Taggad: Christian Walz

Fika with Loreen

Loreen is stressed. Our coffee chat has been rescheduled twice – the first due to my hangover, and the second to traffic. And then there’s a call from her brother, currently on tsunami alert in Bali – but he’s fine.

The singer is definitely not stressed about being knocked out of Melodifestivalen, however. Having got through to andra chansen with My Heart Is Refusing Me, she’s gone straight back to the studio to work on her upcoming album. And once the coffee is served (she pays, by way of apology for being late, making me feel instantly guilty), she reflects on the last few weeks of life in schlagerland.

“I was really surprised when Christer Björkman took my song,” she laughs. “I was like ‘OK… Are you sure about this?’ I’m going to hang up before you regret it. Click!

“I was in Idol six years ago, and that’s when I realised you need an identity,” Loreen continues. “You need more than just a voice – you need to know what you’re singing about. So I started working here in Stockholm, and also in New York and Florida, with different songwriters and producers, to develop a style.”

One of the main things that Loreen’s new fans like about her is that she’s difficult to put into one category or another – it’s not easy to describe her as one particular style. Does she agree?

“Well…” she starts, before pausing. “I don’t like limitations, so I like to mix a bit of everything in. So I’ll put some strings in with some influences from my culture – that’s what I’m about.

“I’m a Berber from the mountains of Morocco,” Loreen tells me. “The Berbers have their own culture and language that’s separate from others, and they sing in their own special way. People call me a gospel girl, or a soul chick, and I’m like, ‘I sing with my soul but I’m not a soul artist!” I’m not an R’n'B chick, either. People think I’m into that because of the way I dress, but I actually prefer to listen to opera when I’m at home.”

As Loreen performs a seriously impressive scale, she reveals that she can sing opera – would she like to follow in Malena Ernman’s footsteps?

“I loved La voix!” she exclaims. “It was something different and new. You can’t call that song schlager. Different is good. It’s a good idea to do opera, let’s think about it!”

The Melodifestivalen circus feels like it has been particularly intense this year, with the highly critical newspaper articles and other technical issues that have been magnified. But while some performers would crack under the pressure, Loreen has been taking it all in her stride.

“I could never lose myself in all this,” she says. “Idol was a big help to deal with all this. The intensity of standing on stage every Saturday to be judged was crazy at that point. The judges liked me, but having someone evaluating me as good or bad didn’t feel right. There’s no such thing, it’s all a matter of taste. I thought I sounded shit, to be honest! But as a result, I know how it all works with TV and everything else – and as a control freak, I know what to get out of it.”

Did she look at any of the press coverage?

“I wasn’t allowed to look at the newspapers,” she laughs. “I really wanted to read the reviews. But I don’t care about the press attention. I didn’t even want to shave my armpits when I was doing the song. My friend told me to do so immediately, but I just didn’t care! Of course, they took a huge picture of my hairy arms and printed it! But I don’t care.”

My Heart Is Refusing Me was written last summer, and sent to Christer Björkman just a couple of days later. But if it wasn’t for a certain singer and TV host, it may never have made it at all…

“At the beginning, people didn’t believe in doing this,” recalls Loreen. “I had my crew – the producer and the guy I wrote the song with. It took us half a day to write it, and then Måns Zelmerlöw started working with us. Melodifestivalen was his idea – he said we should just send it, and if it happened, it happened. So it was his idea from the beginning. At first, I was reluctant. I thought they’d try to change the song and performance to something I didn’t want to do. But he was like, no, you can do whatever the fuck you want! And when they said yes, I was ready for it. We’ve been working our asses off on this. We started this last summer – it was sent two days after we wrote it, so it wasn’t even finished when they heard it.”

Of course, recording a song is one thing. Bringing it to Melodifestivalen is another matter entirely. Did Loreen have any problems in bringing her vision to the stage?

“No, not really,” she replies. “People told me that the dancers look so angry, and I looked really sad. But I told them that this is a sad song. I can’t smile singing about that! It’s kind of obvious, isn’t it? My heart is refusing me, so I’ll smile? No.

“Performing is like standing naked in front of millions of people,” Loreen adds. “I was so freaking nervous, and lost my focus at times. Especially when people weren’t always believing in what I was doing. But I had to show that I knew what I was doing myself. I gathered round my dancers, who were much younger than me, and really nervous, so I had to support them.”

And then there’s THAT frock. Where on earth did it come from?

“Some people have been annoyed by that dress!” Loreen smiles. “So I tell them it doesn’t matter. It’s a creation, and it was designed by Bea Szenfeld. She’s done dresses for Björk. I asked her to do something freaky, and that’s what she produced. I love all that, I love strange. Anything that isn’t Jantelagen! I hate that. Just be who you want to be!”

And after the frock, there were the results…

“I didn’t think I’d win, especially being up with Christian Walz,” says Loreen. “If I’d had a phone right then, I’d have voted for him! I was freaking shocked when they announced I was in andra chansen. It was like, ‘Told you! I told you! See?’ But there were people who were saying that the Swedish people don’t know anything about music, yadda, yadda. Who are these Swedish people they’re talking about? I’m the Swedish people! Don’t judge me!”

We know that Jenny Silver has been pretty angry about the voting problems in andra chansen – which also affected Loreen – but the singer is pragmatic about the outcome.

“Andra chansen was cool,” she says. “Göteborg was hard, because it was my first time in the competion, but Sundsvall was cool. That’s a bad omen, though – when it’s cool, it goes to hell. And it did! A lot of people have been angry, which is nice, actually. It shows they care. And I was number one, too. That’s all great.”

Firmly out of the schlager bubble now, Loreen is back in the studio, “working my ass off!”, as she says.

