Lopez Blogs

For a long, long time - well, certainly over the last few summers anyway - there has been much debate and speculation, mainly in the Swedish tabloid press and of course here in blog-land, that the annual Swedish summer TV ritual, SVT1's Allsång på Skansen, is past its sell-by date. Or at least, in need of a new presenter anyway.

Well, finally, the time for change has come. At a press conference today it was announced that the new presenter of Allsång would be none other than Måns Zelmerlöw, taking over from Anders Lundin. Last summer it was suggested in the Swedish press that MZW would be the perfect choice to step into Anders' shoes. In a previous post on this blog http://europecrazy.blogspot.com/2010/07/mystery-of-allsang-lotta-and-missing.html I also agreed with that suggestion; I thought it would bring a freshness to the show, whilst keeping the traditional aspects alive. Måns may still be a young man, but in recent years he's gone from Idol contestant to all-round entertainer, and he has proved himself as a multi-talented singer, dancer, musical theatre performer and TV presenter, with a very likeable personality. In other words, the perfect choice to succeed Anders who has presented the show for the last 7 years.

At times last summer I felt really sorry for Anders, and at times you could see the stress which he must have been under with all the criticism. However there were times when he fought back, especially on 20th July, which was my favourite show of last year's run, for the usual very obvious reasons. Check out my previous post about that one: http://europecrazy.blogspot.com/2010/07/allsang-pa-skansen-week-4-tuesday-20th.html
which includes some particularly crowd-pleasing video footage of Salem Al Fakir and Oskar Linnros. Enjoy!

The new era begins on 28th June - make a note in your diaries!


Goodbye Anders, hello Måns: picture courtesy of Aftonbladet.

...which I never got round to writing.

So, Swedish Idol ended with one of the most predictable outcomes ever in the history of the contest - Jay Smith won, beating Minnah Karlsson in the final on 10th December at Globen. After Linnea Henriksson was voted off Idol in the last-4 week, I felt that the heart had gone out of the competition....and when Olle Hedberg left the following week, I have to be honest and say that my interest in the competition also ended there.

However, that's not to criticise the two finalists; they and several of the other finalists were way better than anything we'd ever see on our own X Factor.

The lead-up to the final was a bit controversial to say the least: firstly Jay Smith failed a drugs test for using cannabis, which brought a lot of criticism in the Swedish media that a programme so popular with children and young people should condone drug-taking by allowing him to continue in the competition...then the day before the final, both finalists revealed that they were in a relationship, which caused a bit of concern for the programme makers. I'm not sure what's happened since, if they are still a couple, or was it all just a publicity stunt for the final?


This year's winner's song is "Dreaming People", a big anthemic rock-ballad co-written by, among others, Christian Walz. It didn't break any new ground but it suited Jay's style perfectly, however Minnah also performed a different but still impressive version. In my alternative parallel-universe of preferred finalists I'm curious to know how Olle and Linnea might have performed the song - yet again we'd get two completely different versions. Anyway, at least the winner gets an original song to sing, which is more than can be said for X Factor....although on the down side, the rush-releasing of debut albums featuring cover versions of songs which they sang in the competition does, I believe, do more harm than good to the finalists' music career prospects.



Take for example the debut album by Jay Smith, which features his acclaimed "Like A Prayer" along with "I Want It That Way" and "Bad Romance" and more Jay-style songs like "Enter Sandman" and "Black Jesus". There's a greater variety of styles on Minnah Karlsson's debut album, however both share a very bland production and little artistic value - in other words, a quick cash-in.


The other album release this year featured all season finalists - again it's pretty unremarkable, but at least it has Olle (pictured above, bottom right) reprising his original audition number "No Diggity", although that's also a bit too polished.

The real test will come with the first "real" albums by Jay and Minnah - it will be interesting to see if Minnah repeats Tove Styrke's critical acclaim and success, and whether Jay will recover his rock-star integrity or disappear without trace. I hope that Olle and Linnea get the chance to release original debut albums which could potentially establish them as the latest (non-winning) stars to emerge from Idol.

Swedish Idol will be back again in 2011 for another series. I wonder if it will be the last? After all, you know what they say - all good things must come to an end....

