Expect an Allsång på Skansen Effect for Miriam Bryant

Miriam Bryant
Sweden’s Adele – Miriam Bryant – will perform on Tuesday’s Allsång på Skansen

Dubbed Sweden’s Adele, the 22-year old singer Miriam Bryant will perform on Tuesday’s edition of Allsång på Skansen*. The music program, hosted by pop singer Måns Zelmerlöw usually attracts a +1m audience and was covered in the WelcheMusic blog back in 2011.

With a voice that definitely captures any audience, Miriam Bryant earned a top 20 hit in Sweden earlier this year with ‘Push Play.’ Her first single via EMI Music**, the song preceded the debut album Raised in Rain. Both the single and the album peaked at No.12 upon their respective release.

Safe to say, a nationwide audience and a summer atmosphere I wouldn’t be surprised if Miriam Bryant elevates her success in the same way Melody Gardot did on Skavlan a few years back. Bryant’s career started with the debut single ‘Finders, Keepers’ via the record label 100 Songs last year. The track managed to climb the German radio charts and led to a sold-out club tour there.

Born in Gothenburg, Miriam Bryant’s father is British and mother Finnish. Her album is co-written and produced by childhood friend Victor Rådström.

‘Finders, Keepers’ is about a broken relationship and Miriam Bryant calls it ‘an angry love song’ about letting go in an interview with Aftonbladet ahead of the release of her debut album. In a recent interview, she reveals that no one but Bryant herself calls the shots. Everything from cover art to the script to the music video. Chatting with reporter Frida Söderlund, she’s proud of her achievements. The sold out club tour in Germany, awarded ‘Artist of the Week’ by MTV Iggy in the US and a No.4 hit on Swedish iTunes with ‘Push Play.’

She had a rough time and didn’t pass her major subject musical theater in upper secondary school. She felt alone, ugly and different. And she refused o sing, scared to disappoint people.

Miriam Bryant’s singing voice earned her a worldwide contract with EMI Music. Today part of the Universal Music group, I sincerely hope that she will get a well deserved international breakthrough. It’s her Allsång på Skansen premiere, and other guests this Tuesday are Danny Saucedo and Eurovision Song Contest winner Emmelie de Forest.

Miriam Bryant – Push Play


*This Tuesday, 1.6m viewers watched Allsång på Skansen

You’ll Never Stop Me Loving You, Sonia!

Sleeve of Sonia's singleBack in 1989, new hits did not spread like wildfire on Twitter. As an eager 11-year old I bought import copies of pop magazines Number One and Smash Hits, and managed to catch wind of the pop sensation Sonia.

I covered Sonia and ‘You’ll Never Stop Me Loving You’ back in January 2010, only realizing that this is the perfect time as it was a summer hit of 1989. Bowing at No.54 on 24th June that year, three years later it became Sonia’s first ever UK chart-topper.

Written and produced by the immensely popular trio Stock, Aitken & Waterman, the track was one of many chart-toppers from the trio during the ‘80s. As noted in my previous post, one of the words was omitted from the title as Sonia actually sang you’ll never stop me from loving you. This was also applied to her later hit ‘Counting Every Minute’ where Sonia sings counting every single minute.

Today, Sonia is 42 years old and wrapped her career with a Greatest Hits set back in 2007. Her career spans over 18 years old and includes a cover version of ‘Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy.’ Originally recorded by the Atlanta vocal group The Tams  back in 1968, Sonia bested the original peak of No.32 finally reaching No.11 in 1991. It also earned her a Stateside hit as it climbed the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart (it peaked at No.13).

The odd thing is that the bank Abbey International used the track in its commercial dubbing it ‘Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Abbey.’ Even more odd that the commercial lasted 52 seconds!

Abbey International Ad (1991)

In 1993, Sonia was the sole contender in the UK contest Song for Europe, alas the UK leg of the Eurovision Song Contest. I was actually in London at the time, witnessing the singer performing all competing songs. It wasn’t particularly nerve-wrecking as she was destined to win, and her entry ‘Better the Devil You Know’ managed to place second behind Niahm Kavanagh’s ‘In Your Eyes.’ Sweden’s entry that year was Arvingarna’s ‘Eloise’ (No.7).

Throughout Sonia’s career, she placed  two other singles in the UK top ten – ‘Listen to Your Heart’ (1989) and ‘Only Fools (Never Fall in Love)’ (1991). Her final single was ‘Fool for Love’ in 2009, which never managed to chart.

The Sonia Infographic

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