“We’re doing a scary video for My Heart Is Refusing Me,” she reveals. “It’s going to be quite dark. I’m also thinking about collaborations. I’d love to work with Swedish House Mafia. And there are so many people all over the world I’d like to work with. There are two singles to come, but I can’t decide if I’m going to release Sober or If She’s The One next. Let’s see. I’m always bitter in my songs, though. And screaming! So you know what to expect!”

Loreen throws her head back in laughter. And so do I.

Loreen’s next single is out next month.

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

Schlager shock!

If you believed every word you read in the Swedish press, then Saturday night was a schlagerfiasko of mammoth proportions. “Uselt” (‘Awful!’) shrieked Expressen’s front page the morning after. The latest drama appears to be over the amount of live vocals that are appearing in each song, with Danny coming under some criticism from his first week performance – not to mention the accusations of plagiarism. And then there are the ”terrible” presenters. Fiasko sells papers, of course. Indeed, it keeps this website going. Is Schlagerfiasko.nu part of the shrieking press pack? I do wonder…

But if the disaster was apparent on screen, then I didn’t notice it. And that’s not just because I had a drink in my hand. The show was its usual self-deprecating self, opening with Barbie Girl (amazing), rap (scary), and a sketch about last week’s mistake with the andra chansen votes and moved along at a brisk pace (Christer Sjöberg in full-on Djingis Kahn mode, anyone?). Not to mention Carl Bildt and his sexy schlager jacket.

Before I discuss the songs, I have an announcement: I will no longer preview the songs from the 60-second clips issued on Thursday evenings. It suddenly struck me halfway through Brolle’s performance that all my preconceptions about him were wrong. And by the end, I realised that all eight performances were actually good – exceptional, in some cases. Much better than I’d given any of them credit for. The rehearsal clips gave little away as to the actual reality of what appeared. So what’s the point in bleating on and basing opinions on half a tale? I’m just going to leave it to the real experts from now.

I’m sorry, I appear to be in a very analytical frame of mind today. Let’s do the songs.

Brolle was great. Moving from Elvis-inspired swinging to hillbilly rock, I wasn’t into this at all from the clip. But Brolle did it amazingly well, with fantastic stage presence and just enough swagger not to edge into arrogance (naming no names…). I do suspect he thought he had it in the bag, but with a performance like that, who can blame him?

Huge revelation of the evening was the astounding Loreen. Not so much for the song, which was actually quite nondescript – if worthy. What took Loreen into andra chansen was an outstanding vocal – probably the best of the night. She is a real talent and we should be all keeping an eye on her. I hope she makes it to Globen.

Give me a sangria to toast Babsan. Supposedly the ‘joke’ entry, if not for Göteborg then the whole contest, what Lars-Åke delivered instead was one of the most innovative performances ever seen in the contest. With a cry of ”¡¡¡Arrrrrrrriba!!!”, Babsan was magically pulled through a screen to be greeted by Bert Karlsson in a Stockholm bar. Well, Bert Karlsson is no sofistikerad herre. We want a Spanjor, dammit. And we sort of got them, if you count four Swedish matadors in pink velvet chaps. Babsan’s leg kick was another highlight. The song is great – fun schlager and one to enjoy. Loved it.

Elisabeth ‘Bettan’ Andreassen has some guts to rock up on a Melodifestivalen stage with a song like Vaken i en dröm. With some potentially hair-raising vocal moments, she pulled it off perfectly – a lesson in how to be a schlager balladeer from someone who knows. It really didn’t deserve to trail in eighth place, but in a deceptively strong heat, someone had to be that straggler. A shame. But Bettan’s been there and done it all before – water off a very elegant duck’s back, so to speak.

From Bettan to Sanna Nielsen was like a mantel being passed from one generation to another. I’m In Love was an astounding moment. Traditional schlager that stuck rigidly to the formula that works (see the previous Schlagerfiasko post if you don’t believe me), it sparked instantly. This is the song that made me reassess my attitude to reviewing rehearsal clips – it was nothing like anything previously had suggested. Sanna is the consummate professional, and worked that stage like she owned it and had the deeds to prove it. The only surprise about Sanna’s performance was that it actually topped the votes and did what it was supposed to do: gå direkt till Globen!

The Moniker was the performer I was sure would be joining Sanna. He was marginally better than I’d expected, but most certainly not to my tastes. I did think there would be plenty of mugging à la Guido that never came to pass, thank goodness. I’m sure there’s actually a decent song inside Oh My God!, but it needs a decent vocal to help it on its way. That this has gone to andra chansen over Le Kid makes me feel a little sad.

Anniela. What can one say about Anniela? I think this was the one song that I was right about from the outset: it’s too slow and poor Anniela’s vocal can’t cope with the lower range without turning flat. Having said that, when she was allowed to get going, she was very good. She looks quite like a blonde Linda Bengtzing, actually, and it would be great to hear her tackle something more personal, of Linda’s style. I think she could pull it off.

Finally, Christian Walz. A fantastic artist, I’m a huge fan of his work. So I’m really quite surprised that he’d want to take part in the drama of Melodifestivalen. Christian’s style is most definitely small venue, relaxed bar, and not the full-blown microscopic analysis of this contest. The song was Like Suicide, but as even the title suggests, it was never going to be the unifying number that would go on to win. Maybe that’s the point. It’s fantastic, but was swallowed whole by Scandinavium, even if Christian tried his damnedest to make it work, with fantastic string back-up and a stunning red lighting scheme. And I want his bow-and-pearl-necklace outfit combination for my next work event. It’s just such a shame that the song was entered, when this plainly wasn’t the place for it to thrive.

Sanna and Brolle to Globen, then, with Loreen and The Moniker having another go. Fingers crossed that Sweden won’t refuse Loreen’s heart a second time.

Photo: Claudio Bresciani / SCANPIX

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