Månad: januari 2011

Daughtry-esque Idol Winner Races Chart with Madonna Cover


CHART SPOTLIGHT. It’s not Daugthtry – the American Idol contestant who ended up at No.4 in the fifth season – but Sweden’s latest rock star Jay Smith. Winner of this year’s Swedish Idol finals, he races the Swedish singles tally with a cover of Madonna’s 1989 hit “Like a Prayer.” The track debuted at No.41 on Christmas eve, and has since vaulted to No.2. He trails September’s “Mikrofonkåt” which tops the tally for an eighth week. The No.2 peak of “Like a Prayer” beats the No.3 peak of his debut single “Dreaming People” which falls 5-8 on this week’s chart.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVUVnH5cNsw

Born in Helsingborg with English ancestry, Jay Smith not only won the hearts of the public he also caused lots of headlines during the fall. Within a few months, he was caught taking drugs and cheated on his girlfriend with runner-up Minnah Karlsson.

His self-titled debut album immediately topped the album chart and remains there for a third week running. Ahead of the finals, Smith also placed the Everlast cover of “Black Jesus” on the chart. Two other tracks debut as downloads this week, “Enter Sandman” (No.52) and “Bad Romance” (No.56).

Jay Smith’s cover of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” reaches a new peak, trailing September’s “Mikrofonkåt” at No.2 on the Swedish singles tally. Smith won the Swedish Idol last December.

New Britney Spears Song Debuts at No.1 in 17 (!) Countries


CHART SPOTLIGHT. Britney Spears’s “Hold It Against Me” got off to a rocket start when iTunes sums up sales of the track around the world. The track vaults into No.1 in no less than 17 territories. This pretty much sums up the total sales as iTunes has exclusive availability of the track during the launch.  “Hold It Against Me” has sold more than 400,000 downloads in the US alone. According to Billboard, Britney Spears expects  is expected to bow atop the all important Billboard Hot 100 next week. If Britney Spears debuts at No.1, this is the second time as “3” vaulted into the top on October 24, 2009.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVCRgI2Ld7U

Two days after the radio release, “Hold It Against Me” had already climbed to No.17 on Nielsen BDS’s pop radio ranking in terms of number of spins. In terms of audience, the track ranks No.9. The list includes 130 mainstream top 40 radio stations, all monitored by BDS.

The great news comes amidst allegations of plagiarism. The Bellamy Brothers claims that the song heavily borrows from the group’s 1979 hit “If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body.” Despite allegations, David Bellamy says that he will not take action. WelcheMusic still thinks that the new Britney track sounds like E-Type in his best days. On the other hand, Mixmag claims that Britney has killed dubstep, commenting on the singers new route.

Read more about Britney Spears:

No Swedish Jury in This Year’s Melodifestivalen


CHART REFLECTION. Germany will host this year’s Eurovision Song Contest further to Lene’s winning entry “Satellite.” Today, news broke that there will be no Swedish jury groups in the Swedish leg – Melodifestivalen. An entirely international jury will decide what entry to send to the Eurovision finals.

This year’s final will take place on 12th March and eleven jury groups will rule the verdict along with the Swedish public. The measure has been taken as to improve Sweden’s disastrous results in the recent Eurovision finals.

“We’re hoping to achieve a great result in Eurovision, and we hope this is a way to achieve this,” says Christer Björkman who’s responsible for the format.

Anna Bergendahl, who won last year’s Melodifestivalen with “This Is My Life” failed to make the final.

UPDATED 02-07: Lene Meyer –Landrut will be competing for Germany in this year’s Eurovision 2011 as well. On January 31st, the first semi final of Unser Song für Deutschland took place. The singer performed six songs, three of them will be competing in the national final on the 18th February.

Timo Räisänen Honors Gothenburg in Energy Campaign


CHART REFLECTION. The Swedish pop musician Timo Räisänen has written new material specifically for the energy company Göteborg Energi, carrying its name of its hometown Gothenburg. The new ad campaign is a testament to the city, with imagery of the harbor and trams. The ad’s tagline says “There’s no other city for us.” The campaign is produced by the local ad agency Valentin & Byhr.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnOkpdm9TSY&

WelcheMusic’s favorite Timo Räisänen album is the 2008 set “…And Then There Was Timo.” It included 16 covers including the major hit “About You Now” originally a hit for Sugababes.

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