ESC 2012 - Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2012

The 2012 Danish Eurovision national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2012 will be held at the Gigantium in Aalborg on the 21st of January 2012. Well known Danish television presenter and host Felix Smith will be back on the scene again, hosting the show next year, for the 4th time in a row. The Gigantium is no newcover to the Danish national final as it as hosted the 2006 and 2010 Melodi Grand Prix editions. 

Read more at esctoday.com

Well I never followed DMGP all these years but there's always a first time. And 21st of January is a great date. Melodifestivalen begins in February (it's my no1 NF priority). Now we wait...

Baywatch star goes to ESC! (?)

I think we're living historical moments! Apparently David Hasselhoff wants to represent the Netherlands in Baku 2012!

The 59-year-old American star is said to take part together with a female vocalist who would join him on stage. Their song might be written by Niall Mooney who was also behind the 2009 and 2010 Irish entries.

Read more here. That would be interesting. Let's see if he can send the Netherlands to the final! We all know that poor Holland isn't doing well these years. Maybe his name - and a good song of course - can help them! 

Rumors... It's all rumors so far but who knows?

Now...shall we get back to ESC?

I was so absorbed by Stockholm Pride and going from Stockholm to Norrköping and back again all these days that I didn't have time to blog about the latest ESC news. Well it's probably old news for you now...

What we know is that Cyprus has chosen their representative for Baku. Ivi Adamou will try to send Cyprus to the final in May 2012. I see quite a few positive comments about Ivi. With a good song she can do really well. The NF will be held on December 31st.

Let's go to Israel. I am really really happy because Israel confirmed their participation!!! Yay!! :D

Also Bosnia & Herzegovina confirmed their participation for next year.

That's it for now. Short blog entry but I'll get my pace back. (if I find a way to have access to an internet connection...)

Stockholm Pride 2011 - Can I re-live the last three days of Pride?

One of those moments where I don't know where to start! Seriously this time is so hard! I'd better take it day by day.

Thursday, August 4th
Schlager day! The most schlager-ish day of my life so far! Melodifestivalen's final was nowhere near this! Let me give you the list with the artists and the songs they performed at Stockholm Pride.

D'Nash - Amanda
Fredrik - Fem i tolv
Man Meadow - Viva La Musica
Anna Book - Samba Sambero
Mathias Holmgren - Långt bortom tid och rum
Simon Forsberg - Tid att andas
Shirley's Angels - I Thought It Was Forever
Molly Sandén - Så vill stjärnorna

Evan - Under Your Spell
Kikki Danielsson - Bra Vibrationer
Sara Löfgren - Som stormen
Hanson/Carson/Malmkvist - Du vet var jag finns, Zum Zum lilla sommarbi, Augustin, Vem fångar vinden, Kärleken lever, På en gammal bänk, Alla har glömt , Svenska flicka & Det är kärlek
Jenny Silver - Something in your eyes
Pernilla Wahlgren - Tvillingsjäl
Arja Saijonmaa - Vad du än trodde så trodde du fel
Natalie Paque - Jái Voi la vie
Thomas Lewing - Tjuvarnas natt
Lotta Engberg - 100%

Hanson/Carson/Malmkvist - C’est la vie
Kerstin Dahlberg - Här är min sång till dig
Pontus Platin - Nattens sång
Kate Ryan - Je T’adore & Lovelife
Josh Dubovie - That Sounds Good to Me and If I can't love her
Babsan - Ge mig en spanjor
Elysion - Golden star
Man Meadow - Love's Gonna Get You
Kikki Danielsson - God Morgon
Sanna Nielsen - I’m in love
Thomas Forstner - Nur Ein Lied
Velvet Inc - Tricky
Arja Saijonmaa - Högt över havet
Bryan Rice - *don't remember the song*
D´Nash - I love you mi vida and Abrázame
Anna Book - ABC
Pernilla Wahlgren - Piccadilly circus
Lotta Engberg - Juliette & Jonathan
Sanna Nielsen - Empty Room
Shirley Clamp - Min kärlek


Do I need to say more? It was a schlager heaven! Panic when Shirley's Angels got on stage, panic when Hanson, Carson & Malmkvist got on stage and when they were done, the crowd screamed several times the phrase "en gång till" which means "one more time". Yes, they came back on stage but without the texts! During their performance they had the texts on stage but after they finished their number, the techs prepared the stage for the next artist so when the trio came back and the music started playing... "Oh my God! The texts are gone!" Ann-Louise Hanson ran and took the texts and she shared a pair of reading glasses with Siw Malmkvist! Hilarious moment!