Here they are (thanks to Aftonbladet as usual) - http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/tv/idol2010/article8172890.ab

Jay Smith
* ”Bad romance” (Lady Gaga).
* ”Against all odds” (Phil Collins).
Linnea Henriksson
* ”Don't you forget about me” (Simple Minds).
* ”Crazy in love” (Beyoncé).
Olle Hedberg
* ”Fix you” (Coldplay).
* ”Beautiful day” (U2).
Minnah Karlsson
* ”Just the way you are” (Bruno Mars).
* ”Alone” (Heart).

I'm not too inspired by this week's songs....but I think it could finally be Olle's big week.

Meanwhile Minnah has lost her voice, which could be a big problem if she's doing that Heart song.

Or, as Mr Mackey used to say in South Park: "Drugs are bad, mmm-kay?"

This week, everything was overshadowed by drugs. Or to be specific, series favourite Jay Smith testing positive for drugs, and not being thrown out of the competition.

So Jay soldiered on, with a memorable rock-rendition of "Like A Prayer" which has probably delivered him directly to the final, and there was also the bizarre spectacle of Jay singing "Fly Me To The Moon".

Andreas left the competition (as expected) - but the major shock was that Olle was in the bottom two with him. I read some criticism of Olle's performance, but I thought his "Let's Dance" was ok - although I could have done without the dancing girls - whilst I really enjoyed his 'Ollefied' version of "Your Song".

Elin Blom was in danger from the minute she stepped out onto the stage. "I Surrender" by Rainbow is one of my favourite early-80s rock songs. Jay might have done it justice, but Elin's version of the song was just far too lightweight.

Via Aftonbladet http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/tv/idol2010/article8101367.ab here's the list of who's singing what on "Rock Week".

Olle Hedberg - ”In the shadows” (The Rasmus).
Elin Blom - ”I surrender” (Rainbow).
Jay Smith - ”Rocks” (Primal Scream).
Linnea Henriksson - ”Dance with somebody” (Mando Diao).
Minnah Karlsson - ”Jump” (Van Halen)
Andreas Weise - ”Start me up” (Rolling Stones).

I thought they might give Olle a Kings of Leon song this week, but maybe they're keeping that for later? I wonder if he'll do "In The Shadows" in a gritty acoustic kind of way, or will it get the full rock treatment?

Jay, after two weeks of displaying some sensitivity (!) will be back in his comfort zone, Linnea will just be, well, Linnea and I can't wait to see how she takes on that brilliant Mando Diao song.

Thank goodness there's no "Heaven's On Fire" on Rock Week this year...it feels as if they sing it every year on Idol!

I think the bottom two will be between Andreas and Elin, with Andreas going out this week.

As usual thanks to Aftonbladet http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/tv/idol2010/article8068257.ab

It's love songs this week, which really doesn't fill me with any excitement at all. All this week's songs are dedicated to a special person in the contestant's life - parents, partners, siblings etc.

Anyway here's the song list. The competition's getting tougher....and I'll foolishly predict that either Andreas or Geir will go this week.

Andreas Weise - ”(Your love keeps liftin' me) Higher & higher” (Jackie Wilson)
Geir Rönning - ”I heard it through the grapevine” (Marvin Gaye).
Minnah Karlsson - ”Whataya want from me” (Adam Lambert).
Jay Smith - ”Here without you” (3 Doors Down).
Linnea Henriksson - ”My baby just cares for me” (Nina Simone).
Elin Blom - ”Forever young” (Alphaville).
Olle Hedberg - ”Free fallin'” (Tom Petty).

Go Olle!

90s night on Idol, which I was initially excited about but then I saw the song choices and got a bit disappointed. But on with the show....

Daniel Norberg was at a bit of an unfair disadvantage with "Stone Me Into The Groove" as it was maybe a lesser known song than some of the others last night. But at least it was a Swedish song so I didn't complain so much. It did show off a different side to him, but I felt he suffered from the wrong song choice.

That couldn't be said for Olle Hedberg, who finally after all these weeks got to put his distinctive Olle-stamp on a song. The Olle-fied (for want of a better word) "Wonderwall" will have gone a long way to really boosting his profile in this contest. And about time too!!

I still think Elin Blom's trying a little bit too hard to look like Robyn, but that aside she delivered a nice version of "Born to Make You Happy". I don't have anything against her, but in my view she still lacks that distinctive quality to take her beyond the next couple of weeks.

