Taggad: Hanne Sørvaag

Hanne Sørvaag – Days That End With Y

I should think about changing the name of Schlagerfiasko to ‘Countryfiasko’, with the amount of tassle-shirted clips I’ve been posting recently. And here’s the first premiere outside Norway of Hanne Sørvaag‘s new single.

As you can tell from the cover art, Hanne’s been taking her guitar around the streets of  Nashville, so you’ve got a good idea of how it’s going to sound. This is one to stick on a playlist alongside the new songs from Anna Sahlene, as featured yesterday. Have a listen below.

Album: Hanne Sørvaag – Cover Me

It’s no secret that many songs go through a lengthy creative process before they’re released to an audience. But do they emerge in quite the way that the songwriter intended? Fortsätt läsa →

Lady who?

So, it’s official: Stella Mwangi is representing Norway at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. And with an overwhelming amount of televotes, not even the close-run jury section of the voting could dent her landslide victory.

It’s no surprise, really. Having dominated the Norwegian iTunes chart for a couple of weeks – even surviving the onslaught of Lady Gaga’s Born This Way that has trounced the competition in other countries – there was little chance of any upset for Haba Haba. Not that it couldn’t have happened, of course. But Stella had something few of the other acts possessed: true star quality. Melodi Grand Prix got an umph as soon as she strode onto the stage – and it could be heard in the ecstatic reaction from the crowd. She’s a deserving winner and will hopefully make it all the way to the Eurovision final.

It did seem that Stella’s main competition would be Helene Bøksle’s traditional-style Vardlokk, but after last year’s relative failure of My Heart Is Yours to attract any attention at Eurovision, perhaps it was inevitable that a change in direction would be taken. Sadly for her, she didn’t make it into the top four, ceding to The BlackSheeps (who looked as though they might challenge Stella at one point), The Lucky Bullets and Sie Gubba.

But it could have been anyone else up there – everyone gave their all, and it was a fabulous show.

Also falling out of the top four was the delightful Hanne Sørvaag, the most schlager entry of the evening. She was a confident performer, and had fun on stage, which is what we want, I think. I did hope that she and Helene would fare better in the voting, but that’s the way things go. Hanne’s a talented songwriter, and I expect to see her around again soon.

It was lovely to see Didrik Solli-Tangen performing My Heart Is Yours again, although I did spend a little too much time laughing at the name of the gay choir (Fagottkor) who joined him on stage. I’m very ungrateful, sometimes.

Just a final note to those naughty Schlagerboys, who got themselves interviewed: Sweden has most definitely not “gone rubbish”. I’m going to tell Christer Björkman what you said when I see him and he’s going to ban you both, not just from Melodifestivalen, but from Sweden itself. That’ll learn you.

Photo: Hege Bakken Riise/NRK

Schlageroverload

It’s a huge night for schlager, with contest finals taking place in Iceland, Norway and Finland, and the second week of Melodifestivalen in Sweden. There is nothing happening in Denmark.

There’s been plenty of comment about all the finals in the past few weeks on Schlagerfiasko, so we’re just going to briefly discuss each one and then reserve analysis for the morning after. Assuming there’s no drinking involved in tonight’s proceedings. I had plenty of refreshment yesterday at lunchtime. Which started at 1pm and ended at 8. I think. I can’t remember.

ANYWAY, there’s much anticipation in Oslo this evening about friend of Schlagerfiasko Stella Mwangi. Can she win? Her song has been at the top of Norway’s iTunes chart since it won in Skien, and would be fantastic on the stage at Düsseldorf. Other songs to to look out for is the marvellous friend of Schlagerfiasko, Hanne Sørvaag, who has a great chance of success this evening. Babel Fish will also provide competition, and Helena Bøksle is also in with an outsider opportunity… Hopefully, Åste of Åste & Rikke will be on good form – she had to miss a rehearsal this week because of illness, so Schlagerfiasko sends its best wishes.

Helene Bøksle – Vardlokk
Sie Gubba – Alt du vil ha
Babel Fish – Depend On Me
The Lucky Bullets – Fire Below
The BlackSheeps – Dance Tonight
Stella Mwangi – Haba Haba
Åste & Rikke – Not That Easy (Ah-åh-ah-åh)
Hanne Sørvaag – You’re Like A Melody

Across the sea in Iceland, another friend of Schlagerfiasko, Erna Hrönn, will be hoping for success. She faces stiff competition from past winner Jóhanna, while Jógvan Hansen and Matti Matts could also break through. Sjónni Brink’s song is also getting a lot of attention, and could finish at the top. This is definitely a wide-open competition, and I’m not sure that Jóhanna can be assured of victory as many fans outside Iceland assume.

