Monthly Music ListeningApril 2012Lenna Kuurmaa - Lenna Delta - Delta Bond - Play March 2012Lenna Kuurmaa - Lenna Molly Sanden - Samma Himmel Bond - Play Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War February 2012Lenna Kuurmaa - Lenna Molly Sanden - Samma Himmel Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War January 2012Molly Sanden - Samma Himmel Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War December 2011Molly Sanden - Samma Himmel Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Molly Sanden's album was definitely album of the year - a major surprise. I've been listening to it non-stop with it still album of choice in bedroom CD player and on MP3 player. It's perfect Swedish melodies will classically clean Swedish voice. She's such a talent. For the remainder of the time, it was VN's Love Is War - still intrigued by it after 5 years. Lead singer Lenna had her album, while Sweden provided much of the rest with Agnes, Timoteij and Sonja. November 2011Molly Sanden - Samma Himmel Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War October 2011Molly Sanden - Samma Himmel Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Molly's album is just so good! It's in my bedroom player, and played at every chance possible. It's the role that VN's LIW once had. Since I finally upgraded to a reasonably recent car in June (complete with CD player), LIW gets all its listening there. In fact, I've played no other CD in the car yet. Not that I drive that often. Usually just once a week, over the weekend. September 2011Lenna Kuurmaa - Lenna Molly Sanden - Samma Himmel Vanilla Ninja - Blue Tattoo Vanilla Ninja - Traces Of Sadness Timoteij - Langtan I was overseas for 5 weeks that included all of September and late August. Molly's album became a major listen in the latter half of the trip. It was such appropriate music for bus and train rides. Listening to Lenna's album was primarily through the first half, most poignant of which was the bus trip out of Estonia to Riga. On the road-trip in Estonia, naturally Vanilla Ninja was the choice. That was via CD as expected the requirement for a rental car rather than being able to connect the MP3 player. Naturally I was prepared. I also took Sonja's two CDs and they were heard as well. It was a long day driving, clocking over 700km. August 2011Lenna Kuurmaa - Lenna Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Eurovision - Dusseldorf 2010 Vanilla Ninja - Blue Tattoo July 2011Eurovision - Dusseldorf 2010 Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Lena - Good News June 2011Eurovision - Dusseldorf 2010 Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Eurovision - Dusseldorf 2010 BD Eurovision - Dusseldorf 2010 DVD May 2011Eurovision - Dusseldorf 2010 Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War April 2011Molly Sanden - Samma Himmel Eurovision - Dusseldorf 2010 Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War March 2011Timoteij - Langtan Agnes - Dance Love Pop Lenna Kuurmaa - Lenna February 2011Timoteij - Langtan Agnes - Dance Love Pop Lenna Kuurmaa - Lenna January 2011Agnes - Dance Love Pop Lenna Kuurmaa - Lenna Timoteij - Langtan December 2010Timoteij - Langtan Lenna Kuurmaa - Lenna Live in Tallinn - Vanilla Ninja DVD November 2010Jenny Be7gg7en - My St0ry Timoteij - Langtan Lenna Kuurmaa - Lenna October 2010A.0.B. - The G0!den Rati0 Jenny Be7gg7en - My St0ry Lenna Kuurmaa - Lenna September 2010Lenna Kuurmaa - Lenna A.0.B. - The G0!den Rati0 August 2010Lenna Kuurmaa - Lenna Lena - My Cassette Player July 2010Lenna Kuurmaa - Lenna Eurovision - Oslo 2010 Lena - My Cassette Player Eurovision - Oslo 2010 DVD Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War June 2010Eurovision - Oslo 2010 Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Lena - My Cassette Player May 2010Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Eurovision - Oslo 2010 April 2010Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster March 2010Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Eurovision - Kiev 2005 DVD While the music listening seems quiet, it wasn't. With Eurovision (ESC) on the horizon, all countries have released their candidates and considerable time has been taken in listening to those, especially with the ability of the PS3 to act as such a great multimedia device. I've been able to show my family and friends. It beats sitting