Representing Norway: Anneli Drecker – You Don’t Have To Change
I haven’t heard of Anneli before but I hope to be hearing much more of her. This is dance music, but not the cheesy pop kind – Anneli is classy and very cool – think Juliet or Annie’s dancier side. She is known as the queen of the Norwegian electronic music scene and comparisons include “a more feminine Annie Lennox”. She’s been singing since 1987 but this is just her second solo album – she is most known for her work with the trio Bel Canto. This new single is lovely and deserves lots more recognition from people outside of Scandinavia.
Representing Finland: Jori Hulkkonen – Lo Fiction
Finland aren’t exactly the best country for producing quality pop music, but here is a fine example. From the video it’s hard to tell if Jori is channelling Interpol or Eiffel 65, but whichever it is, he’s doing a pretty good job of it. The video is great and the song, although it couldn’t quite be described as catchy or groundbreaking, is really nice to listen to.
Representing Sweden: Darin – Why Does It Rain?
I can never decide if Darin is a buff hotty or not. Sometimes he is but other times he looks like any of the geeky boys from my school maths and science groups. It’s quite confusing! However, he is a pretty good pop star and this is a fairly good pop ballad. It is a bit Blue-esque which isn’t much of a compliment but it’s quite likeable anyway. Not as good as Money For Nothing, though!