Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Here comes Senhit's second offering on her #FreakyTripToRotterdam and this time with a video filled with Hollywood "glamour", quote from Marilyn Monroe and reference to Hitler she has covered Everyway that I can , that gave Turkey its first and so far only victory in the Eurovision song contest in form of Sertab Erener and one of the most exciting votings ever in 2003.  Check out also CHEESECAKE

Greta Salome is clearly in Halloween mood.... ... as is Svala Artsvik is only posing. Or is she? Isaiah has got the mood.... ... and surely Conchita.... ... as does Valentina and her girls..... Kurt definately is! As is Nathan. Michal is only being himself. Scary enough? Loreen... hard to tell..... Cleo... not. Sweet as ever. Vaclav.... nope.  Jowst. Just being Jowst.  Aram Mp3 and emoji friend Freddie's not afraid of black cats Ira and horror of a snake Sertab. Scary. HAPPY HALLOWEEN PEOPLE!!!!

 Marija and her dog  Douwe feeding his family  Alexander trying to selfie a duck Vaidas doing good Amber feeling melancholy in Birmingham Amir in photoshoot for the new album! Hovi in photoshoot Iveta launching her own robe collection Aram mp3 inviting you for a bicycle tour Artsvik posing Carola studying new songs Conchita relaxing Yo! Polina adding drama Sertab leaving holidays she needs after breaking the Eurovision  fandom bubble with Turkish rumors....

It's already 14 years since Turkey scored its first (and maybe last as they're long gone) win at the Eurovision song contest with Sertab Eerener's Everyway that I can . She's now joined a street & ferry musician Evrencan Gündüz for this stripped down jazzy 'n bluesy version of the winning song.  When not jamming with his idol Sertab,  this up and coming musician can be found singing in the streets of Kadıköy in Istanbul -  since singing in the ferry between Europe and Asia is now forbidden..... PS. Never to be ut down, she's went to sing on the ferry anyways, allowed or not!

Elnur Hüseynov (28) is no stranger to Eurovision having already scored 8th place in 2008 when he provided Azerbaijan's debut entry Day after day in the contest with Samir. Since then this falsetto singingTurkmenistan born artist with the inceredible voice has starred in Notre-Dame de Paris in Ucraine and won O Ses Türkiye or  The Voice of Turkey where he even covered Sertab Erener's  Aşk , her opening act in Istanbul 2004 Eurovision and one of this blogger's favorite songs. Another reason to like Elnur.  Elnur's talent was discovered early and he attanded a school for gifted kids and specialized in piano. But he didn't chose music career first as he graduated from medical school with a degree in dentistry. Yet he wasn't only interested in teeth and took hairdressing classes. At some point he had time to graduate also from Music Collage, work at the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, sing in Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Choir and win a...

To his/her loved one that is. Krista Siegfrids, the Queen bee of the season gave a great interview to Viisukuppila's lovely Anna Muurinen, where she tells how two of her big dreams could come reality this spring. Here's the English edition of it. While at it, support also Tahdon2013 campaign for equal marriage. Why do you want to marry so bad? it's been a dream of mine since childhood. I want to be marred like my parents were. Somehow being married just seems like something more than just being together (and we know Krista's motto is More is more! Ed.note) You must really be of marrying kind as you have publicly also supported equal marriage right? Yes! I think it's wrong that all people can't marry.  Commitment brings security, love and the feeling of not being alone in this world. Each and everyone must have a right to feel that. I really hope that everyone could sing Marry me to her/his loved one... You are also a huge Eurovision fan.How one ...

Endless are the ways to select the Eurovision entry. November 2, 2012 a special advisory board will meet with the TRT committee to discuss the next Turkish entry. All this after TRT's general director İbrahim Şahin earlier this year said Turkey is done with Eurovision and will be in Baku 2012 only because it's Baku. He also criticized the televoting system maybe forgetting Turkey is one country that has benefited from it the most perhaps! All this is now past them and Turkey will indeed be in Malmö 2013.  The advisory board includes several previous Turkish represents along with other musicians, TV and radio personalities. I wonder what the outcome will be? I hope Turkey would bring back the real flavor of their music and hopefully also the language! Will they all agree it's time for Tarkan finally? :-) Can Bonomo (2012), Ferhan Akgül (maNga 2010), Harun Tekin (Mor Ve Ötesi 2008), Sertab Erener (2003), Kayahan Acar and Demet Sağır...

