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Beautiful Stockholm at night, looking west towards Gamla Stan
Showing posts with label Monica Zetterlund. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Monica Zetterlund. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Heavenly! A month before her film 'Monica Z' opens in Sweden on September 13th, Edda Magnason sings "Sakta vi gĂ„ hem genom stan” (Slowly we walk through town) LIVE on SVT's AllsĂ„ng pĂ„ Skansen, Stockholm, August 13, 2013, on the last show of 2013. With lyrics! Now THAT'S how you promote a film featuring great music!; #monicaz, #eddamagnason, @manszelmerlow, @svtallsang, @PeterBirro



runforyourlife71 YouTubeChannel video: Edda Magnason - Sakta vi gĂ„ genom stan - AllsĂ„ng pĂ„ Skansen. Uploaded October 23, 2013. http://youtu.be/Tqmp6q7jGkg

 Heavenly! A month before her film 'Monica Z' opens in Sweden on September 13th, Edda Magnason sings "Sakta vi gĂ„ hem genom stan” (Slowly we walk through town) LIVE on SVT's AllsĂ„ng pĂ„ Skansen, Stockholm, August 13, 2013, on the last show of 2013. With lyrics! Now THAT'S how you promote a film featuring great music!; #monicaz, #eddamagnason, @manszelmerlow, @svtallsang, @PeterBirro

 Updated in 2014

 My last blog post on Edda Magnason and the news regarding her role playing Swedish pop culture icon Monica Zetterlund, complete with both the official video of 'Sakta vi gĂ„ hem genom stan' and the official trailer for the biopic "Monica Z" was on July 26, 2013 titled, Trending at HBB with Sexy Swedish Ă©lan: Edda Magnason channels iconic Swedish jazz singer Monica Zetterlund for her upcoming biopic "Monica Z"; Edda Magnason - Sakta vi gĂ„ genom stan (Official Video); Opens nationally in Sweden on September 13th, but premiering at 'Way Out West' film festival in Göteborg from August 8-10; #monicaz, @PeterBirro
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/trending-at-hbb-with-sexy-swedish-elan.html

Above, a tweet from Sveriges Radio on the news that Monica Z has been selected to compete at the upcoming Montreal Film Festival. 
In Swedish, though...
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/article17290129.ab

After I watched the Edda Magnason video a few times I went looking around to my usual smorgasbord of online Swedish media and pop culture sites to see what's what in Sverige in the middle of August.

Even a perfunctory reading of things makes perfectly clear that there are lots of fans of singer and AllsĂ„ng host MĂ„ns Zelmerlöw who are not happy about the news that after three great years of entertainment, MĂ„ns will not be returning to host the popular show next summer, meaning that Tuesday night wasn't just the last show of the summer, but also the last one to be hosted by the energetic and multi-talented MĂ„ns.

But the thing is, it's his choice, not the choice of the management at SVT, who are very happy with the job that he has done and love the ratings he brings, since it's the number-one show on TV in the summer, last week drawing 1.7 million TV viewers in a country of about 9.5 million people, less than half the size of Florida..
http://hd.se/noje/2013/08/12/tv-toppen-zelmerlows-allsang-flest/

 Quite simply, MĂ„ns wants to be able to do other things musically and artistically, and have the freedom in his schedule to tour during the summer if he chooses, or do some touring but also spend time with his friends during the glorious summers that the whole country thinks about most of the year.
http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=478&artikel=5616356
As MĂ„ns put it plainly after the show to the Swedish news media after confirming he would not be returning:
Jag kommer jÀttegÀrna tillbaka nÄn gÄng i framtiden, men först mÄste jag fÄ göra min grej, jag drömmer ju om att turnera nu och dÄ ska det bli sÄ.
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/article17290129.ab

Still, many of his supporters started a Twitter hashtag name for their fight to.... well, not sure what exactly, since it's his choice to leave after three years, but you have to admire the dedication if not the logic: #AllsĂ„ngNeedsMĂ„ns
https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Alls%C3%A5ngNeedsM%C3%A5ns&src=typd&mode=realtime











I must admit that MĂ„ns and his engaging personality have really grown on me a lot the past three years since his first year in 2011, when he was not as well-known to me, obviously, as he was to the average Swedish music listener and pop culture follower.
I'd seen videos of him singing or on Swedish TV shows, of course, and had read about him in the newspapers, magazines and websites, to say nothing of the music blogs, but I had no strong opinions one way or the other, though there's no mistaking his talent.

After three years of watching him via SVT Play, http://www.svtplay.se/ now I actually know some of his go-to moves during the show and which songs are his go-to songs, as well as which ones I've come to like best, whether in Swedish or in English.

To end this post, I'm going with a happy video that includes him which I posted here on the blog back in July previewing my trip to Stockholm this past January, back when I still thought I'd be going to Iceland after visiting Sweden for about nine days and would be able to catch the Aurora Borealis while in Iceland for three days. 

It features the recurring opening montage of aerial scenes of beautiful Stockholm used on AllsĂ„ng pĂ„ Skansen in the summer of 2011, the first year MĂ„ns was at the helm, and featuring a multi-generational all-star squad of singers joining him in singing the show's theme song, Stockholm i mitt hjarta, the song that begins the sing-along every week.
The one song that everyone in attendance, regardless of age or musical tastes, pretty much knows by heart after watching the landmark summer TV show for years.


