2007 Countdown Part 4

So of course it was very close between Work Your Magic and this one,but my favourite song of this year is....

1: Måns Zelmerlöw- Cara Mia


Yes it’s Måns again. According to itunes, I’ve played this song 698 times. Well, not quite, but it will be before long probably. When I found out the results of Melodifestivalen, I was in a sulk that Andreas Johnson didn’t win (just like last year really). And then I heard Cara Mia and thought it was even more of an injustice that The Ark won (even though I love them now, as I said before, Ola Salo is an amazing lyricist, and some of his songs have meant a lot to me in recent times shall we say). I still think this would have done better than The Worrying Kind at Eurovision, it reminds me of Mihai’s Tornero (the best song of last year, and not just in Eurovision terms either), only it might even be a bit better than that. Everything about it is fabulous, the intro that makes you think “what the hell is this?”, the frenetic chorus, the big ending…it’s a bit of a Europop masterpiece I think :) So that’s 3 of Måns’s songs in my little countdown. That’s not bad. Maybe I should buy his album now, I’m thinking it would probably be quite a good investment.


There's been many other fabulous Europop tunes this year that I haven't mentioned of course- Venke Knutson's Holiday, practically everything that Sopho Khalvashi did, the Lene Marlin and Lovebugs song Avalon, and of course the super Do You Believe by Litesound...it's been a Eurotastic year,I hope 2008 will be the same :)

2007 Countdown Part 3

4: Måns Zelmerlöw- Brother Oh Brother

Although there’s a few dodgy lines in this song… “I thought she was the one, until I realised that she was gone…” “I thought you knew… well now I do,” I can overlook them :) This is such a tune. And it sounds really good on Keira’s fabulous new ipod hi-fi thing.

3: Chelsi- Krilya/Ya Shagayu Pa Moskve/Careless Whisper/Ya Ne Umru Bez Tvoi Liubvi

OK OK, I know I’ve just listed 4 songs there, but I couldn’t possibly choose between them, they’re all so good. Chelsi have undoubtedly been my greatest musical discovery this year, they’ve taken me and Keira back to the good old days of British pop. Well, obviously they sing in Russian and we don’t always know what they’re singing about, but they’re just like a 90s boyband really (except they wear suits which just makes them even better). Of course it helps that Arseniy Borodin is one of the hottest men on the planet, but their music is nothing short of fabulous. Krilya has the added bonus of a…nice video, Ya Shagayu Pa Moskve is wonderful (not their song, I know, but it’s still a great version, I even got to play it in one of my Russian lessons a few months ago), Careless Whisper is, again, another super cover, even if they do miss out a word in the chorus which sounds a bit strange. Ya Ne Umru Bez Tvoi Liubvi is in fact a cover of a Dima Koldun song so I’ve been told, and although I said before I prefer Dima’s version, I think I’ve changed my mind. I love the intro, I love the guitar solo in the middle, I love the way when it gets quieter towards the end that you think it’s finished, and I love the way Roman shouts Ya Ne Umru Bez Liubvi in the last chorus…yeah, it’s an alright song :)

2: Dima Koldun- Work Your Magic

Say what you like about Filip Kirkorov (and me and Keira often do), he made a bloody good job of this song. Oh how we tried to promote it to everyone we knew in the run up to Eurovision. Well OK, it was about 3 months actually. No one seemed to take any notice though. It’s a travesty Belarus got no points from the UK, says something about the rubbish musical taste of the British public though I suppose… Yes Molitva was a good song, but let’s face it, it was just a generic Balkan ballad really, whereas Work Your Magic was a bit different to your normal Eurovision fare. It’s completely dramatic and over the top, but catchy and brilliant at the same time. And not only has it given me the title of my blog, but also provided us with Loving Potion, a world class cocktail knocked up one evening in the bright yellow holiday camp in Guildford. Oh yes, and the small matter of it being sung by the sexiest Belarussian in the world simply adds to its appeal. Actually no, it’s sung by the sexiest man in the world full stop (Dima was recently unanimously voted the hottest man on the planet. By me and Keira).

2007 Countdown Part 2

Carrying on with my top songs of the year...

7: Måns Zelmerlöw- My Mistake

I only heard this one quite recently, but I absolutely love it. It’s got the right amount of balladness in it (that’s a new word) and it’s another one I love singing along to loudly in the kitchen. And it can’t be just me who thinks it’s a bit Michael Bublé sounding (can it?).

6: Albino Superstars- Popular

I heard this at the VG Lista concert as well (I make it sound like I was actually there, when in reality I was of course sitting in bed watching it and getting annoyed with the live stream cutting out every half a minute). It’s so so catchy, it’s fabulous. And the fact I’m sure they shot the video on the Oslofjord gives it bonus points too. I’ve heard their follow up song My Girls, but didn’t quite like it as much as this one.

5: Kurt Nilsen- Push Push

There are not enough superlatives in the English language to describe Kurt, I love him. He’s been my favourite singer in the world for the last 5 years, so I was very excited (to put it mildly) when I found out he was going to be at the VG Lista concert doing his new song, which was this. It’s funky, it’s cool, it’s a bit different to the stuff on his first 2 albums, and hopefully the next one will be full of things like this (from what I’ve heard, I think it will be). I urge you very much to check out the videos on youtube that he did for VG, where he’s in a studio singing Silence and Come On. They’re sooooo good.

Every move I made was just for me

I'm so bored with the French Communism scene now (ooh that sounds like it could be a name for a naff British indie band!)But sadly no,it's what I have to revise for my Politics exam next week,along with other such fun things as equal rights within the French government,language laws and political regimes since the fall of the monarchy.I so can't wait til the end of next week when we shall be cracking open the Russian vodka to celebrate the end of a ridiculously busy semester.Mmm.Anyway,for now though,let's listen to one of my favourite songs of the minute,My Mistake by Måns Zelmerlöw,whose album I still haven't managed to get round to buying.

Dreaming

How fabulous is this song off of Måns Zelmerlöw's new album?