Haraldur Reynisson – Ef ég hefði vængi
Erna Hrönn Ólafsdóttir – Ástin mín eina
Yohanna – Nótt
Matthías Matthíasson & Erla Björg Káradóttir – Eldgos
Jógvan Hansen – Ég lofa
Magni Ásgeirsson – Ég trúi á betra líf
Sigurjón’s friends – Aftur heim

Finland’s final selection comes down to ten songs from a very un-schlager selection. The bookie’s favourite is Paradise Oskar (friend of… etc etc), with his gentle ballad. I’m also hoping that (friend of…) Saara Aalto will attract attention as well.

Eveliina Määttä – Dancing In The Dark
Sami Hintsanen – Täältä maailmaan
Milana Misic – Sydämeni kaksi maata
Paradise Oskar – Da da dam
Cardiant – Rapture In Time
Johanna Iivanainen – Luojani mun
Father McKenzie – Good Enough
Marko Maunuksela – Synkän maan tango
Saara Aalto – Blessed With Love
Stala & So – Pamela

Friday Five: Hanne Sørvaag

It’s Wednesday afternoon, so it must be time for another Friday Five…

Hanne Sørvaag should be called Frøken Eurovision. Not only does she perform (you might recall her days as Paris), she’s also a songwriter. And not just any songwriter. Her schlager CV include’s No Angels’ Disappear, Velvet Inc’s Tricky, Do It Again for Foxy, Shine for Georgia’s Sopho Nizharadze, and a little-known song called My Heart Is Yours that was sung by Didrik Solli-Tangen. But she didn’t write that one herself. She had some help from someone called Fredrik Kempe. No, me neither…

So she dabbles in music, as you can see.

This year, Hanne has reached the Melodi Grand Prix final with You’re Like A Melody. The consummate professional, Hanne dazzled us with her performance and surprised no one with her ticket direkt to Oslo. But there’s a few things that Schlagerfiasko was wondering. Five things, actually…

Hei Hanne! Choose one word to describe You’re Like A Melody. And don’t say ‘melody’.
Feel-good!

Who are your musical heroes?
Sheryl Crow and The Bangles.

Yes, I can definitely hear them in your sound. Tell us one thing we would never know about you…
I love to bake – on Sundays.

What are you most excited about for Saturday night?
Performing in Spektrum! It’s an opportunity to create a memory for life – I never thought I’d ever see the day!

Teach us a phrase in Norwegian…
Du er nydelig. It means ”You’re beautiful”.

Am I? Thanks, Hanne!

Here she is:


Last chance saloon

Direkt fra Sarpsborg tomorrow night is the Sistesjansen round of Melodi Grand Prix – and there’s quite a varied selection battling it out to secure a place in next week’s final at Oslo Spektrum.

The round features the six acts that came in third and fourth places in each of the three semi-finals, as well as the two acts that took in the most viewer votes to achieve a fifth place in their respective semi-final. Simple.

It may be a cliché, but it really is all to play for. We love Endre, Mimi Blix and Pernille & Marius, but any of the acts could triumph.

The full line-up:

Daisy Use Me vs Pernille & Marius I’ll Be Yours

Sie Gubba Alt du vil ha vs Mimi Blix Allergic

Gatas Parlament Jobbe litt mindre og tjene litt mer vs The Lucky Bullets Fire Below

Endre Oh, Oh (Puppy love) vs Susperia Nothing Remains

The contest between Endre and Susperia may actually be the most ridiculous competition ever in the history Eurovision pre-selections. Seriously, how can you compare ‘puppy love’ with metal?

Gentle men

Is NRK actively trying to stop us enjoying Melodi Grand Prix this year? We were pissed off enough last week with the webfeed, but the on-button wasn’t actually pressed until half-way through Pernille and Marius’ performance this time. It’s seriously not good enough. To be more positive, the standard of the stream was better this time, but still nowhere near a decent resolution. Oh dear.

Onto the songs, anyway. We really enjoyed Saturday night’s show. Every song was in with a chance, and everyone was on great form. There was a real energy this time around, and it was an enjoyable evening.

The two highlights were both winners. Hanne Sørvaag cruised through to the final. As we said before, she knew what she was doing, and made it look easy. Some commentators thought her vocal was nervous, but it sounded alright within the context of the song, so we were happy. One thing: ditch the guitar. It didn’t work for Anna Bergendahl last year, and it won’t work here either. Where do those disappearing guitars go to, anyway? Are they currently residing with all those socks that are missing from their pair?

Babel Fish could go all the way. The four gentlemen delivered a solid performance, and this could be their year. It’s not an exciting song, but it ticks all the boxes for what a big, emotionally wrought song should sound like. Maturity counts for a lot, and it worked.

Through to the last chance section are young Endre and, excitingly, Mimi Blix. With a bit of a remix, Allergic could light up the stage in Düsseldorf if it won… Now there’s a thought, Norway.

UPDATE:

Schlagerfiasko should actually just give up now. How could we publish a review of the events in Florø without mentioning the main event? Alexander Stenerud’s medley of hits with a special guest: Guri Schanke.

Obviously, this was the real highlight of the evening – and if it was in competition, it would have walked away with the top spot.

It’s our Song of the Week, and deservedly so.