Awesome news! Yohanna to tour soon featuring Eva Cassidy-inspired songs :) - Sings "Is It True" and "Fields of Gold" on NRK2's "Allsang på grensen" and charms crowd in-between raindrops; Jóhanna Guðrún, @yohannamusic

Yohanna - "Is It True" and "Fields of Gold" on NRK2's "Allsang på grensen", Halden, Norway, July 18, 2012. http://youtu.be/D3w8cG93zyU
One of our favorites, the talented Icelandic beauty charms 'em in-between raindrops!

Awesome news! Yohanna to tour soon featuring Eva Cassidy-inspired songs :) - Sings "Is It True" and "Fields of Gold" on NRK2's "Allsang på grensen" and charms crowd in-between raindrops; Jóhanna Guðrún, @yohannamusic

The exciting news about Yohanna doing a tour that features songs that were staples of the late  Eva Cassidy, is absolutely fabulous news for both music lovers and longtime Yohanna supporters like me, as is the fact that Eva's brother, Dan Cassidy, will be part of the band, as he is here on violin.


If I play my cards right, I might even see her perform in person in a few weeks. 
If so, I guarantee you will see some amazing video and photos here on the blog! And on my YouTube Channel.


@yohannamusic  http://twitter.com/yohannamusic
http://www.facebook.com/yohannamusic



wroenn video: ABC News Nightline's Dave Marash's famous profile of singer Eva Cassidy. http://youtu.be/bXU219b3Zdw


This segment originally aired on May 25, 2001, while I was still living in the Washington area. 
I can still remember the night I videotaped it while sitting in the living room of the townhouse I lived in, with stories still floating in my head about her amazing performances from friends of mine who'd been smart enough to see her in person at various places around the Beltway.
By the time it ended, I was not only blown away by how well it was produced and came together, easily one of the best things to ever appear on Nightline, but even more profoundly regretful and sad that I'd never made the time I should have to see this amazing talent for myself. 
I certainly had plenty of chances to join them, but I always had an excuse for why I couldn't go: an Orioles ballgame up in Baltimore that I already had tickets to, film or dinner with my then-girlfriend, an IU or Hurricane ballgame of some sort on TV that night that I "had" to watch, or... 
And now I rue some of those choices and wish that at least once, I'd listened to my friend's suggestion and been able to see the magic for myself in-person. 


Posthumous Fame 
A U.S. Singer Enjoys Success Abroad -- Five Years After Her Death 
By Dave Marash 
http://evacassidy.org/eva/nightline.htm


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One thing is for sure and that is that NRK-TV could learn a few valuable lessons from SVT about how to broadcast a LIVE concert.


Maybe it was just the fickle weather since their LIVE coverage of the 22/7 Memorial in Oslo That I watched came out great, and maybe it's just my imagination, but compared to SVT's masterful coverage of Allsång på Skansen in Stockholm from every angle you can think of, this suffers in the comparison.


Granted, SVT DOES have more cameras to work with, including probably some robot cams, but when you look at the fluidity and variety of shots, as demonstarted well in this video segment of three very talented and popular performers from July 18th, it's like the final brick in the wall.



http://youtu.be/vnGFped5SEs


Above, Alexander Rybak playing Grieg's "I bergakungens sal" (In the hall of the mountain king), and then him being joined by Kalle Moraeus and Linda Lampenius for an acoustic version of "Stockholm i mitt hjärta," the prideful leitmotif that opens every one of the broadcasts during the summer. This is followed by Kalle singing "Underbart" (Wonderful) with the crowd and host Måns Zelmerlöw.


In the NRK segment at the top, honestly, it seems to me that there are too many crowd shots of people that look either distracted or bored, instead of some shots from behind the stage showing Yohanna and the crowd interacting and the crowd singing back to her.

Plus, while SVT always seems to anticipate situations correctly, above, NRK goes from a nice shot to one of a woman who seems to be nursing her baby.
I have to admit that I've NEVER seen that done at a concert, or seen a TV director thinking THAT'S the money shot you've got to get. 
Perhaps she looked like the director's wife, but still, very, very strange.


What is NOT strange though is uris1.
He never fails to deliver the goods with high-quality musical videos from Scandinavia and Europe!
Which is why I subscribe to his feed. http://www.youtube.com/user/uris1


No, that's not your imagination, his YouTube Channel really is framed by multiple shots of one of our favorites, Swedish singer Jill Johnson.


