Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

This is the day of the year when you can spend hours and hours and hours listening to the best and most loved Eurovision entries from 1956 to 2015 when the Top-250 will be revealed one by one on escradio Will last year's top Loreen, The Common Linnets and Conchita Wurst keep their top positions? How many 2015 songs will enter? And will Måns Zelmerlöw still be the hero of the season or will someone else be more popular now six months later?  Where is Waterloo? Is it only teardrops to Emmelie and still a fairytale for Alexander? How many Sammarinese entries there are? Are they all by Valentina Monetta? Find it all out by listening the countdown! The countdown starts at 11am CET and runs al the way to the midnight and new year 2016. And the best part is all the songs have been voted by you (you did vote, didn't you? If not, you have no right to complain! :-) ) Check out also the #ESC250 videos here as soon as they happen.... Ans here I will publish the list later on...

Oops, he did it again. His two albums released this year are both amazingly good, and there's no shortage of the songs to add on this list. But I took this one as it's been the other summer feel good party song and uts me in a good mood instantly. It could have been also Guerriero or Ti ho voluto bene veramente , for the replays I have had with them but it's New Year's eve so party on!

Like some critic said: If this was sung by any other major female star it would be a planet wide hit. It's Madonna and she's in the phase of her career it's fashionable put her down. Great track from the very underrated album. Everytime this comes on radio or wherever it makes me stop on my tracks for a moment..... When it all falls, when it falls down.....

Three out of six, that's what the rumors and gossip got out of the final six that Spanish television has chosen to sing their songs in their national final televized some time later. Let's start with the names we already "knew".... Videos are not their entries but recent songs. The entries will be released later! Xuso Jones (26, born Jesus Segovia) is a singer, songwriter, plays guitar and piano he learned via internet. He's talents using the new www world we live in as he become a sort of a Youtube success that lead him to Los Angeles where he released his debut album in 2013. Since then he has done movie music from Mexico to China. He got known in native Spain thanks to Tu cara me suena show and he has released his second album. His song is penned by Swedes Andreas Öhrn & Peter Boström.... Maverick (Lopez, 19) comes from The Voice where his couch was Laura Pausini. He has dedicated himself to music the past six years and sings varies musical genres...

Now this is a surprise. It just got stuck in my head and I just like it. That's all. A bit of Napoletan passion never hurt anuýone..... 

Bojan Jovović, ex-No Name has joined Higway, the trip (Petar Tošić, Luka Vojvodić and Marko Pešić) that is going to represent Montenegro in the Eurovision song contest 2016 in Stockholm. It seems they needed some vocal power and experience in their Eurovision adventure that they want to do the best way possible. Bojan is joining also them for the recording of their album so it seems the band is a quartet now on for real.... It's worth remembering No Name also won the Serbia & Montenegrin national final also in 2006 in rather controversial way that ended with the country pulling out from the contest and then falling apart altogether. For other reasons though...

Alvaro Soler gave us the classic summer hit. And then when you just thought you got it out of your system it was re-released featuring Jennifer Lopez.... The soundtrack of my summer days.... 

The winner is Eneda Tarifa (33) with Përrallë, or Fairytale. This was her 4th festival after 2003, 2007 and 2009. She has confirmed the song will be performed in English in Stockholm, and that most likely includes also re-recording, re-arranging and re-producing it.... 1. Eneda Tarifa 2. Aslaidon Zaimaj 3. Flaka Krelani 4. Rezarta Smaja & Klodian Kaçani 5. Enxhi Nasufi 6. Nilsa Hysi 7. Dilan Reka 8. Teuta Kurti 9. Renis Gjoka 10. Evans Rama

54th Festivali i Këngës reaches final tonight and instead of 18 entries they sent 22 to the final. It's going to be a long night. FiK is along with Italy's Sanremo festival the only one still with old time glamour with artists in evening gowns and men in suits while live orchestra is playing. This said, in the recent years Italian artists have relaxed with the wardrobe while Albania this year finally sounds somewhat modern, partly. I didn't quite agree with the qualifiers as only 13/22 of my favourites made it so I can only hope one of them wins tonight. Then we can start waiting for revamp and English version, or even a song change. Maybe. You can watch it on eurovision.tv as well at 20.30 CET. Here are my favorites in no particular order:

Scialpi is another sour grape in the Sanremo cake. Hecomes out accusing Carlo Conti of homophobia - such an easy card to play now that after decennies he finally came out earlier this year and thanks to that has made a few headlines and tabloids again. He says he sent in a song already last year and even if Conti apparenly liked it a lot it didn't make the final cut. Now he has been served a no thank you again..... This blogger, once upon a time a huge Scialpi fan btw, thinks it might rather be that his song sucks. It's over 20 years he has released anything decent and worth remembering. That was a long time before he started experimenting with his lips and botox and stuff, but that's just a minor detail.... No one has been interested, not even a diehard fan like me in his music. Then he even changed his artist name to Shalpy and we were wondering what kind of Prince like complex he is having? I tried to pretend interested but when he raped Alice's Vento caldo dell...

