Taggad: Bobby Ljunggren

Taking chances

Here at Schlagerfiasko, we love to get a few stats in. Mainly because it reveals the truth behind the rumours and speculation. So we were very interested to see that the Swedish Performing Rights Society (Stim) has published the top ten most-played songs from the Andra chansen round of Melodifestivalen. The full list is below, and here are a few observations to go with it…

  • Alcazar – perhaps the queens of Andra chansen, appear twice in the top ten, at 1 and 6. Although you’d expect the positions to be reversed for those songs, wouldn’t you?
  • Nordman’s 2008 song, I lågornas sken, is at number eight. So anyone who assumed people voted for the group just to stop Carola and Andreas Johnson from getting to the final is, in all probability, wrong
  • Velvet’s Mi amore is at number ten. That’s a real shocker!
  • Schlagerfiasko knows for a fact that you can’t hum the Jan Johansen song at number nine without looking it up on YouTube first
  • Patrik Isaksson and Velvet are the only two acts who didn’t go through to the final

1. Not A Sinner Nor A Saint – Alcazar (2003)
Lotta Ahlin, Bobby Ljunggren, Tommy Lydell

2. För att du finns – Sonja Aldén (2007)
Bobby Ljunggren, Sonja Aldén

3. Moving On – Sarah Dawn Finer (2009)
Sarah Dawn Finer, Fredrik Kempe

4. Min kärlek – Shirley Clamp (2004)
Bobby Ljunggren, Henrik Wikström, Ingela ‘Pling’ Forsman

5. Faller du så faller jag – Patrik Isaksson (2006)
Patrik Isaksson

6. Alcastar – Alcazar (2005)
Niklas Edberger, Johan Fransson, Anders Hansson, Tim Larsson, Tobias Lundgren

7. Alla flickor – Linda Bengtzing (2005)
Niklas Edberger, Johan Fransson, Tim Larsson, Tobias Lundgren

8. I lågornas sken – Nordman (2008)
Lina Eriksson, Mårten Eriksson

9. Sista andetaget – Jan Johansen (2002)
Dan Attlerud, Thomas Thörnholm

10. Mi amore – Velvet (2006)
Pelle Ankarberg, Niclas Molinder, Joacim Persson

To see the original news release visit www.stim.se/2chansen

Friday Five: Ronny & Ken

Babsan ran away from Schlagerfiasko. Sibel is refusing to take my calls. So, for this week’s Friday Five, I’ve decided to talk to two of my favourite schlagerfriends (who actually still speak to me).

Ronny Larsson and Ken Olausson are also known as Schlagerprofilerna, blogging faithfully about the schlager scene and reporting on the highs, lows and everything in between at Melodifestivalen and Eurovision for QX magazine. And all with good grace, hilarious eftersnacks, and great outfits.

Their blog is essential reading for any self-respecting schlagerfan – and you may even improve your Swedish in the process. They also speak on Twitter. Mainly after a few drinks. It’s usually the best way.

Hello, Schlagerprofilerna gentlemen. What has been the most schlager moment of your lives so far?
Ronny: Watching Carola win her delfinal in Gothenburg. Amazing.
Ken: I guess the most natural (and boring) for a guy who was 10 years old in 1983 is to say Carola singing Främling. I think that’s where it all started for me. But going on tour for QX with Ronny every year gives me new fantastic schlagermoments every week. Last year, dancing to Cara Mia with Måns at an after-party is an example.

If you went to live on the moon and could only take one song with you, what would you take?
Ronny: Kom by Timoteij.
Ken: Alcazar’s Stay the Night. The perfect song, the perfect production, the perfect show and the perfect group. Still on rotation in my iPod.

Carola: saint or sinner?
Ronny: Neither. She’s 50/50.
Ken: Sinner. Definitely. Not necessarily a bad thing to be, though. But I’m not her biggest fan, no.

