Lopez Blogs

Thanks again to Poster Girl for introducing me to this young man's music. Yes I'd agree with the David Gray comparison, similar style of music. Anyway his good, catchy, mid-tempo song "Hell If I" is no. 1 in Norway, so I thought I'd go over to YouTube and watch some of his videos. He certainly has come a long way since appearing on "Idol" in Norway and (shallow moment alert) he is also looking much better these days too.

Thanks again to Aftonbladet, here's the list of songs for this Friday's "Idol". This week's theme is "Love Songs" (yawn)

1. Mattias Andréasson - "If I could turn back time"
2. Christoffer Hiding - "Something"
3. Daniel Karlsson - "Baby one more time"
4. Marie Picasso - "Always on my mind"
5. Sam Hagberth - "The Power of love"
6. Amanda Jenssen - "Baby can I hold you tonight"
7. Andreas Sjöberg - "Is this love"

Anyway the controversy rolls on in Sweden about the female contestants being evicted for four consecutive weeks.

Prediction time!! Think (hope) Sam or Andreas will go this week, as long as Christoffer stays in I'll be quite happy.

Oh look. I am back, even though the site is somewhat of a work in progress still! At some point all the old cutenews and blogger posts will be on here in beautiful date order, and looking neat and tidy. But as for now, it’s all about moving forward not looking back! So if you spot any glitches if you could email me that would be great. Marv. Thanks. Anyway, as this is a super spiffy hallowe’en special post I will begin by catching you folks up with what happened at the weekend, when Mr Panteloons and I went to ScareFest at Alton Towers (think Six Flags my US compadres)…

• We arrived Friday afternoon to all the staff dressed up in their most ghoulish costumes. It was hard to take the check in girl seriously when she was taking my credit card details.
• Darren had not been impressed with my hallowe;en themed cd I had forced him to listen to in the car on the way up. I personally thought it was freaking brilliant (see below).
• We went to the indoor water park first, which was like totally delish. We spent a good couple of hours slipping and sliding around and going around the most ridiculously fast lazy river I have ever come across.
  1. True scare number one: The amount of insanely good looking lifeguards there were on duty. I was light headed from breathing in so much…
  2. True scare number two: the prices at the restaurant
  3. True scare number three: We went into the spooky themed Room 13, which was frankly more scary than the whole of that dire 1408 movie put together. Bumps, shrieks and ghostly happenings are fine, but when you are chased by a 6ft6 mummy screaming “Kissy kissy” and grabbing at your ass, you would run like the wind too (the rumours that I screamed like a little baby girl ~ ooo Mis-teeq ref ~ are completely unsubstantiated!)
  4. True scare number four: The outdoor-in-the-dark Field of a Thousand Screams maze was both ingenious and genuinely chilling. Walking round a corn field being chased by zombies at night is not good for my heart. Snivelling snot all over the place a la Blair Witch Project is not good for my image.
  5. True scare number five: realising I am a total wuss.

• Saturday, the luck of the devil was with us ~ not only did we get to go on most of the major rides without queueing, but the two big rides (Air and Rita Queen of Speed) broke down just after we had got off them. Eek!
• Plus we were behind some quite funny kids in a queue – 2 fourteen year old lads on a date, and their older sisters and their boyfriends (from what I could work out). They played classic games like “If you had to choose one – fucked up the arse for ten minutes or eating a shit”. How lovely. For reference, all the guys choose the arse option. Good move dudes.
• More luck of the devil – as we finally left, after a day of being tossed and jerked, it started raining! Sheesh!

Forgot to mention that last weekend I finally succumbed to the lure of the iPod Nano and bought a nice new shiny black 8gb model.

Nice.

I like it.

A lot.

Have been filling it with music over the last few nights therefore haven't really had time to do much blogging, or for that matter checking out new European music to blog about. Will need to remedy that situation very soon!

The first three nominees for eviction in this year's Star Academy are Dojima, Alexandra and Mathieu. Claudia was saved at last night's "rattrapage".

So near but yet so far. After Christophe Willem making it to the final five then being eliminated, Sunrise Avenue fell at the final hurdle and came 4th in the competition, leaving Bedwetters (Estonia), Firma (Romania) and Yakup (Turkey) to fight it out for the MTV New Sounds of Europe title at the MTV Europe Music Awards this Thursday. Quite frankly now I'm not too bothered who wins as all my favourites are out, but I've enjoyed the excitement of the daily eliminations. Good idea MTV - bring it back next year!

Found a clip of a recent interview on NRK-TV from a show called Lydverket, which is a music magazine show as far as I can tell. It kind of went like this: Salem playing the guitar, Salem playing the bass, Salem playing the drums, Salem playing the keyboard. That must be one mega-talented multi-instrumentalist, no doubt. And wonderful big hair too.

However.

We at EuropeCrazy are now becoming concerned that all that time writing, playing, producing, mixing and performing has left Mr Al Fakir with no time to go clothes-shopping.

For once again, that pullover made yet another appearance, this time on his Norwegian TV interview. My research has shown that over the past 12 months there has been many a pullover-sighting during Salem Al Fakir's meteoric rise to fame, firstly in Sweden and now in Norway. Where will it turn up next? Surely he has now made enough kronor to buy himself some new clothes? Get yourself down to H & M young man!!!

...em, apparently not. After hitting no.1 with her last single, "With Every Heartbeat", Robyn hasn't done so well with the follow-up "Handle Me" which has only reached no. 43 this week. Maybe it will climb the charts next week? Hope so.

Aftonbladet reports today that ex-Swedish Idol finalist and now fully fledged pop star Danny Saucedo is in demand. Not only is he tipped to enter next year's Melodifestivalen, but "Let's Dance" wants him too. It's big decision time....

OK, I'm exaggerating as usual (!) but I thought I'd do a post about two German films I've seen recently, one old, one new, and both rather excellent in their own way.



"The Lives Of Others" recently came out on DVD and I highly recommend this film, which won the Oscar for best foreign language film. It's a story of how a Stasi officer was ordered to spy on every waking moment in the lives of an East German playwright and his girlfriend, only for him to later realise the cold and miserable nature of his own life. The tension is cranked up throughout. It's a dark and intense film, yet in the end there is also hope, compassion and forgiveness. A great film, and although it's a fictional tale, it provides a remarkable glimpse into how surveillance became a way of life in East Germany.



Five years ago, another German language film, "Goodbye Lenin" was taking the world's screens by storm. Whilst Alex's mother was in a coma for six months, the world changed and the Berlin Wall came down. She then recovered but warned that any shock could kill her, Alex then sprung into action and recreated East Germany in the family's home. There are many moments of laugh-out-loud classic farce and comedy throughout, but it's also a very moving film too, as son and daughter discover the truth about their family's past. I have seen this film three times now and have always enjoyed watching it. It was also the first time that we saw Daniel Brühl, who was also very good in "The Edukators" and I think he is one of Europe's most talented young actors at the moment.

