Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Loreen of Sweden is the 15th previous Eurovision song contest winner who has decided and/or managed give it another try. Only Ireland's Johnny Logan has managed to win twice, as we all know. One can't really do a ranking however as the contest had changed so much from the 1950's with maybe a dozen songs to the approx 40 we have these days. In coming days I will feature the winners who decided to come back  after  winning the contest as there also many winners who have won with their second or third try. Dana International (Sharon, previously Yaron, Cohen, 54). Now we can easily say for her coming back wasn't maybe a good idea. If her first time and win in 1998 was a triumphant ground breaking success despite a very small winning marginal: 172 for her, 166 for Imaani and 165 for Chiara.  But this big fan of late Ofra Haza tried already in 1995 to get to Eurovision placing second in the national final with Layla tov Eropa, and had been already scoring hits by then and esp...

It seems Israelis have dusted off the Turkish opening of the Eurovision final as Dana International will arrive "by plane" to the stage flown by Netta singing Tel Aviv ya habibi/Diva during the flag parade with all the finalists. Remember Istanbul when Sertab Erener arrived by helicopter to the stage singing amazing Leave ( Aşk ) after with her winning entry Everyway that I can? It seems it has also been confirmed Madonna will perform Like A Prayer  ( read more ) and a new yet unnamed song, but most likely I rise , not Medellin as speculated at first.  However it seems she has watched Eurovision lately and got some hologram ideas, as apparently for the American audience they are something new and exciting while for us Eurovision viewers nothing new anymore :-) Medellin gets its spotlight in Billboard Music awards on May 1, 2019 with a huge show featuring holograms and virtual reality so Eurovision is a good chance to premiere a new song with equally spectacula...

As much as I would like the countries hosting Eurovision song contest showcase their own musical heritage and culture - best done in recent years by the underdogs Finland in 2007 and Portugal last year - the rumor of Madonna being in negotiations for performing in the Eurovision 2019 final is just too juicy to let go by. And wasn't she rumored also for Lisbon at some point, after all she lives there now and seems to be somewhat familiar with the event. If that becomes reality I hope it's done better than Justin Timberlake's somewhat out of the place performance in 2016 of Can't stop the feeling , did he even know where he was? After all the Kabbalah loving queen of pop already has done a very fitting performance on her Confessions Tour, including Im nin'alu and all.... Let's get unconscious honey, get into the groove and I'm gonna party (It's a celebration) etc. You know. And there's still plenty of room for Netta, Dana International and Idan ...

Every now and then Eurovision song contest winners come back to the contest and looking back quite often it hasn't been such a good idea. A total of 14 previous winners have managed to return (and even more have tried but failed to win the national final. Latest of them is Swedish Loreen last year). In this series I have a brief look at them and how did it go..... Back in 1998 in Birmingham Israeli Dana International was the hot topic of the contest being the first ever transsexual and having angered the priests in her home country. She had tried to enter already in 1995 with Layla tov Eropa but then placed second in the national final, but in 1998 she was internally chosen. It was a close run and she won only with six points (172 vs UK's 166 and Malta's 165) but she became the winner of the first televoting era contest. If you look at the scoreboard those countries still using jury didn't quite support her. In 2008 she was back in contest, but as an author ...

   Gabbani and dogs  Demy and a dog  Naviband and dogs  Amir won at EMAs  ... and so did Loic. And Blanche got Border breakers award  Imri did Copenhagen and met the Little mermaid  Jari Sillanpää's got an extra job in Bangkok    Dana International met Boy George's karma Chameleon  Sergey and Dima back together again  Lena Philipsson met... err, Lena Ph? Manel met Pablo Alboran Sergey and Polina are ready for the New Year's show on TV Svala's fashion choice for this week Valentina becomes Mina Movember is here again.... And yes, Gianluca and Vanessa partied it away in their wedding. How was your week?

   Andras was filming his new music video and it looks ... err... interesting? Sex is back. If Tim Schou says so....    Litesound follows with sexy farmer look. Ehm....   Maraaya and Nika Zorjan were releasing some tension;  out with the sexy, in with the FUN!  Svala is a true fashion icon;  she even color coordinates the trees and cars!  Vaclad 's 4.30am face before a tv-show Anouk's everyday face. Conchita became a part of art in Vienna's MQ Dana INternational became a doll Edurne met a long lost fan Helena sat on the infamous red chair Frans performed with a jazz and big band. How was your week?

Jaana Pelkonen returns to the Eurovision stage when she will co-host the #UMK16 final next Saturday with Krista Siegfrids and Roope Salminen. She's done it many times before, she's been the Finnish commentator for years and when Lordi won in 2006 she was the unquestionable choice for the female host of Helsinki 2007 Eurovision song contest. Her being Eurovision fan started back in 1998 when Dana International won.... That was nine years ago, and last time she was involved in Eurovision was five years ago. Since then she's got into politics being a member of parliament - and in the last elections the most voted female politician in Finland. Not bad! Jaana found her ESC dresses in YLE's wardobe after 9 years She believes Eurovision and politics mix nicely together. They always have and always will. This year surely the refugee crisis will have its effect on the songs by some, and it's not a bad thing. Eurovision is a platform of 200 million people so wh...

Conchita Wurst was born on Columbian mountains but grew up in Germany, says Tom Neuwirth (25). There were petitions against her, protests and nasty comments - even from high class Russian politicans like Dmitry Rogozin, vice prime minister or nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky who said Sovjet Union made a mistake 50 years ago by leaving Austria, they don't have anymore "he" and "she" but only "it" - but the people had the power and she emerged the winner.  In a way it is history repeating itself: remember the protests against Dana International in 1998 and Lordi in 2006 in homesoil? Then after everybody loves the winner of course.  Tom comes from Bad Mitterndorf, a village of 3000 souls. No wonder he didn't fit in. He has treid his luck in a couple of reality talent shows , coming second in the Die große Chance 2011, and the year later second in the Austrian national final for the Eurovision with That's what I am . He has also done o...

