Martijn

Circus Mircus to represent Georgia in Turin

Today, eurovision.tv announced Circus Mircus to be the Georgian representatives in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest. They did this by stating that they received an e-mail with the following text: “Dear Earthlings, This is a message from Circus Mircus. We would like to inform you that according to the decision made by the Georgian Public Broadcaster, at the international song contest Eurovision, Georgia will be represented by Circus Mircus. You ask, what is Circus Mircus? It is a movement that brings together dozens of professionals from different fields to create an unprecedented audio-visual experience. The cornerstone of their philosophy lies in the complete neglect of musical frameworks. To talk to ‘Circus Mircus’ members and for further information, please email us.” The band also added the message on YouTube: In fact, Circus Mircus is a 3 man band. They were drop outs from the local Circus Academy in Tbilisi. If you want to get an idea of what you can expect from the group, go to their YouTube channel or watch this clip: photo credits: eurovision.tv

Blast from the past: Denmark 1958

We know a lot about Eurovision; this is knowledge we want to share with you. Therefore we’d like to bring you a blast from the past. Back to 1958, when Denmark was represented by Raquel Rastenni with “Jeg rev et blad ud av min dagbog”. Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest Hey, wait… it was only 1958! In Hilversum, The Netherlands, the 3rd Eurovision Song Contest was about to take place. Denmark expressed the wish to participate in 1956 already, but that didn’t happen. In 1957, Birthe Wilke & Gustav Winckler represented the country, ending their performance with the famous long lasting kiss. They ended up 3rd. How on earth could a performance be more spectacular than that one? Dansk Melodi Grand Prix The national final was held on February 16th in studio 2 of Radiohuset in Copenhagen. Six songs competed in the contest that was hosted by Sejr Volmer-Sørensen: Nanina, sung by Bent Weidlich Jeg rev et blad ud av min dagbog, sung by Raquel Rastenni For altid, sung by Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winckler Evas lille sang, sung by Preben Uglebjerg Mit gamle hakkebræt, sung by Preben Neergaard Refræn, sung by Raquel Rastenni After the presentation of the songs, the winner, song no. 2, was announced. No other results are known. Raquel Rastenni Raquel Rastenni was born as Anna Rachel Rastén, August 21 1915, in Copenhagen. She began her career as a dancer in the Helsingør Revyen in 1936 and had her debut as a singer in 1938. She also had her radio debut in that year. In 1940, she formed her own swing trio. That same year, her first record was released. She also toured in Sweden at the time. Being Jewish, Raquel had to flee to Sweden in October 1943 with her family due to the occupation. She spent the rest of the war years here, where she continued her success. In 1945, Raquel Rastenni returned to Denmark, and in the following years she became Denmark’s leading singer. Among her successes were “Vovsen i vinduet” (1953, Danish version of the English song (How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?) And Heksedansen (1960). In the 1970s, she expanded the repertoire with Jewish songs. Her best-selling record was “Hele ugen alene” (1953), which sold over 120,000 copies. She was the first Danish artist to achieve a gold record for a million. sold gramophone records. She continued to receive awards throughout her career. She represented Denmark in the 1958 Eurovision song contest. She participated twice more in the Danish Melodi Grand Prix. In 1961 she sang a duet with Grethe Sønck, “Hjemme hos os“, which ended in a shared 5th place, and as a soloist in 1964 with the song “Vi taler samme sprog”. During the Yom Kippur War in the Middle East in 1973, she sang a backing track for Israel with Yiddish and Hebrew songs; she often visited the country and in 1975 was inscribed in Jerusalem’s so-called Golden Book. In the late 1980s, she retired from public life. She passed away in Skodsborg in North Sealand four days before her 83rd birthday. Jeg rev et blad ud av min dagbog “I tore a page out of my diary, every little word I regret my dear”, that was what Raquel Rastenni sang. The full lyrics can be found here. Sven UIrik and Harry Jensen co-wrote the song. Kai Mortensen was the conductor in Hilversum. On stage, Raquel Rastenni literally did what she sang: she tore a page out of her diary. Results Three countries all had one vote for the Danish song: Sweden, France and The Netherlands. That brought Denmark to an 8th place out of 10, which was much less successfull than the year before. photo credits: Beeldengeluidwiki

