Another Grammis nomination for Salem

Along with Vincent Pontare, Magnus Lidehäll and Seinabo Sey, Salem has been nominated in the best composer category at this year's Swedish Grammis awards which will take place on Wednesday 24th February.

This nomination is of course for their work on Seinabo's album "Pretend", which has also been nominated for best album, whilst Seinabo has a nomination for best artist and best pop.  I have a good feeling that she is going to do very well at these awards.

Magnus is also nominated in the best producer category, whilst I also want to mention that two songs co-written by Salem and Vincent are also nominated in the best song category: "Waiting For Love" by Avicii, and "Sun Is Shining" by Axwell and Ingrosso, the latter which also featured the vocals of Salem and Vincent.

Good luck to all of you at the awards!

Salem is a Grammis winner once again!

I have some very good news to report tonight! Salem and Pontus de Wolfe, along with Glada Hudikteatern have taken home the Årets barnalbum award for ”Trollkarlen från Oz” at the Swedish Grammis 2015.

Congratulations to Salem, Pontus and Glada Hudik on receiving this award - well done!!

Grattis Salem - another Swedish Grammis win!

It seems so long now since Salem won any awards at the annual Swedish Grammis, so I'm very happy to report some good news tonight.

Salem, Vincent Pontare and Magnus Lidehäll - the songwriting team behind last year's albums by Petter and Veronica Maggio - deservedly picked up the 'best composer' award at Wednesday night's Grammisgalan.

Congratulations once again Salem, and it's good to know that your career as a songwriter for other artists continues to go from strength to strength!

Above: Salem, Vincent and Magnus celebrate.  Picture courtesy of Aftonbladet.

Salem to host the P3 Guldgalan!

It was announced this morning that Salem will present the P3 Guldgalan which takes place at Liseberghallen in Gothenburg on 21st January - make a date in your diaries!

Read more about it here:
http://www.gp.se/kulturnoje/musik/1.775747-salem-al-fakir-leder-p3-guld-galan

This is one of Sweden's best and most credible music award ceremonies, celebrating Sweden's best new music. The P3 Guldgalan is due to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

Salem was only asked two weeks ago if he wanted to present the ceremony, and stated that the ceremony has always been close to his heart. Salem went on to say that he was convinced to accept the job as it would give him the chance to put his own personal stamp on the ceremony. He will co-write the script with Pontus Andersson.

Will Salem perform at the ceremony? He answered: "It is too early to predict that, this is still too fresh. Just now I'll just try to concentrate on managing to be a presenter. It is the first time for me".

Salem also told P3: "Actually, I am a little sorry I never has won a P3 Guld award but now, I have the world's best consolation prize"..."I feel like the right man in the right place...I am just curious about how it's going to be like everyone else".

Check out http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=3964&artikel=4803430 for a video interview with Salem.

We're looking forward to seeing Salem as a presenter - yet another talent to add to an already long list! Here are some pictures from Morgonpasset i P3's web page from 16.11.2011. (courtesy Jonas Ekblom/SR)

Disappointed :(

Over the last couple days we learned that Salem has teamed up with Pontus De Wolfe on a new music project which I believe is called Earpony. Salem and Pontus have of course written a new book about music ("Vad är musik?")

We finally got to hear the result of their musical collaboration when Salem performed with Pontus de Wolfe on tonight's Rockbjörnen gala. The song is called "Jag e frågan du e svaret". Remember these are only my personal thoughts, so here we go...

After over 4 years as a Salem fan, I never thought the day would come when I would be disappointed by any musical project he was involved in. But when I watched this performance, all I felt was disappointment. The main problem with the song was Pontus' vocals, which were nervous and, to use a British term, "ropey" - in other words, pretty poor. On the plus side it was nice to see Salem involved in a Swedish-language track, as I would really love to hear him write and sing in Swedish at some point in his solo career. I understand that Salem may want to be in the background for a change and let Pontus take the spotlight, but it makes no sense when Salem has such a great voice and should be singing the lead vocals instead.

Maybe it is unfair to judge the song on a live version, but I can only hope that the recorded version of the song will be a vast improvement.

Listen and judge for yourself at http://www.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/noje/musik/rockbjornen/article13556387.ab
What did you think of the song/performance tonight? Your comments (as always) are welcome!

No awards for Salem tonight :(

He may not have won anything at the Grammis tonight - but the competition was very strong this year, so congratulations to all the winners!

And one thing never changes - Salem, we love you, and you will always be a winner to us!!

Good luck Salem at the Grammis!

