Melodifestivalen Deltävling 3: Leksand 18.02.12

Three weeks in and I'd have to say that Melodifestivalen 2012 hasn't been a vintage one by any means. Don't get me wrong, I love the weekly extravaganzas, always have and always will, but on the whole the songs have mainly been disappointing by the contest's standards. Where are the memorable songs? Has the "melodi" gone out of Melodifestivalen?

Nevertheless the contest has an extra dimension for us this year as (a) I'm watching it on the TV screen and (b) I've managed to convert my mum to becoming a fan!

So now we're both sitting comfortably, let's begin!

Gina and Sarah - who are really doing a great job, aren't they! - started the show with a silly, fun song about how to pronounce their names. Gina's stylist obviously had the night off, as she was dressed in an unflattering sack in a colourless colour. At least Sarah got it right, wearing a nice black velvet dress. Helena was missing again last Saturday, although I don't really think she adds anything to the show.



For anyone who forgot how smug Fredrik Kempe looked, we got a reminder before song 1 as he was introduced as co-writer as "Youngblood" by Youngblood. The current fashion for awfully young boybands (hello One Direction!) has not escaped the Swedes, so Sweden's latest boyband made their MF debut in Leksand. When it came to the chorus I just thought youngblood, youngblood, you can call me youngblood. It was a little too reminiscent of Manboy for my liking, however it was a very lively start to the evening with the boys singing, dancing and waving burning torches around. Mum was a bit more favourable about it than I was, but we both saw it as a qualifier.



This year's webbjoker winner, Maria BenHajji had a well-staged ballad "I Mina Drömmar" which she sang very well even if it was all a bit been-there, done that. Ballads are not faring very well anymore at MF and if the far superior Sonja couldn't qualify this year, then Maria would continue the poor-performing trend of the webbjoker which I could see being scrapped after this year. There was a very funny moment after the song when Gina had to go round and put out all those candles :D



Of all week 3's artists, I had probably looked forward to Mattias Andréasson the most, but had been rather disappointed by the pre-contest one minute clip of "Förlåt Mig". On the night, the full song didn't change my mind. A very contemporary mid-tempo r'n'b number, which isn't really my thing, and a bit forgettable. Mum was impressed by his good looks but not by the song. I did explain to her that like many other artists who go into MF, Mattias wasn't in it to win it but using it as a very handy launchpad for a solo career/new album.



Love Generation! Now you just knew that they'd put on a show and give it their all. Mum thought "Just A Little Bit" was alright, although 'just a little bit...repetitive'. As for their distinctive zebra-style catsuits, mum said..."they obviously ran out of the costume budget as they didn't have enough material for the other leg". For me, the song just wasn't as good as "Dance Alone" but it might sneak onto my iPod after the competition.



Now to this week's 'unknown/credible artist who you wouldn't expect to see in Melodifestivalen'. Carolina Wallin Perez was much more low-key than some on stage this week. Straight away I declared "It sounds like a Kent song!" and spent the rest of the song trying to imagine Jocke Berg singing it. The drumming backdrop was simple but effective, although the song lacked a distinctive hookline. The EuropeCrazy HQ fashion police weren't so happy with the white dress/pyjama combo.



Beginning to lose count of how many times Andreas Johnson's been in Melodifestivalen. Mum wasn't too familiar with him but she immediately declared "Lovelight" her fave song of the evening, although "it reminds me of something else". "The Beautiful Ones" by Suede, perhaps? Or "Road Rage" by Catatonia? Anyway it's very lively and upbeat and he was definitely guaranteed a qualifying place.

Despite me going on about how this is such a poor year for Melodifestivalen, mum reiterates her comment of past weeks that "The standard of songs in this contest is much higher than what would ever represent Britain". I cheerfully remind her that she might want to eat her words when a certain Mr Ranelid takes to the stage...



But first, Molly Sanden. I explain the back story of Swedish pop's golden couple - Molly and Eric - and how they split up so here's a big breakup ballad, "Why Am I Crying". Very effective lighting effects for this one. Yes she's a good singer with a big voice, but unfortunately the song is a bit too shouty and squealy for us. I'm not a ballad fan as you know, but I prefer them low-key and restrained (hello Sonja Alden). Oh and look! The wind machine. I'd wondered where it had got to. Mum's decided that she didn't like this song at all.

And now to the, er, "highlight" of the evening. If Bjorn Ranelid was British, he would be knighted for his services to the tanning industry. This man has been all over Swedish celeb-reality shows over the past couple of years so it was inevitable that MF would be the biggest showcase for this attention seeker's, um, talents. Basically, "Mirakel" was 3 minutes of talking - not rapping, but talking, think Telly Savalas doing "If" set to a Cascada-style beat with ex Caracola Sara Li singing the Cascada-style chorus, culminating in "kärleken kärleken kärleken oj oj oj!" The most bizarre thing I've probably ever seen at Melodifestivalen in all the year's I've been watching it, and believe me that's saying something.

Still don't like those comedy sketches with all the characters.

Youngblood, Molly, Andreas, Mattias and Ranelid to the super-final. Hmm...



Although I've been none too impressed by the interval acts this year, probably Sirqus Alfon's remake of Roger Pontare's "Silverland" was probably the first one which worked for me.



Vi har ett resultat time. Molly till final, Youngblood and Andreas to Andra Chansen, and finally, that "song". Truly a "WTF" moment indeed.

Markus Larsson in Aftonbladet later tried to defend Bjorn Ranelid going to Globen, not because of the song, but for the entertainment value. It's "vote for the worst" all over again - it's John Sergeant in Strictly, Wagner in X Factor, Willy Björkman in Let's Dance. There are too many novelty acts in this year's Melodifestivalen - firstly Thorsten Flinck, now this. But what if it wins? Maybe Sweden should then operate a Sanremo-style selection process: let the Swedes vote for any old rubbish but send something decent to Eurovision.

(all photos above are, as ever, courtesy of www.svt.se)

Back soon!

I've decided to take a little bit of time out - don't worry, there's nothing wrong, I'm just very busy and don't really have time for blogging at the moment.

The blog should be back on 26th February with a catch-up on the next two Melodifestivalen heats and some other stuff. See you soon.

Swedish Grammis 2012: the winners

The Grammisgalan took place last night, honouring many of Sweden's hottest artists of the moment. The big winners on the night were Veronica Maggio and Lykke Li.

Best Album: Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
Best Artist: Lykke Li
Best Electronic/Dance: Rebecca & Fiona - I Love You, Man
Best Hip-Hop/Soul: Timbuktu - Sagolandet
Best Hardrock/Metal: Graveyard - Hisingen Blues
Best Jazz: Tonbruket - Dig It To The End
Best Songwriter: Veronica Maggio/Christian Walz - Satan I Gatan
Best Song: Avicii - Levels
Best Music Video: Gustav Johansson - Karl X Johan - "Flames (Uncompromised Cut)"
Best Newcomer: Aleks
Best Pop: Veronica Maggio - Satan I Gatan
Best Producer: Masse Salazar
Best Rock: Deportees - Islands & Shores
Best International Success: Swedish House Mafia
Best Lyrics: Veronica Maggio/Christian Walz - Satan I Gatan
Best Innovator: Avicii
Honorary Award - Björn Skifs

Check out the red carpet pics at http://stureplan.se/bilder/event/2012/02/14/grammis-2012

which include a few of this year's Melodifestivalen contestants.

Meanwhile over in Norway and Iceland....

With Super Saturday underway, one thing became clear - you can't watch everything at once. Especially when you're trying to watch "Who Dares Wins" on the telly at the same time :) Having given Melodifestivalen my full attention for 90 minutes this meant that I couldn't tune into the first part of Norway's MGP final.

