil Tufnell & Katya Virshilas: he's the anti-Craig Kelly - he never stops grinning.

Above: Ricky Groves & Erin Boag: we like him, he's good fun. Those facial expressions in the beginning were hilarious.

Above: Ricky Whittle & Natalie Lowe: go to the top of the class. Rrrrrrrrrrrricky!!!

Above: Laila Rouass & Anton Du Beke: he can't dance Latin for toffee. She deserves better.

*All pictures above courtesy of www.bbc.co.uk*

It's November already!

Welcome to November on EuropeCrazy - I'm getting back on track with my blogging and other stuff now, so between now and 18th November I'll be posting a few reviews of some recent (and not so recent) albums, and a few other random posts along the way.

And then on 19th November - big fanfare - the 2009-50 countdown begins. Suffice to say that I already have a definite top 30 list written down, and I'm not going to change my mind about it now. Not giving too much away, but regular readers will know what to expect, and the majority of the songs come from the first half of 2009.

Alejandro's back!

I just discovered today that Alejandro Sanz is back - with a new album on the way in the next couple of weeks. The first single is called "Looking for Paradise" which is an acoustic-flavoured bilingual duet with Alicia Keys. Alejandro even sings a couple of lines in English too! I'm glad he sang it with Alicia, she keeps it nice and understated - unlike, for example, Beyonce who would probably have overcooked and ruined the song.

I'm looking forward to Alejandro's new album "Paraiso Express" which according to this article should be more 'lighter' than his previous effort "El Tren de los Momentos" which I thought was a very disappointing album after the triumphs of "El Alma Al Aire".

There are preview clips of the album at http://www.amazon.com/Paraiso-Express-Alejandro-Sanz/dp/B002QF31EY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1257087157&sr=8-1 and based on these it sounds like a return to form, particularly if you like the heartfelt acoustic rock ballads which he's best known for. There are no other English-language tracks on the album apart from "Looking For Paradise" but recently I read that he's planning an English-language album eventually, so there may be more to come. Here's a picture of the cover of the new album:

Album Review: "Metamorfoz" - Tarkan

It’s a very different Tarkan who stares from the cover of his most recent album "Metamoroz" which was released at the end of 2007 and which I bought on my recent Turkish trip. Like most other Europop fans I became aware of Tarkan when "Simarik" took over the European charts at the end of the 90s - except in Britain of course where this ridiculous intolerance of music not in the English language meant that we had to wait until Holly Valance recorded it in English before it became a hit over here.

Tarkan is probably the world’s best-known Turkish pop star and it’s no surprise as he’s got it all - looks, vocal and songwriting talent and lots of star quality. But "Metamorfoz" is a very telling title for it’s a definite change of musical style. It’s not just a musical change but visually it’s a very different Tarkan too if the cover is anything to go by - shaven hair, bearded, dressed in a smart suit, shirt and tie. He looks more like an office manager than a hot pop star! Of course it’s all about the music, so on with my review...

"Vay Anam Vay" kicks the album off. This was, I believe, the first single released from the album and it didn’t really bode well for me as it’s more in a very contemporary electro-r’n’b style. Now I know that style is hugely popular, and I know musicians have to change their sound to keep it fresh, but if we’re honest, we like Tarkan doing the more traditional style of Turk-pop so I wasn’t too keen on this opening track. Happily the foot-tapping "Dilli Düdük" finds him in more familiar territory. This is probably my favourite track on the album.

"Arada Bir" is a nice blend of the old and the new. As for "Istanbul Ağliyor", well this is one of my favourite tracks. You know I’m not a ballad fan but this has a particularly wistful and longing feel to it, I don’t know what the lyrics are about but I’d imagine it was quite a sad song? Very atmospheric.

On to "Hop Hop" which starts off like an old Max Martin/Britney song, now you definitely wouldn’t expect that from Tarkan. This definitely works for me though.

You wouldn’t expect Tarkan to rock out either, so be prepared for a major surprise with "Dedikodu". Again this manages to mix the Turkish style with rock guitars. You may like this, you may hate it, that’s up to you. I like it!

"Bam Teli" is next, this is another wistful ballad with Tarkan in particularly good vocal form. He has a very distinctive voice and despite the change in musical style on this album, that doesn't change. "Gün Gibi" is yet another ballad. I would have preferred more uptempo songs, but having had this album on one day whilst doing some housework it also makes some nice background music too!

I mentioned Max Martin earlier - well, the opening notes of "Çat Kapi" brought to mind Lucy Street’s "Girl Next Door" (one of the great lost European pop hits of all time!) - and this has a little electro-vibe running through it which makes it very contemporary. It’s also very catchy too, although it’s in a definite Western pop style than the traditional Turkish pop you expect.
The album closes with "Pare Pare" which is another very nice, piano-driven ballad.

Verdict: "Metamorfoz" is not the album I expected from Tarkan, but having said that it’s not all bad. It’s Tarkan, but not as we know him: if you want him to try different styles of music then you will probably love this, but if you expect more of the high-energy Turk-pop which made him famous then you may feel a little disappointed.

Idol 2009: you're just too good to be true

I've just finished watching this week's clips so here is my review.

Tove: Mack The Knife. Backed by dancers in white shirts and braces, and you know how much i love that look. She seems to be this year's Amanda Jenssen and I think it would be fair to say by now that she has it in the bag, as she definitely has the cheeky charm and charisma to win it. This week she did enough and did it well.

Calle: It's Not Unusual. Great fun to see the rock singer in a suit and bow tie. After his good performance last week he deserved to be here, however there was nothing special or spectacular about his version of the Tom Jones hit and I can't help but reiterate my view from a couple of weeks ago that his days are numbered and he will go in the next 2 weeks.

Reza: New York New York. She is really growing in confidence, talent and stature as this contest goes on and this week she embraced the challenge. Unfortunately the last note was a bit off, but she deserves to stay for another week.

Eddie: Can't Take My Eyes Off You. Looks-wise, Eddie is the kind of guy that I would probably create in a lab as a scientific experiment if I had to create a perfect-gorgeous-man-hybrid of reality-talent contestants, for example Mathieu Johann and Darius Danesh. But looks aren't everything and unfortunately, for me Eddie vocally took a step back this week and he seemed to get the lyrics wrong at various times. Not one of his best weeks, and probably best watched with the volume down.

Erika: Sway. There was nothing too wrong with this but she has no charisma and I think that's the main reason why she went. She will probably turn up in Melodifestivalen 2010 if the rumours are to be believed though, so Erika-fans may get their fix early in the new year.

Erik: You Don't Have To Say You Love Me. One of the most difficult songs that anyone could be given to sing, but he did it well, as he has done week after week. If this competition is based on vocal talent and consistent performances then he is way ahead of the pack and for that reason I hope he wins. However we know what these contests are like by now...

Mariette: You To Me Are Everything. The Real Thing's soul/disco classic. Like Calle, Mariette seemed to be in very unfamiliar territory this week. As ever, she was good but there is still something missing - I can't really warm to her, even though she is very talented, and I think that may be her downfall.

Rabih: That's Amore. Unintentionally hilarious and embarrassing. Imagine Michael Jackson singing Dean Martin and you get the idea. Is there some kind of "vote for the worst" thing going on here? This was rubbish. It's time he went.

Erika and Eddie in the bottom two: Erika leaves this week. I'm not too bothered that she's gone as I've never really warmed to her, but Rabih should really have gone this week.

The Turkey Diaries: Day 8 - Monday 21st September 2009

For the last time we woke to blue skies, bright sun and the usual over-30 degree temperatures. This time tomorrow it will be cold, dull and probably raining :( so we'll have to make the most of it as it's a long long time till we'll see anything like it again.

After breakfast we have our usual stroll down the prom, where it is 33 degrees this morning, and stop off for a Turkish tea (not an apple tea, as there's none available).

Afterwards we go back to the canal, which continues to be one of our favourite spots in Icmeler - as well as being a very picturesque centrepiece to the town. You only have to buy from a stall once and then on your return you are greeted like old friends.

We go up in the direction of the old village for yet another first-class lunch. The choice of food on this holiday has been amazing, there is so much variety on every menu, with something for everyone.

After another stroll around town we head back early to the hotel to do our final packing then have to check out. After sitting for a while in reception, we go out for a final stroll down the seafront, sit on a wall near where the taxi boats leave from, watching the sun set and the lights come on in Icmeler and Marmaris in the distance. It’s a magical setting and I’m feeling quite sad to be saying goodbye to this part of the world but hope we can maybe return some day, all things being well.

We then go back to the hotel and it's not long until the coach arrives to take us to Dalaman Airport for our flight home. The journey from Icmeler to Dalaman seems to go in quite quickly, punctuated by another stop-off at the 'comfort stop' (where Alexander Rybak's "Fairytale" and Hadise's "Dum Tek Tek" are playing over the stereo!) and we finally arrive later in the evening at Dalaman which functions in a rather unusual way, as your luggage is scanned even before you check-in. There are many distraught and tearful passengers in our check-in queue as they realise they are over the luggage limit and have to pay for excess baggage - thankfully we're not among them, and I realise I made the right decision not to buy all those tempting handbags on offer in Icmeler.

Then we go through passport control and then get our tourist visas cancelled (sob) Of course our flight is delayed tonight, so we have to hang around for a lot longer than we anticipated. Which could bankrupt you if you hang around too long....

If you are familiar with the concept of buying a 500 ml bottle of Coca-Cola in an airport shop like WH Smith or Boots, you'll be aware that this usually costs about £1.50.

In these credit-crunching days with the exchange rate of £1 = 1 euro, Turkey has been fantastic value for money at almost 2.5 lira to the £. So you would expect to be charged maybe 4 lira for your bottle of Coca-Cola.

NOT!!!!

For you will pay no less than 10 lira - yes, 4 of your British pounds - for that 500 ml bottle. Sorry to go on about this at length, but this is a robbery that even Dick Turpin would shake his head at. Dalaman has a reputation as "the world’s most expensive airport" and now I know why.

Eventually in the wee small hours we board our flight home, which is a lot quieter than the flight going out. We try to sleep but fail miserably as it’s too cold and uncomfortable, but we must have got some sleep along the way as the next thing we remember is the pre-landing announcements.

We arrive just after 8.00 am in time for breakfast at the airport. The temperature here is only a third of what we left behind in Turkey. There are now two very itchy mosquito bites on my legs (which subsequently take a couple of weeks to heal).

This has been a holiday filled with lots of laughs, new experiences, surprises and happy memories. Icmeler is a clean, safe resort and despite being targeted mainly at British tourists with the "full English" breakfasts, Sky Sports and "three for a tenner", we managed to get enough of an authentic Turkish experience and you never forget where you are. The people have been polite and courteous and always made you feel welcome.

As people who don't do package holidays, we found Icmeler to be a surprising revelation. I haven't stopped talking about this holiday since I got back home - and I'm sure it won't be our last time on Turkish soil. Verdict: highly recommended. If you want "the buzz" then head for Marmaris, but if you want something a bit quieter with a mix of tourist-appeal and a unique Turkish touch, then Icmeler is the place to be.

This weekend....

It's all gone a bit topsy-turvy as I'm doing all my Friday night things on Saturday so all things being well I'll turn tonight into Saturday night instead - I'll do a couple of blog posts tonight including the final instalment of the Turkey Diaries. Retro Saturday is now fortnightly so it'll be back next weekend.

It'll be nice to get the Swedish Idol results live too! (Good luck Eddie!!!!)

Grammisgalan 2010 TV blackout shock!

Bad news for us Swedish music fans. The 2010 Swedish Grammy Awards, due to be held on 15th January 2010, will not be broadcast on Swedish TV. It will be the first time since 2003 that the annual music awards ceremony is not broadcast on television. TV4 has chosen to opt out for "practical and economic" reasons.

The annual music industry ceremony has not recently enjoyed high viewing figures, and the decision has also been made to move the Stockholm venue for the ceremony from the large Hovet arena to the much smaller Münchebryggeriet which holds only around 1000 people, therefore there will be no tickets made available to the public. Source: Musikindustrin

This week's Idol songs

The glitter, the glamour, the cheese....it should be great fun on Idol this week.

I always look forward to reading Martin Söderström's excellent weekly analysis of the song choices - this week's article is at http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/tv/idol2009/article6031271.ab

I have to agree with practically all of what he says. Erik's 'gimmick' has been to turn every song he sings into a vibrant rock song. For me, he has been faultless week after week but could this week be his undoing? And I agree that Rabih could be on shaky ground. Eddie (cue swooning outbreak at EuropeCrazy HQ) has a very appropriate song title as we can't take our eyes off him (groan)

Tove Östman Styrke – ”Mack the knife”.
Calle Kristiansson – ”It's not unusual”.
Reza Ningtyas Lindh – ”New York, New York”.
Eddie Razaz – ”Can't take my eyes off you”.
Erika Selin – ”Sway”.
Erik Grönwall – ”You don't have to say you love me”.
Mariette Hansson – ”You to me are everything”.
Rabih Jaber – ”That's amore”.

All will be revealed on Friday night!

The Turkey Diaries: Day 7 - Sunday 20th September 2009

It's a bit cloudier to start with today, but don't be fooled - the weather is as hot as ever. I wouldn't exactly say that we're acclimatised by now, but we have coped remarkably well in this heat, and the hotel air-conditioning has literally been a life-saver.

I wanted to mention one particular thing about Icmeler - everywhere is so clean and there is no rubbish lying around the street yet you very rarely see public litter bins!

Today it was time to get out and about again, but in another direction. Whilst Marmaris lies to the left of Icmeler, there is a smaller, prettier resort to the right hand side, it's called Turunc, and that was where we were heading today. The best way to get to Turunc is by taxi boat rather than taking a hair-raising journey by road. It’s probably the most hilarious boat trip we’ve ever been on (I won't go into detail, but it was great fun!) and we arrive in Turunc 25 minutes after leaving Icmeler. It’s also a very scenic trip past all the stunning rocks and mountains, and the sea is beautiful.



Turunc is lovely and small and is a bit like Icmeler-in-miniature, it even has its own little canal - just like Icmeler!

Turunc is more laid-back and there is less of the hard sell going on. We actually passed a couple of shops and didn’t get dragged in to buy something. Needless to say there was a morning tea stop and a fascinating chat with a very articulate and intelligent young waiter.

Afterwards, well what else but a bit of shopping! In one shop we receive the usual polite service and the owner tells us that today is the end of Ramadan which means that there are lots of treats and goodies around so he offers us some sweets too.

Lunch at the Sahin Restaurant, which is a real Turkish place so let's have something distinctly Turkish - pide, which is the Turkish version of pizza.


After lunch we go for a walk up the street and then down to the seafront where there is a nice little walkway, smaller but similar to the one in Icmeler. There are more Turkish holidaymakers here than in Icmeler.

Faithful travelling companion finally gets his elusive Galatasaray home top at a "good price". The seafront here is very nice and has a few bars and restaurants - very handy for another stop off in the afternoon for the usual apple tea (can you guess that I'm addicted to it by now?) By this time the weather is now very very very hot.

Later in the afternoon we take the taxi boat back to Icmeler and we take in more of the stunning scenery on the way.

We grab some more purchases including an expertly-haggled deal on boxes of Turkish Delight (I don't like the stuff myself but I know a lot of people who do!!) I have my own little haggling triumph as I buy a T-shirt with the Turkish flag on it and get a very good deal.

Unfortunately the gloom is starting to gather with the realisation that we're approaching the end of our holiday. Back to the hotel to start packing and get ready for our last night out. Tonight I want to go to Dream Boys again for one last time to see the gang (specially the legendary Yahya and his balancing fish bowl cocktails) for one last time. Get the hankies out - it's going to get emotional....

But before that it's time for dinner, which is usually determined by a meet-and-greet waiter catching your eye and by that time there is no escape! Tonight it was another set-menu deal with mezes, nan bread, chicken, chips and veg. Dinner is accompanied as ever by a very nice Turkish wine (served as ever by a very nice Turkish waiter!) Needless to say we also have the legendary Turkish coffee to finish. I liked that big nan bread....


It’s "Kalinka" time in some of the bars on the main street. We pass one bar and one guy asks us "You like that music? Are you Russian?"

So for the final time we head to Dream Boys which is very very busy tonight. Anyone for Turkish folk dance/Grease/Dirty Dancing/Michael Jackson/Stavros Flatley? Yes it is groundhog day once again, but when it's this much fun then we don't care. For our last night in Turkey we tried a Turkish spirit called Raki, which tasted of aniseed and was ok.

As usual the party ends at midnight and we finally leave at 12.15. Hugs, kisses, tearful farewells.... In the immortal words of the MC, "Dream Boys we love yoooooooooooo!!" We don’t go anywhere else but go straight back to our hotel. On the way I breathe in that last late-night Turkish air, as this time tomorrow we will be in the airport for our night flight home. Maybe feeling a little sad tonight at leaving Icmeler behind, but I just want to say that this holiday has been great fun, full of new experiences and different situations. The smiles never left our faces tonight, nor for that matter on this holiday.

Only one more day to go: I'll put the final part of the Turkey Diaries on the blog before the end of the week.

The Turkey Diaries: Day 6 - Saturday 19th September 2009

We decide to spend today in Icmeler again and do some more exploring. We walk up what I call 'Icmeler main street'...

...to see the old village area which is quite a distance from the beach area where we are based (or at least in this heat it feels like a long distance!) There are lots of apartments, supermarkets and restaurants, but we don't make it as far as the real old village which must still be quite far away and it’s too hot to walk any further. At one point I could hardly breathe and it felt as if the heat was choking, it was like a mixture of heat and fumes even though there were no cars around.

On our way back we discovered this nice little square.

We have something traditional and Turkish at lunchtime - yes it's kebab time again folks!!!

After lunch we do more exploring around the back streets and do more shopping. We then walk up as far as the end of the promenade where you get a full view of Icmeler promenade on the left, and Marmaris coastline on the right. It’s amazing that you can see the two places at once, and all the mountains all around. It’s just breathtaking. Here is Icmeler beach from the other end of the promenade:

And here is the view across from Icmeler Beach to Marmaris straight ahead in the distance:

We stop off at a cafe which has the radio on (Power Turk, which is the best radio station here) pumping out high-energy Turkish pop tunes. Most of the cafes/bars here have the radio on and we really enjoy it of course, of course you’d avoid it if you’re stuck on a hot Saturday afternoon in the Pig & Whistle etc, watching wall to wall English football on Sky TV. Which a lot of people here are doing. Why do people bother going abroad when they want everything to be the same as at home? Some pubs are even advertising tonight’s big event - X Factor at 9.00 pm!

Faithful travelling companion decides to go for another Turkish shave, and all the resulting facial carnage (!) whilst I stay back at the hotel and go for a swim. It's been nice to swim again on this holiday. Where I live it is only about a 10 minute walk from the local baths, so I should have no excuse, but you know what they say - the spirit is willing, but....

Dinner tonight at a posh, traditional Turkish restaurant, which involves chicken and expensive wine....and faithful travelling companion gets stuck into the baklava once again. Which is a good excuse for another photograph of baklava, in my never ending food-photography attempts to get onto Blogs of Note!

