I Want You By My Side

OH MY GOD!

Asa you all know I'm a MASSIVE fan of Swedish singer 'Evan.' I was lucky enough to have him answer some of my questions for an interview that I posted here on YouDon'tKnowPop earlier in the year.

There was a lot of doubt as to whether he would release a third album or not and we can officially say that all doubt has been lifted as he will release his third album Mid-2009.

A huge thanks to PPG for pointing this out on your blog!

Now Evan has been kind enough to post 4 songs on his site for you to check out. I am FLOORED right now. These songs are BRILLIANT! They are even better than everything he's released in the past.

You can check out all 4 tracks HERE!

This is going to be a fantastic album and I cannot wait for it to be released.

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In other news Same Difference are currently sitting at the lower end of the top 10 for their debut single! The official chart will be released on Sunday so you still have time to move them up the chart! if you haven't bought their single yet GO DO IT NOW!

The band have also announced that they'll be doing a theater tour of the Uk this Spring! So now I have to re-plan my Sweden trip so that I can be in the Uk to see Same Difference on tour!!

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New Music Tuesday

This week we have a song from an Ex Swedish Idol contestant and an Ex Boyband member.

Song #1: It's best described as September meets Da Buzz meets Cascada. It's catchy and dancey. Overall an impressive first single from this Swedish newcomer.

Gathania - Blackout



Song #2: Listening to this song makes me feel like A1 never really broke up. I can imagine hearing this on their album back in the day. A sweeping and dramatic upbeat pop song. Turns out Christian has had a successful career in Norway since A1 broke up.

Christian Ingebrigtsen - The Truth About Lies

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A Very Schlager Christmas?

What do you get when you take 3 Melodifestivalen Diva Veterans and put them together for a Christmas Album?! Well Sanna, Shirley and Sonja have released their very own Christmas Album 'Our Christmas.'

Well unfortunately for schlager fans there's a huge lack of upbeat schlagertastic tracks. It's a sweet album and it's a real treat to hear Shirley and Sonja singing in english but overall it's lacking some "Umph." As far as I'm concerned "All I Want For Christmas Is You" is the best Christmas song of all time and I HATE Mariah Carey. But no one will ever be able to improve upon her version of that song and although Sanna and the gang give it a good effort... it really is missing the magic.

If you're looking for a touch of Schlager this Christmas you're not going to find it here. As fas as Christmas albums go this one's a little weak. Here's hoping at least one of these 3 will make a Schlager comeback at Melodifestivalen 2009. There are 7 more acts to be announced on Tuesday Morning!

Sanna, Shirley & Sonja - Silent Night

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I prefer to remember them for songs like this... AMAZING!

Hope & Glory!

WOW! THIS IS IT! Today the first 8 names were announced for Melodifestivalen 2009. There aren't too many surprises here as most of these names were already flying about. The great news is that they are now official.

Mans Zelmerlow
BWO
Sarah Dawn Finer
Emilia
Alcazar - Stay The Night
Jennifer Brown

What I find amazing is that if there are such huge names in the first 8 acts announced just wait until the rest of the acts are announced! Each of the first 8 acts are established stars in Sweden with 6 of the 8 having made it to the finals of Melodifestivalen before.

You will all remember Emilia from her massive international hit single - Big Big World... she enters Melodifestivalen for the first time next year. Jennifer Brown also makes her competition debut next year. She's been around for quite some time in Sweden and has released 4 albums over the last 15 years.

BWO - Paradise On Mars

Alcazar - I Love The DJ

The biggest question so far is what is going to happen between Alcazar and BWO! Both acts have competed multiple times in the competition and each of them have placed 3rd twice. It's clear that both acts have a massive following but it's going to take a unique song to really get the entire country to rally behind the act rather than relying just on the bands fan bases.

This is Good! This is Great!

Today is Music Video Christmas!

1. Same Difference - We R One

The Wait is over! You can finally catch their debut video and WOW! This Is GOOD! THIS IS GREAT! The video is Grease meets Steps meets S Club 8! It's sunny and fun and catchy as hell. I think if there is any celebrity i'd want to spend the day with out on the town it would be Same Difference. They will be performing their biggest performance to date when they make an appearance on X-Factor on Nov. 22nd!




Thanks to Paul at MyFizzyPop for posting the video first! Check out his observations Here!