One of the more intriguing things about last night was the prospect of Geir Rönning singing Pearl Jam's "Alive". He did give it his best shot only to get into a debate with Andreas Carlsson about song choice, which caused some controversy and got lots of Swedish press coverage as a result. By the way: 47. Is. Not. Old.

Confession time: I've always hated "Nothing Compares 2 U" but Linnea Henriksson's brittle, compelling version did the job yet again this week.

Andreas Weise sang Big Mountain's reggae-cover of "Baby I Love Your Way" which was yet again note-perfect. I have no problems with his voice, but as I said before, he is no 'idol' and could struggle to establish a music career due to his lack of individuality.

Bringing some rare sensitivity - for a change - was Jay Smith, who stepped very successfully out of his comfort zone on "I Want It That Way". It's a performance like this which will inevitably propel him towards that final showdown. Because, at this stage, I can't see anything else but a Jay-Linnea final. Of course I want Olle in that final, but I've got to be realistic!

Finally this week, Minnah, who seems to have got a new lease of life following her return to Idol last week. She sang "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)" very well. With only three girls left in the competition, Minnah seems to have the most mainstream appeal and I can see her in the final 4.

Bottom two: Daniel and Geir - with Daniel receiving the lowest number of votes, he became the latest contestant to leave.

Next week: the theme is "love songs". To which I say.....yuck! I hate love songs. But looking forward to some good performances all the same.

Via Aftonbladet: http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/tv/idol2010/article8028497.ab here are this week's Swedish Idol songs, with a 1990s theme. I'm not too excited about the song choices, too many obvious international hits. What's wrong with Swedish songs?

Anyway before I go into a rant, here's the list....

Daniel Norberg - ”Stone me into the groove” (Atomic Swing).
Olle Hedberg - ”Wonderwall” (Oasis).
Elin Blom - ”Born to make you happy” (Britney Spears).
Geir Rönning - ”Alive” (Pearl Jam).
Linnea Henriksson - ”Nothing compares 2 u”(Sinead O' Connor).
Andreas Weise - ”Baby, I love your way” (Big Mountain).
Jay Smith - ”I want it that way” (Backstreet Boys).
Minnah Karlsson - ”(Everything I do) I do it for you” (Bryan Adams).

A week is a long time on "Idol". Just one week ago, Minnah was evicted from the competition - rather unfairly, I thought. However a lot has happened over the last few days: when Alice Hagenbrant decided to quit the show after deciding she wasn't enjoying it any more, Minnah was asked back. Great news, as a) Alice was not one of my favourites and b) Minnah deserved another chance.

Friday night's theme was The Beatles, and as ever some contestants did it better than others...

Geir "keep on" Rönning was back again with "Love Me Do" and such are the swings and roundabouts of this competition that after his triumph last week, he ended up in the bottom two thanks to his over-cheesy performance. The problem with "Love Me Do" is that there’s not much to it, it’s not the most vocally challenging song. And I say this as a Beatles fan, before you say anything!

How would Jay Smith tackle "A Hard Day’s Night"? In Jay-style of course, although he was quite restrained this week - I guess he's trying to show some versatility :) It can't be argued that he already has the confidence and stage presence of someone who will go very very far in this contest.

Elin Blom sang "Can't Buy Me Love", which was all a bit rock-chick-karaoke, and I still feel that Elin is too "nice" to be taken seriously as a rock singer, but that seems to be the "stereotype", the box which they want her to fit into.



Olle Hedberg's version of "Helter Skelter" left me cold, firstly because I never liked the song anyway, and although it was good to see him sing in a style which he was more comfortable with, there was still something missing, as if he was holding back. He is capable of so much more, and remains my favourite contestant, but he'll need to do a bit more!



Minnah Karlsson was back, back, back!! If she lacked oomph last week, then you couldn't say that for her this week as she gave it her all (and then some) on "Twist and Shout". I loved her black dress and purple tights too!

The very prophetic "Ticket To Ride" was the song choice for Linda Varg, and while it wasn’t all that bad (proof of the very high standard in this competition) I guess there’s only room for so many rock-chicks and Linda’s time was up.

Andreas Weise sang "All You Need Is Love". Vocally spot-on, but it was all a bit "cruise ship cabaret" as Simon Cowell used to say. Last week I thought Andreas he had a future in musical theatre: this week I’m visualising a sideways-step into dansband. He is a good singer, but there are a lot of good singers out there. And he is certainly no "Idol".

