Melodifestivalen 2016

It was another early morning for me, up and out of bed to watch Melodifestivalen, the event which chooses the Swedish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. A decade ago, I would have read the results online, and then waited several weeks for the DVD release, before I actually got to see the event itself. […]

Melodifestivalen 2016 #4

I felt a little sorry for Linda Bengtzing and Martin Stenmarck, as I watched this morningś fourth heat of Melodifestivalen, the contest which chooses Swedenś entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. Martin has previously represented Sweden at Eurovision and was performing in a song co-written by his brother. Linda has previously entered Melodifestivalen, and has […]

Melodifestivalen 2016 #3

Though there’s still no apparent “winner” for me in this year’s Melodifestivalen (the Swedish heats which lead to the final where Sweden’s song for Eurovision is chosen) I thought there were some pretty good songs in the third heat. Once again, I woke early, turned on my laptop and television, and settled back to enjoy […]

Melodifestivalen 2016 #2

First, the good news: there was only one song which I thought was absolutely bloody awful in the second heat of Melodifestivalen, the contest which chooses Sweden’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. Maybe it was too early on a Sunday morning for me, but 100% by Viktor och Natten did absolutely nothing for me. For […]

Melodifestivalen 2016 #1

Over the last couple of years, there’s been an inverse relationship between the quality of the songs and the quality of the program presenters/comedy interludes for Melodifestivalen, the Swedish finals which lead to the Eurovision Song Contest. In recent memory, the combination in 2012 of Sarah Dawn Finer, Helena Bergström and Gina Dirawi was probably […]

Country Music in 2015

2015 was the year in which I’ve begun to reacquaint myself with my love of country music. As I wrote a few months ago: Despite my inner-city reputation, I actually know a fair bit about country music, and I have lots of great “special experts” to draw upon to supplement the areas in which my […]

På svenska

This week, Swedish TV SVT, has announced the hosts for next year’s Eurovision Song Contest as Måns Zelmerlöw and Petra Mede. I’m really excited about this, as I like them both very much. But as much as I love Eurovision, I’m more of a fan of Melodifestivalen, the Swedish finals leading up to Eurovision. Eurovision is fun, […]

James O'Brien

Born: Lismore; Lived: Brisbane, Bourke, Renmark, Wagga, Perth, Sydney; Work: Radio; Love: Travel, Genealogy, Sweden.