Recently I have bought three CDs by young men who made their names on the Swedish Idol series. None of the albums were quite up to the brilliance of their predecessor Darin Zanyar, but the output of male pop artists in Sweden is getting stronger (don’t forget the ace hits this summer by Magnus Carlsson, Ola Svensson, E-Type and Markoolio), which is great and quite a rare pattern at the moment, with female acts usually outshining the boys in pop.
Måns Zelmerlöw – Stand By For…
He only came 5th in Idol 2005, but went on to have one of the biggest no.1 hit singles of 2007 after coming 3rd in Melodifestivalen with Cara Mia, one of my fave songs of this year so far. He’s young too, having just turned 21, and is a great dancer, winner of the Swedish equivalent of Strictly Come Dancing! He was also recently named Sexiest Man in Sweden by a gay magazine, and I quite agree. Sadly nothing on the album is up to Cara Mia’s amazingness, but that is quite a tall order, and there are plenty of good tracks – just a bit less disco-poppy than Cara Mia suggested.
Sebastian Karlsson – The Vintage Virgin
He beat Måns in Idol 2005, coming 2nd, but lost out in Melodifestivalen when his song When The Night Comes Falling placed 8th – still a very good position though for a hugely tough competition, and it was in fact the best song Sebastian had released yet. His sound is more rocky than the other boys, but he’s no Elliot Minor, in fact not even a Busted. Probably more Ronan Keating in fact, but like Ronan he’s got a few good tunes (and is successful, as this is his second album) and since we’re not in Sweden it’s OK to say we like them – just beware that if you say to a Swede that your fave rock singer is Sebastian, they may fall over laughing.
Danny Saucedo – Heart Beats
He placed 6th in Idol 2006, but his dance-pop singles Tokyo and Play It For The Girls (brilliant video!) have been huge hits, Tokyo reaching no.1 for two weeks, and the young Swedish girls adore him for his unusual Polish-Bolivian looks. The album was dancier than I expected, with most tracks being quite able to pass as a generic dance act rather than a post-Idol popper. None of the tracks are quite as brilliant as the singles but the CD is worth the money for the selection of above-average tracks such as Blue and Do Or Die. His sound works as a male equivalent to September and she didn’t fully blossom until her second album, so I hope we’ll see the same from Danny.
You can buy all of these albums on CD Wow for £9.99 each.