Four Turkish Eurovision stars in today's special videopost. Sertab Erener is back with new material and Bir Çaresi Bulunur Elbet is the lead single. Kenan Doğulu's summer hit was Şans Meleğim while Ajda Pekkan's another single of her latest success album is Arada Sırada  and there are various remixes as well, like this .  Hadise released Aşk Kaç Beden Giyer earlier this year.

It's time for a little summer trip and I'm off to Riga for the very first time. Riga hosted the Eurovision 2003 when Turkey won with 167 points followed by Belgium' s 165 and Russia 's 164 - a surprise twist after the last voting round and one of the most spectacular votings ever while the Latvian winning song the year before might be one of the less spectacular ever. The song, not the performance . Latvia has finished in the top-5 also with their debut in 2000 and again in 2005 . The past three years they have missed the final even if at least this year Musiqq did deserve the final if you ask me.... See you next week!

Sertab Erener, the Eurovision 2003 winner with Everyway that I can has released a new album  that includes singles Açık Adres (Open address) and Bu böyle. They made it to #3 and #1 in the Turkish charts. Quite laidback nice album but if you expect more Everyway that I can stuff, forget it.

Still reigning Eurovision winner Alexander Rybak will release his second album in 3 weeks. After Fairytales we get No boundaries (wasn't that the title of the first album after winning for Sertab Erener, too?) and it has a tribute to Finland amongst the songs, Suomi . Last summer Rybak was overwhelmed about his popularity and hsyteria she caused in Finland stating it was "biggeer than in Norway right after my winning" so it sure was something! The first single of the album is Oah .

The biggest Eurovision until then was held in Riga on May 24, 2003. Ukraine debuted. It is rumored also Albania, Belarus and Czech Republic wanted to participate. There were big doubts Latvia would be able to arrange the 48th Eurovision but in the end all went fine. There were no Eurovision veterans that year but Turkey and Portugal sent their big names, and Russia world famous fake lesbians t.A.T.u. The girls caused trouble all week and everywhere and in the end EBU gave Russia a warning. They ended their very disappointing and anti-climaxing performance with people booing loudly. The voting turned out one of the most exciting ever with top-3 Turkey, Belgium and Russia finishing within 3 points! And UK finished with null points. Sertab enjoyed a big hit in Europe and managed to create a following for years to come, even if her English speaking album didn't make great impact in the music market. http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3i4S4E7h3I

Sertab Erener dueted with Mando in Ask/Fos before she won the Eurovision 2003 for Turkey when Mando sung for Greece with less spectacular results. Here's the fantastic track in original http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=t35c7tRQQPg and here the very explosive Istanbul opening with the English version Leave http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=0zYqlT4HsEU . And that is, folks, the most exciting and memorable 5 minutes of my Eurovision history! Yes, it tops Helsinki 2007 - was just too involved and too tired, lol, and Lordi's winning, that took more than 5 minutes to understand and believe! But this opening was my first Eurovision live and Sertab was simply amazing as was the atmosphere in the hall. Still gives me shivers everytime I see it. I'd gladly go back to Istanbul very soon....

The Azeri final has just ended and we have the winnner(s) and I have a feeling we have also the song despite all. It is Elnur Gusseinov feat. Samir Javadzadeh with Day after day , a heaven and hell on stage, a sort of Jari Sillanpää vs Mihai Traistariau in an Eurovision freak show of high notes and campy costumes. In all a great show from Azeri TV, with a strange concept: first one song by each, then the guest stars Sertab Erener and Ruslana performed for ever, followed by another song by each of the trio before Marija took the stage and after that the winner was announced. In all a good choise. I was between Einur and Unformal but that Aynur woman was horrendous. Can someone send her to the same Berlitz intensive course la Dion got her English from, please? See him performing here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZn08gySKTc

Tomorrow's the EuroFest, the Belarussian final for the Eurovision. Four songs are still in the running and after careful listening (not) I stand for Ruslan Alehno , even if he strikes as a poor man's Koldun . Not because he and his Hasta la vista would be so great, but because the other ones ( Gunesh , Litesound and Po glazam ) are just worse! Oh wait, this is Belarus! Propably all of them have changed their songs now and tomorrow we hear something completely different? More interesting are the guest stars Sertab Erener , Ruslana , Natalia Podolskaya and... did someone mention Lordi ? Is it April Fool's already? See Hasta la vista here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQHOgA60LlM