2006

šŸ‡·šŸ‡“ Blast from the Past: Romania 2006

We know a lot about Eurovision and we want to share this knowledge with you! Therefore weā€™d like to bring you a blast from the past. Today: Mihai Trăistariu, who represented Romania in the 2006 contest with “Tornero”. Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest Romania made its debut in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994. The country has mostly participated every year, missing out only a few times. One notable absence was in 2016, when the country was disqualified due to unpaid debts to the European Broadcasting Union.Romania has achieved several respectable placements throughout the years, but, so far, the country hasn’t won the contest. Romania’s best results were third place, achieved in 2005 with the song “Let Me Try” by Luminița Anghel & Sistem and in 2010 with the song “Playing with Fire” by Paula Seling & Ovi. Romania is known for bringing a variety of music genres to the contest, from pop and rock to folk and traditional. Some entries, like “Zaleilah” by Mandinga in 2012, featured a mix of Romanian folk sounds with modern beats, giving it a distinct flavor.This year, unfortunately, Romania was facing their worst score ever, getting no points at all in the semifinal for “D.G.T. (Off and on)” by Theodor Andrei. Luminița Anghel Selecția Națională 2006 The Romanian national final always has the name Selecția Națională, also in 2006. Two semifinals and a final took place, three days in a row. The final, containing twelve songs, was held on February 26th. “Hey a hey”, Gina Pop Band, 4 pts, 10th “Se tu vuoi”, Linda, 10 pts, 6th “It’s our world”, Maria Radu & Mike Peterson, 5 pts, 8th “Sunshine”, Jasmine, 5 pts, 8th “Jokero”, Akcent & Nico, 20 pts, 2nd “Brand new feeling”, Dora, 13 pts, 3rd “Sagapo”, MiDo, 3 pts, 12th “Tornero”, Mihai Trăistariu, 22 pts, 1st “Be my boyfriend”, Indiggo, 6 pts, 7th “I believe in my star”, Laurențiu Cazan, 12 pts, 4th “GĆ¢ndești prea high”, Delia, 4 pts, 10th “The universe”, Tony Poptămaș and Desperado, 12 pts, 4th Note that not only “Tornero” was a success. Ā “Jokero” by Akcent and Nico also became an international hit. Aksent – Jokero Mihai Trăistariu Born on December 16, 1979, in Piatra Neamț, Romania, Mihai displayed an early passion for music. He began his music education at the Carmen Sylva Art School in Piatra Neamț and later graduated from the Bucharest Academy of Music. Mihai’s breakthrough came with his participation in various music festivals. In 1999 Mihai joined the group Valahia. They took part in the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2000 with the song “Why” and reached a 2nd place. Also in 2002 (“Mother”, 4rd), and in 2004 (“Friends are friends”, 3rd). In 2005 he also took part, now in duet with Nico, “All the time”. It was the same year that Mihai’s debut album was released. But his rise to international fame was cemented with his Eurovision entry. In 2006, he performed the song “Tornero,” a catchy pop track infused with operatic elements. The song finished in 4th place, one of Romania’s highest rankings in the contest, and subsequently became a hit across Europe.In total, Mihai released four albums. Also, he took part in Selecția Națională numerous times. His most successful participation, apart from “Tornero”, was “I won’t surrender” in 2017, which reached a 2nd place. In 2019 Mihai withdrew, because he did not agree with Romanian television on the way the contest was organized. He had taken part in a show on another tv-station (Your Face Sounds Familiar) and stated “I do not trust the objectivity of the Eurovision Romania organisers, regarding the unclear situation about the competitors ā€” those who qualified through the pre-selection and those who were later favoured ā€” I decided to withdraw.”Nowadays, Mihai Trăistariu has another career….. he is, as far as we know, the only Eurovision participant with an OnlyFans page. Tornero The song stood out due to Mihai’s powerful vocal range and its infectious pop-opera blend. At the contest, held in Athens, Greece, “Tornero” managed to achieve 4th place with 172 points. This ranking is one of the highest Romania has achieved in the contest. The track is a pop song with operatic elements, and its title, “Tornero,” is an Italian word meaning “I will return.” The song is about a man who promises his love that he will return to her.Ā “Tornero” was well-received, not just within the Eurovision community, but also among general music enthusiasts. After the contest, it charted in several European countries and became a notable hit. Ā  Ā 

