Otis!!

Check out http://sverigesradio.se/sida/default.aspx?programid=2024 for pictures of Salem from this morning's Morgonpasset i P3...

...and his new friend Otis! Here he is with Hanna in the studio this morning. Awwww.....

Once again I'd be very grateful if any of you would be able to translate the clips of Salem's interview from this morning's show for me. Many thanks!

It's Salem's birthday tomorrow!

Time to celebrate :))))

I'm sure that you will all join me in wishing Salem a very happy birthday for tomorrow, when he will be 29 years old!

Have a fantastic birthday, Salem - and best wishes for a happy, healthy and successful year ahead.

Morgonpasset....he's back again :))

According to http://sverigesradio.se/sida/default.aspx?ProgramId=2024 Salem will be back (yet again) on Morgonpasset i P3 this coming Thursday, 28th October.....and he has promised to bring his new cute puppy along to the studio!!!

Awwww!! I hope they post lots of pictures on the website!

Stockholm concert 14th November: venue changed

Via www.salemalfakir.com: the venue for Salem's show on 14th November in Stockholm has been changed. It was scheduled to take place at Tyrol and will now take place at Debaser Slussen. Doors open at 20:00 and Salem will be on stage at 21:00. More information at Blixten & Co's website - http://www.blixten.se/musik/salem-al-fakir/spelningar/20101114-stockholm-debaser-slussen

Sorry for this information being late, I've been out of action with a very bad cold for most of the week so finally catching up!!

"Keep On Walking" in Dansbandskampen!

Thanks to Scandipop (via Twitter) for the info :)

If you ever wanted to hear "Keep On Walking" sung in dansband-style, then you will get your wish tomorrow night :)

Wizex will be performing the song on tomorrow night's "Dansbandskampen" at 20:00 Swedish time on SVT1. The show will be available later via SVT Play and I'll post the link on here when I get it.

1st December

Just one little coincidence which came into my mind this morning - as you know Salem will be playing at the Finnish blog awards on 1st December. I wondered why that date was so special, and then I realised why - Planet Salem will be three years old on that date :))

Other bloggers talking about Salem...

...whilst on the subject of Salem, and blogging, I'd like to mention my good friend Damian who runs the excellent (and regularly updated) blog Swedish Stereo, which you should all visit regularly if you are a fan of Swedish pop music. Today he's written a very nice post about "Split My Personality" and I just thought I'd share it with you. Link: http://swedishstereo.blogspot.com/2010/10/salem-al-fakir-split-my-personality.html

Salem to appear at Finland's Bloggpriset

Via Vasabladet: http://www.vasabladet.fi/Story/?linkID=129909

Salem will be appearing at the Finland-Swedish Bloggpriset gala in Helsinki on 1st December.

More information at http://bloggpriset.ylebloggen.fi/ and also at http://www.peppar.fi/article/Salem-Al-Fakir-sjunger-for-bloggarna

The ceremony will be broadcast live on Radio X3M from 20:00 on 1st December, and also streamed on the internet at http://x3m.yle.fi/

Of course I found this very interesting, being a blogger myself! Maybe Salem (or someone else) will give Planet Salem a mention at the awards :))))

NorraSkåne review of Kristianstad Arena opening

NorraSkåne.se has a review of Friday night's opening concert from the Kristianstad Arena, which took place in front of 4700 fans. http://www.nsk.se/article/20101017/NOJE/710179921/0/*/*/kristianstad-arena-har-oppnat

Reviewer Patrick Leanderson on Salem: "A bearded, bespectacled Salem Al Fakir in a blue knitted hat tries in a somewhat whimsical way to get the crowd rocking. There is singing along in the very first song "Good Song" and a handclapping exercise in "4 O'Clock".We're also offered the rather neglected "All Day Love," which he sang at the festival concert before the royal wedding this summer. And he rounds off with a slightly sloppy version his big hit from Melodifestivalen, "Keep On Walking" where much of the song's orchestration and arrangement disappeared out of the mix."

If you were at the show, do you agree with the reviewer's comments? I thought that was a very good mix of songs old and new, and I'm very happy that he's started playing "All Day Love" which (I hope) will become a regular part of his live set.

And maybe some day, Salem may return to the Kristianstad Arena to play his own live show, if his popularity continues to grow :)

Planet Salem forum reminder

Just a reminder that the Planet Salem Forum is still open for you to chat about anything to do with Salem (and off-topic things too!). Thanks to all of you who have joined and posted so far - I've decided to make the forum a permanent feature on Planet Salem.

If you click the 'Forum' tab (just above the Salem-pictures at the top of the page) it will take you to our messageboard. If you want to chat in Swedish, click on "Planet Salem's Swedish Language Forum".

Tack så mycket, Madelene, for posting this info on Facebook. :))) Much appreciated!

Facebook update

Salem's Facebook-fans total reached 53,000 today.

