Carola on another compilation album

While the compilation album "Våra mest älskade Psalmer" (see post here) is still going strong on the Swedish compilation album chart, another album has also entered the chart; "Sång & Glädje" (Lionheart / Universal 2009). This double album includes two songs with Carola; "Störst av allt" from the 2004 album "Credo", and the duet "Vilken värld det ska bli" with Per-Erik Hallin from 1987.

The album is currently no 6 on the chart, up three spots from no 9 last week (2 weeks on the chart).

"Våra mest älskade Psalmer" is currently on no 8, down two spots from no 6 last week (6 weeks on the chart).

Buy the album here

Do you remember... Nature of the Beast?

It doesn't happen often, but every now and then we stumble upon a Carola rarity that we haven't seen or heard before. This is one of those times...

Following the release of the Maurice Gibb produced album "Runaway" in 1986, Carola performed "Nature of the Beast" on Finnish television.

Thank you for posting this to youtube!

Have you seen this clip before? Feel free to leave comments.

Video: "Gospel Train" Live

Carola performs "Gospel Train" with Per-Erik Hallin as a secret guest artist at his concert at Berns in Stockholm on February 18.

"Gospel Train" was originally released as a single back in 1987. Here is a video of a TV-performace from "Nattkafé" that year:

Emilia - Carola's favorite?

Carola is backing Emilia in the Swedish Song Contest finale tonight, according to an interview with Emilia on the Eurovision Song Contest website esctoday.com.

Emilia tells esctoday.com that Carola called her after her performance in Gothenburg on February 7, to offer her congratulations and support. Since then, the singers have met to discuss Emilia's performance and Carola has offered her some advice and support for the final.

Read article here

Thank you!

Rumor alert! Carola meets Filip & Fredrik?

Successful Swedish duo Filip & Fredrik are coming to New York where they will record their upcoming episodes of their talk show. For quite some time now, Filip has mentioned Carola as a possible guest on the show - and yesterday Swedish newspaper Expressen mentioned her again as a rumored guest. The show starts in April.

Rumor alert! Carola dating drummer boy?

Rumor alert! Swedish media are reporting that Carola might be dating Kicken from The Poodles. This is not confirmed and based on that Kicken attended the same church as Carola on Sunday - what they missed is that he also was present when Carola gave the Carola Award to Viola Grafström a couple of weeks ago. Kicken comments that he and Carola like "hanging out together". Who knows..?

Last year's Andra Chansen

Tonight is Andra Chansen (Where songs that didn't qualify to the finale get a 'Second Chance') in the Swedish Song Contest, and memories come back what happened last year.

In a duel between Johnson & Häggkvist and Nordman, 'Androla' was kicked out of the competition and the media in Sweden went into overdrive...

I found this interesting editorial by Markus Larsson in today's Aftonbladet:

Question is if this competition will ever get as exciting as when La Carola had to walk the plank last year. Her song 'One Love' was more than just a simple song. It felt like Carola had three minutes to save her career – and lost.
I know, this tv-show is just make-believe. But Carola's fiasco was sad to watch and experience. (...)
The whole thing became ever more surreal when we found out that Aftonbladet's server broke that night. The website was down for a few minutes – for the first time since it started. The amount of visitors became too massive after 'Androla' lost the vote.
To fully understand how bizarre this is you have to read it in perspective.
Aftonbladet's site did not crash during September 11. Nor after the tsunami.
(Translation by Carola International)

Read the article here

Do you remember... Hunger live 1983?

As a tribute to Carola's long and amazing career, we will from time to time take a look at a video from her past. This is a rare video of a live performance of Carola's single "Hunger" on the Swedish TV show Måndagsbörsen on October 3 1983, just seven months after her breakthrough in the Swedish Song Contest.

Also click here to listen to a disco remix of "Hunger" only released in Italy. It begins with a happy message from Carola!

Please post any messages below. Maybe this video brings back memories or perhaps you've never seen it before?

Carola on new compilation album

The new compilation of spiritual songs; "Våra mest älskade Psalmer" (Bonnier/Amigo 2009) is currently no 3 on the Swedish Compilation Chart. This is it's second week on the chart since it entered a tno 3 last week.

Carola is featured on the album with the track "För att du inte tog det gudomliga" from her 2004 album "Credo".

Buy the album here

What will Carola do next?

After the Scandinavian Christmas tour, and the documentary on Swedish Television in January, we haven't heard much from Carola. There are constantly rumors running around about what she will do next. Here are some of the latest:

• Release a new pop album
  Status: Probably true. Universal Music has confirmed that Carola is recording new material right now, and she has recently said she wants to make a new pop album. Will the album be released in 2009? Probably, Carola usually doesn't take that long to finish her albums.
  
  
• Write a self biography
  Status: Probably true. Numerous reports have said Carola spent significant time working on her book in 2008. Will the book be released in 2009? Who knows, we heard about this self-biography since 1994, and we are still waiting...
  
  
• Shows in Gothenburg
  Status: Maybe. Rumors have said that Carola wants to put on a show on Rondo in Gothenburg which will reflect on her career and all the different genres of music she has performed over the years; pop/rock, schlager, gospels, and musicals. If it's really happening, or happening in Gothenburg is not clear as of yet.
  
  
• Starting a school for new artists
  Status: True. Carola Camp will happen this Summer. Read this post to find out more.

Carola International will bring you the latest news as soon as it happens! It's good to be back! Please vote for which of these projects you look forward to the most in the poll in the column to the right.

Album: Original Album Classics

This 5xCD collection contains Carola's classic albums "Steg för steg" (1984), "På egna ben" (1984), "Much More" (1990), "Personligt" (1994), "The Sound of Music" (1995), for a very reasonable prize.

The collection includes classic Carola hits like "Tommy tycker om mig", "Tokyo", "Thunder and Lightning", "Amore", "You Are My Destiny", "The Girl Who Had Everything", "I'll Live", "Så länge jag lever", "Guld i dina ögon" and "Sanna vänner".

Release date: December 17, 2008
Rival International / Sony Music

Buy the album here

Apply to Carola Camp

Carola is starting her performing arts school this Summer. Carola Camp - Creative Artist Music Performance will give 26 lucky singers a chance to develop their talents under the supervision of Carola and her team.

When: June 11-14 2009
Where: Sweden. Exact location will be announced later
Who: Boys and girls from 16 years and up

Apply before April 17 2009

Learn more and apply here

Video: "One Love" Live

Carola and Andreas Johnson sing "One Love" at Cirkus in Stockholm during Carola's 2008 Christmas tour.

Carolapriset 2009

Photo: Rickard Eriksson

This years's Carola Award (Carolapriset) was given to singer Viola Grafström by Carola herself with these words:

"Viola is a singer that expresses herself in an emotional way. She challenges the listener with her expressive voice. When listening to Viola, I cannot help but think of the blessed singer Eva Cassidy. I heard Viola's blues/rock album 'Parachute of Dreams' five years ago. The album is recorded in the US by one of her inspirations; the producer Kevin Prosch. I was surprised when I realized she was Swedish, and her boldness made me curious about her. Viola is ready for any folk music or jazz stage anywhere in the world. Even at a more mature age, Viola is a flower with deeper scent than we are used to. My hope is to see her blossom on bigger stages, where I feel she has a given place."

(Translation by Carola International)

Buy Viola's album here

Carola International is back!

After having our website "stolen" from us, we are back to serve the international community of Carola fans! For now, we will just bring you the latest news in a blog form. Feel free to comment on any article, and please spread the word that Carola International is back!

Fun things are about to happen, and we are here to tell you all about them. Stay tuned!