Showing posts with label Gothenburg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gothenburg. Show all posts

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Christmas cheer straight from the heart of Scandinavia: Yohanna - "Don't Save It All For Christmas Day"; Jill Johnson -"O Holy Night", "Christmas With You", "Away In A Manger"




Yohanna - "Don't Save It All For Christmas Day" - 
TV3's "En Sång För Hemlösa 2009" (A Song For The Homeless 2009) in 
HD. Stockholm, Sweden. December 15, 2009





Jill Johnson - "O Holy Night" at Jullotta På Liseberg, Göteborg, Sweden. December 8, 2011



Jill Johnson - "Christmas With You" on TV4's Bingolotto, Stockholm, Sweden, December 23, 2011. 

Because I've gotten behind in posting here about the terrific St. Lucia telecast on SVT, I'm going to go ahead and post one of the songs that Jill sang so well recently at Gothenburg Cathedral.
Teaser Alert: The Lucia telecast was sublime again!  



Jill Johnson - "Away In a Manger" from SVT's St. Lucia/Luciamorgon telecast of December 13, 2011 


Jóhanna Guðrún Jónsdóttir a.k.a. Yohanna

Jill Johnson

Damian at SwedishStereo, http://swedishstereo.blogspot.com/ has a great compilation of new and traditional Christmas songs from recent TV shows and performances at his post today, http://swedishstereo.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-weekend-on-swedish-tv.html
I encourage you to check it out.

Monday, December 12, 2011

2011 St. Lucia Day in Göteborg is an hour away on SVT; will they strike gold and be sublime yet again?






Above, five screen-shots I snapped of Amanda Römmesmo Diaz (as Lucia) during the 2010 St. Lucia Day ceremony and concert telecast from Kungsholms Church in Stockholm last year, which was broadcast by SVT.
It was, in a word, awesome! 
Can we dare to hope this year's will be as good?

My popular blog post on that was titled, quite naturally, 2010 St. Lucia Day in Stockholm: traditional songs and sweet sentimentality that ring true across the miles; SVT's Lucia program is sublime!, http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/2010-st-lucia-day-in-stockholm.html

The ceremony starts Tuesday, December 13 at 7:00 a.m. Stockholm time, which is GMT+1, meaning it's on LIVE at 1 a.m. Miami/Eastern Standard Time.

If you're seeing this blog post of mine sometime on Tuesday morning, it's not too late to check it out again on the re-broadcast at 6 p.m. in Sweden on SVT2.

Everywhere else in the world, including here in Miami, the Land of the Luckless Dolphins. you can see Luciamorgon at SVT Play, specifically at

It will be available for viewing on the SVT Play website until January 12, 2012.

Hallandale Beach Blog/South Beach Hoosier favorite Jill Johnson, along with Sofia Karlsson will be at Gothenburg Cathedral, along with their Boys and Girls Choir, to sing some traditional holiday songs and carols, and actor Tomas von Brömsen will be keeping it real by reading some stories that capture the holiday moment and explain the story of Lucia.
Excellent!

More on the broadcast and SVT's other holiday programming at their special webpage: http://svt.se/2.114280/1.1789593/ and http://svt.se/2.114277/julen_i_svt_2011

If you want to replicate something sweet and soulful -and sublime- having Jill Johnson sing is a great start!

Jill Johnson -"O Holy Night" at Jullotta På Liseberg,Göteborg, Sweden. December 8, 2011. http://youtu.be/qOfbkzG0dK0

Lionheart Sweden video: Jill Johnson - Välkommen jul (Sampler)

Clips from Jill's new "Welcome Christmas" holiday album with the Gavle Symphony Orchestra. http://tjuvlyssna.nu/

Among other places in Sverige last week, Gothenburg was absolutely flooded with rain last Thursday, and, according to soggy friends of the blog on-the-scene, it was only Monday that water started receding to reveal just how many cars got completely swamped. And more snow and rain, snöfall och regn, is coming toute-de-suite from the west, with very strong winds in tow.

Tack, Helen!


Today's Aftonbladet had these photos of the soggy scene:

Just the thought of that mess makes me want to have some grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup!
Speaking of tomato...

Two years ago yesterday, it was a classic case of Gershwin's "You like potato, I like potahto..."


The Local
Göteborg changes name back to Gothenburg
Published: 11 Dec 09 06:55 CET

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Wow!
In a sign of the times, due to so many creepy people in the world using Social Media for nefarious means, in Gavle, schools are forbidding families from videotaping or photographing their own daughters -and others- doing their Lucia ceremonies, so that the resulting photos and video are NOT swiped off the Internet and abused by being posted at porn sites or maintained for personal use.
Parents actually have to sign forms acknowledging they know the new rules before attending.
Sad beyond words...

Restriktioner%20mot%20att%20fotografera%20Luciat%C3%A5gen

TV4 News, Gavle, December 12, 2011.

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The performance that first brought Jill to my attention, four years ago...


Jill Johnson - Jolene on TV4's Bingolotto, 2007.

Jill Johnson's official YouTube Channel is at:



Saturday, June 25, 2011

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

Lotta%20p%C3%A5%20Liseberg

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/

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.

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%20Nielsen%20-%20I'm%20in%20love

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