Swedish~ Stereo~

Like probably it happens in every country some Swedish pop-stars are usually involved in doing voices of Disney cartoons and I already told you about Joakim Berg and Ola making their Disney contributions.
I already mentioned Måns and Molly singing in Swedish parts of Tangled characters but as a new Disney compilation (including also tracks with Jessica Andersson, Peter Jöback and Brandur) is out it's a good reason to remind you about beautiful duo of Måns and Molly "Nu När Jag Ser Dig" which has become its first track.
Thanks for the tip to Popdrömmen.

This year's Rosa Bandet (Pink Ribbon) show has grown to something bigger than one-night concert. TV3 has gathered nine Swedish pop-stars (Lill-Babs, Sonja Aldén, Linda Sundblad, Jill Johnson, Sanne Salomonsen, Alex Saidac, Arja Saijonmaa, Pauline and Molly Sandén) to make three shows dividing them by three with a talk-part and live-concert part. And has made a big gala with them afterwards (you can check it here). Good idea but how nice it has become for real you can realize watching some performances below.

Another show inviting Eric Saade and Molly Sandén lately is Lotta på Liseberg. You probably also expect Diamond Dogs here again as well but no we've got After Dark's Christer Lindarw with his parody and a bit of "Euphoria" which has turned not less enjoyable.

Tone Damli - Look back

We get a love Molly live on TV lately and actually why not? The girl is adorable in live performances and have a proper bunch of pop-stuff on her second album. So let the lady sing more, she can do it great! She has visited Sommarlov with "Why Am I Crying" and "Unchained" today and look what has come out of this.

The biggest highlight of today's Sommarkrysset was dancing Molly Sandén!
Yes, she has proved on Let's Dance that she can dance but Molly making dance pop-performance? You should check it.
Caligola, common project of Mando Diao and Salazar Brothers, that has made a well international shot lately has presented their hit-single "Forgive Forget". And we've also got Brolle rock'n'rolling and Uno Sveningsson with foreign guests Stooche.

Uno Sveningsson - Vågorna
Frispråkarn och Uno Sveningsson - Lillebror
Stooshe - Black heart

New Molly Sandén's new double single has arrived, two tracks "Unchained" and "Mirage" from her latest album were chosen to give her album a further promotion.
"Unchained" was pretty logical choice from the very beginning, soft pop-track dancing with tears in a Robyn's drama way, not too clubby and not too tragical. "Mirage" brings out our ballad-Molly back growing slow while you expect it to turn into a schlagertastic dance but it doesn't happen. Instead it's marching till the end very beautifully and emotionally. And again it's very dramatical like the most of Molly's stuff but we love drama and we love Molly!

Line-up of yesterday's Allsång på Skansen has become pretty different by genres - alternative rock-band, ballad schlager-girl, acoustic pop-guy and DJ. That would be a big experiment to get Basshunter and Dead By April to Allsång på Skansen though they are as beloved characters by Swedes as Molly Sandén and Erik Hassle and were very welcome. By the way Eric Saade again was supporting Molly sitting in disguise among the audience.

May premiere I've missed during my ESC-vacation. Molly Sandén's album "Unchained" which has rightfully made Top-5 has included a duo "A Little Forgiveness" with Danish singer Christopher who actively promotes his own stuff in Denmark since the last autumn.
Song was written by Aleena Gibson standing behind "Spread a Little Light" and "Why Am I Crying" and yes, it's a balad but again this is completely another sort of ballad. When "Spread a Little Light" had pop-rock sound and "Why Am I Crying" was pure Leona Lewis-inspired pop "A Little Forgiveness" is a ballad wrapped in a heavy electronic layers and it's the most dramatic track out of this family. You know that Molly can delivers drama perfectly so we were happy to know that Christopher isn't bad in it at all. Guys' voices have become wonderfully fit for each others and they've proved it live in Nyhetsmorgon. You can also check Molly's performace of "Why Am I Crying" and the title-track of the album "Unchained".

One week left before Melodifestivalen-2012 grand final and participants of this year present their songs on TV-shows, record promo-stuff for web and doing all the rest to get more attention bonuses in this really short period.
Below you can watch performances of Molly Sandén visiting Nyhetsmorgon with "Why Am I Crying?", "Spread A Little Light" and Whitney's "I Have Nothing" (and two first ones in XL Live), Danny Saucedo and Lisa Miskovsky with acoustic versions of their songs and Sean Banan performing his schlager-entry in Nyhetsmorgon.
Tonight Sweden will decide who will be the last two finalists of this year. You can watch rehearsals of Andra Chansen on SVT site (just scroll down a bit).

