Saturday, March 01, 2008
The duration will be three minutes exactly...
CYNDISCOOCH! Eurovision - Your Decision, BBC One, 7.00pm Labels: Charlotte Perelli, Eurovision Your Decision, Linda Bengtzing, LoveShy, Mel Giedroyc, Melodifestivalen, Scooch, Simona
It’s EUROVISION - YOUR DECISION. In other words, if it all goes horribly wrong in Belgrade (likely), then it will be EUROVISION – YOUR FAULT.
Frankly, it isn’t worth spending that much time on, so let’s just whiz through the entries and leave it at that.
Andy Abraham – Even If
His Eurovision entry, Even If, is a funky ballad about a man who has found genuine love and wants to show his commitment. Andy believes his song is catchy, memorable and cool enough to be a winner.
It isn’t, it isn’t, and it isn’t.
Key change? No.
LoveShy – Mr Gorgeous
Their entry, Mr Gorgeous, is a stylish pop song about meeting the perfect guy and wanting to spend all your time with him. LoveShy say that Mr Gorgeous is less of a love song and more of a lust song!
It’s been mentioned elsewhere that this is basically ‘Beware Of The Dog’ (with just the one drumkit, presumably). And it is very similar, which is, y'know, OK. The ex-Clea girls don’t sound very lusty though – a bit bored, really. I hope the lust makes an appearance in the live performance.
Key change? No.
Michelle Gayle – Woo (You Got Me)
Michelle's song is pop in essence, but she says it has a very cool Sixties vibe to it. According to Michelle, the song is about a couple who are from different countries, so have a language barrier – they are literally lost in translation.
There’s not much to it. It sort of bounces along quite nicely, and you’d get a half-decent dance remix out of it, I suppose.
Key change? No.
Rob McVeigh – I Owe It All To You
Rob's song, I Owe It All to You, is a big ballad that Rob hopes will show his vulnerable side by being in such contrast to the rock songs he sang in Any Dream Will Do. Rob thinks that recent entries have lacked passion – something his has plenty of, for the song, his country and his love of performing.
Show his vulnerable side? Didn't we see quite enough of Rob’s vulnerable side during Joseph? We don’t need any more.
Key change? No idea, I only lasted until 1m 24s.
Simona Armstrong – Changes
Simona's song Changes, she feels, has a universal appeal as it's about keeping positive and adapting to the challenges and changes of every day life. She hopes that if she makes it through to the competition in Belgrade this year that Romania will give the UK douze points!
Ooh. This reminds me a bit of Frances Ruffelle, which is a good thing. She deserved to do much better with Lonely Symphony. Frances is about to appear in Make Me A Song, at the New Players Theatre, along with Ian ‘H’ Watkins, and she doesn’t look too sure about it in the advert at all. But back to Simona. This is good! Surprisingly good. It still won’t win, but if she gets through, and we emphasis the Romanian background a bit, it might get in the top twenty. (Pours more wine).
Key change? Slightly.
The Revelations – It’s You
The Revelations' song, It's You, is an upbeat and original modern Motown-style song celebrating love and how good it feels. The girls think It's You has all the right ingredients of a winning song because it's a good tune with fantastic harmonies.
Yes, yes. Mark Ronson, Amy Winehouse, Candie Payne. I get it. The second song in the line-up with a 'Sixties vibe to it'. Great. This is the one that the radio is ‘championing’. Listen to that, then listen to Motown done properly here.
Key change? No.
So, no key changes, no obviously strong songs, and really, no hope again. LoveShy and Simona have the best chance of delivering some form of double-figure result, even if that figure starts with a ‘1’.
Personally, I’ll be tuning in for an amazing Melodifestivalen featuring the return of Charlotte ‘Take Me To Your Heaven’ Pirelli (née Nilsson), and the wonderful, provincial, Linda Bengtzing, and watching this on Sky+ later: Mel Giedroyc had better be on the judging panel again.
Now, wouldn’t SHE make a great commentator to replace Wogan…
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Sunday, March 11, 2007
Så festade stjärnorna i natt
Labels: Aftonbladet, Carola, Eurovision, Melodifestivalen, Sweden
In the end, it was Melodi 10, The Ark and The Worrying Kind what won it. No lowculture reaction as of yet, but he's probably still in bed. In keeping with the fabulousness of the event, Aftonbladet newspaper is running with Stjärnorna i branddrama - Melodifestival stars having to be evacuated because of a "firedrama", Carola och Sebastians heta samtal i natt, exclusive pics of Carola Eurovision Royalty Häggvist in a leather-jacket clinch at the Schlagerefterfest, and Carolas attack på The Ark och SVT, in which Carola has a prize-giving row (pictured) with the winners, presenter and TV station. Result!
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Saturday, March 10, 2007
Sweden Calling
SVENSKA! Melodifestivalen 2007, SVT1, 20.00 Labels: Eurovision, Melodifestivalen, SVT, Sweden
Making Your Mind Up? Huh. How are you supposed to make your mind up with an hour-long show, never mind the fact that the Great British Viewing Public (ahem), long-renowned for its ability to choose the right winner with the assistance of The Sun, will choose Justin and Beverlei (sic, hopefully) so we may as well not bother with the show at all (not least because the BBC has downgraded the Kaplinsky to the Cotton this year). Poor Scooch.
The Swedes, however, with their collective respect for a half-century institution, have reached the climactic final of Melodifestivalen, their 4-week search for the song that will represent Sverige in the Contest. The Melodifestival is the biggest TV show in Sweden all year, and about half the country will be watching this evening. And it is an indisputable fact that Sweden produces the best pop music in the whole wide world.
TEN contestants have been through the rigourous filtering process over the past few weeks, and, bar a couple of shocking defeats (Nanne Grönvall on what was supposed to be her triumphant comeback and Magnus Carlsson of Alcazar), this contest is in a different league altogether compared to what the BBC can muster. And because it is so amazing, the event has its own mini-musical, happening in each episode, with actors telling a story through Melodifestival songs from the past. It is not apparent what the story is about, however.
lowculture has had its own observer in attendance in Stockholm this week (as if you couldn't guess who), who contacted me during the week to recommend Melodi 2, Sonja Aldén's För att du finns, Melodi 8 Sanna Nielsen's Vågar du, vågar jag, and Melodi 10 The Ark's glam-rock spectacular The Worrying Kind. Personnally, I recommend Melodi 6, Måns Zelmerlöw's Cara mia, not least because he is officially Sweden's Sexiest Man as voted for by people, and is indeed stunningly beautiful. Not that that has anything to do with his abilities to sing a Eurovision song. Or anything. Links to the above are below.
For those of you unable to receive Swedish Television, try turning your aerial eastwards. If you are in London, you could have gone to The Harcourt Arms in Marylebone. However, the pub will be at capacity, and they won't let you in without a ticket: “As we did last year we will sell tickets for each event and that is only for us to control the amount of people in the pub due to safety.” Happily, SVT, the Swedish BBC, or maybe ITV, recognises how internationally-amazing this event is, and will be streaming the event live: www.svt.se.
Sonja Aldén För att du finns
Sanna Nielsen Vågar du, vågar jag
The Ark The Worrying Kind
Måns Zelmerlöw Cara mia
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