EUROVISION: FROM BITAKAT HOB TO SOLDI - ARABIC EUROVISION
There have been countless Muslim artists in Eurovision over the years but it hasn't and it shouldn't matter but this year it gets more attention as the contest takes place in Tel Aviv, Israel, and three artists have been spotlighted as Muslims and represent the new multicultural Europe.
France's Bilal Hassani is of Moroccan origin, while Italian Alessandro Mahmoud is half Egyptian which caused a rasistic and political outburst when he won Sanremo festival despite him being born and raised in outskirts of Milan and identifying himself as 100% Italian. Maybe it's also due to the line in Arabic in his song taken out of context? Apparntly the only Arabic h knows. And then we have of course Turkish Serhat, back in business for San Marino. He's a real new European living and working between Germany, France, UK and Turkey.
Mahmood's line والدي والدي حبيبي تا’علينا (Waladi waladi habibi ta’aleena) isn't though the first time we hear Arabic in Eurovision. Israel's entry There must be another way by Noa and Mira Awad was sung in English, Hebrew and Arabic, and Bulgaria's Love unlimited by Sofi Marinova had habibi among about a zillion languages she mixed in it.
The only song entirely in Arabic so far is Morocco's Bitakat hob by Samira Ben Said in 1980. The one and only time Morocco has taken part didn't end well: second to last but hey, Finland can boast of losing even to Morocco in Eurovision! Samira didn't stop there but went on to become one of the biggest stars in Arabic countries. Every now and then there have been rumors of possible return of Morocco to the contest but nothing realistic so far...
Morocco may have been the first but it could have been actually Tunisia. In 1977 they intended to take part and were even drawn to perform fourth in Wembley but under the pressure of other Arab countries, maybe also helped by the fact the contest was delayed over a month thanks to BBC workers strike, they never showed up, nor their intended entry is known but it should have been in Arabic as it is the only official language even if French is commonly used.
In 2005 Lebanon appeared in the participants list and their entry was released: Aline Lahoud's Quand tout s'enfuit, sung in French. However Lebanon's laws banned showing Israeli content so they simply planned not to show the Israeli entry and go on adverts instead while it was on. When EBU found out they kicked Télé Liban out of the contest with three year ban and they haven't been heard or seen since.
When Israel won last year it was rumored they would invite Arab countries to the contest but sadly nothing happened in that front.... This blogger would love to see Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia and Lebanon for example take part (if and when they adapt to the rules). Those countries could give some new flavour to the contest. Samira could even return for Morocco:
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?
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!
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..... )
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...
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'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 .
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 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?
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?!
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