Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Switzerland is a complicated country with four languages, all cantons and cows in the alps. So their Eurovision selection is also one of the most complicated ones as usual.  Three different language tv-stations having their own selections (where's the fourth btw? Isn't it time for another one like this ?) Anyways, the German language SRF has its about 200 songs here . The voting there starts next Monday. The French speaking RTS has shortlisted 26 songs from submitted entries (something I would suggest to SRF as well before putting them online as about 90% of them are pure crap!). Now a special jury will first cut them to 12 and then to six.  These six will go battle against the nine entries chosen by SRF and the three chosen by the Italian speaking RSI, that have not been revealed yet. December 7, 2014 there will be live audition with all these selected songs (9+6+3) and a jury will choose six of them for the national final on January 31, 2015. Complicated? M...

And here we have it, the very first artist for the Eurovision 2015 in Vienna and it's Nenad "Knez"  Knežević   for Montenegro. The song will be revealed later. This 48-year-old (when in Vienna) singer is as usual, well known and popular in the ex-Yogoslavian countries. After makng his debut as a singer at tender age of six he later joined and formed several bands before going solo in 1992. Since then he has released several albums and participated in many local festivals winning some. He has also been active in producing and writing for other singers. Last year he ventured into TV when taking part in local "Your face sounds familiar". Step from that to Eurovision is short. His latest songs seems to be Znam da nisi ona and   Donna . 

Albania confirmed some time ago finally that they will be present in Vienna 2015 Eurovision and that their very own traditional Sanremo-like Festivali i Këngës would be used as the national final as always. The winner will be selected among the 28 artists that were revealed today. There will be two semifinal before the grand final on December 28, 2014 when the three day festival is over. Several singers from last year's edition, won by Hersi Matmuja, are trying their luck again: Beslana, Skhodran, Resarta, Salmir, Venera, Xhjen, Enxhi... Other familiar names are in the cast, one in particular. Elhaida Dani returns after 3 years and meanwhile she has been building a career in Italy after winning The Voice of Italy last year. She starts the race as a front runner and the favorite before one note has been sung..... Jozefina Simoni -  Mendje trazi Gjergj Leka -  Himn Marsela Cibukaj- Smuj Lindita Halimi - S'te fal Rezarta Smaja - Vetem ti Mjellma Berisha ...

Eurovision has seen monsters, drag acts, bearded ladies, Salvation army and with the current invasion of singing nuns there's something missing: bears. Don't worry, Bearforce 1 is back in action with Action man in the Swiss selection! The Dutch-Irish band was formed in 2006 and enjoyed fame with their songs like Bearforce 1 , Christmas is here , Shake that thing  and live performances until 2009 when they broke up after they were apparently brutally dismissed to represent UK in the Eurovision. Revenge is sweet.... maybe? Who wouldn't love grown up hairy men giving a run of their money for today's boybands with a song that screams eurohit and fun? 

Katerina is another British based artist trying her luck in the Swiss selection and being a multitalented all around artist of Greek Cypriot background she would fit nicely in the long string of foreign artists who have represented the multicultural Switzerland. She's a girl with a motto, an ex-footballer, practical joker and big Eurovision fan. Her entry is   Love tonight  She was kind enough to have a little chat with your truly. Here: Singer, dancer, actress, choreographer... what else is Katerina? Clever question! I sometimes like to think I am great cook, if that counts! Tell us a bit about the private Katerina, your background etc. I come from a Greek Cypriot background of two brothers and a sister, born and raised in Tottenham, north London. That being said, I have seven nieces and a nephew which keep me on my toes. I am a very creative person that enjoys fashion, music as well as history. My cheeky side enjoys making practical jokes. I used to play foot...