Sometimes I think Daniel Norberg could be a dark horse, as he’s got a little Will Young-quality to his voice and at times he was spot on with the subtlety which "The Long and Winding Road" deserves, although at other times he was less impressive. I think he could be in danger in the next week or two.

On "Help!" Linnea Henriksson looked as if she’d just stepped out of the 60s in her yellow two-piece suit. As usual the gave it the Linnea-treatment with bags of personality and the biggest eyelashes you’ve seen in a long long time. She certainly didn’t need any "help" to stay in the competition one more week.

Bottom two: Linda and Geir, with Linda (pictured below) leaving the competition.

(pictures above courtesy of Aftonbladet and TV4)

It's Beatles Week. Will it be "yeah, yeah, yeah" or will some of them be a "no no no"?

Via Aftonbladet http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/tv/idol2010/article7988077.ab here are this week's songs...

Geir Rönning - ”Love me do”.
Jay Smith - ”A hard days night”.
Elin Blom - ”Can't buy me love”.
Olle Hedberg - ”Helter skelter”.
Alice Hagenbrant - ”Something”.
Linda Varg - ”Ticket to ride”.
Andreas Weise - ”All you need is love”.
Daniel Norberg - ”The long and winding road”.
Linnea Henriksson - ”Help!”.

As ever I'm looking forward to Olle - this might be a bigger challenge than last week but we know he's got the talent, he just needs the right song. "Helter Skelter" sounds more like a Jay song, but we'll see what Olle does with it....

Minnah Karlsson kicked off the evening with her version of "Ambitions". I believe Andreas Carlsson made some negative comments about her last week, which was a bit unfair. There wasn’t too much wrong with this vocally, but maybe it was a little too anonymous and lacked oomph.

Daniel Norberg took on one of the all-time Swedish classic hits, Andreas Johnson’s "Glorious" which was totally inappropriate for his voice and it completely fell apart at the end. He really shouldn’t be given any more rock songs, but he has quite a nice tone to his voice and if he gets the right songs over the next few weeks he could become a contender. Maybe some offbeat acoustic pop, in the Jason Mraz style?

You’ll know by now that I want the overrated Alice Hagenbrant out of the contest, as she is also pretty anonymous. She sang "Breakaway" well enough but that’s the only good thing I have to say about her this week.

I’m no fan of Andreas Weise either, but I’ll admit his vocals were very good on "Feel" although the song was a bit of a mis-match. His voice is more suited to musical theatre and I feel his future lies there, rather than as a pop idol.

Linnea Henriksson in red tights! My favourite girl in the contest did well with her version of The Knife’s "Heartbeats" (original of the Jose Gonzalez hit). Her voice cracked towards the end but she probably got away with it as she may not have a traditionally great voice but has that star quality which some of the other contestants lack.

Linda Varg learned from last week and kept her vocals under control for the always-popular "Iris" and again I probably liked her better this week than I used to.

Olle Hedberg sings Oskar Linnros! The prospect had me full of anticipation, yet sadly it all fell short for me which was probably due to the rubbishy backing-track (also noted by Aftonbladet) which didn’t do him any favours. Whilst I’m an Olle fan I disagree with the panel’s comments that he sang the song better than Oskar. Both singers have different styles and I prefer Olle in a more "raw" mode - hopefully he’ll get back to that next week.

Rock chick Elin Blom’s little niche is to be given songs by other singers with short blonde hair (!) Last week Robyn, this week Pink. I thought this was a very nice version of "I Don’t Believe You" which she sang very well indeed and she has gone up in my estimations.

Jay Smith didn’t exactly step out of the box - or should that be the "Heart Shaped Box" - why, they even had him styled like Kurt Cobain! Fair play to a singer like him daring to take part in a competition like this, where most potential rockstars would avoid it like the plague. But Jay clearly knows the value of Idol as a platform, a stepping stone to better things. Somewhere out there is a rock band out there crying out for a frontman, and he is it.

Finally, Geir Rönning’s version of "Rosanna" was pretty much faultless and note-perfect and very, very impressive, and now I can understand why the Aftonbladet columnist was so enthusiastic. But he is a professional with years of singing experience, which continues to put him at a very unfair disadvantage and I'm still quite uncomfortable with that.