Jill's rocking version of "Jolene"


http://www.youtube.com/user/jilljohnsonmusic
http://www.jilljohnson.se/eng/

Norway's Easter double-feature: Alexander Rybak's musical wizardry and the Bike trial wizardry of Thomas Remvik Aasen -NRK-TV's LIVE Påskekveld broadcast from Geilo, Norway Thursday night

Alexander Rybak video: Alexander Rybak "Dagdrøm" (LIVE) NRK1-TV's Påskekveld broadcast from Geilo, Norway. April 5, 2012. http://youtu.be/6TeR1Gtr4Js

Norway's Easter double-feature: Alexander Rybak's musical wizardry and the Bike Trial wizardry of Thomas Remvik Aasen -NRK-TV's LIVE Påskekveld broadcast from Geilo, Norway Thursday night

http://www.nrk.no/nett-tv/klipp/838698/

Be sure to watch the show's introduction to get a sense of the context, but the Mountain Trial Bike segment I want you all to see is from 28:54 to 32:02 and be sure to watch the little boy wearing the teal-colored skullcap at 30:24, who is completely captivated, as later shots show.

Video by Alexander Vollevik Larsen.

It segues perfectly into a short chat between Alexander Rybak and NRK host Caroline Bækkelund Hauge before he plays the song he wrote, Dagdrøm, which concludes Thursday night's telecast.

If you really want to see how ridiculously talented Alexander Rybak is, see him sing and perform in this March 4th, 2012 telecast of SVT's popular "Så ska det låta," which I have referenced here on the blog many times before for obvious reasons. 

The full program was uploaded a month ago -with multiple subtitles, including English- and I finally had some time to watch the whole thing un-distracted -twice- last weekend.
He never disappoints.



Rybak's Facebookies video: Alexander Rybak in "Så ska det låta" - Full program - March 4, 2012. With subtitles!

http://youtu.be/Rz09ygTKdt4

Thomas Remvik Aasen, April 2012.


Yes, his latest bike trial video was filmed in the same town as what was shown on Thursday's NRK telecast. See his other videos at: http://vimeo.com/user764351 and his bio at: http://www.trialtech.co.uk/rider.php?rider_id=4

The music playing in his most recent video is from Frou Frou - "Let go" which you might remember from, among many other things, Zach Braff's critically received directorial film debut, Garden State, which he also wrote.



From "Garden State"  -the final scene, at the airport between Natalie Portman and Zach Braff. http://youtu.be/iTnzPuFPxPw


-----
Official Alexander Rybak Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/alexanderrybak
Official website: http://www.alexanderrybak.com/ 

After watching this, I'm convinced: singing & dancing flash mob across the U.S.A. during Super Bowl's halftime would be more fun than watching Madonna

Madcon - Glow - 2009 Eurovision Song Contest Flashmob Dance Finale (HD), Oslo, Norway. May 2009. http://youtu.be/32lpdFS7rPM

It starts a little slow, I'll grant you, but at 2:19, as the cameras leave the arena, then, serendipity...

After watching this, I'm convinced that a televised singing and dancing flash mob across the U.S.A., during the Super Bowl XLVI halftime show, would be MUCH MORE FUN to see than simply watching Madonna perform a medley of her well-known songs in Indy at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Or, perhaps more interesting than even that, would be to have it televised from the two cities which have teams playing, as people sing and dance wearing their -quite likely- Green Bay Packer cheeseheads and Baltimore Ravens purple jerseys and gear.

Me, I never watch the Super Bowl pre-game programming anymore, as there are far too many 'human interest' stories with female reporters trying to look empathetic as they interview some special-team player's sister's husband's barber with cancer, or the like.
I usually mute the TV during Super Bowl halftime anyway, and flip on the radio telecast to hear their analysis, so this would actually be more fun and amusing to watch and see how each city tries to top the other somehow.
And it would be easy to find a commercial sponsor, too!

Whatever happened to all the genuinely dangerous flash mobs, anyway?
Like the ones that terrorized Chicagoland and Philadelphia this spring and summer, which I wrote about here, along with some startling videos?
They seem to have stopped in their tracks once 'Occupy Wall Street' came on the scene.
Hmm-m...

Then again, maybe it's just a spring and summer phenomena...

