MONTREAL - Roxette's Charm School will finally see the light of day in Canada on March 29, according to EMI Canada's website.  As yet, it is unclear whether the CD release will be the regular or deluxe version, but the vinyl LP will be released the same day - the first vinyl release for Roxette in Canada since Look Sharp! in 1989!  As everywhere, the lead single is "She's Got Nothing On (But the Radio)" which has already aired on Montréal's largest radio station, CKOI.  This is the first major Canadian radio station to play a new Roxette single since "Wish I Could Fly."  Listeners can vote for the song on the daily top 6 at 6 by visiting their website. "Radio" is also getting airplay on KIX 106 in Alberta. Can a Canadian tour date be far behind?!

CAPE TOWN - A reader from South Africa lets us know that both Roxette's concerts in Cape Town have been sold out.

(Updated) - Yesterday, the Czech website Musicserver.cz published the tracklist of the new Roxette album "Charm School", which was then confirmed by Per Gessle on Facebook shortly afterwards.

The tracklist goes like this:

01. Way Out
02. No One Makes It On Her Own
03. She’s Got Nothing On (But The Radio) (first single)
04. Speak To Me
05. I’m Glad You Called
06. Only When I Dream
07. Dream On
08. Big Black Cadillac
09. In My Own Way
10. After All
11. Happy On the Outside
12. Sitting On Top Of the World
13. (iTunes special) It Must Have Been Love (live)

Furthermore, the iTunes version of the album will contain a bonus song and the new single "She's Got Nothing On (But The Radio)" will have its radio premiere on January 4, according to Musicserver.

Update December 10: According to Swedish site Ginza the deluxe double CD will contain 10 live tracks recorded in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Abysmo contributed to the article.

NEW YORK - Few Gyllene Tider/Roxette fans have been in a position to share their love of Per's music with others as much as Scott Greenstein, who as the Chief Content Officer of Sirius XM, is the one who approached Per with the idea for the program that was later named Nordic Rox. As a result of the success of the show in promoting Swedish music in North America, he was — just last week — awarded the insignia of Knight of the Royal Order of the Polar Star by Ambassador Ulf Hjertonsson, Consul General of Sweden in New York (acting on behalf of the King of Sweden), at a ceremony at the Swedish residence on Park Avenue.

Per, along with his wife Åsa and son Gabriel, were in New York and attended the event along with other guests who included actor and musician Steven Van Zandt (E-Street Band); director Lasse Hallström and actress Lena Olin; guitarist Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi); professional skateboarder Tony Hawk; singer Peter Jöback; Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers; celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson; and media host Martha Stewart.

With this distinction, Greenstein is recognized for the strides made by the Nordic Rox program in introducing Swedish music and popular culture to American audiences.

"Scott Greenstein has been instrumental in bringing a number of Swedish voices from the world of politics and culture to radio listeners across the U.S.," said Ambassador Hjertonsson. "His personal enthusiasm and professional dedication to Swedish music, in particular, led to the creation of the very popular radio channel Nordic Rox, a veritable gateway for Swedish music in North America."

"Yes, Scott Greenstein is the main man behind [Nordic Rox]," said Per to The Daily Roxette in an interview three years ago. "He is a huge fan (he even knows the "Leva Livet" lyrics by heart) and he approached me about a year ago about this."

Per was last at the Swedish residence in September 2000, when then Consul General Olle Wästberg hosted a reception and buffet dinner for Roxette that was attended by the media and other Swedish celebrities in New York, including Crown Princess Victoria. Roxette was here at that time to promote the release of a U.S. Greatest Hits album, and had performed earlier in the day at the Virgin megastore in Times Square.

Marie Fredriksson was yesterday awarded the SKAP (Society of Swedish Popular Music Composers) grant from the Fred Winters Memorial Fund, valued at 40,000 SEK.

Yearly, SKAP Board distributes 35 grants to authors within the whole range of popular music genres.

The grants were distributed yesterday at Vinterträdgården, Grand Hôtel in Stockholm.

STOCKHOLM - Per Håkan Gessle has been nominated for a Grammis in the category "Live Act of the Year" together with the following:

BENNY ANDERSSONS ORKESTER
JENS LEKMAN
LARS WINNERBÄCK
LENA PH & ORUP
PARKSOMMAR
PER GESSLE
PETER JÖBACK
TAKIDA
THE HIVES
TIMBUKTU

The voting for nominees in this year's Rockbjörnen awards has started on Aftonbladet.se site. This time there are 11 categories, including one new category, "The Best Swedish Live Act."

Aftonbladet has organized Rockbjörnen Awards since 1979. Roxette has been awarded with a golden bear six times and Gyllene Tider four times. As solo artists, Marie Fredriksson has been awarded five times and Per Gessle twice.

STOCKHOLM - According to EMI Sweden Roxette's "Hits!" has now reached gold in Sweden, which means 30,000 delivered copies, as per usual.

STOCKHOLM - US magazine Blender gives Roxette's "Hits!" four stars out of five in their March issue meaning it is "great."

Another look at Sweden's #2 mixed-gender pop act.
If ABBA remain the Beatles of European bubblegum, then Roxette, their Swedish compatriots, are the genre's Zombies - hook-crazed followers whose fleeting U.S. chart success merely hints at their knack for embedding conflicting emotions and complex harmonies within ostensibly simple pop. Remembered for Prince-ly knicknack "The Look" and 1990's sweet teardrop "It Must Have Been Love" Roxette still score hits worldwide as their influence lingers (Kelly Clarkson's Swede-crafted "Since U Been Gone" resembles a Roxette ballad sung over a Roxette rocker.) Per Gessle's settings on this 18-year retrospective swing from the Ennio Morricone melodrama of "Crash! Boom! Bang!" to the kiddie-techno sing-along of "Stars" while Marie Fredriksson's secret melancholy substantiates the duo's sheen with a particularly Scandinavian sorrow.
Barry Walters

On a side note the "One Wish" video is placed at #2 on the LOGO channel's video chart.
NewNowNext is LOGO's weekly video show spotlighting brand-new videos by artists of interest to the LOGO community, as well as videos by emerging artists, gay and lesbian artists and videos that react with the audience.

NewNowNext premieres a new episode each Sunday at midnight.

See the chart here, and vote by all means.

STOCKHOLM - "The RoxBox/Roxette 86-06" didn't get a Grammis in the awards ceremony yesterday evening. Roxette's 20th anniversary release was nominated in the open category with five other compilations. The winner was "Samtliga grammofoninspelningar 1921-1970," a compilation of old Evert Taube-recordings.