Swedish~ Stereo~

Let's keep on surfing Swedish Christmas TV and check what SVT has prepared for us.
Well, the most interesting I've found is the beginning of Så ska det låta season with Christmas theme and 4 popular artists - Malena Ernman, Sarah Dawn Finer, Kalle Moraeus and Peter Jöback. Opera, folk, soul and newly musical stars all had Christmas releases in the past and it was definitely interesting to check how they'll be sounding together. You can watch the whole show here and some performances below.

Last two weeks I wasn't excited enough about Moraeus med mera performances though the list of guests wasn't bad - at least you'll probably will be interested in Europe or Laleh, then you'll be able to check them here.
Anyway it was all about Malena Ernman and partly jazzy, partly bossa nova version of her Melodifestivalen-winning entry "La Voix" for me. You can enjoy it below along with Giacomo Puccini's aria "O Mio Babbino Caro".

Ladies and gentlemen, here's the greatest schlager-medley I've seen so far! Melodifestivalen-stars have joined forces on Gaygalan to perform for Christer Björkman and it has turned to 15 minutes of schlager-classics from Shirley Clamp, Love Generation, Andreas Johnson, Sarek, Sanna Nielsen, Linda Bengtzing, Afro-dite, Jenny Silver, Malena Ernman, Swingfly, Måns Zelmerlöw, Charlotte Perelli. Incredible summarizing of the latest Melodifestivalen decade!

Swedish TV-channels keep presenting some nice music surprises and we've got pretty...unusual combination of artists from TV4. Shirley Clamp and Thomas Di Leva. Seems like this company was missing Dead By April to make idea of this concert even more weird but as Di Leva has become a new schlager-star and undoubtedly on the way to deliver new "Min Kärlek" we can see a point. TV4 has blocked whole concert from foreigners again so we can't watch everything Shirley has performed but still here are some videos appearing on youtube.

Kalle Moraeus is responsible for Christmas mood on SVT and he has got three incredible guests in a series of small acoustic performances you can watch online as well - Malena Ernman, Sarah Dawn Finer and Måns Zelmerlöw. We already start loving TV-Sarah and now absolutely sure she can be amazing host.

Two grand non-schlager ladies of schlager-land and just old good friends Malena Ernman and Sarah Dawn Finer have come up with a cover of classic "Sankta Lucia (Strålande Helgonfé)" on their new compilation "En Riktigt God Jul" where they've gathered their best previously released Christmas songs and logically have made a duo.
If you're wondering how opera-singer and soul-artist can fit each other - after listening to it you're gonna be wondering why it is the only duo of Malena and Sarah as the song sounds like two music worlds united by two powerful voices and magic, soulful atmosphere of Christmas.
You can listen to this track streaming online in wonderful Schlagerfiasko advent calendar (clicking at December 9th) where you're also gonna get some other Christmas goodies (like for example Swedish Stereo's song of this Christmas at December 3rd).

The wait is over for Sarah Dawn Finer's fans as her new single "Is Anybody There" is on the way and the artist has presented it yesterday in Nyhetsmorgon studio with Samuel Ljungblahd.
Though we expected it to become something heavily Christmas inspired it has turned to be soul track closer to the first Sarah's album, quite melodic, a bit dramatic and absolutely enjoyable.
Next Friday Christmas compilation of Sarah and Malena Ernman "En Riktigt God Jul" should be released with some songs from the latest Christmas albums of both. Also both singers have recorded "Strålande Helgonfé" in duo, Malena has made a new cover to "Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle" and "Is Anybody There" will also be included.
Sarah has also performed two Christmas songs from "Winterland" - "Wintersong" and "Angel" and I should say that the first one was one of the most touching music moments for the recent few months for me. What an incredible voice!

New week - new pleasant summer evening in Skansen with Måns Zelmerlöw and his star guests.
This time bunch of artists was completely uncategorizable. Bo Kaspers Orkester performed their hits "Undantag", "I Samma Bil" and "En sländas andetag". Melodifestivalen-2011 participant Pernilla Andersson was singing her "Desperados" and "Som en ö". Vocalettes (female trio that you probably haven't heard about but you should know one of its members - schlager-veteran Caroline Jönsson) and Lena-Maria Klingvall were covering old songs. Petter was making "Stockholm i mitt hjärta" with Vanessa Falk. What?! Oh, Vanessa!!! It was unexpected!
Finally fantastic Malena Ernman was as fantastic as she usually is presenting her new single "I det fria" and making fantastic performance with Måns! You can watch whole show here.