I should be ashamed. Star Academy 7 started last Tuesday and I haven't really seen any of it. About time I remedied that situation.

Watching the evaluations and I haven't really seen anyone that I don't like.

Bertrand looks like a flamboyant character so far and his voice really reminds me of Florent Pagny.
Sevan had a gritty quality a bit reminiscent of Nicolas from last year.
Claudia was quite entertaining with her version of Christophe Willem's "Double Je".
Pierre's got quite a rough-and-ready voice and I'm not sure how well he'll do.
I don't know how good Claire-Marie is because she sang that Carla Bruni song which I don't really like much. She might be this year's Marina?
Antoine looks like a member of Busted, or McFly, but had a surprisingly mature, jazzy style.
Lucie looks like Julie from Nouvelle Star, only with a better voice.
Dojima was OK although a bit boring and my attention wandered. Didn't really like his Jamiroquai version either.
Eva was again OK rather than spectacular, kind of been-there, done-that.
Mathieu was doing his best Corneille vocal impersonation and again this was more OK than great.
Maureen intrigues me. She may not be the greatest vocalist in the world but she has charisma and could well be France's answer to the mighty Ms Winehouse, only with blonde frizzy hair.
Quentin! Dare I say he might be my favourite? Jazzy voice, good looks, tons of charisma. He will go far in this competition.
Anyway, Mathieu, Claudia and Dojima are three of the four 'pre-nominees', the fourth to be revealed tomorrow.

Sadly, Christophe Willem went out yesterday :-(((

The final four acts are Sunrise Avenue (Finland), Firma (Romania), Yakup (Turkey) and Bedwetters (Estonia).

May the best act win!

The BBC has been running this Electric Proms thingy all week but I haven't really seen much of it. Same as last year, when it began, when I only made a point of watching Jamiroquai. (Ah, wherefore art thou....?)

Anyway, Mark Ronson made an album this year called "Version" which basically did what it said on the tin - an album of rather inventive cover versions. This concert featured the producer/guitarist backed by the BBC Concert Orchestra and was screened the other night on BBC2, which is what I'm reviewing.

"Oh My God": guest vocalist Ricky Wilson. Oh the irony - the original singer instead of Lily Allen. Unfortunately he thought he was still at a Kaiser Chiefs gig. Oooohhhhhhhhh.....
"Sunny": guest vocalist Candie Payne. There's something delightfully old-fashioned about her. Old is the new new.
"Back To Black": guest vocalist Charlie Waller. Sadly I didn't share Mr Ronson's enthusiasm for this guy's interpretation of Ms Winehouse's dark dramatic number.
"Sail On Sailor": guest vocalist Sean Lennon. I didn't recognise him under all that hair and beard. Ronson only heard this a year ago but loves it. I love it too, but Lennon's version couldn't top the Beach Boys.
"The Only One I Know": guest vocalist Tim Burgess. The floppy-fringed one has aged well and still looks great. This put a lot more funkiness and soul into the original.
"Valerie": guest vocalist Kyle Falconer. Revelation of the night. This was good. This boy can actually sing. You can't keep a good song down, and this energetic version proved that once more.
"Stop Me": guest vocalist Daniel Merriweather. A blasting orchestral finale and the song that brought Mark Ronson to everyone's attention - but it's Merriweather who is the real star here, great voice, lots of soul. I will stick my neck out here and say that 2008 will be his year. Mark my words.
All in all an enjoyable experience and even if it's just glorified karaoke, Mark Ronson has provided a real bright spot in what, UK-wise, has been an unremarkable musical year.

Don't Hate On Me/Miss Blue - Vincent: our absolute favourite new Swedish singer of the week, who I came across purely by accident. Delightful feelgood quality pop music. Album coming not a minute too soon.
It's True/Dream Girl/Good Song/Bright Side of Life/This Is Who I Am - Salem Al Fakir: did you honestly think these wouldn't be here? Another week on the playlist for our (award-winning) main man.
Play It For The Girls - Danny: OK I know it's a bit out of date now but I'm still playing this. And why not?
I Love You Goodbye - Thomas Dolby: a rediscovered rarity from the man mainly remembered for his mic-80s 'novelty-science' songs but this later song displayed remarkable lyrical and musical depth.
Rule the World - Take That: it's grown on me now. Get well soon Howard, and when you do, go easy on the backflips eh?
Stop Me - Mark Ronson feat Daniel Merriweather: after watching them at the BBC Electric Proms, I'm playing this again. Going to do a post about Mark Ronson as well.

Not really much else on my playlist this week. Need some new tunes!

Alphabeat ~ I have been meaning to write about this band for a while now, and DanP76 has prompted me into action. Quite rightly, Popjustice are all over their “amazingness” like a rash. Sadly, as so often happens in blogger world today, this gives acts what I like to call the “Pushing Daisies” effect ~ they are all hyped up, have a bit of success with it (ie, bought to life) but then return to the desolate pop wasteland occupied by Lisa Scott Lee (the one minute touch of death). For a prime example of this, look at Robyn who is due to smash into the charts at number 49 with Be Mine. Oh. Anyway, hopefully this rather super dooper Danish act will be the most delightful exception to this cruel and unusual rule. Their sound is best described as a bit rough round the edges dancey-pop. Imagine if Belinda Carlisle were shacked up with both Fred “B52s” Schneider and Jake “Scissters” Shears and spurted out a few love children (of which All*Stars were the nannies), then the sticky sweaty results would be this rather darling and quirky little pop songs like Fantastic Six. It’s a sunny slice of nouveau pop compressed into neat digital formats. Marv and a half...