It was certainly a diverse line-up - Tooji and Lise Karlsnes' lively dance-pop, Plumbo's folk-rock, Reidun Saether's schlager stomper, Malin's Glee-pop, Nora Foss Al-Jabri's Disney film ballad (written by Christian from A1!), Yaseen & Julie Maria's rap, Tommy Fredvang's rock/pop, Carburetors' metal and Petter and Bobby's country song.

Yes, in the words of the big dude in the cowboy hat, things change. Eurovision's national finals are moving with the times and you can now find some very contemporary songs in the line-ups. When I saw Tooji last week, I immediately screamed "Eric Saade clone!" However his song, "Stay" is much more contemporary than "Popular" and I had a feeling it would do well, although the general opinion in blogland since this year's MGP started was that a win for Plumbo with "Ola Nordmann", a song which would probably have limited appeal outside Norway - was a foregone conclusion. Then the superfinal happened and the voting turned out to be more exciting and nailbiting than we could have imagined. For a little while it looked as if a Nora win was on the cards but towards the end there was a surge of votes for Tooji, his tears began to flow (which was a bit tiresome..) and "Stay" was on its way to Baku! Which I'm very happy about.

So having had one eye on the Norwegian voting, and one eye on the Icelandic final, I could now totally focus on Songvakeppni Sjonvarpsins. The show was moved out of the TV studio into a lovely theatre. Not for them the arenas or balloon-waving of Melodifestivalen or Melodi Grand Prix. Whilst I love them, I also love the refreshing down-to-earth normality of the Icelandic adventure. Heiða and Guðrún Árný, two ladies in floaty toga-style dresses kicked off the show with "Aldrei sleppir mér". There was someone missing from the line-up, as writer Greta Salóme Stefánsdóttir decided to focus her attentions on singing her duet with Jónsi.

Of course I was cheering on Magni Ásgeirsson who delivered yet another passionate performance of "Hugarró". However I was realistic enough to know that he wasn't going to win, as there was one very obvious (and very good) winner.

"Stund með þér" was a nice little interlude by Rósa Birgítta Ísfeld, a little reminiscent of Duffy or Amy Winehouse but completely different too. Although her styling was definitely another "WTF???" moment.

As was "Hey" by Simbi og Hrútspungarnir, which is still unspeakably bad, one of the worst songs I've ever had the misfortune to hear in an Icelandic selection.

Next on stage was Regína Ósk with "Hjartað brennur" which was a pretty decent song although I ranted and raved all through it about wanting Euroband to get back together. Maybe some day...we can dream can't we?

Ah, now to "Stattu Upp" by the energetic (if a little amateurish) boyband Blár Opal. It's probably a better presentation than in the heats, but I still didn't like it enough as a winner. I still can't listen to it without thinking of "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz.

If Stattu Upp was a little too lightweight, then how about something more substantial like, say, Greta Salóme and Jónsi performing "Mundu eftir mér"? It's a strong performance although I' not ashamed to say that I'd have preferred Jónsi singing it on his own. But give Greta her due, she's a serious musician and she adds the all-important ethno-drama element.

Songs over, break followed break, recap followed recap, then for some reason I lost the stream and missed the voting and the announcement of the winner. When I tried to get the stream back on the Icelandic TV website, there seemed to be more recaps, or was I just hallucinating by this time??

Anyway I'm pretty pleased about how Super Saturday went...although very tired after all the multi-tasking!!

Melodifestivalen 2012 - Deltävling 2: Gothenburg 11.02.12

Unlike last week, we didn’t get straight to the songs but the show kicked off with a brilliant boyband medley by the multi-talented Sarah and Gina who are doing a great job so far this year. No Helena tonight as she was off acting in a play or something? My mum, who’s new to this Melodifestivalen lark, was getting a bit irritated by the long introduction. "When do the songs start?" She asked.


They eventually did, and the first one was "Soldiers" by Ulrik Munther. Firstly I loathe kiddie-pop therefore have completely avoided young Mr Munther’s career so far as I thought he was probably just the Swedish answer to Justin Bieber. So we got a very pleasant surprise on hearing this - he has a very mature tone to his voice. The song is very reminiscent of "All The Right Moves" by OneRepublic and is a real grower, appealing beyond his teen-girl fanbase. Although mum thought he was about 12 years old...."Isn’t there an age-limit for this thing? I thought they didn’t let children compete!"

Sarah and Gina were both beautifully styled this week, Gina in a white fairytale gown and Sarah in a gorgeous black lace dress.

Oh no, it’s Top Cats and "Baby Doll". Mum wondered if there’s a rockabilly revival going on. I try to explain to her that there is a Swedish equivalent of "middle America" which votes for this type of nonsense, although I didn’t see it as a qualifier. Then again my theme song should be "Why Do I Always Get It Wrong". Remember that one, Eurovision fans?


Of course this year the contestants have that pre-song walk (The walk of shame? The green mile?) On to the stage and Sonja Alden walked it in a cape and a robe which she cast off to reveal a pretty pink dress. She also made good use of the little bridge prop on stage and of course the wind machine was fired up :) Mum, who has no Melodifestivalen knowledge beyond hearing me blasting out the odd couple of songs from it every year, immediately loved Sonja’s voice and her schlager ballad. I explain that she’s Melodifestivalen royalty however this might struggle to qualify this week.


There once was a time when Andreas Lundstedt appeared as a solo artist at MF singing in Swedish. But we’ve got so used to seeing him as a member of Alcazar that it’s funny to see him solo/singing in Swedish once again. Dressed in a gold jacket, he performed "Aldrig, Aldrig" which was good but lacked a strong hook unlike so many Alcazar songs.

Melodifestivalen is not just home to established artists but also to unknown acts. Some of these will never be heard of again, then there are others who will take the stage one year as an unknown but will become big-league MF stars on their return. Like Loreen, for example. Then there is the world’s most glamorous folk band, Timoteij, who made their MF comeback to one of the biggest cheers of the night, taking the pre-song walk to AC/DC (!) "Stormande Hav" isn’t "Kom" of course, but it’ll do. I loved the intro, and there was even some mid-song strutting and the obligatory key change. An absolute qualifier.



So, who will be the breakthrough star of MF 2012? After last night, the smart money will be on David Lindgren. He appeared as the young Tomas Ledin in Tomas’ recent ‘Showtime’ run in Gothenburg, and has also been in stage versions of "Hairspray" and "High School Musical". So yes, he can sing. If "Shout It Out" was a stick of rock it would have "Danny Saucedo" written all the way through it - this would be the "To The Sky" song which Danny was originally earmarked to sing this year. It’s the little brother of "In The Club" and had lots of Danny-style choreography. David looks more like a bank clerk than a pop star, however he performed brilliantly and as for the breakdancing....well you didn’t expect that, did ya?? As Sir Terence of Wogan used to say, "this one went big in the hall" and I confidently predicted it to qualify, putting the cat among some very established pigeons this week!



Next on stage, Mimi Oh with "Det går för långsamt". It lacked a strong hook and all that yellow hurt my eyes, but it was an energetic performance although never looked like qualifying. I think we’ll hear more from her though, but I prefer Norway’s Minnie-Oh who won the battle of the "Ohs" this year for me.



Finally, Sweden’s worst-dressed man. I explained to mum that Thomas Di Leva’s been around for years but has never been in MF till now. I also explained that he always wears those kaftan/gown thingies, but he really excelled himself tonight in bad styling. "Ge Aldrig Upp" was a U2/Coldplay-styled anthemic builder with a good chorus but less impressive verses. I felt that he would miss out on qualification despite being a famous and established artist.

Before the votes were counted I predicted Ulrik and Timoteij to Globen and David and Sonja to Andra Chansen.