Malena Ernman - I det fria
Malena Ernman och Måns - Där ska du ge mig handen
Malena Ernman - Swing it magistern
Petter - Stockholm i mitt hjärta
Pernilla Andersson - Som en ö
Pernilla Andersson - Desperados
Lena-Maria Klingvall - Barfotavisan
Vocalettes - Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
Vocalettes och Måns - Don't fence me in
Bo Kaspers Orkester - Undantag
Bo Kaspers Orkester - I samma bil
Bo Kaspers Orkester - En sländas andetag
Allsång - Jazzgossen
Allsång - Pärleporten
After Shave - Medley
Allsång - Oh boy, Oh boy, Oh boy

Yesterday Lotta Engberg has made big present for us inviting artists we love especially - Malena Ernman, The Poodles, Pauline, Christoffer Hiding and Swingfly. How can we categorize them all? You wouldn't expect any of them to appear at Melodifestivalen but they were there and succeeded quite well (probably Pauline not so much but still Andra Chansen is someting).
Malena was singing her biggest hit "La Voix" and fresh single "I det Fria", Swingfly performed his latest singles "Me and my drum" with Christoffer Hiding (receiving absolutely fantastic public reaction - you could expect it at least won Melodifestivalen) and Pauline has joined guys for "Little did I know". The Poodles were performing acoustic versions of their classic hit "Night of passion" and new single "Cuts like a knife", Evert Taube's "Änglamark" and "Skönheten och odjuret" together with Malena. Another guest of the show was Talang-2011 patricipant Rasmus Eriksson with "Änglahund" and his ows song "Cowboy superstar". Watch whole episode here and best pieces below.

Malena Ernman - La voix
Malena Ernman - I det fria
Swingfly - Me and my drum
Swingfly feat. Christoffer Hiding och Pauline - Little did I know
The poodles - Night of passion
The poodles - Cuts like a knife
Malena Ernman och Jakob Samuel - Skönheten och odjuret
Rasmus Eriksson - Cowboy superstar
Allsång - Änglahund
Allsång - Igelkottaskinnet
Allsång - Änglamark
Allsång - Loppan
Allsång - Hålligång i skogen

Melodifestivalen-2009 winner Malena Ernman will release new opera album "Opera Dei Fiori" on July 6. Seems like the contest has given really big push to career of Malena, it's already 3rd album for just 2 years and like both previous - post-MF "La voix du nord" and Christmas "Santa Lucia - En klassisk Jul" charted at #1 and #2 we can expect huge success for a new one too. Schlager-fans will probably still be disappointed as Malena's not going to come back to her pop-experiments and we find this solution pretty wise as it's the most important thing after MF - to find non-schlager niche and to do the most to establish yourself there making people forget about your schlager-label and Malena has her fantastic voice, charisma and uniqueness to do it.
Still new album contains one pleasant surprise for all pop-fans - brand new single "I Det Fria" written by Fredrik Kempe and Malena's husband Svante Thunberg, produced by Danne Sundquist and it's right that sort of epic nordic opera-ballads with Swedish folk-touch and huge orchestral arrangement you can expect from author of "My Heart Is Yours" but still making a big step from pop to opera and folk. It's as massive as you'd love it to be so I know you're gonna enjoy it!

Another great success for Malena Ernman - King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf rewarded her with title Royal Court Singer given to the most respectable Swedish (mostly opera) singers who proudly present Swedish vocal in international scales. This is tradition that came from 17th-century and last time was given 4 years ago. Malena received this title together with opera singers Anna Larsson and Miah Persson.
Malena's Christmas album "Santa Lucia - En klassisk Jul" is 3rd week in Top-3 of album chart, we talked about it recently so if you're not convinced yet if you're gonna like it you can check Malena's performance in Nyhetsmorgon today with some of album tracks, it's beautiful!

This week Filipp Kirkorov's cover of Malena Ernman's hit "La Voix" has become song of the year due to awards Golden Gramophone arranged by biggest radiostation Russkoe Radio (Russian Radio) playing Russian music, author of the song Fredrik Kempe was invited and received warm greetings of Filipp from the stage.
Malena leaving "La Voix" era back in 2009 has released brand new Christmas album "Santa Lucia - En klassisk Jul" that already reached #2 in a second week of sales.
The word "classic" in title is very honest definition of the album as you won't find here any compromises and flirting with pop like it was on previous "La voix du nord" album. It's pure opera album with a mix of traditional Christmas songs ("Jul, jul strålande jul", "Stilla Natt", "Betlehems Stjärna") and classic arias of Mozart, Bach, Händel, Fauré and Andrew Lloyd Webber perfectly performed by Malena's oustanding vocal with orchestral arrangement conducted by Gustaf Sjökvist and produced by Bengt-Åke Lundin. If you heard previously performed Pie Jesu and Koppången with a bit cold nordic but crystal clean and massive operatic sound you can see a whole picture of album - get it as opera masterpiece, get it as background album breathing Scandinavian Winter spirit while you're making some Christmas preparations, get is as something difficult to understand for pop-fans but don't ignore it expecting schlager-winner album as first of all it's the album from one of the best European opera singers and "Santa Lucia - En Klassisk Jul" completely proves it.
Below you can watch new charming Malena's performance of "Marias Vaggsång" - one of album tracks.

