Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Jamala looked very fashionable (and Cèline Dionesque) for Vogue Naviband and autumn Kristian Kostov and autumn Dima Bilan and autumn Marija Serifovic and autumn Manel Navarro and autumn Ilinca in different kind of autumn colors Hovig, too ... and Tamara G Claudia enjoyed the annual Dinner in the sky Levina wondering her next note to record Mr Lordi fixing his face in Moscow Serhat met Douwe Bob Iveta continues her trip in Mumbai Jana got a baby girl! Congrats! Svala's Sunday face

This year's Eurovision was the usual love love peace peace fest it always is. It seems also that the many promotional events from London to Amsterdam, Madrid to Riga and especially the long one to Israel has bonded the artists together more than ever. Or so it seems following their social media updates as they sing together, they spend time together, they praise each other, they promise future collaborations together. That's the beauty of Eurovision. Uniting people. Europe. Artists. Love love peace peace indeed. This year was a special one on screen, too. First the Macedonian postcard, kept secret until the live broadcast, revealed lovely Jana is pregnant (and she may not be the only one....) but a bigger secret and revelation came later: her boyfriend proposed her in Green room in front of all of us and she of course said Yes! And can we forget the passionate kisses after their performances by Navi Band's Arciom and Ksienija, and Romanian Ilinca and Alex? if a...

Jana wears something very short as expected and it's a dark one. With long boots. And some akward dance moves and windmachine. She seems to be terribly alone on stage - and for one the staging stands for the title - but I'm not sure if it's working that well.  Also the song all of sudden feels rather poor and repetitive. Did that video just make the magic and illusion of something so much better?

  Jana won't be dancing alone in any club if she wears that dress! It's not the one she will wear on the big night but my guess is it'll be equally non-existing in lenght. Add high boots and her slutty moves that in some strange way mix nicely to her bubbly girl-next-door looks and facial expressions. She may have been a disaster in the promo events but apparently gave a decent vocal performance. Decent but not great. The backdrop has city lights that would fit Belgium, but here they are instead with some footage from her video clip or her dancing her heart out alone.  Now this is one hard thing to predict.... In or out?

The Nethrlands review Germany review Iceland review Macedonia review

Pictured is the national flower of Macedonia, poppy Macedonia chose internally Jana Burčeska and also her song Dance alone amongst the over 100 songs submitted The curious rumour is she was to sing In too deep first, the Serbian entry but ... who knows? Anyways, the song is written by Borislav Milanov, Alex Omar, Joacim Persson and Florence A. Macedonia's aim was to have an entry of quality and dignified representation, that is modern and attractive. Time will tell if they succeeded. Jana Burčeska (23) has experience in the Macedonian Idol  in 2011. Then she went on the usual festival circuit and tried to get to Eurovision in 2012, and participated in Skopje Fest 2013 and 2015 making herself known. She's also UNICEF Ambassador. This is one of those very few entries that I got very excited first and then with further listenings it has dropped in the ranking. It has a cool 80's sound, it's catchy and joyful and you are singing along already in the second...

The Eurovision pre-party season kicks off big time tonight in London where the annual London Eurovision Party takes place in Cafe de Paris. Truth to be said Riga already hosted its pre-party last week but as usual it didn't get much attention, nor participation. But in London tonight we have 21 of the 43 artists (as Albanian Lindita had to stay in the States for some other urgent promotiona matters it seems) plus some previous winners like Ruslana, Conchita and Linda Martin plus Polish Martin Fitch. He lives in London. Handy. Here's a collection of photos I have lovingly stolen from all the possible other sources and videos will follow I suppose.... Enjoy!       

Jana Burčeska has also released her entry for Macedonia in the Eurovision song contest, titled Dance alone. And it's a bit wierd affair in a way it doesn't sound at all like an Eurovision entry but a pop tune from the 80's. I'm not going crazy for it but I like it. Yet it's a bit hard to place it in the scoreboard, and then how will this work on stage with all those vocal sounds and stuff? And it's also too long.... Confusing.But the video and it's basic idea is pretty fantastic :-)

Jana Burčeska has been selected internally to represent Macedonia at the Eurovision song contest 2017 in Kyiv. She started her career in the Macedonian Idol back in 2011, and has participated in the Skopje Fest a few times since. Since 2014 she has also been singing in a local cult rock band Mizar. Her internally selected song will be presented later.