If you’re in Malmö for the Eurovision Song Contest tomorrow this week, there’s one party taking place tomorrow night that is not to be missed.

Scandipop is hosting a live concert and club night tomorrow on Friday May 17th, at Moriskan in Folkets Park – the official Euro Cafe venue. We’re gonna have performances from three ace artists, plus we’re gonna be DJ-ing all night too – so you know the music is gonna be good.

Doors open at 9pm, and we finish at 5am.

Performing;
Appearing on stage at around 10pm will be Eddie Razaz, whom you all know from Melodifestivalen 2013, with his song ‘Alibi’. Swedes will also be more familiar with Eddie from his days on Idol and then as a member of REbound. And tomorrow night he’ll be premiering some new material.

At approximately 10.30pm, Stockholm Syndrome will be taking to the stage for their last ever appearance as a trio. These girls rocked Melodifestivalen on a couple of occasions (as Love Generation), with ‘Dance Alone’ and ‘Just A Little Bit’. And now they’ve been reinventing themselves with massive tunes like ‘Pretty Girl’ and ‘Karma’. Tomorrow night, they’ll be performing their hits as Stockholm Syndrome and Love Generation.

Then at around 11.15pm, we’ve got our very own Big Reunion. Pay TV! Performing their greatest hits, and generally being the fabulous creatures that they are. We love that they’ve finally made it to Eurovision.

Finally, later on in the night, Pay TV will be returning to the stage to perform their set again – to cater for any of you who might be tied up at the Friday night dress rehearsal. So if you’re planning to arrive later and thus miss the main show – don’t worry, you’ll still get to see Pay TV do their thing.

And then for the rest of the night, we’ll be DJ-ing. Playing a mixture of Scandipop, Melodifestivalen, and Eurovision. And yes – we take requests, so come and say hello!

Loreen has this week released a brand new single. ‘We Got The Power’, written by Ester Dean and produced by Patrik Berger.

The week she’s chosen to release it is no coincidence. It’s one year since she won the Eurovision Song Contest with ‘Euphoria’, and so this week the contest is taking place in Sweden because of her. And on Saturday night’s show she’ll perform the song live.

‘We Got The Power’ is quite different from anything you’ve heard from Loreen before. Militant beats, dramatic guitars, and a chanting, shouty choir. With just a little bit of the ethereal dance sound that we associate with Loreen. And the involvement of Patrik Berger (Robyn’s ‘Dancing On My Own’) and his production is evident here too. It’s dark and moody, yet somewhat uplifting at the same time. And an exciting glimpse into what we can possibly expect from the second album of hers, due out later this year.

The song is released tomorrow on iTunes, but is already available to listen to on Spotify. Or right here;

Linda Sundblad is back with a new single from her ‘Öppna Ditt Hjärta Så Ska Du Få’ EP. She’s chosen ‘Slow Motion’ to be the latest highlight. And deservedly so.

The EP, released last September, hasn’t quite managed to command the same attention in Sweden as some of her more successful contemporaries. And that’s a shame. She’s truly one of the most talented singers around right now, and an absolutely mind blowing live performer. Plus, the EP was one of the best releases of 2012. Thankfully though, she’s doing it all independently, so commercial success isn’t as necessary to continue making music as it is with other artists. So hopefully we’ll get another EP of ‘Öppna Ditt Hjärta Så Ska Du Få’s quality in the not too distant future.

For now though, she’s rightfully sticking with promoting her current EP, and has this week released the new single from it, ‘Slow Motion’. Don’t let the English title fool you – this is svensk pop all the way, just like all her other recent singles. It’s an uptempo number that combines synth music with a catchy horn. Plus some 80s-esque guitar solo action towards the end. And it’s even got an intro that sounds like a Christmas jingle – how very schlager! True to form with the rest of the EP, ‘Slow Motion’ has also got itself an uplifting melody.

Basically, it’s a pretty brill pop song.

