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Ankie Bagger

Some live music from Sweden…

by scandipop on August 7, 2010

After getting off to an amazing start, pop wise, the summer singalong festivals in Sweden have been a bit lacklustre in recent weeks, with very few performances or artists that we could get excited about. Hence why we haven’t really written about them with the same gusto that we started out with earlier in the summer. Nevertheless, the last two weeks of Sommarkrysset, Allsång På Skansen, and Lotta På Liseberg, HAVE thrown up a few gems that we think deserve to be noticed outside of the youtube archives, so here they are below;

We posted this already in a Le Kid article earlier in the week, but it wouldn’t be fair not to include them in a round up of the best performances of the last few weeks. This delivery of ‘Mercy Mercy’ is immense in so many ways.

Ever the showman, Salem Al Fakir captivated the audience of Allsång På Skansen when he played there two weeks ago. We’ve seen him live a couple of times this year, and watching him never gets boring. Perhaps the organisers suspected this, and they allowed him to do three songs. ’4 o Clock’ and ‘I’m So Happy’ in particular demonstrate how loveable and special a performer he is, and of course ‘Keep On Walking’ is still magical.

Injecting a bit of warmth into what was an otherwise wet Tuesday, Linda Sundblad did two songs at Allsång På Skansen. Not ‘Let’s Dance’ unfortunately, but her other single ’2 All My Girls’, and a surprisingly beautiful version of ‘Over The Rainbow’. Who knew she had it in her?!

Martin Stenmarck is enjoying something of a minor hit in Sweden right now with his cover of Keane’s ‘Everybody’s Changing’. We like it, but we’re still not sure how we feel about how he’s looking in the clip below. Normally to our eyes, he’s one of the hottest guys in Sweden! But is that guyliner he’s wearing?

Christian Falk is a multi talented and world renowned dance producer, and now his daughter Vanessa is being launched in Sweden. She’s previously provided a couple of vocals for Daddy’s tracks, but ‘Private Party’ seems to be her big launch, cemented with this performance last week. We like it, but we’re looking forward to hearing the studio version fully, before we judge it completely. Still, it seems like she could be an exciting artist to look out for.

AND FINALLY, here are two more performances from Sommarkrysset that you should check out. Marie Serneholt and Sebastian Karlsson have been treading the boards for most of this year in the Swedish production of Grease. Marie is an adorable Sandy and Sebastian is an unlikely but great Danny. They performed the Swedish language version of ‘Summer Loving’ at Sommarkrysset last weekend.

Lastly, Ankie Bagger and Peter Gustafsson took their Stockholm Pride duties mainstream last weekend also, when they sang the official anthem of the festival, ‘Secret Weapon’, at Sommarkrysset too. Uber camp, but uber fabulous with it. We loved every minute of it!

You can discuss this at our forum here

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An Almighty Tight Fit!

by scandipop on July 30, 2010

Ok, this is the first time we’ve ever featured something on this website that isn’t actually Scandinavian related. But it’s SO worth it. Plus, it sounds more scandipop and schlager than a lot of actual Scandinavian music this year!

Basically, 80′s UK group Tight Fit have reformed and are re-releasing their huge hit ‘Fantasy Island’. The genius remix team Almighty, have been brought in to produce a brand new version, and it’s intensely exciting! Tinkly pianos, infectious synth riffs, and a chorus that sounds like it’s actually being sung by Agnetha and Frida. Our jaw was dramatically dropped for most of the duration of our first listen to this. It’s mega! And it’s something that’s going to appeal to all schlager fans, we think.

It’s like Abba have finally met Steps and gone out clubbing together at scandipop!

While we’re on the subject of Almighty, and perhaps to bring some genuine scandipop into this post, here’s their cover version of Ankie Bagger’s monster 80′s hit ‘Where Were You Last Night’, from a couple of years ago. This song seriously needs to be covered again and made a hit in the UK. It saddens us to think that so few Brits are aware of this amazing song’s existence!

You can discuss this at our forum here

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Another Secret Weapon!

by scandipop on July 25, 2010

It’s Stockholm Pride week! And to get us in the mood, here is a big gay remix of the official song of the Pride festival – ‘Secret Weapon’ by Secret Weapon, made up of Ankie Bagger and Peter Gustafson.

The remix has been done by Chris Jay. He’s made it sound that little bit more anthemic, which is fitting given the song’s purpose. It’s got a ‘Poker Face’ style synth riff running through it, and is big on the bass. And that key change sounds even more almighty now!

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Stockholm Pride 2010

by scandipop on July 17, 2010

The Stockholm Pride festival is coming up at the end of this month. And as you would hope and expect, there is already a huge number of scandipop-friendly acts lined up to perform throughout the week. Below are the highlights of the two main nights, but with Stockholm Pride, there is always lots more acts that show up as a surprise on the day.

Saturday 31st
Le Kid
Love Generation
Therese
Jonathan & Sandra (Jonathan Fagerlund and Sandra Dahlberg in their new dance project. Looking forward to seeing/hearing this one!)
Dark Ladies (amazing drag show)
Rebound
Caroline Af Ugglas

Friday 30th
Vengaboys
Sash!
Dr Bombay (if you haven’t heard of him, check out the amazing ‘Calcutta’)

Thursday 29th
Hera Bjork
Anne-Lie Ryde
Neo
Jenny Silver
Hanna Lindblad
Safura
Schlagerfeber

Also, on Wednesday 28th, there seems to be different events going on. A dansband set featuring Zekes and CC & Lee, plus a Michael Jackson tribute show featuring Anne Maria Espinosa, Marit Bergman, and others.

Also hanging around a few of the nights we imagine, will be Ankie Bagger and Peter Gustafson. They’re singing the year’s official Pride anthem ‘Secret Weapon’ – a schlager pop dance track that has been lighting up our July. It’s like a cross between Alcazar and BWO, and even has a BWO-esque middle eight, all regal and majestic camp glamour! It’s good, but what was even better was their song for Stockholm Pride 2009 – ‘Du Kan Inte Lura Mig’. Oh it’s just genius! It sounds like a pastiche of every great Melodifestivalen song over the last decade. Like ‘Värsta Schlagern’ was. It’s pure schlager, has the most loveable chorus, and of course – an almighty key change! You can listen to both below, the latter accompanied by a fabulous videos montage of all of the camp Melodifestivalen performances in recent memory.

And finally, if you’re in Stockholm that week, you’ll also be able to catch us DJing throughout the festivities. We’re DJing all night on the main floor of Paradise club on the Friday, and Torget bar on the Tuesday. Say hello!

All other details of the festival can be found here

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