BBC do have -a Eurovision shortlist- according to Daily Star it's Atomic Kitten for Baku!

As March 2012 is almost- here still we have no annouchment from the BBC- as to who will sing for the

United Kingdom this year- there has been no shortage of UK rumours this year.

We have heard it could even be Spice Girls or Geri Haliwell- John Barrowman has been rumoured. Then Right Said Fred! even One Direction

or The Wanted- however we know that the Brits often choose a comeback artist -like the fantastic Blue in Eurovision Song Contest 2011.

Just today a UK Newspaper tell us that BBC annouchment is due very soon and Atomic Kitten are the artist to fly

the flag for UK? Read here the news from Daily Star on Sunday Not a most reliable UK source- however at least it has created a small Euro-buzz in favour of the Kitten's The band have last been heard of re-forming back in 2008-

They have three UK number 1 singles to their credit - however they did not have the same impact as boyband Blue

of the same period of pop history.

With of course- the right song- Atomic Kitten could well be what UK needs to get back on top in Eurovision-

Whatever happens girls- its really 'doors to manual- time' this Eurovision Rumour Airbus flight

is well & truely due to land - so stand-by we all will know the truth very soon!

STOP PRESS---- The girls from Atomic Kitten have confirmed themselves on Twitter- they know

nothing about re-forming for Eurovision in the UK- So the rumours continue- Wow this is creating more

tension than a play-off in a National Final BBC! what next?

Finland have choosen a new talent Pernilla Karlsson for Baku- 2012

While a lot of attention was on the Malmo Melodifestivalen result- over in Helsinki at

Uuden Muslikin Kilpailu (Finland's National selection)they choose a new talent Pernilla Karlsson. She was by far

not the favourite to win- that was a folkband called 'Stig' Added to the fact that Pernilla's simple

tune -wrote by her brother called 'Nar Jag Blundar'is sung in swedish!

At the new style National Final- the finns opened up their on-line votes to international audiences, so just how this influenced the final result is not certain. However we think this is a fantastic tune-

the question hangs over the song- in just how it will be presented at Baku 2012?

We think it's very likely to be sung and translated into english as is mostly the case for Finland's recent Eurovision entries. There is a good chance the original swedish lyric may stay- then- this will be the second time

(Finland 'Fri' 1990- last time)

a scandinavian country has choosen to sing in a neighbour's language. Whatever happens Finland

have a worthy Eurovision finalist with this tune - in Baku.

Check out-

'När Jag Blundar'

There was a Fire! at Melodifestivalen 2012 semi final in Malmo !

The schlager fire brigade was at hand in Malmo last night- yet quickly defused what happen when the schlager

was almost burn-out of Melo 2012 !

The last semi-final took place and the shock top-selection of Lisa Miskovsky as the winner in round five.With her moody ballad 'Why start a fire' this was not predicted in the rehearsal to the Malmo semi-final.

Danny (runner up in Melodifestivalen 2011) was expected to take top honour with his 'Amazing' and a hi-tech

dance tune perfect for Melodifestivalen stage- so the relief came soon after when Danny was annouched as the second song to go direct-to-globen. We still think Danny's new song is far better than 'In the Club' and by rights

should be Top 3 in the Melodifestivalen Globen final.

All week at Malmo - Charlotte Perrelli with her Kempe Schager tune Charlotte has spoken out how the performace was far too costly to go into a second chance round!! - so it was Globen or nothing for 'The Girl'- So that's just what happened - more schlager in-justice as

Charlotte Perrelli came in 5th place- and without 'second chance' is out of Melodifestivalen 2012.

Check out a schlager performance with a price-tag too high for Globen! -'The girl'

The two tunes going to the second chance are Dynasty rock- number 'Land of broken dreams' and at long last

some true schlager magic from Lasse Holm with 'Don't let me down' sung by Lotta Engberg & Christer Sjogren. This number we hope will make Globen next weekend- there will be a running order for Second chance to be annouched

mid next week- fingers crossed this will mean no more duals in the second chance round- here are the contenders

with the last chance to go direct-to-globen--

The Full list of second chance 2012-

"Jag reser mig igen" – Thorsten Flinck och Revolutionsorkestern

"Sean den förste Banan" – Sean Banan

"Stormande hav" – Timoteij

"Baby Doll" – Top Cats

"Lovelight" – Andreas Johnson

"Youngblood" – Youngblood

"Land of Broken Dreams" – Dynazty

"Don't Let Me Down" – Lotta Engberg & Christer Sjögren

Jedward -The twins have done the Eurovision Double honours for Ireland!

