Margeret Berger is back on track!

"I've put my hair up 'cause I want to dance"

The week starts off on an extremely good note as the fabulous Silver Fairy Margaret Berger announced on her Twitter that her new single will be released in just 21 days! Whatever happened to earlier rumoured songs "You Make Me Wanna Cry on Fridays" and "Lost in London" no one knows, but hopefully they will end up on her highly anticipated third album. I'm so excited to hear her new songs! If they are only half as good as earlier singles "Samantha", "Robot Song" and "Will You Remember Me" I will be in pop heaven!

Let's celebrate with this partypopper. Recorded back in the Silver Fairy era "Girls" was for some reason not included on the album. It appeared on an anti piracy promo cd compilation sold in stores only.

Girls by alesta81

Something to vote for: Girl Happy - SOS

The overall quality of Melodi Grand Prix is quite good this year, but few songs really excite me. Girl Happy's SOS is as close as it gets. This song will for sure get my vote on Saturday if the guys know how to work with the camera. Why are robot lyrics so irresistible? Margaret Berger's Robot Song, Röyksopp & Robyn's The Girl And The Robot and Simon Curtis' Fell in Love with an Android are fine examples. Having robot lyrics in an MGP-song is of course the best way to get my approval. And not to forget there is also an 80's beat, a super catchy sing-a-long chorus and hand claps! 

Click here to hear the song (requires Media Player)

Or here if you have Spotify 

 

I wanna feel the air on my machinery

A touch of love inside my circuitry

Come one and save me from my own technology

I’m losing control, I need to switch mode

Hear me, I am transmitting a distress code

Soothing Sunday: Jamie Woon - Night Air

This is the perfect soundtrack for a sunday. A song that cures hangovers! The beautiful, blue video is an unusually perfect match for the song. I'm waiting patiently for Jamie Woon to get his norwegian release.

Den Nationale Scene: La Cage Aux Folles

Den Nationale Scene i Bergen gjør, med god grunn, stor suksess med sin oppsetning av La Cage Aux Folles. Muligens det nærmeste det ærverdige teateret har vært en revyoppsetning. Slettes ingen dum idè å bytte ut Ibsen med litt lånte fjær, paljetter, sang og komikk for folkelighetens skyld. Broadway-stemning i Lille Bergen! Bjarte Hjelmeland briljerer i hovedrollen. Sånt blir det stinn brakke av. Tilogmed på de desiderst dårligste plassene tilgjengelig, helt oppe under taket, fikk vi godt utbytte av det hele. Tid og penger vel anvendt. Hvis det er noen som ikke har sett stykket enda, er det fortsatt en kort måned igjen å gjøre det på, før showet tar en pause og kommer tilbake til høsten. Billetter på Billettservice. Studentpriser til og med. Hvis du henter de reserverte billettene på teateret, istedetfor på 7 Eleven rett over gaten, slipper du sågar billettavgiften.

On my radio

Eva & The Heartmaker - Signals

 

Eva Wheel Skram and her husband are releasing their 3rd album next month. Things are looking good as they continue where Mr. Tokyo left off with this radio flirt of a song. When I first heard it on my radio I misheard it as something by Marit Larsen - a sign of approval if there ever was one! Getting quite a lot of airplay this one, and deservedly so. This is pure pop, sparkling with life. Bring on spring. 

I can see clearly now

Når juleshoppingen er vel unnagjort, er det tilbake til mer hverdagslige, kjedelige, men høyst nødvendige innkjøp. Kontaktlinser havner i den kategorien. Når du først har funnet ditt favorittmerke, vet du hva du skal ha - og du vet hva du får. Et produkt velegnet som netthandelsobjekt.