Who are your musical heroes?
Ronny: Fredrik Kempe, Bobby Ljunggren and Karl Euren.
Ken: I listen to almost everything, but I guess the foundations of the music I listen to today is by Kylie, Army of Lovers and Madonna. Also 90′s Britpop, like Oasis and Blur. And Scissor Sisters, U2 and Kent. And about 30 years of Melodifestivalen! Right now it’s Le Kid and The Sound Of Arrows.

Teach us a phrase in Swedish…
Ronny: Musik för ingen. It means ‘music for nobody’, as in when a song in Melodifestivalen is aimed at absolutely no one. Neither kids, schlagerfans, adults, gays or old people will vote for it. Examples include Lucky You by Linda Sundblad, Doctor, Doctor by Elin Lanto and Magisk stjärna by Py Bäckman.
Ken: Det är alltid treorna eller fyrorna ni borde skickat till schlager-EM! It means, ‘You should always have sent the number three or number four (in the final) to Eurovision!’ Say that to as many Swedes you meet, and we might send a winner someday.

Neonlit night

Eric Saade? Nej. The real winner on Saturday night was, of course, Lena PH. Ensuring that the show opened with her latest single, Idiot, and more or less closed with her stunning metal version of Dansa i neon (conveniently available on iTunes straight after the show), Lena showed us how a true star works it. And I hope young Mr Saade was watching…

(And can I just say that production coordinator Henric von Zweigberk must be the hardest-working man in Swedish showbiz? From presenting the wildcard show from Golden Hits to making sure every Melodifestivalen heat works – including being there to catch Lena PH when she leapt off the stage. He even found time to coordinate the QX Gay Galan last week. Love the von Zweigberk.)

Presenters Rickard Olsson and Marie Serneholt are getting into their stride now, with a nice confidence proving that they’ve overcome any nervousness from the first couple of weeks, especially in Marie’s case. Her deadpan delivery of some of the most sarcastic links has been spot-on. Not sure the same can be said for web host Elsa Billgren, however. A little interviewing tip, Elsa: LISTEN to what your interviewee is saying.

The main question from Saturday is whether or not it was a schlagerfiasko. Shirley and her Angels losing out to The Playtones – schlager losing out to rockabilly! Is dansband about to eat its musical cousin?

Nu körde vi with Linda Sundblad. Unluckily for her, Lucky You was a great song marred by two things. Let’s get the first one out of the way quickly: someone should have told Linda that her teeth braces looked awful on camera. I’m not criticising her for wearing them, but surely they could have come off for her big moment for a few minutes? The second is that she’s too old for the song. This is a cheerful, teenage up-tempo pop song that would have sounded great coming from Amy Diamond – but from a singer who has already she can deliver a great, mature sound with her group Lambretta (and in her solo work), it all fell flat on its face. Which is a shame.

Next up was Simon Forsberg, with the evening’s ballad. He was always going to face an uphill struggle to make an impression with a slow number. He did a good job with what he had, though. The song is traditional schlagerballad all the way, with requisite money-notes and key-change all present and correct. A few years ago, he’d have probably been chasing Tommy Körberg all the way to the final with this. In 2011, it comes eighth.

Not far behind him was Sara Lumholdt. Or was it Cheryl Cole? California hair – check. Military styling – check. Vocal as flat as a pancake – check. Yes, sadly for Sara, what could have been a great song descended into three minutes of endurance as Sara attempted to get back on track, and failed. The studio version of this is great, so it might be an idea if Sara went away, analysed the show and came back in a couple of years, more confident and polished. There’s definite potential for fabulousness.

What can you say about The Playtones? Well I’m biased, frankly. Knocking the Angels into third place was never going to endear anyone to Schlagerfiasko’s heart – even if they did have a Kempesong. The fact that they had the schlagergenius on board means that they’re serious about doing well, and I’m pleased they seem to have the right attitude. But rockabilly just isn’t to my taste.

Schlagerfiasko’s star attraction, unsurprisingly, was Shirley’s Angels. I have a framed picture of glammed-up Shirl adorning my IKEA shelf. Shirley was making her comeback following the eighth-place ‘fiasko of Med hjärtat fyllt av ljus a couple of years ago. Is Sweden the only country where established artists are prepared to submit themselves to such harsh judgement on an annual basis?