Opps I did it again! - a very fitting Britney Spears song comes to mind as up against some of the best that Ireland can offer in the Eurosong contest on the 'The Late Late Show' . Jedward did it again and are on the way to Baku 2012.

It turned out to be an even more convincing win for the Twins at the Irish national final than last year. In my option Jedward had alot tougher competition than in Eurosong 2011 as well.

In fact Andrew Mann looked stronger than expected on the night- with an irish style rock ballad 'Here I am' that convencied Juries & the public alike he was worthy of runner up. I liked this song enough to track it down on i-tunes already as well. (or maybe cus Jedward is not out yet!)

The winner in the end was of course- Jedward- and I feel they won the honour again, not just for having a large popular fan base but also coming up with the perfect follow track to last years 'Lipstick'

The Song for Ireland 2011 -is 'Waterline' it shows off even more Jed-talent! than we have seen ever before- I am sure I even prefer it

to last year's song. (see the live clip)

With this song they should surely make the final- then 8th place is a harder challenge to improve on-

Yet we know Jedward- are like a couple of power batteries they go on and on-

Just what more can they achive?

Charlotte Perrelli rehearsals have began for an ABBA- inspired song 'The Girl'

It's the Melodifestivalen Semi final 4 from Malmo this weekend- where the rehearsal process has begun. Above we can see Charlotte Perrelli

preparing to sing 'The Girl' a song that has already been leaked on U-Tube-

Last year we had Jenny Silver singing 'Something in your eyes' a popular Melodifestivalentune that missed out on Globen. Yet the single went on to be hugely popular mainly due to the very abba-sounding chorus of this melodifestivalen entry of 2011.

The new Fredrik Kempe tune has a simular trend- with an intro riff of Abba's 'Mamma mia' Although we have yet to hear the track -we guess it may have the impact of Raspuntin' Boney M's intro found on Eric Saade's 'Popular'

It sounds exciting all ready- more on Malmo soon-

Melodifestivalen 2012- Leksand -Round 3 is won by Molly's Lovesong

Yes Melodifestivalen always has a few surprises for 2012 - last saturday it was seeing Youngblood- the new Kempe boyband project did not get a ticket direct

to the Globen Final. In fact not even a runner up qualifing place.

The winner on the night was clearly Molly Sanden- who has certainly grown up- and has a heart wrenching ballad called 'Why am I crying?'

the title that begs the question is it anything to do with last year's Melodifestivalen heart-thob Eric Saade. Certainly for several years Molly and Eric did have a well publised romance- but now it's over- all that's left is a bromance between the famous singers.

So does Molly's ballad mirrors reality? And for this reason could this tune have pulled in more swedish public votes.

It is even being called the new 'Empty Room' (Sanne's ballad of 2009)

More Melodifestival love-stories is found with diva Charlotte Perrelli- the last time Charlotte won Melodifestivalen was in 2009 with 'Hero'. At that time it was not a personal- happy time for Charlotte as she found out her husband was having a fling while she was in Moscow! just recently Charlotte told of the distress she felt while singing Hero' for Sweden that year.

Her marriage ended soon after- now for 2012 the swedish press is full of romance again for Charlotte with a new man called Anders Jensen- who is well-known in sweden.

The headline is -Charlotte is back in Love again- just before her new schlager-tune 'The Girl' hits the SVT screens

this weekend- I hope it will be a

good- luck charm for Charlotte third time lucky--

Roxette hit Melbourne and certainly Rox-down-under- at Rod Laver Arena

Here on Schlagertunes every now and then we detour from Eurovision to bring you some Swed-News on other artists and the odd extra special

interview (see previous Bjorn-Abba interview). One swedish such

band is the legendary Roxette. After more than 15 years Roxette have comeback to Australia this past week to sell out shows

- and I found this fab interview

with Australia's Channel 10's Angela Bishop-

It's one of the best english interviews with Per Gessle- and we saw last night's show in Melbourne that was simply amazing, and Per plus the wonderful Marie Fredriksson gave 200% - and its so good to see a band that genuinely connect with their audience and are overwelmed that

Australia never really stopped luvin' Roxette in 2012!