Below you can watch a live performance of the song from Linda, plus listen to the studio version on Spotify (wordwide).

One of past year’s most exciting debutantes has been the Danish singer MØ. Release after release has been an enjoyable insight into the artistry of somebody who is doing things their way – without any compromise, but without any need for it either. Music that doesn’t really fit into any particular pop mold, but that’s irresistible to lovers of pop regardless.

Today she’s uploaded the latest song of hers. Sounding very different to anything else out there, and very fluid in continuing to promote her sonic stamp. An intricate production that throws in an art deco kitchen sink, and with MØ’s vocal over the top, which somehow manages to sound both carefree and concentrated on a message.

Listen to the new track below, and take a trip through her other tracks here.

It’s Eurovision week!

Our favourite Scandinavian entry this year, Margaret Berger’s ‘I Feed You My Love’, will compete in tomorrow night’s semi final, in the hope of securing Norway a place in Saturday’s final. And it’s not just our favourite – it’s one of the big favourites in the contest this year, widely expected to do well, and currently the third favourite with betting agencies to win Eurovision. After her Scandinavian neighbour Emmelie de Forest, with ‘Only Teardrops’ for Denmark.

Anyone who saw Berger’s performance of ‘I Feed You My Love’ at Melodi Grand Prix, will be well aware of how breathtaking the song looks on stage. And having seen her rehearse it on the Malmö Eurovision stage, we’re delighted to see that the performance hasn’t changed all that much from the one we already know and love. If it ain’t broke, etc etc. Norway’s turn at Eurovision tomorrow night (and hopefully on Saturday night too) is going to be a real moment. And a chance for the Eurovision Song Contest to prove that it can so easily be a music competition that’s current and relevant to what’s going on in music outside of the contest too – just like ‘Euphoria’ was last year.

Below you can watch a preview of Margaret’s Eurovision performance, recorded at her rehearsal last weekend. Plus, you can watch her perform it at the Nordic party that took place in Malmö this week.

AND – below that, she even goes so far as to saying hello to Scandipop! Sweet girl.

Have a listen to our other highlights of this year’s Eurovision, right here.

Preview of Eurovision performance

Performance at the Nordic delegations party

Margaret says HEJ to Scandipop!

One of 2012′s bestest breakthrough acts in Sweden were Smith & Thell. And while they’re busy beavering away at completing that debut EP of theirs to be released in 2013, they’ve just put out a new version of one of their buzz tracks from last year, ‘Super DJ’.

The song has been freshened up suitably for its release a single, and today they’ve premiered the brand new video for it too – in which they themselves appear to have been freshened up also. We’re loving the new look, the styling, and the attitude. It kind of shows a band who were fresh and new last year, that have more or less found their feet image wise, and are having a lot of fun with it. The look of the video is akin to something that Rebecca & Fiona would come out with – but ‘Super DJ’ is an even better track than anything those two have come out with so far. We love both, but Smith & Thell > Rebecca & Fiona, for sure!

At first we were annoyed/frustrated/disappointed that the duo had re-released an old track rather than giving us something new. But in fairness, ‘Super DJ’ does deserve a full release and a chance to shine and fulfill its potential. It’ll go down as a highlight in what we hope is going to be a long and fruitful release schedule from them throughout their careers.

Just please don’t make us wait too long for the next single please guys!

Below is the video, and the link to buy it on iTunes (they’ve released it worldwide). And here you can listen to all remixes in full.

Nine awesome songs we’ve written about over the last couple of months, have since had pop vids made for them.

Coincidentally, they’re ALL by ladies. We obviously need to start writing about more guys on here!

Watch all nine videos below, and you can click on each song title to read what we wrote about the tracks initially.