It’s all rather marvellous when a book you love is made into a film that you end up adoring and that doesn’t suck. It’s currently happening in reverse with Dexter, as I adored the tv show enough to hunt down the books (and am now racing through the first novel...) but this is about the magnificent Stardust. Neil Gaiman has created an utterly enchanting fairytale about a young man (Tristan Thorn) who leaves the boundaries of his Victorian home town, crosses the Wall into the Faerie Realm to retrieve a fallen star for the god-i’m-gorgeous-and-i-know-it Victoria, who is a right little madam. There he encounters a whole host of magical creatures, some good, some bad, who are vividly bought to life in a beautiful, creative and imaginative way. As he further adventures with the star (whose heart can grant eternal life)Yvaine, the plot picks up pace and is a mixture of beautiful details and advancing plots. Some parts of the book are quite Grimm (unicorns skewering witches – yikes) and the author frequently pauses to detail the surroundings of the Stormhold, which has been under tyranny rule for many a year. Of course, in the ending there is beautiful symmetry as Tristan gets his Heart’s desire, while Yvaine loses her heart to him. The illustrations in the book are just sumptuous and glorious and bring it to life in a quite charming way. Miraculously, the movie loses none of the magic contained with the book’s pages and does an incredible job of representing the densely populated Stormhold and bringing the characters to life. Charlie Cox (A spitting image of a younger Dazpants so I feel no guilt in getting the general horn in a shock display of red bottomosity) is genuinely loveable as Tristan and Claire Danes doesn’t need the SFX to radiate as star Yvaine. Robert DeNiro (and actually the actors who play his crew) do a marvellous job as the cross dressing Captain and the pirates who love him anyway. Oh and Michelle Pfeiffer – i love the part where she gets her youth (“”) back, shrugs off her clothes and looks back at herself in the mirror in a “rar kitty kitty” way. Actually, it inspired me to try doing that with Darren this morning, but he just looked at me strangely and barged past to brush his teeth. I hurriedly retrieved my towel, covered my immodesty and ran shamefaced and spurned into the bedroom. And oh! You can’t discuss the book and film without mentioning the spot on movie song Rule The World by Take That. Sure that little x-factor minx has outsold them, but for lyrical content and a sweeping powerhouse of a chorus that matches the joi de vivre of the film, you can’t go wrong. Favourite bit I like to misinterpret? The start of verse two where Gazzapies sings “if angels fly” I like to think the start of it is a bit of a tip of the hat to Yvaine in the way he pronounces it (“Yvaine-gels fly!!”) Marv. AND! Oh my days, the dvd is out a week before Christmas. I am getting the vapours just thinking about it!!! What with that and Hairspray I think i may have an early luvspurting situation...

The Swedish Music Publishers' award winners for 2007 were announced today.

Best songwriter of the year went to Ola Salo, The Ark's main man. Very happy about this one, even if he did beat Salem, but he still deserves it. Other nominees: Jason Diakite; Maria Andersson & Josephine Forsman.
Best Swedish song of the year - "Release Me" by Oh Laura. I don't understand all the fuss about this one, but it was one of the more high profile hits of the year due to its use in a car advert.
Other nominees: "Good Song" - Salem Al Fakir (the Swedish song of the year!!); "7milakliv" - Martin Stenmarck; "Young Folks" - Peter, Bjorn and John.

Best international success - Peter, Bjorn and John. They've achieved big international success with their whistling anthem "Young Folks" this year - including in the USA and UK. Other nominees: Mando Diao, Max Martin.

Lifetime achievement - Thore Skogman. I haven't heard of him, but apparently he's been a very successful songwriter with 1200 songs published over several decades.

But now the result we're really interested in.....big fanfare.....

Best newcomer - Salem Al Fakir !!!!!!
I'm thrilled to bits about this. He absolutely, absolutely deserves every award that's going this year. Other nominees: Måns Zelmerlöw; Maia Hirasawa; Oh Laura.

The prizes will be presented at Berns in Stockholm tonight and if I hear any more about this then I'll do a post tomorrow.

Edit 29.10.07: Yes I have seen the photos, and it's not good news. The flat cap is back. And so is the pullover !!!! Now come on Salem, you could have made an effort!!!

It's been the year of bands reunited, some for better, some for worse. Aftonbladet reports today that none other than Danish 90s cheesy pop legends Aqua are to reform for a new album and tour. Were they inspired by the cover version of "Barbie Girl" by 'Big Brother'-Samanda? (NO - THOUGHT NOT!!)

Or maybe they just hope to "Turn Back Time" (groan)

Thanks to Aftonbladet who have the list of songs which will be sung on tomorrow night's "Idol".
1. Amanda Jenssen
Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
2. Andreas Sjöberg
People get ready - Curtis Mayfield
3.Daniel Karlsson
Imagine - John Lennon
4. Evelina Sewerin
Faith - George Michael
5. Mattias Andréasson
Heal the world - Michael Jackson
6. Sam Hagberth
Nothing else matters - Metallica
7. Marie Picasso
I´ll be there - Jackson 5
8. Christoffer Hiding
It takes a fool to remain sane - The Ark

They'll have to start throwing the boys out now of course, my money's on either Mattias or Sam to go. Christoffer sings The Ark!! I fear the worst - but go on, surprise me...!

Alexia L-J (and her ever growing bump) explained the evaluation process. There is no prime this week (next one is on 02.11.07) so evaluations will be done over four days and the students will be put into four groups. One from each group will be nominated. Then Monday will bring the "rattrapage" and one nominee will be saved, leaving three to be nominated for the next prime. Each of the following will be in charge of a group - Dojima, Bertrand, Sevan, Jérémy.

Guests announced for next week's prime: Celine Dion, Christophe Willem, Avril Lavigne, Calogero, Rihanna-anna-anna and Peter Cincotti.

Delta Goodrem ~ Delta:

I think, like most people, I have different reactions to an album when I first hear it. There is the ‘oh it’s alright and I’ll come back to it later’ reaction to sets that will eventually grow on me and I love long after they have disappeared from the charts (Pink, I’m Not Dead; Killers, Sam’s Town; most recent Erasure albums…) There are then those that are heaped with critical acclaim, yet I don’t get at all, so I persevere for a while and then give up and store in my ‘not for me, beyond my mental capacity’ file (latest sets from Darren H, Robyn, Roisin and PSB et al…) There are very few that I listen to and think, ugh, I won’t bother with that again (usually because I don’t like the single/artist in the first place). And finally there are albums that upon first listen I am utterly entranced by and always and forever become classic albums for me. Recent examples of this include BWO Fabricator, Maroon 5 It Won’t Be Soon Before Long and of course Simon Curtis Alter Boy. The third set by Delta (brilliantly *cough cough* titled Delta) falls into that category. It’s not ground breaking. It’s not going to change the face of pop as it is known. It is, however, a totally solid set of beautifully crafted pop songs steeped in melody, rhythm, beautiful emotive vocals and poetic lyrical craftsmanship. The album starts with one of those tracks that crosses genres and could be presented in any format. Believe Again could be a dance classic, a coffee chugging poetry chick acoustic strummer, a gentle ballad or the fine pop song it is. Reminiscent of Madonna’s Frozen, it’s a fine start to the album – beautiful piano, chill out dance beats and an uplifting positive message about the power of love. Single In This Life gets catchier each time I hear it with a great chorus. Possessionless is very Emancipation of Mimi in the verses but mercifully it launches into a powerhouse hook that totally redeems the song. There are definite influences from other artists on the album ~ the start of You Will Only Break My Heart reminds me of a Lily Allen song, while the rest is how I imagine a good Amy Winehouse track (if I liked her) would sound. Woman reminds me of Dolly Parton in the country tinged music and the heartbreaking way in which it is sang. There are far too many good songs on this album for me to write about here because, lets face it, these blogs are long enough already. Suffice to say, after a mildly impressive debut and a mildy disappointing sophomore set, Delta has bought together the best elements of both those albums and created something endearing, powerful and lasting.

Down, down, down to the last eight they go in the New Sounds of Europe elimination round - and out went the UK's representatives, the Klaxons. Now I'm not all that familiar with their work, I only know "Golden Skans" so I can't really comment but it would appear that one hit does not a New Sounds of Europe finalist make.

