Eurovision 2014: Sweden

Melodifestivalen...

For watchers of national finals, Sweden's national Eurovision selection process is the be all and end all.   The final, held on March 8th, was a show that pretty much delivered on all levels--strong songs, quality production values, and a nail-biting voting process.

For Eurovision lovers, there was something for everybody.

The Swedish take on Henry Rollins:

Linus Svenning  "Broeder"

A former Eurovision winner:

Helena Paparizou  "Survivor"

And sparkly man pants:

Alcazar  "Blame It On The Disco"  

And had they been performed in another country, those three songs would have been sure winners.  But it's Melodifestivalen, so they were some of the also-rans.

A strong ballad with a little vocal ornamentation trumped all the bells and whistles in the other songs.   Seventh time's the charm for Nielsen, who has been attempting to represent Sweden at Eurovision since 2001.

Sanna Nielsen  "Undo"

Annia W., my favorite Swede, agrees with the result.  She texted me after the contest telling me "the best song won".

Usually Annia and I are simpatico when it comes to Melodifestivalen, but this year I have to disagree.  The song I would have voted for was this number.

Panetoz  "Efter solsken"

I must confess a personal preference for Afropop, and this song was very well performed.  I would have voted for it, knowing it would have not likely not gone anywhere.

And it didn't.  It came in ninth out of ten songs in the final.

But even so, I still don't think "Undo" would have been the most successful of the Swedish choices come Eurovision time. 

Ace Wilder   "Busy Doin' Nothin'"

Wilder came in second at the end of the final, losing to Nielsen by only two points and is by far the more memorable song.   It's immediately infectious and unforgettable, while Nielsen's song is very nice.  In fact, the Swedish pop charts agree with me.  "Busy Doin" Nothing" is number one while "Undo" is number two.

But I'm sure that Sweden's going to sail through the semifinal and have another successful finish.  "Undo" is likely to make a top 10 finish, and not let Swedes down.

Eurovisionaries: Carola

Anchorage has been hit by some pretty bad weather over the past few months, and it was capped off by a freak windstorm that knocked out power tom most of the city--my neighborhood went without power for a day., while other people I knew didn't have power for up to a week.

Luckily, other than the power outage, my house didn't get that much damage, just loads of little branches and lots of birch leaves to clean up. 

But while I was doing the cleanup songs from Sweden's queen of Eurovision were running through my head.

Carola Häggkvist, more commonly known as Carola, has represented Sweden three times in Eurovision, coming no lower than fifth place.  Her straightforward schlager stylings, combined with her outspokenness on her personal beliefs, have made her both extremely popular and controversial, and have led her to be a successful singer thirty years after her

 

Carola first showed up at Eurovision in 1983, as a sixteen year old singing this song.

 

 

 

"Främling"  Sweden  1983

 

 

She had a great deal of success with this song, and the album with the same name sold over a million copies, country, setting her up as a national pop star at the tender age of sixteen.

She attempted to parlay her success with "Främling" into becoming an international star--going to Japan and recording with the Bee Gees--but success outside of Scandinavia eluded her, and in the late 80s she took time off from recording.
 

However, by 1990, here career was on a downtick by 1990, when she attempted to represent Sweden at Eurovision for a second time.

 

 

 "Mitt i ett äventyr"  1990

 

She didn't win the contest, but came in a credible second, which spurred her on to compete again next year, where she won both the Swedish national final and the contest entirely with this song.



"Fångard av en stormvind" Sweden 1991

 

And yes, while cleaning up from the storm I was singing this song.  It is rather obvious, an English translation for this could be "Caught in as Windstorm", but it is a catchy piece of pop music, and it's Carola's crowning achievements.

The funny thing is that her win was controversial, at the end of the 1991 contest, Carola's song tied on points with the song from France, but was declared the winner after they counted the total number of 12 point and 10 point votes.  It is a catchy song. 

After her success in Eurovision, her career has never really stopped.  Carola continues to record and release a new album ever few years, and she even came back to Eurovision a third time in 2005 with this song.

 

 "Invincible"  Sweden   2006

 

And unlike most returning winners to Eurovision, Carola didn't have a terrible fall from grace.  "Invincible" came in a very respectable fifth place.

Even though her last attempt to represent Sweden fell flat, not making it into the Melodifestivalen finals,

 

"One Love"  Johnson and Häggkvist   2008

Carola has continues to have a successful career, with her most recent album, "Elvis, Barbra & Jag" hitting the top of the Swedish album charts, and she's likely to have continued success in the future.

What else can Carola be but Eurovisionary?