Lopez Blogs

Idol's team consisting of winner-2008 Kevin Borg, Melodifestivalen-star Sibel Redzep and new public favorites Eddie Razaz and Rabih Jaber have taken part in new season of "Fångarna på Fortet" competing with team of Let's Dance show participants. Sure it was interesting to see these artists climbing the walls, guessing riddles and passing different challenges to earn enough of keys earlier than their rivals to get to a next level. Eddie Razaz was pure star of team winning two challenges (third was won by Kevin) but it wasn't enough and Let's Dance team continued the game without Idols. In next episodes you'll also be able to see other Swedish stars: Anna Book, Arash, Blossom Tainton-Lindquist (Afro-dite), Denise "DeDe" Lopez, Henrik Rongedal, Joacim Cans (HammerFall), Johan Palm, Jonas "Basshunter" Altberg, Pernilla Wahlgren, Regina Lund, Richard Herrey (Herreys), Sara Lumholdt (A-Teens) and Stefan Nykvist (Larz-Kristerz). Check episode with Idol's team rigth below.

NOTE: I wanted to write much more extensively about all of these albums, but time prohibits. So i thought i would at least get some rambling thoughts out there...

BWO - Big Science: It's no secret that I think that BWO are one of the most amazing pop groups of the new millenium, and despair that they are not revered on the same level as Girls Aloud are in Britain (imagine Alexander Bard as a judge on the X Factor instead of Cherevyl and watch viewing figures rocket!). I know many people enjoy BWO but do not worship them in quite the same way I do. That's absolutely hunkydory, and i get their reasons for that, but for me they are consistently enjoyable - hence (ooo fancy) You're Not Alone spending four weeks (to date) at the top of the Fizzypop charts. I've been enjoying their fourth album for a couple of days now streamed on the web, and my physical copy is hopefully winging it's way across Europe to me right now. Right here right now in fact (see what I did there?!) - for that is the song that kicks off the album, and will be the marvelous second single. It seems very understated at first - a mid tempo song with a dance beat, some glorious Marina whispery bits and a subdued chorus, but listen to it a few times and it totally transforms into something monstrously huge. Love Came Crashing Down has a great chorus, piano and strings all over the shop and a strong hook - somewhat (though not massively) of a departure for the group and refreshingly so. Great backing vocals too in the last chorus. Now, i love BWO ballads (Destiny of Love, We Could Be Heroes and Open Door are some of my favourite BWO songs) so the current single You're Not Alone and Kings of Tomorrow work well for me in both ballad form and disco remix. The latter reminds me a little of Pet Shop Boys and The Killers yet i'm not sure why. It's very elegant and well constructed and beautifully performed. Quite lovely in fact. As are the lush slower tracks In Too Deep (a lilting melodic number that certainly doesn't get the praise it deserves)and Singing In My Car (which could quite easily be an amazing Westlife comeback single - imagine the power with which they would get up from their stools!!) Burning Down The House is a delirious almost sixties pastiche song that is part The Promise and part Ace of Base song (can't place which one!) - if The Saturdays came back with a song like this, the charts would go into meltdown with popgasmic joy. Possibly. In other words, it's a great song, but almost sounds like a demo for another act. Rise To The Occasion is back to a more Prototype BWO sound and Electronordica are tipping this as a future single. I would be quite happy with that, although I could quite easily pick about 6 singles from this album (or any BWO album for that matter). Rhythm of the Night (not the Corona song!) does what great pop songs should do - think MYOB by Deborah Gibson, Light Years by Kylie, Stay The Night by Alcazar - all have these great expansive choruses, a little bit of quirkiness in there, a hint of novelty, some uplifting disco beats. This song has all of those and yet seems so simple and accessible - like no effort was put into the genius. That's a compliment by the way. Shoot From The Heart and Thunderbolt are just insanely fantastic. Both are massive epic dance numbers, huge choruses, great catchy hooks, much stronger shades of electro-pop than on other tracks and sound more progressive than any of the other tracks. Overall, a very strong album with some variation on the BWO theme. It may not be enough to win over new fans, but it should hopefully appease those who didn't appreciate Fabricator as much. Quite quite euphorically amazing. (I await more cohesive thoughts from PPG!)
Potential singles: You're Not Alone; Right Here Right Now; Rise To The Occasion; Kings of Tomorrow; Shoot From The Heart

