I Am A Swede

There are so many ABBA songs that she could have done which would have suited her better than many of those she chose to do. I think it's great that she's done this album, but it feels a bit like a lost opportunity to have done something even better considering all the wonderful material at her disposal.

So, after listening to Cher's recording of ABBA songs I have to say it was a mixed experience. She did good on some of the songs, Mamma Mia; S.O.S; Fernando; Gimme, Gimme, Gimme. Her version of Dancing Queen was ok. The Name of the Game and Waterloo was so-so, and frankly this recording made me realize that Waterloo is actually one of ABBA's weaker songs. However, her versions of Chiquitita, The Winner Takes It All and especially One Of Us were bad. They did not fit her vocal range at all and her voice sounded strained. The arrangement on One Of Us was, in my opinion, horrible. It was by far the worst song on the album. Personally I think she chose some wrong songs to cover. I think she would have fared better with songs like Knowing Me, Knowing You; Voulez-Vous; Lay All Your Love on Me or maybe Eagle. Or why not some of ABBA's more obscure songs like The King Has Lost His Crown; The Piper or I Wonder. Songs that probably would have fit her voice better.

Of course it will be. And I think we all know who will come out on top. (Hint: it's not Kim!) I'm not sure I will be able to stand watching Charity and/or Debbie get the upper hand on Kim. Even though I think her return has been a dismal flop I would still rather watch her than any of the Dingles.

I wonder what this unexpected story-twist with Joseph will mean for Kim. It was said that she was back only for a very brief stint, but I can't help but wonder now if that was just a way to keep Joseph's death a surprise. What possible way could they have to write her out now? Bingo!! But alas, it won't work on me. They could spend their entire days saving bunnies and feeding the homeless and I would still see them as nothing but scum.

I could have liked him if he had remained antagonistic towards Charity and the rest of the Dingles. That made me happier with this show than I have been in a very, very long time. But naturally that couldn't last. The Dingles always have to get the upper hand, and as soon as he softened towards Debbie he really had outlived his usefulness.

While I confess that I won't be shedding any tears over Joseph's untimely demise (to me he was ruined when he actually fell for Debbie) I have to agree that this week's episodes have been absolutely appalling. In every aspect. I've never hidden my disdain for what the show has become and especially the relentless focus on the trinity from hell (Charity, Cain and Debbie), but it has sunk to new depths of suckiness this week. When Joseph first returned I was somewhat excited that they were bringing back the Tates, but the way his return was handled, and now the horrible return of Kim, I wish the Tates had remained a thing of the past.

Something for the future perhaps: Leo Borg, the 15-year old son of Björn Borg, was given a wild-card to the pre-qualification tournament for the Stockholm Open this year. Although he lost, the mere fact that the name of Borg is back on the tennis circuit is titillating. Wimbledon 2025?

Well, at the very least I got the pleasure of seeing Debbie hurt in Wednesday's episode. That almost made it worthwhile. But seriously, Kim's arrival at Home Farm just made it even more obvious what a failure her return is. Only Eric and Sam knew who she was, and of those two only Eric had any substantial interaction with her during her original stint. What's the point of bringing back such a legendary character when there's practically no-one left with whom she has history? It was the relationships Kim had that made her such a memorable character. Frank, Chris, Zoe, Joe (Sugden), Kathy, Seth, Dave..... all those people played a big part in Kim's story, and without any of them around she feels out of place. And Graham, who supposedly loves her, just looks constipated and miserable.

That's wonderful news. I'm happy for Leah and her family.

^^ The massive plot holes obviously stems from the fact that Kim was nowhere near Joseph's story when it was originally conceived. When Claire King agreed to come back for a stint they had to fit her in somewhere and this is the way they chose to do that. To hell with logic! Kim was never obsessed with Home Farm. She wanted money, nothing else. Why she would still see Home Farm as her home, after all this time, is another thing that makes no sense. I'm sorry if it seems like I'm nit-picking, but there's just so much about this story that infuriates me. The disappointment and anger I felt towards the show for the disrespectful way they treated Deena Payne and Billy Hartman after all their years of service pales in comparison to this. And you're right, Sarah's failing heart is clearly ( and might I add, cynically) used to elicit sympathy for Debbie. But this story is fitting nicely into that scheme as well, and sadly the audience is buying into it. ETA: And where is Kim's son, James? He would only be 22 now, and if Kim's been in prison for years, where has he lived and with whom?