Blast from the past: Bosnia and Herzegovina 2006

We know a lot about Eurovision; this is knowledge we want to share with you. Therefore we’d like to bring you a blast from the past. Back to 2006, the Bosnian entry, Hari Mata Hari with “Lejla”. Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Eurovision Song Contest The Bosnian participation in the Eurovision Song Contest has not been a success story so far. With a 7th place for Dino and Beatrice in 1999 and a 9th place for Deen in 2004, Bosnia and Herzegovina was not quite the country to be afraid of. Something had to change. Internal selection On February the 9th, 2006, RTBiH (Radio Televizija Bosná i Herzegovina) announced that Hari Varešanović was going to represent the country in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest in Athens. Hari was the singer of the famous Bosnian group Hari Mata Hari. The group was going to join Hari on stage in Athens. On the 5th of March, during a live television show, the song “Lejla” was presented to the audience. Hari Mata Hari Hari Varešanović grew up in Vratnik, one of Sarajevo’s oldest towns. He recorded his first song “Zašto da ne uzmem nju”. In 1979, Hari joined the group Zov. Furthermore, Varešanović sang with the group “Ambasadori“, with whom he became a professional singer. After serving his military service he recorded a solo album called “Zlatne kocije”. That was in 1984. In September 1985, Hari Varešanović, won a song contest and founded the music group “Hari Mata Hari”. That same year, they released their first album. In 1986, Pierre Zalica – “Badzo” and Zoran Kesic left the group. They were replaced by pianist Adi Mulihalilović and bass guitarist Neno Jeleč, who would eventually be replaced by Željko Zuber. Their 1986 album, “Ne bi te odbranila ni cijela Jugoslavija”, won the award for best album of the year. They took part in Jugovizija, the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, in 1986. They became 5th with “U tvojoj kosi” and in 1987 they gained the 14th place With the song “Nebeska kraljica“. In 1988, Hari started filming for the production company Jugoton in Zagreb. The album “Ja te volim najviše na svijetu” has sold over 300,000 copies. The next album “Volio bih da te ne volim” sold over 500,000 copies. The break-up of Yugoslavia and the wars that followed left a mark on the group’s career. In 1991, Edo Mulahalilović left the group to start his own career. At the end of 1991, the group released another album. After that album, most of the activities stopped, due to the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In late 1994, the group released their next album, while they were refugees in Germany. This album was made by Harry and Izo only. It was only in 1997 or 1998 when the group reunited. The group consisted of (except Harry and Izo) Karlo Martinović, Miki Bodlović, Adi Mulihalilović and Emir Mehić. They returned to the music scene with an album of greatest hits, released in 1998. In 1999, Hari Varešanović was selected to represent Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Eurovision Song Contest. However, he was disqualified due to problems with the song’s status. Hari sold the song “Starac i more” to Finland in 1997. Finnish singer Janne Hurme recorded the song in Finnish, called “Sydänveri“. Together with Hank Paldum, Hari recorded the duet “Crni snijeg” in 2001. In the same year, the album “Baš ti lijepo stoje suze” was released with a couple of hit songs. In 2002, the song “Ruzmarin” became an instant hit. Hari Mata Hari was one of the 6 finalists at the Croatian Radio Festival. Also, in 2002, Hari Mata Hari won the Davorin Award for Song of the Year with “Kao domine”. In 2003, Hari Mata Hari took part in the Croatian Radio Festival twice again. At the Festival of Split, the group competed with the song “Zakon jačega”. Later that year, the band released their next album, entitled “Zakon jacega”. In 2006, Hari Mata Hari was asked again to represent Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2007, the group released the single “Zar je to još od nas ostalo”. In 2009, the band released the album “Sreća”. Nihat Voloder left the group and was replaced by Željko Zuber. Lejla The song “Lejla” was a love song. It was a typical Balkan ballad. No miracle, as it was composed by Željko Joksimović, who also was successfull as a singer for Serbia and Montenegro in 2004. The lyrics were written by Fahrudin Pecikoza and Dejan Ivanović. Pecikoza also wrote the 1993 Bosnian entry “Sva bol svijeta” ánd the disqualified entry “Starac i more” for Hari Mata Hari. The lyrics of the song can be found here. Results Although Finland was the clear favorite to win the contest, it was also clear that Bosnia and Herzegovina was going to do well. And the country díd! The first twelve points coming in were for Bosnia and Herzegovina. No less than nine (!!) countries gave it their ‘douze points’. With a total of 267 points, Bosnia and Herzegovina had its best score ever: a 3rd place. So far, this is still the best score.

