Albania's Gone All Modern...

Maybe if Juliana finds a tune and shoves in a key-change "Nuk mundem pa ty" might just about be OK. Borrowing Kejsi's dancer's glittery green gimp suit would certainly liven it up anyway.

Have A Schlagertastic Christmas!

It Really Is All About The Music...

Esctoday are reporting that Harel Ska'at might represent Israel in Oslo. He was rumoured to be taking part in 2009 but we got those two boring women instead. Perhaps Harel will give us a lick of his lolly...

Špik for Slovenia!

Hurrah! Looks like Manca Špik has got over her ethno-Balkan phase that she succumbed to in the 2009 Slovene EMA, and she's back, Back! BACK! in 2010...

Lots of fabulous swirly frocks, high heels and hair being buffeted about in the wind as Manca drives her open top car round the mountains of Slovenia. And what's more she gets her revenge on the hot bloke that spurns the schlager diva's advances. You go girl!

All We Want For Christmas (Again)...

The Schlagerboys have found our ideal Christmas present...

A Eurovision cushion! Just the thing to rest our weary heads on after a heavy night of pretending to be Carola.

Happy Birthday To Us!

The Schlagerboys are four years old sometime around now and we're very excited!

The Schlagerboys present the highlights of our fourth year spreading schlager and glitter and key changes around the world. In reverse order of course.

5. Meeting the Dutch Divas.

Not only is Marga Bult the diva with one of the best sideways-dance-moves in Eurovision history, but Maggie MacNeal was in the same Eurovision as Abba for heaven's sake, with a schlager anthem that's as good as "Waterloo". Meeting them backstage at Amsterdam Pride had all the ingredients to make a classic Schlagerboys moment; hanging about trying not to look anoraky while attempting to catch a schlager celeb's eye and get them to come over. Only for one of them to say she had heard of us! Oh My God!

4. Dancing with Hadise on Maltese telly

This year's Turkish entry was never a Schlagerboy favourite but if you're on live telly and the singer starts miming and you're beckoned over to dance behind her, what's a Schlagerboy to do? We'd have danced behind that big Serbian bloke if it meant getting on telly! The Schlagerboys were later accused of saying we loved that dreary Chiara song during our schlager interview, but we didn't! However we would like to point out that when the song was re-recorded it was fab, and the gay-hands-in-the-air-disco version is a Schlagerboy anthem!

3. The whole Jade Ewen thing

As soon as we saw Jade strutting on "Your Country Needs You" we were sold and the when she won and followed us to the Malta Song For Europe the following week we were in! The Eurovision party in Amsterdam was simply the best Euro night in schlager history and when we managed to get backstage to meet Jade she was fab, saying to us "You guys put the work in!". Yes dear, it's a hard job but someone's got to do it!

2.Bucks Fizz reforming and the Schlagerboys meeting Jay Aston

We never imagined we'd see Cheryl and Jay on stage together. It was another classic Schlagerboy moment when we hung around a windy Blackpool Pier thinking 'what are we doing?' and were about to give up when we saw Jay Aston herself driving her 4x4 and parking right in front of us. Oh My God! Our schlager lives flashed in front of us as we stood there agog and not saying much because Jay Bloody Aston  was two feet away from us. We managed to squeak out a request for a photo and this is now a treasured part of the schlager altar in our front room, alongside Jenny Jenssen's rose and a bit of sausage Kikki threw away.

1. Getting on Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix

Our proudest schlager moment of all time came in February when we got ourselves on to a live National Final and asked Norway to vote for Jade. Oh!My! God!

Oh! My! God! This Is Fabulous!

Schlager Skien!

The artists for the last MGP 2010 semi-final in Skien have been announced. There's Mira Craig singing her own song. She seems to have decided to use her lipstick as eye-shadow.

Karoline Garfjell is looking rather fabulous despite having decided to put a bow left over from wrapping her Christmas presents on her head.

But the Schlagerboy vote may very well be going to Didrik Solli-Tangen. Not only because he's got a funny name and his song is written by Sir Fredrik Kempe and the woman that wrote Velvet Inc's "Tricky" so it's bound to be fabulous, but because Didrik has got one of the best male schlager hairdos this side of Magnus Carlsson.

Discotastic Claudia!

Hurrah for Claudia! And thank goodness Maltese TV have ditched the bored looking kids sitting in the background. Or maybe no-one can see them because Claudia insisted on the dramatic lighting...

Fabulous Faniello!

The second lot of entries for MaltaSong will be performed tonight in Claudette Pace's show. Hurrah! And Claudia Faniello will be singing "Samsara", written especially for her by Philip Vella and Sir Gerard James Borg. Double hurrah!

After two years of complete fabulousness with "L'Imhabba Ghamja"...