While the votes are being counted there's a comedy sketch which I really don't get. It also went on a bit too long.



However I did love Gina’s sign on her dress when she was talking to the contestants. After last week’s bum-grabbing incident - she made sure it wouldn’t happen again!
First of the evening’s "WTF" moments when the five acts were announced for the next round of voting. Top Cats???? Why????? Very sad that Sonja didn’t make it, but there now seems to be a schlager-ballad curse in MF I guess.

On to the Tredje Chansen segment. Some good songs this week up for voting, but it was one of my least favourite - "Elektrisk" which was re-imagined this week by DJ Håkan Lidbo. Sorry folks, but this segment just isn’t doing it for me. Good to see Jessica Folcker back again though. Mum didn’t like this part of the show either and was glad when it was over.

Finally, the results. No surprise as Ulrik was the first qualifier to Globen. However, I really don’t understand why Top Cats grabbed an AC place. Oh well....
Timoteij didn’t get that automatic Globen spot either and had to settle for a place in Andra Chansen. They may have got the biggest cheers earlier in the evening, but by voting time there was no doubt who the most popular act of the night was. Shout it out - Melodifestivalen has a new star and his name is David Lindgren, and he’s going direkt till Globen! He certainly deserved a place in the final. Of course I want Danny to win this year (if the song’s good enough of course) however my concern is that Danny and David’s songs may split the vote and kill each other, leaving the way open for another winner.



Mum managed to sit through the full show, however she’s less enthusiastic about "another 4 weeks of this???"

Next week the MF circus is off to Leksand and I’m looking forward to seeing Mattias Andreasson making his solo MF debut. Next week also sees the debut of hotly tipped Youngblood, the return of Love Generation, Molly Sanden and recurring regular Andreas Johnson. However be afraid, be very afraid as Bjorn Ranelid, the man with the tan, will probably provide the week’s "WTF" moment.

(All the above photos are courtesy of SVT)

Sweden/Norway/Iceland write-ups tomorrow!

It's been a long day...an exciting trip to Glasgow followed by all the MF/MGP/Iceland stuff...feeling a bit tired after a very eventful evening so I'll do write-ups tomorrow!

Just a minute: Melodifestivalen Week 2 snippets

Haven't really had much time to blog this week and won't be around till later tomorrow but just a quick post about Saturday night's MF heat 2 songs, based on the minute-long snippets.

Firstly I was surprised by Ulrik Munther's song "Soldiers" which proved my lazy comparisons with Justin Bieber to be unfounded: judging by this, it's more Ryan Tedder/OneRepublic. Which is good. Qualification assured. Unlike Top Cats. Really, what's the point? Is there some rockabilly quota to fulfil? This is like the Vauxhall Conference version of "The King". Baby doll, rock n' roll. Hmph. Sonja Aldén is very good of course, she has great vocal control but judging the short clip I can only say her song is good but not spectacular.

Andreas Lundstedt's song is more dancey and less disco than the mighty Alcazar but I liked what I heard although on first listening, not so memorable. It probably won't qualify of course but may go on to have a post-contest life just as "The Boy Can Dance" which is leading my week's playlist as we speak.

I've already prepared faithful travelling companion for Timoteij's song. I've told him it's not as good as "Kom" (but then, what is?) anyway I still think it's a qualifier but in my time-honoured fence-sitting style, I'm not sure where to.

David Lindgren was a major surprise and I'm looking forward to seeing him perform "Shout It Out" in full tomorrow night. Mimi Oh: Not Minnie Oh - wrong name, wrong country - but although this one's contemporary pop-dance stomper will probably fail to make the grade tomorrow night, I can see it having a longer life, at least in pop blogland.

Finally, prepare to be shocked: I liked what I heard of Thomas Di Leva's "Ge Aldrig Upp" but his image and styling is very offputting though. Based on the clips I'm predicting qualification for Timoteij, Ulrik Munther, David Lindgren and Thomas Di Leva on Saturday night, but who's going where I still don't know!

Melodifestivalen 2012 - Deltävling 1 - Växjö, 4th February

So, what conclusion can we draw from week one of MF? Well, it appears to have been a success, although where would we be without a bit of controversy? The one story which has dominated the Swedish tabloids in recent days has been the outrage following Thorsten Flinck's butt-grabbing antics. Between that and Sean Banan's nose-picking, the males of Melodifestivalen did not do themselves any favours on Saturday night.

Unlike the ladies....the all-female, multi-talented line-up of presenters Sarah Dawn Finer, Gina Dirawi and Helena Bergström did a great job on their first Saturday night of the season. Sarah sparkled in her stunning gold glittery dress, Gina's been hailed by the Swedish tabloids as "the new Bjorn Gustafsson" and as for the performers - there has only been one name on everyone's lips since Saturday night - Loreen.

But let's go back to the start. MF in recent years has threatened to become less of a song contest and more of a comedy night. Happily this week they got the balance right, and after a short introduction it was straight to the songs, no messing about. The big change this year is that the 'postcards' are extremely short, and more time is devoted to the artists now entering the stage from the audience via a passageway/catwalk. I can only agree with Scandipop's comments in this excellent post http://www.scandipop.co.uk/?p=8889 that it can be a bit embarrassing for some of the performers involved.

The show kicked off with the ego-maniac Sean Banan, who I'm not particularly a fan of, however after a couple of listens the chorus of "Sean Den Förste Banan" had wedged itself in my brain. Even my mum, who I had forced into watching the first 45 minutes of the contest, conceded that this had a very memorable and catchy chorus and was a qualifier. Although to what stage of the contest we still couldn't be sure.


The same could not be said for the overwhelmingly beige Abalone Dots, as "På Väg" lacked a memorable hookline but was nevertheless more pleasant than I'd expected.


Having listened to The Moniker's 2012 effort "I Want To Be Chris Isaak" I'd concluded that I liked it a bit more than "Oh My God" which quite frankly got on my nerves. However, it's still a long way from great. Lots of name-dropping, but mum got in there quickly with her view that the chorus was just too repetitive. "Repetitive choruses can be quite common in MF" I advise her, but she just wasn't having it.


We both perked up with the long-awaited return of Afro-Dite to the contest, 10 years after they won MF. And they're still looking and sounding great, although over the course of the night I'd been questioning just how much of the on-the-night vocals were live, and how much were "Memorex" (if you're of a certain age you'll remember that one!" "The Boy Can Dance" may have been more 1979 than 2012, but it deserved at least a spot at Andra Chansen.


I had mixed feelings about Dead By April. On the one hand, I always appreciate the idea of credible artists and rock bands taking part in Melodifestivalen. Yet "Mystery" seemed to be such a disjointed song, but the enduring popularity of this Linkin Park style with added growling, and the "difference" of the whole thing ensured that it was a definite qualifier.


As I didn't see Marie Serneholt's "Salt and Pepper" in full, it would be unfair to pass comment. First thought: telephone call from Agnes Carlsson, she would like her gold catsuit back. Second thought: it really does sound like a second-rate version of "The Boy Does Nothing", as many others have commented. Marie was good, but good isn't enough. If she ever comes back to MF, she needs to be great. By this point, mum had lost interest and went back to her newspaper.

Of course in the great contradiction that is Melodifestivalen, you don't have to be great to qualify. You can be 'rank rotten' (as they say in our part of the world) and still make it. All you have to be is a famous actor - and when I hear him 'sing', now I know why he is an actor. But I'm not Swedish, and I don't 'get' Thorsten Flinck. The minute he started 'singing', mum looked up from her newspaper, said nothing, made her 'WTF???' face and started watching, with a continued look of disbelief. "Jag Reser Mig Igen" took awfulness to a whole new level.