If you've had enough of quiet and refined dinners then there's the reassuring same old-same old sounds drifting out of the bars along the canal....yes it's "Country Roads", "Who the **** is Alice", and good old Lady GaGa complete with "Poker Face". Pitbull! The Black Eyed Peas! Tarkan! And....the "Cha Cha Slide" which worryingly I remember all the lyrics to but I'm a bit rusty on the moves. And good news girls, the 'eye candy' here never disappoints...! You don't have to look too far as there are lots of lovely waiters everywhere. I am sooooo loving Icmeler (for a number of reasons, but that's another one!!)

More Melodifestivalen rumours....

Expressen reports today http://www.expressen.se/noje/1.1756730/expressen-avslojar-lena-ph-pa-vag-in-som-schlagerjoker that all four of the singers of the 'joker' songs in next year's MF will be female....and they named two of them, one being Sofia Jannok who is a relative newcomer, and the other one is none other than the legendary Lena Philipsson. Is it a rumour, is it true, or is it just wishful thinking?

The Turkey Diaries - Day 5: Friday 18th September 2009

Decided to venture out of Icmeler today and take a trip to Marmaris by taxi boat. The journey takes about 40 minutes, even though Marmaris is just ‘next door’ and only minutes by bus. It’s a leisurely, visually stunning journey. This place really is like a little paradise, surrounded by mountains all the way round.

The taxi boat drops us off near the old town/castle/harbour area which suits us as this is the area we want to go to. The weather in Marmaris feels even hotter than it is in Icmeler.

We stop off at a cafe at the harbour and have doner kebabs for lunch, followed by our first baklava (dessert) of the holiday. Strangely enough, although we were familiar with this dessert after trying it in Turkish restaurants in our home country, we very rarely saw it on menus whilst in Turkey. If you haven't tasted baklava it is a very sweet pastry flavoured with honey. If you have a sweet tooth you'll love it!

As my feet are very sore and bleeding thanks to an uncomfortable new pair of sandals I buy a very comfortable pair of flip flops and haggle them down to a good price.

We then go up to the castle, where you pay a small entrance fee of 3 lira (just over £1) to go in. It also has a small museum with lots of old artefacts and stuff from the Sultan/Ottoman Empire era, and it’s quite fascinating too. There are also amazing, stunning views over the bay from the top of the castle.

We then make our way down to the covered bazaar, which is like a little shopping mall, Turkish style. The shopkeepers will do anything to get customers. One of them shouts "Hello young couple!" Which we like, but flattery still gets you nowhere :)))))

Stop off at a cafe on the seafront which is very good for people-watching. We don't really venture too far from the harbour/old town area as we've already seen other parts of the town on our journey to the Turkish bath and the Turkish night. Marmaris is very big, with countless massive hotel complexes and all-night bars and discos. It may be ok if you like that sort of thing, but I'm glad we chose Icmeler over Marmaris. Icmeler is smaller, quieter and dare I say, less 'tacky'.

Everywhere you go you see statues of Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. Here he is on Marmaris seafront.

We make our way back to Icmeler on the taxi boat. Back to the hotel for a rest and then we went out for dinner - another set menu with the usual mezes and a big nan bread for starters. I have a chicken dish whilst faithful travelling companion goes for the sea bream, prompting the annual "any bream will do" gag from me. A very nice meal too. After dinner we walk along the seafront and along the canal. The shops stay open till about midnight. There is a shop here called 'Turkish Primark' which I thought was quite funny and I took a photo of the sign.

Inevitably we end up at Dream Boys again, which is just as well as once you’re spotted you don’t have the option of going anywhere else. We are greeted like old friends and I get my chance to flirt with my favourite waiters!

Flirting aside, it's been very interesting to chat to the various waiters whom we've met over the week. Each has a different story to tell, but they often have the same thing in common - they are not natives of Icmeler but many of them come from poverty-stricken rural areas of the country, where life is hard, unemployment is high and there is no industry to speak of. It's when you hear these stories, you realise just how important tourism is to the Turkish economy. Another thing that struck me when reading various internet message boards about Icmeler, and Turkish holiday resorts in general, was that people keep returning there. Now I've been here for a few days, I can clearly understand why: you get a unique, happy feeling here which you don't get anywhere else. The Turkish people make you feel wanted, and seem genuinely touched if you appreciate their country too.

Anyway I digress. What's happening in Dream Boys then? Well, it's the usual script - dancing waiters, tributes to Stavros Flatley (!!!), Grease, Dirty Dancing etc and dancing to the likes of the Black Eyed Peas, Pitbull, Lady GaGa and David Guetta. It may be Friday night but rules are rules and at midnight the party music is switched off as usual and replaced by slow tunes with the volume down. We leave shortly afterwards. Although Icmeler isn’t exactly jumping at this time of the night, there are still a few people out and about, and it still feels a very safe place.

The Turkey Diaries: Day 4 - Thursday 17th September 2009

Thursday. Groundhog day. Sunny again, hot again, so on with the hat and the sunblock :)


We're staying in Icmeler again today, chilling out (if that's an appropriate phrase to use in this excessive heat) anyway the good thing about this holiday is that the pace has been slowed right down. Which is something we're not used to, as we don't really do relaxation on holiday - trying to fit everything in. So this is good, and we've established this little tradition of a Turkish apple tea stop at 11.30 am. This is a picture of Turkish apple tea, which is a very wonderful thing indeed.


Icmeler has a rather lovely promenade which we have become familiar with. Along the way there are a number of wooden signs and here is one of them.



One of the really nice things about Icmeler is the canal. There is a number of shops/stalls/bars/restaurants alongside. I took this picture of where the canal meets the Mediterranean Sea.


After this we do the Turkish shopping experience once again. Faithful travelling companion, being a Galatasaray football fan, haggles his way to the purchase of an away strip - which I like, because it is purple (my favourite colour) although he really wants a home strip. Meanwhile I buy lots of bracelets in different colours with the 'evil eye' which is a particularly Turkish speciality. Everywhere you go you are met with what I call the "Turkish Inquisition" - a regulation set of questions: what's your name, where are you from, what hotel are you staying in, when did you arrive, are you married, do you have children etc etc. Initially I thought I'd have found this intrusive but when you are in Turkey it seems to be the most natural thing and is a nice, friendly gesture. The shopkeepers/waiters seem to be taking a genuine interest and the amazing thing is that they always remember your name, or where you come from!


More shopping. I buy a box of apple tea: I really love this drink and was very happy to see that Whittards sell it at home so when my Turkish box is finished I'll be investing in some more.


We spend the day exploring, lunching, exploring some more, having a mid-afternoon coffee and cake stop at a cafe where I spot the most gorgeous guy I've probably seen all year (!) and then we make our way back to the hotel to get ready for our trip this evening to the Kervansaray Turkish Night in Marmaris.


If you go to Turkey on holiday you have to go to 'Turkish Night' which is basically an evening's entertainment of music, folk dancing, belly dancing and some audience participation (a belly dancing contest followed by some Eurovision-style nationalistic voting). There is some food and wine too! Here is the Shakira-lookalike belly dancer who was rather fabulous, like all the other acts in the show. I want to learn how to belly dance now!!



At midnight it was time to head back to Icmeler after yet another very enjoyable day and night.

Retro Saturday: Pluto Shervington

And now for something completely different. "Dat" by Pluto (Shervington) was a 1976 hit about the very unlikely subject matter of a Rastafarian trying to buy pork, something strictly against his faith. As a child growing up in the 1970s I didn't really understand what it was about then, but I thought it was very catchy anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqRYVp3hpKw

Retro Saturday: Johnny Hates Jazz

Surprised I haven't featured them before now. A brief explanation is required as to how I got here. Last Monday on the always excellent "Sounds of Europe" (www.gu2.co.uk) Rachel and Keira played Sergey Lazarev's cover version of "Shattered Dreams". Of course, being of a certain age where I remember the mid-to-late 80s original by Johnny Hates Jazz, I thought this would be a good one to feature tonight.

JHJ were a pop band and "Shattered Dreams" was their debut hit in the UK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX-8MHKuQ5I

I liked that, and I liked "I Don't Want To Be A Hero" even more. For a pop song of its time, the anti-war sentiment is as relevant today as it's ever been: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKSgxQSk2UM&feature=related

Retro Saturday: Off

"Don't have to ask you to get up - you do it on your own!"

Anyone for a bit of musical nonsense from 1986? I haven't heard this song for many, many years but as usual, most of my Retro Saturday picks end up on here as a result of totally random musical flashbacks which pop into my mind in the strangest of places. I was walking to work yesterday and this, inexplicably, popped into my mind on the way.

I remember my local radio station playing this a lot, in a time when local commercial radio stations weren't strangled by rigid playlists, the way they are today. It's silly, it's fun, it'll bring a smile to your face.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFoaKeETWsI

Do we need an excuse for a gratuitous Eddie Razaz photo???

(photo courtesy of www.tv4.se)

Idol 23.10.09: Rock Week

An annual tradition in Swedish Idol, 'Rock Week' can sometimes be good, sometimes be bad and occasionally even ugly.

My verdict this year: good. Mainly because there is quite a high quota of 'rock' voices this year, and for them it was another day at the office. It was effortless for Erik as usual, for example, and even though I'd predicted Calle to go this week, he was firmly in his "comfort zone" (as they say on these reality-talent shows) and needless to say he sailed through. As for Tove, she was good although not spectacular. Reza meanwhile goes from strength to strength.

The bigger challenge in a rock-flavoured week was for those whose vocal style is not suited to the rock style. Before you accuse me of favouritism, I'll just say that Eddie Razaz was, for me, the most improved contestant this week. Since the live shows started, it would be fair to say that Eddie 'could do better' and finally, surprisingly, this week of all weeks, he did it. He took on U2's "Beautiful Day"....and of course it was :))

SO WHY WAS HE IN THE BOTTOM TWO???

The other inhabitant of the bottom two this week was Nicklas. To use another over-used Louis Walsh-type phrase, "the song was too big for him". I don't know whose idea it was for him to sing "Black Hole Sun", as vocally Nicklas is no Chris Cornell; and the end result was a disappointment.
Rabih should have gone. I will probably repeat this phrase every week until he goes!

This week's Idol songs - Rock week

Rock week on Swedish Idol can usually be a bit of a nightmare but I would agree with Aftonbladet's view that this year it might just get better.

Erik Grönwall – ”Why can't this be love” (Van Halen)
Eddie Razaz – ”Beautiful day” (U2).
Erika Selin – ”Here without you” (3 Doors Down).
Mariette Hansson – ”Just a girl” (No Doubt).
Rabih Jaber – ”Driving one of your cars” (Lisa Miskovsky).
Tove Östman Styrke – ”Living in America” (The Sounds).
Nicklas Hocker – ”Black hole sun” (Soundgarden).
Reza Ningtyas Lindh – ”Don't stop me now” (Queen).
Calle Kristiansson – ”Are you gonna go my way” (Lenny Kravitz).

I still think Calle will go this week, I'm expecting strong performances from Erik & Tove, and as for Eddie....he might struggle or he might surprise us!

The Turkey Diaries: Day 3 - Wednesday 16 September 2009

You've heard the saying 'shop till you drop' and nowhere is it more true than this morning in Icmeler. The weather is very hot again, and it's a long walk (or feels like it) to the market up the back of town. For it's Wednesday, and that means market day. If the shopping experience so far had been an eye-opener, where the most minimal eye contact kicks off the selling game (and boy can they sell, sell, sell) then Icmeler market is more of the same on a much grander scale.

You could be forgiven for thinking you've been dropped into a market in London rather than Turkey, with all the "lovely jubbly" and "cheap as chips" stallholders banter doing the rounds. It's a good laugh, but it can become quite stressful as you run the gauntlet while everyone tries to outdo each other at selling bags and designer clothes and football tops. Would I even dare to suggest that much of the merchandise on offer may just, allegedly, be of a fake nature.....! It was funny to see the police raiding a couple of stalls for selling fakes - they could have a very long job ahead of them :) The trick of course is to make your fakes look fake - why buy a Chanel bedspread when you can buy a 'Channel' bedspread? Or jeans by 'Viktoria Beckham'?

I didn't take any pictures inside the market as it was just far too congested, and after a while we got overwhelmed by it all.

On our way back down into town we passed the mosque: and at that very moment the call to prayer began, which we heard a few times on this holiday and which was yet another example of being in a totally different culture from our own.

After lunch we finally find a park where we can sit and get some shade for a while.

Back early to the hotel, because this afternoon there was something very special happening: the Turkish bath. Until recently I wasn't aware of what this was all about, but one of the girls from work came back from a holiday in Turkey and completely sold it to me.

We booked this trip yesterday and this afternoon we headed off by mini-bus to a hotel complex in Marmaris, for our experience of the Hamam to give it its proper name.

As this one was aimed at tourists it was a communal experience rather than being segregated into male and female sections, and also the scrub, wash and massage in this instance was done by men. I enjoyed it very much....!!!!

Firstly there is the sauna - I haven't been to a sauna for years, but faithful travelling companion has never ever been to one so it was a totally new experience. You are then taken to another room and you lie down on a big marble slab where you are given a very invigorating scrub down and then washed with soapy bubbles. After this we got some time in the pool before the final part which was the oil massage which was just fabulous!!! After that there was a little more time to unwind beside the pool before being taken back to Icmeler.

On our return, faithful travelling companion decided to try another typically Turkish experience: a Turkish shave! There are countless hairdressers in Icmeler offering this traditional razor shave, but let me say it's quite traumatic to watch it being done, and I was hoping and praying that nobody sneezed or had any sudden distractions!

The Masala restaurant is our destination for dinner tonight. Rather uniquely it does both Indian and Chinese food, we opted for Indian tonight and very good it was too. Can't remember what street it's on, but it is across the road from the Love Boat restaurant which is posh and pricey.

No partying for us tonight, we stop off for a beer before retiring for the night. I am not a beer drinker, but the local beer (Efes) is pretty agreeable for non-beer-drinkers.

Next instalment coming soon.

Visitor number mystery?

Just been checking my site visit stats over the past week and discovered that I had a record number of visitors to this blog on Saturday 17th October - seven times more daily visitors than what I usually get! I wonder what was the reason for this????

Edit 20.10.09: I got a bit carried away this afternoon when I discovered this - then I checked back my blog posts from Saturday and realised it might be the mention of Michael Jackson in the post title which might have been the reason. Or maybe not.

The Turkey Diaries: Day 2 - Tuesday 15th September 2009

35 degree heat. If that was to happen in the UK we'd probably be hospitalised. Yet in Turkey, in mid-September, it's the norm, and for non sun-worshippers like us, we surprisingly cope. Hats and sunblock are most definitely the answer.

After only two hours sleep, we're both surprisingly feeling alert. After breakfast we get our first daytime look at Icmeler and all it has to offer. Whilst on first glance it is a custom built resort which 20years ago was a village untouched by mass tourism) appealing to particularly British tastes, on the other hand retains a uniquely Turkish atmosphere and its position on the Turkish south coast, surrounded on three sides by pine forested mountains, provides constantly breathtaking scenery. Pictures can't do it justice - you have to be there. But I will post some lovely scenic views as the week goes on.

We decide to do as many Turkish experiences as we can on this holiday, starting with something we'd never tried before - Turkish apple tea, which you can drink hot or cold. It may sound crazy in this heat, but we enjoyed drinking it hot.

Another thing that makes Icmeler special is the little canal which runs through it, all the way out to the sea. Alongside the canal there are a number of stalls offering the authentic Turkish shopping experience, and a number of bar/restaurants which come alive at night.

We decide to book a couple of trips - to a Turkish bath and Turkish Night - more about them later....

We very quickly realise that the stories about the warm Turkish hospitality are all true. Initially the "Turkish inquisition" - what's your name? where are you from? is this your first time in Turkey? which hotel are you staying at? are you married etc etc? - may have seemed intrusive, but it wasn't long before we realised that this is all part of the friendly service that you get everywhere in Icmeler (and elsewhere in Turkey by all accounts), and which we could all learn from. "Service with a smile" is a rarity these days, but in Icmeler it was the norm.

However, so is the art of persuasion, as each restaurant tried to get you into their premises morning, noon and night. You can't visit them all, can you? So most of our eating out choices were not planned, but instead resulted from just, well, random looking around I guess. And that Turkish charm...! Talking of which....

Our first encounter with Dream Boys came at lunchtime. Dream Boys is one of the notorious restaurants on the canal. It seems quiet by day, but at night....well that's another story!

After walking around and checking out the sights (and you see some sights here, but enough about the barbecued bodies on the beach!) it was back to the hotel then out again later for dinner at the Istanbul, whose meet-and-greet charm offensive was enough to get us in for a very wonderful dinner.

After a day in Icmeler I've decided that there is an amazing choice of menus in all the restaurants, to suit a wide variety of tastes. There are of course those well-known Turkish specialities (only joking) like "full English breakfast" and roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, but there are also real Turkish dishes too, and little touches like having mezes and pitta/nan bread served with every meal gives it that particularly Turkish twist. Not to mention finishing off with Turkish coffee, where you can stand your spoon up in the cup! The first time I ever tasted Turkish coffee was in....Prague no less, 4 years ago so it was nice to finally taste it in its spiritual home.

Although Icmeler is not really known for its nightlife - if you want that, then go to the all-night party that is Marmaris, and there is a local law in Icmeler which requires all the loud music to be switched off at midnight! - there are plenty of fun pubs to ensure that you have a very enjoyable evening. Most of the entertainment is provided by the waiters themselves, whether they are dressing up as Michael Jackson or Freddie Mercury, or dancing around to Kalinka and 'Kiss Kiss', or recreating 'Dirty Dancing'. it's great fun.

And so back to Dream Boys, which is packed out with an enthusiastic audience. It lives up to its name, with an appealing bunch of waiters strutting their stuff, dancing around whilst serving the drinks, accompanied by hilarious announcements from the MC.

Must mention Yahya, who manages to dance around and climb trees with cocktails perched on his head. You may have a long wait for your cocktail, but let me tell you the entertainment makes it worth the wait!! Oh look...it's 'Tina Turner'!

Add to that a pounding soundtrack from the likes of Pitbull, Black Eyed Peas, Lady GaGa, Akon and David Guetta and the party atmosphere is guaranteed until midnight...when it all goes quiet, and the slow ballads mix is put on, with the volume down.

Time to head back - the combination of two hours sleep and a long, hot day meant that it was never going to be a late night tonight. Turkish bath tomorrow!

The Turkey Diaries: Day 1 - Monday 14th September 2009

Finally getting round to this for two reasons: 1) I'm feeling a bit better now, and 2) It's been five weeks since we set off for Turkey and if I didn't post the diaries soon it would be the next holiday before I got around to it. So.....

