30,000 entries for U.K.!

30,000 applications have been received for 'Your Country Needs You'.

The BBC show responsible for the U.K. entry for Moscow will begin their quest in the New Year with the first elimination show scheduled for January 3rd 2009 culminating on January 31st.

English media had claimed that Rydian runner up in X Factor 2008 had been enouraged to take part by his close friend Andrew Llyod Webber!

No Melodifestivalen for Linda?

I was gutted to learn that Linda Bengtzing will not perform 'Jag Tror På Oss' which has been offerred by Christer to The Scotts the group that are favourites to win Dancebandkampen. I had a feeling it was too good to be true that Linda would return in 2009 but when I heard that she recorded the demo I nearly passed out!

I wonder is there any chance she could still appear in the remaining acts to be announced?

I was surprised to learn that Malena Ernman was announced as 2nd wildcard for Melodifestivalen. Her quirky opera style will definately add a twist to this years contest.


Could she be the Alenka Gotar of 2009? Who could be the final 2 wildcards? Rumours are totally throwing us off this year!

Who could be the final two wildcards? Opera check, Comedy rap done. What could be next?!

I am happy to see Jonathan Fagerlund on the list. I have been a fan of his for a while and I am looking forward to seeing him perform ' Welcome To My Life'. Check out his single 'Dance in the Shadows' here.

Wildcards, Strippers and Disqualifications!!

Christer Bjorkman has told Expressen that the final 3 wildcards places in Melodifestivalen will be between Darin, Marie Serneholt, Lutricia McNeal and Orup!

Lutricia's biggest hit records so far were 'Ain't That Just the Way' in 1997 (UK: #5, Germany: #5, Sweden: #1), which sold 2 million copies worldwide, 'Stranded' (UK: #3, Sweden: #6) and 'Someone Loves You Honey' (UK: #9).

I am surprised Orup is in the mix without Lena Ph! Unless they are throwing us off the scent!
Although Lena had earlier said she would definately not enter Melodifestivalen many rumours have suggested otherwise.

Marie would be a great addition and she could end up competing against her boyfriend Mans! Plus her song 'I Need a House' which I featured on this blog a few months back is being covered by Same Difference on their new album! Same Difference are due to appear on X Factor this Saturday!

Darin(see above) was a runner up in Swedish Idol 2004 has had 3 number 1 albums in Sweden and is due to release his fourth album 'Flashback' on December 3rd!

Markoolio has also promised strippers on stage for his 'ballad with a twist'! Ok then!!

Lasse Stefanz's song 'Den första kyssen' may face disqualification as he has decided not to sing the song but did so on the demo! More room for someone much more fabulous!

Vote for the best Swedish entry ever!

Escsweden.com has been running a poll for the best Swedish entry at Eurovision. As of today the top 5 are:

1. Abba Waterloo 864 votes
2. Carola Invincible 650
3. Carola Fångad Av En Stormvind 333
4. Carola Främling 321
5. One More Time Den Vilda 258

Other notable entries on the list are:

7th Hero
8th It Hurts
11th Take Me to Your Heaven
13th Listen to Your Heatbeat
14th Bra Vibrationer
34th Never Let it Go

and bringing up the rear (careful!)
The 1977 entry Beatles and
1965 Absent Friend with just 4 votes each

VOTE HERE.

Markoolio is wildcard number 1!

Marko Lehtosalo better known as Markoolio has been announced as the first wildcard for Melodifestivalen 2009!

He will perform 'Kärlekssång från Mig' composed and penned by Patrik Henzel, Karl Eurén and himself.

He has released five studio albums, hosted and participated in numerous television and radio programs, and won several prizes and awards such as Male Artist of the Year at the Swedish Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards 2007.

Rumour has it that Christer Bjorkman has wanted Markoolio in the contest for a number of years and in fact Markoolio approached Christer this year in search of a wildcard.

I loved his duet with Linda Bengtzing 'Varsta Schlagern' however his usual style of comedic rap would not be my cup of tea and has not proven very successful at Melodifestivalen or Eurovision.

His song is described as a 'ballad with a twist'!

3 wildcards to go!

What do you think?

8 artists for Melodifestivalen announced!

SVT have announced the names of 8 artists for Melodifestivalen and they were no surprise.




Alcazar will perform 'Stay the Night' a party song with unusual harmonies!




Mans will perform 'Hope and Glory' which has been described as a typical Mans song that everyone will remember after the first listen!! fantastic!





BWO will perform the BALLAD 'You're not alone'! or as SVT describe it a 'dramatic electro gospel ballad'! Very interesting!




Caroline of Ugglas will perform 'Snalla Snalla' which has been described as a typical Caroline track (i.e. a little weird!)






The girl who had a major hit with 'Big Big World' Emilia will perform 'You're my World'




Jennifer Brown has joined forces with Peter Kvint (Writer for Andreas Johnson and co writer of 'One Love') to sing 'Never been here before' This has been described as a soul ballad.