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After the Eurovision fame: Dima Bilan

Dima Bilan won the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest for Russia. Early life Dima Bilan was born as Victor Belan on December 24, 1981. He was born in Ust-Dzheguta, in the Autonomous Soviet Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia. He took part in several music competitions. For example, he won the “Young Voices of the Caucasus” competition. His first performance on television was in 1995, also in a talent show. In 1998, when he was 16 years old, he went to Moscow to participate in the Chunga-Changa festival, where the chairman of the jury gave him a diploma. He chose ‘Dima Bilan’ as his stage name; Dmitriy was his grandfather’s name. So Dima is a tribute to him. Breakthrough and first two albums Once he lived in Moscow, Dima began to record his first songs. The video of his debut single “Osen” became a success. The video was shot in the Gulf of Finland. At the time, under the pseudonym Dima Belan, he was regularly seen on MTV Russia.Although he studied to become an opera singer, he dreamed of a career as a pop singer. The dream came true when a classmate introduced him to producer Yuri Aizenshpis. His first real big success came in 2002, when he took fourth place in the New Wave festival. A new single and video, “Boom”, followed and in 2003 there was Dima Bilan’s debut album “Ya nochnoy huligan”. Television appearances followed, and his single “Na beregu neba” reached number 2 in the Russian charts. The album with the same name went gold in 2004. It became one of the best-selling albums of 2004 in Russia. First steps in the field of Eurovision After this success, producer Aizenshpis registered Bilan to participate in the national final of the Eurovision Song Contest. He sang in English: “Not that simple”. Although he was close, Dima Bilan didn’t win the ticket to the Eurovision song contest in Kiev. He did, however, have a hit with the song. The Russian version “”Ty dolzhna ryadom byt’” became one of the biggest hits of 2005. Several other hits followed. When Yuri Aizenshpis passed away in late 2005, producers lined up to take Dima under their wing, eventually Yana became Rudkovskaya his new producer. That caused another problem with his name, because it was officially owned by Aizenshpis’ company. When this conflict was resolved, Dima decided to officially register under the name Dima Bilan. Eurovision 2006In 2006, the Russian broadcaster wanted to be sure that Dima Bilan would represent the country at the Eurovision Song Contest. They decided to single him out without a national final. His song “Never let you go” did very well: a second place was awarded to him. Never had aĀ Russian candidateĀ finished higher. He subsequently represented Russia at the MTV Europe Awards and won an Award as best-selling Russian singer at the World Music Awards. Winning the Eurovision Song Contest In 2007, Dima Bilan recorded an English-language album with the famous producers Jim Beanz and Ryan Tedder. Again, he won awards at the MTV Russia Award. In 2008 a new Russian album was released. He also took part in the national final for the Eurovision song contest again. During the contest in Belgrade he sang “Believe”. The song was co-written by Jim Beanz. Dima was accompanied by Hungarian violinist Edvin Barton and Olympic figure skating champion Evgeni Plushenko. Dima Bilan managed to win the Eurovision Song Contest. No return to Eurovision The album “Believe” soon followed. In 2010, Dima Bilan had a song ready to participate in the Eurovision song contest: “White nights”. However, he decided not to. Joining again two years later would be too soon, according to Bilan. In that year he did play the lead role in a short film. In 2011, he released another new Russian album. The return to the song contest came in 2012: in duet with Yulia Volkova (known from t.A.T.u.), “Back to her future”. Despite their favorite role, they did not win but had to make do with second place. The Voice After the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, Dima Bilan released four more studio albums. He was also a coach in several seasons of the Russian version of The Voice. He was in the chair in seasons 1 through 3, in seasons 5 and 6, and will soon be seen again in season 10. He also coached the first four seasons of The Voice Kids in Russia. Ā 

