Lived and worked in Stockholm for a while. I got used to seeing the hilariously awful “Dansbands” on television flogging their coked-up bizzaro mess of Disco-Country-Western (topped with cowboy hats sometimes.) None of that prepared me for the nightly barrage of craptastic pop spectaculars that seemed to take over every SVT channel during Eurovision competition season. The few performers and acts who were actually talented and entertaining always seemed to get steamrolled by the glitteriest, most un-listenable, and simply inexplicable freak-shows in the quest to represent Sweden on the big Euro stage. Someone reminded me that Abba got their start there. One can decide for themselves whether that was a good thing for civilization …or not. But during my time stuck with Swedish television I did not witness anything even close to their pop appeal.
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