Schlager is not a Beer

After listening to a few clips from the contest already, you might be wondering how to classify the music. Let's call it complicated.

It's pop. It's rock. It's rap. It's reggae. It's schlager. It's dance. It's everything.

Wait, wait. Back that train up. Schlager?!?

When people use everyday language to describe the Mello sound, they sometimes use the word schlager. While schlager sounds like a type of beer, it's actually a word meaning hit or to hit. What that means for music can vary. You could say it's pop music, but that doesn't quite capture it. Listen to a few examples of schlager and see if you can pick out a better phrase for the genre:

Jenny Silver - Something In Your Eyes  - 2011 (SVT)

Charlotte Nilsson - Take Me To Your Heaven - MF/Eurovision winner 1999 (SVT)

Carola - Främling 1983 Mello winner/3rd at Eurovision  (SVT)

Have you discovered the link between these songs? An expanded definition of schlager would be pop songs with a catchy hook and melody centering on subjects like love and relationships. Many schlager songs also contain a key change near the end. You might call it easy listening. I like to define it as bubblegum pop, although some fans might disagree with me since schlager is generally not targeted toward teens. Otherwise, they two genres have a lot in common. Both sticky sweet and irresistible! My kind of music.

While schlager might be the original sound of Melodifestivalen, it's not as common as it once was. Some fans are not pleased with this development, while others prefer the newer mix of sounds from other musical genres. Way back when, schlager had a place in almost every song and a common nickname for the contest was "Schlagerfestivalen". Nowadays, the song field is much more diverse. We'll explore the phenomenon of schlager more as we move along in the competition.