Shirley was armed with Jessica Marberger and Vera Prada. And Bard, Ljunggren, Wikström and Abrahamsson’s I Thought It Was For Ever. And some spectacular dance moves. And this is the woman who didn’t move a muscle during Min kärlek.

A stunning return and a fabulous performance from all three women was a delight to watch. They’ve been labelled as the ‘MILFs’ in Sweden, which Schlagerfiasko would never do, of course. That doesn’t stop us agreeing, however…

Somewhat tragically (yes, that’s the word), as female schlager makes such a resurgence, only Sanna Nielsen has been able to secure a place in the final with it. With Shirley’s Angels and Jenny Silver both getting their second chance, it remains to be seen if Sanna will be the only woman on the Globen stage!

The person who probably lost out the most was Sebastian Karlsson. Arguably in the worst group for his song, this surely would have made the top four in any other round… A suitably paired-down performance worked well with the fast pace of No One Else Could, and the nice whistle hook worked well. My main issue was with the finish – songs do need to have an ending, and it’s a common problem that tracks that may last over three minutes simply stop, rather than end. Indeed, the camera operator also seemed to be taken by surprise at this!

Sara Varga has made a huge impression with Spring för livet. Deceptively light, the melody works in stark contrast to the lyrics, which deal with the issue of women in abusive relationships. Indeed, both main evening papers printed the lyrics of the song for their readers – almost unheard of before.

Spring för livet om det är dig klart, att slå tillbaka det är det aldrig värt… (Run for your life, if you care for it, fighting back, it’s never worth it…)

Does a song like this have a place in the glitter och glamour world of Melodifestivalen? Well, any song does, of course. I think it’s important to open up the contest as widely as possible, even if it means that schlager may miss out, on occasion. I like this song, but am not sure if it works in an arena setting, just as Christian Walz may have discovered last week.

On, then, to the man who had already gone direkt till Globen before he’d opened his mouth. Eric Saade promised a Popular show, and he delivered. The Kempesong is, well, it’s an Eric Saade Kempesong. A big wall of noise that disguises the lack of any substance in the lyrics. But that’s fine, I have no issue with that. Dancing, great. Smashing glass, great. Spectacular, even.

But what I don’t like is a half-baked vocal. If Melodifestivalen were all about the spectacle, then Popular would have triumphed. The problem is that the contest is also the selection process for Eurovision, and they’re much fussier about live vocals. An unfortunate cut showed Eric with his mouth firmly shut during the final money-note, only completing the last part of it. It’s not good, really, especially when you have Shirley Clamp pushing her lungs to the limit to prove herself.

I am glad that Danny’s got some major competition, and do think, even at this stage, that it’s a straightforward contest between the boys to win the whole thing. But a lot of work is needed before Düsseldorf.

If there’s a schlagerfiasko in Germany, don’t come crying to me. Or Lena PH.

Photo: Magnus Sandberg / Aftonbladet

Lost in Linköping

Well, they’re not lost, but here we go again anwyay. I’m not commenting at all, as I feel that hearing a 60-second grab of the song can’t justify a review. In other words, I’ve been utterly wrong on first listen about some really important songs, and I’m not prepared to do my readers a disservice by wasting their time with opinions I’m likely to do a complete 180 on within a few hours. At least the experts have heard the full thing twice, and have access to the rehearsals.

So, comme d’habitude, the gobby guys are:

Ken Olausson and Ronny Larsson from QX magazine, aka Schlagerprofilerna
Torbjörn Ek from Aftonbladet
Anders Nunstedt from Expressen

Linda Sundblad – Lucky You

Ken & Ronny: Ronny: Hate it. Ken: It’s just bland.
Tobbe: Sounds like Aqua with the plastic replaced by electric guitars. Has lots of woo-hoo, but could do with some more.
Anders: Sounds like everything else Lambretta Linda has done. But I like it.