Mans Zelmerlow - MZW: I liked Mans' first album. A lot. Then he did the really really cute duet of All I Want For Christmas and I got a bit obsessed. Then he came back with Hope and Glory (check out the utterly brilliant acoustic version above - totally transforms the song into a wistful ballad that may push BWO from the top of my charts this week) and I am utterly hooked. His new album is Very. Good. Indeed. Plus the git looks utterly amazing even in bad lighting. It's like he's been genetically engineered to show aliens what the perfect human should look like. The album has also been genetically engineered to please lovers of great euro-pop songs and ballads like myself, poppostergirl and yuri! Home would be a brilliant follow up to Hope and Glory with it's insistent Black and Gold-esque beat; Forever is one of the best things he's ever recorded (it's on constant repeat!) - the strings, the chorus, the middle eight, his seductive vocals. It's very yummers and very lush and absolutely must be the third single. It must be quite difficult carving out a niche as a male vocalist in Sweden - Danny has the dance-pop thing down, while Darin has dived into the pool of r'n'b electro. Mans strips down to his swim shorts but only flirtatiously dips his toe into the pool of either of those styles and his refusal to commit leads to a more rounded album. Rewind could easily be a Danny track, though Mans vocals make it soar. And don't worry, if for some baffling reason all the dance is getting you down you could try the very beautiful and elegant A Stranger Saved My Life it really is quite wonderful. And the lovely mid-tempo track that closes the album (Hold On) is prettiness indeed. So overall, a solid pop album from Mans that quite rightly delivers the goods in a variety of genres and all while looking bloody amazing! Fantasmick.
Potential singles: Hope and Glory; Home; Forever; Rewind; A Stranger Saved My Life

Kevin Borg - The Beginning: On Swedish Idol, the adorable young Kevin Borg was - much like Shayne Ward 2 years earlier on X Factor (remember Shayne? He was/is fine! RAR!) - a model of diversity, fun, accessibly stylish, excellent pop star hair and powerful vocals. Just check out his Abba cover (Gimme x3) above. However, much like Shayne Ward, not all of those qualities made it to his debut album. The Idol winners album is probably much more analysed than the runners up - and Kevin suffers ever so slightly for it. However (again with the Shayne comparisons!) like Shayne, his utter likeability makes up for the albums (not particularly significant) faults and it is quite the enjoyable listening experience. It's a mixture of emotive ballads, such as the Glenn Mediros tribute With Every Bit of Me, the swooning Out of Time and lush as freshly laundered sheets The Last Words. Kevin pours himself into the songs and makes them shine (like the top of the Chrysler building). Street Lights isn't a particularly inventive single but it works again because it's catchy enough, strings always make a pop song and the delivery and enthusiasm is faultless. There are hints of greatness here (Paint It Black is wonderful and The Light You Leave On has a certain darkness in it's production that's ironic considering the title) that I firmly have hope will manifest on a second album that will have more time spent on it. Just to be clear though - i really like this album! I just think it could have been even more marvelous had it been delayed a couple of months :)
Potential singles: With Every Bit of Me; Street Lights; Paint It Black; Out of Time

Mesh-29 ~ Strangest Conversation: There is something absolutely hauntingly beautiful about this song that gets me every time I listen to it. Whether it's the gradual build up of instruments (starting with just an acoustic guitar, before adding some lush piano and powerful drums), the distinctive and gorgeous vocals of Adam Mezzatesta or just the big crescendo at the end that is quite spine tingling. The easiest comparison for this group (who are actually on their second album now) is with Keane - it's indie piano led pop that is at once dramatic, intricate, sincere and heartfelt. However, this gorgeous ballad also has hints of Erasure circa their 1995 eponymous electro-classic which was filled with swirling lovely tunes like this. This isn't actually their current single, but you can get it as a free mp3 by signing up to their mailing list here. It's well worth the effort, and I shall be checking out their album as soon as I can...
LINK: Official website

