Roger Pontare
It is an understatement to say that two time Eurovision participant from Sweden, Roger Pontare, has quite a unique style and a mighty voice to match. His first appearance in Melodifestivalen and the Eurovision was in a duet with veteran Marie Bergman with "Stjärnorna", and we get to listen to the original demo with Daniel Zangger Borch, which convinced Roger to take part. The result in Eurovision was not very impressive and the über-competitive Mr. Pontare even refused to attend the press conference in disappointment, but he has still continued to try to reach Eurovision and succeded again in 2000, with the song that has become synonymous with him, "When Spirits Are Calling My Name". The song is so much "him" that it is even hard to grasp that he wasn't part of the songwriting process with composers Linda Dahl, Peter Dahl and Thomas Holmstrand, but actually was in the studio to record another song and had to be convinced to make a demo for this hit-to-be, a demo which we of course get to listen to. Also, the record company didn't believe in the song, and pre-pressed way too few records by a factor 100. On stage in Globen we remember him for bringing a native american, an inuit, a member of the sapmi population and lots and lots of fire, and was wrongly accused of smoking dope behind the scenes. We also talk about how he stylistically pre-dated the Frozen franchise with about 15 years, and Roger learns that one of his songs has been covered by Bonnie Tyler.
Legend: Roger Pontare
Songs: Stjärnorna (Sweden 1994) & When Spirits Are Calling My Name (Sweden 2000)
Host: Emil Löfström
Contact: emil@schlagervannerna.se
http//www.eurovisionlegends.se
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