From the ridiculous to the sublime? As with her 2011 entry last year, Loreen's song had an unremarkable verse but it exploded into an anthemic memorable chorus. Her other-worldly performance loaded with intensity took "Euphoria" up-up-up-up into the stratosphere and even screamed "possible winner". Again I had my doubts about the amount of live vocals here, or at least that's the way it sounded at this end. Maybe if you were watching on television rather than on the web it might have seemed different. Mum wasn't impressed - "it just sounds like a lot of other songs" - but I tried to explain that this was on another level from your usual Melodifestivalen entry. I do however have mixed feelings about this song: it's not a great song, but I've got a strong feeling that this could actually do very well indeed if it was selected for Sweden, as they've finally cracked on to the idea that 'performance' is worth a great big chunk of the Eurovision vote.


Due to other commitments on Saturday night I missed the musical number by the three presenters but am reliably informed it was very good. I got back in time for the 'Tredje Chansen' segment which brings a little of the "Så mycket bättre" feel to this year's contest - radical reinterpretations of previous entries which didn't make it out of their heats. This week it was the turn of The Soundtrack of Our Lives - never in a million years did I think we'd ever see a band like that at MF - performing Dilba's "Try Again". I wasn't really impressed on first listen - maybe I need to "try again" (groan) to see if I like it.

Results time! Loreen and Dead By April to Globen, and Sean Banan and that abysmal Flinck song to Andra Chansen. Looks like it could be this year's "Snälla Snälla" and I really can't stand that song. But then again, maybe all the controversy regarding his behaviour may kill off his chances?

On the evidence of Saturday night, it would appear that the times they are a-changing for Melodifestivalen. Heat 1 may not have been a great one, but it was better than expected...and it was certainly not lacking in diversity - where else would you find rap, country, pop, metal and electro-rave in one TV show? Forthcoming heats may bring more familiar territory for the schlager fans - or will there be more surprises to come?

All photographs are courtesy of www.svt.se.

X Factor is on its way to Sweden.

It's a programme which passed its sell-by date in the UK a long long time ago, yet for four months of the year we can't escape it thanks to all the (non)-stories in the media. Yes, I refer to the overrated, over-exposed X Factor.

Yet although the U.S. version appears to have flopped, there continues to be an international appetite for the show. The latest country to fall for it is Sweden. I know that "Idol" had gone as far as it could go, but it was a much better format than X Factor, which is all about the judges, and the so-called rivalry between them.

Expressen today revealed the names of the artists who will be on the judging panel on the forthcoming first series of the show - http://www.expressen.se/noje/1.2700952/de-blir-juryn-i-x-factor

Orup, Marie Serneholt, Andreas Carlsson and Ison (from Ison & Fille) are the names quoted although TV4 have refused to confirm if the rumours are true.

Meanwhile the rumours are also circulating about who will be appearing in the next series of TV4's "Let's Dance". Latest names suggested are Christer Sandelin and Anton Hysén.

Just a minute: Melodifestivalen 2012 snippets, week 1.

Last night I heard the one minute snippets of the first eight songs competing at this year's Melodifestivalen. I was a bit tired and grumpy and my initial impression wasn't very good.

But it's Friday night now, I'm not grumpy and only a little bit tired, so let's try them again!

1. "Sean Den Förste Banan" - Sean Banan.

I'm not Swedish and I don't live in Sweden, so please forgive me if I don't "get" Mr Banan. Or should he maybe change his name to banal? I just don't understand his popularity. The song /rap itself isn't really up to much, the chorus has a little 'tingeling'-reference. The chorus is very catchy, I'll give it that, and he'll bring a massive stage show It will qualify, although I still can't decide where to.

2. "På Väg" - Abalone Dots.

In advance of the contest, reading about this acoustic/country group didn't really fill me with excitement. Based on the one minute snippet I haven't changed my mind. It's very dull and let's face it chappies, if we're going to fulfil the female folky quota at MF then surely that spot should be reserved for the mighty Timoteij.

3. ""I Want To Be Chris Isaak (This Is Just The Beginning)" - The Moniker.

Oh my God, oh my God...oh wait, new year, new song. It's not as "out there" as last year's annoying song, and on second listening I think it could grow on me. But as Eminem says, you only get one shot and I don't know if there's enough goodwill carrying over from last year to take it further, or indeed if it will be strong enough to qualify.

4. "The Boy Can Dance" - Afro-Dite.

They're even throwing a shake it-shake it for good measure, but on first and second listen my own view is that it's not as good as either "Never Let It Go" (one of my favourite MF winners ever) or for that matter, the underrated "Aqua Playa" although I think I'll grow to like it, maybe even love it. I'm sure they'll put on a disco-tastic show and I'm really looking forward to hearing and seeing them tomorrow night.

5. "Mystery" - Dead By April.

I'm not really familiar with their music, but I'm in no doubt that this is going to qualify. Because a) they're very popular, b) it's totally different to anything else this week, and c) that Linkin Park style is still very popular in continental Europe. With added growling of course, but a quite memorable chorus.

6. "Salt and Pepper" - Marie Serneholt.

There's a lot of love for Marie in blogland and we'd all love to see her do well. However on first/second listen this song is a bit disjointed. Many have compared it to "The Boy Does Nothing", which I like, so I have high hopes for it anyway. And I'm sure she'll put on a good show, but it's a strange week.

7. "Jag Reser Mig Igen" - Thorsten Flinck and Revolutionsorkestern.

Just when you thought Melodifestivalen couldn't leave you speechless anymore, along comes Mr Flinck with (on first/second listen) one of the worst songs ever to grace an MF stage. Biggest shock of all, is that this is a G:son song. No wait....there even may a bigger shock if this qualifies. After all, look how well "Snälla Snälla" did.

8. "Euphoria" - Loreen.

Direkt till Globen, as they say. Wind machine? Check. Intense crawling on the floor and arm-swinging? Check. Her intense performance and big voice drives this out of the ordinary, and the "We Found Love" feel keeps it 100% contemporary.

All in all, a strange week to predict. Loreen is probably an obvious qualifier, but otherwise I genuinely haven't a clue. Sean Banan, Dead By April and hopefully Afro-Dite, although sitting on the fence here you can't write off Flinck and Marie either. Answers tomorrow night!!

Euro Charts Update

Whilst checking out a few of the European iTunes singles charts I couldn't help but notice the cross-continental popularity of "Ai Se Eu Te Pego!" by popular Brazilian singer Michel Teló. At first I wondered why it was turning up in all the charts. It's the wrong time of year for a "holiday hit" so it couldn't be that. So off I went to do some research and found out that the song became popular after Brazilian footballers danced to it after scoring goals. The song was launched in Europe and off it went up the charts. Everywhere of course except here in the UK, but that's no surprise really *exasperated sigh*

Anyway I love the concept of a pan-European hit, especially one that isn't in the English language!

Another song which has taken forever to reach British ears, but is finally here at last is Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know". Gotye was born Wouter De Backer in Belgium but moved to Australia as a child. The song was initially a massive hit in Australia and I heard it a few months ago, and at that time thought it was so unusual and so different from everything else around at the time. It's also been a big hit in Europe and still doing very well.

One British artist doing better "over there" than "over here" is Marlon Roudette, although hopefully that's due to change. His old band Mattafix were very popular on the continent, especially in Germany, and his solo single "New Age" was a big hit over there some months back. Again, it's the kind of song which eats its way into your brain and given the chance, I think it could become a daytime radio staple.

Over in Norway, MGP contestants Plumbo - who sound like a Norwegian equivalent of Nordman with their mix for rock and folk - are no.1 in the iTunes chart with M*******n (?) whilst their MGP entry, the appropriately titled "Ola Nordmann" is also in the top 10. If this is any indication of their popularity, we just might be seeing them in Baku.