I'm just posting this now as I won't be around till late tomorrow night, and I'm not allowed to blog from my computer at work any more :(

Anyway I just want to wish Salem all the very best for Monday night's Swedish Grammis ceremony where he is nominated in the 'best song' and 'best male artist' categories.

Lycka till!

Congratulations Salem - Sweden's best dressed man :)))

Salem was named Sweden's best dressed man of 2010, by fashion magazine Elle at the annual Ellegalan awards which took place in Stockholm on 14th January. Congratulations Salem - I've always thought you were the best dressed man in Sweden, so it's about time you officially got the prize :)

Lots of coverage of the Ellegalan on the internet, so check out the following links:

Expressen's video interview with Salem and September (Petra Marklund), another of my favourite Swedish singers who was named best dressed artist: http://tv.expressen.se/noje/1.2291069/salem-och-september-prisade

Expressen's interview with Salem and September: http://www.expressen.se/mode/1.2291278/september-om-elle-priset-jag-blev-skitglad

Stureplan.se's red carpet pictures:
http://stureplan.se/bilder/event/2011/01/14/elle-galan-2011

Rodeo magazine's interview:
http://rodeo.net/blog/2011/01/elle-galan-intervju-arets-bast-kladda-man-salem-al-fakir/
In this interview, Salem describes his fashion style as "simple, stylish and elegant". He says there's a big difference in his on-stage clothing and his everyday wear, which is more casual, particularly since he became a dog-owner! He goes on to say that there's no point in being stylish if you're sitting on a tour bus for 6 hours, but he's had some opportunities to dress up over the past year. Salem has also had the opportunity to work with designers that he really admires, but he wouldn't say that he follows trends.

Salem went on to say "It feels quite anxious to be named this year's best dressed man. I will not be able to go outside the door anymore but to reflect on this accolade...especially in Sweden, which is such a well-dressed country that you could go outside the door and find ten people who deserve this award".

But you deserve it most of all Salem, so... well done!

EDIT 16.01.11: Interview and a nice picture of Salem with September at http://www.qx.se/Xtra/attityd/16420/de-klar-sig-bast-i-sverige

Posh24.se has red carpet coverage of the Ellegalan including a picture of Salem and Caroline:

http://www.posh24.se/salem_al_fakir/ellegalan_2011

...and check out this picture of Salem on Daniel Lindström's blog for Cafe magazine : http://daniel.cafe.se/elle-galan-2011/elleg9/

Vote for "Keep On Walking" in the Swedish Grammis!!

One week from tonight the Grammisgalan will take place in Stockholm. Voting in the 'årets bästa svenska låt' category is still open at http://www.expressen.se/noje/musik/1.2251582/rosta-pa-din-svenska-favoritlat-under-2010 so don't forget to vote for "Keep On Walking".

Voting closes at midnight next Sunday night - so rösta, rösta, rösta! And pass it on....tell all your friends to vote too! Salem has the best fans in the world, so we need to show our support more than ever, because he deserves this award so much.

Last chance to vote in the P3 Guld awards!!

You only have an hour and a half left to vote for "Keep On Walking" in the Sveriges Radio P3 Guld awards - voting closes at midnight tonight Swedish time!

http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=3964&artikel=4226387

Good luck Salem :))) hope you win - you deserve it!

Vote for "Keep On Walking" in this year's Swedish Grammis!

Calling all Salem fans out there! We need each and everyone of you to vote, so that Salem wins this award :)))

Go to http://www.expressen.se/noje/musik/1.2251582/rosta-pa-din-svenska-favoritlat-under-2010 where you can cast your vote for "Keep On Walking" in the "best song" category. Voting is open until 16th January.

Rösta rösta rösta!!!!

Two nominations for Salem in the Swedish Grammis!

Salem has been nominated in two categories at the Grammis 2011 which takes place on 17th January: Årets manliga artist and Årets låt.

Full list of nominees at http://www.expressen.se/noje/1.2253718/de-kan-vinna-grammis-2011

EDITORIAL:

Please note that the following views do not reflect those of Salem, his management, record company or anyone else connected with him - but are purely my own, as editor of Planet Salem.

Whilst I'm happy about his two nominations, I also want to say that I am very, very disappointed that the jury has overlooked Salem in five other categories - for album, artist, composer, lyricist and producer, where he deserved the recognition for his musical output over the past 12 months.

I know there is such a high standard of music coming out of Sweden....and of course I am a fan of many of the acts nominated, including Oskar Linnros, Daniel Adams-Ray, Robyn and Kent, all of whom deserve their nominations.

What do you think? I'd love to hear your views, so post your comments here.

"Keep On Walking" nominated in Grammis 'Best Song' category

Tomorrow, the nominations for the Swedish Grammis will be revealed...hoping for lots of nominations for Salem of course!

