I don't know, yeah, probably

It's true that by ordering the special edition of Måns Zelmerlöw's second album, MZW, before we had any idea what was "special" about it was probably a case of setting myself up for disappointment. The first difference we heard was the color of the text on the front cover: yellow instead of white (thanks, Aaron).

"OK," I thought to myself, "that's fine, whatever--surely there's got to be more."

When CDOn updated its description of the special edition to say that the content of the special edition was the same as that of the regular edition and that the only difference was that the special edition contained a "more exclusive booklet," I figured that was my dose of disappointment (edit: I should mention that if you buy the iTunes deluxe edition you get acoustic versions of "Hope & Glory," "Cara Mia," and "Maniac," with "Maniac" being the only new release out of those). Sure, I'd paid extra and would have liked some extra music or something, but hey, a more exclusive booklet--that had to mean it was bigger, with more photos or something, right?

Wrong. The booklet included with my newly arrived special edition has to be the same as the regular edition one, considering there's nothing "extra" about it. In fact, the only difference I can find in the entire package is the gold text instead of white text on the front of the CD case and "SPECIAL EDITION" written in small letters in the top left corner of the back of the case (along with a number).

Of course, having my physical copy of the album does mean that if I'd ever had the urge to see Måns strip from a tux to a sleeveless black top before lounging around on stairs and going into a showgirl-accompanied version of the last verse of Robbie Williams's "Kids" in as good a British accent as he can manage, I now have a video of that...though that's on the regular edition too, I presume, since it follows the advertised "Et maintenant" performance. And I can't really say I'd ever felt that urge.

All they really had to do was include that Let's Dance picture of Måns (you know the one) and I would have been happy. Or included a full performance of him doing "Hero," and then I would've been really happy.



Since Måns already posted the writers and producers for the album, the only things credit junkies might be interested to know are that Jeanette Olsson sings backing vocals for "A Stranger Saved My Life," Anna Nordell/Anorah sings backing vocals on "Hope & Glory," "One Minute More," "Saved Again," and "Home," and Dhani Lennevald of the A*Teens--who worked on Hani's good "Wait Forever"--did "co-vocal editing" on "One Minute More" and "Saved Again" (presumably because he's hanging around with Ishi, I think).

The only other Måns news is something I already told Paul about and that Schlagerprofilerna introduced me to: Måns was contacted with the opportunity to appear in the musical Chicago in London's West End. The last thing I read about it was that he hadn't said yes "yet," but I'm not too caught up on my Måns news. I have to echo Schlagerprofilerna's sentiments in saying that that show doesn't feel like the right fit for him--none of roles seem quite right, whereas Schlagerprofilerna's suggestion of the Zac Efron role in Hairspray feels perfect--but I'm hardly going to begrudge all you UK residents the chance to see him live if it ends up happening.