ESC 2015 SWEDEN: FINAL LINE UP AND MY LITTLE REVIEW

Sweden, the most anticipated national selection by many, comes to an end this Saturday, giving us one of the very last songs for the Vienna 2015 line up. This season in Sweden has been dominated by young male artists and it would be quite a shock if one of them won't win it in the end. As the final is getting nearer all the pressure is building on Måns Z. Let's see if he will be third time lucky!

Samir & Victor propably has a big local hit in their hands but Eurovision? No way. Good opener but that's all it is, one would not even notice it's actually in the competition.... JTR, another act with some following I suppose, next. Another useless filler in the line up. Medicore boyband stuff. Totally uninteresting. Dinah Nah trusts good old la, la, la and it's an okeyish uptempo number. Unfortunately Dinah herself is the weakest link in it with her flat voice and moves. Jon Henrik, first of the favorites offers a screen full of Lappish and Sami exotism (that I see from comments in various chatrooms and comments has been totally misunderstood by some fans. No, it's not indian stuff, nor anything remotely similar. Read what joik is for example here, shouldn't take too long). I love to listen to this, but I don't like the staging. It's a bit too confusing, too much. More sober approach might have done wonders. Jessica delivers a ballad I liked pretty much the first time, but it is already worn out. Especially when thinking that Vienna line up is already filled with female ballads. Next! And it's Måns, the one to beat and it's easy to see why. The staging is something new and innotative in Eurovision and it works. He performs well, the song is memorable and catchy without being banal. Maybe a bit heard before, yes, but then that never hurt anyone. Plagiatism it isn't, just giving the same vibe. Only that they have to create in Vienna that backing choir with only 5 backing singers... We'll see. Linus offers something already heard and seen. Not bad but not very original either bringing back some most used Eurovision staging clichés on stage. Isa is pretty and young, moves well and sings ... well, not so strong. I find the song very boring. Yawn. Magnus sounds like he found some Lena Ph demo from the late 80's and decided to go with it. Not bad, nicely old fashioned and he's a fine singer. Would this work in Vienna? Maybe not.... Eric next. Looks like he has lost a bit of the superfavorite status but we will see how bad he will sting the televoters Saturday night. For me he's saved by the dirty sax in the song. Without it this would be just ordinary. I'm a bit surprised he has such a simple stage routine. The uplifting finish is already sooo old. I read it was altered as he couldn't sing and dance it well enough. Hmm, he's 24. Madonna 56. Do your math. Mariette could be the dark horse by many. Good performance indeed but she'd be (and has been) only compared to Loreen. They aren't the same at all but at first glance; dark, simple, effective, lights... The ingredients are the same. And we don't want another screamy female midtempo to Vienna, do we? Last but not least Hasse. Now that would be a shocker for Vienna! Good in his own genre. If we can send PKN, Sweden can send Hasse. Let's ruin this 2015 for once and for good!
So, I am in #teammåns. Jon Henrik would do as well, but they have to change the staging in that case. Saade would be the third choise but it would do good to his ego not to win. For once I seem to agree with the polls as these three seem to be topping them all..... How ordinary of me :-)

Samir &Viktor – Groupie

JTR – Building it up

Dinah Nah – Make me (la la la)

Jon Henrik Fjällgren – Jag är fri (Manne leam frijje)

Jessica Andersson – Can’t hurt me now

Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes

Linus Svenning – Forever starts today

Isa – Don’t stop

Magnus Carlsson – Möt mig i Gamla Stan

Eric Saade – Sting

Mariette – Don’t stop believing

Hasse Andersson – Guld och gröna skogar

Comments

ESC 2016 WISH LIST: MARGARET FOR POLAND

Małgorzata Jamroży aka Margaret has also been tipped for Eurovision and apparently she did turn it down but she'd be perfect. She's got a look and persona you can't unnotice nor forget, she's got hit songs, she has been voted or nominated for everything from Trendy artist to the Hope of the Year, Fashion Icon and Glamour Woman of the year besides the usual best video, song, album, debut..... Oh she's also a fashion designer! She's very clever with social medias and would surely use it to her advantage if selected for Stockholm 2016. Her debut album is titled Add the blonde , do we need to say more? Except it includes mostly Swedish written pop tunes like Tell me how are ya , Wasted , Start a fire and Heartbeat . And of course her debut single and internationally noticed Thank you very much that you can enjoy below with all its anti-textil feel. I think she's Eurovision perfection, she's cheeky and fun, can we have her?

SONGS OF THE YEAR 2015: #5 KRISTA SIEGFRIDS - ON & OFF

Krista Siegfrids is delivering nice pop tunes one after another and this one is particularly catchy and soon you will be singing along..... Hopefully her Melodifestivalen entry will be equally good!

ESC 2016 BELARUS: NAKED WITH WOLVES?

