Swedish loss in Moscow.
Opera singer Malena Ernman and her song “La Voix” came in on 21st place at the recent Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow. Not so good, considering the final featured 25 countries. Actually it was the worst Eurovision Song Contest result for Sweden in 17 years. But lets not forget we’re Scandinavians also, and therefore have reasons to celebrate. Norway won (an easy victory) this year’s contest with Alexander Rybak and his song “Fairytale”, and on second place came Iceland with Yohanna and “Is It True?” and third was Azerbajdzjan with the song “Always” sung by Aysel and Arash, and Arash happens to be Swedish. or a taste of the winner, go to http://www.myspace.com/alexanderrybak and No. 2, Yohanna from Iceland www.myspace.com/yohannamusic (Curious about the Swedish song, "La Voix"? - hear it at www.eurovision.tv/event/artistdetail?song=24717&event=1482)

Pirate Party eyes seat in Parliament.
They can’t download their way to the Brussels, but the members of the Pirate Party think they could gain a seat among lawmakers in the European Parliament the old-fashioned way: winning votes. The jail sentences handed out last month to the four Swedish men behind The Pirate Bay, one of the world's biggest free file-sharing Web sites, gave a boost to the namesake party among young voters in Sweden, a recent opinion poll showed. "It is definitely something that has put the spotlight on our issues," Christian Engstrom, the party's top candidate for the European Parliament, told Reuters. "And it has demonstrated why it is so important, because the legal machine, if it's allowed to continue, is going to crush the Internet, starting with the Pirate Bay and then continuing on to other enterprises." A DN/Synovate poll ahead of the Europe-wide vote in June showed the party, which is not linked to the Web site though some of its views coincide with those voiced by the Pirate Bay defendants, winning 5.1 percent of the Swedish vote. That would be enough to secure the party, which wants to deregulate copyright, abolish the patent system and decrease the level of surveillance of the Internet, a seat in the European parliament. The party was founded in 2006 and won only 0.6 percent of the vote in the Swedish general elections that year. More info on the party, www.piratpartiet.se/international/

No more falukorv.
At least not from Lithells and for now. Falukorv, which literally means “Sausage from Falun”, is a large traditional Swedish sausage made of a grated mixture of pork and beef or veal with potato flour and mild spices. Now Lithells, producers of falukorv, are recalling two different kinds of falukorv since pieces of metals have been found. Nobody has been harmed by the metal pieces. All in all 16,000 falukorvar have been recalled.

Roxette reunited.
Roxette, aka Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson, will reunite this fall. The successful Swedish duo had a string of hits in the late 1980’s through the mid 90’s with songs like “It Must Have Been Love,” “The Look” and “Listen to Your Heart.” The reunion will take place when Roxette, along with other artists, plays the so called Night of the Proms Tour, which yearly visits countries like Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. “It will be the first time we stand on a stage together since 2001 and it’s very exciting to do it for the enormous Night of the Proms audience,” the band writes on its Web site. Night of the Proms will begin October 23 in Antwerpen; there is no mention of any Roxette concerts in Sweden. www.roxette.se.

Silvstedt’s Swedish villa.
This is where Victoria Silvstedt will spend the summer – at her new luxurious villa in Sweden. Building it has taken over a year, and now finally it’s ready for her to move in. “It feels very special to have a place in Sweden,” Silvstedt recently told Swedish tabloid Expressen. “It will be more skärgård (archipelago in Swedish) than Saint-Tropez this summer.” Victoria Silvstedt's house has been built from scratch and she has been part of the entire process. “There’s a lot of glass, so it will look very modern,” she explains. “Now I really have a reason to spend more time in Sweden, at least summertime.” Silvstedt also reveals she would like to have a baby. “Of course I am thinking, I see everyone with babies and I feel jealous. It’s something that I have yet to conquer in my life. The rest I have, I have a wonderful life. Having a baby is a part that’s missing.”