MĂ„ns Zelmerlöw, Björn Skifs, Loa Falkman and Peter Jöback sing "Stockholm i Mitt HjĂ€rta" (Stockholm in My Heart) from the intro of a 2011 episode of SVT's "AllsĂ„ng pĂ„ Skansen" in Stockholm, Sweden. http://youtu.be/JEPvZBDOjdc

http://www.mzw.se/
http://www.svt.se/allsang/
http://www.facebook.com/svtallsang
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Friday, July 26, 2013

Trending at HBB with Sexy Swedish élan: Edda Magnason channels iconic Swedish jazz singer Monica Zetterlund for her upcoming biopic "Monica Z"; Edda Magnason - Sakta vi gÄ genom stan (Official Video); Opens nationally in Sweden on September 13th, but premiering at 'Way Out West' film festival in Göteborg from August 8-10; #monicaz, @PeterBirro


UniversalMusicSweden YouTube Channel video: Edda Magnason - Sakta vi gĂ„ genom stan (Official Video). Uploaded July 13, 2013. http://youtu.be/Ni5a6Q8D16I

 Monica Zetterlund was an exceptional artist with a unique place in Swedish life and pop culture, and this film shows how she went from an unknown to icon, yet even while living a fabulous life on stage, she led a turbulent private life away from the spotlight.

Central among many other co-stars of the film is the City of Stockholm itself, given that the name of the film is a direct reference to an an iconic Swedish song sung by and made famous by Zetterlund that's a variation of the 1930's hit, Walkin' My Baby Back Home.
With new Swedish lyrics by Beppe Wolgers, this old song became Slowly we walk through town -Sakta vi gĂ„ genom stan.  

 It's a song that every reasonably well-educated person in Sweden and environs knows and recognizes instantly, regardless of their age or political ideology or musical tastes.
It's that big. 

 Monica Zetterlund recording of Sakta vi gĂ„ genom stan, with lyrics at:
http://www.stockholmskallan.se/Soksida/Post/?nid=24283

 Given such a name, this film doesn't pretend that it is not steadfastly in love with a certain place and je ne sais quoi attitude at a certain time in history, and that place and time was Stockholm in the early and mid-Sixties.

 It's a film that like Woody Allen's best movies about New York City, is not not afraid to romanticize its beloved Stockholm, always one of the most beautiful cities in the world, then as now, which anyone who goes there sees and feels.
Even when like me, it's in the middle of January

 It's part of why SO MANY PEOPLE who live there genuinely LOVE being part of it, and in a way that would surprise people living elsewhere, could NOT imagine ever wanting to live somewhere else, even New York, London or Paris.
They'd visit there on holiday, of course, but Stockholm is for them, and they have no intention of leaving.

 In this film playing Monica Zetterlund, I can clearly see that singer/actress Edda Magnason can cause that involuntary "Julie Christie swoon" that comes over me sometimes that I've spoken about at various times and places, including this blog. 
I can tell you without reservation that is NOT a feeling to be trifled with.



And yes, before you ask or write me about it, I DO see that resemblance to American actress Alicia Silverstone, back before she went completely off-track and Hollywood wild child, 
Don't pretend you don't see it, either. (See more at bottom.)

ABSvenskFilmindustri YouTube Channel video: Monica Z - official trailer (In Swedish)
Monica Zetterlund stars as Swedish singing/acting icon Edda Magnason; directed by Per Fly, written by Peter Birro. Uploaded May 15, 2013. http://youtu.be/H7qb41FaTXw

Monica Zetterlund died on May 12th, 2005 at the age of 67, as the result of injuries sustained in a fire in her Stockholm apartment. Confined to a wheelchair the last few years of her life by a severe case of scoliosis, she called the Fire Dept. to report the fire and urge them to hurry because the fire was rapidly spreading, but the first firemen arriving on the scene found her already dead, her wheelchair still next to her bed. So sad...

The film officially premieres in Sweden on September 13th. but it will be shown as part of the featured films at the 'Way Out West' film festival in Göteborg from August 8-10th.
In Swedish: http://www.wayoutwest.se/
In English: http://www.wayoutwest.se/en/








Official film website: http://www.sf.se/filmer/Monica-Z/

 Edda's official website: http://www.eddamagnason.com/











viasatsverige youTube Channel: Edda Magnason intervju Hans Wiklund. Uploaded May 20, 2013. http://youtu.be/7VLEyB94DEg
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ABC-TV video: Jimmy Kimmel's YouTube Challenge - I Silverstoned My Kid. Uploaded April 3, 2012. http://youtu.be/G4qAVY5RSR8

There was a certain moment in time in the 1990's where, with nothing more than a little black dress or something suitably chic and simple, Alicia Silverstone could, sometimes, stop a crowd cold with just a look.
And people would freeze.

 Yes, though it's hard for some of you to believe it, a moment really did exist in our pop culture zeitgeist when it seemed that almost nothing could stop Alicia Silverstone from becoming one of the most popular and highly-paid actresses in the world, other than self-sabotage.

 Silverstone didn't get that last big film contract of hers for nothing, because she really DID have genuine charisma, good looks and talent to spare, and was generally considered easy to work with on set, NOT a young diva.

 But then for reasons known largely to her, she made some bad decisions, seemed to stop caring quite so much or trying so hard -and audiences suddenly felt let down by her.
It's not called Show Business for nothing.
It's a business, not a place for hobbyists or people indulging whims or people going thru a "phase."

 Whether Alicia Silverstone will ever decide to take advantage of her talent and natural likeability in the future again and have a Second Act in Hollywood is a decision known only to her.
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