Sarah Dawn Finer will sing a big ballad 'Moving On'





and finally Lasse Lindh will sing 'Jag Slass I Dina Kvarter!
I was unimpressed with Lasse's 2008 entry in Melodifestivalen and was surprised to see him make the final cut this year but SVT have described his song for 2009 as 'A song to dance to' so maybe I'll give him another chance!

(Pics:SVT)

Paul is back!

The fabulous Paul Oscar has 2 songs submitted to Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2009 The Icelandic selection for Eurovision!

As everyone knows Paul represented Iceland in 1997. He performed the song "Minn hinsti dans" ("My Final Dance"), which he co-wrote, backed by four women dressed in latex playing suggestively on a sofa behind him! Oh er!

Although the song only reached 20th place in a field of 25, the controversial presentation attracted wide attention, especially amongst gay audiences, and made him known internationally.

Having met Paul in La Scala at the preview party I must say he has a real star quality about him and was loving the great atmosphere of the night!

He was also involved in writing the English lyrics for 'This is my Life' the eurofan favourite sung by Euroband in Belgrade this year.

Other composers include Trausti Bjarnason he wrote 'Þer við hlið' in 2006 for Regina Osk who was beaten by the slighty demented Silvia Night!.

Örlygur Smári is the composer of the 2000 Icelandic participation 'Tell Me' as well as the 2008 entry. Hallgrímur Óskarsson composed the 2003 entry for Birgitta 'Open your heart'.

A stellar line up for a country that deserves the prize more than anyone (Malta and Portugal close behind!) Whether we will see the return of performers Euroband, Birgitta and Paul himself remains to be seen.

The Icelandic Final takes place on February 14th 2009! How romantic!

Moscow Pride and Eurovision!

Moscow Pride has been scheduled to take place on the same day as the final of Eurovision 2009.

With a large group of gayers descending on the city that weekend it has promted a lot of discussion in relation to safety of these visitors.

Sergei Ananov, the deputy head of the Moscow committee on tourism, said at a press briefing at the World Travel Market 2008 in London:

'Moscow is known for the respect of people of different religious beliefs as well as expressions of their nature.'

However The Mayor of Moscow has called gay rights activists "Satanic" and banned Pride in 2006 and 2007!

The Organizer of Moscow Pride, Nikolai Alekseev, described today’s statement by Mr. Ananov as 'pure hypocrisy'

What do you think?

Who will fly the Irish flag in Moscow?

After 155 votes the readers of Schlagerqueen have voted on who they want to represent Ireland at Eurovision 2009.
And the winner is:







Donal Skehan an avid Eurovision fan performed 'Double Cross my Heart' at Eurosong 2008 but faced a tough battle in the form of a certain Turkey!








In 2nd place are Dundalk family The Corrs:



In joint 3rd place are Leona Daly:















who sang the beautiful 'Not Crazy after All' which will represent Ireland at the OGAE Second Chance Contest.

and Samantha Mumba!










In 4th place were the fabulous Schlagerboys!





Finally, in 5th place is Eurovision legend Linda Martin:













At the bottom of the list with 0 votes were:

Clannad and The Chieftains!! It says it all really!

Velvet to sing 'The Queen'?

According to new rumours Ola won't be performing 'The Queen' written by Tony Nilsson and Henrik Jansson. Instead it will be sung by Velvet!!

Wildcards for Melodifestivalen?

Rumours have been circulating regarding who the 4 possible wildcards for Melodifestivalen could be!

One that looks certain is Sibel who placed 7th in Melodifestivalen 2008 with 'That is where I'll go' which reached number 6 in the Swedish charts.

Peter Joback's name has also been mentioned as a possible wildcard. Joback is regarded by many as being one of Sweden's best male vocalists.
A star of the musicals Peter competed in Melodifestivalen 1990(complete with 90's hair!) performing 'En Sensation' finishing 9th. Check it out here

E.M.D. consisting of Erik Segerstedt, Mattias Andréasson and Danny Saucedo all met while participants of Idol 2007.
Their first album 'A State of Mind' debuted at number 1 in the Swedish charts. Danny was rumoured to be approached by Christer last year but was unable to accept the invitation as he had already signed up to be a contestant on Let's Dance 2008.

Ace of Base the band that have scored 12 UK top 40 hits and 4 time winners of 'Best Selling Scandinavian Artist' at the World Music Awards have been mentioned many times as possible entrants over the years.
Last year Ulf Ekberg of Ace Of Base told Expressen 'We have definately not closed the door, if we only can get it in so it works with our world tour. It a very interesting platform'

Who else could be a contender? Nanne? Caracola? Marie Picasso? Afro Dite? Kikki? LaGaylia Frazier? Darin? Sebastian? Magnus Carlsson? Jan Johnason? Melody Club? Man Meadow? Bionido? Thorleifs?
The mind boggles!