Italy's Nina Zilli goes to Baku- after the San Remo Final 2012

Nina Zilli will sing for Italy at Eurovision Song Contest in Baku -with the looks of an italian -Amy Winehouse

She was among the 10 finalists of the San Remo Song Festival this year. Nina sang 'Per Sempre' at San Remo, and non other

than Ell & Nikki made an appearence at Italy's premium song festival- to make the announcement.

Nina Zilli is a singer songwriter who began performing from the age of 13 years old. She has had big success in Italy following her entry in San Remo 2010 - this lead to a top selling album. Nina says her main influences are rock and punk sounds of 70's and she even did an excellent cover of the Supremes 1960's hit 'You can't hurry love' in italian.

This artist sounds like another excellence choice from Italy in Baku 2012 - certainly Germany, Italy and even France for the second year running

have selected very well for Eurovision. It leaves us with one question- what's happening with the other 2 'big 5' countries?

UK and Spain

as automatic qualifiers for the Eurovision Contest final each year -I hope the last 2 come up with the goods as well? Italy look set

for a top 5 placing again.

Yes, the Youngblood has arrived for Melodifestivalen 2012

The third round of Melodifestivalen is upon us already- and so far we have four artists who have never been in a Melodifestivalen final

before- and we hope more Youngblood will come out of the Semi final in Leksand- Here is the line-up

1. Youngblood - Youngblood (Fredrik Kempe, David Kreuger)
2. Maria BenHajji - I mina drömmar (Nanna Sveinsdóttir, Thomas Cars)
3. Mattias Andréasson - Förlåt mig (Mattias Andréasson)
4. Love Generation - Just a little bit (RedOne, John Mamann, Jean-Claude Sindres, Teddy Sky, Yohanne Simon, Bilal Hajji)
5. Carolina Wallin Pérez - Sanningen (Martin Bjelke, Michael Clauss, Carolina Wallin Pérez)
6. Andreas Johnson - Lovelight (Andreas Johnson, Peter Kvint)
7. Molly Sandén - Why am I crying (Aleena Gibson, Molly Sandén, Windy Wagner)
8. Björn Ranelid ft. Sara Li - Mirakel (Fredrik Andersson, Björn Ranelid)
   
   
   Youngblood are favourites proceed to the final, but as we know in melodifestivalen the unexpected can happen! - we hope the boyband with their own Kempe Magic go direct to Globen- and then Molly Sanden's ballad is also very popular and I can see Molly in Globen final for a second time.
   For some reason Bjorn Ranelid fest Sara Li is rather popular in the rehearsals in Leksand, I heard the snippet from Svt and it's my option this song would take a real Miracle' to even qualify in Baku.
   
   
   
   
   
   I must say for me Mattias Andreasson song 'Forlat mig' is abit different from EMD - I luv it! and the tune should at least go to second chance. That's what I think yet I will not be surprised if both Mattias & Love Generation fall short of qualifing in this round.
   
   
   At least we have Kempe back- wth Sweden's own One Direction- check out the tunes Here
   
   

A new Euro-Star is born in Germany -Roman Lob

Roman Lob is the new Lena - who has been choosen to go to Baku in 2012- it was a close final

however Roman has been the favourite in 'Unser Star for Baku' Germany's own song selection talent contest. At just

21 and from a town called Neuwied in northern Germany- Roman looks set for a successful career in his

homeland starting with the release of the winning song and video tomorrow morning..

Winning performance of Standing Still The Video for Standing Stlll

Although not a instant pop tune, this song looks set to have some of the appeal of Italy's 'Madness of Love' in 2011.

Plus the songwriting credit is non-other than international Jazz performer Jamie Cullum with fellow brits Steve Robson and Wayne Hector- Wow ! in the UK songwriters have not been keen to take part in Eurovision apart from Boyzone's Ronan Keating (from Ireland anyhow) back in 2009

he wrote the Danish winner.

So this song credit- is a turn out for the books-- will we see Jamie Cullum in Baku as well?

Two New Stars debut in Melodifestivalen- Goteburg & go direct to Globen

The second semifinal of Melodifestivalen 2012 has brought us two more tunes for Globen

Ulrik Munther - Soldiers

and David Lindgren - Shout it out.

David Lindgren was not expected to do this well- perhapes a Second Chance placing - considering the big names

and Schlager veterans he was up against. He is a 29 year old Musical Theater star, who has tried out for Melodifestivalen in previous years

and 'Shout it out' is his debut performance.