around like dorks in front of a computer screen. February 2010Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War January 2010Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Brooke White - High Hopes & Heartbreak Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster Year in Review - Best Albums 2009Music is dead! The only mainstream worldwide artists that gained my interest were Lady Gaga and David Cook. Both had short shelf-lives, with preferences returning to known artists from Estonia and Sweden, and newer interests from other parts of Europe. * David Cook - David CookAn honourable mention. The best American Idol ever. I liked his album on the few listens I did have. Not enough to really rate it. Other music supplanted it and became a priority of the time. * September - Dancing Shoes Ditto as with David Cook. Barely listened at all. Mostly aware of the singles. Hope to really get into it. 6 Tokio Hotel - ScreamI've been late to them. For a rock band, which normallyl I despise, this album travels nicely. Not sure I like it enough to bother with their other releases. 5 Lady Gaga - The Fame MonsterGaga had the Fame most of the year. Adding 8 songs of the Monster obviously makes it better, especially the excellent Bad Romance and Alejandro. I couldn't be fussed with her outfits and shenanigans. I'm more interested in her songs and sounds. There's no denying she delivers. She also has talent to burn. She is the one artist that could really define a new pop genre that we've never heard before. I'm thinking of big, bold, dramatic classical sounds. 4 Eurovision - Moscow 2009One of the beset ESC years ever. Maybe only 2002 I would rank as high. Favourites remain as Albania, Switzerland and Ireland. Only just ejected the 2 discs from 3-disc CD player on the lounge. 3 Brooke White - High Hopes & HeartbreakPreviously on American Idol, always loved her "Carly Simon" voice from the start. She writes much of her stuff as well, for those that need such image approval in their music choices, otherwise will purchase the CD, only to hide it in the closet and pretend hating the artist. Some of the songs show her amateur origins and sort of just uninspiringly trundle along. Mostly these are through the middle stages. Equally, some are outstanding. All of which making quite a pleasant journey. Mostly, it's about hearing Brooke's voice. Even if it tends to becoming a little samey, she doesn't disappoint. Next album, she needs to expand. 2 Triinu - Now And ForeverFormer member of Vanilla Ninja, and with a haunting, smoky voice that I've always loved. The fear was this would be quite bad, basically 100% album filler, due to Triinu being such a low-key artist. With VN, she was in and out, barely lasting a year. Thankfully she managed to hook-up with the right people and got some really nice songs. Most importantly, she sounds so good. Well done. 1 Sonja Alden - Under Mitt TakSecond album from this prominent singer and songwriter from Sweden. Amazingly, even better than her first. Her pronunciation of the language is just exquisite. December 2009Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster Brooke White - High Hopes & Heartbreak Eurovision - Moscow 2009 November 2009Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War October 2009Eurovision - Moscow 2009 Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Brooke White - High Hopes & Heartbreak Melodifestivalen - 2009 DVD September 2009Eurovision - Moscow 2009 Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War August 2009Eurovision - Moscow 2009 Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War July 2009Eurovision - Moscow 2009 Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Eurovision - Moscow 2008 DVD Triinu - Now And Forever June 2009Eurovision - Moscow 2009 Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Tokio Hotel - Scream Eurovision - Moscow 2008 (telecast & recording) May 2009Eurovision - Moscow 2009 Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Tokio Hotel - Scream Eurovision - Moscow 2008 (telecast & recording) A great year for Eurovision. Norway seemed the obvious winner right it's first appearance in Norway's national selection. During ESC itself, it didn't quite have the impact. Favourite proved to be Ireland. Great, fast, pumping pop-rock. Very "Vanilla Ninja" in many respects. Other favourites were Albania, Estonia, Switzerland, Azerbaijan