Furthermore, if Zoe had lost contact with Joseph, how would he have gotten the information about Chris and Charity and their relationship? After all, that was his story in the beginning, getting revenge on Charity for what she did to Chris. He couldn't have gotten that information from Kim, since she was gone from Emmerdale before Charity even turned up. And if Joseph wanted revenge on Charity for mistreating Chris, how the hell did he end up in cahoots with Kim?! She and Chris were bitter enemies to the end, and practically the last thing she did was humiliating and hurting him. No, to me this story sucks big-time, and as I feared it has completely ruined Kim. I just had no idea that it would be this bad, and that it would damage Zoe as well. And some of the tweets quoted in this article just make me want to throw up. I guess Emmerdale got their wish, they finally managed to hoodwink the audience into rooting for Debbie again. Too bad that it had to be at Kim's expense. A character that used to be worth a million Debbie Dingles.... http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/emmerdale/news/a868055/emmerdale-catch-up-kim-tate-graham-foster-joe-tate-leaves-fans-want-return/

Not this though. Even though she and Chris had their differences she loved him very much, and Joseph was all she had left of him, The Zoe I followed for 15 years would never have abandoned him. Maybe I'm overreacting, but it just felt like such a low blow for them to do that to Zoe when she isn't a part of the show anymore. Newer viewers who never saw her will get a totally wrong impression of her, and to a long-time viewer like me that just sucks! I feared that this story would be bad, I just had no idea how bad!

Wow, thank you so very f*cking much Emmerdale! Not only are you ruining Kim and her legacy with this revolting story, you've also managed to spit all over Zoe! Apparently whoever is writing this load of crap have no clue whatsoever about who Zoe was and what family meant to her. She would never, ever, ever have dumped Joseph in a boarding school and left him. But I guess they can't let such a little thing as history come between them and the "story" (and I use the term loosely) that they want to tell. I don't think I have ever been so disgusted with this show before, not even when they dumped Viv and Terry the way they did. This whole thing makes me sick!!

Nostalgia!

Yes, I knew she was only back for a week. But they can't be that stupid! They can't!! Bring Kim back to kill her off?! They might as well just spit in the face of all us long-time viewers. ETA: If they do kill her off, and it's a Dingle who does the deed then I don't know what I'll do....

In other political news: it's been a month since our general election here, and we still don't have a new government. It's a complete stand-still between the opposing blocks. The speaker has given Ulf Kristofferson, leader of the conservative Moderate Party, the first chance to try and form a government with his Alliance for Sweden, but he can't reach a majority without either the support from the right-wing Sweden Democrats, or the support from the Social Democrats. And he doesn't want to turn to the Social Democrats, since they're the traditional opponents of the Moderate Party, but at the same time he can't turn to the Sweden Democrats since his partners in the Alliance for Sweden, the Liberals and the Centre Party, absolutely refuse to co-operate with them, under any circumstance. At the same time though, both the Liberals and the Centre Party insist that the Alliance for Sweden is their preferred choice to form a government. The Social Democrats are eager to work with the Liberals and the Centre Party to break up the rigid left-right situation we have but so far they've been unsuccessful in their attempts to woo them. The Sweden Democrats meanwhile have become emboldened by their success, and have stated that they will not support any government without getting influence over the immigration politics and law and order. It feels absolutely hopeless and I'm not sure how this will turn out.

After reading spoilers and seeing photos a horrible thought has entered my mind, and I can't seem to shake it off..... But I don't want to believe it. Surely they couldn't be that stupid and kill off Kim?! Could they? And would Claire King return for something like that? Please, please, please don't let that happen. It's bad enough that they're bringing Kim back and, judging by the spoilers, with a dreadful story that completely ruins everything about her legacy, but to kill her off would be such a slap in the face and I'm not sure I could ever forgive that.