EUROVISION 2019 DARE TO REVIEW 11: ITALY (AND UKRAINE)

Finally, my number one and the song that could have been my number two, or at least Top-5

Italy - Mahmood - Soldi *****

Penso più veloce per capire se domani tu mi fregherai

Non ho tempo per chiarire perché solo ora so cosa sei

I think faster trying to figure out whether tomorrow you will fool me

I got no time to clear things up Because only now I found out what you are

Alessandro Mahmoud aka Mahmood (26) came out of nowhere and beat entablished and Big singers in Sanremo 2019, and caused quite a stir and even political case of racism and all that. Or so it seemed. In reality he had been taking steps into business since The Voice in 2012 becoming a succesful songwriter to others (Marco Mengoni, Michele Bravi etc). After the initial outcry that the juries made him win for who knows what political reason and that he wasn't the people's winner his song has proven it all wrong: it went to #1 in all possible charts from radio play to streams to digital sales and as we enter May it is still played becoming already platinum single while his debut album that was hurried to be released has went to #1 as well selling already gold. I liked Mahmood ever since his first Sanremo 2016 where he placed 4th among the Newcomers behind names like Francesco Gabbani and Ermal Meta (just saying).... One could say I'm always pro-Italy and support them no matter what but that's not true. Had Ultimo or Il Volo for example won they would be now somewhere at **** rank and midtable. Soldi is great, with an unique sound, great backstory, original ideas like the line in Arabic and the hand clapping gimmick, and Mahmood is a solid and charismatic performer. Could this be finally Italy's year? Maybe not this time either, but Top5 should be a certainty, anything else would be a big failure and unfair again. But once can dream and believe, right? Meanwhile Italy emerged the winner in OGAE Poll beating both Switzerland and The Netherlands while this 3some dominated the poll until the end.

Some new Soldi versions here

Check out these Soldi remixes

Ukraine - Maruv - Siren song *****

Komm zu mir Komm zu mir

Come to me, come to me

You're the only one - bang!

Maruv won the national selection Vidbir 2019, got some uncomfortable questions asked, conditions presented and eventually declined to participate getting the other artists join her her cause and in the end Ukraine withdraw altogether from Eurovision 2019... Shame, Siren song would have been a real contender overshadowing all these Swiss and Cypriot entries and walking over most everyone....

If this was still in competition it would be my #3. Bang!

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ESC 2016 WISH LIST: MARGARET FOR POLAND

Małgorzata Jamroży aka Margaret has also been tipped for Eurovision and apparently she did turn it down but she'd be perfect. She's got a look and persona you can't unnotice nor forget, she's got hit songs, she has been voted or nominated for everything from Trendy artist to the Hope of the Year, Fashion Icon and Glamour Woman of the year besides the usual best video, song, album, debut..... Oh she's also a fashion designer! She's very clever with social medias and would surely use it to her advantage if selected for Stockholm 2016. Her debut album is titled Add the blonde , do we need to say more? Except it includes mostly Swedish written pop tunes like Tell me how are ya , Wasted , Start a fire and Heartbeat . And of course her debut single and internationally noticed Thank you very much that you can enjoy below with all its anti-textil feel. I think she's Eurovision perfection, she's cheeky and fun, can we have her?

SONGS OF THE YEAR 2015: #5 KRISTA SIEGFRIDS - ON & OFF

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!

ESC 2016 BELARUS: NAKED WITH WOLVES?

Today's funniest Eurovision related story comes from Belarus. Some sources claim Ivan wants to perform on stage naked and with live wolf or wolves. It surely would be a first on Eurovision stage! We have seen some forgotten underwear over the years, and some cardbox animals though..... Is it time to take things a bit further? No, according the rules live animals are not allowed, and Eurovision being a family show nudity won't do either. (It seems to be ok to be half naked if you are a dancer though..... )

CAROLA'S BOOBS STEAL THE SHOW, SVT APOLOGIES

Update! Another thing got Swedes talking last night: Carola's boobs when she was giving away an award. This is not the first time her boombs cause headlines; her misfortunate adventures in the 80's in Japan wer explained with her boobs being too big for Japanese market. Ok.... Or was it the song ? Anyways, Carola apologies and says she thinks the dress is stylish and elegant (even her friends said so) and she's a mature woman in her 40s, not a 16-year-old girl and looks like one. The Swedish Oscars, Guldbagge awards were given out last night. Carola was there as a guest star to sing Barbra Streisand's The way we were when honoring the movie stars who passed away during 2012. However, the cameras were too much on Carola, not on the stars showed in photos in the background and that upset many viewers as that part of the show was to celebrate them, not Carola. Oh well... The producer of the show tells in Aftonbladet the part of the show was made the sam...

Russia recycles the video

Here is the video for Alexey's previous hit Бам Бам! and here is the video for his Eurovision 2011 entry Get you as Alex Sparrow as he likes to be called now abraod. Looks like he potreys the new rich Russia well.... The only problem is that he can't play the bad part convincingly not even a second. And did I say the song is crap? And of course as he is a Russian star he must have nude fotos of him flotaing around internet trying to be sexy and he fails there, too, big time. If you are not bad nor sexy you shouldn't push it. Maybe he should stick to singing jolly little numbers like the Kalinka rip off instead....

Regina Lund - naked and censored

Regina Lund's new video Jag är osynlig was censored by Youtube only minutes after it had been uploaded. In the video she was playing a female Jesus who gets crusified in the end. "I was shocked!" she says. "There's nothing more naked in it as in every church! It's ok to have naked man hanging on the wall but my nakedness is too much on internet? ". Oh well, no comment. She's prepairing a new album Dare Regina Lund and we of course remember her from her Melodifestivalen 2007 adventure with Rainbow star .

GREECE: HELENA PAPARIZOU HITS AGAIN WITH HAIDE

Eurovision song contest 2005 winner Helena Paparizou has been enjoying Top-5 hits every year since 2003 with the exception of 2010 and 2014, this latest one being already her 27th! And Haide is charting also in Bulgaria and Finland, of all places. The catchiness of her hits has changed less over the years than her face.... Here's the English version , below the Greek version.

TIM SCHOU AND HIS NAKED GRAVITY

Tim Schou has a pretty good solo career going since he left his friends in London. He's travelling the world and relesing songs and videos. The latest one is a great track and comes with a steamy video that kinda takes away from the song really. But who's complaining. If you got it, flaunt it. Enjoy the video below. This post coming after the other Dane, Rasmus Seebach as wishlist for Eurovision. To think about it, Tim would do nicely, too. Maybe he should give it another go?

MÅNS ZELMERLÖW GETS NAKED FOR THE GOOD CAUSE

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?!

Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

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