-----

In case you forgot why the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest -above- was being held in the Oslo area in the first place, it was because Norway's Alexander Rybak had won the 2009 competition in Moscow with "Fairytale", and the next competition is always hosted by the winner's home country.



EUROVISION 2009 WINNER -NORWAY, ALEXANDER RYBAK, FAIRYTALE -HQ STEREO
http://youtu.be/uiH4BFTELME

-----
http://www.youtube.com/user/AlexanderRybakVideo/


http://www.alexanderrybak.com/

Alyona & Co. - Whether "From Russia with Love" or "From Russia with Lust," the world's fascination with Russian women shows no end in sight

RT America video: From Russia with Lust, November 26, 2010.

http://youtu.be/-YIrlTWmxRw

Alyona & Co. - Whether "From Russia with Love" or "From Russia with Lust," the world's fascination with Russian women shows no end in sight

Almost 50 years after the worldwide release of "From Russia with Love," the second of the James Bond films -and one of my two personal favorites- despite all the 007 films that have come and gone and become part of our everyday experience and pop culture, despite all the beautiful actresses who've played their parts to the hilt to advance the narrative of the world's favorite espionage agent, the number-one-rated all-time "Bond woman" among James Bond fans remains the first Russian femme fatale, Tatiana Romanova.

Or, rather, the faux Russian, since actress Daniela Bianchi was actually Italian.

No matter!

She was Russian in the film!

We love us our Russian femme fatales!

Above, an amateur remakeof the trailer for "From Russia With Love" and one of the better ones you'll find on YouTube, too.

http://youtu.be/VqAOf66o1Wg

,

From Russia With Love - 1963 (Theatrical Trailer)

http://youtu.be/n26GjSLcbdY

Before there was a Tatiana Romanova to distract MI6's James Bond from the task at hand of preventing the Russians from getting their hands on high-tech gadgets, there were other Russian femme fatales of one sort or another, some stoic and others smoldering.

There was director Ernst Lubitsch's 1939 romantic comedy "Ninotchka" starring Melvyn Douglas and Greta Garbo -"Garbo laughs" was part of the film's famous marketing campaign. Garbo's the stoic visiting Russian official who meets dignified schemer Douglas in Paris and whose personality evolves as she comes to spend time with him.

Moral of the story, as always, is that 'Opposites attract.'

Eventually.

Ninotchka - 1939 (Original trailer)

Ninotschka - Melvyn Douglas and Greta Garbo's characters meet for the first time and it's far from instant attraction, as she makes clear her disdain for the West.

http://youtu.be/H3sjxMRwQBk

Then there was smoldering Russian streetcar driver Theodore (Hedy Lamarr) slightly skewing newspaperman Clark Gable's view of Russia in King Vidor's film "Madame X" a year later in 1940. Her he likes, Russia, not so much.

Comrade X - 1940 (Original trailer)

I'm a longtime Hedy Lamarr fan.

And why do Western consumers, especially men, immediately get a certain mental image in their heads when they hear the word, "Natasha"?

No, not this one...

Boris & Natasha, Russian Spies

http://youtu.be/EtpCosu-FH4

something sorta like this one...

Clip from NBC-TV's "My Name is Earl": Jasper's Russian mail order bride says "Moose and squirrel."

http://youtu.be/fO12p3iXqrc

And where was Irina Shayk, the 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover model that's melted hearts all over the world and quickly became one of the most-followed women in the world from? One guess.

Yes, Mother Russia.

http://www.theirinashayk.com/

From 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit special video:

Irina Shayk - Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2009

http://youtu.be/fvQoSobQ4J8

From 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit special video:

Anne Vyalitsyna & Irina Shaykhlislamova strut their stuff in St. Petersburg, Russia's front-window to Europe.

http://youtu.be/m-zUlrsiZbQ

My favorite Irina?

Irina Rodnina, the female Russian pairs figure skater who, along with partner Aleksandr Zaitsev, were the most dominant pair in the world, and the template for future generations of a certain refined Russian figure skating style that was pure magic and radiance on the ice.

She was transcendent!

Irina Rodnina & Alexander Zaitsev - Pairs Figure Skating, Long Program, 1978 European Championships, Strasbourg, France.

http://youtu.be/IWzQYjgudz4

Guess who Rodnina's daughter is?

Alyona Minkovski.

Really.

That just absolutely floored me.

