Someone FINALLY remembers "The Eighties" the way I do: Excellent 10-part series on music of 1980's on Sweden's SVT is mostly in English, and can be seen online from anywhere in the world. Swedish TV to the rescue of the summer doldrums! Depeche Mode, Culture Club...

SVT video: Synth eller hårdrock? Synth and Depeche Mode. Two-minute teaser for Episode 1 on 1980 and the introduction of synthesizers/Electronic Music and Depeche Mode starting their string of catchy hits. Originally aired June 8th, 2012.
http://www.svtplay.se/klipp/107504/eighties-1980-och-depeche-mode

Someone FINALLY remembers The Eighties the way I do: Excellent 10-part series on music of 1980's on Sweden's SVT is mostly in English, and can be seen online from anywhere in the world. Swedish TV to the rescue of the Midsommar doldrums! Depeche Mode, Culture Club...


Today I've posted teasers for three of the ten 30-minute episodes. Each program is available on the website for only 30 days due to copyright reasons, so don't procrastinate and miss one! Once it's gone, it's gone for good.


SVT's homepage with the entire series schedule is at http://www.svt.se/eighties/

SVT video: Three-minute teaser for the two-part episode of The Eighties on Boy George & Culture Club and Adam Ant that aired Friday night, June 22nd.
http://www.svtplay.se/klipp/119922/eighties-1982-boy-george-och-adam-ant


http://www.svt.se/eighties/1984-frankie-goes-to-hollywood-och-pudelrock
SVT video: Three-minute teaser for the fifth episode of The Eighties on 1984, a year that saw the group Frankie Goes to Hollywood make it big but see their huge hit "Relax" banned from BBC Radio, while LA-based groups like Van Halen, Whitesnake and Mötley Crüe wre making their presence known. This episode aired last night, June 26th.


The first time that I ever bought an album with a Depeche Mode song on it was in 1982, when I purchased the soundtrack for Summer Lovers about an hour after I saw that film starring Peter Gallagher and Darryl Hannah, the very first day it was out.
I replayed it in my head as I walked thru the record store, thinking how mundane and boring everything in NMB seemed compared to that film, which showed people giving in to their unconventional side for a change.


That film, along with its title song by Michael Sembello, has always been a guilty pleasure of mine and many of my friends from IU, who wondered why in the world we didn't have the good sense to be in Greece in the summer instead of the heat and humidity of Miami, Indianapolis Kansas City and Long Island.
The film has just awesome scenery of Santorini, which is a no-brainer, of course, and a potpourri of music interludes that seemed perfectly timed, including Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough."



busson9 video: Michael Sembello- Summer Lovers (1982, title song from the film)
http://youtu.be/yvu5H2hRJiE


Trivia note: my personal high school graduation party for myself, my family and friends took place at a wonderful Greek restaurant on Lincoln Road in South Beach, following the ceremony at the nearby Miami Beach Convention Center.
I wish we'd owned a video camera back then, because that was a hell of a party, and it'd be nice to replay it every once in a while.

Getting in some early Tuesday morning quality babysitting with Estelle, the new Swedish Crown Princess, as SVT Play presented the Royal Christening -det kungliga dopet- LIVE from the Royal Chapel

SVT video: Archbishop Anders Wejryd christens Crown Princess Estelle as her grandfather, King Carl XVI Gustaf, mother, Crown Princess Victoria, father, Prince Daniel, and grandmother, Queen Silvia, plus Daniel's parents, beam with pride. Amazingly, Estelle was quiet until that moment. May 22, 2012.