Alice released her Samsara album two years ago, her first album with original songs in 14 years and to the immense joy of her fans she's not taking another 14 years but the follow up Weekend will be released in a couple of weeks! Even Samsara included a cover and hommages to late Lucio Dalla and late Giuni Russo, while Tiziano Ferro and Franco Battiato among others wrote new songs especially for her. Alice herself also returned as an author (something she should do much more, if you ask this blogger as her self written songs are usually fantastic).  We know about the new album that it includes two songs by Franco Battiato - the big question is are the songs the ones she proposed to Sanremo 2014 and was not accepted? (And did she really propose after all?) The first single is out and it's another cover that fits her like a glove, almost like if it was written for her, Tante belle cose , originally by Francoise Hardy (more about that later when the video is released).  ...

YLE might keep tightlipped about the songs and artists but has revealed the production team for the shows and it looks very, very promising. This time there won't be judges but YLE has hired some major names for the show. And two of them come from Krista Siegfrid's winning team, Elias Koskimies and Reija Wäre. Artistic producer Elias Koskimies, where to start? He's a director, script writer, author. He has been behind some major TV success stories over the years from satire series to movies and hit productions like Dancing with stars, Robinson, Queer eye for a straight guy, Popstars . Päivät kuin unta film got Prix Europa nomination. His shortfilm I've only just begun got the attention of Madonna besides winning several awards in the US, Finland and Serbia in film festivals being a major Youtube sensation. He was also voted Homo of the year in 2014 QX Gay Gala. For Eurovision people he's best known for directing the Krista Siegfrids videos Marry me , Amen a...

Emma admits in an interview with La Stampa she has committed mistakes in her career, including Eurovision: "I think I held my head high, both in English and in the environment, and I have respect for all technicians. The dress you can like it or not but I wanted to provoke, I like to stand out. Eurovision is a very political program. I realized that I still have time to make it abroad, I have to prepare myself, I have made ​​mistakes of valutation and fatigue. I have so much to learn. It 's easy to act cool at home. But no skirts anymore, I'm better with pants and now I go every day to the gym." In the rest of ot he interview she talks about her career, being 30 and having no life outside work and thinking at 30 she can't say "no" yet to many things careerwise.  She has many haters and many people don't like her, thinking she is a wannabe and opportunist. She says she's humble, but knows what she's worth and works hard. She buys ...

... or should I say non-news. YLE is keeping more tight lipped than ever. No news have left the headquarters until today when they simply state that the songs and artists have now been selected and informed. They didn't tell us how many songs were sent in. Also those who didn't make it have been informed, thank you all for taking part and the selected names will be revealed in January! The live broadcasts start in February. That's all! Meantime maybe we can entertain ourselves with the drop outs if they come out....

Kirsten Joy has submitted a song - clearly the best one so far if you ask this blogger! - to the Swiss selection, One life . Born in South Africa to missionary parents she describes herself today "culturally confused", thus being a perfect represent for Switzerland! Her name might ring a bell to some of you and yes, she's no stranger to television nor competitions. But now it's all about Eurovision and she sat down to tell a bit more about herself to all of you. Here goes:  Kirsten, from South Africa via UK to Vienna 2015?  Yeah...long story, lol! Describe Kirsten in five words:  Culturally confused, singing, pink* lover. (*as in the colour although I do like Pink the artist...OK way too many words!) How about your professional CV. You have a lot of experience of various kind, don't you? From backing some major names to singing demos and releasing your first EP. What's next? Yes, I've been very fortunate to have some pretty cool oppor...

Marco Mengoni is not standing still. His recently launched application for Apple and Android users has already over 20.000 downloads and right there in that platform he has announced a new release for January 2015 making #quellochesarà  (#whatwillbe) a top trend in Italy within minutes. What it is remains yet a secret, or rather Marco himself isn't yet quite sure what or how it will be: "How it will be I don't know exactly yet" he says in his statement. "But I can tell it's one project in two parts, the journey continues. Today more than ever an album seems like a playlist of situations. " The new project will be highly innovative and differs from anything proposed so far. "The playlist is still in the writing and in continuous evolution and will be in two parts that will presented to the public with a time interval," he concludes.  Time will tell what it is, maybe an album that includes a code to download new songs to it in the futu...