Day 1 is more of a prologue than an actual diary entry, given that most of it was spent travelling to the airport, waiting at the airport, flying, arriving, travelling by coach and arriving at the hotel in the middle of the night. We had a bit of fun with the chav-tastic experience of waiting in the check-in queue with numerous underdressed and over-tanned bleach blondes called Chantelle and Danielle (yes!), and various men who could be mistaken for beached whales. The overdressed, pale redhead and the man with the flat stomach stuck out like a sore thumb!!! Welcome to the package holiday experience!! Of course we’re more used to DIY book-it-yourself flights and booking the hotel separately, so for once it was nice to have it all done for us.

After an hour’s flight delay (not too bad as holiday flights go) it was time for one of our longest flights ever - four and a half hours. I try to sleep but it’s impossible thanks to the constant stream of travellers going up and down to the loo. Now I am partial to the odd glass of wine (!) But one thing I can’t stand is people drinking alcohol before or during a flight. On the one hand, airlines don’t want to let drunk people on a plane and put us all at risk of "air rage" - so why do they sell alcohol on planes?

Anyway we eventually arrive at Dalaman airport....taking our first steps off the plane into warm, late evening air and onto Turkish soil. One unusual aspect of arriving in Turkey is that you have to pay £10 for a visa stamp. I was quite excited about this as the only other time I had my passport stamped was in Canada, 12 years ago. You know me by now, I can get excited about the most mundane little things!

After a further episode of the Chantelle/Danielle experience at the baggage carousel - how do these people survive beyond their front door, let alone in a foreign country? - it’s a two hour journey from Dalaman to Icmeler by coach, a journey broken up by a stop off at the "comfort stop" which is as far removed from the usual motorway service stations as you could ever imagine, as it looks more like an exotic old bazaar. The one thing it probably shares with its British counterparts is the overpriced food and souvenirs, but it did give me my first sighting of all the things I wanted to buy in Turkey. Here is a picture which I actually took on the way back to the airport, one week later:



Back on the bus on the way to drop off passengers in Marmaris and Icmeler. Although it’s the middle of the night, I am still mesmerised by the new and unfamiliar sights, like the illuminated mosques and the all night cafes. I’m a bit scared by the descent into Marmaris, but the coach driver ensured we had a safe journey. Eventually we arrive at our hotel in Icmeler, and after checking in and unpacking it’s time for bed: 5.30 am. We will be back up again in two hours. Tick tock, tick tock....nighty night.

The Square-Eyed Couch Potato: September-October 2009

After a few weeks where I was literally not watching anything, I've managed to get enough programmes together to do a review!

"Sailors fighting in the dancehall..." You know the script by now - Sam Tyler is run over by a car and wakes up in 1973. His iPod has turned into an 8-track cartridge player, and when he looks up he sees the Twin Towers. Yes it’s the American version of "Life On Mars" which is now being screened on FX. If you thought the original series was surreal, then this is twice as surreal, as it’s like watching a tribute act. It’s not that it’s bad, although Harvey Keitel’s Gene Hunt is just a little bizarre. It’s Life On Mars, but not as we know it, they’re not John Simm and Philip Glenister, and that’s where the problem lies.

Still on a time travelling theme, I’m enjoying E4’s quirky new Canadian import "Being Erica" (E4, Mondays) Imagine a time-travelling female version of "My Name is Earl" where she gets the chance to go back in time and make right her wrongdoings and regrets. Sometimes it can be a little too cheesy, but it works thanks to its charming lead and general simplicity.

More time travelling, but this time to a brief glimpse of the future. The new US mega-hit "Flash Forward" (Five, Mondays) from the makers of "Lost" stops the world for a couple of minutes, during which everyone has a ‘flash forward’ to the future. Not much really happens, but it keeps you coming back for more, week after week. Just one thing though: what’s with all these British actors doing American accents? This time it’s Joseph Fiennes. Good old Jack Davenport’s in it too, but reassuringly, he has kept his own accent.

Haven’t watched many films recently, but "The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas" left an impression on me. A simple story - the son of a concentration camp commandant befriending a young Jewish boy through the barbed wire of the camp - it was very moving and thought-provoking, and the two young boys in the leading roles were very impressive. Didn’t expect a happy ending, but I wasn’t expecting that sudden, horrific, shocking and brutal conclusion either.

You can’t accuse "Later With Jools Holland" (BBC2 Tuesdays/Fridays) of lacking in diversity - for example, a recent episode featured Calvin Harris, Echo and the Bunnymen, and the Spaghetti Western Orchestra in quick succession. It’s the only music programme on terrestrial television at the moment that we can still watch at a reasonably decent hour, and which (thankfully) has no risk of Cheryl Cole appearing on it.

Hotel Inspectors. Which is better? Ruth Watson or her successor Alex Polizzi? There’s only one way to find out...No need for a ‘fiiiiiight!!!!", though as we’re firmly in the Watson camp, so we’re enjoying "Ruth Watson’s Hotel Rescue" (Channel 4, Wednesdays). Think "Hotel Inspector: The Prequel" in which Ms Watson gives out advice to hoteliers at the beginning of their career, rather than when they are at a later soul-destroyed stage. There’s nothing new or original about it, it’s undemanding viewing, but I enjoy it all the same.

I’m still disappointed in Season Two of "Private Practice" (Living, Thursdays) which may have jumped the shark. There’s no interesting character development any more, it’s all about the bed-hopping antics of the docs and their patients and everything else is now a side issue.

Criticising Jamie Oliver seems to have been elevated to an Olympic sport in recent years. Yet in spite of that I enjoyed his "American Road Trip" which was a mix of cooking, travelogue and social comment. I suppose in these days of dumbed-down TV it’s as good as we’ll get.

Finally, "Coronation Street" hasn’t been too bad lately although still far from past glories. I was quite sad to see Amber and Darryl go; of the younger characters these were two that I actually cared about. It’s been a Platt-free zone recently, which has helped immensely. Tony’s proposed to Maria - but don’t expect the happy times to last too long, thanks to the return of Carla! On the down side, the continuing Kevin/Molly shenanigans would have you parting with the contents of your stomach. Luke Strong a.k.a. Craig Kelly of "Strictly" fame has also left the show - we thought he’d be out of "Strictly" before he was out of "Corrie" but hey, there you go....!

"Beli Jablan" lives on....in Spanish.

If you're a fan of the best Serbian song of recent years to not represent their country at Eurovision - "Beli Jablan" by Aleksa & Ana - you might be interested to know that the song has been recorded in Spanish and is now known as "Quiero". Aleksa is probably my favourite Serbian singer - I also like "Samo Reci" and "Mila" - and I really hope he gets the opportunity to represent his country one day at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Swedish Idol 16.10.2009: Michael Jackson Week

Not my favourite week if I'm honest - purely because you can't really imagine anyone doing justice to Michael Jackson songs apart from...the man himself. Some did better than others though.

In previous weeks I may have rated Calle Kristiansson but I'm beginning to believe that he's out of place in this competition, and unfortunately his "Bad" this week maybe just lived up to its name, even though he made the concession of wearing the Jacko-style military jacket. I think he may be gone next week.

If I ever wonder what happened to my 1979 disco trousers then wonder no more....they found their way to Camilla Håkansson: unfortunately the best I could say about "Human Nature" was the same as last week: cruise ship cabaret. A pity really as initially it looked as if she might have something different to offer.

Someone growing on me as the weeks go on, is Reza Ningtyas Lindh who managed to inject "The way you make me feel" with some of her now customary 'oomph'.

I realise now what unnerves me about the (usually good) Mariette Hansson: she physically performs a song like an arthritic granny. I felt she had an off week this week as I wasn't impressed by her "I want you back".

Eddie Razaz - the mere mention of the name has me weak at the knees of course. But what about his singing ability, I hear you ask? Hard to tell, particularly as "They don't care about us" is probably one of my least favourite Jacko songs, but he did enough to survive this week. He does have very good stage presence, and vocally he was ok. Cue gratuitous Eddie screencaps....




Tove Östman Styrke now has a real chance of winning this, and she poured her usual passionate performance into "Will You Be There". For someone so young, she has a great talent, but again I got the feeling that Jackson-week wasn't really the best showcase for it.

Nicklas Hocker may have ended up in the bottom two, but I thought there was something very likeable about his "Black or White", for some strange reason.

Many of last night's contestants were clearly out of their musical comfort zone but that couldn't be said for Rabih Jaber who to me is probably a 'wannabe' Michael Jackson, so he had no problems with "You Are Not Alone" although, like his previous performances, it left me cold.

Erika Selin, rumoured to be competing in the 2010 Melodifestivalen, is still one of my least favourite contestants this year, because (IMHO) she overcooks every song, every week. As she did likewise this week on "Beat It" and I can't really understand her appeal.

Unlike the young rocker Erik Grönwall; by this stage of the competition I'm now eagerly looking forward to his weekly performances. His "Thriller" was probably my favourite performance from this week.

Idol got a real coup this week, landing no less than Jordin Sparks. The bad news is that she sang the over-played, overcooked "No Air"; the good news is that we didn't have to suffer her duetting with Chris Brown - instead we had none other than last year's Swedish Idol winner ....Kevin Borg! I wish they'd have turned "Battlefield" into a duet instead - this is a song which I initially hated with a passion (and said so on this blog) but then realised that it's actually rather good indeed.

Bottom two this week: Nicklas & Camilla. Camilla goes home, presumably to wait by the phone for that all-important call from Christer Bjorkman. It's her life's ambition to do Melodifestivalen and if I'm honest I'd rather see her do it than Erika Selin, who I'm tired of already.

Erik Hassle's "Hurtful" on the BBC Radio 1 playlist

I noticed whilst checking the new Radio 1 playlist that the wonderful "Hurtful" is now on the C-list playlist, which is good news, although whether it will ever figure on any commercial radio playlists in this country is another matter.

"Hurtful" is of course, one of the best songs of the year, in what (for me) has been a quite spectacular year for Swedish music releases.

I'm crossing my fingers for this to be his big breakthrough, but I fear that the timing is all wrong and I'm thinking his record company in this country should maybe have waited till the beginning of 2010 to give him that all important 'new year new artist' push?

This week's Idol songs - Michael Jackson week

1. Calle Kristiansson - Bad

2. Camilla Håkansson - Human Nature

3. Reza Ningtyas Lindh - The Way You Make Me Feel

4. Mariette Hansson - I Want You Back

5. Eddie Razaz - They Don't Care About Us

6. Tove Styrke Östman - Will You Be There

7. Nicklas Hocker - Black or White

8. Rabih Jaber - You Are Not Alone

9. Erika Selin - Beat It

10. Erik Grönwall - Thriller

I don't know if I'm looking forward to this or not?????

Melodifestivalen 2010 songs announced

Ooh I'm excited, MF season is on the way!!!

Courtesy of Aftonbladet here are the song titles (and my speculation about who may be singing them in italics - I know I'll be completely wrong but it's only a little game)

1. "A place to stay", text och musik Torben Hedlund.
2. "Doctor doctor", text och musik Tony Nilsson och Mirja Breitholtz. (Ola? Or maybe Velvet again?)
3. "Headlines", text och musik Tony Nilsson och Peter Boström. (Another Tony Nilsson song, another guess at Ola or Velvet?)
4. "Heaven and hell", text och musik Håkan Larsson, Jörgen Svensson, Björn Lönnroos.
5. "Hippare hoppare", text och musik Vlatko Ancevski, Vlatko Gicarevski, Mats Nilsson, Teddy Paunkoski, Otis Sandsjö, Stevan Tomulevski och Douglas Leon. (Andra Generationen again?)
6. "Human frontier", text och musik Tobias Jonsson och Anneli Axelsson.
7. "Hur kan jag tro på kärleken", text Kenneth Gärdestad, musik Tony Malm och Niclas Lundin.
8. "I did it for love", musik Lars "Dille" Didriksson och text Kristian Wejshag.
9. "Idiot", text och musik Niklas Jarl och Per Aldeheim.
10. "Innan alla ljusen brunnit ut", musik Stefan Moody, text Danne Attlerud. (Maybe a dansband? One of the Dansbandskampen contestants maybe?)
11. "Jag vill om du vågar", Pontus Assarsson, Jörgen Ringqvist och Daniel Barkman.
12. "Magisk stjärna", musik Micke Wennborn och text och musik Py Bäckman. (An 'old star' making a comeback?)
13. "Manboy", Fredrik Kempe, text och musik, Peter Boström, musik. (?????? Can't see MZW, Charlotte or Malena here, but you never know?)
14. "Manipulated", text och musik Sarah Lundbäck, Iggy Strange-Dahl, Hayden Bell, Erik Lewander.
15. "Never heard of him", Figge Boström och Anna Engh text och musik.
16. "Road salt", text och musik Daniel Gildenlöw.
17. "Run", text och musik Niclas Arn, Gustav Eurén och Karl Eurén.
18. "Singel", musik Hamed "K-One" Pirouzpanah och text Håkan Bäckman.
19. "Stopp", text och musik Mikaela Stenström och Dimitri Stassos. (Maybe Sofia or Elena Paparizou - Greek connection?)
20. "This is my life", text Kristian Lagerström och musik Bobby Ljunggren.
21. "Thursdays", musik Thomas G:son och Peter Boström och text Sharon Vaughn.
22. "Tonight", text och musik Sharon Vaughn och Anders Hansson.
23. "Underbart", text Lina Eriksson och musik Johan Moraeus.
24. "Unstoppable", text och musik Dimitri Stassos, Alexander Kronlund, Hanif Sabzevari, Ola Svensson. (Ola?)
25. "We can work it out", musik Bobby Ljunggren och Marcos Ubeda och text Andreas Johnson. (Andreas Johnson?)
26. "Yeba", text Getty Domein Mpanzu och musik Tuomas "Tiny" Pyhäjärvi.
27. "Åt helvete för sent", text och musik Nina Eriksson, Mårten Eriksson och Susie Päivärinta. (Lili & Susie again?)

"Körslaget": Week 2, Saturday 10 October 2009

It all kicked off with "I Gotta Feeling" with all the choir leaders and their choirs.

Team Pontare: "Go West" - I liked the flags and the blue outfits and changing the lyrics to "Go North" was inspired and funny.

Team Rigo: "La Bamba" - lively but all over the place vocally. I just wanted this one to end. They'll need to improve or I can't see them lasting beyond next week.

Team Amy: "Fairytale" - gold lame outfits and a very lively performance. Very well done - I enjoyed it.

Team Ola: "New York New York" - the all-male line up did very well, dressed in matching outfits - and Mr Svensson was looking very nice too!

Team Andreas: "Poker Face" - started ok (choir members all wearing Calvin Harris/Kanye West shades) but it got pretty messy vocally towards the end.

Team Caroline: "800 Grader" - like Team Rigo, they are dressed in red and black. They are definitely enjoying it and as Ms af Ugglas seems to be flavour of the month they will probably stay in for a few weeks.

Team Stefan: "Inget Stoppar Oss Nu" - are you sure this isn't Dansbandskampen? :)))

Result: Team Andreas go home, but it really should have been Team Rigo, who stay in by the skins of their collective teeth for one more week.

Eurovision 2010: some more good news

The official website of the Eurovision Song Contest reports today that following the success of the reintroduction of professional juries in the 2009 final, the 50-50 jury/televoting split will also be used in next year's semi-finals.

I think this is extremely good news as the jury vote brought some long-overdue integrity to a contest which (for me) was on its last legs thanks to the partisan neighbour-voting which was turning the contest from a once enjoyable entertainment show into a complete sham.

This news might also inspire a few countries to send some better entries too, as there's now a possibility that where previously, they might not have bothered as they were probably never going to make the final....here's hoping that will all change now.

R.I.P. Stephen Gately

I don't really have much to add to what everyone's already been saying in blog-land today. This morning I switched on the radio and heard the news that the Boyzone singer and musical theatre star died suddenly in his sleep yesterday whilst on holiday in Majorca. I'm sad and shocked and still can't quite take it in. Only 33 years old...far too young to leave us.

Stephen of course found fame in the 90s as a member of Boyzone, the Irish boy band, and his distinctive soft vocals provided a contrast to those of Ronan Keating. Stephen will always be remembered for "coming out" at a time when this still seemed to be frowned upon within the pop community - he was the first boyband member to ever publicly express his lifestyle.

Happily he received lots of support following this announcement and when Boyzone took a break he went on to have a brief solo career and he starred in various musical theatre productions and also got his skates on to appear on "Dancing On Ice".

When Boyzone reunited, Stephen was part of the line-up which made a comeback tour and album. In recent years he married his partner Andrew in a civil partnership ceremony and his latest venture was writing a children's fantasy novel.

By all accounts Stephen was happy and healthy, and his final message on his Twitter page (http://twitter.com/stephenofficial) posted on 06.10.2009 read "still busy - lots going on. Focussing on finishing my book next so may be quiet here".

Rest in peace Stephen.

Idol 2009: Friday Finals Week 1 09.10.09

So here's where the hunt for Sweden's Idol 2009 gets serious. Friday's theme was "Club Idol" and here's how it went...

Nicklas: "Get The Party Started": white shirt? bowtie? Not really a look you'd associate with the young rocker, but this worked for me and I think he's good for a few weeks yet.

Rabih: "When Love Takes Over": I can't really understand why he's so popular. Ditch the baseball cap Rabih - it does you no favours. He did a decent version of this, although at times was covered by the backing vocals.

Karolina - "Just Dance": an unfortunate choice as anyone singing this would be dwarfed by the personality of its originator. Not too bad though, and she didn't deserve to go.

Erika - "About You Now": vocally suspect in various places, and I think she should have been bottom-two this week. I know that she can do better than this.

Calle - "Destiny Calling": another good rock vocal performance. He won't win, but I think we can be guaranteed some reasonably consistent performances over the next few weeks till he outlives his usefulness...

Reza - "Superstar": one of the best female vocals of the night, she used that little gritty quality in a positive way - I'm glad that this time "the curse of Superstar" didn't materialise.

Erik - "Leave A Light On": this managed to do the impossible: turn a Belinda Carlisle song into something which I didn't hate. He manages to combine the rock and pop worlds and I think he'll have a long run in this competition.

Camilla - "All Night Long": sorry darling, but it was pure cabaret. I can't really see her sticking around for too long.

Eddie: "Release Me": it wasn't perfect, but he has the looks and the popstar quality and once he manages to combine this with an improved vocal performance, then he could be an unstoppable contender.

Mariette: "When Tomorrow Comes": she is already outclassing every other female contestant this year, but (maybe some of my Swedish readers could answer this?) is she as popular with the Swedish public as she is with the media and the jury?

Tove - "Hot N Cold": she is very young, and I'm always very sceptical of young singers in these competitions, but she has a lot more personality and star quality than some of the others this year and I think she'll be around for a while.

Bottom two this week: Eddie (noooooo!) and Karolina: it was Karolina who went home. This (IMHO) was very wrong: Camilla should have gone this week.

Next week the theme is songs by Michael Jackson. Cha'mone!

Oh and here's another gratuitous Eddie screencap for no reason whatsoever :))))

Retro Saturday: Monaco

So while I was on the subject of New Order (RIP), and given that Bernard Sumner's new band Bad Lieutenant have an album out, my mind wandered to my favourite NO member Peter Hook and his past musical adventures.