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Natalia Gordienko

Ā© EBU/Andres Putting About Quick Facts NameNatalia Gordienko Born11 december 1987 NationalityšŸ‡²šŸ‡© Moldovan National SelectionMoldovan National Final 2005Moldovan National Final 2006Moldovan National Final 2020Internal selection 2021 In EurovisionRotterdam 2021Rotterdam 2020 (Cancelled)Athens (2006) SongSugar (2021)Prison (2020)Loca (2006, with Arsenium and Connect-R) Biography Natalia Gordienko is a Moldovan singer and dancer. She was born in the capital Chișinău. When she was 10 years old, she already performed in a show calledĀ Zolotoy Klyutchik. After finishing highschool, Natalia joined the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts, in the Pop and Jazz Vocal section.Ā She was the lead singer of the band Millennium. The band took part in the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest and took part in theĀ Golden Deer International ContestĀ inĀ Romania. InĀ 2006, she was chosen to representĀ MoldovaĀ in the Eurovision Song Contest together withĀ ArseniumĀ andĀ Connect-R. A year later, she won the New Wave Song Contest inĀ Belarus.Ā Ā Nataliaā€™s debut album ā€œTimeā€ was released inĀ 2010, followed by a second album, ā€œCununa de floriā€ inĀ 2011. InĀ 2015, she released a new single called ā€œSummertimeā€.Ā Natalia Gordienko was chosen to representĀ MoldovaĀ again in theĀ 2020Ā Eurovision Song Contest with the song ā€œPrisonā€. Unfortunately, that didnā€™t happen due to the cancellation of the contest. She was, however, invited to representĀ MoldovaĀ in theĀ 2021 contest. The same team from ā€œPrisonā€ also wrote ā€œSugarā€ for her, the entry she sang in 2021. Natalia reached the final with her song. The follow up of the song, “High heels”, reached the charts in Spain. Entries Sugar CountryšŸ‡²šŸ‡© Moldova Year2021 LanguageEnglish LyricsSharon VaughnMikhail Gutseriev ComposersPhilipp KirkorovDimitris Kontopoulos BackingsVictoria Chalkitis DancersIgor KuleshynMaxim BondarKostya VecherskyVyacheslav Veretennikov Results Semi Points: 179Position: 7Running order: 7 Results Finals Points: 115Position: 13Running order: 14 https://youtu.be/5I_1GTehgkI Prison CountryšŸ‡²šŸ‡© Moldova Year2020 LanguageEnglish LyricsSharon Vaughn ComposersPhilipp KirkorovDimitris Kontopoulos Backing Vocals– Results Semi Points: –Position: –Running order: – Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://youtu.be/RnD1ApDo5_k Loca (with Arsenium and Connect-R) CountryšŸ‡²šŸ‡© Moldova Year2006 LanguageEnglish/Spanish LyricsArsenium ComposersArsenium Backing Vocals3 backing vocals, names unkonown. Results Semi Points: –Position: –Running order: – Results Finals Points: 22Position: 20Running order: 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11Xi8u1gkTo

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šŸ‡·šŸ‡“ Blast from the Past: Romania 2006