Rather than catch-up on some TV shows I've taped the past week -The Killing, Mad Men, et al- I was diligent and did my Swedish homework early Monday night and watched SVT's information-packed one-hour show with host Ebba Von Sydow on the Royal Christening -det kungliga dopet- in Stockholm at the Royal Palace's Royal Chapel, Slottskrykan.

http://www.kungahuset.se/kungligaslotten/slottskyrkan.4.30963a1811be3fda3ab80007080.html

http://svtplay.se/v/2803597/det_kungliga_dopet/infor_det_kungliga_dopet?cb,a1364145,1,f,-1/pb,a1364142,1,f,-1/pl,v,,2803037/sb,p179267,1,f,-1

Which is why I'm so tired typing this, since the pre-game baby/fashion/royals watching analysis started promptly at 4:45 am Miami time, six hours behind Stockholm

And for those of you with a good memory, if the music you hear at the beginning of the info program sounds familiar to you, well, it should.

It's the same music that SVT used so well in their really beautiful and graphics-intensive on-air promos for the Royal Wedding -det kungliga bröllopet- in June of 2010, which I actually saved  because of how magical they were.

Like something straight out of a classic Disney animated film -but modern.

And seriously, princess or no princess, that is one quiet and contented baby, as she was quiet until almost the very end of the ceremony, even with a singer, a harp and a flute only a couple of feet away from her.

I'll be posting some screen-grabs on the blog later in the day, as the post-christening show is still on at 8 a.m. Miami time, and I've heard about enough already about the fashions, the hats, and the etiquette, et al.

As usual, younger telegenic sister Princess Madeleine looked stunning + gorgeous + je ne sais crois!

I'll have the video of her, later, too.

Fascinating interview with Lionel Richie on being a survivor: on Hollywood fame, divorces, parenting, daughter Nicole's problems, dealing with death of famous friends; duet with Jill Johnson - "Sail on" LIVE on SVT's Fredrik Skavlan Show. Excellent!; @jilljohnsons, #teamjill

 

jilljohnsonmusic YouTube Channel video: "Sail On" - Lionel Richie and Jill Johnson. LIVE on SVT's Skavlan Show. Aired March 9, 2012. Uploaded March 10, 2012. http://youtu.be/BatEw1Ci24U

This post was updated in December 2014.

As originally seen at 
http://svtplay.se/v/2737137/skavlan/lionel_richie_och_jill_johnson_-_sail_on?sb,k104116,1,f,-1
The SVT Play video lapsed in March of 2013 so I replaced that video with this version from Jill Johnson's YouTube Channel.

I LOVE THIS VERSION!

Through complete sheer serendipity, while looking thru my nightly check list of foreign Internet sources to see before going to sleep, while checking out some things on the always interesting Swedish Television SVT Play website, which I spend lots of time at, I found this utterly fascinating interview with Grammy Award-winning singer Lionel Richie on talk show host Fredrik Skavlan's very popular Friday night TV show, which airs on both SVT and NRK, the Norwegian TV/Radio service.

If I recall correctly, I read this episode from last Friday drew three million TV viewers combined.

I last mentioned Skavlan last year when I posted his interview with singer Robin Gibb of The Bee Gees on his amazing career, his recent health problems, his remarkably talented family and his efforts to help get an RAF WWII Memorial constructed in London, here:
FEBRUARY 12, 2011 
Robin Gibb and Carola sing "How Deep Is Your Love" on SVT's "Skavlan"; 20-minute interview also!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/robin-gibb-and-carola-sing-how-deep-is.html

In this interview, conducted in English and originally with Swedish subtitles, Richie speaks candidly with Skavlan about being a survivor: on fame in Hollywood, his two divorces, learning to be a strong parent when his now-equally famous daughter, Nicole Richie, had her substance abuse problems, dealing with death of longtime famous friends like Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and Luther Vandross, and how their untimely deaths have changed him and dampened his view of the music industry.

And, of course, there the sweet duet of "Sail on" afterwards that he performs up at the top of this post with popular Swedish Country music singer Jill Johnson.

As regular readers of this blog know from how many times I've posted about her here in the past, I absolutely adore Jill, and could listen to her sing anything, which is why I subscribe to her terrific YouTube Channel, which is usually pretty current compared to most.
http://www.youtube.com/user/jilljohnsonmusic

Jill also sang in December's annual SVT St. Lucia telecast that was great -as usual!
I watched that telecast LIVE online via SVT Play, just like the previous year.  

