Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Cyprus returns to national final format after milking dry the last one staged in 2015. Then  the winner Giannis Karagiannis went to Eurovision, as did 3rd placed Minus One the year after, and 4th placed Hovig this year! And what about the runner up Panagiotis Kufogiannis ? Well, he went on to win X Factor Greece this summer! Quite a cast! So, for the Eurovision 2018 they will once again stage a talent search where Cypriots and anyone with Cypriot origins is welcome to take part.  The song for Lisbon 2018 will be written and produced by Alex P. aka Alex Papaconstantinou, who is no stranger to Eurovision having already co-written/produced  Always (Azerbaijan 2009), Yassou Maria (Greece 2007), La la love (Cyprus 2012) as well as some songs to worldwide stars like Marc Anthony's Grammy winning   Vivir mi vida , Enrique Iglesias' Billboard #1 I like how it feels and Jennifer Lopez's Live it up , but also this forgotten favorite from Melodifestivalen, Ro...

Here are some random pics that didn't squeeze into any post over the past two weeks from my lovely collaborators Robert, Jack and Markus in Stockholm, and myself. No intruduction, you should recognize everyone, right? Thank you guys once again for all the fun and work, you made me feel like being on spot. Thank you!

Czech Republic's Gabriela Guncikova has launched #singtogether . In short she challenges every artist to sing the entry of the country coming after in the running order so in the video below she starts by belting out Cyprus. The Cypriots have taken the challenge, in my exclusive video they are rehearsing Loin d'ici , the Austrian entry in the hotel lobby...... Now waiting for Zoe's take on Estonian Play. ...

Five hours. That's all I had in the wonderful Eurovision bubble. Just enough time to meet some dear friends and fellow bloggers, delegation members and OGAE friends and enjoy the glittery sunlight in Stockholm. But now back at home and enjoying the event from home sofa......  Amir's J'ai cherche welcomed me to the Globen area on tha music bridge, there couldn't have been a better start for the day. Next two hours were spent next to Sanja, Frans, Amir, the guys from Minus One, Francesca Michielin, Gabriela Guncikova, Ivan, Månz Zelmerlöw, quite a few head of delegations and commentators, waiting two hours for Ira Losco who didn't show up, and all things Eurovision. Life's good. Next stop EuroClub/Fan cafe meeting Justs and Aminata.  The most famous Eurovision beard  Frans Justs Then I had just enoug time to check out Eurovision vilage, NK's lovely Eurovision windows  and their very, VERY sad "Eurovision shop"..... and wo...

Minus One from Cyprus wished you beautiful Eurovision and... vote for them! I will, 

The cages are there for good. They were happy with their first reherasal so this was pretty much the same with minor changes. The wolf theme is a bit tuned down it seems. I liked this from the start and I'm glad they didn't mess it up with some foolish gimmicks. Great poprock. I hope tis qualifies as well. 

Time for some rock with Cyprus. Hard rock look, all in black, prison cell like cages, wolves, dry ice, negative pictures, a lot of black and white lights. Fire. Francois showing of his muscled arms. And did I mention the wolf? Apparently there's going to be some special trick with it still in the making. Hologram?  Aggressive and edgy. Energetic with not quite perfect vocals, some report. But this is just a technical rehearsal.  This certainly stands out between sweet pink colored Czechia and Austria! In the Meet & Greet the band said the rehearsal was pretty good, but still a lot of things to adjust. And they reveal this is their very first original song as they have been only a cover band until now. More original songs are coming out, so no worries. They think they will stand out because they have energy, they a rock band and it's a rock song, not so usual in Eurovision. And were they scared of the stage? No! They were like "Wow, this is what I want to do the res...

Four of the rockiest entries in this post. BELARUS - IVAN - HELP YOU FLY (Victor Drobysh/Alexander Ivanov, Timofei Leontiev, Mary Susane Applegate) Alexander Ivanov aka Ivan won the Belarusian national final and has since launched the most succesful PR campaign with his promises of being naked and with live wolves on stage, something that has made it to all sort of medias all over the world.... Genious! Blogilkar: Ivan has the best PR stunt of the season; news about his tendency for nudism has reached the world press in a way nothing else this year. The song is a light rock number, rather anonymous and unmemorable so any stunt, be it nakedness or wolves - or even a mention of either of them will help it as I would like to know how many commentators will remind viewers of his plans! Anyways, this isn't bad and I kinda enjoy it when I hear it. And then forget it exists.  6 Jack:  When Ivan won Belarus's national final, I wasn't exactly thrilled. I thought the s...

Moscow hosts again another Eurovision pre-party, for the 7th time already. This time in Izvestiya Hall. Apparently 13 acts will be present - even though there are mixed information on Albania's and San Marino's participation, let's see.... Albania - Eneda Tarifa Armenia - Iveta Mukuchyan Azerbaijan - Semra Rahimli Belarus - Ivan Cyprus - Minus One Israel - Hovi Star Macedonia - Kaliopi Malta - Ira Losco Moldova - Lidia Isac Russia - Sergey Lazarev San Marino - Serhat Spain - Barei Switzeland - Rykka

Cyprus has revealed it's song Alter ego today with a beautifully shot video. Minus One was internally chosen ages ago but now we know what their collboration with Thomas G:son has brought us. And It's not bad at all.... And guess what? The lead singer Francois Michellotto is competing also in the Voice of France at the moment!  He's going to have one busy spring....