Årets Näck (The Year's Nix) is an annual competition to select the year's incarnation of
Näcken, a male
fairy creature in
Sweden. The competition takes place at the Tannery Holmen located in
Billstaån,
Hackås
Hackås is a locality situated in Berg Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 480 inhabitants in 2010.
''Hackås Court District'', or ''Hackås tingslag'', was a district of Jämtland in Sweden. The provinces in Norrland
Norrland (, ...
,
Bergs kommun, in southern
Jämtland. The contest is part of "Hackås Days" (
Hackåsdagarna) festival organized by the Hackås District Foundation.
The contestants for the Årets Näck title compete by sitting or standing in the river while virtually
nude and playing an instrument (typically the
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...
) in order to portray the Nix. Participants have also competed
a cappella, on drum, or on accordion.
In 2009, the competition was atypically won by a
saxophone
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...
player, Martin Norberg.
Rules of the competition
# The competition is open only to male musicians.
# The contestant may only cover himself with things that he can find in nature.
# A musical work will be played by each participant, either a traditional piece or newly composed. It should be performed on a "magically" tuned violin.
# The order of competitors will be decided by a random drawing at the music cafe at Strömbacka Mill prior to the contest.
# A three-man jury of two people skilled in folk music and a non-folk-musician female judge score the contestants according to the following criteria: musical performance, charisma and convincingness. After deliberation the jury announces the results, which can not be appealed.
# The winner receives a priceless handwritten certificate and SEK 2,000 (increased from 2004).
# The winner of each of the three selection criteria receives SEK 500 in premiums (in 1998).
# Since 2004, there has also been a crowd's prize awarded of SEK 500.
Source:
Past winners
Related
On April 23, 2010,
Olle af Klintberg appeared on TV4's
Talang, Sweden's "Got Talent" show. In that episode, when the curtains opened, Olle was portraying the Näcken by sitting on a rock with blue cloth on the floor to represent water, and water lilies placed around the stone and in his hair. He played the violin and sang a verse from Näcken, a poem by
Erik Johan Stagnelius
Erik Johan Stagnelius (14 October 17933 April 1823) was a Swedish Romantic poet, playwright and romantic critic of political economy.https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1086360/FULLTEXT01.pdf
1810 to 1840 was a time of blossoming in ...
. Judges
Bert Karlsson
Bert Willis Karlsson (born 21 June 1945) is a Swedish record company manager, entrepreneur, and former politician (Member of Parliament 1991-1994) and front figure of the New Democracy (''Ny Demokrati'') party.
As the owner and manager of the rec ...
and
Charlotte Perrelli voted against Olle, while
Johan Pråmell voted for him.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arets Nack
Music television specials
Music competitions in Sweden
Nixies (folklore)