Evicted: Minnah. Not too much of a surprise due to the running order and previously-noted lack of oomph.

Via Aftonbladet http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/tv/idol2010/article7950115.ab here are this week's Swedish Idol songs - and aren't there some cracking song choices in there too! This week's theme is "My Idol" as the contestants take on songs by their favourite artists.

Minnah Karlsson - ”Ambitions” (Donkeyboy)
Daniel Norberg - ”Glorious” (Andreas Johnson)
Alice Hagenbrant - ”Breakaway” (Kelly Clarkson)
Andreas Weise - ”Feel” (Robbie Williams)
Linnea Henriksson - ”Heartbeats” (The Knife)
Linda Varg - ”Iris” (Goo Goo Dolls)
Olle Hedberg - ”Från och med du” (Oskar Linnros)
Elin Blom - ”I don't believe you” (Pink)
Jay Smith - ”Heart shaped box” (Nirvana)
Geir Rönning - ”Rosanna” (Toto)

Of course the one I'm most looking forward to is Olle - especially since he's singing one of my favourite songs by one of my favourite artists. Linnea should be very interesting as always, and I'm also curious to hear Minnah's version of "Ambitions". Oh, and Jay and Linda will probably scream their way through their songs as usual :)

So finally, the auditions are over and the real contest has begun. And there are so many questions....

Is Jay Smith the real deal? Well, he rocked his way through "White Wedding" and even at this point I can see him being pigeonholed with Metallica and Nickelback songs. Unfortunately you will have guessed that I'm in a pretty cynical mood tonight. Sorry.) Anyway, he did what he needed to do.

Why is Andreas Weise there? There's nothing spectacular about him, and his unspectacular version of "For Once In His Life" was a bit too cabaret for these ears. Add to that the negative publicity in the Swedish tabloids over the past week and I'd say he was very lucky to make it to next week, although I can't see him having a long lifespan in this competition.

Could Linda Varg out-Alanis Alanis? Her vocals weren't always perfect, but she totally threw herself into the spirit which the deliciously vitriolic song requires, and completely sold it. I just wonder how she will cope with non-rock songs though and she could maybe lack versatility.

Is Daniel Norberg a boyband member in search of a boyband? Haha. Three cheers for the song choice though (John Mayer's 'Who Says') - you'd never hear this on 'X Factor' and that is why I love Swedish Idol. Anyway he seems promising and it will be interesting to see how he progresses.

Is Elin Blom a girlband member in search of a girlband? I think so. There wasn't too much wrong vocally with her version of Robyn's "Hang With Me", but it lacked the brittle vulnerability of the original. But then again, Robyn is a very hard act to emulate...

Could Olle Hedberg keep up the high standard? I think the answer to that one is 'yes'. I've never been a fan of the song he sang last night 'Talking About A Revolution' but he has such raw passion in his performance that he could sing anything and make it compelling.

Would Sassa Bodensjö do a Pink song justice? "Dear Mr President" is a deceptively simple song with very sharp lyrics, and unfortunately Sassa fell short of what was expected from her. This was one of the night's weakest performances.

Is Linnea Henriksson a potential winner? Although there is no-one of the one-off quirky calibre of Tove Styrke/Amanda Jenssen this year, Linnea is probably the closest to that type of contestant. Her freaky, jazzy reinvention of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" made her one to watch.

Geir Rönning: why? Sorry I couldn't resist this question, given his Eurovision entry of the same name. I still don't think he should be in this contest, as he's not exactly a newcomer but then the same could be said for Linda Varg (ex-Popstars band Supernatural) and Elin Blom (Finnish Eurovision national final contestant) so I guess we should leave it there. Anyway he played it safe with a disappointing version of Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now".

Is Alice Hagenbrant as good as she thinks she is? I'm no fan of the song she sang (Sheryl Crow's "If It Makes You Happy") and there is nothing particularly great, original or charismatic about her, going by this performance.

Which one was Minnah Karlsson again? The worst thing about these competitions is trying to remember everyone and I'd actually forgotten about Minnah. Which was a mistake, as she actually sang "Holding Out For A Hero" quite well, and without any vocal histrionics.

In the end, it was between Sassa and Linda in the bottom two, and Sassa became the first of this year's finalists to exit the competition.