A Band Called Quinn - Glitter Song: Again, not a new band inasmuch as they have been around for a while, but another group I am pleased to have finally discovered, no matter how late I am to the party. This Scottish group are quality indie-pop who mix influences from the world of jazz, electronica and guitar-pop in their 3 minute bundles of ethereal, floating musical creation. Louise Quinn, the lead singer, has a definite eye for visual flair and her vocals lead this catchy little ditty into soft rocking territory. Both glittery and grand at the same time, if you must have a description they are Franz meets Goldfrapp. Check out this live youtube clip of the song to see how much energy sizzles through it in each performance. No free mp3s on their site though. How disappointing. Still, the single bodes well for their Kid Loco produced album out in mid-march, complete with Echo and The Bunnymen guitar work!! Exciting...
LINK: Official website

Ballas Hough Band - Do It For You: Apparently there is some connection with Dancing With The Stars with this band, which may lead to them being seen as a bit gimmicky or uncool with my US blog friends. However, the pounding drum beats, the intoxicating melody and the singalong chorus are all quite addictive - no surprise really as it's co-penned by the new American Idol judge Kara DioGuiardi who is the Cathy Dennis of the USA. I was expecting something a bit more countrified from them, so this made-for-us-pop-radio smash in waiting is quite a delightful surprise. More cool points for me with my musical tastes then - and i'm shallow enough to admit i only checked them out initially because i thought one of them was pretty :) Check out the video on AOL here...
LINK: Official website

Kevin Borg - Street Lights: Kevin Borg is the David Archeluta/Gareth Gates of Sweden. A perfectly nice young man that parents of teen girls would be delighted if he was bought home for a spot of tiffin, who churns out inoffensive but catchy pop/balladry that westlife do so well. His debut single (With Every Little Beat) was a made for an idol winner ballad that ticked all the right boxes - nicely euphoric key change, soaring chorus and a strong vocal delivery. Street Lights is now the equivalent of Shayne Ward releasing No Promises after the glorious That's My Goal - it's perfectly acceptable, even quite nice for some reason but not exactly innovative stuff. I do like it though, and I am still looking forward to Kevin's debut album (the cover of which is quite stylish, much more so than his single cover) - again thanks to PPG for the heads up on this future pop sensation (one hopes)...
LINK: Offical website

Tomorrow: Single selection from the girls - Laleh, Eloise, Lenka and Marit...

Doing an online Christmas card of seasonal goodness is all well and good, but sometimes you miss out on blogging about all the amazing pop stuff going on throughout the month of December. So I thought I would catch up on some of the essential pop brilliance hitting our ears as I speak... and to keep it festive, let's start with something a little bit holiday spiritish!

Look! It's Sean and Sarah in festive message shocker! How exciting. Yes, they could have at least made a bit of an effort with the photo, but at least they made up a nice poem clearly designed to entice people to buy their lots of fun "Pop" album. That peaked at #22. And actually therein lies the problem. More than most new albums out that week, S'Diff were a victim of the collapse of Woolworths - still you can't get their album at Amazon until January due to distribution problems. I choose to believe that they could have easily gone top 15 had it not been for the economic climate... Anyway, it looks very much like there WILL be a second single from the giddy album and it very much looks like it will be If You Can't Dance. I am very very pleased by this indeed. While I might have gone for Better Love Me or Turn It Into Love, i am fairly in love with this Scissor-Sisters-Meets-Alphabeat-Remixed-by-Pete-Hammond frisky little number. It's the musical equivalent of the shirt, bow-tie and black waistcoat with jeans look of the party season - instantly vintage as soon as you happen upon it, but effortlessly brilliant without even trying. Let's hope it chalks up another top 13 hit for them :)

• View Same Diff performing If You Can't Dance live...(incredibly the choreography for the chorus is EXACTLY the same as when they performed this similar number!)
• The most amazing X Factor performance ever (All I Want For Christmas Is You) and the same song performed less than 500 metres from my house!!

