Chart Reflection – Sida 19

Swedish Viewers Rage Against Eurovision Debacle

CHART ANALYSIS. The Moniker and Sara Varga were the final contestants to qualify for next week’s Melodifestivalen final. RedOne’s entry, Love Generation’s “Dance Alone” did not stand the fierce competition. While many people might anger the actual results, SVT has another problem on its hands.

An error during the voting might have prevented Jenny Silver from qualifying in the duel with Love Generation in the “Second Chance” competition held tonight. The expensive charity telephone number was incorrect – and viewers believed to have voted for Jenny Silver were instead dialing Love Generation’s telephone number.

“Something happened with the graphics,” Madeleine Sinding-Larsen at SVT says to the leading news paper Aftonbladet.

The error seems to have recurred throughout the evening and the telephone numbers to several participants were mixed up. SVT is currently investigating the matter and will comment on this issue later.

The presenter Rickard Olsson concluded that “there were some problems with the voting, but I can guarantee that this has not affected the results in any way.” It seems as if Swedish viewers find that hard to believe.

Rihanna Goes NBA with Drake

CHART REFLECTION. Rihanna celebrated her 23^rd birthday performing at the halftime show at the NBA All-Star Game. According to Billboard, Drake worked “happy birthday” into the lyrics of their massive hit “What’s My Name?”. Rihanna performed several tracks, including “Only Girl” and “Umbrella.”

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

There were plenty of big names attending the games, and WelcheMusic doesn’t think about the sports men on the court. Beyonce, Jay-Z, Justin Bieber, Diddy, Stevie Wonder, Bruno Mars and Ne-Yo were there.

The November release Loud has resulted in no less than four hit singles for Rihanna. Her latest hit “S&M” has caused some heavy reactions. Photographer David LaChapelle has accused the singer of plagiarism as the video is said to be heavily inspired by the shoots published in Vogue Italia between 1995-2002. The video has been labeled “inappropriate” by YouTube and BBC Radio 1 has renamed the track “Come On” in a re-edit.

Both “Only Girl” and “What’s My Name?” have become worldwide hits, while the third single – “Raining Men” (featuring Nicki Minaj) – only charted on the US R&B chart, peaking at No.48 last December.

Far East Movement Goes Rocketeer with Ryan Tedder

CHART REFLECTION. The L.A. based Asian American electro hop quartet Far East Movement is set follow-up the UK No.4 hit “Like a G6.” Featuring Ryan Tedder as guest vocalist, “Rocketeer” has already managed to peak at No.7 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The track is lifted off the debut set Free Wired (which peaked at No.24 in the US) and is produced by the two teams The Smeezingtons and Stereotypes. It so happens that the track was later sampled by Justin Bieber on “Somebody to Love” which was also produced by Stereotypes.

Although Bruno Mars actually co-wrote the track, it’s Ryan Tedder who sings the vocals. He’s the frontman of OneRepublic (most famous for “Apologize” w/Timbaland), but also a prolific songwriter. In 2008, he wrote “Bleeding Love” for Leona Lewis.

Far East Movement has also burnt the dancefloors in the UK with Roger Sanchez with “2Gether.” Sampling B-52s “Love Shack,” the track is also set for digital release later this spring.

Listen to the single – Far*east Movement – Rocketeer – via Spotify (UK)
Listen to the album Far*east Movement – Free Wired – via Spotify (Sweden)
Learn the lyrics to “Rocketeer” via Direct Lyrics.
See the performance on Lopez Tonight.
Read more about Far East Movement on the blog.

In Sweden, Far East Movement peaked at No.7 with “Like a G6.” The track featured DEV and The Cataracs. “Rocketeer” is currently sitting at No.14 in the US. According to Last.FM, one of the most popular tracks is “Girls on the Dance Floor” (featuring the Stereotypes). WelcheMusic wouldn’t be surprised if this will be the next single.

Update 02-21: Far East Movement’s “Rocketeer” bowed at No.14 on Sunday’s UK singles tally.

Fingers Crossed that Love Generation Remains in the Competition

CHART REFLECTION. According to Sweden’s largest news daily Aftonbladet, pop group Love Generation might get disqualified in this year’s Melodifestivalen which leads up to the Eurovision Song Contest. Late last night, the entry “Dance Alone” leaked online. A 30 second preview was available on Amazon in the UK. The song was written by top producer RedOne of Lady Gaga fame.

The group, which consists of the four young girls Cornelia, Charly Q, Mikaela and Melanie is meant to compete on Feb.26 in Malmö. The Amazon incident might put an end to that.

At the end of November, Anders Fernette’s “Don’t Stop” was disqualified as it became available via MySpace. According to SVT’s (Swedish public service) strict rules, no entries are allowed to be played in public by no means. Fernette had to submit a new song within a few days.

This will not be the first time, Love Generation has made the headlines in the run-up to Melodifestivalen. Originally created by Korean electronics company LG Electronics, the group has been criticized for its close involvement with a company as the competition should non-commercial. Love Generaton’s eponymous debut single spent two weeks at the Swedish singles tally last June, peaking at No.45. The track was featured in the LG Viewty GT400 mobile phone commercial.

Neither Love Generation nor any representative from Melodifestivalen had commented on the story. WelcheMusic really hopes that Love Generation stays in the competition either with “Dance Alone” or another song.

Read about the launch of Love Generation in April 2010.