Originally seen at http://svtplay.se/t/102974/skavlan until April 8th, 2012, as follows,
0:35:36  Intro to Lionel Richie... interview, leading to at 0:52:20 the introduction to song, which closes the show.
As usual, the SVT audio and video quality is amazing, so be sure to click fullskärm for the full screen.

With that episode of the show no longer available in full length, here is most of the Richie interview in two parts

Lionel Richie Interview Part 1 Skavlan

http://youtu.be/4w9IG0M38_I

Lionel Richie Interview Part 2 Skavlan

http://youtu.be/aZPaI2MWMG8

Here's a photo of the three of them that was placed on a Jill Facebook fan page
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=408307265851894&set=a.296809090335046.95935.159825464033410&type=1&ref=nf

Skavlan homepage at SVT: http://www.svt.se/skavlan/
Twitter: @SKAVLANTVShow

http://www.jilljohnson.se/
Twitter @jilljohnsons 

Sweden's nationally-televised WTF (musical) car crash moment of Saturday night -Björn Ranelid feat. Sara Li., performing "Mirakel"; a new low for Melodifestivalen?

Sweden's nationally-televised WTF (musical) car crash moment of Saturday night during Melodifestivalen -Björn Ranelid feat. Sara Li., performing "Mirakel"

Proof that, at least in Sweden, some people love a (musical) car crash as long as they are not in it...

No, it's NOT your imagination.

I really HAVE been avoiding mentioning what's been going on thus far at this year's installment of Melodifestivalen, the iconic and nationally-televised song selection contest over five weeks that annually leads to Sweden's choice for the Eurovision Song Contest, this year, taking place in Azerbijan in a few months.

I could get into the reasons why I've NOT mentioned what's doing with familiar Hallandale Beach Blog favorites like Molly Sandén and Timoteij so far, but it's easier to say why I've broken that silence -Sweden's nationally-televised WTF (musical) car crash moment of Saturday night -Björn Ranelid feat. Sara Li. 

As always, seeing is believing!

*All screen grabs on this page are from SVT by South Beach Hoosier

To say the least, the reviews of Björn Ranelid feat. Sara Li are in and they are so angry, scathing and unmerciless in their pummeling, that it's a wonder that many of my friends and folks I know, like Sofie and Pernilla -who keep coming back to the blog!- who watched the show LIVE Saturday night didn't, well, blow a gasket.

Or make like Elvis and shoot their TV set! 

Though now that I think about it, maybe some of them did, since as of early Monday morning, I have NOT heard from some of them after Saturday night's deltävling 3 -Third heat-of this year's competition in Leksand, like I did after the two previous weeks the past two Saturday nights in Växjö and Göteborg, respectively.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1keVBfBrVI4

I urge you to watch this video ASAP because this video will probably be yanked-off YouTube very soon by SVT for copyright reasons, but it's the only one I've seen that shows how truly horrendous the act was.

Oops! Too late. 

They already hit it and removed it since I saw it a few hours ago.

Since that's the case, watch their performance here on SVT Play's website, which will have the entire show online for viewing until MIDNIGHT Tuesday morning Stockholm/Central European Time (CET), which is one hour ahead of GMT and six hours ahead of yours truly in Miami, in U.S.  Eastern.
So the deadline for seeing this is 6 p.m. Eastern.

Get moving, because the clock is ticking!

Björn Ranelid feat. Sara Li appearance starts at 0:45:58 on the vid, ends at 0:50:05.

http://svtplay.se/t/102943/melodifestivalen

I watched the show in its entirety on Sunday afternoon, taking notes.

So, did I mention that people were angry?!!!!