Christophe Willem and Sunrise Avenue....yep. Still there. Still voting.

...Christophe Willem and Sunrise Avenue still in it, as are the Klaxons.

The Swedish representatives Neverstore are out - now if they'd made the right decision and sent you-know-who, it might all have been different...

The show kicked off with a tribute to season 4 winner, the late and much missed Gregory Lemarchal who very sadly passed away earlier this year. Most of the singers did quite well on this song, I thought, although it's always difficult at this stage as there are too many of them to take in. Videos are being added over at http://staracademy.tf1.fr as I write.

Introduction of les profs - Alexia Laroche-Joubert (ready to drop any minute - she could give birth in the chateau) and - would you believe it - Raphaelle Ricci is back!!!!! Kamel Ouali! Richard Cross! Christophe Pinna! Jasmine Roy! Matthieu Gonet! Pascal Negre, Passi and Yvan Cassar are also this year's professional jury members.

Les marraines: this year there is no godfather, but there are two godmothers - Kylie Minogue and Celine Dion. I was quite impressed by Kylie's little French speech in the video. The moral of the story is, if you need to improve your French, get a French boyfriend. Mmmm....just thinking, my Swedish badly needs improving...! Anyway, Celine Dion? I'm not really thrilled about that one, but with any luck we'll only see her a couple of times during the series.

I've only just gone online so haven't seen any of the videos or read any of the forums yet, but I've been over to the official site. We have names.....

Boys: Dojima (23), Bertrand (35), Antoine (17), Jeremy (18), Quentin (19), Sevan (22), Pierre (26), Mathieu (20).

Girls: Claire-Marie (21), Claudia (19), Alexandra (17), Alexia (25), Eva (17), Yaëlle (17), Noémie (21), Lucie (17), Maureen (25).

17 academiciens, 16 weeks of competition. I'm excited already and I haven't even heard them sing yet.

Swedish tabloid Expressen will announce it's top 40 list of Sweden's hottest artists tomorrow. Expect to see some of our favourites in there. :-)

It's also been announced today that the Hultsfred festival - the biggest annual rock festival in Sweden - will take place from 12th to 14th June in 2008.

Track of the week ~ Candy Coated Chaos: No Time 4 Games

Been digging again tonight as I need to know more about this guy. Turns out that he is none other than Roger Pontare's son! Roger "Nar Vindarna Viskar Mitt Namn" Pontare!! What is it about talented musical families in Sverige!
:-)))

Already I am loving his music. 4 songs over at his MySpace (I'll put a link in my favourite sites list). Utterly catchy pop songs with hiphop, reggae and rock influences. Have already played "Don't Hate On Me" three times tonight - thanks to Amanda for singing it in Idol, otherwise I might not have discovered Vincent. Seemingly this song also appeared in a mobile phone TV ad in Scandinavia. According to an interview I've just read he is also aiming for international success. Let's hope so as I think he's great.

His music has that nice uplifting quality to it, just like another young Swedish favourite of ours :-)

Remixes are like buses aren’t they? (“No!” – the world) You wait for one to come along, then a bunch arrive at once. Of course I don’t do public transport very often, so I’m basing that on a “popular” saying in England. Anyway, not long have I got over the brilliance and semi-okness of James Blunt and Westlife respectively being swizzled around like WonderWoman, but gaw blimey guvnor, Kylie and BWO remixes land on my desk. Let me tell you these two songs (2 Hearts and Destiny of Love) are currently in a very heated battle for my number one slot this week (well not MY number one slot, that belongs to Dazzle), which would be very exciting if that were important to anyone but me J Lets deal with Ms Minogue first. As legend would have it, no one apparently liked her first single when it came out, but then it started to grow on everyone. Well I worshipped from the start and the remixes take it down a number of routes – dance, disco, trance and most notably a great Kish Mauve remix which echoes the original but gives it a nice beefed up sound with plenty of emphasis on the WOOOO! BWO have an epic nine version of Destiny of Love on the cd single and nearly all of them are jolly brilliant. The song is gorgeously morose yet hopeful in it’s original format, but the remixes bring out a number of elements in it that transform it into a gosh darn tooting dancefloor classic that will have you spinning around and getting into the groove before you know it. Abba were the absolute masters at making sad yet sometimes optimistic lyrics dance off a turntable, and these mixes show that BWO are able to doff their caps in a worthy tribute…

Today I just discovered Vincent, I don't really know anything about him but after hearing that "Don't Hate On Me" song in this week's "Idol" I thought I'd check him out and have decided that he's rather great. There's a few of his songs over at his MySpace - "Miss Blue" is wonderful as well. I want his album! What are they putting in the water in Sweden to make such brilliant pop music, and can they bring it to the UK? Pretty please?

I'm not even going to do a full review of this as a) the standard was so poor and b) I missed the results show.

I liked Leon's voice but the arrangement of "Can't Buy Me Love" was catastrophic. Same Difference make me want to throw up. Surprisingly the manufactured groups Futureproof and Hope weren't as bad as expected. Rhydian was just scary, but at least he has the potential to be a cult figure. Emily was rubbish and out of tune. Everyone else no more than average karaoke/cabaret.

Kimberley and Alisha were bottom 2, Kimberley went out.

Think the X Factor is now well past its sell-by date and will have to drastically improve to keep us interested. I'll probably still keep watching though...

After boys' week and girls' week, all the contestants came together this week and the serious competition began.

Gabby & James: reasonable but I thought the legwork was slow. She may just be the year's most overrated contestant. Oh wow, she did the splits. She should be able to - she's an ex-gymnast after all!
Gethin & Camilla: passionless, poorly choreographed tango. Pin-up boy Gethin looked like a rabbit in the headlights.
Penny & Ian: the jive wasn't her dance was it? After a good week last week this was just scrappy and messy.
Kenny & Ola: he was just a wee bit better this week but another case of rabbit-in-headlights syndrome.
Matt & Flavia: best so far. Matt rules! He looked as if he was really enjoying it too. Lots of movement.
Kate & Anton: poor old Mr Du Beke, being landed with a wooden lifeless lump. She wasn't too happy with the judges comments either.
Dominic & Lilia: he's an energetic little bundle isn't he! Lots of fun and enjoyment. Lilia is also one of the best choreographers in this show and this once again proved it.
Letitia & Darren: a more flattering dress for her this week, and Darren looked nice too. They may have danced to a Madonna song ("Material Girl") but her expression reminded me of another Madonna song - "Frozen"!
John & Nicole: good movement from such a big man and a better jive than I expected. Improving.
Erin & Willie: more traditional tango music, but it was all rather lifeless and the best thing about it was her dress.
Alesha & Matthew: very good again. She's becoming a very consistent performer with a likeable, bubbly personality - top marks!
Kelly & Brendan: in typical Brendan style, a sizzling, passionate and dramatic tango which ended in Kelly slapping Brendan!