I have been following the Maltese selection closely for years now and generally liked it quite a lot but this year seems to be the weakest effort so far. I mean, the songs aren't bad but they are very even, bland. No particular highlights - except a couple that stood out with the first snippet hearing -  nor lows. It feels like these are mostly songs that didn't make the selection this spring considering these exceptional circumstances this time. I may be wrong but that's my impression. At this point every song could make the final and any song can drop out. Propably it all comes to the staging, live performance and shining on stage when it matters come semifinal time. And talking about nuns. Sister Cristina in Italy is from another planet compared to these Maltese sisters. The whole affair is lacking the heavenly inspiration of any kind. If the song was sung by anyone else it would have never made the cut, I think. I wasn't a fan of Bezzina's last effort and ...

Just when you thought those Ice Bucket challenge videos had disappeared from Facebook and other social medias here comes one more from a friend in London, or Denmark really. Tim Schou. A naked one even. Let him explain himself why in this video . 

Now it's official. Alice will release a new album titled Weekend on November 11, 2014 that follows Samsara that was released only two years ago. The album will be also released as limited edition vinyl later. She's back, back, back! Before the album, on October 24 or this Friday the new single Tante belle cose will be released digitally.  It features longtime collaborator Paolo Fresu. She has also finally joined Facebook and her official page is here . Join in!

Cyprus is back in Eurovision and back with a national final for the first time since 2011. In 2012 Ivi Adamou was internally selected but people had a say on the song and she La la la ed her way to Baku. Despite being a hot favorite she only managed 16th place. The year after Despina Olympiou was graceful and elegant, internally selected both song and artist, but failed to make the final and Cyprus stayed home from Copenhagen. But now folks, it all changes: 60 songs and semifinals and who knows what before we get to know the Cypriot entrant in Vienna. Judging the number of Swedish-Cypriot collaborations among the songs it's going to be more la la la oriented stuff. Maybe. Among the composers we have also previous glories Mike Connaris , Zinon Zintilis and Constantinos and among the singers a finalist from The Voice of Greece. Previous Eurovision entrants Elena Patraklou, Alex Panayi and beforementioned Despina Olympiou will be in the special jury that will sort out the fina...

Eurovision collaborations are always happening - sometimes after years as you can see from the previous post, sometimes right away and among the artists that met during the Eurovision weeks. Already back in may it was revealed Austria's Conchita Wurst and Spain's Ruth Lorenzo hit it off and were planning a duet but here comes maybe a little bit more surprising one: Finland's Softengine and Greece's Freaky Fortune. First of all the Greek guys have remixes Softengine's Yellow House that is yet to be released but the ead singer Topi Latukka is also working with Nick Raptakis and Teofilos Pouzbouris on another track, maybe to be included on Freaky Fortune's next album. Long live Eurovison and its collaborations!

Let's stay in the region with another new video. Zabluda . Blunders. That's the title of the duet of two Eurovision veterans and local superstars. Zeljko Joksimovic has done it all in Eurovision for Serbia except winning: 2nd place ( Lane moje ), third place ( Nije ljubav stvar ) and even hosting (Belgrade 2008) and Toni Cetinski ( Nek'ti bude ljubav sva ) did the honors for Croatia already 20 years ago.  This video is clearly sponsored by bottled water but the song isn't watered down at all. It's Zeljko at his best: beautiful melody, slightly ethnic arrangement and a lot of Slavic pathos. I have no idea what they are singing about but when Toni enters I'm sold. Fabulous.

Igor Cukrov has released a new video and song titled  Jedna duša jedno tilo (One soul one flesh) full of Slavic pathos and melancholy. The video was shot in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and gives us a hint what an United Arab Emirates preview video would look like if they were to enter Eurovision song contest one day. But back to Igor. After representing Croatia in Eurovision 2009 with Lijepa tena he has released a string of singles like Prolij vino po meni ,  Mjesečar , Fali mi  and Treba li mi netko kao ti and didn't he even win some other festival if my memory serves me right? Anyways, this blogger has a soft spot for this now 30-year-old singer with deep voice and old soul. Nice to have news from him! And it would be great to have him back in Eurovision as well one day. 

