Marie Picasso is Sweden's new "Idol"

...but prepare for a shock. What you are about to read will be very surprising.

EuropeCrazy in "We finally understand the fuss about Amanda" shock!

I've been following this series of Idol since the live shows began, and shook my head as firstly Evelina, then Christoffer, then Daniel was eliminated. I couldn't understand why Amanda remained in the competition with her ropey vocals.

But!

Having watched the clips of last night's final from Globen, I finally realise why Amanda made it so far. She has....personality. Lots of it. And you don't really see too much of that in these contests now. I can definitely see her having a good recording career if she gets the songs to fit her personality, and at least she won't have to sing stuff like "This Moment", the winner's song, which is (IMHO) unremarkable on first listen.

Congratulations to Marie though, she has been a consistent performer over the series, but whether she will last is another question, I also worry that she'll be landed with power ballads, (which is not my favourite style of music) - also the track record of previous winners - Daniel Lindstrom, Agnes Carlsson and Markus Fagervall - hasn't been good, so maybe it's better not to win.