One more question: who's next to go? Answers next Friday.

Via Aftonbladet: http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/tv/article7929548.ab

Here is the line-up for the final of TV4's "Dansfeber" which will take place next Saturday.

Morgan Alling – ”Flashdance”
Ronny Svensson – ”Thriller”
Nassim Al Fakir – ”Single ladies”
Ola Forssmed & Sussie Eriksson – ”Bollywood”
Tobbe Blom & Marko ”Markoolio” Lehtosalo – ”Dirty dancing”
Bönderna (Susanne Brännemo, Peter Gustafsson & Fredrik Karlsson) – ”Never let it go”
TV announcers (Nanna Martorell, Anders Östman & Fredrik Östling) – ”Fångad av en stormvind".

Of course I'll be supporting Nassim Al Fakir next week with his hilarious "Single Ladies". It's no surprise that a lot of the routines which were very popular on the British version have proved equally popular in the Swedish version - however there is a distinctively Swedish touch here as the finalists include two Melodifestivalen winners.

Now you all know how much I love Sweden, and how much I love Swedish music, but can I just tell you something? Now I'm sorry if it won't be popular with a lot of you schlager fans out there, but I'm only stating my opinion. So...

I have never liked "Fångad av en stormvind" and do you know the thing which continues to annoy me the most about it, apart from the fact that it only won on a technicality? That routine. Everything about it annoys me. The tunic. The two-boys-in-the-background thing, variations on which were a staple of many an MF entry in the 80s/90s. The unnecessary use of the wind machine. The choreography. Oh, and Carola herself, who I am not a fan of.

Although I maybe still have a soft spot for "Främling", I guess.

Courtesy of Aftonbladet, http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/tv/idol2010/article7911394.ab
- and a very favourable post by columnist Martin Söderström - here is the list of songs for this week's first Swedish Idol Friday-final. This week's theme is "Who I Am", when the contestants will sing songs which they feel best represent them.

Jay Smith - "White wedding" (Billy Idol)
Andreas Weise - "For once in my life" (Frank Sinatra version)
Linda Varg - "You oughta know" (Alanis Morissette)
Daniel Norberg - "Who says" (John Mayer)
Elin Blom - "Hang with me" (Robyn)
Olle Hedberg - "Talking about a revolution" (Tracy Chapman)
Sassa Bodensjö - "Dear Mr. president" (Pink)
Linnea Henriksson - "Crazy" (Gnarls Barkley)
Geir Rönning - "Need you now" (Lady Antebellum)
Alice Hagenbrant - "If it makes you happy" (Sheryl Crow)
Minnah Karlsson - "Holding out for a hero" (Bonnie Tyler)

According to the Aftonbladet poll, Jay Smith is still the readers' favourite, and our favourite Olle is in second place! Time for an Olle appreciation post :)

Check out the faces in the picture above - they're about to become very familiar over the next few weeks for fans of Swedish "Idol", as they have made the final stages of this year's competition.

Confession time: I didn't have any time to watch any of the audition shows this year, but then I'm not really too bothered if I watch the auditions anyway as I prefer to tune in once the Friday-finals start.

So who's in the final line-up then??

Geir Rönning : firstly, he's not Swedish - he's Norwegian. And if you're a Eurovision fan, you'll be familiar with the name, as in true Scandinavian style he crossed the border and represented Finland back in 2005 with the song "Why" but failed to get out of the semi-finals.

47 year old Geir wowed the viewers this week with his excellent version of one of the biggest Swedish hits of the 90s - "Burnin'" by Cue.

Elin Blom : Finnish rock-chick and member of Sister Twister, whose version of "Nothing Else Matters" was enough to get her through to the final stages.

Sassa Bodensjö: even more of a rock-chick than Elin, Sassa growled her way though "Highway to Hell". Swedish Idol is so refreshing - you would never get this in X Factor!!

Linda Varg : another potential rock-chick in the making, her version of "Bubbly" was OK but not brilliant.

Jay Smith : keeping the rock-theme going, he could maybe be this year's Calle or Erik?

Linnea Henriksson : I haven't heard any of her other songs, but her brittle presentation intrigued me and I'm curious about how she'll progress in this competition.

Alice Hagenbrant : I believe she's one of the favourites, if I'm right? On this showing however I wasn't so thrilled, but that's more to do with her song choice I guess?

