Ulrik Munther - Fake It

"Maybe it's just my wounded pride"

So, Sweden's Melodifestivalen is back for another year and the first heat was extremely underwhelming (though, the more I hear Loreen's winning song, the more I think it could be the ultimate winner. It's really excellent). This Saturday should be more interesting, and Ulrik Munther is one of the reasons. I wrote about Munther ages ago, back when he was still a young hopeful. Now he's a big hit in Sweden. In fact, his first album shot straight to number one. In some ways, it would be easy to call him the "Swedish Justin Bieber". Both are teenagers, both rose to fame (more or less) through the Internet and youtube, and both play instruments/possess more musical talent than their genre demands. Munther, though, goes for a more mature, rootsy rock sound and has the voice to do it. He's like a one-man Hanson. And, I think we really need to keep our eye on him in next week's competition. He's had reality show experience before, but more than that, he's going to appeal to many voters. He's got the tween vote and the mother vote, as well as the "credible," guitar-playing vote that saw Anna Bergendahl (undeservingly) win a few years back. If the song's right, he could take this competition. I'm expecting a ballad/midtempo, but I'd love something upbeat like this track. I especially love the anthemic production and driving chorus. Honestly, though, most of the songs on his album sound like they'd do well in the context of MF. I don't usually cheer on this singer-songwriter stuff, but I feel some odd connection to Munther's journey through popstardom. I guess a big reason is that he writes damn good pop songs and deserves the success.



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