Was a bit confused by the judges' marking as they seemed to be at "sixes and sevens" for a long time. Anyway it was a good show last night.

Result after judges scores:
1. Alesha 2. Kelly 3. Gabby 4. Matt 5. Gethin 6. Letitia 7. John 8. Penny 9. Kenny 10. Dominic 11. Willie 12. Kate.

Results revealed tonight. Kate must go!!!

Results show: well, Kate didn't go (WHY OH WHY NOT???)

John versus Willie in the dance off. Judges unanimously saved John. Bye bye Willie, whilst wooden Kate and the hideous Logans remain.

This week's theme: recent top 40 hits.
Daniel first, with "I Don't Feel Like Dancing". It emerged very quickly that the only person who can sing this is Jake Shears, as Dan abandoned the falsetto mid-chorus. Probably his poorest week so far.
Mattias was quite appealing in a boyband-reject kind of way, OK but nothing special.
Why Amanda remains in this competition is a mystery, but surprisingly I took the advice of her song ("Don't Hate On Me") although that's not to say that she's all that great either.
Tonight, Matthew, Gathania is going to be Rihanna. She decided to go the whole hog and not just sing "Umbrella" but actually turn herself into a (third rate) tribute act. Vocally disappointing.
I don't like Sam all that much purely because of those stupid hats. I didn't like his version of "Tired of Being Sorry" either, and his days in this contest are numbered.
Had Andreas never heard "A Little Bit Of Love" before? A song which is one of the most-played of the year? In the first verse and chorus he forgot the words and the tune, pity because he's got an OK voice but I thought it was unforgivable really.
Now, Christoffer, the nearest thing in this year's Idol to an ....idol. His "Say It Right" was very good indeed and he's getting better and better every week and dare I say he might just make the final 3!
Marie decided to become a Fergie lookalike for her "Big Girls Don't Cry". Although Marie has a good enough voice, I find her cheap tacky image rather offputting.
Finally, Evelina sang "Apologize". I still don't know what to make of her. There's something gutsy and appealing about this girl, yet there's something missing. She could either go very far or go very soon.

Results: Mattias and Gathania in the bottom two. Gathania became the third girl in three weeks to leave the competition - will one of the boys go next week?

Late Night Session - Ali Love: one of the year's brightest new pop/dance acts. Really looking forward to his debut album.
Say It Again - Danse Society: From 1985. I can't stop playing this. A forgotten gem.
Ingenting - Kent: Album out this week. Haven't heard it yet. Getting impatient now!!
Let Me Think About It/Put Your Hands Up For Detroit - Fedde Le Grand: the man responsible for my knee injury this week, as I got a wee bit too enthusiastic on the step machine. :-((
Wanna Love You Girl - Robin Thicke: I don't really like him, but this ticks the boxes.
Musikbyrån Live (SVT) - Salem Al Fakir: a.k.a. "The Pullover Years" ha ha. Decided to put his SVT concert on the playlist this week. Highlights - well, all of it of course, but I particularly like the bit when he seems to forget the words during "Dream Girl" but turns it into something even more special.
Bright Side Of Life - Salem Al Fakir: impossible not to love this reggae-flavoured number which I played a lot this week. Like everything else he does, it puts the biggest smile on my face.
Everything - Michael Buble: I really need to hear more of his songs as I like this. Westlife have of course covered "Home" in typical Westlife fashion, draining any life and soul from the song and killing it stone dead.
Heavyweight Champion of the World - Reverend and the Makers: one of the year's best singles, and back on my playlist for no other reason.
Tourner Ma Page - Jenifer: I take it all back, I like this now. Looking forward to her third album.
Bubbly - Colbie Caillat: still reminds me of my recent trip to Berlin. Laidback American acoustic chillout music, very appealing.
You're My Flame - Zero 7: they make such unique music don't they? I'm playing them a lot again, think their music rather suits the autumn season. And don't even start me on how good "Destiny" is.

The first MF staged at the newly built Globen in Stockholm. I thought the pairing of Anders Glenmark and Orup on "Upp Över Mina Öron" was quite inspired. Obviously they thought so too as they continued their musical collaborations over the years.

That year also brought Fingerprints' "Mitt Ibland Anglar" which is still a favourite of mine. I hadn't previously heard "Världen Är Vår" by Visitors & Sofia Källgren but it's quite catchy. I used to like the Visitors back in the 80s, I remember songs like "One Track Heart" and "Never So Blue".

"Nattens drottning" by Haakon Pedersen & Elisabeth Berg is a bit 80s schlager by numbers, with some weird opera wailing thrown in. Very odd.

Anyway Tommy Nilsson's "En Dag" won it of course and I had no argument with that decision as I really liked that song and I really liked him at that time too. Fantastic hair too, very 'of its time' but you know me, I've always liked men with big hair (and still do!!).

Sadly Tommy's MF entry this year was the aural equivalent of a sleeping pill. In case anyone's interested, he's now appearing onstage in Stockholm in a new version of "The Sound of Music" in which he's Captain Von Trapp to Pernilla Wahlgren's Maria. All together: "high on a hill was a lonely goatherd...."

To 1990 now and what I consider an underrated golden age of Brit(ish) pop which followed in the footsteps of the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays. Critics may have laughed at the 'baggy' trend but I thought there were a few good bands around at that time.

"Real Real Real" was arguably Jesus Jones' finest (and certainly most commercial) moment. By that time they had refined their sound which had become tight and funky and appealing. I also had a bit of a minor crush on Mike Edwards too, but I could never explain why, I just did.

They also had a hit with "Right Here Right Now" the lyrics of which described how the world was changing at the end of the 1980s.

I also liked "The Devil You Know" which was out a year or so later.

They never really troubled the charts in a big way after that. I bought their 'Best of' compilation maybe about 4 years ago and thought about them again tonight so that's why I thought they'd be worth a mention on my Saturday night retro.

What’s Up? ~ For starters, I strangely love it when bands names are actually a question. Everytime I hear them, I will feel like answering “oh not much dudes, what’s up with you?” and feel I have bonded on some weird stalker level. Ho Ho. Anyway, Swedish boyband (woohoo! Boyband! Sweden!) What’s Up are four fine looking young chaps, whose debut single Go Girl hit number five in Sweden earlier this year. It’s a funky slice of pop-dance with some nice synths sounds running through the chorus and a catchy hook to boot. Latest single “Such A Fool” slows things down a little, but not too much and a shuffling finger clicking beat underscores this pretty ballad with a rather nice harmonised chorus. Their debut album “In Pose” is currently winging it’s way to me from cdon, and features more funky goodness such as If I Told You Once (with some kicking electric guitar and hopefully a spot on dance routine ~ there aren’t enough dance routines in pop anymore, and Shayne Ward’s effort doesn’t count!) and Out Of The Blue (tragically not a Debbie Gibson cover) but a real thumper of a tune that recalls early Britney/Max Martin/BSB. It has of course all been done before, but not so well for a while now, so it’s certainly exciting to have an aces new act on the block…