Blast from the past: Austria 2018

We know a lot about Eurovision; this is knowledge we want to share with you. Therefore we’d like to bring you a blast from the past. Back to 2018, the Austrian entry, Cesár Sampson with “Nobody but you”. Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest Austria is a country with a long history of bad placings in the contest. After the victory in 1966 with Udo Jürgens, it took ages before Conchita Wurst took the prize back home in 2014. However, since then Austria reached the final every time. Austria was back in the picture as a successfull country. Reason enough for the Austrians to look for another entry that would do it. National selection Conchita Wurst was chosen by ORF (Österreichischer RundFunk) internally to represent the country. After two national finals, Nathan Trent (the 2017 contestant) was selected internally again. ORF decided to do it this way again. Anyone could submit songs, but ORF also invited artists to submit songs themselves. On december 5th, 2017, there was news: it was Cesár Sampson who got the ticket to the contest in Lisbon. Songwriting team Symphonix International (Borislav Milanov, Sebastian Arman, Joacim Persson and Johan Alkenäs) wrote a song for him. “Nobody but you” was presented on March 9th. Cesár Sampson Cesár Sampson is an Austrian singer, songwriter, producer, dancer and model. He was born in Linz. His mother Kathy Sampson sang “A Good Friend” in the 1990s, the theme song of the well-known crime series Kommissar Rex. He is the nephew of the singer Helen “Pepsi” DeMacque-Crockett of the duo Pepsi & Shirlie. As a child, he was in front of the camera in a music video by La Toya Jackson.Sampson worked as a social worker for years. He has also worked in the music business as a producer for many years, including with the Symphonix International producer collective. As a backing vocal, Sampson was on stage at the Eurovision Song Contest twice in a row, in 2016 and 2017, representing Bulgaria. “Nobody but you” As mentioned, the Austrian entry was written and composed by the Symphonix International songwriters team ánd by Cesár Sampson himself. It was a song with a gospel sound. The full lyrics of the song “Nobody but you” can be found here. Although the song was not the favorite to win the contest, Austria seemed to have a sure qualifier and probably even a high scoring entry. Results Although the expectations were high, the jury vote brought a complete surprise: the expert jury chose Cesár Sampson and Austria as there winner, with no less than 9 countries awarding the song with ‘douze points’. But with the televoters only awarding it 71 points and a 13th place, the chances to win disappeared quite quickly for Austria. In the end, Sampson reached a 3rd place.

X-Factor Israel: results are in

Yesterday evening, 7 artists auditioned for X-Factor Israel. The final winner of X-Factor Israel 2022 will represent the country in the Eurovision Song Contest. The contestants were: Anna Stephanie Camila Kama Elisha Nachmias Ilai Almkeys Inbal Bibi Michael Ben David Shri Adar As two judges voted against Shri Adar, she didn’t get through. All the others did.

National final season starts with Israel

Tonight is the night national final season really starts. Israel is the country that kicks off! The past years, Ha’kokhav haba L’Eurovizion was the national final. It even brought Israel a victory with Netta. But now, things have changed: The X-Factor Israel will be the contest. The first show will be transmitted tonight at 20:30 CET and you can watch it here. A journey through singing Israel will bring us four finalists in the end. One of them will get the ticket to Turin as the successor of Eden Alene. But tonight, we will see auditions first. The jury exists of Aviv Geffen, Miri Mesika, Ran Danker, Margol and…. Eurovision winner Netta!! Eden Alene, photo credits: EBU