And after the end of the show I got to meet Josh Dubovie and Javi from D'Nash. I had to ask him! D'Nash said that they're gonna sing a song from their album which was released a few months ago. The song was called "Abrázame" and it was Lucía Perez's "Abrázame"!! So I asked Javi what happened with this song. He told me that they saw Lucía on tv performing it and they liked it so they contacted the writers and they asked for the song. And that's how they put it on their album.


Here's a photo of Thursday's finale

Friday, August 5th

I didn't go to Kungsan because I didn't like the program that day. I went for a walk in Stockholm to take some photos and then I went back home. I left again at 23:00 to meet my friend Margot and go to club Paradise to see Annikafiore! It would be the first time for me! I had never met Annikafiore before! She got on stage aroun 1:30-1:45 and sang "Shut Up And Dance", "Don't Wanna C U 2nite" and her own version of "Crying At The Discoteque" which I loved! She rocked! Annikafiore was the last artist to get on stage. We also saw Diamond Dogs! They did a quite nice show! But we were there just to see Annikafiore! After her show we waited for quite a long time at the backstage entrance but she never came out... I asked a security guard if there was an exit backstage (stupid question! there's always one!) and of course she said "yes". We decided to go backstage and as soon as we opened the door, a club employee came out. We asked if Annikafiore had left. He said "yes"... :/ We decided to leave. I had already lost the last bus to go home and I had to take a cab (don't ask me how much I paid!!). At least I saw her performing live!

Saturday, August 6th

The big day! The last day of Pride, the last performance of Alcazar! After 7 hours of sleep I log in on facebook to upload some photos and see if Annikafiore wrote anything about last night's gig. Yup. There was a status. This status:

Did we manage to meet? YES! But how we did that is the part I cannot reveal. I will just thank her once again for what she did for us! I met her in front of the big stage. We talked for a while and took some photos. And I'm so glad that I finally met the last (ex)Alcazar member! Now what's missing is a photo with all 5 of them. But yeah, what are the odds? Anyway I'm not done about that meeting! Before Annikafiore's arrival I was waiting for Margot. When Annikafiore came to me I called Margot several times but she didn't pick up! Annikafiore had to go... She told me she had to buy new shoes because she didn't want to celebrate the Pride with the ones she was wearing (which were fine!). Such a diva! Well we all know her passion for shoes, don't we? So she had to go... But what about Margot? Wouldn't she meet her? Of course she did! This is the second part that I cannot reveal. It's a bit different from "my case" but I'm not sure I can say anything about it.
I will only say that, I seriously doubt if any other artist in the world would do what Annikafiore did just to meet a couple of her fans! So once again, thank you Annika!

And now let's go to part two! The meeting with Annikafiore took place aroun 15:30. Since then I didn't leave my spot right in front of the stage until a little after midnight! Until Alcazar finished their last gig! Their last gig ever? I sure hope not! A few weeks ago they said that they will come back. But today I read an interview (in swedish) that they gave yesterday saying that Alcazar might come back with different members! WHAT?!!? I discovered Alcazar in summer 2004 with Magnus in the group. I loved them! When they decided to take a break in 2005 I was devastated because I didn't know it was a break. I thought they'd split up for good. When I was looking for some lyrics in 2008 I logged in alcazarworld.com and I was surprised! Different layout and this photo!

My first reaction was "oh my God! They're back!! Without Magnus but it's ok! They're back with the original format!" but after a closer look I realise that the girl on the photo isn't Annikafiore! So I had my doubts at the beginning but no. Lina fitted perfectly in Alcazar! And if you ask me which Alcazar era is my favourite, please don't wait for an answer. You won't get one! Each era is perfect for different reasons. But my point is that I accepted Lina in no time. But I'm not sure if I can keep doing this! Please no more new members/eras! They should come back the way they are now or don't come back at all! And I hate myself for saying this right now! But no more changes! And I just thought about something! If they don't plan to come back I say they do a very special show. Starting from the very beginning with Andreas, Annikafiore and Tess performing songs from the "Casino" album, Magnus joining them - let's say in act 2 - singing songs from the album "Alcazarized" and then Annikafiore and Magnus leave the stage and in act 3 Lina joins Andreas and Tess and they sing songs from the album "Disco Defenders" (and of course singles that are not included in any of the albums). And for the final song? Well all 5 of them should record a brand new song and perform it only once! Poor Andy and Tess! They will get extremely tired performing for that long! Even with breaks! :P But seriously I just fell in love with this idea! Again, what are the odds of something like this happening? :/ 