Simon Forsberg – Tid att andas

Ken & Ronny: Our beloved Mr Gay Sweden winner has given us a stunning Sonja Aldén-style ballad that harks back to the classics we’ve heard in previous years. The key change features a full choir. Amazing.
Tobbe: This is the sort of ballad that hasn’t been successful for years. Erik Linder gave it a go last year, and Shirley Clamp couldn’t make it succeed in 2009. Anyone who loves Israel’s Eurovision ballads will adore this.
Anders: Mr Gay Sweden doesn’t sound like Mr Gay Sweden. He sounds like Mrs Sonja Aldén.

Sara Lumholdt – Enemy

Ken & Ronny: Modern, mid-tempo ballad that sounds half-Rihanna, half-Evanesence. Nice and fresh, it’ll be interesting to see what Sara does on stage.
Tobbe: Sassy – Sara will bring it on stage. But will that be reflected on screen? Mean girls don’t always succeed. It’ll be interesting to hear the live vocal.
Anders: This is A-Teens Sara in a modern mid-tempo track that takes a bit from Rihanna. It hangs on the chorus.

The Playtones – The King

Ken & Ronny: Rockabilly guitars… sounds exactly as you’d expect. A bit like if you crossed the theme to Batman with something from Dansbandskampen.
Tobbe: Sounds like Aristocats. Do you remember Scat Cat? Not my type of music. There’s a handclap section that will go down will, though.
Anders: All fans of the True Blood theme will love this. But then it gets to the chorus and goes all rockabilly twang and sounds like dansband.

Shirley’s Angels – I Thought It Was Forever

Ken & Ronny: If you’ve heard Ace Of Base’s would-be Bond theme The Juvenile, then you’ll know what this is like. The chorus is catchy, but the verses are harder. A stylish production of a song that tries to be a new Min kärlek – in which it succeeds.
Tobbe: The intro reminds me of Barbra Streisand’s No More Tears. This is written by Alexander Bard, Bobby Ljunggren, Henrik Wikström and Robin Abraham, and is great. Effective. This will definitely be a favourite of the schlagergays.
Anders: Alexander Bard and Bobbalobba Ljunggren are two of the four songwriters on this thing, which sounds like a Dutch attempt to do Swedish schlager. In 2002.

Sebastian – No One Else Could

Ken & Ronny: A bit Killers, a bit Melody Club. There’s a great chorus with a nice whistle-loop in the background. I’d like it to be a bit more – perhaps the performance will do that.
Tobbe: The best bit of Sebastian’s song is the flute or whistle bit that opens the number and is repeated in the chorus. Anonymous verses with a great refrain. Tough week for him, though.
Anders: Idol‘s Sebastian is no longer rocking. This is a bit like Nick Kamen-does-The-Killers-remixed-by-the-Pet-Shop-Boys.

Sara Varga – Spring för livet

Ken & Ronny: This is lovely, Lisa Ekdahl-style pop. An oasis in the middle of all the contemporary stuff. This will appeal to many, and could cause an upset.
Tobbe: Sara’s brittle voice coupled with this bossa nova reminds me of a young Monica Törnell. Very emotional, I could cry to this while I knock back red wine and obsess over everyone who’s wronged me.
Anders: Lisa Ekdahl with sweet bossa nova coupled with dark lyrics about being mistreated in a relationship.

Eric Saade – Popular

Ken & Ronny: Style, new, hard, cool. Significantly stronger than Manboy – the best song this week, by far. We’ve heard his performance will be amazing. Danny, your challenger has arrived.
Tobbe: The contrast of this after Sara Varga is quite clear. The modern production, with cool lighting and special effects will work really well. It feels quite 80s in places – Lili och Susie’s Oh Mama! in the chorus, and Boney M’s Rasputin in there, too.
Anders: Is Eric singing ”Popular” as many times as he sang ”Manboy” before? It feels like it. This will still be unbeatable on Saturday. Less of a song and more of a stage show.