Blast from the past: Germany 1992

We know a lot about Eurovision; this is knowledge we want to share with you. Therefore we’d like to bring you a blast from the past. Back to 1992, the German entry, “Träume sind für alle da”, sung by Wind. Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest The golden years for Germany have ended. With a first place for Nicole in 1992 and second places for Wind in 1985 and 1987, Germany was the country to beat. But after Wind’s second time at the Eurovision stage, it stopped. The 1991 entry even was a total failure: three countries saved Atlantis 2000 from zero. Something had to be done to change this. Ein Lied für Malmö The national preselection was called “Ein Lied für Malmö” (A song for Malmö). German broadcaster MDR (Mittel Deutsche Rundfunk) organized the preselection, which was held on March 30 in Magdeburg, hosted by Carmen Nebel. Six singers and groups each had one song. Only the group Blaue Engel had never before taken part in a German Eurovision final. Bernhard Brink sang “Der letzte Traum“, 4th with 0 points Relax sang “Blue Farewell River“, 4th with 0 points Susan Schubert sang “Shalalaika“, 4th with 0 points Blaue Engel sang “Licht am Horizont“, 2nd with 3 points Lena Valaitis sang “Wir seh’n uns wieder“, 3rd with 1 point Wind sang “Träume sind für alle da“, 1st with 7 points The votes were cast by the 11 regional juries. Wind For a third time, the Germans chose Wind from Munich to represent them. At that moment, only two of the original group members, Sami Kalifa and Petra Scheeser, were around. The others were singer Albert Oberloher, Stefan Maro, Tina Hierstetter and Oliver Hahn. Wind was made up by singer/songwriter Hanne Haller in 1985. They were the surprise winners of the 1985 German final for the Eurovision Song Contest. Their song “Für Alle” was the hot favorite to win the contest. However, the group became 2nd. In 1987, with a new singer, they did the same. Note that in “Laß die Sonne in dein Herz” Rob Pilatus was one of the band members. Rob became famous (and infamous) as one of the two Milli Vanilli boys, who appeared not to sing their own songs.Wind released a total of 21 studio albums and started to become more and more a concept in stead of a band. They still exist, but none of the 1992 members still sing in Wind. Träume sind für alle da The song “Träume sind für alle da” (Dreams are there for all) was a typical 1990s German Eurovision schlager, but not really a song that many liked. The song was composed by Ralph Siegel, with lyrics from Bernd Meinunger. You can read the full lyrics here. Results Third time was clearly NOT a charm for Wind. With points from no more than 5 countries (10 from Portugal!), Wind ended up in 16th place. Wind did to later attempts to get to the Eurovision stage, but both times they failed.

Blast from the past: Ireland 2001

We know a lot about Eurovision; this is knowledge we want to share with you. Therefore we’d like to bring you a blast from the past. Back to 2001, the Irish entry: “Without your love” by Gary O’Shaughnessy. Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest The nineties were thé decade for Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest with no less than four victories and a second place. However, Dawn Martin (1998) and The Mullans (1999) did not make it to the top. Eamonn Toal (2000) became 6th… nice, but not as good as it was for Ireland. Something had to happen to get Ireland back on top. Eurosong 2001 The national final for the contest was called ‘Eurosong 2001’. Seven artists competed in Eurosong. On February 25, Louise Loughman hosted the contest. The winner was chosen by televoting through 7 regional juries. James Peake sang “Who said I pray“, 5th with 41 pts InFocus sang “Every kiss is a lie”, 2nd with 70 pts Gavin McCormack sang “I’ll be with you“, 6th with 34 pts David Murphy sang “Katie lovely“, 7th with 31 pts Fe-Mail sang “Undertow“, 3rd with 63 pts Gary O’Shaughnessy sang “Without your love“, 1st with 74 pts Emma Reynolds sang “The innocent days“, 4th with 51 pts It was a close call, and in total the boyband InFocus even received the most televotes while placing 2nd. Gary O’Shaughnessy Gary O’Shaughnessy is an Irish singer and songwriter. Besides singing, he plays guitar, bass guitar and keyboards. O’Shaughnessy started studying at age of 12 for four years with Irish jazz guitarist Eugene Macari. In 1989, he formed a band with his brother Brian and together they toured Ireland, Spain and the UK. In 1995, the two brothers performed as the duo “2 of a kind” which became very popular in cabarets, clubs and pubs. Gary O’Shaugnessy took part in the Irish National Song Contest in 1997, 1999 and 2001. The last one he won and so he represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest. His cousin Ryan O’Shaughnessy did the same in 2018. Without your love The song “Without your love” is written and composed by Pat Sheridan. “Without your love, without your heart, I’d be lost here, in the dark”, Gary sang. You can read the full lyrics here. “Without your love” was a typical song in the tradition of Irish ballads. Results The Eurovision Song Contest was not a success for Gary O’Shaughnessy. To be honest: it became the worst Irish score so far. Only the United Kingdom (5 points) and Portugal (1 point) kept “Without your love” away from the zero points. O’Shaughnessy became 21st.