Today's funniest Eurovision related story comes from Belarus. Some sources claim Ivan wants to perform on stage naked and with live wolf or wolves. It surely would be a first on Eurovision stage! We have seen some forgotten underwear over the years, and some cardbox animals though..... Is it time to take things a bit further? No, according the rules live animals are not allowed, and Eurovision being a family show nudity won't do either. (It seems to be ok to be half naked if you are a dancer though..... )

Blogilkar exclusive: PASHA PARFENI INTERVIEW

My flying reporter Robert managed to get hold on Pasha Parfeni from Moldova today who has become during this week pretty big favorite to do well. How did he end up in Eurovision, what his goals are and is his granny better than the ones from Buranovo? And will we get a cover album full of Eurovision later on? Find it out here: Why do you want to participate in Eurovision? That's a very difficult question... I want to be a star! A worldstar, ha ha! But I know it's not easy even in Eurovision, only Celine Dion and ABBA have made it. But I can make myself a bit more known, it's good for promotion. After Eurovision I will finish my album and my promo-CD already has nine songs. We will recod maybe 4-5 more and it will make a good album. With what result will you be happy here? Happy? … Top-10! Then I'll be absolutely happy! So if you don't get to the final you will be totally depressed? Yes, maybe... Yes, it would be hard. For me and my team. What are y

GOODBYE, FAREWELL...

The time has come. After all these years, 5,7 million visits, 12.000 articles I guess the time has come. As much as I love and care for Eurovision it just doesn't feel the same. The Corona years took their toll and the past two years and certain decisions have helped me to mature the idea that next year I will hear the songs for the first time in semi-final just like any so called local. The bubble has burst. Add the toxicity in social medias and fandom. The arrogant teenagers who saw their first contest somewhere 2017 or even 2021 who think they know it all and only their opinion matters. Did I mention the toxic atmosphere on social medias? I'm too old for that sh*t. It's been a long ride that took me to various Eurovision on spot as a fan and tourist, as a journalist, as a delegation member. I met some great people, made memories of lifetime. In stressful, sad periods of my life this blog has been my safe place, a place to escape and forget everything else for an hour o

BLOGILKAR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: HANNAH MANCINI

Straight into interview with my Bycycling reporter Robert goes American born Slovenian represent Hannah Mancini. The chatty lady tells us how she ended up from LA to Slovenia and how it is. She does also some serious name dropping. Talks about Slovenian music business. And has her husband turned into an Eurovision maniac?! And how Slovenian does she feel actually? And who would she like to grace the Eurovision stage for Slovenia again? Read it all here: Thank you Hannah for this interview. You're an American woman singing for Slovenia. How on earth did you end up there? I married a Slovenian man! Actually he lived in the States when I met him. I always loved the idea of living in Europe and it was kinda perfect as I met an European man! And he always wanted to come to Europe, his parents emigrated when he was a small child so eventually when the opportunity came, he had a good business thing happening there and also I had some music contacts in Amsterdam and in the UK an

Summer songs: Kylie Minogue - On a night like this

This is one of the songs that make me think of sweaty summer nights, humid air and being slightly drunk... I wonder where that all comes from? Anyways. Kylie Minogue recorded On a night like this, maybe not first but better than Pandora or Anna Vissi . And Lord which is actually great!

CAROLA'S BOOBS STEAL THE SHOW, SVT APOLOGIES

Update! Another thing got Swedes talking last night: Carola's boobs when she was giving away an award. This is not the first time her boombs cause headlines; her misfortunate adventures in the 80's in Japan wer explained with her boobs being too big for Japanese market. Ok.... Or was it the song ? Anyways, Carola apologies and says she thinks the dress is stylish and elegant (even her friends said so) and she's a mature woman in her 40s, not a 16-year-old girl and looks like one. The Swedish Oscars, Guldbagge awards were given out last night. Carola was there as a guest star to sing Barbra Streisand's The way we were when honoring the movie stars who passed away during 2012. However, the cameras were too much on Carola, not on the stars showed in photos in the background and that upset many viewers as that part of the show was to celebrate them, not Carola. Oh well... The producer of the show tells in Aftonbladet the part of the show was made the sam

GREECE: HELENA PAPARIZOU HITS AGAIN WITH HAIDE

Eurovision song contest 2005 winner Helena Paparizou has been enjoying Top-5 hits every year since 2003 with the exception of 2010 and 2014, this latest one being already her 27th! And Haide is charting also in Bulgaria and Finland, of all places. The catchiness of her hits has changed less over the years than her face.... Here's the English version , below the Greek version.

NO AMOR IN ICELAND FOR ÁSDIS MARIA

In Iceland Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2014 started as well. Five songs in the running and two were voted to the final: Gréta Mjöll - Eftir eitt lag and Gissur Páll Gissurarson - Von . To be honest I'm not very suprised about the choices even if I was hoping for Ásdís María Viðarsdóttir - Amor to make it. The people of Björk didn't warm up to that enough, sadly. Also Sverrir Bergmann - Dönsum burtu blús and Vignir Snær Vigfússon - Elsku þú are out but that's ok. Or maybe I would have sent Ásdis Maria with Vignir to the final....Oh well. Next week another five songs and two qualifiers.

Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

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