Back in the 90s there were various NO side-projects - Barney had Electronic, Steven and Gillian had The Other Two, and Hooky had Monaco, who, let's face it, filled the gap very nicely in the absence of New Order. I bought their "Music For Pleasure" album the week it came out - it featured "What Do You Want From Me" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwk5oKU4Dr4 and "Sweet Lips" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAjEmCmtu7I which were both deservedly top 20 hits.

(While we're on the subject of that album I also liked the Oasis/Charlatans hybrid of "Buzz Gum" too)

Retro Saturday: Fad Gadget

If you're over 40 years old this might jog your memory...!

Real name Frank Tovey, I'm not familiar with any of his other songs but I always liked the controversial "Saturday Night Special" which was a fixture on the John Peel show on Radio 1 in 1982. Here's a clip of Mr Gadget doing the song live....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7fMcNTB75A

...I found this live performance of the song on the TV show "Riverside" - Mondays on BBC2 wasn't it? - which I used to watch back then. I remember (my favourite band of all time) New Order playing "Temptation" and "Chosen Time" on that show. I also remember the presenters were Mike Andrews and Steve Blacknell if I remember rightly. Wonder what happened to them?

Sorry but I've completely gone into nostalgia mode now :))))

Retro Saturday: Nick Kamen

Back in the days before X Factor and Idol and reality TV, there was another way to get your 15 minutes of fame - through advertising. Back in the 80s, Nick Kamen took his jeans off in a launderette in a Levi's ad, and appeared in a Madonna video. Before we knew it, he was a pop star.

His biggest hit in the UK was his debut "Each Time You Break My Heart" although probably my favourite song of his is "I Promised Myself" from 1990. Despite failing to break the UK top 40, it did become a big hit in Europe and even today it's still a regular feature on oldies playlists on European radio stations.

If you're not familiar with this song, find it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiC5BdIVfm8

The other day I discovered that none other than Basshunter has done a cover version which will be the follow-up single to current hit "Every Morning", which is inevitably be in the style of "Now You're Gone" - and (IMHO) vastly inferior to the original.

This weekend...

I won't be around much so I can't promise too many posts, but I'll try and review this week's "Idol", also hoping to catch up with "Korslaget" - even though I knew it was starting last week I managed to miss it.

I'm glued to "Strictly Come Dancing" so might write something about that too. Standard is a lot higher this year, although there's always Joe Calzaghe and Ricky Groves to give us a laugh.

I don't watch "X Factor": that ship sailed for me a long time ago when the musical talent took a back seat to the sob stories - cue "Chasing Cars", enough said, no thanks. Although faced with the possibility of all my workmates discussing who's best I may take the easy way out and cut out the tears and just watch the clips of the contestants (singing) on YouTube, so that I stay in the loop.

I also recently discovered "Doobidoo" which is yet another of those Swedish TV celebrity music quizzes, quite good fun, so might watch that too this weekend.

This week's "Idol" songs

This week's theme is "Club Idol" - whatever that means???? Will it be musical murder on the dancefloor?

In his article in Aftonbladet about this week's song choices, Martin Söderström memorably describes the combination of Camilla Håkansson and Lionel Richie's ”All Night Long” 'as attractive as mumps' !! He is a bit more inspired by Tove singing Katy Perry and Mariette tackling the Eurythmics though.

It's a pretty diverse selection this week and hard to predict, although Reza should maybe start worrying because of the "curse of Superstar" - I remember watching other reality talent shows over the years and anyone who sings that song isn't in the competition for very long.

And I really don't know how I should feel about Eddie singing "Release Me".....I only hope he gives a much better vocal performance than last week.

Here's what they're all singing this week:

Nicklas Hocker – ”Get the party started” (Pink).
Rabih Jaber – ”When love takes over” (David Guetta).
Karolina Brånsgård – ”Just dance” (Lady GaGa).
Erika Selin – ”About you now” (Sugababes).
Calle Kristiansson - ”Destiny calling” (Melody Club).
Reza Ningtyas Lindh – ”Superstar” (Jamelia).
Erik Grönwall – ”Leave a light on” (Belinda Carlisle).
Camilla Håkansson – ”All night long” (Lionel Ritchie).
Eddie Razaz – ”Release me” (Agnes).
Mariette Hansson – ”When tomorrow comes” (Eurythmics).
Tove Styrke Östman – ”Hot 'n' cold” (Katy Perry).

(list reproduced from Aftonbladet)

P3 Guld 2010

A date for your diaries if you're a fan of Swedish pop/rock with a more alternative flavour. The annual P3 radio Guldgalan will take place on Tuesday 19th January 2010 in the Scandinavium in Gothenburg. Tickets go on sale on 26th October.

No info yet re: nominations but keep checking www.sr.se/p3 for info in the coming weeks...

The EuropeCrazy Holiday Hit List: Turkey 2009

Finally I'm getting round to Turkish things on the blog - sorry for the delay folks :) anyway what follows is a list of songs which will always remind me of my recent holiday in Icmeler. Some are current, and some aren't - whilst out enjoying the nightlife I felt as if I'd gone into a Europop timewarp, which was great fun :)))))

I took my radio with me and played it constantly in the hotel room, where we had a brilliant soundtrack of lots of radio stations playing uptempo Turkish pop tunes - Power Turk was probably my favourite station and thanks to the good old internet, the experience continues at www.powerturk.com. There was also Metro FM (http://www.metrofm.com.tr/) which played more international chart pop.

So here's my summer holiday soundtrack for 2009!!

Hotel Room Service/I Know You Want Me - Pitbull (Hotel Room is probably the song for us from this holiday - great party fun)

I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas (soundtrack to party time in Dream Boys)

Sexy B**** (not the "Chick" version!!) - David Guetta & Akon (ditto)

Poker Face - Lady GaGa (she's the new Rihanna - every holiday we go, she's everywhere)

Alice, Who The **** is Alice - Gompie (it never fails, does it? Even after all these years)

Country Roads/I Will Survive - Hermes House Band (tonight we're gonna party like it's 1998)

Turn Me On - Kevin Little (For very personal and hilarious reasons. All I'll say is, it involves a very hot waiter...!!!!)

Angels - Robbie Williams (you know it's after midnight when they play this :( )

Kalinka (this turns up in every waiter-show in town)

Ayo Technology - Katerine (IMHO not a patch on Milow's version, but heard it a few times)

I've Had The Time of My Life - Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes (another song from Dream Boys' big Dirty Dancing finale)

Cha Cha Slide - DJ Casper (I should feel very ashamed that I know all the words???!!!)

Bu Böyle - Sertab Erener (yes the one and only 2003 ESC winner. Classy pop song)

Evlenmeliyiz - Hadise (can't be bothered with Dum Tek Tek, but this is very catchy)

Oh and we even heard Alexander Rybak's "Fairytale" at a stop-off on our last night on the way to the airport!

The return of Kent

Is this the most complete year of Swedish music ever? (well, almost - all we need is the return of Vincent Pontare and then I will be 100% happy!)

Anyway approximately two years after the release of Kent's last album "Tillbaka Till Samtiden" comes their brand new single "Töntarna" which was released digitally today. On first listen it's not as instant as, say, "Ingenting" and has a dark electro vibe to it. I always find that you need to listen to Kent songs a few times as they don't really grab you instantly but when they do, they don't let go. I wonder if this will have the same effect on me. For those who don't know, Kent is Sweden's biggest rock band and their music has an often dark, bleak tone....trying to find a comparison here, and for some reason I thought of Depeche Mode when I heard "Töntarna" for the first time.

New album "Röd" will follow in November, just in nice time for them to win their usual Grammis/P3 Guld/Rockbjörnen at the beginning of next year, I presume...!

"Sounds of Europe" back tomorrow!

A quick plug for a great little radio show called "Sounds of Europe" which is presented by two of my best blogging pals Rachel and Keira. The show is broadcast on GU2 Radio, the radio station run by students from the University of Surrey. The station also broadcasts online at www.gu2.co.uk

Anyway, it's a new term, a new series and a new timeslot for the show: it'll be broadcast live from 9.00 - 11.00 pm (UK time) on Monday nights, starting tomorrow. If you can't listen live, the show will be available to listen back on the website.

Swedish Idol 2009: now let battle commence

12 contestants, but only 11 places up for grabs. Two contestants had automatically reached Friday's qualifying-final from each of their four heats, with the other four places being made up by wildcard contestants.

1. "Beat It" - Erik Grönwall
Young rocker Erik, who famously turned Yohanna’s "Is It True" into a rock ballad earlier in the competition, was putting his rock stamp on Jacko’s "Beat It". Of the rockers this year I probably prefer Calle to Erik, who sounded a bit strained here, but I think he’ll go far and could be this year's Johan Palm!

2. "Son of a Preacher Man" - Reza Ningtyas Lindh
Rough, gritty, croaky. I really can’t stand this song and it should be banned from all idol-type competitions. She gave it all she had though, I suppose.

3. "Show Me Heaven" - Erika Selin
Another song which I’d be happy to see the back of, I don’t really have a problem with her although she probably over-sang this one.

4 - "Here I Go Again" - Calle Kristiansson
If they want a rock-Idol in the style of, say, Chris Daughtry or Bo Bice then here’s your man. You’d never get anyone like him in X Factor, more’s the pity. I like him.

5. "Pretty Woman" - Nicklas Hocker
Another rocker. I’m glad he got through as a wild card and hopefully he’ll be given the chance to develop as the weeks go on.

6. "Life On Mars" - Tove Östman Styrke
OK so this is one of my all-time favourite songs and should not be messed with! She messed this up a little, but in a strange way she could be worth watching and could potentially be this year’s Amanda Jenssen?

7. "Don’t Look Back In Anger" - Jon Sindenius
What happens when you’re the year’s favourite based on outstanding auditions, Lars Eriksson-style? Well....you fall at the final pre-contest hurdle. Although Jon did himself no favours on "Don’t Look Back In Anger" which really wasn’t a suitable song for him, he should have been given a few more weeks before outliving his usefulness?

8. "Hurtful" - Eddie Razaz.
Massive swooning outbreak at EuropeCrazy HQ. Eddie Razaz is, for me, the hottest looking guy in Idol since Sebastian Karlsson. Yes, that hot. With the volume down though, as his vocal ability doesn’t match his looks and he didn’t make a good job of one of the best songs of 2009. Must do better. But I hope he lasts a few weeks, for completely shallow reasons.

9. "Fever" - Karolina Brånsgård
Unfortunately this was at odds with the backing track throughout and was in the wrong key. This did not float my boat at all. She should have been sent home.

10. "Stand by Me" - Rabih Jaber
Rabih, bless him, is another boy in search of a boy band. He’s like all the worst kind of talent show singers all rolled into one, but I probably fear the worst that he’ll go further than he deserves to.

11. "Sweet Child O’ Mine" - Mariette Hansson
Confident, assured, she already looks and sounds like a star. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we may have a winner here?

12. "Hallelujah" - Camilla Håkansson
In one of those great D’oh! moments, Camilla is the Idol-contestant who mistakenly thought she heard her name called as a finalist. She did get a wild card though, and freakily turned the dreaded "Hallelujah" into an all-or-nothing rock-out, a gamble which bizarrely paid off.

So Jon goes home earlier than any of us expected, and the rest (pictured above, picture courtesy of TV4) march on to the first weekly live show which takes place on Friday 9th October. This year, there's a Melodifestivalen-style aspect as the final three shows go out of the TV4 studio and go on tour - 27.11.09 in Malmo Arena; 04.12.09 in Gothenburg Scandinavium; and the final, as always, will take place in Stockholm's Globen Arena on 11.12.09.

Bisbal's back!

Where would we be without the wonderful Poster Girl to keep us all up to date with the hottest new Europop tunes?

So... all I can say is thanks once again for bringing new material by David Bisbal to my attention. I also got the "Silencio"-vibe from "Esclavo de Sus Besos" which I liked on first listen (and I usually don't like many songs on first listen) - it's a very nice and catchy uptempo Spanish guitar-pop tune and further proof that he's moving away musically from the Latino sound which made him famous. The new album "Sin Mirar Atrás" will be released worldwide on 20.10.2009.

Oh, and on a completely shallow note....one of the most divine heads of curly hair in the pop universe is back :))))

Check out the new tune and the matching visuals at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRyjUJbhg6Y

(Picture above courtesy of David's official site http://www.davidbisbal.com/)

Songs of the decade countdowns....

...expect a few of these on various websites towards the end of the year. One of these is starting early: http://nollnolltalet.se/ (in Swedish) is doing a very detailed rundown and I recommend it (thanks to It's A Trap for the link).

I haven't really thought about doing a "songs of the decade" rundown but I'm kicking around a few ideas at the moment so I'll probably do something towards the end of the year, in addition to the 2009-50, which is rapidly filling up!

Mwah!

OK it may be 10 years old, but on any night in any bar in any Turkish holiday resort I guarantee that this will get played, with an accompanying dance routine by some rather lovely waiters no doubt :))))

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the lovely Tarkan with "Şımarık" (a.k.a. the original version of "Kiss Kiss"):



By the way I bought Tarkan's latest album "Metamorfoz" whilst on holiday and will eventually get around to reviewing it on here. :)

Idol 2009: gå vidare

According to Aftonbladet (I haven't managed to catch up yet) here are the finalists in this year's Swedish Idol:

Andreas Johansson
Carl Chapal
Camilla Håkansson
Clara Hagman
Eddie Razaz
Erik Grönwall
Erika Selin
Jon Sindenius
Karolina Brånsgård
Mariette Hansson
Moa Carlebecker-Forssell
Nicklas Hocker
Nicolle Walles
Patrik Öhlund
Rabih Jaber
Rasmus Ingdahl
Reza Ningtyas Lindh
Sabina Täck
Tove Östman-Styrke

Competing for a final place:
Piotr Pospiech
Calle Kristiansson

Retro Saturday: Tracey Thorn

I didn't always have such contempt for female singers..back in 1982/83/84 for example, there were female/female-fronted acts with so much to offer musically. Notably Tracey Thorn, who was my absolute favourite female singer from those years. Nowadays her career seems to have been summarised to EBTG's "Missing" and Massive Attack's "Protection" but her first solo mini-album "A Distant Shore" is probably my favourite of all her recorded output. There's nothing fancy - it's just one wonderful voice and acoustic guitar, but it was very special for me at the time, particularly "Seascape" and "Plain Sailing": the latter was featured on "Pillows and Prayers" and can be heard at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE2GLsoxOJE

Retro Saturday: Joe Crow

Another track from "Pillows and Prayers", this time "Compulsion" by Joe Crow which has a nice little home-made lo-fi feeling about it. I don't know anything about the man who made it, but I just like this song, anyway....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kifY99v6BTM

Retro Saturday: Thomas Leer

It's not the first time I've featured Mr Leer on Retro Saturday - he's been here before as one half of the sublime late 80s duo Act - but I often find inspiration for this feature when my mind takes a little wander through the past, and so it was again this week. I remember receiving Cherry Red's excellent "Pillows and Prayers" album as part of my 1982 Christmas present bonanza - extremely good value for 99p, back in the day, and featuring a wide variety of acts signed to that label. If they all appealed to you, then congratulations on your ear for musical diversity! - anyway I enjoyed a fair amount of them and I thought I'd feature some of the tracks tonight. "All About You" by Thomas Leer is a very wonderful (and overlooked) electro-ballad which still sounds as fresh, and as touching, today.

Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLZ4ObI8-d4

Two people become one?

I don’t know, but a week can be a long time in the world of music. As if the continuing Sugababes game of line-up musical chairs (Jade "It’s My Time" Ewen in, last remaining original member Keisha Buchanan out) and the earth-shattering news of the Chas and Dave split wasn’t enough, now here is a strange one.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I’m a big fan of Aussie duo Empire of the Sun, so I’m somewhat perplexed by the news that one half of the band, Nick Littlemore, has allegedly been "missing in action" for five months and will not take part in the band’s forthcoming debut live shows in Australia. Singer Luke Steele told an Australian newspaper that he has been left "holding the baby" and that he will be backed by a group called The Swiss for the live shows starting this weekend.

There is more about what can be expected from the weird, wonderful, conceptual live EOTS experience and the myths that surround the ‘band’ at http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/music/stranger-than-fiction/2009/09/24/1253385071568.html

Where all this leaves the future of Empire of the Sun, nobody knows. It would be a shame if Luke Steele didn’t continue with this magical musical adventure though.

Back from Turkey!!

Hello again...I'm back from one of the best holidays I've ever had, in the lovely Turkish resort of Icmeler. Got back on Tuesday morning after a bit of a marathon final day/airport delays/night flight, but caught up with some sleep in the afternoon and should be back on track tomorrow.

Anyway we had a fantastic and relaxing time. Weather was 33 to 35 degrees most days but we managed to cope. The initial culture shock of shopping Turkish-style took some getting used to but by the end of the trip we were expert hagglers - great fun :))

Went on some very good trips/activities, ate brilliant food all week, and enjoyed the warm Turkish hospitality which truly deserves its good reputation. And let's just say I fell in love with many of those lovely Turkish men...!

As usual I'll be publishing my holiday diaries/holiday hit list on here over the next few days as I'll have a bit more time - yes I have almost another week off before going back to work next Tuesday, so expect some regular posts between now and then.

Blog break time once again

This blog is now taking a break - the reason being that I'm off to Turkey tomorrow for my summer holiday (with faithful travelling companion of course)!

I'll be back on here on the evening of Tuesday 22nd September - in the meantime if you wish to leave any comments on any of my posts I'll respond to these when I get back.

See you all soon :))))

Retro Saturday: Nick Lowe

I seem to be stuck in the late 70s at the moment....so while we are on some classic hits from that era let's feature the mighty "I Love The Sound of Breaking Glass" which made the UK top 40 during that new wave of post-punk: audio version at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn0cuAYC5jk&feature=fvw although there are also some live versions at YouTube too.

Nick Lowe also had a UK hit with "Cruel to be Kind": audio at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqWjyvgLYfI

Retro Saturday: John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett

Remember this? "Really Free" by John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett no less. "Cor baby, that's really free!" From 1977, and one more reason why we miss Top of the Pops so much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkYOZyNocrw

Retro Saturday: OMC

Starting off tonight with a genuine 90s international one-hit wonder from New Zealand band OMC - "How Bizarre" was a (now forgotten) hit back in 1996 and it still sounds refreshing today. It pops into my head from time to time and tonight I thought it would be a good candidate for Retro Saturday. When was the last time you heard this on the radio?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfJe8hQ8ha0

Hallelujah! Swedish Idol is back.

The freaks, the geeks, the deluded and the just plain daft....yes it can only mean one thing, the audition stage of Idol 2009 (TV4) kicking off its sixth season.

Yes of course there may be some genuine talent but let's forget about that and focus on the undisputed greatness of Philip Damberg, whose version of "Ring of Fire" had me almost collapsing with a fit of the giggles for about half an hour...and will probably have Johnny Cash spinning in his grave.



Also worth a mention: Sami Piipanen's, um, enthusiastic "Boten Anna", and Sebastian Rönnberg's, um, less than enthusiastic "To Be With You".