If you have a Facebook account and haven't already done so, get over to Salem's Facebook page www.facebook.com/salemalfakir and become a fan! As you know, that's the only place where Salem directly communicates with the fans so it's a good way to show your support.

Nassim - lycka till!

Don't forget to vote for Nassim this Saturday night - he will be appearing in the final of TV4's "Dansfeber" this Saturday night, with his brilliant Beyonce routine, dancing to "Single Ladies".

I'm sure you will all join me in wishing Nassim good luck for Saturday night!

Kristianstad Arena opening - this Friday

Don't forget that Salem will be appearing at a gala concert for the official opening of the new Kristianstad Arena, this Friday, 15th October. Also on the bill are Tommy Körberg, Lena Philipsson, Måns Zelmerlöw, Olle Jönsson, and the fabulous 'drum circus' ConRytmo which can best be described as a Swedish variation on the Blue Man Group, only without the blue heads of course :) There is another Salem connection here of course - can anyone tell me if Nisse is still a member of ConRytmo?

There are still some tickets available, please go to https://event.webbiljett.se/kristianstad/step/chooseSection.aspx?edId=4 for more information and booking details.

If you're going, enjoy the show and remember to tell us all about it.

Salem now has 52,000 fans on Facebook!

That is great news. And the numbers continue to grow....

Uppsala: new dates announced

Via http://www.blixten.se/musik/salem-al-fakir

Salem and the band will play Katalin in Uppsala on 27th and 28th December. Get your tickets now! http://www.ticnet.se/salem-al-fakir-biljetter/event/KAU1227 and http://www.ticnet.se/Salem+al+Fakir-biljetter/event/KAU1228

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).

"Split My Personality": new single

As mentioned in the Expressen Söndag interview, "Split My Personality" is Salem's new single, however it will be a digital-only release and won't be released physically on CD. It has been sent to radio and is already C-listed on the SR P3 playlist.

Has anyone heard him perform this song live? (I'd be very curious to hear it). Maybe he'll play it on the forthcoming tour, which is only five weeks away.

By the way, I am listening to Rix FM as I type this post and guess what's playing now? "Keep On Walking" of course :)))

Salem's Expressen Söndag interview

OK, credits time first of all: thanks to Alexandra who initially scanned this, and to Eva for sending it to me. I didn't know about the interview so a million thanks to both of you once again.

It's a very nice change from the usual interviews as you learn a few new things about Salem, who is currently on a well-deserved break, recovering from that lengthy summer tour. Salem - I hope you are enjoying your time off!

The autumn tour poster is here at last!

Love it!!! Very psychedelic :)

That will be Miss Anna flying high! And a big hello to any other Planet Salem readers who made it to the poster!

Editorial: The unavailability of Salem's music internationally

From time to time I receive enquiries from Salem fans who live outside Sweden, regarding the availability of his music for legal download.

When I became a Salem fan back in 2007, I was able to buy "Friend" and "Bright Side of Life" from the iTunes store here in the UK. At that time the "This Is Who I Am" CD and "Dream Girl" EP were available to buy on that site - however over the last couple of years they have been removed from iTunes UK and the only Salem songs you can buy on there now are the various Axwell/Ingrosso dance mixes of "It's True".

Over recent months there has particularly been a big demand for "Backseat" and "All Day Love", both of which have not appeared on any of Salem's albums. Yet these songs can't be downloaded legally by fans outside Sweden.

It's very frustrating that people in this country can't legally download his music - it's not available on British sites and you can't download from Swedish sites if you live outside Sweden. The same problem exists for fans in other European countries and North America. And sadly there is no solution to this for the foreseeable future, as there are no imminent plans for Salem's music to be released outwith Sweden/Norway/Finland. :(((

Finally, in response to requests for songs, I would just like to clarify that it is not the policy of this website to share mp3 files so I can't provide this service - sorry.

We can only hope that one day, Salem's music will finally get a high-level international release and promotion to match. I remember reading an interview at the time of Salem's participation in Melodifestivalen, when he commented that he had "given the people what they didn't know they wanted". I think that's a very important comment. People need to be given the opportunity to hear Salem's music, otherwise how will they know if they like it or not?

Do you agree? I think this will be an ongoing debate. Please let me know what you think - your comments are welcome here or in the Planet Salem forum. You can also email me if you want to keep your comments confidential. Thanks!!

Salem's NK appearance yesterday

Salem and the band played at a function in NK in Stockholm yesterday, to celebrate Café magazine's October issue and the launch of the J. Lindeberg book, "The Documentary and a Dream".

There are photos from the event at the following link: of course we are most interested in photos 25 and 26 :)

http://cafe.se/smyglasning-med-cafe-j-lindeberg/

Swedish charts update

Yes it's Friday morning so that means the Sverige Topplistan update...and it's good news as "Ignore This" has re-entered the album chart at no. 36 this week. The album has now spent 27 weeks on the chart.