Tag: Malena Ernman

Saturday Flashback: Casablanca feat. Malena Ernman – La Voix

The excellent Melodifestivalen tradition of previous-winner-genre-mindfucks

Tom: You remember La Voix, right? It was Sweden’s entry to Eurovision in 2009, and finished in an unjustifiably low 21st place. It’s one of those fantastic crossover opera tracks that make it in occasionally.

Well, at Melodifestivalen the year after, this happened:

Tim: Ah, the excellent Melodifestivalen tradition of previous-winner-genre-mindfucks. Sometimes it fails miserably…

Tom: I’ll assume that’s the reason that Casablanca – and the performances since – appear to have mimed.

Tim: …but when it works it can be terrific.

Tom: The trouble is, since the Swedish entry is generally always schlager, the new version is generally rock. I’d like to hear a schlager cover of Lordi’s ‘Hard Rock Hallelujah’, say.

Anyway! Casablanca are a supergroup, comprised of members of other Swedish bands – and in my opinion, they knocked it out of the park with this one. Not to everyone’s tastes I admit – all rock vocals and guitar solos – but that ending, with Malena Ernman singing opera and Casablanca’s singer doing harmony lines that weren’t in the original? Makes it all worth it.

Tim: Yeah. Yeah it does.

Saturday Flashback: Malena Ernman – Min plats på jorden

The follow-up to her 2009 Eurovision hit.

Tim: Browsing through my iTunes library the other day, I discovered I have Ms Ernman’s La Voix du Nord album; contained within it is this, released as the follow-up to her 2009 Eurovision hit.

Tom: Ah, that explains why I haven’t heard it.

Tim: I like it a lot. It’s obviously not our traditional pop stuff, but it’s nice to have a change. It has a graceful intro, livened up by the drumbeat after a while. The first key change comes as an ‘ooh, that was pleasant’ surprise, and while the second is more predicatable it’s no less satisfying.

Tom: I’ll support pretty much any song with two key changes.

Tim: The title translates to ‘My Place on Earth’, and the lyrics seem to be all about finding peace and happiness and all that malarkey.

Tom: I found myself tuning out at first, and then starting to sit up straighter in my chair, and breathe a little deeper: it sounds almost like a patriotic song or a national anthem. I felt like saluting at that second key change.

Tim: Overall, this seems to have been a good second mainstream release – bridging the gap somewhat between her Eurovision act and her more usual style for anyone who wants to get to know her better.

Tom: I’ll add here that the version of ‘La Voix’ that she did with rock supergroup Casablanca in the 2010 Melodifestivalen interval may just be the best thing she’s done since Eurovision itself.*

*Although that may just be because of the redhead drummer.