You know how certain songs should be banned from Idol auditions? Well can we ban "Hallelujah" now? (Having said that, I thought Joseph Assaly's version was rather nice).

Jon (who sang his own composition) seemed to be a big hit with the jury. I was trying to think who he visually reminded me of....and then it just came to me - Stefan Raab on ESC singing "Wadde Hadde Dudde Da"!!!

I guess this will be my new Tuesday night obsession now that my summer singalong-shows have ended :)

The increasingly blurred worlds of....

...Swedish reality/talent television and Melodifestivalen hasn't escaped my notice. Further proof is the line-up for the forthcoming series of the hugely successful TV4 series "Korslaget" which is back to brighten up our autumn weekends from 3rd October. Auditions for the hometown-teams are currently taking place in Sweden: more at www.tv4.se/korslaget.

All except one of this year's choir leaders have been in Melodifestivalen - Caroline af Ugglas, Roger Pontare, Ola Svensson, Andreas Lundstedt, Amy Diamond, Rodrigo "Rigo" Pencheff - only Stefan Nykvist from Larz-Kristerz hasn't (yet) but his band of course won another reality-talent show "Dansbandskampen".

Talking of which, there will be a new series beginning on 24th October on SVT -expect the Swedish tabloids to get excited about another Saturday night ratings battle between SVT and TV4. Thanks to the internet, we'll be able to watch both shows.

And then there's the new series of "Idol" which starts this coming Tuesday on TV4. Who will succeed last year's winner Kevin Borg? (Kevin hasn't done too badly for an Idol-winner, landing the lead role in the Swedish stage version of High School Musical.)

Retro Saturday: Brecker Brothers

Can't believe I haven't featured this on here during the last 2½ years that I've been doing this blog - it's one of my most favourite songs ever and I'm probably the only person I know who has heard of it. Keeping with tonight's theme, it's from 1978 of course.

I refer to "East River" by the Brecker Brothers, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mgig-GNx4c, a fabulous jazzy, funky, exciting concoction which sounds as good today as it always did :)

Retro Saturday: Patrick Juvet

One more European star who briefly broke through in 1978 thanks to the disco boom was Patrick Juvet, who had hits here in the UK with "I Love America" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8UjLTAfbI0 and "Got A Feeling" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNXwyQKiKig&feature=related

People "of a certain age" who grew up in the 1970s will remember a mega-cheesy dance group called The Young Generation, (one of their members was none other than Popstars/Pop Idol/So You Think You Can Dance guru Nigel Lythgoe!) and that's what the "Got A Feeling" video makes me think of when I watch it :)

Retro Saturday: Voyage

Even back in 1978 I was cheered up by the thought of a non British/American act in the top 40 charts - Voyage were French if I remember rightly :)

Here is a little disco classic - "From East To West" and I guarantee you will be tapping your feet in no time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es3Ark-As38

Then there was "Scots Machine" - everything was set to a disco beat back in those days, and just when you thought no-one would dare to do bagpipe-disco then Voyage came along to prove us all wrong!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNDxxVguDwE

Retro Saturday: The Cars

Mention The Cars to anyone, at least in this country and they will think of "Drive" which took on a whole, new, chilling meaning after Live Aid in 1985. But long before that, back in 1978, they arrived on the scene with "My Best Friend's Girl" and "Just What I Needed", the latter was a particular favourite of mine. Here's a clip from their performance on "The Midnight Special" an American TV show - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPWpYaM1Xio

Retro Saturday: A Taste of Honey

So in a completely random way I've made a spontaneous decision that tonight is 1978 night on Retro Saturday!!

Next up is the irresistibly dancey "Boogie Oogie Oogie" by A Taste of Honey, which was another one of those disco one hit wonders I think. What was notable about this band was that it was fronted by two women, Hazel Payne and Janice Johnson, who didn't just stand at the front, dance around and look good, but they also played their own instruments too - which was a bit of a rarity back in those days. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvIydHPhb98

Retro Saturday: Eye to Eye

Today I was thinking about one very obscure oldie "Am I Normal" originally recorded by Eye to Eye and then covered by (Virginia) David. Here is a link to the Eye to Eye version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkRsgp5ZUGA

Unfortunately I can't find the David version anywhere on YouTube or elsewhere on the internet for that matter, so I'm not able to post a link. IMHO I preferred the David version to the original, but having said that, the original's pretty good too :))

One of the members of Eye to Eye was Julian Marshall who was half of the duo Marshall Hain - they had a UK hit with "Dancing in the City" in 1978: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Lmfpnv_eLY - hard to believe this was 31 years ago!!

Rewind: Swedish summer telly

There are some traditions that I eagerly await every year, one of them being the Swedish summer TV show "Allsång på Skansen". Even if it's raining outside, I hear the opening bars of "Stockholm i mitt hjärta" and that officially tells me that summer is here.

2009 was just that little bit different. We didn't just have Allsång on SVT, but also Lotta Engberg's show, Monday nights on TV4. Both shows have now ended their summer runs.

Allsång, the established favourite with its usual pick & mix format brought the usual highs and lows. The best show of the series was the first one, on 23.06.09, which featured Tomas Ledin and Måns Zelmerlöw, the latter being instantly acclaimed as a possible successor to the under-fire Anders Lundin, who was consistently a target for the Swedish press from day one. As I don't live in Sweden I'm not sure what the reason is for all this criticism, as I think he's ok for that sort of thing, although (IMHO) he's no singer, which is ironic as he's the host of a singalong show!

Other guests I enjoyed during this series: Magnus Uggla, John ME, Magnus Carlsson and Wille Crafoord (a very nice duet of the Swedish 1973 Eurovision entry), H.E.A.T. and Bjorn Skifs.

The mythical backdrop of Skansen and the Stockholm skyline makes watching Allsång a very special experience, even if the line-up of guests isn't always your cup of tea. That's what probably edged it in front of TV4's rival "Lotta på Liseberg", which was televised weekly for the first time this year. Still, I thought she had some very good guests - Ola Svensson, Brolle, Scotts, Agnes (an excellent "Release Me"), the new-look (and very glam) Linda Bengtzing, and for me the icing on the cake on the final show....Salem Al Fakir. Now you all know by now that Salem is my favourite singer, but he also has such a lively and infectious personality that you could imagine him hosting Allsång one day in the future as he relates so well to his audience and had so much fun here. The same could not be said for fellow guest, Paul Potts who sat squirming on the sofa whilst being interviewed by Lotta Engberg, and was then subjected to an "English Allsång" - "The Laughing Policeman". The irony was not lost on me, given Mr Potts' consistently sour-faced expression during the show!

But I digress. The other big hitter on Swedish summer TV is TV4's "Sommarkrysset" from Grona Lund in Stockholm, which I have also enjoyed greatly this summer, although I need to catch up with the latest editions. Again the highlights this summer for me were (goes without saying) Salem again, also Moneybrother, Brolle (again), Erik Hassle, Darin, Star Pilots.

"Sommarkrysset" finishes its current run this coming Saturday with a cracking line-up of guests including Fibes, Oh Fibes! and Kim Wilde, Europe, and Ola. Don't miss it.

Rewind: Eurovision Song Contest 2009, four months on...

So, with the benefit of hindsight, what will we remember about the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest? Play that violin...

If Norway's Alexander Rybak's win was "predetermined" like many recent pre-contest favourites, no-one could have predicted the landslide victory which followed. Juries and televoters, from every part of the continent, awarded maximum scores to "Fairytale" (apart from the foregone conclusion of the Bosnia-Croatia, Greece-Cyprus, Azerbaijan-Turkey, Moldova-Romania 12 point love-ins, to name the most significant). It wasn't just the "Nordic bloc voting" much derided by Terry Wogan over the years....it takes much, much more than that to win Eurovision these days.

The major change this year was the introduction of jury-televoting split, to save a contest which was losing the last little bit of credibility it had, thanks to the neighbour voting which had dominated/ruined the show (delete as appropriate) in recent years.

I think it worked.

It all started with 2008 winner Dima Bilan walking in the air, catching his jacket along the way (oops) and -points deducted here - miming to "Believe" whilst auditioning for "Hole In The Wall". All together now...."Bring on the wall!!" Nice chap though.

I grew to like those postcards featuring the Russian 'Miss World', she was very pretty wasn't she?

So on with the show....

• Lithuania: Sasha Son sang this very well, but he was a good singer in need of a better song.
• Israel: It was a little contrived but a nice idea nonetheless, and I didn't hate it.
• France: Patricia Kaas did what she did best, stood on a stage and was mesmerising for 3 minutes, although my mum didn't like this. Faithful travelling companion, a self-confessed Eurovision-phobe, broke the habit of a lifetime and watched the contest this year because Ms Kaas was there. Of course he voted for her. Quelle surprise!!
• Sweden next. For some reason it still left me cold, and the wonky vocals before the big finish didn't help, although there was that big note at the end. Mum: "there's something unsettling about her, isn't there?"
• Croatia: We both hated this. And probably still do. Mum: "Baloney. Chronic".
• Portugal: this on the other hand was just lovely, she was lovely, the very colourful flowery staging was memorable, and the song was very nice and cheerful.
• Iceland: A simple song, sung in a simple style, with virtually no gimmicks. The kind of thing which used to be enough to win Eurovision, from the days before the dance routines and the drumbeats took over. This wasn't my favourite Icelandic entry of all time, but credit to Yohanna for a nice performance anyway....and a fabulous result.
• Greece, and the understated performer that is Sakis Rouvas. Mum: "Is he miming?" This also still left me cold, and by the end of it I wished he'd got swallowed up by that giant stapler.
• Armenia: They would appear to be another one of those winners-in-waiting countries, although the visual impact of this - two girls looking like something from Camelot - outweighed the song in my opinion.
• Russia: in the "defending champions trying our best not to win again" trend (Sweden 1992, Ireland 1995 for example) here was a woman dressed in a towel, wailing a load of old rubbish.

A word at this point for the BBC's Graham Norton. Terry Wogan in his prime would have been a hard act to follow, but he had gone stale and past his sell-by date in recent years, and sounded as if he didn't want to be there. Norton did well in his first year: subtle, agreeable, funny - but respectful too. Eurovision fans would have found much to like here. Back to the songs....

• Azerbaijan: this had the Swedish "Boro Boro" guy on it so post-contest top 10 success and maximum radio airplay was assured. One more thing: faithful travelling companion was very impressed by AySel. Mum: "it's beauty and the beast!"
• Bosnia-Herzegovina: I thought this had top 5 finish written all over it, although 9th is still a pretty decent position. Passionate and emotional, but not in that forced, manipulative way which had maybe characterised Balkan entries in the past. I still love this and it's one of the very few songs from this year's contest which I still play.
• Moldova: I missed most of this as I was putting my potato wedges in the oven at the time. Her visual similarity to Shirley Clamp had escaped me first time round, but it was extremely obvious here. A novelty song which did better than I expected.
• Malta: Chiara yet again. Graham Norton: "She never met a Malteser she didn't like!!" A good singer, yes, but a duff song. She needs to be give something decent to sing.
• Estonia: We like!! Understated and extremely hypnotic, and well deserving of its 6th place. Glad to see them doing well again after a few off-years.
• Denmark: Tonight, Matthew, Brinck is going to be Ronan Keating! Although we liked this, we maybe had played it too much before the contest and had got a bit bored with it. Vocally he wasn't at his best, "a bit pitchy, dawg" as Randy Jackson might have said.
• Germany. Oh the shame of it. As I transferred my potato wedges (McCain Salt and Black Pepper wedges, the undisputed world champions of the potato wedge IMHO) from oven to plate, I thankfully missed most of it. A low point from beginning to end, and just when you thought it couldn't get any worse..."ladies and gentlemen, Miss Dita Von Teese".
• Turkey: to use an over-used word, dare I say "meh"? This was like Turkish-Eurovision-by-Numbers, and not in a good way. "For Real" it definitely wasn't, but a top 5 placing was guaranteed. Could do better.
• Albania: She was like a rabbit caught in the headlights, and we found it so interesting that we spoke all the way through it.
• Norge! Victory for Norway! He did enough, although those dancers continued to annoy me. I liked the stage set for this one though.
• Ukraine: I never thought we'd get anything cheaper than Deutschland tonight but here you have it. Me: "She's had 'work'". Mum: "And it's not made much difference". Top entertainment though if nothing else, and you'll remember the centurions.
• Romania: Yuk. This was one of our most hated qualifiers. Cheap, tacky rubbish. Possibly the worst song of the night, on a night with a lot of contenders for that title.
• Royaume-Uniiiiiiiiiiiii!!! Wow! Now you know I famously described "It's My Time" on here as a pile of mince, but on the night it was an excellently performed pile of mince and you could hear it being cheered throughout. Yes they milked the Lloyd-Webber factor for all it was worth, but 5th place wasn't bad going for the UK (a.k.a. "no one likes us") and may just have saved this country's Eurovision future.
• Finland: I'm glad they made it to the final, but for some strange reason this lost its impact for me on the night although it was still one of my favourites. Mum: "they could have done without the flame-throwers".
• Spain: After all the bother they go to with their elaborate qualifying process, this was the best they could do? They shouldn't have bothered, and I can't really see them hanging around Eurovision for too much longer.

So then there were recaps, and Dimitry (yum!) in the green room, and an interval act called "Fuerza Bruta" which was all water and art and swimming pools and was unusual and quite breathtaking. There was an interview with ALW who was very proud of Jade Ewen's performance, while Jade herself was also very euphoric. Sir Andrew commented before the voting that "it's a close run thing and not a shoo-in for us at all".

Despite what felt like 17000 countries casting votes, the voting skipped along smoothly and I had lots of fun identifying the jury spokespersons. Sadly no Bjorn Gustafsson for Sweden this year, but look! it's Sarah Dawn Finer! Duncan James gave the votes for the UK, DMGP host Felix read the votes for Denmark and finally....that sweet little package of Norwegian cuteness, Stian Barsnes Simonsen, delivered the Norwegian jury vote. How much would I love it if he hosted the semi-finals and/or the finals next year!!

Norway were runaway winners and earned the right to host next year's contest which will take place at the end of May in the Telenor Arena in Oslo. What we know is that Georgia will be back (I liked their Putin-bashing song and it was a sad loss to the contest when it was disqualified); whilst the Czech Republic have quit due to lack of interest.

The political nature of the ESC is well documented but recently took an even more sinister turn in Azerbaijan, as recent press reports stated that Azeri citizens who voted for arch-rivals Armenia were being taken in for questioning for being unpatriotic. Hey, it's only a song contest remember????

Whether you love or hate "Fairytale" you can't deny that it was a deserved winner, and its high placings in the charts across Europe - shock horror, it even made the UK chart - proved that it was also a very popular one. Thanks to the participation of established international acts (Patricia Kaas) and songwriters (Andrew Lloyd Webber) the contest's profile has never been higher, and I can only hope that this is reflected in better quality entries next year. It'll be no time till it's "on-season" once again....

Rewind weekend: Tour de France 2009

Finally posting my review of this :)

The 2009 Tour de France was unusual this year for quite a few reasons. Firstly there was the route, completely missing out the north and east, no Brittany or Normandy cobbled-stone stages this year. The race began in Monaco, and controversially the final mountain stage, the epic climb up Mont Ventoux, took place the day before the final stage in Paris. Cruel or what??? In recent years Le Tour hasn't just confined itself to France and this year it visited Monaco, Barcelona, Andorra and Verbier...and the 2010 Tour will start in Rotterdam!

Then there was the comeback of one Lance Armstrong. If you watched ITV4's otherwise excellent coverage, the one criticism I have of Liggett and Sherwen is their one-rider obsession - in previous years they have been obsessed with Greg Lemond, Miguel Indurain and most recently Cadel Evans, and this year, for them it was all about the "Tour de Lance".

That was of course until the British interest kicked in. Firstly there was Mark Cavendish, the unofficial king of the sprints this year as he won no less than six stages, but a points deduction for allegedly riding too close to rival Thor Hushovd meant that he couldn't make up sufficient points to win the green jersey competition: that was won by Hushovd. However it was some consolation for Cavendish that he got the "big one" - he won the final stage on the Champs-Elysees.

And then there was Bradley Wiggins, British Olympic gold-winning track cyclist who may have lost weight for the 2009 Tour, but he became a road race heavyweight in this year's race and at one point was a serious contender for a spot on the podium. He ended the race in fourth place, which was an incredible achievement, I thought.

What about the yellow jersey? Earlier in the race it was worn by Fabian Cancellara and Rinaldo Nocentini (the latter a new name to me) before it was taken over by Alberto Contador in the Alps and he kept it all the way to the finish. Lance Armstrong meanwhile was determined to prove that he was a serious challenger once again. Both Contador and Armstrong were on the revamped Astana all-star team which included some ex-Discovery riders and management. Contador was the official leader, but the media made a lot of the conflict between the team's real leader Contador, and Armstrong, whom they described as the team's unofficial leader.

Luxembourg's Andy Schleck took second place on the podium: he is an impressive young cyclist with a bright future ahead of him in the sport.

What pleased me most about this year's Le Tour was that the cycling spoke for itself and thankfully the race wasn't overshadowed by the drugs scandals which had blighted the race in recent years. I thought it was a very enjoyable Tour, even if it wasn't the most competitive or unpredictable one I've ever seen, but there were enough little rewarding episodes throughout the three weeks to make it well worth watching.

Some Swedish music news: Melodifestivalen, Agnes, Fibes

Some news about Melodifestivalen 2010: this week the names of the cities hosting next year's weekly extravaganza were revealed. The four semi-finals will take place as follows:

06.02.10 - Örnsköldsvik
13.02.10 - Sandviken
20.02.10 - Gothenburg
27.02.10 - Malmö

Andra Chansen:
06.03.10 - Örebro

Final:
13.03.10 - Stockholm


Aftonbladet reports today that Agnes has signed a $1 million deal with Interscope/Geffen Records in the USA and she will be launched there with "Release Me" the song that has been a big hit in the UK and Europe this summer.

I'm getting very excited because the new Fibes, Oh Fibes! album "1987" will be released next week and received a 4 star review in Aftonbladet today, which is saying something as they're not always too generous with their review marking.

Ready to check into the Tokio Hotel again?

Good news for fans of the band and also the eyeliner industry, as the German pop/rock phenomenon that is Tokio Hotel is on the way back.

Their latest album "Humanoid" will be released in October, with its first single "Automatic" - described as an 'epic' - set for release in September.

There's something missing this autumn....

The end of August in France has meant only one thing to me since 2002: the annual return of my all-time favourite reality pop-talent show. At this time every year (apart from the year that the Rugby World Cup was in France), the new series of Star Academy would launch with an all-new set of contestants all hoping to win the contest almost four months later. But that's not going to happen in 2009: there will be no Star Academy this year, leaving a void in this blogger's life and an overwhelming desire to take a look back...........

