The Melodifestivalen season is in full swing, as in two days the first semifinal will start airing on SVT, the Swedish television. The first semifinal will be held at the Scandinavium in Göteborg and will feature the first seven entries competing to represent Sweden in Vienna. We had the chance to ask a few questions to Dolly Style – and we spoke to Holly.
Hello Dolly Style!
Congratulations for making it to Melodifestivalen 2015! What did you think when you got accepted between this year’s songs?
First of all… a big WOW! We reacted almost exactly the same… There we were , three girls on a couch an ordinary afternoon, and was suddenly told that we had been accepted to Melodifestivalen 2015 in Sweden. First of all, we thougt they were joking with us, but after about 2 minutes of silence, we all started to get it and laughed with tears in our eyes. When we found out what songs and artists we would compete against , we were obviously nervous, yet excited . All artists are really talented and it will be so fun to compete and go through this journey together with all the others.
Can you tell us a bit about your song?
Yes of course. The song is a colorful and powerful pop-song. We really love it, and we think it suits us as a group perfectly. But, we must warn you… The song will get stuck in your head, we promise. Haha! Although the look we have is inspired from the japanese culture, the music isn’t. Our sound is very western happy dance oriented pop.
Can you give us more highlights on how the group came to life?
On the summer 2014 the songwriters and founders Emma Nors and Palle Hammarlund met us, three 18 year old girls, while we where working together on a previous project. They realized straight away that we, both vocally and visually, was perfect for the Japan influenced project Emma had wanted and dreamt of doing for a long time. And we, who was long time friends, loved the whole idea, the looks and the songs that they had written for the project, and all of a sudden … Dolly Style was born.
How would you describe your style?
The major influence is taken from the japanese Fairy Kei but it’s also inspired by (among others) Lolita and Gyaru. We have decided to mix the different styles that we love , and bring them together in a mix to get our own style , Yes thats right = Dolly Style!
Many people have compared you to Yohio. What do you think are the real similarities and differences?
Yes, we are aware of that. Which is fun, we think he is very talented and it’s cool that we’re both inspired by the Japanese style and culture. There is a similarity in our appearance in terms of the elements of the Japanese style . But one big difference is actually our music.
Are you going to put any Swedish in your style?
We are swedish girls, so I guess, Yes. Haha
What would representing Sweden in Eurovision mean to you?
SOOOOO MUCH. It would be really fun to represent Sweden, because our song is a really happy one, and it might seem crazy, but the world could really need some happy and fun color, and we think we could do that, spread some smiles with our show and song. 1000%.
How are you preparing yourself for your semifinal?
We rehearse, A LOT.
Can you tell us a bit more about the staging of the song?
Hmm.. There is a lot to tell, but it will be dancing and a lot of colors,
Who is the biggest contender you could think of from this year’s Melodifestivalen?
Nah… all artists are equal contenders. However , we believe that the best song is worth winning , and we have not heard the songs yet. So, it’s hard to say.
Do you have any favourite from past editions of Melodifestivalen?
Haha, we have different favorites, but there is actually ONE group that we all love, Afrodite. We loved their song ”never let it go” when we were kids, and we still do actually, haha!
On a lighter note: what kind of music do you like to listen to?
Pop , RnB, Rock, Hiphop.
Have you got any other artist you would recommend to our readers?
We did an interview/music quiz yesterday together with the guys from JTR and their a great band so I definatly recommend you check them out. We won the music quiz though.. Haha
Many people around the world will be reading this. What would you tell them about your country so to encourage them to visit it?
SWEDEN = AMAZING. If you are about to come and visit us here, we can take a day off just to show you the beautiful white snow in the winter, our big and famous IKEA, our lovely meatballs, and actually, the swedish girls. Hahaha. and oh.. Loreen, You can say hello to Loreen. And when you are going home, we’ll give you a pair of ”träskor” and a ”osthyvel”, as souvenirs.
Melodifestivalen is also known for the wild parties after the semifinal and final: what’s your party trick
I can dance with my eyebrows. No seriously, I can.. Haha
We want to thank Holly for all the answers! Dolly Style will sing fourth in Saturday’s semifinal. You can already watch a 30 seconds snippet of the song on the official website.