The second chance placing went to two groups the popular Timoteij with Top Cats

the rock-a-billy dansband, the shocking news was both Andreas Lundsedt and Sonja Alden's I din himmel' finished outside the top 5

qualifiers, Andreas 'Aldrig, Aldrig' for me is a personal favourite for 2012- at the half way stage.

Lets hope for some more schlager in the next 2 semi finals-

We are Full of Timoteij Excitment- for saturday's semi-final

Timoteij a four girl folk band who debuted in Melodifestivalen in 2010, with their hit 'Kom' not many artists have made such an impact as these girls. 'Kom' easily qualified for the Globen final and finished in 5th place-

it made No 2 in the singles chart- then a fantastic debut album followed 'Langtan' that topped the swedish album charts. The girls also had a lot of success overseas with this swedish folk-pop sound.

NowTimoteij are as excited as ever to be back in the song contest for 2012 with a tune called 'Stormande hav' that we are told is an up-tempo song even better than 'Kom' We are hoping if this is the case the girls can go Direct to Globen. Yet there are some hard acts to beat

with Sonja Alden, Ulrik Munther both equally strong favourites. Let's not forget the wonderful

Andeas Lundstedt with another strong swedish tune as well in the semi final from Goteburg.

Melodifestivalen Semi Final 1 -Loreen is she going all the way to Baku 2012?

On saturday night Melodifestivalen 2012 opened on Svt TV and what an exciting start- I must say the line-up of artists was

a fantastic start. For once Melodifestivalen seemed to be about the songs and performance- not a variety show of the hosts and inbetween clips (as been the case in recent Melo semi-finals).

The new 'Queen of Melo' is Loreen who seems to have created a real buzz on the net with her new song for Sweden- "Euphoria" the song seem to be a near perfect combination of schlager writer Thomas G:Son & Peter Bostrom. Loreen really missed out at the Melodifestivalen Globen final 2010

and 'My heart is refusing me' should have been there- if that had been the case I believe the International juries could have showed Sweden the way to go-- it could have been a Saade, Danny & Loreen Globen battle?

Ok now for 2012 Loreen has the best chance yet- I hate to repeat myself ( I said it before) I'm certain Loreen is just the perfect artist to fly the swedish flag at Eurovision. Well it's just the first round of Melodifestivalen -we have alot more great music to come- just keep an eye on 'Euphoria'

Dead by April were expected by far to qualify for the final - the song certainly came up with the goods called 'Mystery' they are a massive band in Sweden now - and hats off to the lads they put on a fantastic performance- with their metal-pop as they call it?!?

Sean Banan - here was a surpise that he went on from being Song 1 - to being in second chance round. How long has it been since a song 1 has gone so far in Melo? Once again not a bad tune. However we did have Afro Dite certainly came up with the goods and a new disco-tune 'The Boy can Dance'

they made 5 th place only which means they will not make the final. If you ask me they should be at least in Second chance - instead

the swedes choose Thorsten Flinck! ok he is already bit scarry- or is it just the idea that an act like this seriously be sent to Baku.

I love Marie Serneholt - someone just has to give Marie the right song- she is stunning and puts on another excellent performance

I think I like 'Disconnect me' (Melo 2009) alot more.

The Moniker & Abalone Dots nice try- not bad tunes but Globen is not for you-

Semi final 2 - is going to bring more excitiment in the semi- they are calling the pure pop round..

I can't wait-

-Marie Serneholt -come back soon

Things are changing over in Norway! MGP For better or worse!

Last weekend saw the last Semi-final in Norway - so the final line-up is very almost complete. Hat's off to Norway who

are not wasting any time with a second chance round in 2012- Do they need it? it means 3 songs go automatically into the Mgp Final.

Still some strange music tunes seem to have got through- in Baku it is so important Norway qualify in 2012. As last year 'Haba Haba'

missed out Dusseldorf. I must say I have been very impressed with some of the songs in MGP semi finals

namely Mimie Oh, Irresistible, Silya Nymoen, Lisa Stokke, Martha Valle & Lisa Karlsnes all missed out on getting to the final- Then there was rather fab excellent

Rikke Normann with 'Shapeshifters' - Rikke has a big hit under her belt in Norway. ('superstar' in 2011)

There is one Wildcard slot at Specturm - come on NRK choose Rikke - this song will be huge anyway I think- I agree with schlagerboys

Norway your Rikke needs you! they have one wildcard space left for the final to be announced on Thursday.