It all started back in 2001. Jenifer Bartoli was the first Star Academy winner and is arguably the most successful of all the Star Ac winners over the years, but I didn’t get into the show till 2002 (during my holiday in Biarritz) and that for me is still the best ever series. Star Academy 2 was of course won by Nolwenn Leroy, despite every effort made by the programme and the French media for her rival Emma Daumas to win the show. (Nolwenn & Emma pictured above, picture courtesy of http://www.tele7.fr/)

It was inevitable that series 3 in 2003 would be an anti-climax: despite Michal and Sofia being the best contestants, it was Elodie who triumphed. Where series 2 had appeared natural and genuine, series 3 was planting the seeds of viewer manipulation and effective editing, the tools which have become commonplace in reality/talent shows. Therefore Elodie was shown to be fragile, almost bullied by the ‘profs’ whilst her rival Sofia was continually shown in a bad light despite being the most talented of that year’s contestants.

The result of Star Academy 4 (2004) could be predicted before a note was sung: when a young man with cystic fibrosis entered the chateau it seemed inevitable that this would sway the sympathy vote. And then Gregory Lemarchal began to sing, and there was no question that he would be the winner, based purely on his considerable singing talent and nothing else. Female singers had dominated Star Academy so a male winner was long overdue. If the win was a foregone conclusion, then there was one other significant thing about Star Academy 4 for me: Mathieu Johann (pictured above). Enough said.

Star Academy 5 (2005) was probably my least favourite of all the series. There was a new theme tune - the excellent "Love Generation" by Bob Sinclar replaced Bustafunk's "Run Baby Run". The series was blighted by manipulation from start to finish: despite some very talented singers - Alexia, Ely and Jean-Luc were my favourites - it was Magalie Vae (pictured top left) who won, in an "overweight girl wins against the odds" kind of way. The problem was that her ‘story’ didn’t translate into a musical career of any longevity. This was probably the crucial turning point when winning Star Ac wouldn’t guarantee success any more....

Year 6 - 2006 - finally brought the first black winner of the show: Cyril Cinelu, who originated from Martinique. Since the contest began, there had been much debate in France that there had never been a non-white/mixed race winner of Star Academy, or any other reality-talent show for that matter, despite the rich racial mix within the country. He beat my favourite Dominique Fidanza, (pictured above, with Cyril) former Italian 'Popstars' winner in the final. Earlier in the series it looked as if the 'chosen ones' were Cynthia and Marina, the latter being a singer-songwriter who was favoured by the "prod" from the beginning and who was allowed to sing her own compositions on the "Prime".

In 2007, Star Academy 7 brought yet another foregone-conclusion winner. You couldn't imagine anyone but Swiss-born Haute-Savoie native Quentin Mosimann (pictured above) winning the competition that year: he beat off the vastly inferior Claire-Marie in the final, and we will always have fond memories of his classic "Love is Gone" with David Guetta and Peter Cincotti. Meanwhile, Quentin's much-nominated fellow finalist Mathieu Edward eventually found chart success as a credible r'n'b star, Maureen (a French Amy Winehouse?) memorably walked out and Alexia - a particular favourite of this blog - didn't do as well as expected.

Finally, to 2008. Star Academy 8 had a revamp - new theme tune ("Superstar" by the Merrymakers) and no more Dammarie-Les-Lys as the show relocated to the Marais in Paris. Once more I was on holiday in Nice (as in 2003/2005) so was able to watch the show whilst on holiday. From the beginning it looked as if the strongest contestants were Joanna, Harold and Mickels....whilst the "Prod" focused its attentions on Gautier and Alice. Inevitably these two (inferior IMHO) contestants would go far in the competition, but it was Mickels (pictured right, second row from bottom) who finally beat off Alice in the final to become the last Star Academy champion.

Rumours from France suggest that the show will return in 2010, although I can't really see that happening. In the meantime if you're having withdrawal symptoms, I'm sure YouTube and DailyMotion will deliver....!

Album Review: "Hassle" - Erik Hassle

I mentioned in my previous post about Neil McCormick’s article on the rise and fall of the next big things, and how that fate may or may not befall Erik Hassle. Big in blog-land this year, and tipped for Robbie-sized success (Guardian’s new band of the day), Erik Hassle had a lot to live up to before his debut album was released.

On the evidence of "Hassle" recently released in Sweden - the British version, with a different title ("Pieces") and album cover, is out later this year - he needn’t worry, because he delivers.

I initially didn’t understand why "Hurtful" wasn’t the first single in the UK, but thought some more about it and realised that maybe that was quite a smart decision, as releasing "Don’t Bring Flowers" has got him some publicity and some press coverage, so maybe by the time "Hurtful" is out, the recognition will already be there and - hopefully - the charts will be there for the taking.

"Bump in the Road" is a powerful opener. "Hurtful" is still the standout track on the album. "The Thanks I Get" is also impressive: it’s a teary-eyed lovelorn ballad. Now you know I don’t like ballads but I find this one genuinely touching.

"Wanna Be Loved" comes on like a cross between EMD’s "Baby Goodbye" (the whistling hookline) and The Beatles’ "Eleanor Rigby" (the "all the lonely people" lyric) yet is an uptempo pop-rock track which succeeds on its own merits. The lyrics on "First Time" recall teenage memories and will feel very relevant to anyone in that age group, whilst the more mature "Bitter End" is reminiscent of Coldplay and Keane’s big sweeping soaring anthems.

There’s another pretty acoustic ballad, "All I Wanted Was You" - what particularly struck me about this track (and the album in general) is that young Mr Hassle isn’t following the crowd and is just making the music he wants to make, whilst having the potential mass appeal of an act like The Script for example. My worry is that in the cureent UK musical climate, there doesn’t seem to be any room for quality pop music, and I return to the "next big things" debate.

In Sweden, Erik Hassle will be allowed to develop as an artist: that isn’t such a certainty in this country. A young man with big hair and big talent, Erik Hassle deserves massive success. I only hope that he will be allowed to have it.

Rating: 7½ out of 10.

Big in Japan / Next big things

A couple of interesting articles which I found this week:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/aug/27/big-in-japan-daniel-merriweather which interestingly examines why home-country popularity can totally pass an act by, yet they can become huge abroad. "Big In Japan" syndrome in other words. They completely hit the nail on the head about Charlie Winston: yet further proof that the movers and shakers who dictate British musical tastes continue to have an aversion to artist development in favour of the next big thing.

Which brings me on to an article in the Telegraph. Now you wouldn't catch me reading that newspaper in a million years, but I found this whilst searching for articles about Erik Hassle:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/neilmccormick/100002668/why-pop-music-is-a-cruel-business/

Mr McCormick makes some very relevant points indeed: and I fear the worst for Erik's career in the UK if he's going to be bracketed alongside pop's next big things, rather than being allowed to develop as the talented artist which he undoubtedly is. Album review to follow....

This week's playlist: And I feel like taking off

Supernova - Mr Hudson featuring Kanye West: despite my hatred of vocoder-hell pop, this is a notable exception, and I look forward to hearing what else he can do.

Warning Sign - Nick Heyward: obscure maybe, but I've been listening to this a lot lately. Catchy and underrated track from his post-Haircut One Hundred solo repertoire.

Kylie Said To Jason - The KLF: Hard to believe that this is 20 years old, but still sounds so fresh. I previously gave this a mention on Retro Saturday (which is back with a vengeance next week!) Nonsensical lyrics + an irresistible chorus = excellence.

Lala Song - Bob Sinclar featuring Sugarhill Gang: I still don't understand why UK chart success passed this one by this summer, when it's just got such a sunny, happy vibe about it. Great stuff for anyone who likes old-school rap music.

Say It - Booty Luv: Very very nice to have them back. They make rather fab commercial-dance music, and this is a pretty good comeback.

The Rain/Ready For The Weekend/Stars Come Out/Flashback - Calvin Harris: did I ever mention that "Ready For The Weekend" is my most-played CD of recent weeks? Top dance music which has soundtracked everything from bathtime to housework.

Trippin' On You - Cahill featuring Nikki Belle: this was played a few times on Galaxy Radio (which is otherwise the home of vocoder-hell) and I realised how much I still liked it after all this time.

Sweet Dreams - Beyonce: Now you know that I can't really stand Beyonce ("Halo" is currently my undisputed most-hated-song of 2009) but for some strange reason I like this.

Don't Bring Flowers/Hurtful/Wanna Be Loved/Bitter End - Erik Hassle: Swedish pop's latest brightest new talent releases a very impressive album indeed. Here are four songs from it.

Release Me - Agnes: yes I know it's old news by now, but I still like it. 2009-50 place guaranteed by now. I don't know how her UK chart career will go now, but this is a pretty good start.

Been to the movies today....

Faithful travelling companion suggested going to see the latest Quentin Tarantino epic, the title of which I won't mention here in case it messes with my blog-filter at work....although I didn't know anything about it and hadn't read any reviews beforehand, so I didn't know what to expect.

"IB" turned out to be a very good movie indeed, set in World War II with the usual parallel-storytelling that you would expect from Tarantino by now, and a fine international cast.

The film begins with a German colonel Landa, known as "the Jew Hunter", who kills off a Jewish family being hidden in a dairy farmer's home. The daughter of the family escapes, takes on a new identity and is subsequently seen running a cinema which is chosen to host the premiere of a film made by Goebbels about a German war hero - played by an old favourite of this blog, Daniel Brühl of "Goodbye Lenin" fame - and this gives her the opportunity for revenge against the Nazi hierarchy attending the premiere, as she plans to burn down the cinema during the film.

None other than Brad Pitt, as Aldo Raine leads the "B******s", a fearless group of Jewish-American scalp-hunters who will stop at nothing to get revenge on the Nazis, carving a swastika into the forehead of the Germans whom they do save. Although I've never quite understood Mr Pitt's popularity, I have to admit that he sparkled in this role.

Despite the serious subject matter, it wouldn't be a Tarantino film if it didn't have some very black comedy: the scene when Raine's fellow fighters reinvent themselves as Italians only for the multi-lingual Landa to rumble them is a particular treat.

The ending of the film sees Tarantino taking liberties with history as only he can; and of course, it being a Tarantino movie means there's lots of look-away-from-the-screen-now violence.

The fact that I sat and watched a 2½ hour movie without dozing off says a lot for my attention-span: it's a relentless and compelling war movie reinvented as spaghetti western, and it's well worth seeing.

Rewinding and starting with a clean slate

It's "rewind" weekend at EuropeCrazy: I thought I'd take the opportunity to "rewind back to summertime" as the great philosopher Måns Zelmerlöw would say, and finally post all those reviews and ramblings which I never got around to during this summer.

Anyway I want to start my autumn/winter season on this blog with a clean slate, so between now and midnight on Monday 31st expect a bit of a blogging extravaganza. I always think that the end of August signals the end of summer, as the days get shorter and the nights get longer, so this is a bit of a "goodbye to summer" weekend on EuropeCrazy. Once I get these posts out of the way it will also free up some time for me to devote to September's pre-holiday preparations (16 days to go!!!!!) and then from the end of September it'll be full speed ahead for this little blog once more.

I never did get around to posting that Eurovision review either so I may just post that too, with a little benefit-of-hindsight twist. :)

Onwards!

Message for Mick (Tracklister)

Any chance of an invite?

Cheers
Laura (EuropeCrazy)

New BWO video.

Thanks to Expressen http://www.expressen.se/ here is the video for BWO's new single, the excellent "Rise to the Occasion" which is the latest track to be released from their fab "Big Science" album.

http://www.expressen.tv/noje/1.1676706/bwo-rise-to-the-occasion

Album Review: "Ready For The Weekend" - Calvin Harris

It’s that age-old dilemma once again: can dance acts make good albums? In many cases the answer is a definite ‘no’. But Calvin Harris is not just any old dance act. Regular readers of this blog will be well aware that I’ve liked his music a lot since his debut - "Acceptable in the 80s" and "The Girls" were never off my stereo at the time, and with "Dance Wiv Me" (also featured here) he managed to do the impossible and get me to like a Dizzee Rascal record. The first time I heard "I’m Not Alone" (which is officially the most searched-for song on this blog, ever!) I absolutely loved it and couldn't wait to hear this album.

At the moment, you could be forgiven for thinking you’ve been time-transported back to, say, 1982: we’re deep in recession, three million on the dole, the record companies are falling over themselves to sign one electro-pop act after another, and the British charts are full of rubbish.
But here is Mr Harris to cheer us all up with a dose of euphoric dance-pop which, even if most of it sounds "acceptable in the 90s" then what’s wrong with that? (I happen to think that the 90s was an underrated musical decade which will someday get the positive re-evaluation it deserves).

The album starts off with an absolute cracker - "The Rain" had me hooked immediately. Despite its title it’s a dance anthem filled with positivity and sets the tone for the rest of the album. The title track (and follow-up single to "I’m Not Alone") is a hands-in-the-air dance anthem with a great chorus.

"Stars Come Out" is like two songs in one: to these ears it’s got more of an 80s electro-house vibe than a 90s feel, and I love the way it changes about halfway through. "You Used To Hold Me" doesn’t float my boat so much, purely because its repetitive chorus really annoys me, but this is one for the electro-dance crowd.

"Blue" shows off a more reflective side to Calvin, and is probably as near as he gets to a ballad, well an electro-one anyway (!) I do like his vocals, even if a lot of the time he chooses to feed them through a vocoder/autotune thingy, but he even does this in a more positive way.

Next is "I’m Not Alone" which is my favourite single by a British artist in 2009 so far. Euphoric, commercial dance at its very best, which recalls Faithless at the top of their game, and that unforgettable chorus - "If I see a light flashing, could this mean that I’m coming home?"

I read somewhere that "Flashback" is to be the next single: it's perhaps more trancey than its predecessors and probably won't do so well as a result, although artistically it's a triumph I guess.

"Worst Day" reminds me, for no particular reason, of N.E R.D.'s "Maybe" and is a diversion from the stadium dance concept of this album. Like many other albums of late, "Ready For The Weekend" loses its focus a little in the latter tracks but is still very much worth a listen. Despite its title, "Burns Night" isn’t an electro-bagpipe piece of haggis-house but is a reflective instrumental; "Yeah Yeah Yeah La La La" won't ever win any prizes for lyrical genius but reminds me of Bob Sinclar, for some reason.

The ‘rich kids’ in the media who dictate and force-feed us with musical trends may not like this album and prefer to push on with hyping this year’s thing, but Twitter-rant aside, I doubt if Calvin Harris should really be too bothered about their criticism, as he's made a commercial dance album to be very proud of indeed, and has brought some long overdue musical sunshine into these dark, rainy days.

Hello again....

...I thought it was about time I came back here. I’m about ready to resume normal service on this blog. There are a couple of out-of-date posts about Eurovision and the Tour de France, which will be posted on here over the next few days, if only to get them out of my system!

Still addicted to Flight of the Conchords: so much to love but we're still obsessed with "If You're Into It" because it's daft, silly, funny and Jemaine is just on top form, "doing stuff with the food" :) I promise you will love this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY8jaGs7xJ0

Another blog-break week (or two)

I'm trying to remember what it was like in the early days of this blog when I had lots of time to do about 17 posts a day (only kidding) anyway for the last few months I've been struggling to do justice to this blog so rather than take a few months out, I find it helps to take the odd week out and I've decided I need another one this week, if only because I'm still not really at full fitness physically, mentally or emotionally, and because I've got lots to do at home and very little time to do the research which this blog demands.

I'll be back when I'm ready - hopefully a few early nights should sort me out!! I'm not giving a return date but I think two weeks off should be enough.

(Of course Planet Salem will continue in the meantime, as I find that blog so much easier to update!)

Dutch Charts Update

Have we ever done a Dutch update before? Can't remember, but I should really do them more often.

A bit of Dutch-language summer-reggae at no. 1 in the Mega Top 50 this week. "Mi Rowsu" by Damaru & Jan Smit is a very pleasant laid-back little tune, which, apparently, is sung in a Volendam accent.

It's not the only Dutch-language song in the top 5, as there is also "Slaap Lekker" by Diggy Dex featuring Eva de Roovere. It's a more contemporary rap/r'n'b song but I think being sung/rapped in its native language makes it so much better. I quite liked this too.

There's also a German artist in the Dutch top 10: Peter Fox's "Haus Am See" has been in the chart for 10 weeks. The great thing about continental Europe is that they have no boundaries to music in another language, unlike here in the UK where not even a song with a couple of German words (Polarkreis 18's "Allein Allein") could get any airplay (Radio 2 excepted) and needless to say, failed to make our singles chart.

A summer dance tune next."La Mezcla" by Michel Cleis is climbing the charts. The Netherlands of course is a significant player in the European dance music scene - as you know, I like commercial dance music but this instrumental is repetitive to the point of deeply annoying.

At no.11, climbing from last week's no.30, is "Mr Light" by Bertolf. I don't know anything about him apart from he's a Dutch solo artist - I must investigate further. A nice mid-paced pop-rock tune, which is very pleasant indeed. Here's a link to the official video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqVwpU_YN9c

Krezip is a band which has been going for the last 12 years but now they're going their separate ways. Their appropriately named "Sweet Goodbyes" has been in the charts for the last 26 weeks. It's a sweet little inoffensive acoustic number, quite nice. I've heard of them but never really heard any of their music so I don't have anything to compare it with.

The Square-Eyed Couch Potato: July-August 2009

How bad is TV at the moment? I know it's summer and it's supposed to be the silly season, but where has all the good telly gone? This would explain why all sorts of retro-box-sets are appearing at EuropeCrazy HQ these days as we dive into the vaults for something reliable and good to watch.

In these days of poor quality telly we should be all the more grateful for absolute gems like "Man On Wire" which received its premiere on BBC-2 last week. It was the story of the man whose biggest challenge was to walk between New York’s Twin Towers on a high wire. When asked why, he responded "there is no why". This documentary was humorous, moving, profound and inspirational, and Mr Petit’s urge to follow your dream and seize life was infectious. In his own words: "life should be lived on the edge of life".

Good old BBC-4 is still showing a series of the original Swedish-language version of "Wallander" which I find compulsive viewing. I’m not a fan of cop shows but I love the way the little complexities of the plot are unravelled, with the back-story of the relationship between the lead character and his daughter.

One thing I recently got into and now can’t get enough of is "Flight of the Conchords". If you haven’t seen it before, it’s a deliciously dry comedy about a New Zealand folk-parody duo in New York. Their manager Murray is total comedy gold - imagine a hilarious version of (unfunniest man alive, IMHO) Ricky Gervais’ David Brent. After seeing a couple of episodes of season two on BBC-4, I rushed out to buy the season one box set, which I’m working through at the moment. The series is of course now over and it would appear they won't be making any more of it - that should guarantee the show classic comedy status by leaving us all wanting more.

Good comedy on British TV is very very hard to find, but "The Kevin Bishop Show" (Channel 4) is an exception. Its quickfire sketch format pokes fun at the celebrity world which he and his chums already did brilliantly on "Star Stories" and if you get the jokes you’ll find it very funny indeed.

I don’t know why, but season two of "Private Practice" (Living), isn’t really doing it for me and it’s missing something. It doesn’t press the emotional-buttons that "Grey’s Anatomy" does, but sometimes you don’t want that either, yet there’s little character development beyond who’s sleeping with who.