As i have mentioned a million and one times before, Spectacular is coming and is going to make such a star out of my beloved Simon Curtis, that he will be sweating gold in 2009. Nickelodeon are wisely ramping up the hype for this movie, which will air early next year - here are some very valid reasons why Simon and the movie will rock those High School Musical socks right off your feet...

1. The promotional picture above is very Dreamgirls in it's execution. This is very good because just like Dreamgirls, where Beyonce was the star and Jennifer Hudson became the breakout act, the same thing will happen here. Simon will be huge!
2. So fret not that Simon is in the background, because he is also wearing an outfit very similar to Mark Owen in the Shine video. And Mark Owen is rocking all over the new take that cd. So another positive yet totally unrelated thing.
3. Remember Richard Marx? Ask your grandma. Anyway, the producers of the movie do because the two songs available for preview on the Spectacular official myspace are quite rocky Richard Marx-esque. This is not necessarily a bad thing. My spidy senses tell me that the Simon songs will blow these out the water in an amazing Britannia High/Same Difference sort of way.
4. In the picture below, Simon gets the honour of not only spooning the gorgeous and amazingly named Victoria Justice, but also gets the Nickelodeon splodge in his perfectly tousled hair. Poor Gerard Nolan gets what looks like the dribble of Perez Hilton's mouse behind him :(
5. The choir in the movie is called Ta-Da. This is brilliant for several reasons. It was very nearly the name of the boyband in my gestating for 2 years novel. It is also the name (avec hyphen) of the much maligned but quite smashing Scissor Sisters album. Frankly I would've killed to be in a choir called Ta-Da at school.
6. On the character description page of the Spectacular website, Simon's character is described as an amazing performer. This is of course true in real life. What is far more important, is that Simon is wearing the same outfit that Sean does in the All I Want For Christmas video in the Same Diff bit above. Coinky dink? Je ne pense pas.
7. As much as I am looking forward to this movie, I am looking forward to it enabling Simon to release the fantastic Alter Boy album. I have been harping on about it for 2 1/2 years now, it's about time it was foisted on the world :)
8. There is no number 8.
   

More Pop Essentiallity

• Thanks to Poppostergirl, I am completely aware that Sweden now has it's very own David Archeluta, only much less nauseating. While I lick my wounds from poor JLS not winning X Factor, and get more and more annoyed with Alexandra (does she really think she has the right to dictate what Hallelujah is really about? Hmmm...), Kevin Borg is an idol I can get behind. At least for a while. Cute as a button and singing some derivative of Glenn Mediros' Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You, it's a decent winners song and the type of treacly number i sometimes enjoy. Here's to a more diverse debut album...
• Want to hear an amazing version of Hallelujah that isn't the Jeff Buckley version? Thanks to a tip off from Ruthiepoos you can :)
• It's rubbishy and annoying and possibly the worst thing on the radio at the moment, but I can't help but get sucked into Peter Kaye's Geraldine's Christmas number. I'm just off to watch the follow up to his tv special from earlier this year. I'll report back on that and the Britannia High finale on Sunday (along with a review of MY christmas number ones of the millenium!)
• Went to see Inkheart t'other night. While it's not quite as charming and magical as Stardust, it's certainly rather enchanting and comes quite close at times. Unbelievably I sat on a cheese and onion quiche from Morrisons (i know, the box was still there) and then got catapulted twice by the woman behind who felt the need to pull on the back of my chair everytime she heaved her hefty frame up out of her seat. Lovely. None of this detracted however, and again - while no Take That Rule The World - the final song is quite elegant.
• More best of lists at D'Luv, DanUSA and DanUK. Hurrah! A round up of the best of the lists is at poppostergirl!!
• Best wishes to the lovely Adem who is proper poorly sick in hospital with some sort of hideous throat ailment :( Get well soon buddy!