Above, a screen grab I did of Alyona Wednesday night on her show, talking about the U.S. economy with a guest.

I didn't know that amazing fact until THIS summer!

It's actually hard for me to look at her the same way knowing that information.

This is the fourth post of mine that has mentioned RT's Alyona Minkovski, and my last post on her in April was one of the five most-popular posts since the blog was born in early 2007:

1. APRIL 22, 2011

Beguiling Alyona Minkovski zeroes-in on TIME's "100" list and fillets some particularly dubious celebs we're supposed to admire -but DON'T!

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/beguiling-alyona-minkovski-zeroes-in-on.html

2. OCTOBER 19, 2010

Shockingly age inappropriate or simply base marketing hucksterism? The Taylor Momsen example staring us right in the face

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/shockingly-age-inappropriate-or-simply.html

3 SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

Alyona Minkovski interviews Wired Sr. Editor Kevin Poulsen about Julian Assange of WikiLeaks and the group's immediate future

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/alyona-minkovski-interviews-wired-sr.html

To close this Russian-centric tangent, I've got the Russian-language version video of Belarus-born Norwegian singer/violinist extraordinaire and 2009 Eurovision Song winner Alexander Rybak's "Europe's Skies," one of the handful of go-to catchy songs I've been singing and humming -a lot- in the car this year when stuck in traffic.

I prefer the English-language version because I've heard it so many times, but this one is okay, too.

Александр Рыбак - Небеса Европы (Русская версия)

Alexander Rybak - "Europe's Skies" (Russian version)

http://youtu.be/izej_xd-ESE

-----

You can watch RT America here LIVE 24.7.

http://rt.com/on-air/rt-america-air/

http://rt.com/

Alyona Show YouTube Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAlyonaShow

http://www.youtube.com/user/RTAmerica

http://www.youtube.com/user/RussiaToday

Pop culture kitsch and traditions straight from the heart of summer-loving Sweden -Lotta på Liseberg 2011 - A new year of music memories begin

TV4 Play video: Lotta på Liseberg - Direkt från Liseberg i Göteborg bjuder Lotta Engberg på allsång och kända artister June 20, 2011.

http://www.tv4play.se/noje/lotta_pa_liseberg?title=lotta_pa_liseberg&videoid=1711216&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=permalink&utm_campaign=tv4play.se

Pop culture kitsch and traditions straight from the heart of summer-loving Sweden -Lotta på Liseberg 2011 - A new year of music memories begin.

Yes, I have the whole sixty-six minute long first show of the summer here, above, plus the TV commercials that will no doubt give some of you some insight into the minds of what Swedish ad agencies think will catch the attention of savvy, consumer-friendly Swedes.
Lotta's musical guests: Alexander Rybak, Orup & Le Kid, Loa Falkman, Sanna Nielsen, Matts Paulsson... with band conductor Curt-Eric Himquist.

Oh, and EVERYONE knows the lyrics.

Nobody loves celebrating sun-filled summer like Swedes, even when they have to wear jackets to a summer ritual like Lotta på Liseberg in Göteborg, a weekly Monday night music and pop culture get-together for eight weeks that's a middle-class family entertainment TV tradition that appeals to cute Soccer Moms, IM-ing teens and their younger siblings and blue-haired grandmothers -and everyone in between.

(Like the Indy 500. Feel the need, the need for speed.)

It's sort of like a combination of the current Live with Regis & Kelly TV show and the 1960's Lawrence Welk Show but on tour on a cruise ship-cum-beloved amusement park, yet with impressive audio and video technology and a pop sensibility that is uniquely Swedish, heavy on the cornpone -and schlager.

Yes, in that sense, it's got a lot in common with the next few months before the Iowa Primaries -especially the part closest to Minnesota!

The required rituals that make that political dog-chasing-its-tail routine what it is: national news reporters from New York and Washington complaining about the candidates, the summer heat -and corn- and the bicycle races -and their boredom- and corn- and pancakes breakfasts...

All of which is likely to be organized to a 'T" by someone whose last name is Petersson, Larsson, Luhrsen or Svensson, displaying some sharp organizational and logistical skills that are in very, very short supply in South Florida, as the evidence all around us clearly shows.

(Editor's Note: The Quad Cities in summer - with no ocean breezes: Good times! LOL!)

