Thank you for the Music

My father says: “Where people sing you can settle safely, wicked people have no songs”.

I don’t know if I believe in destiny. But there were some moments in my life that make me think there is such a thing. One of them is how music lead me from a young age slowly but surely to Sweden.

Even though my parents are both classical musicians and hence exposed me heavily to Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven from the cradle, they still offered me on my sixth birthday ABBA Greatest Hits Vol.2 as my first record. This was followed by a Roxette LP as a present from my Spanish uncle and aunt, and CRASH BOOM BANG! – without realising it – I had succumbed already back then to the magic of Swedish music.

When in 1991 Carola won the European Song Contest, I started to think more about the magic and the power of attraction of Swedish music. Emotions swept over me and my mum’s loyal opera heart. There was no escaping, we were caught in this storm wind!

The final straw was when I fell in love with my predecessor from the rock band I was singing in and – SURPRISE SURPISE – also he came from the land of the Vikings. It was a crystal-clear sign, I was forced to give up. That is how Stefan became my personal Waterloo and I completely fell for the charm of this Nordic country and its musical Grandes.

But it was only after arriving in Sweden that I truly understood how fanatic they are about music. It has one word and it’s called Mello (short form for Melodifestivalen). Oh my Thor! Whoever believes that the Eurovision Song Contest is exaggerated and crazy, they have not seen the Swedish preselection! Nowhere else in the world, a music competition demands more lifeblood and prime time as here! And only 1 person gets to utter the holy words ”Sverige, vi har ett resultat!” (“Sweden, we have a result!”).

And then, 2020, came Corona and Mello became a melodrama. The newly crowned winners could no longer give their best on the European stage. A gloomy mood spread across the whole country, and that famous sentence was all of a sudden heard on a daily basis when announcing the fatality numbers.

This year everything is different. And Sweden and its unique strategy is being scrutinized by the whole of Europe.

I hope for all of us that next year we can light the fire of music and magic like we used to do. Where we can celebrate this event, on both the national and European stages, with all its kitsch and glamour as it deserves. Where we all can cherish the musical and cultural diversity and enjoy Beethoven’s Ode to Joy.

Hope springs eternal, or like Carola sang in her winning song: “I’ve never stopped believing, that when the night is gone there’s a new dawn”.

Thank you for the Music!