Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Velvety voiced Marco Olivieri is trying his luck in the Swiss selection for the Eurovision 2011 with soulful Losing you . In this exclusive BlogIlkar interview he tells a bit more about himself. First of all: Who is Marco Olivieri? Mark Oliver is a songwriter born in a small and quiet Italian town near Milano called Vigevano, where I found the ideal conditions to inspire my music Why Eurovision. Are you a Eurovision fan? Do you follow it every year? Do you have some favourite songs or performances? To participate in the Eurovision song contest would be a dream for me. I followed it ever since I was little. My favourite songs are Vuelve Conmigo (Spain 1995 )and Keelatud Maa (Estonia 1997.) I recently enjoyed the Urban Symphony’s Rändajad (Estonia) in 2009 Eurovision What don you think of Italy’s absence and do you think Italy will return in 2011 as RaiDue has let us believe? I hope so. A country rich in musical culture like Italy can not miss an appointment like that. It would...

Well, that's just my opinion as the two favourites of mine both are Italians! Namely ADZ from Sanremo with Tornerai , a very intense rock ballad and Marco Olivieri from Vigevano with r'n'b Losing you . Then we also have Davide Buzzi & Alex Cambis i from L'Aquila and Devil Chic Riot from Campobasso (also very good, btw). In all there are now seven songs in Italian but artists from various countries have sent in songs (mostly unfortunately very forgettable ones): Belarus, Romania, Belgium, Austria, Germany, Israel, Malta, Poland, Russia, Ireland and Northern Ireland. Some singers have sent up to eight songs (when zero was enough). My guess is the serious contenders will send in their songs just before the voting starts but those previously mentioned Italians are very good, so is this . And then there's of course Mariella Farré and Todomondo..... here .  And in the radio selection (or something, I'm a bit lost with this Swiss selection I admit) there are more,...