Til tross for et noe håpløst navn, er Shopping4net (tidligere Lenses4net) mitt foretrukne nettsted for linsekjøp. Viktigst: De er billige. 204 kr for en måned med dagslinser inkludert frakt. Selv om de sender fra Sverige, eller Finland, er de også overraskende effektive. Som en venn av meg sa: "Skulle tro de ikke hadde annet å gjøre enn å sitte og vente på å motta min neste bestilling". I tillegg sender de store kjøp i separate forsendelser, slik at du slipper å bry hjernen din med tollregler. Lavinteresseprodukter bør ikke være mer bry enn dette. Om du vet om noen bedre, er jeg ikke mer trofast enn at jeg gladelig tar imot tips.

Christmas is long gone and it is yet again time to concentrate on the everyday shopping. Contact lenses is a perfect product for online shopping. Once you've found your favourite brand, you know what you want - and you know what you get. Despite the rather hopeless name, Shopping4net is my preferred site for contact lenses. They're cheap, extremely efficient and reliable. They ship to UK, Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Finland. In some markets they also sell printer ink, toys, nutritional supplement, beauty and make up products. You've found any better? Let me know. 

shopping4net.com 

Top 10 of 2010

Since everyone seems obsessed with year-end lists, I might as well do my own list of favourite songs from 2010. Hear the full list on Spotify.

1. Melanie Fiona – Monday Morning 

Technically a 2009-song, but I discovered it in 2010 when it became a hit in Sweden. This was the most played song on my iTunes this year. A perfect pop package with a dash of retro soul. I didn’t think they made music like this any more! With her 2^nd album coming up, 2011 should be Melanie Fiona’s year.

2. Private– My Secret Lover (new radio edit)

This song, from Private’s 2007 debut album of the same name, was re-edited for its 2010 UK release, and for once the remixed result turned out even better than the original. Who knew danes did groove?

3. Robyn - Indestructible 

2010 was without a doubt Robyn’s year, and this is in my humble opinion her best single release to date. Sparkling, uplifting pop doesn’t get much better than this.

“I never was smart with love, I let the bad ones in and the good ones go. But I'm gonna love you like I've never been hurt before. I'm gonna love you like I'm indestructible”

4. Scissor Sisters – Fire with Fire

A song that when the chorus finally kicks in just makes me want to dance. Every time. The album Night Work had the most memorable album cover of the year.

5. Pain Of Salvation – Road Salt

The only ballad in my list. It is a subtle, restrained effort no one would have guessed came right out of the spectacle that is Melodifestivalen. The best MF-song in years. 

6. Miike Snow - The Rabbit 

With this one I feel some resemblance to Sam Sparro’s Black & Gold. Not just music-wise, but also in the fact that none of them achieved the stardom they really deserved.

7. Bjørn JohanMuri – Yes Man

The moral winner of Melodi Grand Prix 2010. Despite having one of the biggest radio hits in Norway this year, his debut album surprisingly flopped. The other singles +  Iron Love is also worth checking out.

8. Madcon – Glow

Choreography of the year. Endless hours of fun doing the funky chicken. Bow and arrow, bow and arrow! In retrospect this is probably what Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo will be remembered for.

9. Mariah Carey – Oh Santa

Christmas IS merrier with Mariah. Just as All I want For Christmas Is You this new song also flirts with some 50’s / 60’s sound and boosts enough glitter and cheers to make yet another joyful december. The world needs more up tempo christmas songs.

10. The Wombats – Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)

A partly norwegian band with one of the most energetic traks of 2010. Another band to look out for in the year to come.

My 1st choice for festive music

  
My very first blog entry should of course focus on music. Alienhits - #1 hits from a Another Planet was the first music blog I started following on a regular basis, and it still is my preferred place to discover new, fresh and up-beat music.  

The blog is run by Nick James, an american with a rare fixation on music from the alien planet of Scandinavia. He shares my love for all things festive. In music that means big choruses, strong melodies, unforgettable hooks and beats that makes you want to turn up the volume and jump with joy. This is the site where an album is jugded by how many up tempo tracks it includes. Of course I approve. 

Alienhits.blogspot.com