I love "Come Dine With Me" (currently off-air). Watch that format go.....for dinner party read wedding, and voila - you have "Four Weddings" (Living) where four brides attend each other’s weddings and mark them, "Come Dine"-style. On paper, it sounded good but based on the shows I’ve seen so far, it missed the mark. And it doesn’t have the hilarious Dave Lamb doing the voiceovers either.

A couple of programmes about hotels: "The Hotel Inspector" (Five), used to be one of my favourites but is now past it’s sell-by date. I’m not too keen on that new woman Alex either - preferred the old one. The show was previously quite interesting but has now turned into a bit of a "Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares"-meets-makeover format and the end result leaves me cold.

You can have cash coming out of your ears but it doesn’t always mean you’ll get things done: "Rock N’Roll Hotel" (BBC-1) is quite an interesting documentary series about Mark the nightclub owner’s hotel project - and if anyone’s thinking of opening a hotel then you might want to think twice after watching this.

After watching "Hollyoaks" (E-4) for two years, I recently decided to give up watching the show purely for the reason that it’s in terminal decline. The final nail in the coffin was Newt, Lauren and Theresa’s camping trip, a week of my life which I’ll never get back.

"Coronation Street" - recently, controversially wrenched from it’s 7.30 Wednesday night slot on ITV and moved to Thursday nights at 8.30 - isn’t much better these days. When the major storylines revolve around the Platts, you know there may be trouble ahead. Add to that Rosie Webster - possibly the worst non-Platt character in British soap today, and the tiresome Fiz/John Stape/Chesney and you have one very unwatchable half hour.

Just a brief mention about "Strictly Come Dancing" (BBC-1) - there’s controversy already before the first quick-step has been taken, thanks to Arlene Phillips’ dismissal from the show and replacement by former winner Alesha Dixon. Now much as I like Alesha, she is no expert choreographer and it looks as if she’s been brought in purely to provide some Cheryl Cole-style judging panel eye candy. With the show already reeling from accusations of ageism, then came the news that former winner (and one of my favourite professionals) Karen Hardy would not be among the professional dancers in the new series. Ms Hardy is 39 years old. Imagine the drop in viewing figures if the BBC banned everyone over 39 from watching the show? Pity they can’t apply their recruitment criteria to, say, Bruce Forsyth or "Uncle" Len Goodman, who in TV terms are a long way over that hill. How about replacing them with some younger eye candy....? (Talking of which...not that we need an excuse for another picture of Mark Ramprakash, pictured above with Karen Hardy in that unforgettable series 4 win in 2006). Note to BBC: if you really want to make "Strictly" better, then scrap the tedious dance-off and stupid Sunday night results show...

Finally it was good to see Louis Theroux (pictured above) back on BBC-2 tonight, with his latest documentary "The City Addicted to Crystal Meth" focusing on the drug epidemic and its effect on the citizens of Fresno. The best thing about Louis is his refreshing lack of sensationalism, as he easily persuades the interviewees to tell their own story, rather than punctuate the show with drama and "previously on..." recaps. One very sad aspect of British TV in this disposable decade is the decline in quality documentary making, so there's all the more reason to treasure Theroux’s deceptively simple and effective style.

Retro Saturday: Mink De Ville

I just read that Willy De Ville, frontman of this super-cool 70s combo has passed away so as a tribute tonight, I thought it would be appropriate for a bit of "Spanish Stroll".....R.I.P.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWHc8ZoVdOk&feature=related

The Round-Up

I’m going to try this and see how it goes: I thought it would be a good idea to occasionally do a little write-up about some current musical goings-on and throw in the odd rant along the way ;)

Recently I’ve been pretty depressed with the state of the music scene in this country, particularly the dominance of over-hyped, under-talented female acts, and the very low profile of male pop stars. So I was genuinely happy to read this week that Robbie Williams is on the way back with a new album to be released in October. The news that Trevor Horn has produced it is a mouthwatering prospect alone. And even if it’s not a return to past glories, then we can always take comfort in the fact that it will be better than "Rudebox". It wouldn’t be hard....

I’m still dealing with the aftermath of the disturbing sight of seeing Mika in his big white underpants in his new video: "We Are Golden" (or should that be "Heaven Is A Place On Earth") didn’t really impress me the first time I heard it, but having heard it again it’s beginning to work its way into my brain. Nice to have him back, if only for the fact that he will be back on the radio which means one less playing of Pink, Rihanna, Beyonce blah blah blah.

The weekly Friday night ritual of watching the music channels with faithful travelling companion at EuropeCrazy HQ has been rather frustrating of late, with the increasingly depressing parade of one dire autotuned r’n’b or tedious electro song after another. Last night wasn’t much better: that Tinchy Stryder/Amelle song is like r’n’b by numbers and might as well have been written by a computer - and as for the Sugababes’ new song....needless to say, faithful travelling companion enjoyed the video, but as for the ‘song’, well it’s unspeakably bad. Time for the Right Said Fred revival?

Last night I leapt up and yelled when I saw Milow’s "Ayo Technology" on The Box, or Chart Show TV or one of these channels....this song has been a big favourite of mine on this blog for the last 4 months although I still think the video’s a bit unsavoury, with a nod to the song’s hip-hop origins. Still, I’m glad it’s being released here, so fingers crossed that it will be a hit. Bizarre fact: Milow bears a startling similarity to someone who works in my office!!

That's where the truth is, that's where the lie is: You may have heard of someone called Peter Andre, I think he’s been involved in some high profile marriage breakup or something? :O
The man at the centre of that breakup has conveniently chosen a good time to relaunch his career. I saw the video of "Behind Closed Doors" which plays it very straight indeed. The video features a Jordan lookalike...a bit of the "Cry Me A River" thing going on eh? I was quite surprised by this on first hearing as it wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever heard, although I still can't help but think that the whole thing is one great big orchestrated publicity stunt.

There's a she wolf in the closet: Shakira - one of the few female pop artists I can actually stand - is back with "She Wolf" which is quite catchy although a change of musical style. Even she has succumbed to the dreaded autotune. Anyone think the melody in the verse sounds like RHCP’s "Californication" though??

It’s too late to apologize, Ryan Tedder: much of the 2008/2009 dreary-pop vintage has been written by the OneRepublic frontman. Don’t get me wrong, I like "Apologize" and "Stop and Stare" but I really can’t stand stuff like "Bleeding Love", "Battlefield" and the song that is my most hated of the year, "Halo" by Beyonce which redefines the meaning of dire. So the news that Tedder gave Kelly Clarkson virtually the same track is not good news at all. Even Kelly herself is, to say the least, a bit miffed as her record company now want to release the song. This blogger is also seriously annoyed, as it means we will now have to suffer "Halo II" every five minutes on the radio. Wake me up when it’s all over, although that will probably be a long long time away.....

Hopefully by that time Erik Hassle will be a big star, although I’m still puzzled by the choice of "Don’t Bring Flowers" as his big UK debut, when "Hurtful" (or "Bump In The Road" for that matter) was a more obvious choice. Don’t get me wrong, I like this song though and I really want it to do well.

The whole September situation is equally baffling, firstly the excellent "Until I Die" was scheduled to be her follow-up single to "Can’t Get Over" then was pulled from release by her record company due to a lack of radio airplay support. Now it would appear that "Cry For You - The Album" will not get a physical release in the UK and will be download-only. I can’t really understand this - is it maybe because her target market is more likely to download songs than buy CDs? Also, as there is no physical CD format it means that the album won’t show up in the album chart. :(

Retro Saturday: Hipsway

One of the many, many great bands which came out of the great Scottish guitar band boom of the 1980s - a period which delivered so much classic music which still sounds good today.

"Tinder" came to the public's attention thanks to its use in a TV commercial for a certain brand of lager, and I always thought this was a great record. Top stuff!! No video but enjoy the audio at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XDatGBIQN8

Retro Saturday: Laban

Big hair and shameless 80s production values, this time from Denmark. Lecia Jönsson and Ivan Pedersen were the lead singers in Laban, and I quite liked their music back in those mid to late 80s days. "Prisoner of the Night" was my favourite song of theirs: no video but hear it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixIjrFMC6io - I didn't realise that there was also a Danish-language version of it called "Fange i Natten" - video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWMWjrvLVi4&feature=related

I never realised this was a cover version of a German song called "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz" by Heinz Rudolf Kunze until I started investigating YouTube tonight: that site is an education!!

Retro Saturday: Nick Heyward

In case you are new to this blog, Retro Saturday is one of my regular features and hopefully serves two purposes: a) it's a musical memory jogger for those of us who remember these songs first time round, and b) it's a chance to pass on some rarely-heard tunes to my younger readers to give them a chance to discover music they maybe haven't heard before.

After our short summer break it's time to jump into the Saturday night YouTube time machine once more, starting off with a long-forgotten tune by Nick Heyward.

To begin with, I liked "Favourite Shirts" and "Love Plus One" but after that, Haircut One Hundred frankly annoyed me, with their twee image, big guitars and cricket jumpers. Nick Heyward's solo career didn't fare much better in my book, but then along came "Warning Sign" in 1984, a song which I liked a lot. The song and the video are very 80s, but don't let that put you off. Quite an underrated gem, which deserved a better chart position than it got. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRAU97-94x0

This weekend (and beyond)....

I'm finally going to get my act together and get this blog up and running again so you can expect the following:

A review of this summer's Swedish TV singalongs!
Tomas Ledin's new album reviewed!
My (very belated) look back at the Tour de France!
A couple of charts updates!
"Square-Eyed Couch Potato" for July and the beginning of August!
The return of Retro Saturday!
This week's playlist!

All of the above will be appearing on this blog from tomorrow night onwards...

EDIT 09.08.09: OK, OK, I knew it was too ambitious and a bit premature - Swedish summer TV review's been postponed for yet another week as I need to watch some more of them, whilst I had written that Ledin review but then misplaced it so I'll have to do it again :( also I haven't got the playlist together yet. Mañana, mañana....!

Turkey here we come!

Yes the unlikely possibility of your humble blogger and her faithful travelling companion going on a package holiday (OK I exaggerate, we've done it before - the Algarve and Madeira to be precise) is about to become a reality as we have finally booked our summer holiday, a credit crunch-busting non-Euro jaunt to Turkey, six weeks from tomorrow.

Yay!!!!

So let's celebrate with a top Turkish tune shall we? The brilliant "For Real" by Athena from 2004.

Just been checking the new release schedule...

Here are some singles scheduled for UK release in the coming weeks, all of which have been big faves of mine in recent times!

10.08.09
Bob Sinclar featuring Sugarhill Gang "Lala Song"

24.08.09
Erik Hassle "Don't Bring Flowers"

31.08.09
BWO & Velvet "Right Here Right Now"
Jason Mraz featuring Colbie Caillat "Lucky"

07.09.09
Milow "Ayo Technology"

28.09.09
Agnes "On and On"

However, given the dire state of the UK singles chart, I'm not building my hopes up :(

This week's playlist: One, two, three, four, uno, dos, tres...

I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) - Pitbull: I only got to know this song about a week ago but I'm already addicted to it. As near as we'll get to a real summer hit this year.
Ready For The Weekend - Calvin Harris: Another slice of dance-pop awesomeness from this very talented DJ. If the album's as good as its first two singles then it will be a monster.
Diamond Rings - Chipmunk: Not usually into this kind of thing but it escapes the dumper and appeals to me purely because of its sampling of "Pipeline" in the vocal hook.
The Only Ones - Melody Club: I've probably said this before, and if I have (or haven't) I'll say it again anyway: they remind me of the Ark. And that's a good thing.
Fire - Kasabian: still sounding fresh after all these weeks. I really will need to get listening to that new album...
You Can't Kill Rock & Roll - Sugarplum Fairy: more retro-tastic melodic rock from another musically fab branch of the Noren gene pool.
Youngblood - E.M.D.: took a while to grow on me but now it's a firm favourite. Nice catchy Swedish pop, nothing more, nothing less.
Joyride - The Killers: I'm well into their music again and this is one of the high spots on their "Day and Age" album.
Lala Song - Bob Sinclar & Sugarhill Gang: catchy singalong summer dance tune. Mr Sinclar continues to make some inspired choices of collaborators.
Right Here Right Now - BWO: They've had a bit of Swedish TV exposure over the last couple of months. But apart from that opportunity to drool at Martin, they also make great pop. Like this.

Album Review: "Now 73" - Various Artists

Approximately three times a year, the "Now" compilations take the temperature of the UK singles chart of recent months. The series may be over 25 years old now, but it arguably remains this country's most popular compilation album. Unfortunately, as it provides a pretty accurate reflection of current/recent hits, it can also mean that when it's bad, it's pretty horrid.

So it goes with the 73rd running of the "Now" handicap, but compared to some previous editions this one struggles to get out of the starting blocks.

CD1 is a radio playlister's dream...yes, much of it is that bad. Cascada, La Roux, Pixie Lott, Pink, Katy Perry, Jordin Sparks, Shontelle. Each and every one of them has been disproportionately overplayed in relation to their actual chart positions. And it doesn't matter what radio station you listen to in this country - each one is as bad as the other.

On the plus side you get Lady GaGa, Calvin Harris, David Guetta, AR Rahman/Pussycat Dolls, The Veronicas, Agnes and Freemasons/Sophie Ellis Bextor, whose songs on this compilation I do like to hear on the radio.

CD2 traditionally offers more different/alternative songs which have made the charts. However, such is the dire state of chart music in this country at the present time, that it's like CD1 all over again, with more overplayed tripe which if you never heard it again it would still be too soon: yes I mean you Beyonce, Keri Hilson, Ciara, Black Eyed Peas, Soulja Boy, Akon, Flo Rida, 3OH!3, Florence and the Machine.

It's not all bad though: Pitbull, Kasabian, Little Boots, Empire of the Sun, Deadmau5 and Kaskade get my vote, although five tracks out of 22 is still a very poor result, and the remaining tracks I can take or leave.

"Now..." is only as good as what's in the charts, and you know how I feel about them by now. Times have also changed and as we are now in the download era, you can pick and choose your tracks which may be a good thing if you want to avoid that landfill r'n'b. But being the traditionalist that I am, I prefer to get a CD and then rip my favourites to the iPod.

If you're feeling nostalgic then check out http://www.nowmusic.com/ which has year-by-year tracklistings of all the albums in the series. When you do this, you'll very quickly realise that no matter the year, there's always good music and bad music on a 'Now' album, but whether you liked it or not, they were always diverse. Current chart music is significantly lacking in diversity, and sadly "Now 73" is a casualty of that.

"Grattis Kronprinsessan" : my review

I'm no royalist, but I continue to be strangely fascinated by the Swedish Royal Family. One of their annual rituals is the annual celebration of Crown Princess Victoria’s birthday on 14th July - Victoriadagen as it is known. The event is also celebrated with an outdoor concert every year, which is also televised by SVT. The Swedish royals would not only appear to be more grounded than our house of Windsor, but they also have a significantly more attractive gene pool. Victoria is reasonably pretty, and natural, and seems likeable enough. And then of course there is Prince Carl Philip...I rest my case.

It was at this concert two years ago that I first discovered my favourite singer, Salem Al Fakir. Mans Zelmerlow was also on the bill that night; so I was very interested to see both of them on the bill for this year's concert.

This year there was an extra seat in the front row, with the added ingredient of Victoria's new fiancé Daniel Westling along for the festivities.

Host Mark Levengood - is he Finnish? he seemed to speak Swedish with a Finnish accent - brought a calm and respectful tone to the proceedings, which includes fundraising appeals for the princess' charity fund which supports disabled children.

What interested me most of course was the music - Lena and Orup got the party started with "Nu När Du Gott". Of course these two have been particular favourites of mine over the last 20 years - and their professionalism remains in no doubt. I still got the feeling though that the parts are greater than the whole, as I didn't get the same enjoyment from their album as a duo that I did from their solo albums.

Was very excited to see Måns Zelmerlöw next. He seems to be developing a tradition of alternative-acoustic-versions of his hits, and he did the same with "Hope and Glory" although my mum thought that this was inferior to the original. He is still a very good artist though and I can see him having a long career.

Kalle and Bengan next with a bit of folk, which was ok if that's your bag. Swiftly followed by Jill Johnson, who firstly came to our attention in 1998 when she represented Sverige @ ESC, but since that time she has reinvented herself as Sweden’s queen of country music. Again this isn’t really my type of music, but she is a very good singer and very good at what she does.

Next up, Malena Ernman who IMHO got a bit too much time on this concert....again she is very good in her field (opera) but I get the feeling she probably wouldn’t have got the same exposure if she hadn’t won MF.

So, to the real star of the show, Salem Al Fakir. For those not familiar with this underrated Swedish musical genius, he was as ever a very appealing vision with his messy curls, dressed in a white shirt, black trousers and of course his trademark braces. He got Vicky & Dan clapping, and commanded the stage like the true showman that he is, and vocally he was perfect on a confident version of "Astronaut".

Back to Måns, who performed a lively "Cara Mia" which got everyone smiling and clapping - what an entertainer he is. Malena again, backed by Kalle & Bengan. Time to fast forward....to Salem Al Fakir, who was back with my favourite song of his - "Good Song" which again got the crowd clapping along. Salem looked as if he enjoyed every single minute of this, and his enjoyment was infectious. His pop/soul/jazz vocals have never sounded better: the man is a true star.

After Victoria dishing out her annual-stipendiet it was time for Malena and "La Voix" which left me cold. Then Jill again, then MZW with a kids’ choir, entertaining us with his latest single "Hold On". I've probably got a few songs on the album which I like more than this one, but he never disappoints.

Finally, the return of Lena and Orup with a very enjoyable medley of their hits. (It would have been more intriguing if they had sung each other's songs, but maybe that's just my wishful thinking?) The show closed with Bengan and Kalle and all the performers back on stage to sing a couple of songs for to the princess.

Rumour has it that this annual celebration will no longer take place following Victoria and Daniel's wedding in June 2010. I hope this won't be the case, as I look forward to this event every year.

You can watch this year's "Grattis Kronprinsessan" at SVT's website: http://svtplay.se/v/1625278/kungahuset/grattis_kronprinsessan. The show will be available to watch until 14th August 2009: well worth watching too, especially at the 35 minutes and 50 minutes mark :)))

I put on my shoes and I'm ready for the weekend

It's not always an easy task to follow up a no.1 hit single, and when that particular single was the mighty "I'm Not Alone" (still my favourite British single of the year so far) then it was a major challenge for Calvin Harris, who continues to be a big favourite on this blog.

So three cheers for "Ready For The Weekend" which presses all the right dance-pop buttons for me. I can only reiterate my previous view that he is breathing fresh new life into dance music. The single is out on 10th August; the album of the same name is out one week later. Have a listen to the new single at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2Z56le7-H4

Holiday news...

Regular readers of this blog will be well aware that I usually take my annual summer holiday in September, it's usually booked by now, and it's usually either France or Germany.