Today the list of Best Song nominees was announced - and "Keep On Walking" is on the list!

Here is the full list of Best Song nominees:

Salem Al Fakir – "Keep on Walking"
Robyn – "Dancing on my Own"
Oskar Linnros – "Från och med du"
Daniel Adams-Ray – "Gubben i lådan"
Anna Bergendahl – "This is my life"
Eric Saade – "Manboy"
Eric Grönwall – "Higher"
Johnossi – "What's the Point"
Swedish House Mafia – "One"
Mohombi – "Bumpy ride"

"Keep On Walking" nominated in P3 Guld awards!

The nominees for the 2011 P3 Guld awards were announced today, and "Keep On Walking" has been nominated in the 'Årets låt' category!

It's time to get voting - go to http://sverigesradio.se/cgi-bin/p3/p3guld/index.asp and vote for Salem (and all your other Swedish favourites too).

I wish Salem had received more nominations, but I'm just very happy that he's been nominated! The ceremony takes place on 22nd January 2011 at Lisebergshallen in Gothenburg.


Here's Salem pictured at today's P3 Guld 2011 launch. (picture courtesy of: Ruben Brundell/Sveriges Radio).

GAFFA-Priset: vote for Salem!

I mentioned this in a previous post http://planetsalem.blogspot.com/2010/11/gaffa-priset-2010.html but in case you missed it, I thought I'd mention it again, especially now that Salem has also mentioned this on his official site and at Facebook today.

Salem is nominated in the 2010 GAFFA-priset so you need to get voting and show your support. Go to http://www.gaffa.se/priset2010 and vote for Salem - the poll is open until the end of November and the winners will be published in the January issue of the magazine.

Swedish music publishers' awards this Friday

Thanks to Damian for this one!

The Svenska Musikförläggareföreningen (Swedish Music Publishers Association) awards will be taking place at Berns in Stockholm, this Friday, 12th November.

Salem is nominated in the categories of Best Composer and Song of the Year, for "Keep On Walking".

Other nominees in the composer category - Nadir ”RedOne” Khayat, Martin ”Max Martin” Sandberg/Johan ”Shellback” Schuster (who have all had massive international songwriting success), and Oskar Linnros.

Other song of the year nominees: "What’s The Point?” – Johnossi; “Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga (co-written with RedOne); "Från och med du” – Oskar Linnros.

It would be great to see Salem collect one or both awards, however if he doesn't win, then I would like Oskar Linnros to win as he has had an amazing breakthrough this year.

Good luck Salem! :))

GAFFA-priset 2010

Hello again everyone - there haven't been so many updates lately due to the lack of news, of course it will all change next week when Salem starts his autumn tour!

In the meantime, here's a new music award - the Swedish music magazine Gaffa is running its own award ceremony, the GAFFA-priset. There will be 12 prizes awarded, in 6 Swedish and 5 foreign categories, where the winners will be voted for by the readers, and also a special editor's prize. You can vote at www.gaffa.se/priset2010 : voting is open until the end of November 2010 and the winners will be revealed in the January issue of the magazine.

Grammis 2011

It won't be long till the Swedish Grammy Awards nomination process gets underway: in the meantime you can make a note of the date for the awards ceremony - Monday 17th January 2011 at the Kungliga Operan (Royal Opera House) in Stockholm.

Of course I'm expecting lots of nominations for Salem - and hoping that he wins many awards (although it will, as always, be a very tough competition).

"Keep On Walking" = Most played song of the year!

6946 good reasons to celebrate today: At the annual Radiogalan which took place on 29th September, "Keep On Walking" took the prize for the year's most played song on Swedish radio. The song has been played 6946 times this year on the radio...almost as many times as I've played it :))

Stort grattis Salem!!! Congratulations and well done! It's very appropriate that the best song of the year is also the most-played.

The second most played song was "Dancing On My Own" by Robyn and third was Darin's version of "Viva La Vida". It proves that in 2010, Swedish radio stations have the best taste in music!

Information courtesy of http://www.salemalfakir.com/ and http://www.radiogalan.se/

Rockbjörnen

Did you all see the show? It was three hours long.....a bit too long actually, when you consider that there were only a few awards to be given out.

Of course I'm very disappointed that there were no awards for our main man tonight - all I can say is: Salem, you will always be a winner to me, and that will never change! Anyway I'd like to offer my congratulations to Oskar Linnros on his two awards tonight - well done!

Also it was nice to see Salem being interviewed not once but twice - firstly with Nassim and then on his own.

My thanks to all of you who voted for Salem. Next stop, the Grammisgalan :)