Thank You For The Music... The Songs We're Singing

There isn't much I can say that hasn't been covered on every other pop blog around. I think the Swedes have done us proud this year. 2008 will be remembered as an extremely strong year for Melodifestivalen.

It was a year where anything could have happened. Charlotte was the obvious favorite, but Sanna was only 18 points behind. It truly was an exciting competition this year. Watching the show live at the Globen you really could feel the energy as each artist gave it their all.

When the dust settled Charlotte took home her second Melodifestivalen victory and will represent Sweden in Belgrade.

She will now go on a tour across Europe to promote the song and we will soon find out how the European public responds to the track. While the song is anthemic, catchy and has a lot of passion. There really is nothing groundbreaking or new with her song. It's a formula that has been done before and it will be interesting to see how she does at Eurovision and to see if she can beat Carola's placing from 2006.

My final thoughts are basically this. Whether you're a long time fan, a casual observer or if you have no idea what the hoopla is about. Melodifestivalen is about great music written by the best song writers and performed by the best talent. It is a competition that truly gives everyone a chance, from the first time performers to legendary stars. This is a country that takes this competition extremely serious. The entire city has been living and breathing Melodifestivalen every day of the last week. It has been on the cover of every newspaper since the day I arrived. arrived.

The entire city has been so warm and receptive. Everywhere I go I would meet new people, share opinions on the performers and the songs and make new friends. Sweden has something very special with Melodifestivalen and it is something no other country has been able to truly replicate. If you've ever thought about making the trip here for Melodifestivalen stop thinking and just make it happen in 2009! You won't regret it.

I'm off to London on Wednesday and I'll be back home in Vancouver, Canada on Thursday.

My cd count is now up to 66 cd's!! So you can expect some great new songs once I'm home and the blog returns to normal.

Finally... I've met a lot of people during the trip who actually read this blog. Talk about a small world! So I want to give a huge shout out to all of them and thank you guys for coming back, listening to the songs I post and leaving comments and feedback. You keep me motivated to continue posting the music I love.