Satellit

"Satellit"
Eurovision Song Contest 1979 entry
Country	Sweden
Artist(s)	Ted Gärdestad
Language	Swedish
Composer(s)	Ted Gärdestad
Lyricist(s)	Kenneth Gärdestad
Conductor	Lars Samuelson
Finals performance
Final result	17th
Final points	8
Appearance chronology
◄ "Det blir alltid värre framåt natten"" (1978)
"Just nu!" (1980) ►

"Satellit" (Satellite) was the Swedish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979, performed in Swedish by Ted Gärdestad.

Gärdestad's first four albums were produced by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA, featured backing vocals by Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, and were released on the Polar Music label. He had previously competed in Melodifestivalen, the Swedish pre-selections, three times before winning; in 1973 with "Oh Vilken Härlig Dag" (#4), in 1975 with "Rockin' 'n' Reelin'" (#7) and in 1977 when he and brother Kenneth wrote Lena Andersson's entry "Det Bästa Som Finns" (#8).

The midtempo rock track, originally composed with English lyrics, has a chorus that goes "I feel like a satellite, high in the sky, and now I understand how small the world really is" and the verses include phrases like "'Just like the earth and the moon we're attracted to each other" and "when the sun sets I really need your warmth". The song, which was arranged and produced by guitarist Janne Schaffer, features a guitar and bass riff influenced by Toto's 1978 hit "Hold the Line", and four of the band members - Jeff Porcaro, Steve Porcaro, David Hungate and Steve Lukather - were in fact among the musicians playing on Gärdestad's preceding album Blue Virgin Isles, recorded in Los Angeles, and released in late 1978. The English-language version of the track, "Satellite", was included on subsequent editions of the album, which was issued in both Europe, Australasia and Japan.

The song was performed as entry number fifteen on the night, following Netherlands's Xandra with "Colorado" and preceding Norway's Anita Skorgan with "Oliver". At the close of voting, it had received 8 points, placing it 17th in a field of 19, making it Sweden's second lowest placing in the contest at that point in time. Despite this the song counts as one of Gärdestad's signature tunes, the Swedish version of the song was a Top 10 hit on the singles chart and it also spent two weeks on the Svensktoppen radio chart.^[1][2]

Gärdestad returned to Melodifestivalen the following year with "Låt Solen Värma Dig" ("Let The Sun Warm You"), sung as a duet with then girlfriend Annica Boller. The song finished fifth in the pre-selections and "Satellit" was succeeded as Swedish representative at the 1980 Contest by Tomas Ledin with "Just nu!". An English language solo version of "Låt Solen Värma Dig", entitled "Let The Sun Shine Through", was included on Gärdestad's second international album I'd Rather Write a Symphony and a Swedish solo version on 1981's Stormvarning.

References

1. Svensktoppen.nu, detailed chart info
2. [Wille Wendt: Topplistan - The Official Swedish Single & Album Charts, Premium Förlag, ISBN 91-971894-2-1]