and Israel. April 2009Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Melodifestivalen - 2009 DVD Tokio Hotel - Scream Shirley Clamp - För Den Som Älskar En Samling Lady Gaga - The Fame Shirley Clamp - Den Längsamma Blomman March 2009Lady Gaga - The Fame Sonja Alden - Under Mitt Tak February 2009Lady Gaga - The Fame Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Sonja Alden - Under Mitt Tak January 2009Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Sonja Alden - Under Mitt Tak Triinu - Now And Forever Eurovision - Serbia 2008 DVD December 2008Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War November 2008Sonja Alden - Under Mitt Tak Mari-Leen - Rahutu Tuhkatriinu October 2008Triinu - Now And Forever Sonja Alden - Under Mitt Tak Mari-Leen - Rahutu Tuhkatriinu Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Castlevania - Original Soundtrack Sonja Alden is a Swedish singer/songwriter, mostly known for her songwriting in the past. She made a breakthrough at Melodifestivalen in 2008, reaching the final with För Att Du Finns, sung beautifully and purposefully. Her debut album Till Dig that was released at the time of MF08 was really strong. This latest one is even better. You just think of all the countries in the world that would be hiding such great gems that we will never know about. Most of the music these days I like comes from overseas artists. September 2008Triinu - Now And Forever Mari-Leen - Rahutu Tuhkatriinu Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Triinu is a former member of Vanilla Ninja and it was great that she finally produced a solo album. Her voice has a husky, yet soft, tone to it. Really unique. She's chosen a good range of songs, with one or two in the vein of VN, the requisite ballad and some middle of the road 80s style softer rock. It doesn't quite compare to a VN album. Then, what does? There's nothing really striking or that stands out on it. Equally, there's nothing lame. It travels along really nicely with few speed humps. I'd have preferred to hear more of edge to Triinu's voice as we heard in her VN days. As a bonus, we get to hear her accent so much more, which sounds really sexy. Overall she sounds great. It's so nice to hear her voice again. It's like catching up with an old friend. A welcome, and decent, effort. August 2008Mari-Leen - Rahutu Tuhkatriinu Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Metroid Prime/Fusion - Soundtrack Eurovision - Kiev 2005 DVD July 2008Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Sonja Alden - Till Dig Winning Eleven - Soundtrack Madonna - Hard Candy Back home in early July and back to Love Is War in my home CD player. Stil, the other VN CDs got a good run. It wasn't until the final night in Japan that I listened to VNVN. Thankfully I did, because the plan to listen to it on the plane home vanished when I was upgraded to business class and spent most of the time enjoying that, including the chance to hear Madonna's Hard Candy. As with Kylie Minogue's X, it sucked! The two soundtracks were part of several videogame soundtracks bought in Japan. Others included Metroid Prime/Fusion, Zelda Ocarina and Mario & Zelda Big Band Live. Japan is bonkers for videogame soundtracks. I'm disappointed I didn't see any Castlevania or Starfox. June 2008Vanilla Ninja - Blue Tattoo Kylie Minogue - X I was away overseas during most of month - primarily to Estonia to see Vanilla Ninja on tour - hence so much music listening! Kylie's album was heard on the plane over. It sucked. Despite my great love already of VN, I found even more discoveries on the older albums - albums with which I thought I already experienced a complete journey. Love Is War is such a great album that I've been listening non-stop for 2 years. On Blue Tattoo, I rediscovered the delectable Nero, which sort of became my theme song for the trip. It's such a beautiful song, with a journey of delightful arrangements, and Lenna's voice is so exquisite. I could imagine a performance of great mystique and captivation that could be done for something like ESC. May 2008Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War American Idol 2008 - Various downloaded (mostly Brooke & David C) Eurovision - Serbia 2008 Eurovision - Serbia 2008 (telecast & recording) Not a great year for ESC. Struggled to find a clear favourite, and Russia's winner was cack! May as well dispense