2. Boyzone - Better

I think Boyzone may have surpassed Take That for best comeback! This is such a beautiful song and the video is perfect! Boyzone were one of the first major pop acts to have an openly gay member when Stephen Gately came out in the late 90's. 10 years later the band are breaking down barriers by having a male love interest for Stephen in the video. It's a brave move and it's the perfect song to cuddle upto when it gets cold this winter.



3. Alphabeat - What Is Happening

Alphabeat are the band that just keeps on giving! They honestly will not stop until they've released every track on their album as a single! If you haven't joined the Alphabeat bandwagon you're missing out. Their newest video for What Is Happening is a gem!

THIS IS IT!

SO!

For those of you who don't know this blog is under attack.

Over the past few weeks posts that I've made have been removed due to copyright infringements over the songs I've posted.

I will not let this stop me from posting about the best pop music around!
Shutting this blog down will not stop music fans from sharing the music they love.

The purpose of this blog is to promote the songs and artists who often only release music in select countries/territories.

As a music fan I have spent thousands of dollars on importing albums and singles from all over Europe because those cds are never released here in North America. If it wasn't for fans sharing songs from these artists online I would never have discovered the artists and never paid for the albums.

When a record label refuses to release a cd on iTunes internationally or refuses to accept North American credit cards so that fans can download the mp3's legally on the artists web site, fans have no choice but to download the songs for free using a variety of sites online.

If you are a fan of Pop music and a fan of Same Difference please support them by purchasing their album and thereby ensuring future releases from the brilliant duo.

To those of you that have heard Same Difference - We R One... I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

If you missed out on the song please visit their official myspace where you can check out clips from their forthcoming album - POP!

http://www.myspace.com/samedifferenceworld

You can pre-order the debut album from Same Difference - Here

Don't You See That Love Is Free...

Does having a "gimmick" help or hurt an artist? Steps were one of the most successful pop acts of the 90's with their singles that came with the dance steps inside. With the sheer multitude of acts out there competing for a spot in the charts maybe having a "gimmick" is what sets you apart from the pack.

You see it time and time again at the Eurovision song contest as countries send novelty acts to the competition instead of real talent to try and get some attention. Silvia Night anyone? Dustin the Turkey?

Perhaps one of the most successful artists with a gimmick has to be my personal favorite novelty act - Rollergirl!

Rollergirl discovered her love of rollerskates while working at a rollerskating rink in Germany. In the late 90's Rollergirl was discovered in Spain and soon after that released her debut single - Dear Jesse a 'Madonna' cover.

In the next 3 years Rollergirl released 7 hit singles before taking off her skates for good. If you look her up on YouTube you can still see her rolling through her videos or live performances. If you're lucky enough to own her album you own a piece of history! The album comes with all her hit singles and the rare gem - "I Keep On Rolling"

Rollergirl... if you're out there somewhere please come back to Pop music. Life just isn't as fun without you. We miss your cute pink skates and your computer enchanced vocals.

I saw we start a campaign today! Rollergirl for Germanys Eurovision entry in 2009!!

Let's look back at the greatness that was 'Rollergirl.'

Remember when she gave us her take on the Japanese Geisha?
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Rollergirl - Geisha Dreams

How about her take on the classic Eternal Flame. Just wait until you get to the breakdown in the middle!

Rollergirl - Close To You

Or how about her SMASH HIT!

Rollergirl - Superstar

If you liked these you'll enjoy her classic videos even more.
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In this video you'll see her make a dramatic entrance but the audience doesn't seem to care.

It's Like A State Of Mind...

Have you ever listened to an entire album, listened to the songs and decided after one listen of certain songs that you didn't like them. You may have listened to the album over and over since then and always skipped the same songs. Then one day you forget to skip the song and after listening to it again you realise that you actually love the track.

I used to skip this song and never really gave it a chance until my friend borrowed the cd and returned it and told me that this was his favorite song. Now my friend is probably the last person in the world to like anything by Amy Diamond and here he was telling me a song he liked that I had never even bothered listening to! So I put the song on and fell in love with it immediately. I can't believe I never gave it a chance before.

I've posted about Amy Diamond multiple times now but I couldn't resist another. I really do love all three of her albums. Each album is full of single-worthy tracks and what I love is that each song has really unique sounds/instruments that you don't really hear in the average song.


'Shooting Star' can be found on her debut album and is easily one of the best tracks from that album.

With rumors flying that Amy will try for Melodifestivalen again in 2009 I figured I'd start getting excited now. If she enters with a song even half as good as 'Thank You' then we have a lot to look forward to.

Amy Diamond - Shooting Star

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