On first listen I was a bit unkind about Donkeyboy's comeback single "City Boy" but I should know by now never to judge a song on first listen as it takes a lot of songs a long time to grow on me. I like it now, although still not as much as "Ambitions" or "Sometimes". The song's still doing very well in their native Norway.

In Sweden, the P3 Guld-effect has taken "The Lion's Roar" by First Aid Kit (Salem Al Fakir's favourite Swedish act of the moment, by the way!) all the way into the iTunes top 10. It's certainly a very different and distinctive song, and for some reason reminds me of late 60s/early 70s folk-singers. (!)

She may not have won the final series of Swedish Idol, but Moa Lignell has her moment in the spotlight this week as her own song "When I Held Ya" is no. 1 in the Swedish iTunes chart. Takida are still very popular and getting lots of airplay so it's no surprise to see their latest single "You Learn" doing well, although for me it's a bit weaker than some of their previous hits. It's not the only song in the charts featuring the distinctive voice of Robert Pettersson though, as he (along with Helena Josefsson) sings the theme to the new Swedish movie "Hamilton: I Nationens Intresse". I've only heard the song a couple of times but I've got a feeling it's going to be popping up on my playlist. Check out this post by Damian about the song over at Swedish Stereo: http://swedishstereo.blogspot.com/2012/01/robert-pettersson-feat-helena-josefsson.html

The return of Så ska det låta

It's been running for 15 years, and tonight sees the start of yet another series of the singing panel gameshow Så ska det låta. Fans of a certain Swedish pop persuasion will find many of their favourites in the following guest list....

Week 1 - 22 January
Jessica Andersson & Jamie Meyer vs Shirley Clamp & Daniel Karlsson

Week 2 - 29 January
Christine Meltzer & Lina Hedlund vs Katrin Sundberg & Per Andersson

Week 3 - 5 February
Sibel & Calle Kristiansson vs Sanna Nielsen & Kalle Moraeus

Week 4 - 12 February
Anders Eriksson & Jan Rippe vs Knut Agnred & Per Fritzell

Week 5 - 19 February
Babben Larsson & Andreas Weise vs Carin da Silva & Andreas Lundstedt

Week 6 - 26 February
Nina Söderqvist & Stefan Gerhardsson vs Sonja Aldén & Oskar Nilsson

Week 7 - 4 March
Elisabeth Andreassen & Alexander Rybak vs Matilda Hansson & Peter Johansson

Week 8 - 11 March
Lili Päivärinta & Susie Päivärinta vs Kim Kärnfalk & Nina Inhammar Allard

Week 9 - 18 March
Pauline & Stephen Simmonds vs Molly Sandén & Danny Saucedo

Week 10 - 25 March
Linda Sundblad & Kristoffer Appelquist vs Lotta Engberg & Chris Lind

Week 11 - 1 April
Sarah Dawn Finer & Samuel Ljungblahd vs Caroline Larsson & Anders Ekborg

Week 12 - 8 April
Gunhild Carling & Christer Sjögren vs Elisa Lindström & Hasse Andersson

Here's tonight's line-up. Photo courtesy of www.svt.se.

P3 Guld 2012

The 2012 P3 Guldgalan took place at Lisebergshallen in Gothenburg last night. The presenter of last night's extravaganza was none other than Salem Al Fakir!

Here are the winners of this year's awards voted for by listeners to Swedish radio P3.

Årets grupp: Deportees
Årets pop: Syket
Årets artist: Kapten Röd
Årets hiphop/soul: Ison & Fille
Guldmicken: Kapten Röd
Årets dans: L-Wiz
Årets låt: "Vart jag mig i världen vänder" - Den Svenska Björnstammen
Årets rock/metal: Graveyard
Årets nykomling: Den Svenska Björnstammen

Of course the Guldgalan is as much about the live performances as the award winners, and as usual, they didn't disappoint. Fibes, Oh Fibes!, a long time favourite of this blog premiered their long-awaited new single "Apex of the Sun" in front of their home crowd.

Check out this link for all the live performances from last night: http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=3964&artikel=4922308

Oh and one more thing....there have been many memorable P3 Guld performances over the years and here's another one to add to the list. Despite stories before the show that Salem wouldn't be singing, well he surprised us and he did sing after all!!

#totallyinexplicablechoice

Tonight was the first (of many) "Super Saturdays" for us Eurovision fans to gather at our laptops and hope for un-buffering streams.

Unfotunately I didn't catch the Danish final till it was almost over, but I saw enough of it to appreciate the fabulous production values and the must-see retro clips. I also wired up my HDMI cable from the computer to the TV which meant that I could watch the remainder of the final on the big screen. Just in time for the final song "Venter" which immediately passed the "mum test". "That's too good for Eurovision!" she declared immediately. Her appreciative tone continued all the way through Alexander Rybak's ESC medley and into the long-awaited appearance by A Friend In London, reprising 2011's DMGP winner "New Tomorrow". She remembered the song immediately although she probably hadn't heard it since last May. She also remembered how good-looking Tim Schou is :)

It's amazing how that song has stood the test of time and if anything, it's got better and better. I'm not sure what was the point of Howie D's guest appearance though?

Unfortunately, the joy of a top quality Danish winner was not to be repeated. Neither Christian and Patrik (dodgy top notes notwithstanding) nor Jesper Nohrstedt (a.k.a "the wee Bieber guy" as I lazily nicknamed him), either of whom we'd have been happy with as Denmark's 2012 representatives, got the call to Baku. Nope, it was Soluna Samay (pictured below) initially dressed up like a Cheryl Cole "Fight For This Love" tribute act - which immediately doomed her at EuropeCrazy HQ before she had even sung a note. The song, "Should've Known Better" turned out to be three minutes in blandsville and immediately recalled Anna Bergendahl's Swedish entry of 2010. Regular readers of EuropeCrazy will know what I thought of that, so enough said.

To summarise: a bad, and totally inexplicable choice of song to represent Denmark at the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest. I'm now gearing up for a season of inevitable disappointment, 2001-style, as national final after national final produces results which I don't agree with....


Above: Christian Brøns & Patrik Isaksson - it may have been a bit dated sounding, but "Venter" was a hit with the EuropeCrazy HQ jury.


Above: Jesper Nohrstedt - "Take Our Hearts" might not have won, but as a contemporary pop song with an Avicii-style vibe, it's bang up to date and I'd predict that it will go on to be the biggest hit of this year's DMGP.

The Square-Eyed Couch Potato: Archive edition - October-December 2011

You know how much I love BBC4, not just for its never-ending stream of Scandi-crime delights. I also love this channel because it broadcasts lots of great music documentaries and theme nights.

"PRINCE - A PURPLE REIGN" was, as you would expect, a documentary all about Minneapolis' finest, one of the most prolific, innovative (and dare I say underrated) artists of our time. There was only one thing wrong with this show - at one hour it was too short, it should have been at least three hours long! Nevertheless it was a treat, featuring interviews with Prince fans and collaborators. Whilst we're on the subject, a very similar BBC documentary from several years back was also broadcast recently on Sky Arts 1, which is also becoming a must-see channel for real music fans. Just as in the new documentary, the vintage "PRINCE OF PAISLEY PARK" didn't actually feature any input from the interview-shy legend but yet again there were lots of contributions from those who have worked with him over the years. And, needless to say, lots of fine, fine music too.