with the voting if all that it accomplishes is the most predictable finale ever. Still, ESC is not about the contest, it's about the festival and the extravaganza. Norway was always one of my favourites, from when I first heard it after the Norwegian trials, from the CD, and proved excellent in the telecast. Ukraine put on a great performance with a song that barely caught my attention on the CD. These would be my top 2. April 2008Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Sonja Alden - Till Dig Belinda Carlisle - Voila Sanna Neilsen - 11-22 Delta Goodrem - Delta March 2008Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Sonja Alden - Till Dig Shirley Clamp - Tålomod Eurovision - Helsinki 2008 DVD February 2008Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Sonja Alden - Till Dig Shirley Clamp - Tålomod Delta Goodrem - Delta January 2008Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Vanilla Ninja - Vanilla Ninja Sonja Alden - Till Dig TATU - Dangerous and Moving December 2007Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Delta Goodrem - Delta TATU - Dangerous and Moving Spice Girls - Greatest Hits DVD November 2007Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Vanilla Ninja - Vanilla Ninja Delta Goodrem - Delta TATU - Dangerous and Moving October 2007Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War TATU - Dangerous and Moving September 2007Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Eurovision - Helsinki 2007 Eurovision - Helsinki 2007 DVD August 2007Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Eurovision - Helsinki 2007 Eurovision - Istanbul 2004 DVD July 2007Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Eurovision - Helsinki 2007 June 2007Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Eurovision - Helsinki 2007 Eurovision - Helsinki 2007 (recorded telecast) Eurovision - Helsinki 2007 DVD May 2007Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Eurovision - Helsinki 2007 Eurovision - Helsinki 2007 (recorded telecast) Helena Paparizou - The Game of Love Vanilla Ninja - Live In Estonia DVD Vanilla Ninja - Vanilla Ninja April 2007Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Helen Paparizou - The Game of Love Vanilla Ninja - Live In Estonia DVD ABBA - Definitive Collection DVD March 2007Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Vanilla Ninja - Vanilla Ninja Vanilla Ninja - Live In Estonia DVD Vanilla Ninja - Best Of DVD Helena Paparizou - The Game of Love Katherine McPhee - Somewhere Over The Rainbow/My Destiny (s) Melodifestivalen - 50th Anniversary Favourites DVD Melodifestivalen - 2004 DVD February 2007Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Vanilla Ninja - Vanilla Ninja Vanilly Nina - Live In Estonia DVD Eurovision - Kiev 2005 DVD Melodifestivalen - 2005 DVD January 2007Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Vanilla Ninja - Vanilla Ninja Helena Paparizou - The Game of Love Belinda Carlisle - Belinda December 2006Vanilla Ninja - Vanilla Ninja Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War November 2006Vanilla Ninja - Vanilla Ninja Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Belinda Carlisle - Belinda Belinda Carlisle - Runaway Live (DVD) October 2006Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Belinda Carlisle - Heaven On Earth Kate Ryan - Different Vanilla Ninja - Live In Estonia DVD Eurovision - Kiev 2005 DVD September 2006Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Vanilla Ninja - Best Of Maarja - Could You (s) Vanilla Ninja - Live In Estonia DVD August 2006Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Vanilla Ninja - Traces Of Sadness S-Club 7 - The Greatest Hits Eurovision - Athens 2006 July 2006Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Shirley Clamp - Favoriter På Svenska Melodifestivalen - 2006 DVD Melodifestivalen - 2005 DVD June 2006Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Eurovision - Athens 2006 (telecast & recording) May 2006Vanilla Ninja - Love Is War Vanilla Ninja - Traces Of Sadness Trombo Combo - Swedish Sound Deluxe Vanilla Ninja - Best Of Melodifestivalen - 2004 (DVD) April 2006Vanilla Ninja - Traces Of Sadness Vanilla Ninja - Best Of Trombo Combo - Swedish Sound Deluxe Vanilla Ninja - Silent Emotions Melodisfetivalen - 2006 (DVD) March 2006Vanilla Ninja - Best Of Vanilla Ninja - Silent Emotions Lena Philipsson - Jag Ångrar