Apparently, more than I thought, there were thousands of people watching TV in Sweden on Saturday night who thought they'd say a big f-ck you to the Swedish music industry, and do it by spending what amounts to about two bucks to text this "car crash" -the favorite metaphor being used among Swedish bloggers to describe this performance the first 36 hours afterward- and send them directly to the Finals in Stockholm on March 10th, at Globen.

Hmm-m... imagine if a participating country's national Eurovision song selection competition was hijacked by the country's usually-friendly folket in order to send the worst possible act to Baku, Azerbijan for the actual European competition...

Hmm-m... now that's a question so preposterous and diabolical that even Stieg Larsson never thought of it while toiling away in Gamla Stan thinking of things for Lisbeth Salander to get upset about!

Yes, it's sort like what the Florida Marlins did in November in announcing their new Miami Marlins logo and uniforms for their new stadium in Little Havana... which was, itself, a rainbow-colored WTF moment as far as most fans were concerned!
Yet typically, the condescending Marlins owners and management act like this finished product is what they always wanted, and don't much care what fans really think.
They're so in love with the idea of being "bold," of marketing themselves in Latin America in pastel colors, that they've lost sight of what the real fans who actually attend their games think.

For those of you reading this outside of South Florida, I honestly DON'T see anyone wearing this stuff around the area, that is, except for the sort of person at the shopping mall who does so clearly to bring attention to themselves.
Like the sort of woman who purchases a new expensive purse or accessory and takes it with them to Sunday brunch and tried to appear blase about it, even while craning her neck to see who notices it.

Miami Marlins New Logo and Uniform

http://youtu.be/mC-zle_rk4g

Here's what some of the Usual Suspects, music-wise, have been saying so far.

Over at Scandipop, 

...it certainly got people talking, as well as voting – “Björn Ranelid” and then “Ranelid” both became wordwide trending topics on twitter last night after his performance.

At the ESC Xtra, which LIVE blogged the show, when it was finally announced that Ranelid & Li  had qualified to go directly to the Finals in Stockholm, along with Molly, they wrote simply,

I am lost for words Sweden. See ya next week…

At the more action-oriented Schlagerblog, which was not so crazy about Molly's song, either, they wrote

The big surprise for the Schlagerboys was how excited we got about Björn Ranelid feat. Sara Li. Who'd have thought a bonkers orange bloke wandering around the stage rambling on in Swedish while his granddaughter prances around for the chorus in a glittery frock would be so fab! The best bit was near the end where the key change should have been, when he clearly forgot his microphone was live and started mumbling the words to the chorus. Love it!

I'll have my updates on Molly Sandén and Timoteij and what else is going on in the competition later in the week before Saturday's competition from Malmö.

-----

http://svt.se/melodifestivalen/


http://www.visitsweden.com/

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

http://svtplay.se/v/2640264/luciafirande_i_svt/lucia

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)

http://youtu.be/MaYMN4Mlcfs

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.

http://svtplay.se/v/1636831/senaste_prognos

Tack, Helen!

http://www.smhi.se/

http://www.smhi.se/en/Weather

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

http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article14062787.ab

http://www.aftonbladet.se/vader/article14069059.ab

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

http://www.thelocal.se/23786/20091211

-----

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...

TV4 News, Gavle, December 12, 2011.

http://www.tv4play.se/nyheter_och_debatt/nyheterna_gavle?title=restriktioner_mot_att_fotografera_luciatagen&videoid=2117437&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=permalink&utm_campaign=tv4play.se

-----

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

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

http://youtu.be/K-Dl83hLZG4

Jill Johnson's official YouTube Channel is at:

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

http://www.tv4play.se/

http://www.thelocal.se/

http://www.communityofsweden.com/

Sunday's LIVE telecast of the National Memorial in Oslo can be seen at NRK at 9 a.m. Eastern U.S./Canada - Minnesceremoni från Norge

SVT Rapport video: Överlevande åter på Utöya. August 19, 2011.