Vigo ~ yay for another British boyband. Digital self imploded and Billiam are busy woo-ing gay punters in clubs, so it’s nice to have something new and home grown to concentrate on. Let’s check the boyband credentials – good looking lads with sleeveless tops? Check! Love of pop music and not ashamed of it? Check! One quirky one with unusual name? Check (Pob)! One who you want to take behind the bike sheds and do slightly dirty things with? Check (AdamS above looking mighty fine in a suit)! Appropriately catchy songs with a healthy nod to the past while adding their own flair and looking to the future? Check! The absolutely huggable little 50s innocence of Kiss and Make Up just makes me want to grab the one I love and shimmy. There is a certain knowing naivety to it that is rather charming. Man of Action is almost like a male version of Your Disco Needs You crossed with Holding Out For A Hero and is a pumping grinding dance track with an element of nu-rave in there that gives it a nice anthemic quality. And of course, there is an 80s cover of Electric Dreams that is just as danced up and ravetastic as Man of Action, only with a hint of Erasure about it. Whoever sings the verse has a lovely deep voice and the rest of the boys do that nice “oooo” ing behind that always works for me. It’s almost enough to get me to even consider wanting to go to Popshow, only my hatred of Soho Revue Bar is far too strong. Still, I will be investigating the lads much further in the near future…

Kicking off our Saturday night retro with a trip back to 1984. Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "Two Tribes", possibly was one of my most played records of that decade.

In the beginning, I hated the Frankies and thought they were just irritating attention seekers. Until of course they released "Relax" and "Two Tribes" and "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" all touched by the mighty production hand of Trevor Horn, and things would never be the same again.

"Two Tribes" boasted a memorable video which saw then Cold War enemies 'Reagan' and 'Chernenko' have a good old fight with each other in the ring. Maybe the world's enemies should try that method today, rather than invading countries unnecessarily or blowing everyone to pieces. We can dream can't we...!

...and Christophe Willem and Sunrise Avenue are still there. Also in the final 13 are Firma, Delain, Zero Assoluto, Neverstore, Yakup, Jaula de Grillos, Bedwetters, Buraka Som Sistema, Klaxons, Dani and Chakuza.

On with the voting!

Christophe Willem and Sunrise Avenue are still in it!!! Vote vote vote ....

Well well well, just when I thought there was nothing new in the Salem universe this week apart from gratuitous reruns of "Musikbyran Live" at EuropeCrazy HQ on an almost nightly basis, today I see that a new clip of GPTV's footage from the recent Way Out West festival at Slottskogen, Gothenburg, has appeared on YouTube which has brief clips of Salem, in his red suit, onstage doing lots of headbanging and jumping around.

There is also an interview in which he looks more stunning and gorgeous than I've ever seen him looking before. What a beautiful man. Please please please keep this on YouTube, as I've got a feeling I'll be checking this out at least another 1500 times (!)

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyjqMBJFLkQ

Like I said, no news this week apart from the fact that "This Is Who I Am" has re-entered the Swedish album chart, presumably after everyone watched his Malmo gig on telly this week and realised just how fantastic and talented Salem Al Fakir is.

THE DAZPANTS REVIEW OF HALF A SIXPENCE:

(Dictated to and transcribed by hunky Paul. Yes Darren, I will point out that I put that hunky in myself. Boo you gabor-whore [thanks Yuri!!]) Hello XOLondoners (I am now obsessed with my invention of that phrase so prefer it to zappinos). Last week I “dragged” your lovely blogger Paul to see Half a Sixpence at the theatre around the corner. And by dragged I mean, he ran skipping down the street to ensure they didn’t sell out of programmes. They never do, do they?! Anyway, I had procured first row centre seats, which as it turns out isn’t as impressive as it sounds because much like a recent Darren Hayes concert I read about, it was only half full. I’ve got lots I want to say, so Paul has instructed me to use bullet point and seeing as he is typing this up, I don’t have much choice…

• We sat next to a rather lovely old couple, who kept mentioning they had been to see “joseph” here and that they played the soundtrack to that at least 3 times a day. No wonder the husband looked like he would vote for voluntary euthanasia.
• In the break, said couple had bought their own snacks, and then confided in us that they wished they had bought the packet of Wotsits they had in the kitchen cupboard. Nan, you’re a window shopper, etc.
• Paul would probably go on about how half a sixpence is about the class divide, etc., and how money changes people and you should be who you are with for love, not because they can make you better. I say bollocks to that, and concentrate on the burrrrrilliant dance numbers like Money to Burn and one of my faves Flash Bang Wallop which went down a right treat.
• The family behind us were well annoying. They were talking to the lovely old couple and had to outdo them on everything. If the old couple paid 12p for that packet of wotsits, the family behind paid 10p and weren’t afraid to let you know. Which just goes to show, you can’t buy class.
• Paul was rather excited that some bloke who sang Maroon 5 in a nice outfit (in his opinion) on Any Dream Will Do was in it (Chris Crosby).
• The cast worked really hard and were all really good – there was only an ensemble of 14 and all did really well.
• It was a nice evening ~ take that, pretentious musicals (Rent remixed, etc)

A great big yayyyyyyyyyy! as P3 has now promoted "It's True" to the B-list, it's moved up from the C-list. Lykke Li and Vincent's new songs are A-list additions this week, with Kanye West and Craig David also promoted to the B-list. David Guetta, Laleh, Kylie and Jonna Lee are all new additions to the C-list this week.

The northern America leg of the lovely Maroon 5’s tour gets the hives. Britain and Europe get Dashboard Confessional. Conveniently enough both acts have brand new albums to promote that won’t sell as well as It Won’t Be Soon Before Long. So what are they like? Well, I do adore Chris Carraba and his acoustic emo musings that really set the stage for recent successes like Plain White T’s and to a lesser extent McFly and Rooney. Hands Down is one of my favourite tunes that gets constantly played around my house, and even Darren (ew, no, guitars ~ he is so SlippyDisco!) quite likes it. Their last album Dusk And Summer went a bit electric on our asses, but tracks like Stolen and Don’t Wait were released in acoustic version and their beauty and melodies shone through. It is back to basis on Poison Trees though and it comes across as a lovely acoustic Chris solo album. Lead off single is the rather scrumptious Where’s The Gold and as happens, it is the first track on the album and sets the mood fairly well. To move forward, DBC have looked back to the past and drawn on their strong points ~ emotive lyrics, gently unassuming but pretty melodies and Chris’ powerful vocal style. There are throwbacks to the influence of the Beatles, luscious ballads in the form of Matters of Blood & Connection and songs that smack you in the mush with their brilliance (most notably Clean Breaks). It’s not their strongest album to date, but it’s a step back in the right direction. Conversely, while I am uber-aware of DBC’s back catalogue, I have no experience of The Hives and have only checked them out because of the M5 connection. They have a striking visual appearance that seems to tie into the theme of their music, which fans class as “garage rock”. Their fourth album (my first of theirs) outdoes the Beatles and Prince by being called The Black and White Album and is led off with single Tick Tick Boom, which tragically isn’t the Fresh Prince cover version I was hoping for. However, i think there is a backlash against this band that I am missing by only listening to them now – people complain they are too cartoonish and have not moved on, whereas to me their sound is new and fresh to my ears (albeit in a “i’m sure i’ve heard this before” way). The pharrell tracks give their rock a bit of funk (most notably on Well Alright), they crib mercilessly from the strokes (It Won’t Be Long) and wig out totally on songs like You Got It All Wrong and Hey Little World. It’s fast it’s furious, it’s marginally addictive and totally at odds with the DBC sound. Album wise i give the edge to DBC, but as an opening act for M5, i think the Hives win out. They are so my new favourite band!