Ingenting Trombo Combo - The Sign (mp3) Vanilla Ninja - Live In Estonia (DVD) February 2006Vanilla Ninja - Best Of Madonna - Confessions On A Dancefloor Vanilla Ninja - Best Of (DVD) January 2006Vanilla Ninja - Traces Of Sadness Madonna - Confessions On A Dancefloor Melodifestivalen - 2005 (DVD) December 2005Madonna - Confessions On A Dancefloor Shirley Clamp - Lever Mina Drömmar Ace Of Base - The Bridge Lena Philipsson - Det Gör Ont En Stund Pä Natten Men Inget Pä Dan Mariah Carey - Fantasy: Live At Madison Square Garden (DVD) Sugababes - Push The Button (s) November 2005Madonna - Confessions On A Dancefloor Shirley Clamp - Den Längsamma Blomman Bond - Classified Ace Of Base - Cruel Summer October 2005Mariah Carey - Music Box Shirley Clamp - Den Längsamma Blomman Bond - Classified Bond - Shine September 2005Vanilla Ninja - Blue Tatoo Remixes Vanilla Ninja - Blue Tatoo Mariah Carey - Music Box The Corrs - Best Of The Corrs - The Videos August 2005Vanilla Ninja - Traces Of Sadness Shirley Clamp - Lever Mina Drömmar Shirley Clamp - Den Längsamma Blomman Melodifestivalen - 2004 (DVD) Eurovision - Kiev 2005 (DVD) July 2005Jessica Folcker - På Svenska Shirley Clamp - Den Längsamma Blomman Shirley Clamp - Lever Mina Drömmar Vanilla Ninja - Live In Estonia (DVD) Lena Philipsson - Fantasy Vanilla Ninja - Cool Vibes (s) June 2005Shirley Clamp - Lever Mina Drömmar Eurovision - Kiev 2005 Eurovision - Kiev 2005 (DVD) May 2005Shirley Clamp - Lever Mina Drömmar Eurovision - Istanbul 2004 Ace Of Base - The Bridge (demo version) April 2005Natasha Thomas - Save Your Kisses Robyn - Robyn Is Here Eurovision - Istanbul 2004 March 2005Delta Goodrem - Mistake Identity Ace Of Base - Singles Of The 90s Febraury 2005Lena Philipsson - Collection (cc) Delta Goodrem - Mistake Identity Janurary 2005Ace Of Base - Happy Nation (Original) Lena Philipsson - 100% Lena December 2004Delta Goodrem - Mistaken Identity Lena Philipsson - 100% Lena Kylie Minogue - Ultimate Kylie (DVD) November 2004Delta Goodrem - Mistaken Identity Lena Philipsson - Collection CD 1984 - 2001 Ace Of Base - Da Capo October 2004Lena Philipsson - 100% Lena Bond - Classified Delta Goodrem - Out Of The Blue (s) September 2004Ace Of Base - The Bridge Ace Of Base - Flowers Ace Of Base - Various songs (d) August 2004Bond - Classified Ace Of Base - Da Capo Ace Of Base - Flowers+ No Doubt - The Singles July 2004Ace Of Base - Flowers+ Ace Of Base - The Bridge Eurovision - Istanbul 2004 (DVD) June 2004Eurovision - Istanbul 2004 Eurovision - Riga 2003 May 2004TATU - 200 KMH In The Wrong Lane Bond - Classified April 2004TATU - 200 KMH In The Wrong Lane ABBA - Definitive Collection Kylie Minogue - Greatest Remix Hits 4 Jamelia - Superstar (s) March 2004Ace Of Base - Da Capo Ace Of Base - Flowers+ Kylie Minogue - Red Blooded Woman (s) February 2004Ace Of Base - Da Capo Ace Of Base - Flowers+ January 2004Best of Eurovision 2002 + 2003 & Winner of 1997 (cc) Kylie Minogue - Kylie Amiel - Obsession (I Love You) (s) December 2003Ace Of Base - The Bridge (Jap version) Dead Or Alive - Evolution (DVD) Delta Goodrem - Innocent Eyes (s) November 2003Ace Of Base - Da Capo Ace Of Base - The Bridge (Jap version) What is it with Da Capo? I've suddenly reacquired an ultra craving for it and couldn't let go. Favourites are still Ordinary Day, Remember The Words, Beautiful Morning, Unspeakable and Hey Darling. Low points are still WhatTNOTGame (mainly for the lame chorus section of "be my own redeemer" - terrible both musically and lyrically) and Jonas' heinous input (some call that singing) in Da Capo itself. Have to admit that some songs did get a bit stale after 9 months or so of total devotion but are now really refreshing after the break. I really appreciate even more Jenny's singing of Wonderful Life. She's come so far since the last album. October 2003Ace Of Base - The Bridge (Jap version) Delta Goodrem - Delta (DVD) Ace Of Base - Flowers+ Who's Delta Goodrem, some may ask. Only Australia's new queen of music. At just 18, her debut album's gone multi-platinum, 10 times and counting, as I write. She's a cross between Celine Dion and an early Mariah, and her piano skills are featured on most tracks. But what's most endearing about her is her strikingly soft and delicate voice. "Not Me, Not I" especially harnesses her magic, and was the impetus for buying her album. It became her fourth successive number one off