...and "Caravaggio"...

...she went all dull last year with some boring ballad that we managed to miss when we went to the MaltaSong 2009 final as we were too busy getting our vodka and diet cokes topped up at the bar. Fingers crossed Sir Gerard has sprinkled some of his schlagerdust onto Claudia and come up with a Maltese stompathon with multiple key-changes.

Do They Know It's Malta?

Oh! My! God! How completely fabulous is this?

Every Maltese Eurovision celeb seems to have taken part in this charity record. Even two-thirds of Times Three have taken time out from what must be exceptionally busy schedules to mime into a microphone, and that one that came last in 2003 has come out of hiding too. The only ones missing appear to be Chiara and Ira Losco...

We were waiting to see who was given the key-change, and for a moment we thought it was Mary Spiteri, but then we realised there wasn't one... Seeing as "Dinja Gdida" is written by Philip Vella this is surely sacriligious... Sir Gerard should have been involved and he would have made sure at least two were shoved in somewhere and then Olivia could have had one too..

We were thinking of doing a UK version but so far we've only managed to get Nicki French...

Back to Bodø!

Some more Norwegian acts have been announced for the second heat of MGP 2010.

Alexander Stenerud is back. Back! BACK! And he's singing his own song again so he obviously didn't take our advice to write a schlager stomper for Jenny Jenssen, but that's OK if "Give It To Me" is as fabulous as "Find My Girl".

One-third of Charmed is coming back 10 years after "My Heart Goes Boom" and Hanne Haugsand's gone mad with the hair bleach and glittery blue eye-shadow. Wonder if she's still lost her mind and popsicle...? Looks like it.

And then there's Rolf Løvland's song. It's a ballad. Oh dear. So we're not going to get "La Det Swinge" Mark 2. What a pity.

At least Venke Knutson looks rather fabulous. And she's keeping up the 2010 MGP tradition of wearing ever so slightly useless but really rather fashionable little gloves started by Lene Alexandra last week...

Foxy Federation - The Best Bits!

- The posing and pouting at the start in front of a group of bored-looking school children.

- The dramatic flinging of the shiny raincoats on the floor.

- The multitude of strutting with the fabulous heels.

- The head flicking with hair going all over one of the Foxes faces.

- The "break it down!" bit in the middle, complete with shoulder shrug dance.

- The hand flicking and "Hot! Hot!" bit.

But where's the key-change girls? Can't you get Sir Gerard to shove on in just after the break it down, shoulder shrugging bit in time for the finals..?

What a fabulous start to the 2010 schlager season!

A Litte Bit Schlager!

What's that you say Pernilla? "Jag vill om du vågar" is "en lite schlager"? Hurrah! Schlagerboys say Pernilla Wahlgren for Melodifestivalen 2010 glory!

Foxy Names! Foxy Hair! Foxy Heels! And Foxy Attitude!

It's all getting very exciting over in Malta, with the announcement of the 36 semi-finalists for the Maltese Song for Europe. They will all be gradually revealed over the next 6 Wednesdays on Claudette Pace's show, "L'Isfida". This week is one of the most exciting with an all-new girl-group called Foxy Federation with a Sir Gerard James Borg schlager stompathon (we hope) called "Fired Up". It's only another 24 hours until we get to hear it so we thought we'd better get the gossip from the girls themselves. Hurrah! It's Foxy Federation!

Schlagerboys: Who are the Foxy Federation girls? Do you have Foxy names like the Spice Girls?

Foxy Federation: Yes! from now on you can call us SteffiFOX, AndyFOX, and ClaudiFOX. We got Foxy names, Foxy hair, and Foxy heels with a lot of Foxy attitude!

SBs: What did you all do before Foxy Federation?

FF: We are all in the entertainment industry in some way or other.

I'm a singer and Tv Presenter on ID, which is a talent show here in Malta, besides also being a dancer (that's me SteffiFOX).

I'm a former catwalk model and beauty queen and have actively been in some choirs in the past. I'm also organizing the Miss Maltese Islands for Miss World contest! I plead guilty to being a fashionista (ClaudiFOX)

You probably remember me from past editions of Malta eurosong! That's me AndyFOX. I'm a teacher and a singer, and also an actress.

SBs: How did you get involved with MaltaSong? Did Sir Gerard write the song especially for you?

FF: Yes, he did! Gerard met SteffiFOX during a TV show he was invited on, and came up with the cool idea of Foxy Federation! There isn't an all-female group on the island so the idea is a fresh surprise. So anyway, Gerard went on a fox hunt, and when he got in touch with us and told us about his foxy idea we said "yes" without thinking twice. Then we listened to the song a couple of months later, and we just knew it was a great decision.