Experts in Göteborg

It’s that time again…

The assembled press corps in Göteborg have had the privilege of hearing the eight songs that will be competing at Scandinavium on Saturday night. Schlagerfiasko hasn’t.

Here’s what they’ve got to say, to which I will have the nerve to add my own opinion after Elsa’s snack-och-lyssna session tomorrow evening.

As always, the experts in which we trust are:

Ken Olausson and Ronny Larsson from QX magazine, aka Schlagerprofilerna
Torbjörn Ek from Aftonbladet
Anders Nunstedt from Expressen
David Jørgensen from Schlagerfiasko (that’s me, the big expert)

Brolle – 7 Days And 7 Nights

Ken & Ronny: After listening to all the songs, we don’t think the standard is as good as last week’s event in Luleå. It’s a bit of a surprise that so many ‘meh’ songs ended up here in Göteborg. Brolle will be a crowd-pleaser. This sounds like Springsteen (Born To Run-era) and Bon Jovi. The radio will love it. It lacks a decent chorus, but Brolle should be in with a chance.

Tobbe: Brolle’s giving people what they want. It’s ‘rockabilly-lite’, much like his own Playing With Fire, with a bit more umph.

Anders: Well, the sound system was the best we’ve had in years. And we had free fizzy water. Nice. Thomas Hall (Melodifestivalen project manager) looked after us. This is a good track.

David: Is Elvis in the building? No, he’s not, but Brolle had me going for a second. Sadly, the song turns into boring rock’n'roll that has aspirations of reaching the heights of The Ark’s Calleth You, Cometh I, but gets stuck in traffic on the way.

Loreen – My Heart Is Refusing Me

Ken & Ronny: If Jenny Silver was this year’s Pernilla Wahlgren or Charlotte Perrelli, then Loreen is this year’s Jenny Silver (the Jenny Silver from last year). A beautiful electro number, very introvert and feels a bit French. Very 2011, but like Jenny last year, it’ll split the audience. A hard one.

Tobbe: This sounds like a remix of a ballad, but I really like it. This is what would get me on the dancefloor, but if it’s to do well she needs to perform it well. It’s possible that she won’t get far on Saturday, but will do well in the charts.

Anders: This is modern and works well.

David: Ooh this is intense. Loreen’s vocal is great, but the song doesn’t seem to be going anywhere – very little distinction between verse and chorus. It could also do with being a few beats fasters. Crank it up, girl!

Babsan – Ge mig en spanjor

Ken & Ronny: Ge mig en spanjor! Ge mig en sangria. Give me a Spanish man! Exactly what you’d expect from Babsan – she’s yearning for some hot Med men. This is old-school schlager. Not something to send to Eurovision, but something that is welcome in Melodifestivalen.

Tobbe: The kids are going to love this. Simple in song and vocal, it’s fine, but nothing like the hit that La Dolce Vita was. Lars-Åke Wilhelmsson knows how to deliver on stage, so that will be great. Marching music with added arriba!

Anders: Unfortunately, this isn’t even funny.

David: And here’s the grande-dame herself – not Bettan, Babsan. Madame is sporting an unfortunate shade of pink in the hår (think Mrs ”Pussy!” Slocombe from Are You Being Served?). This is actually a lot better than I thought – the flamenco beats work a treat, but the chorus fails to engage as much as it should. Nice footwork, though, Babs.

Elisabeth Andreassen – Vaken i en dröm

Ken & Ronny: A stunning ballad. Anyone who wanted a Helen Sjöholm-style song will be happy, even if it’s Bettan doing Evighet. But it’s not as exciting, sadly. This could sink without a trace.

Tobbe: This is perfectly timed on stage straight after Babsan’s madness. It’s a huge ballad in Swedish, so will get extra votes for that. There’s no Empty Room-style chorus to grab our attention, but it’s a song that grows with Bettan’s voice, just like her Norwegian ballads did in Eurovision.

Anders: The lyrics might actually be pretentious crap.