the album. Two of her first three number ones were ballads: "Born To Try" of the power variety with some screaming vocals late on, whilst "Lost Without You" was more tepid. That latter was far more appealing, and so too her second single, that of title track "Innocent Eyes". But the true telltale sign of why this album is doing so well commercially is the other tracks. Only "Throw It Away" do I dislike, whilst "Predictable" and "Butterfly" are true marvels amongst a batch of genuine quality songs and beautiful vocals. September 2003Ace Of Base - The Bridge (Jap version) Ace Of Base - Flowers + August 2003Ace Of Base - Da Capo Amiel - Obsession (I love you) (s) July 20030304 - Jewel Eurovision Song Contest - Estonia 2002 Well, it's taken a full 8 months, but finally Da Capo's dropped from most-listened for a month. It got heaps of listening mind you, it's that the novelty of the others were too much of challenge to shake. Jewel's latest really is excellent. Only in the latter stages does it have any semblance of the folk/rock crap that she mired herself in. It's not like the single Intuition either. It's between that and her old stuff. Closest resemblance would be Belinda Carlisle of the 1990s. In fact, Jewel's borrowed her key songwriter - Rick Nowells - on many of the tracks and found a decent producer. Favourite song is easily 2 Become 1 (8), then Doin' Fine (7) and Hey You (5). As for Eurovision, well, so what. I admit it. I love it! Been watching it for 20 years. Anyway, wanted to create a custom CD of favourites, so went crazy listening to EV2002. Actually thought 2003 killed 2002, but as it turns out, 13 2002 tracks made it across, compared with 12 from 2002. While 2003's Iceland is my favourite of the lot - probably of any EV song ever - 2002 has more depth. Also added to the CD was the 1997 winner from the UK, represented by Katrina and the Waves and the song Love Shine A Light. It's been my only favourite during the telecast that has ever won, and I still love it. I could never find the full CD of 1997, but chanced upon the single whilst hunting for AOB ones - amazing! With EV2003, my clear favourites during the telecast were Iceland, followed my Sweden, Portugal and Malta. After listening to the CD heaps, it became Iceland, Portugal, Malta and Sweden. The middle two bombed, finishing 22nd (out of 26) and 25th respectively, but Iceland came equal 8th (with Spain), while Sweden came 5th. But both were way behind the leading trio of Turkey, Belgium and Russia, however. While Turkey's song was OK, they put up a great TV performance. The strong Turkish immigrant population throughout Europe no doubt helped with the televoting. Even Cyprus gave them 8 points, though, that's probably more to do with the Turkish sector actually being allowed to vote from this Greek dominated island. Belgium offered something unique, which appealed to anyone fed up with pop-acts. I did not like it intially, but warmed to it by its end. Russia - with TATU - was always going to do well with their strong following outside the contest. I actually wondered how Belgium even won through their national section by televoting, but, interestingly, found out that the leading three were the only songs that were chosen arbitrarily to represent their countries. In 2002, Switzerland was my favourite, along with Estonia (the hosts), Lithuania and the UK. Estonia finished equal third with the UK, but Switzerland came 22nd and Lithuania 23rd (out of 24). After listening to the CD heaps, Denmark became a huge favourite, but they finished last in the contest! Given the dour perception of most Eurovision songs, does that mean I have taste? Lativa won with a so-so song, but as with Turkey in 2003, put on a great performance with the young lady incorporating a strip in her routine. June 2003Ace Of Base - Da Capo With the arrival of TATU, initial saturation play meant Da Capo was likely to lose for the first time ever. But when Riga 2003 arrived in the final week of June, out went TATU and AOB, but despite the constant listening, time was always against it. That's twice now that arrivals have saved AOB. May 2003Ace Of Base - Da Capo Ace Of Base - Da Capo (DVD) April 2003Ace Of Base - Da Capo Bond - Born It looked likely that Shine would finally knock Da Capo of the most-listened slot, but the arrival of the Japanese version of Da Capo mid-month - which has the bonus tracks