Shirley the fairest schlager drottning of them all?

"Once upon a time. in the land of Schlager. there was a Queen called Shirley. Born in 1973, she grew up in Sweden and dreamt of being a schlager drottning. She started her claim to fame as a backing singer, by counting bars rest and looking fabulous in head phones! She oohed and ahhed for Antique who represented Greece in the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest in Denmark. Her dreams began to come true when she took to the Melodifestivalen stage in 2003, however Mr Memory didn't get remembered by the televoters as it failed to make it to the final. In 2004, Shirley andra chansened her way to the final, finishing second (to Lena Ph) with Min kärlek. It was at this point she was crowned a Schlager drottning! A title which she truely deserved by the time she sang Att älska dig. And she lived happily ever after!"

Or did she? In the land of Schlager, there is always a CatCat fight as to who is the real schlager drottning...

'The fairy God mother' - Carola gave Shirley a parcel of a magic potion for eternal life - 'Evighet' to help young Shirley in her quest to remain a schlager drottning.

But! 'The fierce step mother' - Arja Saijonmaa tricked Shirley by suggesting:

Singing ballads with guitars.

Attempting cover versions in Swedish of Roxette's It must've been love.

Launching a television career - presenting SVT's Folktoppen.

These shocking suggestions were designed to trick Shirley to Finnish her Schlager career, as Arja hoped to attract Prince Charming Christer to help find her lost jewel - Melodifestivalen victory!

'The fairy God mother' saw what was happening and suggested Shirley make friends with young Sanna Neilsen and Sonja Aldén, so they performed together throughout the summer of 2007.

Shirley did as Carola advised, but wasn't happy. Sonja was Shirley's backing singer afterall! She didn't trust her, Sonja had written Att alska dig (with Robert Olausson, Bobby Ljunggren and Henrik Wikström) and this made Sonja more royal, when counting royalties. In revenge, Miss Clamp poked fun at Miss Aldén for writing Night of passion for The Poodles and Första gången for Anne-Lie Rydé and that old man - Shirley exclaimed, "Sonja, you'll never be a schlager drottning like me!"

Little did she realise that the bloggers and inter-webbers were beginning to speculate that her crown had already slipped.

Looking into the mirror mirror on the wall, she asked who is the schlager drottning of them all?

Nanne Grönvall?

Lotta Endberg?

Kikki Danielsson?

In a panic, Shirley knew what she had to do....

It was time to release a new single, better still a new album, she thought! With so much singing, an exhausted Shirley fell asleep.

Meanwhile at the mixing desk stood 'The fierce step mother' - Arja Saijonmaa was 'RnB'-ing it with an act of sabotage. Suddenly, there was a gust of stormvind, as Carola arrived to sprinkle godly powers. At which point the Christer's ball is a bit hazy, we are left to wonder what happens next...

Will the Evighet potion (botox) work?

Will Shirley be woken by the Charming Prince Christer with an invitation to Melodifestivalen 2008?

Will Shirley be able to reclaim her schlager drottning crown?

The new album 'Tålamod' should answer this question.

Will Shirley make a key change and return to schlager?

All will be revealed on October 25th!


PS A word of warning! Ira Losco's got Something to talk about with her new single going all rocky with guitars and drums. We (7th) wonder where the glitter and strutting has gone?