Just as you wait ages for a Prince documentary then two come along at once, so it was around Christmas time that there was no escape from a certain Mr Michael Buble. Who made a Christmas album, of course, so there was a TV special, "MICHAEL BUBLE - HOME FOR CHRISTMAS", which recalled the old-style TV specials from my childhood, when the likes of Val Doonican threw some tinsel over his rocking chair and treated us to some easy listening favourites. In the modern era it's all about the subliminal X Factor-plugging of course: Gary Barlow and Kelly Rowland were among the guests. The combination of Mr Buble and his cosy tunes was perfect fare for curling up pre-Christmas on the sofa.

We may have entered 2012 but in the parallel "TOP OF THE POPS" world on BBC4, we're now into 1977. A landmark year for music indeed. But don't expect wall to wall punk yet on TOTP - you're more likely to get something like "Grandma's Party" by Paul Nicholas.

The end of the year means lots (and lots) of list-shows, which I can take or leave as I get totally sick of the beyond-Z-list so-called 'celebs' commenting on the showbiz events of the year. We still love "THE MOST ANNOYING PEOPLE OF....." (BBC3) which annually does what it says on that particular annual countdown tin. The 2011 edition rolled around just after Christmas and didn't disappoint. Richard Bacon's commentary was very sharp as always, and the contributions entertaining.

Yet another list-show this time on Channel 5. "BRITAIN'S FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS SONGS" was a chart based on sales figures so there's no surprise that Band Aid topped the list. It was good to see how a lot of the old hitmakers look today. Dave Hill hasn't really changed, but the years haven't been so kind to Greg Lake, or worst of all my beloved childhood crush Ray Stiles from Mud. Oh well. We're all getting old.

"THE UNTOLD TOMMY COOPER" (Channel 4) took a slightly different insight from the usual biographical documentaries, as it used his life-long manager's diaries and correspondence to illustrate the dark and complex life of the comic legend.

Back to Christmas now. Generally the TV over Christmas wasn't anything to write home about, and I'm glad we'd stockpiled a few things to watch. Christmas Day of course is all about the one hour soap specials (predictable) one-off Strictly Come Dancing (which is always a bit lower league compared to its Premiership series equivalent, don't ya think?), and Top of the Pops (serious yuck!) so the only thing I really got excited about was the "DOWNTON ABBEY" (ITV) Christmas special.


I never thought I'd see the day when I looked forward to Downton, but that's how low my life has sunk :) It rattled along at a cracking pace, there were lots of loose ends conveniently tied up and a certain long-awaited happy ending of sorts. Or will it be a happy ending? Bring on series 3!!

Swedish Grammis 2012: the nominations

I was too busy before Christmas to post this, but (finally) here is the full list of nominees for this year's Swedish Grammis which will take place on 14th February. Information courtesy of www.grammis.se.

Årets album
ANNA TERNHEIM – THE NIGHT VISITOR
DEPORTEES – ISLANDS & SHORES
ISON & FILLE – FÖR EVIGT
LYKKE LI – WOUNDED RHYMES
VERONICA MAGGIO – SATAN I GATAN

Årets artist
DEPORTEES
LYKKE LI
MELISSA HORN
SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA
VERONICA MAGGIO

Årets barnalbum
DOREEN MÅNSSON – DILEMMAN MED DOREEN
LEKISJAZZ – LEKISJAZZ
NASSIM AL FAKIR – UTE OCH CYKLAR
ORKESTER POP – MÄTA MED SKÄGG
OSCAR DANIELSON – DET KOSTAR PÅ ATT VARA BARN

Årets dansband
BENNY ANDERSSONS ORKESTER – O KLANG OCH JUBELTID
ELISA’S – DET HÄR ÄR BARA BÖRJAN
LARZ KRISTERZ – FRÅN ÄLVDALEN TILL NASHVILLE
LASSE STEFANZ – CUBA LIBRE
ZEKES – VI LYFTER IGEN

Årets elektro/dans
ADRIAN LUX – BOY / ALIVE
AVICII – LEVELS/FADE INTO DARKNESS
LITTLE DRAGON – RITUAL UNION
REBECCA & FIONA – I LOVE YOU, MAN
SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA – SAVE THE WORLD/ANTIDOTE

Årets folkmusik/visa
CAJSASTINA ÅKERSTRÖM – VISOR FRÅN NÄR OCH FJÄRRAN
ERIC BIBB – BLUES, BALLADS & WORK SONGS
LASSE TENNANDER – EREMIT I ETT KOLLEKTIV
MERIT HEMMINGSON – EQ
SOFIA KARLSSON – LEVANDE

Årets hiphop/soul
ADAM TENSTA – SCARED OF THE DARK
ALEXIS WEAK – TILL MINNE AV
ISON & FILLE – FÖR EVIGT
MOVITS! – UT UR MIN SKALLE
TIMBUKTU – SAGOLANDET

Årets hårdrock/metall
GRAVEYARD – HISINGEN BLUES
HAMMERFALL – INFECTED
IN FLAMES – SOUNDS OF A PLAYGROUND FADING
OPETH – HERITAGE
THE HAUNTED – UNSEEN

Årets Internationella album
ADELE – 21
BEYONCÉ – 4
FRANK OCEAN – NOSTALGIA, ULTRA
JAMES BLAKE – JAMES BLAKE
PJ HARVEY – LET ENGLAND SHAKE

Årets jazz
FREDDIE WADLING – WITH A LICENSE TO KILL
GEORG RIEDEL, SARAH RIEDEL & NICOLAI DUNGER – CORNELIS VS RIEDEL
MAGNUS ÖSTRÖM – THREAD OF LIFE
NILS LANDGREN – THE MOON, THE STARS AND YOU
TONBRUKET – DIG IT TO THE END

Årets klassiska
ANNE SOFIE VON OTTER – BERLIOZ: LES NUITS D’ÉTÉ / HAROLD EN ITALY
GUSTAF SJÖKVISTS KAMMARKÖR – I VÅR TID
KUNGLIGA FILHARMONIKERNA/ESA-PEKKA SALONEN/ALAN GILBERT/SAKARI ORAMO – ANDERS HILLBORG – ELEVEN GATES
KUNGSBACKA-TRION – HAYDN: PIANO TRIOS
MALMÖ SYMFONIORKESTER/CHRISTOPH KÖNIG/MALENA ERNMAN – GÖSTA NYSTROEM – SINFONIA DEL MARE

Årets kompositör
ANNA JÄRVINEN – ANNA SJÄLV TREDJE
ANNA TERNHEIM – THE NIGHT VISITOR
LYKKE LI, BJÖRN YTTLING & RICK NOWELS – WOUNDED RHYMES
MELISSA HORN – INNAN JAG KÄNDE DIG
VERONICA MAGGIO/CHRISTIAN WALZ – SATAN I GATAN

Årets låt
AVICII – LEVELS
DEN SVENSKA BJÖRNSTAMMEN – VART JAG MIG I VÄRLDEN VÄNDER
ERIC AMARILLO – OM SANNINGEN SKA FRAM (VILL DU LIGGA MED MIG?)
ERIC SAADE – POPULAR
PETTER & SEPTEMBER – BAKSMÄLLA
SEPTEMBER – MIKROFONKÅT
SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA – SAVE THE WORLD
TIMBUKTU – RESTEN AV DITT LIV
TOVE STYRKE – WHITE LIGHT MOMENT
VERONICA MAGGIO – JAG KOMMER

Årets musikvideo
GUSTAV JOHANSSON – KARL X JOHAN ”FLAMES (UNCOMPROMISED CUT)”
MAGNUS RENFORS – PETER JÖBACK, FILMEN TILL ALBUMET ”LIVET, KÄRLEKEN OCH DÖDEN – LA VIE, L’AMOUR, LA MORT”
MAX VITALI – ROBYN ”CALL YOUR GIRLFRIEND”
SLOBODAN ZIVIC – KRIGET ”SUBMISSION”
TED MALMROS/GUSTAF VON ARBIN – PETER BJORN AND JOHN ”GIMME SOME”

