The first few times I visited Sweden and tried to use my Swedish language skills, I was always somewhat frustrated. Every time I spoke in Swedish, people would reply in English. "Are my Swedish language skills that terrible?", I thought to myself. They would always reply politely with "Your Swedish is very good", but then … Continue reading Melodifestivalen 2021
Tag: melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen is the competition which chooses the Swedish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.
The best thing about Andra Chasen this year was Shirley Clamp's performance of "Min kärlek ". Despite her name, Shirley Clamp is a well-known Swedish pop singer. Her father was British, and I understand now lives in Australia. She's had quite a few hit songs in Sweden, including this. https://youtu.be/Z7tRdjBqbgE I've seen Shirley Clamp perform live … Continue reading Melodifestivalen 2021 Andra Chansen
Back in the days of 7-inch vinyl, there was always the B-side. There was the hit song on the A-side, and on the B-side there was, generally speaking, a song favoured by the artist, but never likely to be a hit record. I often quite liked the B-sides. They were often good songs. In 1977, … Continue reading Melodifestivalen 2021 Deltävling #3
As I watched the latest heat of Melodifestivalen, the Swedish finals for the Eurovision Song Contest, I couldn't help but feel I'd heard the songs before. "Rich" by Julia Alfrida sounded very similar to "Royals" by Lorde (it even contained the line "Do you want to be royal?". "The Silence" by Frida Green had a … Continue reading Melodifestivalen 2021 Deltävling #2
If I had to choose one song or performance from the first heat of this year's Swedish path to Eurovision (Melodifestivalen) to go straight through, it would be that of Lena Philipsson. She has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest six times: four times as a performer (1986, 1987, 1988 and 2004) and twice as … Continue reading Melodifestivalen 2021 Deltävling #1
As we head towards this year's Eurovision Song Contest, I've been keeping up to date with all of the different national finals. Last weekend, Australia chose "Don't Break Me" by Montaigne. "Fair enough", I thought to myself, though I much preferred Casey Donovan's song, which I thought was more anthemic, and had a stronger performance. … Continue reading Sweden’s Second Best
Following on from yesterday's awesome half-time moment from when Norway hosted Eurovision comes another awesome half-time moment. This time it's from Sweden, and it's one of two (or maybe three) moments I'll post featuring the awesome Petra Mede. Petra is a Swedish comedian, performer, television presenter etc. She's super-talented, super-funny, and IMHO has been the … Continue reading Eurovision / Melodifestivalen Moment #7 : Petra Mede