Sunday, June 17, 2007

Måns has arrived at EuropeCrazy HQ at last!!


...well at least his CD has, after a rather long wait! "Stand By For" was well worth the wait. Måns Petter Zelmerlöw has managed to produced a high quality debut album of Swedish pop which is already being played relentlessly at EuropeCrazy HQ. The young singer was discovered during the 2005 series of Sweden's "Idol" and then later that year appeared on - and won! - the first series of "Let's Dance" (Swedish version of "Strictly Come Dancing"). As if that wasn't enough, he was chosen to compete in 2007's Melodifestivalen with "Cara Mia". Although it didn't win, it has become one of this year's biggest Swedish hits (and the song I will always associate with my wonderful trip to Stockholm this year!).

His debut CD is a mix of catchy uptempo numbers and agreeable ballads, although there is little in the same vein as "Cara Mia" (apart from "Dreaming" and "Brother Oh Brother"). Still that's not such a bad thing: it's a versatile collection which stands up to repeated play. My favourite songs at the moment are of course "Cara Mia" and his new single "Work Of Art", and "Miss America".
Hidden track alert: The acoustic version of "Cara Mia" (the one I heard in Ahlens City in Stockholm and thought I was hallucinating!!) is the hidden track on the album and is rather sweet and very different from the original. Think Tomas Andersson Wij's reinvention of "Evighet" and you get the idea.
Måns is a very likeable performer who has a big, bright career ahead of him. According to his website he is due to appear this summer in Robert Wells' "Rhapsody in Rock", duetting with Sonja Alden; he is also scheduled to duet with Carola at Princess Victoria's birthday party and in October will co-present Sweden's "Lilla Melodifestivalen". As if that's not enough he is also due to appear in the hit Swedish stage show "Ladies Night" which has previously starred Martin Stenmarck. Well done Måns: you deserve it!

1 comment:

Josh said...

Hah, I love Måns. I downloaded his album earlier this week and fell in love with quite a few of the tracks.

I plan on doing a post about him at my blog: http://makingxxxmusic.blogspot.com/ - you might want to check it out as obviously you're a fan!