Don't Stop and Summer Days - reinvigorated my Da Capo enthusiasm. Still, it was quite close with both albums played constantly throughout the month. Each had at least a dozen full listens and many more partial ones. With that Japanese package also came Bond's Atlanta and Wintersun singles. Bond's Asian version of Born finally arrived too, which had the bonus track Viva plus a bonus AV-CD with remixes and MPEGs. Atlanta, which is a new track from the Shine era, also had one other new song plus remixes of Shine, Speed and Fuego, not to mention a bonus DVD with videos of Shine and Fuego, plus an interview. Got to hand it to the Japs for putting together great packages! But what's Bond's Shine like?Compared to Born, it's more melodic and varied, less dancier, and definitely stronger overall. The first six tracks are awesome, and include my favourites of Shine, Speed and Big Love Adagio, with the latter being ultra favourite. As with Born, it tapers off a bit after the strong start, but is still filled with quality throughout. And that's probably the key. With so much variety, inevitably you won't love everything. Even so, it's a must-buy. I'm astounded that this sort of classical crossover into pop music could be so good. Great news is that the group has a five-album deal, so there's three more to go. And if you do plan to Shine, grab the UK version, because it has the bonus tracks of Bond On Bond and Odyssey. Some versions only have Bond On Bond and some have neither. Make sure you grab Born too! Umm, about Ace Of Base's Da Capo?With this album, Ace Of Base are now my favourite band/music ever. Madonna - you're off! Da Capo is their fourth full album, but has only been released in Europe and Japan. At present, there's no word of it being released elsewhere as the band has become somewhat reclusive and loath to commit to the promotional demands. But if you ever, even remotely, liked their stuff from The Sign era, this album is a smokin' 21st century extension of classic Ace Of Base. Obviously get the Japanese version for the two extra songs, or hope for a local release. There's even a DVD version of the album, which is presented in 5.1 surround sound, and contains almost all their past videos, including that of the first Da Capo single, Beautiful Morning, as a bonus. Unfortunately it's only been released in Germany. Also look out for Singles Of The 90s (or Greatest Hits in the USA, though, S90 is better), which was released between Da Capo and The Bridge albums. Check my "Warrior Wisdom" for a full rundown of Da Capo. Buying UK, Japanese, German, or any overseas album?Check my main page for links to online stores that I've used! March 2003Ace Of Base - Da Capo Holly Valance - Naughty Girl (s) February 2003Ace Of Base - Da Capo Ace Of Base - Da Capo (DVD) January 2003Ace Of Base - Da Capo Ace Of Base - Da Capo (DVD) December 2002Ace Of Base - Da Capo November 2002Various - UKKK F1 (cc) October 2002Various - Eurovision 2002 September 2002Ace Of Base - Beautiful Morning (wmp) August 2002Kylie - Fever Legend+ - origial album customised with b-sides, remixes, etc Vanilla NinjaIf you've read this far, no doubt you might be asking "who is this Vanilla Ninja"? From Estonia, they started as a four member "girl band" before graduating to a four member "real band", and are now a trio. Performed at Eurovision 2005 for Switzerland with "Cool Vibes", finishing eighth. Group highlighted by outstanding vocalist Lenna Kuurmaa, who has the smoothest "rock" voice you could imagine. Not that I'd call it rock. It just has an edge and there's so many shades and tones to her range. Their music could be classified as "retro pop rock" and their success includes much of Europe and Japan. As of October 2008, have released four albums, with Love Is War the most recent (May 2006). Went through a period of dispute with former manager over the rights to use their name outside Estonia. That eventually saw the bizarre situation of the name being sold off, then the new owner putting it up for sale on ebay (for 44,500 USD). Eventually sanity prevailed, and the band managed to re-acquire their own name. In June 2008, they had a successful tour of Estonia as a part of a radio station promotion. I did the insane thing and went over, seeing the last three concerts, lucky enough to meet the band, and enjoyed the country in general as part of a month-long stay in Europe |