This blogger has had a soft spot for the Swedish Päivärinta sisters of Finnish origin, Lili and Susie since they sung about summer nights 30 years ago and they provided soundtrack to my life for many years to come. The Swedish rumor mill is suggesting they are aiming for Melodifestivalen and then Vienna in 2015. Now, wouldn't that be fabulous?  They made it big with Oh mama  in 1987 and then their string of hits crossed borders to Finland and Scandinavia and even elsewhere in Europe and all the way to Japan. Bara du och jag , We were only dancing , Robert and Marie , What's the color of love , Nothing could be better , Something in your eyes , Evelyn .... hits after hits from 1987-1992. Then things slowed down and No sugar added (1992) remains their latest studio album. They did solo projects and other things until comeback in Melodifestivalen 2009 with Show me heaven (following 1989's Okej, okej! ). This year they have released already Fly, fly little bird and Woul...

Softengine's third video is here for The Sirens and it's a very industrial chick black and white affair showcasing some fabulous run down architecture. And yes, their debut album We created the world is out today, too! Get it from the usual platforms or order from here . 

The Sanremo gossiping and rumoring is at full forse less than two months before the names will be out. This week, to the horror of most Italian Eurovision fans, rather reliable source TV Sorrisi e Canzoni magazine revealed a list of names, most of them from various reality shows and appealing to the youngters: Valerio Scanu , Marco Carta , Clementino , Dear Jack , Alessandra Amoroso , Kekko Silvestre (of Modà ) as a singer or writer for Dear Jack or/and Amoroso, Annalisa Scarrone .... but also old glories Marco Masini , Irene Grandi and most of all Dolcenera - that most seem to think very suitable for Eurovision, too, including this blogger. She won Sanremo newcomers back in 2003 with Siamo tutti lá fuori and has since matured a very strong and interesting artist.  We can't forget Marco Carta already won in 2009 with La forza mia fresh from Amici reality success, idem for Valerio Scanu and Per tutte le volte che the year after. All these youngsters have a very active fan...

Krista Siegrids and her boyfriend of ten years Janne Grönroos were holidaying in Maldives when he finally popped the well prepaired question on a paradise beach and in the end of a dock on his knee. He managed to invite her to that dock by leaving a letter in their hotel room and it seems it really worked the way it was supposed to be: super romantic and memorable. As a proper gentlemen he had asked permission from her parents and her sister had helped picking up the perfect ring. She didn't need time to think but answered "Hell, yeah!" immediately while wiping off tears of joy. The night of October 13 continued with a dinner by the sea under the starry sky.  The couple was supposed to be on this holiday to celebrate their 10th anniversary but later Janne told he had finally managed to gather enough money to buy the ring after he wasted all his money on voting Krista to win first UMK and then in the Eurovision .... Ding dong and congrats Krista and Janne!!!

Emma Marrone has released a new (old) track as a single, Resta ancora un po´ , ahead of the release of her first live album E Live to be released on November 11, 2014. The live album was recorded during her concert in Arena di Verona this summer and includes all her hits over the years, and of course also La mia cittá . It comes as a CD (15 tracks + studio version of Resta ancora un po ') and a DVD (20 tracks including the two duests with David Bisbal, Hombre de tu vida and Amame ) Resta ancora un po' is actually a Antonino  Spadacchino cover Emma has been performing for a few years now. 

Softengine has released their third single following Something better and Yellow House called The Sirens . Will this siren lure the fans and non fans to buy their debut album We created the world that is almost here? The song is kinda epic but then something happens at 2:58 - something that has made some people speculate that's the reason why Eero left the band as it was stated it had something to do with the musical direction of the album. Mind you, I like it! I think it's an awesome twist of sound! But it surely creates some question marks what the album will sound like.....  Here's the tracklist for the album: Our New Age - Broken Reflection - Yellow House - Phone Call from Unknown - The Sirens -  What if I? - Narcissus - Something Better - In Disarray - Circle - Our Life, Our Love