Minnah Karlsson: more of a country feel here, as she took on "Not Ready to Make Nice" as her qualifying song.

Daniel Norberg : he's a little bit "boyband" but I'm not sure if there's much potential there?

Andreas Weise : unfortunately he was doomed for me with his song choice, the dreadful "I Believe I Can Fly". No further comment.

Olle Hedberg : just when I was feeling a bit despondent about this year's finalists, along came Olle to get me interested again. And then I checked out his "No Diggity"/"Lady Hear Me Tonight" medley from the audition, and was hooked. I'm not sure how far he'll get in the competition, but I think he's my favourite so far.

The live-finals begin next Friday, 8th October on TV4. May the best contestant win!

OK, I'm almost a week late with this review but I'm painting my house at the moment and there's not enough blogging-time so bear with me...

I previously posted about this year's much-maligned summer singalong shows which the Swedish media seem to take great delight in knocking. Yet on the other hand you can't help thinking there's a agenda at work - think of our own British TV shows like X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing which get press coverage on non-stories and rumours about presenter changes and show overhauls, and all that press gets the desired result - more people tune in and watch the show.

With that in mind - the 'any publicity is good publicity' idea - SVT must have been delighted (although probably not) with the hysteria over the idea that they had allegedly approached Måns Zelmerlöw to take over from Anders Lundin. When in fact they had asked MZW if he's be interested (at some point in the future) and MZW replied yes (at some point in the future). But when did the press ever let the facts get in the way of a good story?

Last Tuesday night, 27,000 people turned up at Skansen to watch the show, just falling short of the record 28,000 who watched Lordi's appearance in 2006 (tack, Wikipedia!!) anyway the massive turnout probably had more to do with who was on the bill than a pro-Anders Lundin show of strength.

If last week was "the week that Allsång fought back" then it was important that the evening kicked off on a high. I know just the man for the job....

Salem Al Fakir - who I have been known to mention once or twice in passing - opened the show with a rousing "4 O'Clock" ...


and closed the show with a triumphant "Keep On Walking"...


Interestingly enough he didn't do an Allsång this time, but it didn't really matter as we got "I'm So Happy" in the internet-only extra-show..


It was his second appearance on Allsång; he made his debut in the 2007 season, just a few months after he had shot to fame - but since then he has gone from a reasonably well known artist to superstar status. Allsång with its audience of all ages and musical tastes, was a perfect environment for Salem's music which appeals to everyone.

Salem has many young fans at the moment and the same could be said for his friend and fellow talented artist Oskar Linnros. The crowd went crazy for Oskar and who could blame them? He gave a fabulous and energetic performance of debut hit "Ack, Sundbyberg"...


Oskar followed that up with an Allsang: "Vem Kan Segla Förutan Vind" and if you caught the extra-show on SVT's website then he also performed the excellent "Från Och Med Du" which was co-written with Christian Olsson from Fibes, Oh Fibes! As if Oskar isn't musically talented enough, he collaborates with some other brilliant musical talents as well!!

Allsång being Allsång, it was inevitable that some of it would be hit-and-miss. At one point it appeared that trumpet-playing, bagpipe-blowing multi-instrumentalist Gunhild Carling was monopolising the show and becoming a bit annoying, but I have to admit she is talented even though that's not my kind of music.

The Real Group seem to have been around forever. Back in 1996 on my first trip to Sweden (Gothenburg) I remember going to Liseberg and seeing a sign advertising their concert there. Yes they are still going and still doing the acapella thing, on this occasion a medley of Swedish-written pop hits.

And then there was Thomas DiLeva, who I vaguely remember from a few years ago but couldn't remember what he looked like. EuropeCrazy readers of a certain age may or may not agree, but when I saw Mr DiLeva he reminded me of Doctor, from Doctor and the Medics, y'know "Spirit In the Sky" and all their other hits....umm.....well "Spirit In The Sky" anyway. At least Thomas DiLeva had many many more hits, the one I remember best is "Vi har bara varandra" which he played at Skansen.

And as for Anders Lundin? He seemed to have a little more 'oomph' although I still feel his time is up, but well done to him anyway for rising above all that media pressure.

IMHO we've seen the best show of the series and it'll be downhill all the way, but I'll still be watching regardless...