Lopez Blogs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I think it worked.

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

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

So on with the show....

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Andra Chansen:
06.03.10 - Örebro

Final:
13.03.10 - Stockholm


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

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

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

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

Ah, the X Factor returned for week two and royally slagged off the talents of lovely Birmingham in the process! It's not the most glamourous place in the world, but love it I do and Dannii (who has this week dressed as a cross between Roxie Hart and the lovely Elouise) needs to remember that words hurt :P Still, I was busy beautifying myself for a night out with chums so I didn't pay as slavish attention as I did last week, but inbetween oiling up my loins this is what I remembered...

• Dermot (as pictured above) can look quite pleasing when he wants to - usually when he's not trying to be sincere to families of crap auditionees but coming across as incredibly insincere. Sigh :/
• Poor Alan was really quite representative of the talent on offer for the Birmingham auditions (which means that the team will "come back" [ie show at a later date footage from the same day] and find a great auditionee) and while seemed quite lovely with his directions was a bit shit really wasn't it?
• Also quite dreadfully bad in a ghastly way were The Stunners. I mean, come on! I don't want to be mean, but really. Everything from the moment they said their group name indicated that they would be utter tosh didn't it? No wonder Dermot is insincerely sincere to the families - did you see the one waiting in the wings in this clip? Chavrific!
• The new X Factor cliche is at 1m52s of the clip above. Everytime someone auditions, the camera shows the sound man pushing the buttons up to play the tracks! Amazing! Britain would be sitting wondering how the music came on if they didn't show that.
• I sort of really like Behrouz. He has a hideous look, is very annoying indeed and yet sort of won me over with his a bit tat to start with but got better as it went along version of Take Your Mama Out. He could be the entertainment person in the competition who isn't really the best singer. He slid quite quickly down my list of favourites so far (including Danyl really and Stacey) when I saw the next two auditions...
• Astonishingly, after Cheryl (what IS that weird collared dress she is wearing?) bemoaned how crap the group were, a brilliant group came along! Mind boggling how that happens. The Miss Fittz are basically The Puppini Sisters with their rather enticing rearrangement of Toxic. Lovely harmonies and great little group that could do well... (I miss the Puppinis ~ where are they?)
• Best and most loveable audition so far was the quirky, huggable, delightful Rozelle. She did a rather beautiful version of one of my favourite songs One Night Only and just sparkled and glittered from every pore as she sang it. It was just quite the pleasure to watch. My favourite auditionee by far. And yes, I did still make everyone listen to Elouise's version before we went out.
• Finally, there were a couple of others of note (bald dad with sob story, that was actually quite affecting :/ good voice but not great) (mega afro'd guy who everyone loved doing Sex on Fire but left me cold - did have a very foxy blonde friend in blue shirt waiting for him though; check him out 2nd from left at 50s!) but basically so far I'm all about Miss Fitz, Danyl and Rozelle. That is all...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rating: 7½ out of 10.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Onwards!

Hilary Duff LAX Photos

The photos of Actress Hilary Duff and her dog with her mother, Susan Duff at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) dated August 27, 2009 and photo by Bauer Griffin.

Taylor Swift Fearless Tour 2009 Pics

The pics of Taylor Swift performs at the Fearless Tour at Madison Square Garden dated August 27, 2009 in New York City and photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images North America.

Miley Cyrus NBC's Today Pictures

The pictures of Singer Miley Cyrus performs on NBC's "Today" at Rockefeller Center dated August 28, 2009 in New York City and photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images North America.

Denise Richards and Daughter Malibu Pictures

The pictures of Denise Richards and her daughter out in Malibu daughter Sam Sheen CA dated August 28, 2009.

Jennifer Garner and Ashton Kutcher Pictures

The pictures of Jennifer Garner and Ashton Kutcher on a bridge for shooting Valentine's Day on the Venice Canals dated August 29, 2009 and-photo by Photo Agency.