Blast from the past: Netherlands 1973

We know a lot about Eurovision; this is knowledge we want to share with you. Therefore we’d like to bring you a blast from the past. Back to 1973! We will talk about the Dutch entry, “De oude muzikant” by Ben Cramer. The Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest It was quite a successful time for The Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest. A victory in 1969, a 6th place in 1971 and a 4th in 1972. A survey among people at Dutch broadcaster NOS learned that the famous duo Mouth & McNeal were favourite to represent the country in the 1973 contest. However, they didn’t want to go. Ben Cramer was 2nd choice. And he said yes!! Ben Cramer Bernardus Kramer was born in Amsterdam the 17th of february 1947. His career started with a band called The Sparklings. In 1966 they first performed on television. As Ben Cramer & The Sparklings they had their first huge hit in The Netherlands: “Zai, zai, zai“. This song and his solo single “Dans met mij” (1968) were his greatest hits. Cramer took part in a lot of song contests all over the world. In 1970 he sang the song “Julia” in the Dutch national final for the Eurovision Song Contest. In 1971 he started working together with Pierre Kartner, who also wrote his Eurovision Song. Cramer was a star, but in the early 1980s his stardom began to faint. In 1981 he did another attempt to go to Eurovision. However, his song “Retour” only got 2 points and “Marianne” even ended up with zero points. In the 1990s he started a new career, as a musical star. He played roles in “Evita”, “Chicago”, “The Phantom of the Opera”, “Aida” and “Chess”. National final A circus was the scenery of the national final. Wellknown Dutch artists showed circus acts. In between the songs Ben Cramer sang four songs. The contest took place on february 28 in Carré Theatre in Amsterdam. The four songs were: 1.Kom met me mee, 3rd with 15 points2.Melodie, 4th with 14 points (Ben co-wrote this song with Hans Blum)3.Kom Sylvia dans met mij, 2nd with 19 points4.De oude muzikant, 1st with 62 points “De oude muzikant” won with a landslide. De oude muzikant “De oude muzikant” (the old musician) was a song about an old, forgotten musician who once was a big star in Paris. You can find the lyrics here. The song was written and composed by Pierre Kartner, the man he worked with in those days. Bens performance in Luxembourg knew a lot of struggle. Especially during the general rehearsal, Ben had troubles with the technicians, as he was not happy with the lightning. He stopped the rehearsal, while the entire jury was watching. It can be the reason for his low final score. Rumour has it that the technicians took revenge by giving Ben Cramer lousy exposure on stage. Note that the musician in the video is composer Pierre Kartner. Final score Two jury members, one younger than 25 and one of 25+ formed the jury per country. They could both give a song a mark of 1-5, making it 10 per country. Only the jury in Luxembourg (7) and France (6) were a little bit enthousiastic about “De oude muzikant”. With a total of 69 points Ben Cramer only became 14th.

41 countries in 2022 Eurovision Song Contest

41 countries will take part in the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest in Turin. That is what EBU announced today. In comparison with the 2021 contest, Armenia and Montenegro return. The full list is here: Albania Australia Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Iceland Ireland Israel Italy Latvia Lithuania Malta Moldova Montenegro North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland The Netherlands Ukraine United Kingdom France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom will directly be placed in the final, to be held on may 14. The other countries will have to qualify through a semifinal on may 10 or 12. As one of the ‘big five’ was this year’s winner, there will only be 25 countries in the final.