SVT's Thursday night news segment on the survivors returning to Utøya for the first time since the armed attack one month ago, along with dozens of family members of the survivors and deceased and an army of psychologists.

http://svtplay.se/v/2507829/rapport/overlevande_ater_pa_utoya

SVT Rapport video: Sorgen fortfarande starkt närvarande i Oslo. August 19, 2011.

SVT news segment from Thursday night on the strong grief still being felt a month later in the Norwegian capital.

http://svtplay.se/v/2507901/rapport/sorgen_fortfarande_starkt_narvarande_i_oslo

Both videos available at SVT Play website until August 19, 2012.

--------------------------

Sunday's LIVE telecast of the National Memorial in Oslo regarding the attacks in Oslo and Utøya on July 22 can be seen via computer at NRK at 9 a.m. Eastern U.S./Canada.

http://www.nrk.no/video/direkte_minneseremoni_21_august/3D147755BB517E07/

According to the latest information on SVT's website, the following individuals are scheduled to participate:

Music: Kringkastingorkestern, Susanne Sundfør, Leif Ove Andsnes, Karpe Diem, Dumdum Boys, Sivert Høyem, Jarle Bernhoft, Bjørn Eidsvåg, Ingrid Olave, Sissel Kyrkjebø and A-ha.

Readings will be led by actors Aksel Hennie, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Ane Dahl Torp, Adil Khan, Ingrid Bolso Berdal, Sofie Gråbøl and Maria Bonnevie.

The ceremony will be hosted by (reporter/singer) Haddy N'jie.

I've refrained up 'till now from writing about what transpired a month ago in Oslo and Utøya on July 22nd for reasons that are not entirely worth getting into right now. Perhaps in the not-so-distant future.

There were some things, though, that I wanted to share now that I think reflect my frame of mind and what I will eventually post here, and will give you some small guidance if you watch Sunday's national memorial service.

First and foremost, as it always does, timing and opportunity rules everything.

I was reading/watching the LIVE reports of the armed attacks in Norway by Anders Behring Breivik -via Stockholm and Oslo- within mere minutes of it happening, even BEFORE it was being reported in the U.S. media, because of the fact that that particular morning -my time- I was already looking at Swedish news websites like Aftenposten, SVT, TV4, Svenska Dagbladet, Expressen, et al.

I'd also written some recent posts about Norway, so still had the NRK website handy as well on my Bookmark list.

SVT video: NRK:s Peter Svaar direktrapporterar från Oslo. July 22, 2011.

http://svtplay.se/v/2486151/rapport/nrk_s_peter_svaar_direktrapporterar_fran_oslo?sb,k103266,9,f,161015

Above, one of the first on-scene reports of the explosion downtown by NRK's Peter Svaar.

Norska TV2 berättar från Utöya. July 22, 2011.

http://svtplay.se/v/2486325/rapport/norska_tv2_berattar_fran_utoya

Above, one of the first reports from Norway's TV2 on what happened in Utøya, with lots of helicopter shots outlining the island.

I watched the foreign and domestic coverage for a few hours almost continually for days, constantly amazed at the VERY poor and incorrect reporting being done in the U.S. media on this rapidly-evolving story.

In CNN's case, that is, the U.S. version of CNN, that included reporting low casualty figures hours and hours after it common knowledge among the media on the scene that the grim numbers were FAR HIGHER, an upsetting point that I made in some quick emails to some U.S. media friends around the country, some well-known, that I wanted to know the true scope of the attacks, not the old info being foolishly repeated over-and-over on CNN.

One of the emails I sent was this news about an important Tweet warning being sent around the area as people were warned to turn off their cell phone rings.