Charlotte Perrelli, Malena Ernman and Sissela Kyle are back with their successful concert-programme that they premiered year ago in Berwaldhallen (Stockholm) - no need to tell that concerts were sold out and this year they were performing it again 2 days for Norrköping's audience so people could enjoy hits of both Malena and Charlotte, humoristic acts of Sisella and many other funny performances. You can check full setlist here and I would like to put your attention on the most lovely piece of this programme - Charlotte singing "Hero" with orchestra - what a powerful and graceful performance! Duet of Malena and Charlotte singing "Tell Him" also worth watching.

Malena Ernman & Charlotte Perrelli - Tell him
Charlotte Perrelli - One night only
Malena Ernman, Charlotte Perelli, Sissela Kyle - Lottakåren
Berwaldhallen Cut
Malena Ernman - Min plats på jorden

Recently Charlotte revealed on her blog that she's planning new album for next Spring-early Summer, quite exciting news as last studio-album "Hero" (not counting Christmas album "Rimfrostjul") was real pop-heaven! By the way I'm not sure you saw gorgeous cover of first Charlotte's huge release with band Wizex so here it is, the album "Mot nya mål", looks amazing doesn't it?

I should also give you a tip about recently released video for South African star Patricia Lewis who has made a cover for "Hero". Eurovision and Melodifestivalen covers are quite popular among South African artists so from time to time we get some interesting works and now you can check example of one.

Probably I could not to write about amazing trio of Martin Stenmarck, Linda Pritchard and Jessica Marberger performing at "A Grand Evening" Christmas show...


...though I guess you remember I commpensated it with news about Sanna Nielsen, Shirley Clamp and Sonja Aldén Swedish Christmas album "Vår Jul"...


...and Måns Zelmerlöw who will release his first Christmas album and (I haven't told about it) will join girs in Christmas tour second year in a row, this time with help of Brandur and Björn Kjellman...


But these great news have arrived just now!!!


New Malena Ernman's Christmas album "Santa Lucia" will be released on November 17th and officially it's the most exciting Christmas release I've ever heard about!!! In Christmas period Malena will be touring a lot and to understand how heavenly can Malena sound with this sort of song check her performance at Nordiske Julkoncert year ago.

Swedish music lovers keep enjoying by all the music stuff and events currently being held in Stockholm and yesterday everyone could've got a pleasure to watch a great concert in Konserthuset with some top-artists and surprisingly alive responsing audience, Victoria herself was incredibly charming and beautiful, but don't worry if you've missed it, you still can enjoy it here. You can find some really brilliant performances there. For example Sarah Dawn Finer performing her beautiful new single "Kärleksvisan" (Swedish version of song "For A Friend" from her last album), Salem al Fakir with his new devotional song "All Day Love" (that you can download for free on this site if you'll manage to be one of the first 5000) and magical charming performance, Lisa Nilsson with her version of Kent's song "Utan Dina Andetag" (that really loked like my personnal discovery of this artist who seems like a real classics of Swedish music), Peter Jöback with his cover Charles Aznavour's "She", Malena Ernman with some absolutely brilliant performances proving her like a real Goddess of the stage, Roxette with their comeback to a big stage, performance of "The Look" and standing ovations and other performances of Helen Sjöholm, The Real Group, Jazz Divas of Scandinavia (Cæcilie Norby, Silje Nergaard, Rigmor Gustafsson), Lars Cleveman, Magnus Uggla and others. You can check some of these performances below.

Sarah Dawn Finer & Lisa Nilsson - At Last
Peter Jöback - She
Helen Sjöholm - Hymne à l'amour
Magnus Uggla - Värsta grymma tjejen
Lars Cleveman - Nessum Dorma
Malena Ernman & Roland Pöntinen - Jeg Elsker Dig
Various artists - Can't help falling in love

Darin's releasing another devotional single "Can't Stop Love" for Victoria's marriage written by Tony Nilsson, very beautiful modern huge ballad that you can listen here, if you like Darin's ballads you should be totally satisfied with this song!

And don't forget to check some performances from Bröllopsstudio, you can enjoy by some amazing covers from EMD, Carola and Fibes, Oh Fibes!

There's no surprise Swedes care about their health and pop or opera diva can stay in a great shape in any age (biceps of Malena Ernman is one of examples). This time Swedish pop-queen Charlotte Perrelli decided to share the secrets of successful physical tranning publishing her new book "Kan Jag Kan Du" with the help of her trainer Jesper Björck. This book will be out already in August.

Another Swedish star who recently decided to properly work on his shape is Markoolio. Preparing for birth of his child in August he has lost 13 kilos (82->69!!!) in 10 weeks with the help of mother of his future baby and his personal trainer Jessica Westergård.