Because this particular episode of the show aired LIVE nationally on Monday night at 8 p.m., June 20th, it'll only be available to watch on TV4's Play website until probably about 6 p.m. or so Sunday U.S. Eastern.

There's currently a six-hour time difference between Sweden and Miami, and they DO keep to those time constraints, so if you are west of me and want to watch this, even for a few minutes out of curiosity, you best keep that deadline in mind.

http://www.visitsweden.com/sweden/

http://goteborg.com/en/

TV4 Play's homepage for Lotta på Liseberg is chock full of embeddable clips from the show if you want to just see the songs and not the banter. More get added with each show.

http://www.tv4play.se/noje/lotta_pa_liseberg

Par exemple, here's a clip of Sanna Nielsen from Monday singing I'm in Love, which was actually taped during one of the show's commercial breaks, since they want to keep the vibes going with the LIVE audience at the famed Gothenburg amusement park.

While there is, of course, no sign, per se, at the park's entrance that says "No Hipsters Allowed," it's just sort of assumed that they would never go anywhere so happily middle-class and fun, hence, the lack of signage.

Sanna Nielsen - I'm in Love - Lotta at Liseberg, Gothenburg, Sweden, June 20, 2011

http://www.tv4play.se/noje/lotta_pa_liseberg?title=sanna_nielsen_-_i_m_in_love&videoid=1711076&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=permalink&utm_campaign=tv4play.se

Jóhanna Guðrún Jónsdóttir -Is It True, two video versions of a great song

Prepare yourself to hear the perfect version of

contemporary Pop Sensibility with a Nashville

accent, via Reykjavik, in the form of the amazing

Jóhanna Guðrún Jónsdóttir, a.k.a. Yohanna

The first video is from the Icelandic national

music competition which Jóhanna won in

February performing the song she wrote,

Is It True, earning her the right to represent

Iceland at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest

in Moscow last week.

It is the superior of the two videos in every way

-lighting, clarity and audio- having the great

advantage of having been filmed and lit in a

TV studio, not a large sports arena, as

was the case in Moscow..

On May 12th, Jóhanna wowed TV viewers all

across Europe and the on-site judges to win

the night and advance to the final, where she

earned a well-deserved second place to Norway's

Alexander Rybak's Fairytale.

As you watch this, I defy you to not hum along...

or think about how truly big she could become

in a short period of time with that amazing voice,

talent and looks.

The sky's the limit!

This second video is Jóhanna performing

Is It True, from Moscow in the Eurovision

Semi-Final, round one, using the BBC Three

version of the telecast.

Wow!!!

For more examples of Jóhanna's amazing talent,

do yourself a favor and go over to her musical

MySpace page, http://www.myspace.com/yohannamusic

or her YouTube Channel, and spend a few minutes

listening for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/yohannamusic

Fairytale for Norge: Alexander Rybak wins 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow

Above, Norway's Alexander Rybak and his team,

the Frikar dance company, arrive on stage before they

get ready to steal the show with judges and TV viewers

alike across Europe.

Photographer: Indrek Galetin (EBU)

Still working on my blog post regarding this weekend's

activities at the always hard to figure Eurovision Song

Contest in Moscow, and the crazier-than-usual circus

atmosphere there, which, depending upon which European

newspaper you read or which country's TV news you watched,

often alternated casting it as a battle pitting nationalism vs. kitsch,

and we all know how kitsch hates to lose.

Kitsch, like rust, never sleeps, and always gives 110%

This year, kitsch lives in Norway.

Malena Ernman

Tack så mycket, Malena, som tack får du en puss!

Rock på!

Won't be posting that blog entry for a few days yet,

but thus far, this is by far the best combination quality

audio and video I've yet found of 22-year old Alexander

Rybak's performance for Fairytale, which earned

Norway the title and the right to host the next Eurovision

competition.

Be forewarned, though, that this version is the one that the

EBU team producing the show throughout Europe ran to

conclude the show, so unfortunately, despite having great

crowd shots, it also has production credits rolling thru

portions of as it concludes.

Click twice to get to full page view and sense of the crowd.

Another video of this song, without the rolling credits, is this

one from March's national competeition, which earned Rybak

the right to perform in Moscow.

Below, Sunday morning, Rybak and company returned to a hero's

welcome in Oslo as his arrival at the airport created a scene of

pandemonium.

See also: http://frikar.com/indexen.html