But let's go back to Pride! Too many artists performed! Apart from Alcazar which was the highlight of the evening, another highlight for me was the reunion (even for only one song) of my beloved Afro-Dite!! I saw them performing live!! Ooh! :D But unfortunately it wasn't "Never Let It Go"... It was a new song with Jonas Hedqvist called "I Am What I Am". And I will just write all the names that come up right now because the important part is after Alcazar's performance! So we saw on stage Shirley's Angels with the new single "Love In The First Degree", Getty Domein, NEO, Tove Styrke, Le Kid, Ulrik Munther... And then a girl comes on stage and starts singing. I go "God why is she so familiar?" and then they say her name. Tatiana! "Yes! It's Tatiana Okupnik from Poland!" She was the lead singer of Blue Café when they represented Poland in ESC 2004!! So I can add to the list another ESC artist that I saw live! :P But let's go on with the rest of them. Shirley Clamp gave us an extra performance. She was supposed to sing at the wedding of two girls but from what I got she couldn't make it and she performed just for them. Here comes a photo

Then we had Bryan Rice, Anthony Callea, Diamond Dogs with a great show, Lili & Susie, Adam Tyler, Anders Fernette, Christian Walz, Straight Up, Kazaky and of course Alcazar!

So it's over. Alcazar finished their performance we were waiting for them. Luckily Bonnie and Sara had access to the backstage and they brought Alcazar to us! Now I seriously doubt if it was (only) my message that made them do what they did. Let me make it clear to you. A week ago we saw this photo 

on Tess' blog. We wanted so badly those t-shirts! So I sent a message to Tess and asked if there was a way to get them. So on Saturday night when they came out to see us, Tess was holding a bag full of these t-shirts! They gave them to us and they also gave us some t-shirts to send to the other fans that weren't there. For example our friend Raoni from Brazil and Jessica from Italy! Oh Alcazar! <3 

And then came the photo session! Some people coming and go to the backstage were stopping by to get photos with Alcazar so when my turn comes I say "ok guys. My turn now" and Andreas goes "no! We have to go! Bye!"!!!!! He always does that! Hahahahaha Of course I got a photo! A historical one! A photo with Alcazar right after their last gig! Oh yes! And I asked them to sign the t-shirt! Once again, why does Tess have to do all the writing? Lina and Andreas just signed the t-shirt but Tess wrote a few words...

"Love

Ifi

Sagapo" 

and she signed it. The fan part is that she started saying phrases in greek. "Ti kanis? Kala. Afto ine ena potiri" (How are you? Fine. This is a glass). Hahahaha the last one was so off! Hahahahaha 

That was it! 3 great days! And now it's official! The best day for the year 2011 is August 6th! And I know that we still have 4 months to go but what else could happen? Hm maybe the special show? ;P

This was my first Pride! If it's gonna be like this every year then next year should hurry!

Back in Stockholm right on time!

Arrived in Stockholm on Monday but I was too busy to blog.
Haven't blog in a while... Well I got admitted in Linköping's University so I spent my entire day in Linköping yesterday. I went to see the uni. Amazing! Made many phone calls to find a place to stay and I'm quite close in renting an apartment in Norrköping. I'll be needing 40 minutes to go to Linköping every day but the good thing is that Linköping's University has a department in Norrköping so there is a bus going from one campus to the other and it's free for the students so living in Norrköping will be fine.

But now I am back in Stockholm during the Pride week! You know what this means? Remember my last post about it? Well since I have to be in Linköping on August 16th I had to come earlier to Sweden to find a place to stay. This is almost settled and now I will get to see Alcazar performing for the last time before their break! Mixed feelings... I'm sad because of their break but happy because I will see them once again. Haven't seen them since last December! And it's not only Alcazar! Annikafiore too! She's the only Alcazar (ex)member I haven't met! Well it's time I did this! And on Thursday is the schlager day! Aaww! Schlager!

So the schedule for now looks like this

Thursday - schlager day 

Friday - Annikafiore

Saturday - Alcazar

Well these are the highlights! If anything else comes up, I'll go for it. It's my 3rd day in Sweden and I still haven't gone round Stockholm. Well it's time!