Krista Siegfrids is delivering nice pop tunes one after another and this one is particularly catchy and soon you will be singing along..... Hopefully her Melodifestivalen entry will be equally good!

Albania's Festivali i Këngës final takes place tomorrow night and the winner is supposed to go to the Eurovision song contest 2016 in Stockholm next May. Instead of nine songs per semifinal it seems 11 did qualify making it a final with 22 songs instead of 18..... Still they managed to let out Revolt Klan and Egzon Pireci! Who knows what the jurors were thinking.....  You can watch all the videos here Adrian Lulgjuraj – “Jeto dhe ëndërro” (Live and dream) Sigi Bastri – “Ëngjëll I lirë” (Free angel) Dilan Reka – “Buzëqesh” (Smile) Lujz Ejlli (Luiz Ejlli) – “Pa mbarim” (Without end) Nilsa Hysi (Nilsa Hysa) – “Asaj” (To her) Erga Halilaj – “Monolog” (Monologue) Florent Abrashi – “Të ndjek çdo hap” (I follow your ever step) Teuta Kurti – “Në sytë e mi” (In my eyes) Kozma Dushi – “Një kafë” (A coffee) Aslajdon Zaimaj – “Merrmë që sot” (Take me right from today) Egert Pano – “Mos ik” (Don’t go) Kristi Popa – “Ajo çfarë ndjej” (What I feel) Rezarta...

Just when Germany dropped its wildcard part of the national final, Austria adopts it. The final will have ten songs, nine picked up by ORF and one being selected among these 37 hopefuls that had the courage to send their entry to a Facebook page. .... I did have a quick listen and no, I don't care who gets through...... None got me interested or even listen to the the song in full, even if there are a couple of quite interesting ones that are almost there but not quite. Yet.  Amiro - Taboo Azrah - The one Busy Bazaar - Never alone Celina Ann - Life is on your side Christine Strasser - I saw the light Conny Conrad - We are we.ll be Coperniquo - Turn your back Cornerstone - Whatever Cosima Turgel - Here I am David Siedl ft. Madelene & MC Vio - Wah wah whine E.Y.E. - Kiss EARased - Better now Esteban's - Portrait Gerry+Me - Schön gelacht Jake Rathburn - No other love Kevin Etheridge - Palmtrees on your mind Kevin Sudl - Magnetized Laura...

Albania continues its search for the 54th Festivali i Këngës winner and the most likely Eurovision song contest 2016 entry tonight. I have listened the preview clips and have a few favorites, but then these are kind of songs that come alive or die on stage depending on performances so they are subject to change as I don't have any mega favorites...  This second semifinal seems quite a lot stronger than the first one, so picking up the finalists is harder.... (*these are the ones I'd send to the final based on tapes only...) This post will be updated with comments and results in due time... You can watch live here from 20.45 CET. Qualifiers! Kristi Popa – Ajo çfarë ndjej *K.Kaçani & R.Smaja – Dashuri në përjetësi *Revolt Klan – Dashurinë s’e gjejn dot *Jozefina Simoni – Një det me ty *Andi Tako – Dielli vazhdon të më ngrohë *Entela Zhula & Niku – Muza Genc Tukiçi – Sa të dashuroj Evans Rama – Flakë *Besa Krasniqi – Liroje zemrën *Enxhi Nasufi...

San Marino had its very own talent show this fall and in Tonbola di Natale the winner was out: rapper Irol MC representing San Marino Città, with his Vuoto . The contest was organized by Banca di San Marino, but in the jury we had also Eurovision Head of delegation Alessandro Capicchioni.... which naturally makes you wonder if this could be used also for Eurovision selection, as I already wrote in early November , way before the other sites took a hint of it btw.  Among the nine castles or castelli was also Montegiardino, represented by Anita Simoncini with Simone Giacomini but the well deserved winner is Lorenzo Salvatori aka Irol MC. How would you feel with some Sammarinese rap in Eurovision?

Spain is organizing a national final once again with six artists. TVE has launched hashtag #euroapuesta also for fans for hints but says it's going to be six young artists with a lot of talent competing. Strangely all the names circulating for sure are male (Måns Z effect?) with the exception of Mirela but maybe she's only a fan wish and not seriously considered at all?  Six interesting names that could do well with a right song for sure. Hopefully they will stick to their own style that you can listen in their songs after the jump instead of the bought G:son style.... Spain, don't be stupid - bring back you own rhythm!!! You've got it! And it's a hit, look at Enrique Iglesias. 

Next five days I will count down the Top-5 songs of 2015 based simply on my memory. I don't use Spotifys or similar that would just rank down the most played songs or such so it's just me and the songs that have been playing the most in my head over the past year; songs that have ment something special to me, songs that I like and still enjoy to listen to..... the songs that I sing in the shower in short. We start off with a special mention. Jari Sillanpää's Sinä ansaitset kultaa was released already in 2014 but over the year has become propably the biggest hit of his career and deserverly so. It charted for weeks and months, and is still on on Radioplay charts top-50. And it's a great track. It was about the time that he got a hit I like after 20 years of career! 