Årets nykomling
ADRIAN LUX
ALEKS
DEN SVENSKA BJÖRNSTAMMEN
NEWKID
REBECCA & FIONA

Årets pop
ANE BRUN – IT ALL STARTS WITH ONE
ANNA TERNHEIM – THE NIGHT VISITOR
JONATHAN JOHANSSON – KLAGOMUREN
LYKKE LI – WOUNDED RHYMES
VERONICA MAGGIO – SATAN I GATAN

Årets producent
CHRISTIAN WALZ
JOHAN ECKEBORN
MASSE SALAZAR
SHELLBACK
TOBIAS FRÖBERG

Årets rock
DEPORTEES – ISLANDS & SHORES
ELDKVARN – DE BERÖMDAS AVENY
KEBNEKAJSE – IDIOTEN
ME AND MY ARMY – THANK GOD FOR SENDING DEMONS
SAMLING – NÄR MULLRET DÖVAR VÅRA ÖRON BLIR VI RÄDDA

Årets svenska internationella framgång
AVICII
LITTLE DRAGON
LYKKE LI
OPETH
SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA

Årets textförfattare
ANNA TERNHEIM – THE NIGHT VISITOR
JONATHAN JOHANSSON – KLAGOMUREN
MAURO SCOCCO – MUSIK FÖR NYSKILDA
MELISSA HORN – INNAN JAG KÄNDE DIG
VERONICA MAGGIO/CHRISTIAN WALZ – SATAN I GATAN

Årets innovatör
AVICII

DEPORTEES

ERATO

VERONICA MAGGIO

2011 in rewind

So I'm sitting here at home on the last day of the year. Time for a quick (or not so quick) rewind through 2011.....

TV: Big stuff happened this year - analogue telly was switched off in my part of the world, and the digital switchover went smoothly enough.

One casualty of the analogue switch-off was the demise of good old 888 - in other words, the mighty Ceefax. Here was BBC Scotland's Ceefax on its last night in June 2011. Digital text just ain't got the same magic :(

We finally took the plunge in October and got a flat-screen LED smart TV. Just last week I also realised that you could wire up the PC to the TV via an HDMI cable and watch videos/streamed broadcasts on the big screen - so that will definitely change our viewing habits in 2012.

But as for the traditional way of watching TV, will the programmes be any better than over the past year? I should hope so. TV dumbed-down more than ever this past year with the relentless rise of "constructed reality" shows like The Only Way is Essex, Made In Chelsea, Desperate Scousewives; featuring talentless fake-tanned-fake-haired wannabe airheads who seem to view celebrity as a right and not a privilege, and is a guaranteed ticket to the celeb-reality-show party. Currently on that VIP list: a certain Mark Wright. Yes he's a good looking boy, but what does he actually do?

OK so I moan and groan about dumbed-down trashy telly, then in the next breath go on to say that my most fave TV show of the past year was Louie Spence's Showbusiness. Full of contradictions, I am. My other 'guilty' pleasures (although in my world there's nothing to be guilty of):- Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, Top of The Pops 1976, The Hotel, The Apprentice, Showboaters, Seven Dwarves.

The X Factor may have been on a slide, happily trounced by a dominant Strictly Come Dancing, but the XF monster still dominated the tabloids and every magazine on the stands. Just one more thing: why all those months, all that bother, only for the eventual winner to be given the dreariest of dreary cover versions to sing? They could learn from other countries who actually give their winners a decent original song.

We said goodbye to Swedish Idol this year - its final winner was Amanda Fondell, although my favourite contestant was her fellow finalist Robin Stjernberg. Not being ageist here, but the problem with this year's series was that all the contestants were too young, and there was certainly no-one of the calibre of, say, Tove/Amanda J/Linnea/Agnes or Darin/Erik/Danny/Sebastian.

The second series of Så mycket bättre also came and went, but turned out to be a disappointment for me. Too many dreary song choices, Laleh-mania left me cold, and the artists weren't interesting enough. And then TV4 pulled the plug on viewers outside Sweden watching any of their shows. Thanks for that TV4, you are my Killjoys of The Year.

The next big international TV phenomenon, The Voice, is on the way and the best thing about it is that Simon Cowell has nothing to do with it - it was born in the Netherlands, and comes from the John De Mol stable. Which was the home of that other TV phenomenon - Big Brother. Which is still running by the way, not that anyone really cares anymore. Back to The Voice: the various forthcoming international series have some fabulous mentor choices. We get Jessie J and Will.i.am. Enough said.

In 2011, the best TV didn't come from this country. It came from Denmark - Forbrydelsen a.k.a. The Killing; and Iceland - Naeturvaktin a.k.a. The Night Shift. Both of which screened on BBC4, the best of all the BBC channels. The future of this channel is currently under threat, and it would be very sad if the axe fell. Just shut down BBC3 instead please: since the demise of Liquid News (and that wasn't yesterday) that channel has had no redeeming features whatsoever.

Those of us in the STV a.k.a. "not available in Scotland" area finally got the chance to catch up with the Downton Abbey phenomenon as series 1 was finally screened immediately followed by series 2. We're not ashamed to say that EuropeCrazy is totally hooked on Downton - roll on series 3 next year!!

The biggest TV story in Scotland was the demise of The Hour. It was addictive teatime TV nonsense which did well in its slot, but the powers that be decided to move it to a Tuesday night 8pm slot - clashing with that equally addictive local soap River City - and it only lasted 4 weeks before the axe spectacularly fell.

Talking of River City, it continued to be just a bit too gloomy over the past year, and had too many stupid storylines. But we continue to watch the show as it heads into its 10th year. Just one request though - can we have a bit more of the Glaswegian humour which the city is famous for??

Not that you expect reality from soaps though. Prime offender this year: Coronation Street. For every decent storyline there were at least 10 rubbish ones. A bit less time spent in soap prison/soap hospital next year would be nice :) Meanwhile some things never change: EastEnders (which I stopped watching when Dirty Den died the first time) still wins every soap award going, and Emmerdale remains completely underrated.

I continue to love American TV drama - One Tree Hill, Grey's Anatomy, Parenthood, Fairly Legal, Dexter and the brilliant Harry's Law. I didn't stick with Blue Bloods, Glee or Boardwalk Empire though. One thing's for sure, I'll be casting my eyes across the Atlantic to see what goodies U.S. TV brings us next year.

And in the meantime, I have a lot of box sets to work my way through.....

By the way, the October-December bonanza edition of The Square-Eyed Couch Potato will be published on here before the end of January.

SPORT: Only one sporting event mattered to me this year. The Tour de France was fantastic from beginning to end. (Shame about the winner though). Mark Cavendish's green jersey was a terrific achievement and well-deserved. Otherwise, only in Scotland, the best small-minded country in the world, the issues around football moved from the back page to the front page. Only in this country could you have an ongoing political debate about sectarian and bigoted songs at football matches. My own view is that they should let them keep the songs for the football, and focus on tackling the bigotry and sectarianism outside the football grounds. But that just sounds like a bit too much work for our pampered politicians, particularly a government whose whole outlook is rooted in Braveheart. That's another story....

MUSIC: I spent most of the year digitising my music collection and uploading it to iTunes and filling my iPod. 2011 was all about rediscovering old, lost, forgotten favourite music which inevitably was a million times better than the new music which was on offer this year. Not that you should measure the quality of current music by what's on the radio or in the charts, but if you were just basing it on that then 2011 could be summed up by a song sung by Rihanna, with music by David Guetta, with lyrics about being on the floor in the club with your hands in the air accompanied by a rap by Pitbull and Flo Rida. The saddest thing about this year was the total international dominance of the same 5 or 6 artists in every chart across Europe.