David: The other grande-dame of the evening is Bettan, with a gorgeous ballad. It’s actually a lot more Norwegian-sounding than I ever thought it would be. Bettan’s challenging herself with a wide-ranging vocal, and it’s super. This is the trad bit sorted. In a week where the songs are struggling to engage, it could slip into the top-four.

Sanna Nielsen – I’m In Love

Ken & Ronny: We love Sanna. Who can’t love the Amazon from Brömolla who always manages to get to Globen and is still the world’s loveliest person? But this is disappointing. It’s nicely produced, but following on from Jenny Silver last week, not to mention Empty Room, I think we all wanted something a bit more than Vågar du, vågar jag with better production… It starts off like What A Feeling, but then the chorus stalls. Never discount Sanna, but we’re not betting on this one.

Tobbe: This begins softly, but turns into a total pop-disco-schlager-pleaser. Writers Bobby Ljunggren and Thomas G:son have taken a lot from Evighet, but this is a simpler version. I’d like to hear more of the voice that sang Empty Room.

Anders: Didn’t like it on first listen.

David: Strutting! This is this week’s Jenny Silver moment, and should do the business. This is a grower, to be honest. Again, same problem – engage, engage, engage. It doesn’t engage. Really need to see the full three minutes and performance. (Cut to Saturday: ”OHMYGODIT’SAMAZINGETCETCETC”).

The Moniker – Oh My God!

Ken & Ronny: Do you remember The Wallstones from 2005? Take that, add a bit of Rongedal and Mika, and take a few magic pop mushrooms and you get The Moniker. Sort of. It sounds good after hearing the old schlager of Bettan and Babsan, and he’ll have some Idol backing like Anna Bergendahl did last year. Undoubtedly in the top four.

Tobbe: Daniel Karlsson, aka The Moniker has been listening to Alexander Bard’s advice that schlager should be like a fanfare – and that’s exactly what this is. It’s a sixties-style fanfare that Liverpool tried in 2003, but sounds more like Andreas Johnson and Sebastian Karlsson – thankfully.

Anders: Le Kid’s Oh My God got to fifth place last week, and something tells me that this will do the same.

David: Is he taking the fucking piss?

Anniela – Elektrisk

Ken & Ronny: The verses are thin, but the chorus is great. This is danceable electropop in Swedish. Jäklagt coolt att den är på svenska!

Tobbe: What will happen to Elektrisk? This is Linda Bengtzing-does-electro (can the two ever be reconciled? Yes they can!), but can it work on stage? If Anniela acts like Bengtzing, then she could make progress.

Anders: This is Linda Bengtzing disco with a Leila K polish and synthesizers.

David: The wrong key! And Manboy. It’s quite shocking how much it sounds like Manboy. No, Annalie. Go and talk to Dannii Minogue, then come back and do it PROPERLY.

Christian Walz – Like Suicide

Ken & Ronny: This would fit right in on Darin’s new album. The bridge sounds like it’s come from Katy Perry’s Firework, but Ronny reckons it’s boring. Ken’s more optimistic, but if people think Christian is this year’s Salem Al Fakir, then it could be a threat…

Tobbe: This is a credible effort – but cred isn’t always what the Melodifestivalen audience wants. The falsetto-chorus-deep-verse thing sounds a little like Darin mixed with Salem. It all hangs on the performance – how good can he be on the telly?

Anders: It’s a grower. Salem Al Fakir and Darin from last year. Sorry, I have to go, I didn’t have lunch and the hotel kitchen is closing soon.

David: Wow, this is amazing! And anti-schlager, but we can cope. It’s going to win. Nu-classic with lovely strings and drama.

There you have it. Read what they had to say in their own words at:

http://blog.qruiser.com/schlagerprofilerna/69835/forsta-lyssningen-en-sammanfattning

http://blogg.aftonbladet.se/schlagerblogg/2011/02/kastanjetter-i-marschtakt-norska-ballader-och-fardiga-dansremixer-goteborgslatarna-spretar

http://blogg.expressen.se/anders/entry.jsp?messid=646760