SBs: Where did you get that luggage trolley from in your promotional picture? Will you be sponsored by the Hilton or the InterContinental?

FF: Actually, we had that shoot over at the Paris Ritz whilst on a shopping extravaganza for some foxy outfits last October! ClaudiFOX went shopping for high heels on the Champs-Élysées and dragged us with her. Needless to say, we found a lot of stuff we liked so we needed the trolley for the extra luggage. SteffiFOX suggested we could use it as a prop for our Foxy shoot! I do not think Hilton or Intercontinental will sponsor us. If anything, L'Oréal should sponsor us!

SBs: That'be because you're worth it! Who is your favourite Maltese Eurovision diva? Will Olivia Lewis be doing backing vocals for you?

FF: So many divas to choose from! Do we have a favourite one? Not really, they are all great in their own special way, as they have all delivered some good songs and fabulous frocks. Naturally, we will do our best to win your hearts and become the new Euro Divas! That's a promise, and Foxes never let anybody down. Cross our foxy hearts!

SBs: What is your song like? We haven't got long before we hear it, but can you tell us if it has a key-change (or two)?

FF: The entire concept we present is something different to what most Maltese are used to. It's going to be all about having a good time with a good song. It's all about girl power! Good looks, singing, and strutting. This IS EUROVISION after all boys! It's the entire package that matters!

SBs: Is there a Foxy dance routine?

FF: We'll leave that as a little Foxy surprise! But, dear Schlagerboys - Do you really think Foxy Federation will dissapoint you? We dooooooooooooon't think so!

SBs: Do you have a message for the readers of Schlagerblog?

FF: Yes, of course! First of all thanks so much for requesting an interview with us. It's an honour to be introduced to Eurovision fans via your blog. Please come and friend request us on facebook - and join the Federation! We certainly hope you will all enjoy our song. It's catchy. and we're hoping it's going to fire you up. SHARE THIS FOXY MOMENT with us!

Foxy Federation - you are completely fabulous! Looking forward to hearing "Fired Up" and seeing you perform! Good luck!

Fired Up Foxy Federation!

Oh! My! God! Seems like we're in for some schlager stompathons when MaltaSong rolls round in February as Sir Gerard James Borg has got 9 tunes in the Maltese semi-finals. That's 9 out of 36. Hurrah! And one of the songs is by a girl group called Foxy Federation, who will be performing "Fired Up" on Maltese TV this week. Looks like they've borrowed the luggage trolley from the Valetta Hilton for their photo-shoot...

Glamtastic Ørland!

The first heat of the Norwegian MGP 2010 looks like it'll be particularly glam... There's Maria Haukaas Storeng and her gigantic flares...

Elisabeth Carew seems to have a birds nest on her head...

And the glammest of all is Lene Alexandra. We want some of those blue rubber gloves to do our washing up with...

We're doing our best to ignore this lot...

Eurobus!

Looks like we'll be able to travel round Oslo in style next May...

Share The Moment!

OMG! The Eurovision 2010 logo and theme have been unveiled today in Oslo and it's pink and got bubbles!! How completely fabulous!

A Sensation?

Peter Jöback has been announced as the third joker for Melodifestivalen 2010. We're trying not to get too excited as the song is written by Anders Hansson, who wrote "Alcastar" and "Lay Your Love On Me", and the king of the clunky key-change himself, Fredrik Kempe. Hurrah!

Peter has already had a go at Melodifestivalen before back in 1990, wearing the most enormous shoulder pads and a shirt made of old curtains...

We're hoping he's been keeping up those sharp dance moves too...

All We Want For Christmas....

Oh My God! Not only has Magnus Carlsson released a box set of his Christmas albums, he's signed a copy and sent it to Schlager Towers! How fabulous!

"Christmas Deluxe Edition" has three CD's and three stages of Magnus hair to look at on the different covers. We get the current butch look on "Änglarnas Tid", a sort of inbetween almost floppy quite nice ruffled look on the "En Ny Jul" cover and the classic floppy do on "Spår I Snön". All three albums are special editions with English versions and perhaps extra key changes thrown in for good measure.

Douze points to Magnus for giving us an early Christmas treat and giving us something to put on the CD player while we're putting our extra sparkly schlager tree up at the weekend! Hurrah!

Schlager Stamps!

The Norwegian Post Office will be releasing a set of stamps to coincide with Eurovision next year, featuring various Norwegian schlager icons... well, Bobbysocks will be one of the stamps anyway. The others will have Alexander Rybak and Secret Garden on them.

There will be one other stamp that is being voted on by the general public, and we're starting a campaign to get Charmed on it.

It's about time that the Charmed girls are recognised for the schlager diva icons that they really are. And next year is their 10th anniversary too. Come on Norway, get voting!