Albania starts its search for the 54th Festivali i Këngës winner and the most likely Eurovision song contest 2016 entry tonight. I have listened the preview clips and have a few favorites, but then these are kind of songs that come alive or die on stage depending on performances so they are subject to change as I don't have any mega favorites...  (*these are the ones I'd send to the final based on tapes only...).  You can watch live here from 20.45 CET. After seeing the show and hearing the songs I stick to my earlier impressions and predictions/hopes for the qualifiers. Maybe the order changed a bit but then I haven't revealed it, have I? :-) And the results will be revealed surprisingly only after the second semifinal tomorrow! Ok..... Qualifiers! *Egzon Pireci – Triumf Grupi Simbol – Artiste *Voltan Prodani – Dëgjoje këngën o Atë Adrian Lulgjuraj – Jeto dhe ëndërro *Sigi Bastri – Engjëll i lirë *Dilan Reka – Buzëqesh *Lujz Ejlli – Pa mbarim *N...

Lithuanian television has announced the names for the national selection for the Eurovision song contest 2016. A total of 28 artists or acts will go through the weekly eliminations of artists/acts and songs and after 8 weeks we will have a matching pair as a winner, or so we all hope! Among the participants we have two previous entrants Donny Montell (or Donatas Montvydas) and Erika Jennings who got style back in 2001. Aistė Pilvelytė is back for the 8th time at least and has been the runner up twice, will she finally make it? And then we have Ruslanas Kirilkinas back. He has been also to the Finnish Idols and caused a minor scandal when his gay sex porn pics from early 2000's made the tabloids when he made a name in music business..... And then we have some other familiar names like 4 Roses.  4 Roses Alice Way Baiba Skurstenė-Serdiukė Berta Timinskaitė Deividas Žygas Gabrielė Grigolaitytė-Vasha E.G.O. HIT Ieva Zasimauskaitė Milda Martinkėnaitė Nerin...

The Moldovan selection was becoming a bit of a joke but then the last minute rush brought us 47 submitted songs and now 24 has been chosen for the semifinals. And no, Sasha Bognikoff didn't make the cut with his two songs this year either.... :-) You can listen all the entries here . Among them also Belarusian Litesound (ESC 2012) and quite a few familiar names from previous selections..... and even Natalia Barbu (ESC 2007) in the group ELLE. Andrei Ioniţa & Onoffrei - Lie Diana Brescan - Till the end Felicia Dunaf - You and me Katherine and Litesound - Imagine Rodica şi Ivan Aculov - Stop lying Big Flash Sound - Când vrei Doiniţa Gherman - Irresistible Valeria Paşa - Save love Lidia Isac - Falling stars Viola - In the name of love Cristina Pintilie & Alex Calancea Band - Picture of love Valentin Uzun - Mine DoReDoS - FunnyFolk Max Fall & Vozniuc Dan & Malloy - Game over Maxim Zavidia - La la love Chris Maroo - Tonight ELLE - Ta...

Reigning Eurovision song contest champion and the host of the next contest in May 2016 in Stockholm Mäns Zelmerlöw bares it almost all in GT following some other Eurovision stars like Blue and Jedward ( see more here ) All for the good cause of course, prostate cancer - something this blogger can also relate having experienced it in my closest circle. Nothing to laugh about.  The annual Naked issue of GT or Gay Times features also several other celebrity men out of their designer fashion and stage or sports outfits. I guess Christmas came early to some fans when they can unwrap their most wished gift already now.... Maybe.  But it's not the first time he gets naked.... he did so when hosting the annual QX Gala some years ago. Who knows what he and Petra have in store for us in May?!

Ok, it's no secret by now I'm supporting Dolcenera in Sanremo and for Eurovision song contest 2016 in Stockholm so let's have a quick look at her musical past..... She was born in 1977 as Emanauela Trane in Lecce, south of Italy but moved to Firenze at the age of 18. She started music studies at the age of six with piano, later adding clarinet and singing. She wrote her first songs at 14 and soon she formed a band and was also in a jazz quartet. Soon she's singing in promotions and doing backing vocals in tv-shows. Below is all you need to know about her career; the biggest hits and best videos. Have a look and enjoy!

Hungary has published the 30 hopefuls to represent Hungary at the Eurovision song contest 2016 in Stockhom. Among them several familiar names from the previous selections, and even a winner. Anrdás Kállay-Saunders did try as solo every year until he won, and now after one year break he's back at it but with his band Kállay-Saunders Band. Listen to their entry below. The HUngarian selection follows the familiar routine: three heats starting on January 23, then two semifinal and the grand final on February 27. André Vásáry – Why Anna Patai – Colors  B The First – You told me you loved me Bálint Gájer – Speed bump Benji – Kötéltánc By The Way – Free to fly  C.E.T. (Alex Kabai) – Free Egy Másik Zenekar – Kéne közös kép Fatima Mohamed – Ott leszek Freddie – Pioneer Group’n’swing – Szeretni fáj Ív – Love kills me Jázmin Török – Power of love Júlia Horányi - Come Along  Kállay-Saunders Band – Who we are Karmapolis & Böbe Szécsi - Hold on...