There is a glimmer of hope that the dire r'n'b/urban/grime/autotuned/electro-dance trend of the last 2/3 years may finally be on the slide. On the down side, it looks as if things are going in the opposite direction towards "the new boring". Which probably explains the (to me) inexplicable success of Ed Sheeran over the past year. Never mind the new boring, he's the new Blunt. Enough said. And as for Adele, yes she has a good voice, but her music does nothing for me I'm afraid. I want the return of real pop music, the kind which some may describe as cheesy; I want the return of real dance music, the kind which excited me in the 90s and early 2000s; I want the return of decent guitar bands. Not much to ask for, is it?!?!?!?!

Of course, 2011 brought a well-earned rest for my most favourite artist of all, Salem Al Fakir, who didn't release any new solo material. After the past four non-stop years, three albums and endless touring he deserved a break! Things may have been quieter but that didn't mean a Salem-free year though. His music stayed in the public consciousness - whether it was a contestant waltzing to "Keep On Walking" on Let’s Dance, or Amanda Persson singing the song on the final series of "Idol", or "I’m So Happy" playing out as the theme song to the hugely successful "Solsidan". There were three terrific collaborations - he co-wrote Eric Saade's "Rocket Science", sang on J-Son's "Remedy" and was also guest vocalist on Avicii's "Silhouettes" which has been doing the rounds on the internet for the last few months and surely must get an official release in 2012! Please please!

Salem played orchestral shows at the beginning of the year and his only Swedish summer concert was a sell-out orchestral show at the legendary Dalhalla in August, with special guests Oskar Linnros and September. A big highlight of my year was the opportunity to watch his Helsinki live show which was broadcast live on the web. Salem's other musical project was related to the book "Vad är musik?" which he wrote with his friend Pontus de Wolfe. The guys spent the second half of the year promoting the book and they became a recording act named Earpony, releasing "Jag e frågan du e svaret". Salem also appeared in SVT's "Dom Kallar Oss Artister" at the beginning of the year where he performed a cover of Sam Cooke's "Chain Gang" with some familiar friends. The song was released under the artist name "Sally and the Segols".

Salem may not have won any Swedish Grammys in what was a very tough year competition-wise, but he did win one very important award - Sweden's best-dressed man - at the Ellegalan. Talking of awards, Salem will present the 2012 P3 Guldgalan in a couple of weeks. My wish for 2012 is some new material from Salem the solo artist: one thing's for sure, whatever he does next will be well worth the wait.

Something which I always look forward to is Eurovision season. The waiting and the anticipation is better than the outcome. So it was this year. Eurovision ended with one of its most forgettable, insignificant yet inevitable winners in years - "Running Scared" by Ell and Nikki representing Azerbaijan. I still have my reservations about that particular country staging 2012's extravaganza....http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/azerbaijan

The people of Sweden chose Eric Saade to represent them at Eurovision - which in retrospect was probably the right decision, given his good showing at the contest, however it was not my first choice and I might have appreciated the song more without the stupid breaking-glass routine/'faffing about' (© Len Goodman).

However, Melodifestivalen seems to be going through a turbulent time. Which direction should the contest go in? Should it continue to modernise or should it continue to keep the schlager-fans happy? Should it do both? It may be Sweden's biggest TV show of the year, but the event which once filled the Swedish singles charts doesn't have such a significant impact on music sales anymore - check out this excellent analysis by my good friend and top blogger Damian at http://swedishstereo.blogspot.com/2011/09/best-selling-singles-of-mf-2011.html

Finally, before I go, the usual thanks to all my blogging friends - your friendship and support has been so special during a personally difficult year. I'd like to wish all the readers of EuropeCrazy a very happy and healthy 2012 and you are very welcome to join me in celebrating the fifth birthday of this blog in March!

Love and best wishes to you all,

Laura xx

The 2011-50: the full list

Here's the list of my top 50 tracks of 2011 in full:

1. Me and My Drum - Swingfly
2. Like Suicide - Christian Walz
3. Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera
4. Higher - Taio Cruz feat. Kylie Minogue
5. In The Club - Danny Saucedo
6. Me & My Microphone - September
7. Get You - Alexey Vorobyov
8. Solid Ground - Pnau
9. Let Me Go - Maverick Sabre
10. Bullets - Rebecca & Fiona
11. Good Intentions - Bressie
12. The Moment I Met You - Vincent
13. Oh My God - Le Kid
14. Hot Mess - Chromeo feat. La Roux
15. Coming Home - Sjonni's Friends
16. New Tomorrow - A Friend In London
17. Idiot - Lena Philipsson
18. Judas - Lady Gaga
19. Jag e Frågan, Du e Svaret - Earpony
20. Pumped Up Kicks - Foster The People
21. Loca People - Sak Noel
22. Dance Alone - Love Generation
23. Called Out In The Dark - Snow Patrol
24. Love Love - Take That
25. Love In Rewind - Dino Merlin
26. Rope - Foo Fighters
27. Don't Know Why - Soundgirl
28. Kärlekens Tunga - September
29. Breaking Up With God - The Ark
30. Fest Hos Mange - Mange Makers
31. Lifeline - Jamiroquai
32. Hollywood Hills - Sunrise Avenue
33. Paradise - Coldplay
34. Something In Your Eyes - Jenny Silver
35. Angel In Disguise - Musiqq
36. Taken By A Stranger - Lena
37. Warrant - Foster The People
38. Good Enough - Father McKenzie
39. Depend On Me - Babel Fish
40. No One Else Could - Sebastian
41. Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO
42. Traktor - Wretch 32
43. Fade Into Darkness - Avicii
44. What You Want - Evanescence
45. Wall Of Sound - Bressie
46. Not A Love Song - Wonderland
47. Jag Kommer - Veronica Maggio
48. Feel So Close - Calvin Harris
49. Changed The Way You Kiss Me - Example
50. Yeah Right - Dionne Bromfield.

The 2011-50: No.1 - Drama, drama, drama, drama like a soap opera

"Me and My Drum" - Swingfly.

And so to my no.1 song. It was always going to be difficult compiling the chart this year due to the absence of any new solo material by Salem Al Fakir, who had previously topped my chart for the past 4 years. Hoping for "normal service" next year of course!

When the line-up of songs and artists for this year's Melodifestivalen was announced, I didn't expect at that time that "Me and My Drum" by Swingfly would end up topping my chart. Yet it quickly became a favourite and post-contest I continued to play it all year. Despite the song only coming 5th in the contest, it did very well in the Swedish charts, in a year when very few MF songs charted for any length of time.

This high-powered pop-rap song has lyrics rapped by American rapper Swingfly (previously best known for "Singing That Melody"), and a mid-song rap by Beatrice Stars. All good so far, but then comes the icing on the cake - former Idol 2007 contestant Christoffer Hiding, who I absolutely love, singing the chorus. I'll never forget that moment he stepped onto the Melodifestivalen stage - one of my favourite moments of the year actually ;)

In what has been a personally very dark year, I thought it would be appropriate that something fun and uplifting should top my chart. Boom-chicka-boom-chicka-boom-boom-boom :))

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHxr4vJmT70

The 2011-50: No.2 - I guess I love the way it burns

"Like Suicide" - Christian Walz.

The offputting title/lyrics and bizarre styling at Melodifestivalen probably contributed to him not progressing any further in the competition, but the fact remains that Christian Walz is one of the finest artists to come out of Sweden in recent years.

One more fact: Melodifestivalen will always produce some of my favourite songs of the year and this is no exception. Yes, the ill-advised title should have been changed, but the song as a whole is three minutes of absolute class. Now can we have a new album please, Christian???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sbxy682-Tro (audio version)