Magnus Carlsson, you might wonder why is that name familiar.  Well wonder no more, he is synonymous with the Melodifestivalen stage having appeared in the pop groups ‘Barbados’ and ‘Alcazar’.

Barbados performed with Magnus as its lead singer in both 2000 and 2001 placing second on both occasions.  Magnus had been with the group since 1994 but after 2002 felt a need for change and left Barbados, which continued with a new lead vocalist.

Alcazar had been going since 1998 and Magnus joined the group in late 2002 a decision probably influenced by his then boyfriend and singer in the group Andreas Lundstedt.   Alcazar went on a break in 2005 and when it reformed in 2007 Magnus was no longer involved.

In 2006 and 2007 he entered the Melodifestivalen as a solo artist not giving up on the dream to be part of Eurovision history.

A new album ‘Pop Galaxy’ has just been released by Magnus Carlsson with a cover of Erasure ‘Respect’ flying high in the Swedish charts.  A duet with Charlotte Perrelli called ‘Mitts Livs Gimal’ has also entered the charts.  The song was written for the marriage of the Swedish Princess.

I have no doubt his blend of infectious pop will have all us euro-queens moving on the dance floor.

It has been confirmed that Our Sound – The Asia-Pacific Song Contest will take place this November in Mumbai, India. The Show will take place in the Andheri Sports Complex, which can hold up to 20,000 people, on November 26th and 28th.

The first show is when all the songs will be preformed while the second show is when the results will be announced.

14 countries have confirmed their entry for the first edition of the contest. They are the following:

• Australia
• Bangladesh
• Cambodai
• China
• Hong Kong
• India
• Indonesia
• Malaysia
• New Zealand
• Philippines
• Singapore
• Taiwan
• Thailand
• Vietnam

The voting will follow the style used at the Eurovision (1-8, 10 and 12). There will be no juries as the voting will be by televote. I am sure there will be back-up juries though.

It is up to each country to organise its own National Selection. Some will be internal others will be national finals.

The show will be streamed on the Our Sound website as I doubt it will be shown on any European Network!

It should be interesting to see how this works out for the Asian-Pacific region. Will there be accusations of Neighbourhood voting? (China – Hong Kong, Australia – New Zealand) It will be fun also!

You can keep up with everything on Facebook and Twitter as well as on their website!

I found this thanks to Candlemansa. It is an amazing new song out of the States by Kaci Battaglia. You may remember her from her song Paradise back when she was 13 in 2001. Now she is all grown up and has entered number 1 in the US dance charts with Crazy Possessive, and it is simply amazing. Is it just me however or does she look like Agnes?

See it here by clicking on the link for SVT.se

Amongst others Carola, Roxette and even the guys from Abba wrote a song

Todays Forgotten Gem comes from the 2005 Melodifestivalen and Danish singer Sanne Salomonsen. 

So why do we love this song, firstly she is a hot momma who has been shaking her thing since 1975.   She looks like a cross between Jennifer Coolidge and Nicolette Sheridan and has a voice to rival Anastasia with a deepness reminiscent of Tina Turner.  The song is very catchy and would have been a good addition to Eurovision history.   All you need do is listen to it twice and you’ll find yourself singing along.  Sanne continues to sing and release albums the latest released in 2009 was entirely in Danish while the previous four had been in English.  A worthy addition to any music collection check out today’s forgotten gem, Sanne Salomonsen.

Ok folks what’s been going on with our Eurovision stars? 

Well two of its most famous ladies, who preformed the same year on a Eurovision stage (1988) and have shadowed each other consistently in terms of vocal abilities since, have very exciting times ahead.

Celine Dion and husband Rene are expecting twins.  The singer who previously won the Eurovision is fourteen weeks pregnant but the path has not been easy with five failed in-vitro fertilisation attempts and a miscarriage last year.  The 42 year old singer already has a nine year old son with 68 year old Rene.  It was a love story never expected to last but despite the wide age gap it has triumphed.  We wish the couple much happiness with their growing family.

Lara Fabian is due to wrap up her latest movie project, ‘Madamoiselle Zhivago’.  The singer first hit the big screens in Cole Porters ‘De-Lovely’ and is now the lead role in a unique musical based on an album she is currently working on.  Written by Russian composer and director Igor Krutoi, produced by Ukranian Alan Badoev, Madamoiselle Zhivago  will contain 11 short stories all connected to each other taking place throughout time from the 19^th century to a distant future all linked by ‘The Woman’ played by Lara.  Some of the stories include a concert hall taken over by terrorist, a fascist concentration camp and an out their dreamland sequence.  Filming is in the Ukraine, Egypt and France.  Similar type movies with artists in the lead based on their albums are rare with ‘The Beatles’ and ‘Pink Floyd’ some examples but this sounds more along the lines of the 1992 Tilda Swinton movie ‘Orlando’.  I wonder will she gender swap or have a lesbian affair.  Neither, either, or, we wish Lara great success with this movie project and let’s hope it will get world recognition.