When Austria broke the news Conchita Wurst will go to Copenhagen it was a bit of a Lordi/Dana International scale news. Headlines and controversy guaranteed. Tom Neuwirth (25) created the bearded woman, his drag queen alter ego a few years ago. Besides that he's a very good vocalist, that makes him different from other drag queens. And he has the beard. He shot to fame from a reality talent show and already was a runner up in Austria in 2012 with That's what I am . We get a big ballad Rise like a Phoenix . Apparently also autobiografical. Robert: Conchita surprised me in a very positive way with the choice of her song and later how she managed to sing it “live “. The song is a classy, type of Shirley Bassey, James Bond song. I like it and she deserves to be in the final with this . Blogilkar: I was thrilled when I heard Ms Wurst is making it this time. I loved his Unbreakable and adore the creature and person he has created. I was (and propably many others, too) expect...

Conchita Wurst, the chosen one for Austria has created some media fuss beforehand. Mostly in Belarus where there's a petition against her and her Eurovision participation. Really? How ridiculous is that? According to the petition, "The popular competition fills our kids with liberal European ideas, and it is becoming a hotbed of sodomy." Sounds very Russian. Or rather equally idiotic. All we can hope now is that they really won't show her and then get kicked out from ESC for breaking the rules for good. Or at least until they learn how to behave, respect the rules and people, and send which éver song wins the national final, whether the Dictator himself likes it or not.  But this is not the first time an Eurovision artist gets in trouble. In 1998 Israeli transsexual Dana International was tried to stop going, but that was mostly inside her own country by some religious extremist or something. Abroad we just adored her and voted her to win the whole thing just li...

Dima Bilan is out again with a new album, his 8th already and the first single of it is Dotyanis ( Дотянись) which this blogger likes a lot. Rather apocalyptic video that I can't make any sense of though...  Also Anna Rossinelli and her boys are back with a new album and the new single Let it go, that is already a success in Switzerland. A simple colorful video and rather catchy song indeed. Eros Ramazzotti is having a break off his world tour and releases yet another single and video from his latest album Noi , this time the duet with Nicole Scherzinger , Fino all'estasi . Great stuff in every way!  And finally Dana International gets Loca for this summer and the song sounds very much like her early hits!

Blogilkar's Bicycling recorter Robert had a quickie with Israeli Moran Mazor yesterday. Find out who she is and who she thinks should go for Israel next year and what are her favorite Israeli Eurovision songs. And if she wasn't a singer, what would she be and why? And why the song is in Hebrew only? And who is her backing singer?! Thank you for your time. What made you take part in Kdam, the Israeli selection? And did you think you had a chance to win it? Actually Eurovision is a childhood dream of mine, and I wanted to show the whole of Europe what I'm made of. And Kdam is the first step so when I was asked to take part I immediately said Yes! But not in my wildest dreams was I thinking to win it, so it was a pleasent surprise! Who do you think was your biggest competitor in Kdam? Ron Weinreich, he's so talented and had a great song. If he had won I would have been very happy, too. You sing the whole song in Hebrew, why did you decide to do so? Because...

Norway - Margaret Berger - I feed you my love Margaret, who has been working with Jukka Immonen, the Finn behind Belgium's entry this year, is among the superfavorites this year. And it's easy to see why.  She came like an alien from the outer space, looked stunning like an ice queen and fed the viewers her love and will to vote for her. Less is more in staging. The song looses some when only hearing it though. Yet, Norway shouldn't be worried about qualifying this year but how far this will carry in the final is another matter.... as this is rather cold package filled with drama that may be lost to other than hardcore Eurovision fans.... And the intro alone may get some tender people change channel as they might think there's something wrong with the sound. But I like it. Finland - Krista Siegfrids - Marry me Krista is another creature and total opposite on stage; while Margaret is cool and distant, Krista is all over the place and certainly more is more ! S...

Two Israeli Eurovision stars have joined forces for this song that translates to When men dance . The song has already taken over the Israeli airplay charts. Is this the Israeli take on Paula Koivuniemi's  Sata miesta tanssii (100 men dancing)?

Eurovision related artists keep releasing new songs and this time we have Nikki Ponte's Remembering summer nights , her follow up to her Greek Eurovision wannabe I don't wanna dance . Scooter already teamed up with Matia Bazar's Antonella Ruggiero in Ti sento and now Vicky Leandros gets the treatment with L'amour est bleu aka C'est bleu . Another Eurovision winner Dana International visits Subliminal in their Alay . Aurela Gce teamed with MC Kresha earlier this year in Ca$h with its rather futuristic video. Not bad, all four of them!

One of the most interesting and exotic performers in the national finals of 2012 is no doubt Austria's Conchita Wurst. He shot to the fame as his original Tom Neuwirth in Starmania 2007 reality that was won by none other than Nadine Beiler Tom being the runner up - is it time for his revenge? Even as Tom he had charm and most of all the voice: You're not alone , This is my life , Everything and Goldfinger . Then he grew his beard and hair, added some make up and wore a dress and mesmerized in Die Grosse Chance, another reality as Conchita: My heart will go on , I'll be there and original and absolutely fabulous Unbreakable , that could also be his Eurovision entry. If so, my clear favourite so far! She's a bit of a Dana International but with a voice, isn't she?