New bunch of Melodifestivalen participants is delivered and we check 1-minutes rehearsals of next schlager-heroes of this year.
Youngblood have presented "Manboy"-cousin armed with torches and Thomas Benstem's choreography. Maria BenHajji has brought 203 candles and her upgraded schlager-ballad. Mattias Andréasson from E.M.D. starts his solo-career with American electronic pop-mix of Oscar Linnros r'n'b direction (my absolute favorite of this semifinal by snippets). Love Generation are back with RedOne's marching dance-tune and Alex Sparrow-inspired show from Sacha Jean-Baptiste. Carolina Wallin Pérez has melancholic indie-track, bunch of drummers and butterfly-confetti. Andreas Johnson doesn't break what worked well for him when he has started with "Sing For Me" arena-oriented pop-rock. Molly Sandén's song is Leona Lewis-sounding dramatic ballad that I can't compare with any other song Molly did before but I save my judgments before I'll listen to it in a full version. And finally Swedish writer Björn Ranelid with ex-Caracola Sara Li. I'm not even gonna try to understand that buzz around Björn, I'll be just enjoying Sara Li's lovely bubblegum-part that sounds especially good after Björn's "there-is-such-a-promising-dance-production-so-read-faster-and-let-the-chorus-start" part.

Merry Christmas, dear readers! Swedish TV presents a nice set of Christmas concerts with wonderful bunch of Swedish pop artists and we're gonna check what you've probably missed but still can watch online.

TV3's Julkonsert was visited by Thomas Di Leva with new single "Julens Stjärna" (5.15), Takida performing their latest promoted track "You Learn" (11.50), Jill Johnson expectedly singing "I väntan på julen" (16.07) and "Away in a manger" (33.12), Erik Hassle and (seems like really new track, I still can't find any info) "Stay" (24.30) and wonderful Loreen making acoustic version of "My Heart Is Refusing Me" (28.40) with One Voice featuring Caroline Jönsson, Britta Bergström and Simon Hassle.

Last snippet of JulLotta included performances of Magnus Carlsson with new Christmas single "It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year" (7.35) and "O Helga Natt" (38.30), Elisa's "Jag Säger Som Det Är" (10.55) and they've even made folk-and-artists-karaoke "White Christmas" in duo (26.40) and "Vi Äro Musikanter" (35.40).

Yesterday we've got special Bingolotto show with premiere of "Last Christmas" from Youngblood I already wrote about, guys have come back once again to perform "All I Want For Christmas Is You" with their future schlager-rival Molly Sandén (1.57.15), you could also watch Robert Wells with Vocalettes (00.40, 2.50.08) and Sofia Källgren singing recently released Christmas duo "I Julens Tid" (2.14.00), Jill Johnson making "Christmas With You" solo (54.34) and singing "En julsaga" in duo with Niklas Hjulström (1.44.50). Idol-2011 runner-up Robin Stjernberg was performing cover of Beyonce's "Halo" (1.09.50).

And finally a small acoustic piece of Christmas-Måns who should've appeared on any/every of these concerts but has just performed newest single "Kära Vinter" at #AdamLive.

You probably have already managed to read about official line-up of Melodifestivalen-2012 on some ESC or Swedish music related sites. I wasn't in a hurry as all of these artists but one were quessed before and you could read about them here. Anna Järvinen has refused to participate in the last moment so she was replaced by David Lindgren. Danny has also changed his song for more proper for MF right before official announcement.
I've collected some descriptions of tracks from SVT, QX, Schlagerprofilerna, Scandipop and Schlagerzoot so you could realize in common what should we expect from MF this time.
Pictures are taken from expressen.se and svd.se.

Semifinal 1: Växjö

Loreen "Euphoria"
(Thomas G:son, Peter Boström)
- dynamic, mystic and dramatic song with "Cry Me A River"-feeling and ambient-sound crawling under your skin.


The Moniker "I Want To Be Chris Isaak (This Is Just the Beginning)"
(Daniel Karlsson (The Moniker))
- track having nothing common with "Oh My God", it's more green than golden, not attached to any genre, more rhythmic and oriental.


Thorsten Flinck & Revolutionsorkestern "Jag reser mig igen"
(Thomas G:son, Ted Ström)
- heavy melodic track in classic schlager-tradition with at the same time personal and common lyrics.


Dead by April "Mystery"
(Pontus Hjelm)
- epic (not a ballad) pop-metall in-your-face track with a strong chorus not written especially for MF sounding in a vein of the latest band's album, the hardest MF entry ever.


Abalone Dots "På väg"
(Rebecka Hjukström, Sophia Hogman, Louise Holmer, Viktor Källgren)
- melancholic love ballad with banjo in a minor and nyckelharpa typical for Abalone Dots style.


Marie Serneholt "Salt & Pepper"
(Lina Eriksson, Mårten Eriksson, Figge Boström)
- swinging and spicy uptempo-track.


Sean Banan "Sean Den Förste Banan"
(Sean Simadi (Sean Banan), Joakim Larsson, Hans Blomberg, Mårten Andersson)
- typical Sean Banan's entertaining track without any calm moment and with a message that everybody can be a king in their own ways.