This year's been a bit different though. With the Euro exchange rate still totally rubbish, we made the decision a little while ago to go 'non-Euro' in the southern half of the continent. My initial favourite was Croatia, but there were a few practical problems getting the deals/hotels/dates we wanted etc, so that's been put on hold yet again - we'll get there eventually but not this year.

Anyway, after a great deal of discussion and debate we settled on another new country: Turkey. Initially a very unlikely choice for us, if only for the reason that we're not "package holiday" people, but as time goes on it seems to make more sense. It's a new country, a new culture, and we like Turkish food. That haggling scares me though :))

Will try and get booked within the next couple of weeks - more news soon...

This weekend...

I'm hoping to do a round-up of some of my favourite Swedish summer TV shows. Of course I should have done this on a weekly basis but the best laid plans etc etc....I'll also finally post my "Grattis Kronprinsessan" review which I previously promised to do.

One of these days, normal service will be resumed :)

Album Review: "A State of Mind" (Deluxe Edition) - E.M.D.

Having seen their very nice performance on last week’s "Sommarkrysset" I thought it was time to finally post my review of this album!

One particularly annoying thing about being a record buyer over the past 10 or so years has been the introduction of the "special edition"/"deluxe edition" of an album, usually released just a few months after the original, with the statutory extra tracks or remixes or video clips to encourage the fans to part with their cash once more to buy what is essentially the same album all over again.

For me, most of these special editions aren’t really worth it. However in the case of "A State of Mind" (Deluxe Edition) by E.M.D., it has turned what was initially a pretty disappointing - and dare I say mediocre - debut into something worth a listen. The album now comes with three added tracks, which I like a lot and which are hopefully an indication of the musical direction they will go in.

The album starts with their Melodifestivalen 2009 finalist "Baby Goodbye". This song still manages to divide opinion in blog-land: some like it, some hate it, I happen to love it - it’s just an instantly catchy pop song which I never tire of hearing.

New single "Youngblood" has also become a favourite of mine although it took a few more listens to get there. It’s similar in style to my favourite E.M.D. song (and as they like to remind us, ‘Årets Låt 2008’) "Jennie Let Me Love You" which is another one of those timeless Swedish boy-pop songs which I never get sick of hearing.

The final new track "I’m No Romeo" is again similar to "Youngblood", only slightly more uptempo and something you may expect to hear on a Danny Saucedo solo album. It’s a little similar to "Radio", although more in a boyband-style.

E.M.D. of course stands for Erik, Mattias and Danny, and I still feel that Danny is the group’s ace card both vocally and image-wise. For me he is still a great popstar, and so far he is managing to run two pop careers in parallel (something which seems to come naturally to Swedish artists!) - his exciting solo career and his extremely popular second-life as a member of a boyband which initially many of us were a bit sceptical about. However E.M.D. are now a phenomenal success in their home country, at a time when boybands seem to be out of fashion (but of course Sweden is a country where pop music will never die, and we should always be thankful for this).
That first single "All For Love", a decent remake of what was initially (IMHO) an unspectacular song anyway, is also included on this album. In fact it may be better than the original, if only that we don’t have the three egos jostling for space on the song!
For the remainder of the album they come on like a chirpier version of Westlife on the standard boyband fare - "Run to You", "Alone", "I Lied". "We Can" manages to be saved by Danny’s strong vocals on the chorus, whilst "For You" includes the very bizarre line "For you I’d set my house on fire". Bit extreme eh lads?? :)
"Give Me Some Time" is better because it’s in my preferred uptempo style, "Look At You Now" is an 80s power-ballad meets Take That’s "The Garden", that’s the best way I can describe it.
Unfortunately the album ends on a low note - "She’s My California" is like Westlife-on-stools at their very worst, with the most laughable cliched lyrics.
On the whole, though, I’m more positive than negative about this deluxe edition of the album. A bit more of the "Jennie"-style tracks might have boosted its rating even higher.

Verdict: Good old boyband pop with some high points and some low points, but all in all a decent debut at the second attempt. 6 ½ out of 10.
　

German Charts Update

Not had one of these for a while so here goes. I've been out of touch with the European singles charts of late so forgive me if some of these songs are a bit unfamiliar to me :)

Something a little bit different at number one. Not Michael Jackson or Lady GaGa, but "Jungle Drum" by Emiliana Torrini. Is there a particular reason for this, or is it just one of those songs that's gone big anyway?

At no.2 is a song which I immediately liked on first hearing whilst on hols in Dusseldorf: "Stadt" by Cassandra Steen, featuring the very distinctive voice of Adel Tawil. Nice mid-paced song which doesn't go down the boring r'n'b route.

Elsewhere, there aren't too many surprises with the usual suspects - Lady GaGa, Black Eyed Peas, Cascada, Beyonce blah blah blah. And yes of course lots of Michael Jackson, the Jacko tunes of choice for German record buyers would appear to be "They Don't Care About Us", "Thriller", "Earth Song" and "Heal The World" (whereas the UK's favourite seems to be "Man In The Mirror", a song which was never a favourite of mine).

The good old tradition that is the latin-flavoured European summer hit lives on in "I Know You Want Me" by rapper Pitbull, with it's "one two three four" hookline. This song had completely passed me by but it's all over the European charts (including the UK top 40) so I suppose people are hearing it on holiday and buying it on their return home?

Speaking of Latin-flavoured pop, with a German twist, inevitably brings me to an old favourite of this blog: Marquess, the German band who sing in Spanish. "Arriba" is more of their good-time summery pop, although I think it's getting to the diminishing-returns stage with them now as this is nowhere as great as "Vayamos Companeros" for example.

Another song that's been around the German chart for a while is "Foot Of The Mountain" by A-ha. Their new album has been quite well-received by the critics. This single is very Keane-influenced IMHO, with its strong piano hooklines. Rather nice, if not earth-shattering.

Bring back the boys!

Yes, it's time for a rant!!

You may think that what I'm going to say is a bit strange, given that I'm female myself, but here goes....

I'm sick of female singers - bring back the boys!

If you've been listening to the radio over the last few months and looking at the chart rundown it can't have escaped your notice that the mainstream music scene at the moment is dominated by female acts of varying quality, and male singers can't get a look in.

Don't get me wrong - there are some new female acts I do like, most of them are of course European, and of the British contingent VV Brown and Little Boots to name two, but they haven't really had the massive airplay/overexposure of the usual suspects....

Category A: Landfill R'N'B. Start the conveyor belt.
Beyonce, Ciara, Shontelle, Rihanna, Keri Hilson, and too many others to mention.

Category B: Eye candy (a.k.a. why can't we have a girl band which looks normal/slightly overweight/not dressed like slappers for once?)
The Saturdays, Girls Aloud (the latter IMHO are now past their sell-by date, but at their peak they were great)

Category C: Post-Winehouse
Arguably the worst category of all: Duffy, and worst of all Pixie Lott. What would my mama do? Like, who gives a ****?

Category D: Ooh, aren't I quirky and don't the critics just love me? (a.k.a. this year's PJ Harvey)
Florence and the Machine. Previous winner still doing the rounds: Lily Allen. (Although credit to her for being opinionated, and "The Fear" is a very good record indeed)

Category E: Rock chicks (a.k.a. radio programmers think they're sooo edgy)
Pink (I liked her once, but I can't listen to her anymore cause she's played to death); Kelly Clarkson (my life would suck if I hear this any more...); Katy Perry.

Category F: 80s revivalists
La Roux = nails down a blackboard. We've heard it all before, and better....

You'll have noticed I've left this year's most-played act Lady GaGa off my list. Strange as it may seem, I like her in a bizarre way, even though I probably shouldn't. "Just Dance" and "Poker Face" are good pop records which I think will have some longevity. The fact that they are played 17 times a day, every day, and I never tire of them, must mean something.

Yet another female fronted act, Cascada, has topped the British charts for the last two weeks with "Evacuate The Dancefloor", which is a significant departure from their usual chavvy-dance into GaGa territory.

But it will all change tomorrow, as X Factor runners-up, boy band JLS, are tipped for no. 1 with "Beat Again". OK so it's more of the same landfill r'n'b which is polluting our singles charts and radio playlists, but I thought I'd mention the significance of this anyway. Firstly they're male. Secondly, they're a boy band, which is very significant indeed, since recent years have seen tough times for boy bands in the British charts, so this might just be the start of something!

What concerns me most is the lack of decent male popstars/talented male singer-songwriters who are being overlooked in this country. The only thing giving me hope is that pop music goes in cycles, so hopefully this year's thing will soon be last year's thing and we can bring the boys back to the airwaves and the charts once more.

Album Review: "Real Control" - Moneybrother

Last weekend I had my usual weekly ritual of watching TV4's "Sommarkrysset" on the internet. A rather enjoyable show it was too, with Moneybrother and E.M.D. among last week's musical guests. Suddenly it struck me that I had never posted my reviews of their most recent albums due to other commitments at the times of their release, so let's get this sorted right now :)

There's something reassuring about another release by Anders Wendin and his merry men, and even major line-up changes haven't changed his signature sound, which to these ears always sounded like a cross between Bruce Springsteen, The Clash and some other post-punk bands, whilst always retaining his own distinctive style.

First single "Born Under A Bad Sign" opens the album with its singalong chorus. You wouldn't expect a song with a title like "We Die Only Once (For Such A Long Time)" to be a cheery little reggae-flavoured foot-tapper, but amazingly it is.

"6 am" (the song he performed on last week's "Sommarkrysset" has a very disjointed 3-songs-in-1 approach, but despite this it seems to work and it has a strong chorus. "Never Ever (I've Been Kissed)" seems to channel Wendin's inner Roy Orbison, if the vocals are anything to go by. Anders Wendin mainly sticks with his usual croaky, gruff Springsteen-style vocals on most of the songs, but "Not That Old" is very surprising with its falsetto vocals, well as near to falsetto as you're likely to get from Mr Wendin!!

"Just Another Part Of Me That Breaks Down": Long song title - check. Stop-start musical-energy - check.

The pace slows down for a big ol' croaky ballad "Young Faithful Love" but then we're soon back at home in Moneybrother's high-speed territory. "Here Comes The Vain Again" has a driving beat whilst "Feel Like Hurting Somebody" seems to mix soul and punk and strangely enough reminds me of early Dexy's Midnight Runners (!)

There is nothing on here as classic as, say, "Reconsider Me" or "...Joanna" or even "Just Another Summer", but many of the tracks stand up to repeated listening as it doesn't take long for them to eat their way into your musical brain :)

Six years on from his debut album, Anders Wendin continues to make the music he wants to make, timeless good old fashioned rock n' roll, filled with excitement and urgency. He makes no concession to here-today-gone-tomorrow musical fashions or trends, and we should be eternally grateful to him for that alone. If "Real Control" is more of the same, then that's just fine by me.

Killjoys on the rampage part 3: Goodbye Teletext

I just found out today that Teletext, the on-screen text information service shown on ITV and Channel 4, is to end in January 2010.

And I'm rather gutted about this. Yes I know you can find out anything on the internet, but it's been a daily ritual for me, for many many years at EuropeCrazy HQ to visit my favourite teletext pages, from local news and sport to ITV's entertainment pages with the soaps round-up and viewers' 'talking points', to my favourite of all - Channel 4's music section "Planet Sound" with its news, reviews, interviews and 'The Void' letters page (ok I'm showing my age now....texts, then!).

And let's not forget Bamboozle with Bamber Boozler, the pixellated quizmaster ;)

They will all be much missed.

Le Tour: Cav's got the other sprinters green with envy

11 stages in and already the annual cycling soap opera that is the Tour de France has the usual mixture of excitement and intrigue going on....

Aside from the Alberto Contador vs Lance Armstrong mind-games over who's the boss in the Astana camp, there is something of major British interest going on. Yet you wouldn't know it from the TV schedules - the nightly Tour updates are only screened on ITV4 (satellite channel).

Fade to dream sequence......

...Imagine if Le Tour was screened on a mainstream terrestrial channel at peak time, the way it once was on Channel 4, many years ago? I'm sure the sport would win a whole new set of fans, and the French tourist board would be rubbing their hands at the thought of everyone wanting to visit France, because there is no better advert for that country than Le Tour....

But back to reality. Mark Cavendish (pictured above, photo courtesy of Getty Images/BBC Sport) excited us all last year with his stage wins and he is surpassing it this year with an even better performance and not only is he back in the green jersey, he has now equalled the British record for the number of TdF stage wins - 8 in total. You get the feeling that he's not finished with the stage wins yet. Cavendish is young, confident, arrogant and talented - and for me he is very reminiscent of one of his recent sprinting predecessors, Robbie McEwen, who was no stranger to a stage win or two not so long ago ;)

This year Cav has been battling with Norway's Thor Hushovd for the green jersey: it will be a thrilling battle all the way to the last day in Paris.

Another British rider doing extremely well is Bradley Wiggins, who is now at 5th in the overall classification. He initially came through the impressive British track cycling setup and won Olympic gold in 2004 and 2008, but his transition from the track to the top 10 in Le Tour has been quite phenomenal.

Italian cyclist Rinaldo Nocentini remains in the yellow jersey although his days wearing it will probably be numbered once the riders hit the Alpine stages of the race. Contador 2nd, Armstrong 3rd and Levi Leipheimer 4th: there is no question that Astana is certainly the strongest team this year, but which of their riders will triumph? I wouldn't want him to win it again, but it would be foolish to write off Armstrong as he is in a very strong position at this stage, and as past years have shown that when it comes to mind games, Lance Armstrong is always the man in the yellow jersey.

This weekend...

I won't be around much - doing a bit of socialising and even a day trip to the seaside (!) so reduced blogging although will try to do a couple of posts.

During my house clear-out I've been rummaging through some old tapes and unearthing some obscure musical gems as I go, so I'm discovering more material for my trips back in time on "Retro Saturday" - which is also taking a break this month and will be back at the beginning of August.

On your bike

One of my favourite sporting events, the Tour de France, starts today with a very glamorous first stage in Monaco. It's a strange route this year though, as the north of France seems to have been totally overlooked!

Le Tour is the world's greatest cycle race although in recent years it's been dominated by controversy due to doping. Unfortunately we have to accept that this will always be around, and they're fighting a losing battle, but there are also "clean" cyclists who are working hard to improve the image of the event and I can only hope that they are the ones who triumph this year.

This year's Tour is overshadowed by the return of seven-times winner Lance Armstrong. Let me say that - putting aside his inspirational battle against cancer - I've never been a fan of this cyclist. I never liked his race tactics during his winning-years and I wasn't happy to hear about his comeback. Whether it's a successful one remains to be seen: his return will probably overshadow everything else and I can understand if many of the riders will feel a bit put out by the 'return of the king' anyway I'm hoping for a good, clean, competitive race by all involved.

The real star of the Tour, for me, is France itself. Even if you're not a cycling fan, watch the race and just fall in love with the beautiful scenery. Another bonus this year is that the Tour visits Barcelona, which should also be an amazing stage.

There's lots of good cycling stuff on the internet - check out cycling blogger Blazin' Saddles for example, for all the gossip at http://twitter.com/saddleblaze

UK Charts Update

So the Michael Jackson deluge didn't quite materialise in time for Sunday's UK top 40 chart, although this could all change next week.

"I don't understand why you're number one"

If I may borrow a lyric from the recent (ironically) number one hit of the same name by Tinchy Stryder....I don't get La Roux. And I don't know anyone else who likes them either. Maybe it's because they remind me of the Eurythmics, and I used to hate the Eurythmics. "In For The Kill" is my joint-top most hated single of the year, it makes my ears bleed equally with Beyonce's "Halo", my other joint-top most hated single of the year. Anyway, today I was off work and off to the big city for some retail therapy. Almost every shop we went into was either playing Michael Jackson or La Roux. I don't object to Michael Jackson, but La Roux on the other hand....anyway, why is that "Bulletproof" song no.1? (Probably because it sold the most downloads this week, duh)

Whilst I'm on the subject of overrated female acts - Pixie Lott. If I hear that "Mama Do" song on the radio once more I might just scream. Still, she's much less objectionable than Duffy....

Back to number ones. David Guetta was no.1 last week with "When Love Takes Over" featuring Kelly Rowland, which is a great dance track. And by a French act too! Apparently he was the first French act to reach no. 1 in the UK since Modjo (which was also a great dance act - I loved their album). Anyway I digress...David Guetta's released a lot of quality dance music over the last few years so he finally deserves a no.1 at last.

I was disappointed by the poor chart showing of Little Boots' "New In Town". She may be yet another one of those over-hyped female electro acts, but I think she actually deserves her success, as her album is full of memorable pop songs. (I'll get round to reviewing it here someday). Maybe the follow-up "Remedy" will do better?

If you want some serious UK chart analysis (as opposed to these ramblings) then check out the wonderful James Masterton's chart blog which is updated weekly at http://new.uk.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chartwatch/

(Mr Masterton is also responsible for a blog of such musical-statistical-fabulousness and total quality that once you start reading it, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. http://blog.masterton.co.uk/)

The Square-Eyed Couch Potato: June 2009

OK so it's been far too hot this month to be stuck indoors watching TV - but I've managed to come up with a few shows...

"Grey's Anatomy" (picture courtesy of http://www.greysanatomyinsider.com/) reached the end of its latest season and as usual, it was best to have the Kleenex handy. This has been a cracking season and proof that the show is still in its prime with good characters and storylines. My one criticism is that the show's creators/writers know what emotional buttons to press and it can all be a bit contrived and manipulative at times. The penultimate episode, for me, brought a lump to my throat - that moment when Izzie and Alex decided to get married, to be precise. Of course the final scenes in the season finale brought a dramatic and totally surprising twist. I read a spoiler somewhere so I know who's in and who's out for next season, and being the nice girl that I am I won't spoil it for you here :)

That spin-off show "Private Practice" (picture courtesy of ABC) is also back and its season premiere was wedged in between the final two episodes on Living last week. Strangely enough, it was a slightly disappointing opener, although I really enjoyed the first season; hopefully it will get better. It's a more lightweight frothy alternative to "Grey's", but like all these hospital/clinic dramas it has no credibility - does a hospital or clinic really exist with all those doctor/doctor romances going on?

The daddy of all the hospital dramas is of course "ER" which finally came to an end and went out in a very dignified fashion. I liked the way they brought back the older characters over the course of the final season, it was all very natural and well-done. To the end, "ER" never lost its dramatic strength, and arguably has been one of the best US TV series of the last 20 years. I only got into "ER" after George Clooney departed the series so I invested in the Season 1 box set the other week, and maybe one of these years I'll get round to watching it :)

One American series which I won't be revisiting is "Army Wives" on Living. I liked season one, but the first three or four episodes of season two were so dismal and depressing that I couldn't take any more and stopped watching. I know the subject matter is no fun, but a little lighter touch wouldn't go amiss.

"90210" finishes tonight on E4 and I'll probably watch this tomorrow. Strangely enough I've enjoyed this updated version of one of my old early 90s favourites, it's still gloriously cheesy escapism. My favourite character is Erin Silver, played by Jessica Stroup: she acts everyone off the screen in every scene that she's in and I hope we see a lot more of this fine young actress.