· DBC potential singles: Where There’s Gold, Poison Trees, Keep Watch For The Mines, Matters of Blood and Connection

We're now into the elimination stage of the MTV Europe Music Awards' new category, New Sounds of Europe. Sadly one of my favourites Aleksander With (Norway) is one of the early eliminations. Christophe Willem (France) and Sunrise Avenue (Finland) are still in there and I'm still voting. The UK and Ireland is now represented by the Klaxons, as original winner James Morrison is now unable to go to the Munich ceremony in 2 weeks.

Oh yes, and the Swedish representatives Neverstore are still there. I'm not voting for them though, because IMHO they shouldn't be there, it should be my lovely Salem instead!!!!!!

There is a lot of pre-stringy-pants love generated by bloggers over kookily dressed Roe-Sheen Murphy. They love her elegant style, her ability to create incredibly sophisticated pop tunes and her powerful stage presence. Actually, until I read a comment on XO today, I didn’t realise that I had been listening to Roisin’s debut album in my car for years now (a blank cd with no label i found randomly in a cd case, which when said commenter mentioned Sow Into You i realised was Ruby Blue). So actually without even knowing, I am a fan from way back!! Hurrah! I feel relevant. Her new album (Overpowered) merges contemporary pop sounds with good old fashioned disco dancing and for the most part pulls out a cracker. But here’s the rub... I’m a simple guy with simple needs and frankly Roisin is a bit too sophisticated for me. Whereas someone like Sophie Ellis Bextor manages to pull off elegantly polished power pop that sounds like it was crafted in heaven, Roisin (to me) sounds like she is just trying to be arty and pretentious for the sake of being arty and pretentious. At times it veers into Madonna and Kylie territory (not a bad thing but there is already a Madonna and kylie) and loses some of the beauty of the Moloko/Ruby Blues days. I’m confusing myself here because it is a solid album and there are bursts of genius creativity on it, but it’s probably too involved and deep for my currently frazzled mind (though like Robyn, I want to understand her!) Kylie X on the other hand is still a month away, but from what is known about it, is shaping up to be as divisive among the fans as albums like Impossible Princess and Body Language. Everyone by now has an opinion on frankly ace glamrock lead off single 2 Hearts, and are likely to be caught just as off guard with tracks like Sensitized (which, correct me if I am wrong, was for the Body Language sessions) – a Cathy Dennis number which has a simple melody but complex orchestration and would fit perfectly on Impossible Princess. Sparkling songs In My Arms and Stars are more traditional Kylie pop-dance that are made for the masses yet rise above the usual generic fluff out there. It still is a tragedy that Love Is A Drug and Excuse My French aren’t part of the X-perience, but thanks to mp3 and leaky leaks, you can make it part of yours. The edge: biased, i know, but always Kylie!

· Roisin’s potential singles: Overpowered, Let Me Know, You Know Me Better, Movie Star

· Kylie: Who knows?!

Just over 4 months to go till Melodifestivalen 2008 in Sweden. Today saw the announcement of 28 of the 32 songs which will compete next year. The songwriters were also announced - and some of the performers too.

Rumoured performers: BWO (or possibly the new Alcazar); Calaisa; Patrik Isaksson; Wille Crafoord & Meja; Lasse Lindh; Charlotte Perrelli (!), Frida Muranius; the Rongedal brothers, Velvet; the Poodles; Linda Bengtzing, E-Type...the list is endless. But how many of them will actually appear? Won't know for a while yet.

What we do know now...the 28 song titles.

"I love Europe"; ”Du behöver aldrig mer vara rädd"; ”Pame"; ”Jag saknar dig ibland”; ”Visst finns mirakel”; ”Lay your love on me"; ”Under mitt tunna skinn"; ”Raz Borca!”; ”Just a minute"; ”If I could”; ”Alla gamla ex”; ”Love in stereo”; ”Den första svalan"; ”Leva livet"; ”Deja Vú”; ”Hur svårt kan d va?”; ”Ingen mår så bra som jag”; ”That is where I'll go"; ”That is where I'll go"; ”Empty room”; ”Line of fire”; "That's love"; "Smiling in love"; ”I lågornas sken”; ”When you need me”; ”Kebabpizza, Slivovitza”; "Lullaby"; "Hero"; ”Never fall in love (Izdadje)”.

OK in the absence of any news stories this week about our main man, then our attention turns to his big brother Nassim Al Fakir, previously known as a kids' TV presenter in Sweden. Now Nassim turns his attention to a slightly more grown up audience - well, "youth TV" anyway. "Anaconda" would appear to be SVT's home-grown answer to the famous US TV show "Jackass" with one crazy stunt after another, if the clips I've seen so far are anything to go by.

Edit: (the next day) Expressen's TV critic decided to kill two brothers with one stone - firstly she criticised Salem on Muskibyrån Live, then saved her fiercest criticism for Nassim's "Anaconda" which admittedly by starting at the "bottom" end of things if you catch my drift, wouldn't be to everyone's taste.

Why make one album when you can make four?

French superstar singer/songwriter Pascal Obispo will release his 4th live album "Les Fleurs de Forest" at the end of this month.

Recently there were rumours in the French gossip magazines that he is about to quit the music industry. Certainly his music isn't as good as it once was, but I might miss him just a little bit if he wasn't around.

Izabel Guzman ~ All In Your Head

Ah, young Izzy. Not quite as ice cool as Robyn, not quite as adorable as Kylie, not quite as pretentiously quirky as Roisin, but perhaps a mixture of all 3. DontStopThePop was first off the block to succumb to her cheeky charms and her debut single is a straightforward sleek, undeniably catchy beautiful pop gem. Some might say it’s the sort of direction that Kylie should have gone with instead of the delectable 2 Hearts (thezapping number one this week!), but Kylie has always marched to the beat of her own drum, and Izabel may fill the gap nicely for those yearning to put on their dancing shoes to a trembling then mighty groove that comes out of nowhere and hooks you round your groove vein until you are totally hypnotised, grabbing the one you love and shimmying like there is no tomorrow. Resistance is futile. Failure to become the new pop princess is not an option...