My subject header was: FYI: Ominous Twitter warnings went out re Utøya: ”Ring inte ön"

"RING INTE FOLK PÅ UTØYA. De gömmer sig för gärningsmannen. Kopiera statusen! (Ambulansen kommer inte fram ertersom det fortfarande är skottlossning)."

which roughly means:

Do not call the island on your mobile as fake cop re-loading gun in search of people to shoot, is listening for rings from phones. Ambulances won't arrive if shooting is happening.

from Ungdomarnas larm från ön på twitter: Hjälp oss, Nyheter, Aftonbladet

http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article13364079.ab

I also watched the LIVE telecast on SVT Play via NRK the following day of the Memorial service at the Oslo Cathedral that drew so many notable figures, as well as the families whose loved ones had perished.

Above, right-to-left: King Harald, Queen Sonja, Princess Märtha Louise and her husband, author Ari Behn.

That started at 5 a.m. Miami and was very tough to watch as you'd see people just start crying, tearing-up or sobbing out-of-the-blue.

Especially after the poignant lighting of the candles!

The emotion of the occasion gets to the King and Queen, too.

Above and below are just some of the screen shots of the dozens I took of that church service which I have been holding onto, knowing that it would be impractical to simply post them all, knowing that 99% of you would not have enough context to appreciate what was taking place just from the photos.

While it might not always seem that way to some of you, especially those of you who are in South Florida, I try my best not to be too preachy here on the blog, and I knew that it would be hard to drop ALL those photos on you all, out-of-the-blue, then as now, without seeming either patronizing or...???

Because if you have to explain everything...

So I've held onto them.

But I thought I'd share a few now...

The Royal Family represents.

Above and below, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg addresses those assembled in the cathedral and across the nation.

http://youtu.be/8oPbd9UvZuY

Above, Prime Minister Stoltenberg singing along.

All screen shots on this page by South Beach Hoosier.

Only in Sweden, my friends! Drag act 'After Dark,' Timoteij, et al perform on dynamic kids show 'Den Flygande Mattan'; Nothing like it in U.S.!

Christer Lindarw (After Dark) - La Dolce Vita/Mamma Mia from SVT Barnkanalen's "Den Flygande Mattan" March 2011. (With lyrics)http://youtu.be/boVS7_XETBA
Only in Sweden, my friends, only in Sweden!


Ever-vigilant Darin over at popular music blog Scandipop got it right a few months ago regarding fashion designer Christer Lindarw's alter ego musical drag act, 'After Dark' performing on SVT's Children Channel's dynamic show, 'Den Flygande Mattan' -The Flying Carpet, just a few weeks after the talented women of Timotiej performed there, too.


Don’t mind doing it for the kids…
by scandipop on February 14, 2011
http://www.scandipop.co.uk/?p=4862


I was laughing, smiling and crying at the same time at the image of the whole thing, above, whether the young boys in suits and fedoras dancing like they were a Vegas act during La Dolce Vita, http://svt.se/content/1/c8/02/35/27/57/dfm_after_dark.jpg
or the eager little girls doing their best Agnetha and Anni-Frid impression during Dancing Queen, when Christer was walking into the audience and they sang along without any coaxing.
It was fabulous!


FYI: The dancers are students at BASE23 Stockholm Dance Academy


I actually started a blog post about SVT's wry, whimsical and pop music-heavy kids show 'Den Flygande Mattan' back in January after I came across a particularly cute clip while looking for something else from the SVT Play website.

Here's the show's animated intro:


http://youtu.be/HAzAMpUvjOY
(The name of the show's band -with a cute female drummer no less- is The Flying Carpets.)


I added a little here and there as various artists I know and have followed performed their songs on this popular show, which is hosted by the talented and vivacious Sara Edwardsson.


She is a DYNAMO and has the perfect personality for the show, upbeat like a favorite aunt who knows lots of interesting things she wants to share and impart and never talks down to you just because you are a kid.
Not that I had an aunt like that, but I sure wanted one.


(Slight digression: When I was in high school, a popular and otherwise smart girl I knew somehow, on her own, mistakenly got it into her head that actress Jaclyn Smith was my aunt, since my mother and I were both born in Texas, my mother's hair looked very similar and we had the same last name. Really.
I let that confusion play itself out over a few weeks, but it was a nice thought and certainly a 'fact' that I could've happily lived with!)