Well probably not, but we quite enjoy their parody of Azerbaijan’s 2009 entry Always.

Well seeing as the good people of Ireland (not to mention Estonia, Israel, Norway, Portugal and Slovenia), awarded them douze points last Saturday, it might interest you to know that Chanée and N’Evergreen’s album In A Moment Like This is now available on iTunes!

Chanée was very friendly to Styling at the second semi final, blowing him a kiss and laughing kindly when he collided with an NRK camera and a butch lesbian camerawoman as the Irish nearly invaded the stage at the end of the show to celebrate Niamh’s qualification! N’evergreen could barely crack a smile despite their nail-biting qualification. We think track 2, See You The Same Time Tomorrow might be an Industry cover…

In other iTunes news, Lena is topping iTunes charts all over the continent, including our own Irish store and in a move that has surprised everyone, the interval act Glow performed by Madcon is pushing her close in most territories, including Ireland again! Hands high, hands high! Tom Dice and Jessy Matador are also charting well in iTunes stores across the continent. Josh Dubovnie is however nowhere to be seen…

Eurovision is also big on Amazon this week. Auctions on the popular trading site include

• 15,000 glow sticks (Warning: these glow sticks last for 5 minutes only once cracked).
• An Armenian fertility statue that sprouts fungal infections on key changes.
• A vanderly, vanderly vagon. Ideal for gypsies and travelling folk. Must be collected in Rotterdam.
• An LCD stairwell. (Warning: not suitable for use with heels).
• Many, many sets of adult sized wings. Ideal for the grown up princess/deluded queer in your life.

I found this wonderful article over at www.trueslant.com

American Idol and the Eurovision Song Contest both recently crowned their 2010 winners and it doesn’t take a genius or an astute cultural critic to figure out the continent has it all over us when it comes to putting on a proper pop spectacle. Sure, Germany’s Lena (think Ellen Page singing a club anthem in character as Regina Spektor) wasn’t exactly a win for the ages (that would be 2006’s Lordi if you’re wondering. I will brook no argument), but I’d still put my money on her over Lee DeWyze (Who? Exactly.) any day. In that spirit, I give you:

Three Reasons the Eurovision Song Contest Puts American Idol to Shame:

It embraces the snark potential
Now, perhaps the Albanian telecast is a staid and thoughtful affair, but if you have the pleasure of watching via the BBC (or the BBC via the internet), you’re treated to comedian Graham Norton’s good-naturedly biting commentary on all 25 acts. Norton mocks everything from the costumes of the performers to their hairstyles (there ain’t no mullet like a Eurovision mullet) to the sobriety of the audience of 120 million viewers. There’s no “Europe, what have you done?” admonishments a la Ryan Seacrest on American Idol’s results night. Yes, national dreams will be crushed, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still take the piss, does it?

There is cheese and then there’s Eurovision
17 year-olds in ballgowns and enough make-up for a cougar convention belting out power ballads. Overly hair-gelled, tight-panted men of ambiguous sexuality gyrating to dance hits performed entirely in Greek.  An Angelina Jolie doppelganger singing a song called Apricot Stone while swanning around in front of what looks for all the world like a giant paper-mâché clitoris (hint: I think it was the stone in question). And wind machines, always with the wind machines. The excess of Eurovision makes the likes of Adam Lambert look like a Christian music ingenue singing the national anthem at a NASCAR race.

This is serious business
Sure the Brits like to pretend they’re above such gauche displays (doesn’t explain why they sent Andrew Lloyd Webber to accompany 2009’s entrant on piano) and my Serbian former coworkers tried to play it nonchalantly cool when their own Marija Serifovic claimed top honors in 2007, but there’s a lot of national pride invested in turning in a good showing at Eurovision. None of this “second is better than first because then you get more artistic freedom” bunk that fans of the American Idol also-ran always toss around. Nope, countries pull out all the stops. In addition to the creative mind behind CATSand Phantom of the Opera, 2009’s broadcast featured a burlesque routine from Dita Von Teese as part of the German entrant’s performance. In 2008, Russia’s Dima Bilan’s winning entry included a cameo from Olympic gold medal figure skater Evgeni Plushenko, who showed up to deliver a dramatic on-stage routine atop the world’s tiniest ice rink. And this year? Azerbaijan hired Beyonce’s Single Ladies choreographer to design their stage show (didn’t help, they finished outside the top five) and host country Norway spent so much on mounting the television production that their national broadcaster can’t afford to televise the Word Cup. There is an earnest competitiveness and level of unjaded investment in Eurovision that has long since worn off American Idol (if it was ever there in the first place).

So keep your Lee DeWyzes and your Kris Allens and your David Cooks. I’ll take that strange violin-playing hybrid of Justin Bieber and Michael Buble that is 2009 winner Alexander Rybak. As for 2010? Graham Norton and I agree; France totally got robbed.

P.S. Mr. Norway? Call me!