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Rebecca & Fiona: ‘Union‘

Eva & The Heartmaker: ‘Joanna‘

Wolfgang Gartner feat. Medina: ‘Overdose‘

ALIDA: ‘Feathers‘

Vanbot: ‘When My Heart Breaks‘

Fallulah: ‘Dried Out Cities‘

Emerentia: ‘Wasting Water‘

Manda: ‘Sweetest Heartbreak‘

Jasmine Kara: ‘Can’t Lie To Me‘

The latest series of Norwegian Idol wrapped up last night. That means we have a winner. And also a winner’s single!

17 year old Siri Vølstad Jensen took the crown, and today releases her first single, ‘What It Feels Like’. It’s a typically winner’s-single sounding song. Mid-tempo and punchy, with uplifting, inspiring, and semi self-help lyrics. “is this what it feels like to fly“, she asks. Well yes it is Siri – and you should know that already, as you’ve watched all of the of the previous seasons of Norwegian Idol and seen the numerous moments where the winner’s are announced and perform similar songs.

‘What It Feels Like’ is good for what it is now. But of course what will be really interesting, is to hear what she comes out with in six months time.

Below you can watch the winning performance of ‘What It Feels Like’.

The song is out now, and they’ve also released it outside of Norway too – iTunes link under the performance.

The debut single from Sweden’s latest pop chap. Oscar Zia and ‘#Fail’. Not ‘Fail’. ‘#Fail’. That’s hashtag fail. ‘#Fail’.

Who is this Oscar Zia though, and where has he come from – you might ask. Well actually, this fellow has barely been off Swedish TV recently. He must be exhausted. In the last six months he’s been a contestant on the X Factor, competed in Melodifestivalen (as the singer of Behrang Miri’s ‘Jalla Dansa Sawa’), and he’s currently winning more fans as a contestant in the latest season  of Let’s Dance, which is still running. Who the hell does all that in six months?! Oscar Zia does. And kudos to him and EMI Sweden for getting a song out today to capitalise on all this exposure. Striking while the iron’s hot, and all that. And speaking of hot – let’s talk about the song.

It’s a an upbeat and catchy pop number that screams summer sunshine, basks in its own heat, absorbs the vitamin D, and radiates an infectiously happy glow. So yeah it’s pretty good. It’s pop that takes its influence from the humble guitar, so it’s right in vogue with what his contemporaries Eric Saade and Danny Saucedo both put out as their new singles last month.

The lyrics do often fall into Rebecca Black levels of cringeworthingly awful, but in the words of the song itself :  “hashtag fail, fail, it’s ok yeah, give it a minute and we’ll laugh it off“. But the bad lyrics are balanced out by a cracking melody. The melody is truly super.

‘#Fail’ was released today on Spotify in Sweden (and probably elsewhere in the world too, as EMI Sweden usually don’t bother with all that territory restriction nonsense), with a release on iTunes to follow on Monday.

The song has been written by Linnea Deb, Joy Deb, Joakim Harestad Haukaas, and Charlie Mason.

The most recent winner of Norwegian Idol, Jenny Langlo, is back with a brand new single, a brand new video, and most importantly/impressively – a brand new sound.

Following on from her Idol win in late 2011, she released a couple of pretty good songs, ‘Building An Aeroplane‘ and ‘Million Dollar Signs‘. But after taking a break for just short of a year, she’s back with her strongest track to date, ‘Mockingbirds’. It’s not really the type of thing you expect to hear from an Idol winner so soon after their win. Three albums into their career maybe, but not three singles! Instead, it’s more akin to what you would hear from any of Jenny’s cooler Scandinavian contemporaries – the sort of women that get featured in UK newspapers and on American indiepop websites, when either of the two are having their latest “ooh, look how great Scandinavian music can be” type feature thing.

The verses, and so the introduction to the song, are quite dull. But it all kicks off once the chorus comes in. And then gets even better during its post-chorus. And then those verses aren’t so dull anymore, when you return to them. They make more sense. It’s a truly truly great song. And it’s quite alarming/concerning/disappointing that in the space of one week, the video of a Universal Music signed Idol winner with such a fantastic song, has earned less than two thousand views.

Sort it out, readers. Spread it around;