Then, in early March, Timoteij performed some songs and I took some notes about that:
http://www.timoteij.se/2011/02/03/den-flygande-mattan-2/
http://svt.se/content/1/c8/02/35/27/57/dfm_timotej.jpg

Timoteij - Kom - from SVT Barnkanalen's "Den Flygande Mattan" February 2011. (With lyrics). http://youtu.be/zj4B2BEvRks



Then, almost as if on cue, everything about that post I'd spent time on disappeared when the power in the neighborhood suddenly went out.

Oh, and that fail-safe automatic Save function on Blogger that's supposed to automatically keep my stuff here from disappearing entirely into the ether by accident or screw-up, well, not so much. It did save the title, but, of course, that was the least important part of the effort.


A few weeks later, I noticed that Darin at Scandipop had written on March 14th about Christer Lindarw performing his drag act on the show -after I'd already seen it for myself via the SVT Play website.

After Dark, but pre-watershed!
by scandipop on March 14, 2011http://www.scandipop.co.uk/?p=5227


I decided that I'd needed to re-write my original post as best I could remember, so that those of you who have never seen it, 100% of you, can get some sense about how truly cute and amusing it is. But I'd already forgotten a lot so...


The 'one-of-these-days' post about why South Florida currently seems to have about ZERO original LIVE English-language programming for children in what is supposed to be such a "creative community" -go ahead, just ask them over at LIV on South Beach and they'll tell you how clever they are!- will have to wait for another time.

Until then, I will just throw out a small south Florida shout-out into the blogosphere for:

a.) Chuck Zink and The Skipper Chuck Show on the old Channel 4 when it was WTVJ, which I was at a few times as an audience member when that was a very tough ticket to score;

b.) Banjo Billy's Fun Boat on Channel 10, WLBW, not WPLG-TV, in the late '60's, where the hook was amiable host Dave Herbert playing Dixieland music, not exactly that hip then -or now- but definitely outside-the-box thinking.

c.) Sunday Funnies, the Sunday morning staple of the then-WCKT, wherein actual Channel 7 news reporter Wayne Chandler -when it was an NBC-affilate during the Dolphins' heyday- read the Herald's Sunday comics along with a robot named Toby, that for all the world looked to be in a very large plastic garbage can.
http://www.theparklander.com/previous/july04/Toby.htmYes, what a potpourri: New Orleans Dixieland music, a dark blue Captain's cap and the Sunday comics and a robot when Charles Schultz's Peanuts was still the most popular newspaper comic strip in the country.
And now on local TV we have... what?
ZERO!

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Speaking of children's television, tell me where the local equivalent in South Florida was this past week for this story I found on SVT's Lilla Aktuellt, about a Swedish girl named Anna that was born on September 11th, 2001, about what it's like to have your birthday be a day that most people think of in such a negative way, or what she thinks about what happened to Osama bin Laden?
http://svt.se/2.62895/hem


In the South Florida media market of today, kids under 13 get on TV because they are cute or fat or stupid or are shot dead in drive-bys or graduate from high school when they are 11 or have rich parents who book a big-name music act for their bar mitzvah or call 911 when their mother falls asleep in a drug-fueled haze and their baby sister has wandered out of the apt. or fallen into the pool or...
But mostly, when they are on TV, they are shown in a store buying something.
It's so predictable!


But where's the Miami TV stations' attempt to serve that particular demographic?



SVT's Lilla Aktuellt video: Anna föddes samma dag som terrordåden
(Anna was born on the same day as the 9/11 attacks)
Video available for watching on website until May 3, 2012.
http://svtplay.se/v/2415038/anna_foddes_samma_dag_som_terrordaden


Lilla Aktuellt homepage/hemsida: http://svt.se/2.62895/hem


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See also:
http://swedishstereo.blogspot.com/