Afro-Dite "The Boy Can Dance"
(Figge Boström, Catrine Loqvist, Johan Lindman)
- 70s inspired happy disco track with a modern sound.


Semifinal 2: Göteborg

Andreas Lundstedt "Aldrig Aldrig"
(Niclas Lundin, Maria Marcus, Randy Goodrum)
- melancholic uptempo song about breaking up, not a disco but this is the song you can dance and cry listening to.


Top Cats "Baby Doll"
(Mårten Eriksson, Lina Eriksson, Susie Päivärinta)
- positive energetic rock'n'roll track in a full tempo.


Mimi Oh "Det går för långsamt"
(Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Niclas Lundin)
- slightly 80s inspired honest and straight bombastic pop-track with catchy choruses and modern sound.


Thomas Di Leva "Ge aldrig upp"
(Thomas Di Leva)
- uplifting energetic song with a certain message.


Sonja Aldén "I din himmel"
(Sonja Aldén, Bobby Ljunggren, Peter Boström)
- recognizable follow-up of "För att du finns", calm but strong and pulsating.


David Lindgren "Shout It Out"
(Fernando Fuentes, Tony Nilsson)
- positive dance-track requiring big dance-performance.


Ulrik Munther "Soldiers"
(Ulrik Munther, Johan Åberg, Linnea Deb, Joy Deb, David Jackson)
- fresh pop-rock song about relationships and forgiveness with millitary feeling not going too far from Ulrik's debut album sound and closer to his "The Box".



Timoteij "Stormande hav"
(Kristian Lagerström, Johan Fjellström, Stina Engelbrecht, Jens Engelbrecht)
- energetic pop-folk uptempo schlager with Irish influences and heavier than their previous stuff though in a same vein.


Semifinal 3: Leksand

Mattias Andréasson "Förlåt mig"
(Mattias Andréasson)
- fresh Swedish pop with American influences (earlier described as r'n'b in Swedish sounding in Oskar Linnros' style).



Maria BenHajji "I mina drömmar"
(Nanna Sveinsdóttir, Thomas Cars)
- webjoker - classic schlager-ballad from "För att du finns" and "Med hjärtat fyllt av ljus" family.


Love Generation "Just A Little Bit"
(Nadir Khayat (RedOne), John Mamann, Jean-Claude Sindres, Teddy Sky, Yohanne Simon, Bilal "The Chef" Hajji)
- explosive pop-track with attitude, power and happiness.



Andreas Johnson "Lovelight"
(Andreas Johnson, Peter Kvint)
- Faces go partying with T Rex, Blur and Robbie Williams, positive track with gospel-touch closer to a style of Andreas' first MF-entries "Sing For Me", "A Little Bit Of Love".


Björn Ranelid feat. Sara Li "Mirakel"
(Fredrik Andersson, Björn Ranelid)
- clubby track with happy chorus and poetic lyrics.


Carolina Wallin Pérez "Sanningen"
(Michael Clauss, Martin Bjelke, Carolina Wallin Pérez, F Dread)
- drum cavalcade melancholic synth-pop crossing borders and flirting with rock.


Molly Sandén "Why Am I Crying"
(Molly Sandén, Aleena Gibson, Windy Wagner)
- modern pop-ballad with honest lyrics about broken heart that many are gonna take as personal.


Youngblood "Youngblood"
(Fredrik Kempe, David Krüger)
- uptempo feelgood sing-a-long track with modern sound and recognizable Fredrik Kempe's style.


Semifinal 4: Malmö

OPA "Allting blir bra igen"
(Michael Sideridis)
- swinging, catchy, Greek folk-pop.


Danny Saucedo "Amazing"
(Danny Saucedo, Peter Boström, Figge Boström)
- uptempo track from "In The Club" team, more positive and arena-oriented.


Lotta Engberg & Christer Sjögren "Don't Let Me Down"
(Lasse Holm, Lars "Dille" Diedricson)
- mature euroschlager with modern sound and adrenaline rush.


Hanna Lindblad "Goosebumps"
(Hanna Lindblad, Linda Sundblad, Tony Nilsson)
- 80s inspired song with loads of energy and love.


Axel Algmark "Kyss mig"
(Axel Algmark, Mattias Frändå, Jonathan Magnussen)
- happy pill with party feeling.



Dynazty "Land Of Broken Dreams"
(Thomas G:son, Thomas "Plec" Johansson)
- 90s hardrock song hitting you like a punch.


Charlotte Perrelli "The Girl"
(Fredrik Kempe, Alexander Johnsson)
- fresh clubby uptempo sing-along track with electro-sound and schlager-glitter.


Lisa Miskovsky "Why Start A Fire"
(Lisa Miskovsky, Aleksander With, Bernt Rune Stray, Berent Philip Moe)
- forest minstrel in love with Prince and Kate Bush.