Kadyn ~ Live Fearless:

That very popular 80s film "Footloose" has also been a hit stage musical in recent years. Now there's a Swedish version of the show - starring none other than Måns Zelmerlöw, playing the role which Kevin Bacon played in the movie. His co-star is none other than popular Swedish singer (and one-time export to Estonia!!) Anna "Sahlene" Sahlin, last seen quickstepping and cha-cha-cha-ing in "Let's Dance" earlier this year. The two are pictured above with co-star Peter Johansson.

The show will premiere on 08.11.07 in Gothenburg, so if you're lucky enough to live in Sweden, why not "kick off the Sunday shoes" and check out this show.

Meant to post this on Saturday or Sunday but too much going on so here it is.

It was the ladies' turn to impress on the dancefloor this week.

Already there are three possible contenders to win: Penny, Alesha and Kelly.
Outside contender: Gabby.
Making up the numbers: Kate, Leticia and Stephanie.

First female to be eliminated was Stephanie Beacham, who now looks younger than she did when she was in Tenko and Dynasty all those years ago. We had speculated that one of the reasons she was in the bottom two was that she now bears no facial resemblance to the real Stephanie Beacham, and therefore no-one would know who she was!!

Now get Kate out, and give Leticia some decent outfits to wear!

1. Why don’t I just rewind first of all > I woke up ridiculously early so watched last weeks Private Practice and Brothers&Sisters on my archos. I was busy sniffling away and feeling emotional at the baby switch story in PP, and then bloody Justin returns home and I was sobbing away with him and Nora Walker by the end of the episode! I’m sure my gulps woke poor little pants de la Daz up…
2. I was discussing new Kylie (he hates it) and new Girls Aloud with Simon Curtis and came to the conclusion that Call The Shots seems like they were pissed out of their heads on sambucca in Ibiza and stumbled out of a club into a recording studio slurring “we can do better than thish” – and they have! It’s some kind of miracle (underneath the glitterball…)
3. I listened to my new music mix cd on the way up to Ollerton and realised that the more backlash there is about the new Kylie track, the more I fall in love with it. Though secretly I wish a double a side of Excuse My French and Love Is The Drug were being released instead…
4. BWO’s Destiny of Love is fast becoming my favourite song ever by the Swedish act. It’s just so achingly beautiful. Equally, Another Heartache by Simon Curtis is tugging at my heartstrings, not least for it’s lovely piano and flawless vocal…
5. Songs with home in the title that are better than Home by Westlife = What I Love About Home by Journey South (a little bit) and Won’t Go Home Without You by M5 (a huge amount better).
6. Happy Birthday & Flipside by The Click Five and When Did Your Heart Go Missing & I Should Have Been After You by Rooney are incredibly catcy pop rock songs that I have entirely underestimated in the past…
7. I was cock blocked by an incredibly slow truck for about 4 miles on a winding country road. I sensibly kept a distance but oh boy was the air blue in the car. I can swear like a fucking sailor when I want to…
8. Despite that I still got to the meeting early, met up with my colleague and we went to get a coffee. She asked why I was playing a Jamiriqoui cover version that was sung by a 9 year old girl or a strangled chipmunk!! It was neither, it was indeed Me Myself I by Darren Hayes. I nearly peed myself chortling…
9. The meeting was rubbish.

Late Night Session - Ali Love: super funky tune for those of us suffering from Jamiroquai withdrawal symptoms.
It's True/This Is Who I Am/Good Song/Dream Girl/Thank You/Count Me Out/Tell Me/It's Only You - Salem Al Fakir: All eight songs, all the time, all week!
Handle Me - Robyn: still liking this.
Ingenting - Kent: new album out this week and I can't wait.
Relax, Take It Easy - Mika: I've said it before and I'll say it again - release this as a single in the UK!
Bubbly - Colbie Caillat: I saw her described this week as the female Jack Johnson, which is a nice comparison.
How Could This Go Wrong - Exile: still playing this obscure oldie.
Mister Cool/Jag Gor Min Grej/Bejbi - Snook: can't stop playing these either. Great!
Tourner Ma Page - Jenifer: really like this now.

Need to get some new songs on this playlist....but when these songs are so good, it's going to be hard to shift them.

...is out 5 November!

Just in time for Christmas. Another one to add to Santa's list...

Magnus Uggla's new single has knocked Martin Stenmarck off the no. 1 spot :-((

Highest new entry this week is Mange Schmidt's "Jag Talar Ut" whilst climbers this week include Dede's "Turn Me On", Jonah's "Summer High", "Hush Hush" by Ninja, "Apologize" by Timbaland, and "Gimme More" by Britney Spears.

Over in the album chart, Bruce Springsteen's "Magic" is no. 1 with Lars Winnerback at no. 2 and Peter LeMarc at no. 3.

Big event this coming week of course is the release of Kent's "Tillbaka Till Samtiden" which is already picking up rave reviews from those notoriously hard to please Swedish press critics. It's tipped to be the biggest album of the year in Sweden. I'm going to buy it anyway and it will be reviewed on this here blog.

Agree agree agree with the posse over at Popjustice: why did Ali Love's brilliant "Late Night Session" only reach No. 125 in the singles chart? It's a great funky commercial tune which sounds great and should be in the top 20 at least.

So who's buying "1973" by James Blunt? Or for that matter "Beautiful Girls" by Sean Kingston? They'll have you suicidal....

Just over 24 hours ago I was at the local beer festival, an event which takes place every year and 2007 is the final one so I decided to go out on a high :-)

Fruh Kolsch
+
Liefmans Frambozen
+
Lapin Kulta
+
Stockholm Festival Lager
+
Kasteel Cru
=
one very hungover blogger!!

Anyway I'm OK now! ;-))

Loveable scamps. Scrummy ragamuffins. Oh how i have coined many a phrase for the incorrigible rogues that are McFly. I notice their greatest hits package tracklisting is on line, and as so often happens with greatest hits of acts I love, I am not happy. Not happy at all. First of all, it’s so padded with unnecessary tracks (why do artists feel they must pack out all of the 70 minutes on an album??) A much sleeker version would probably draw in more casual fans, as most people will have all the tracks anyway. Here is what I think it should look like...

Disc One:

1. 5 Colours In Her Hair
2. Obviously
3. That Girl
4. Room On The Third Floor
5. All About You
6. I’ll Be Ok
7. I Wanna Hold You
8. Ballad of Paul K
9. Please Please
10. Star Girl
11. Sorry’s Not Good Enough
12. Transylvania
13. The Heart Never Lies
14. The Way You Make Me Feel
15. Don’t Wake Me Up

Bonus Disc (Limited Edition):

1. You’ve Got A Friend
2. Don’t Stop Me Now
3. I Predict A Riot
4. Mr Brightside
5. Baby’s Coming Back
6. Blister In The Sun (I wish...)