confessions of a southside catatonic chataholic

"I have had much to learn from Sweden's poetry and, more especially, from her lyrics of the last generation."
- Knut Hamsun

A bit of a break from my norm. (And then I realise that I don't have a norm. Huh). I lovelovelove to look up international idol/talent audition clips on YouTube. That's probably not such an odd thing I mean, people look up all sorts of stuff on YouTube. Where I may differ slightly is in that I watch them, am constantly blown away by the performances, and then bawl my eyes out. Especially if they're kids/teens. I'm not sure why. I just know that I do it, and I enjoy it. (Both the music, and the crying). Do I speak Swedish, German, Dutch, Bulgarian, etc.? Good grief, no. I can't understand a single word they're saying. But I can read their faces and their body language, and something about European idol/talent competitions is a little less composed than its American counterpart with stonefaced judges. I revel in the judges' ability to let loose and sing along, utter a curse word or two in appreciation, clap in time and, just generally, be greatly encouraging of the contestants. It's a lesson we could all take away from it, I think. In this post I'll stick to past Swedish audition clips of some sort or another. Also? I'm moving to Sweden, dammit.



5. All the men/women are are good looking/hot, half of them carry guitars and the other half sport tattoos. Is this a rule?
Is it like an international thing? Does nobody look ordinary??





4. The accents add a little something extra to the whole fun mystery of not totally understanding anything
Everything sounds so much better with an accent. Antonio Banderas is living proof of this, and so, I believe, is everybody else even slightly remotely *lesigh* (Probably not how this works but shut up, anyway, please).





3. So much talent that makes me think I'm totally not worthy to breathe the same air
Olle Hedberg, Swedish Idol audition. As musical mashups go? This is like WHOA. No diggity by Blackstreet, and Lady by Mojo. Olle Hedberg can sing, ohmygoshness can he sing. I hate making comparisons, especially when it comes to music, but he's like a Swedish Adam Levine. Or a Swedish Robin Thicke. Umm, the judges use a four letter S-word to express their amazement at the end of the clip. I think. I'm not totally sure. It could be a Swedish expression of wonder and awe and I'm totally ignorant. (This wouldn't be the first time I have been so).





2. Sometimes the judges are a little...honest
Truly. Good or bad.





1. The expressions on the judge's faces when people who really can sing, actually sing