The line-up for the final of Norsk Melodi Grand Prix and running order:

1. Stay - Tooji
2. High on Love - Reidun Sæther
3. TBA/Wildcard
4. Ola Nordmann - Plumbo
5. Crush - Malin
6. Smoewhere Beautiful - Nora Foss al-Jabri
7. Don't touch the flame - The Carburetors
8. Things change - Petter Øien & Bobby Bare
9. Sammen - Yaseen & Julie Maria
10. Make it better - Tommy Fredvang

Stop Press- the wildcard has been selected as Lise Karlsnes- 'Sailors'

hmmm...another ok track- but a MGP finalist? not really!

Melodifestivalen 2012- The Melo's own Village People appear in Vaxjo with Sarah Dawn

This was the big host musical number of Melodifestivalen 2012 last night- what fun Sarah Dawn Finer doing the YMCA- or In the Navy- I was thinking what joy-

but this song was not all what it seems- it was called ......

'Det är inte bögarnas fest'

This translated into "It's not the gay's party (The whole Sweden's party)" very funny- check out the clip above.

it became more fitting with the fact that rockers Dead by April- as expected won a place at Globen final.

more on that sooon--

Kurt Calleja Malta's Star for Baku & winner of EuroSong 2012

-Kurt can relax now he has won his place in Baku

Who is Kurt Calleja? a new singer from Malta- who has worked previously in London town- and this is his third

try at Eurovision.

It was a long Final EuroSong 2012 contest in Malta last night with 16 songs competing for the one ticket to Baku. As the jury and tele-votes came in- with international juries from Turkey, France, Ireland, Italy & France. It was a clearly three-horse race between Kurt and Claudia Faniello's ballad 'Pure' & third placed Amber with 'Answer in your eyes'

Strong favourites from Richard Edwards & Fabrizio Faniello came 5th & 6th placing with this new voting system.

In 2010 Kurt Calleja debuted in Malta Song for Europe in a duet alongside Priscilla Psaila with the song Waterfall. In the following year he performed ‘Over and Over’, which he wrote alongside the swedish songwriter Johan J’amtberg, the song finished in 3rd place- Then Kurt was back in 2012 this time to find Eurovision glory with a place in the second Semi-Final in Baku

with 'This is my night'

We like this new up-beat tune for Malta- and fingers crossed we will have Kurt in the ESC Final in May.

Fabrizio is Back- over in Malta the battle is on to find Le tune for Malta 2012

Malta have just finished their semi-final so now all the songs & artists are known for the Song for Europe final. Malta off course have never

won Eurovision although are one of the countries who have come very close- without taking the prize.

Last year Fabrizio Faniello- (of The Whistle Song-Fame) had a strong contender with the tune 'No Surrender' that I liked alot for Dusseldorf. In 2012 Fab is back - with an equally strong song- 'I will fight for you (Papa's Song)' hoping to sing for Malta again this year. This would be Fab's third time at Eurovision, however he is certainly a singer who moves with the times and styles with his songs. Another favourite from 2011 is Richard Edwards who will sing 'Look at me now' Our vote goes with Fabrizio- it's going to be an interesting battle -

The Malta final songs--

In Your Eyes - Lawrence Gray (Philip Vella & Cher Vella)

Petals On A Rose - Gianni Zammit (R. Abrahamsson, A. Aly, N. Numhauser & T. Fenech)

You Make Me Go Uh Uh - Deborah Cft. Leila James (David Vervoort & Patrick Reiner)

I Will Fight For You (Papa’s Song) - Fabrizio Faniello (J. Beoerham, N. Edberger, R. Uhlmann, W. Fenech & F. Faniello)

Pure - Claudia Faniello (Philip Vella & Gerard James Borg)

Seven Days - Danica Muscat (Philip Vella)

Mystifying Eyes - Corazon (Paul Giordimania & Fleur Balzan)

Answer With Your Eyes - Amber (Ray Agius & Alfred C. Sant)

Time - Wayne Micallef (Wayne Micallef)

Look At Me Now - Richard Edwards (Jan Van Dijck & Richard Micallef)

First Time - Kaya (Georgios Kalpadikis)

This is the Night - Kurt Calleja (Johann Jamtberg & Kurt Calleja)

No Way Back - Klinsmann (Paul Albela, Klinsmann Coleiro & Jonathan C. Spiteri)

You Are My Life - J. Anvil (George Georgion)

Take Me Far - Francesca Borg (Marco Debono & Doris Chetcuti)