We know a lot about Eurovision and we want to share this knowledge with you! Therefore weā€™d like to bring you a blast from the past. Today: Mihai Trăistariu, who represented Romania in the 2006 contest with “Tornero”. Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest Romania made its debut in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994. The country has mostly participated every year, missing out only a few times. One notable absence was in 2016, when the country was disqualified due to unpaid debts to the European Broadcasting Union.Romania has achieved several respectable placements throughout the years, but, so far, the country hasn’t won the contest. Romania’s best results were third place, achieved in 2005 with the song “Let Me Try” by Luminița Anghel & Sistem and in 2010 with the song “Playing with Fire” by Paula Seling & Ovi. Romania is known for bringing a variety of music genres to the contest, from pop and rock to folk and traditional. Some entries, like “Zaleilah” by Mandinga in 2012, featured a mix of Romanian folk sounds with modern beats, giving it a distinct flavor.This year, unfortunately, Romania was facing their worst score ever, getting no points at all in the semifinal for “D.G.T. (Off and on)” by Theodor Andrei. Luminița Anghel Selecția Națională 2006 The Romanian national final always has the name Selecția Națională, also in 2006. Two semifinals and a final took place, three days in a row. The final, containing twelve songs, was held on February 26th. “Hey a hey”, Gina Pop Band, 4 pts, 10th “Se tu vuoi”, Linda, 10 pts, 6th “It’s our world”, Maria Radu & Mike Peterson, 5 pts, 8th “Sunshine”, Jasmine, 5 pts, 8th “Jokero”, Akcent & Nico, 20 pts, 2nd “Brand new feeling”, Dora, 13 pts, 3rd “Sagapo”, MiDo, 3 pts, 12th “Tornero”, Mihai Trăistariu, 22 pts, 1st “Be my boyfriend”, Indiggo, 6 pts, 7th “I believe in my star”, Laurențiu Cazan, 12 pts, 4th “GĆ¢ndești prea high”, Delia, 4 pts, 10th “The universe”, Tony Poptămaș and Desperado, 12 pts, 4th Note that not only “Tornero” was a success. Ā “Jokero” by Akcent and Nico also became an international hit. Aksent – Jokero Mihai Trăistariu Born on December 16, 1979, in Piatra Neamț, Romania, Mihai displayed an early passion for music. He began his music education at the Carmen Sylva Art School in Piatra Neamț and later graduated from the Bucharest Academy of Music. Mihai’s breakthrough came with his participation in various music festivals. In 1999 Mihai joined the group Valahia. They took part in the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2000 with the song “Why” and reached a 2nd place. Also in 2002 (“Mother”, 4rd), and in 2004 (“Friends are friends”, 3rd). In 2005 he also took part, now in duet with Nico, “All the time”. It was the same year that Mihai’s debut album was released. But his rise to international fame was cemented with his Eurovision entry. In 2006, he performed the song “Tornero,” a catchy pop track infused with operatic elements. The song finished in 4th place, one of Romania’s highest rankings in the contest, and subsequently became a hit across Europe.In total, Mihai released four albums. Also, he took part in Selecția Națională numerous times. His most successful participation, apart from “Tornero”, was “I won’t surrender” in 2017, which reached a 2nd place. In 2019 Mihai withdrew, because he did not agree with Romanian television on the way the contest was organized. He had taken part in a show on another tv-station (Your Face Sounds Familiar) and stated “I do not trust the objectivity of the Eurovision Romania organisers, regarding the unclear situation about the competitors ā€” those who qualified through the pre-selection and those who were later favoured ā€” I decided to withdraw.”Nowadays, Mihai Trăistariu has another career….. he is, as far as we know, the only Eurovision participant with an OnlyFans page. Tornero The song stood out due to Mihai’s powerful vocal range and its infectious pop-opera blend. At the contest, held in Athens, Greece, “Tornero” managed to achieve 4th place with 172 points. This ranking is one of the highest Romania has achieved in the contest. The track is a pop song with operatic elements, and its title, “Tornero,” is an Italian word meaning “I will return.” The song is about a man who promises his love that he will return to her.Ā “Tornero” was well-received, not just within the Eurovision community, but also among general music enthusiasts. After the contest, it charted in several European countries and became a notable hit. Ā  Ā 

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After the Eurovision fame: Dima Bilan

Dima Bilan won the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest for Russia. Early life Dima Bilan was born as Victor Belan on December 24, 1981. He was born in Ust-Dzheguta, in the Autonomous Soviet Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia. He took part in several music competitions. For example, he won the “Young Voices of the Caucasus” competition. His first performance on television was in 1995, also in a talent show. In 1998, when he was 16 years old, he went to Moscow to participate in the Chunga-Changa festival, where the chairman of the jury gave him a diploma. He chose ‘Dima Bilan’ as his stage name; Dmitriy was his grandfather’s name. So Dima is a tribute to him. Breakthrough and first two albums Once he lived in Moscow, Dima began to record his first songs. The video of his debut single “Osen” became a success. The video was shot in the Gulf of Finland. At the time, under the pseudonym Dima Belan, he was regularly seen on MTV Russia.Although he studied to become an opera singer, he dreamed of a career as a pop singer. The dream came true when a classmate introduced him to producer Yuri Aizenshpis. His first real big success came in 2002, when he took fourth place in the New Wave festival. A new single and video, “Boom”, followed and in 2003 there was Dima Bilan’s debut album “Ya nochnoy huligan”. Television appearances followed, and his single “Na beregu neba” reached number 2 in the Russian charts. The album with the same name went gold in 2004. It became one of the best-selling albums of 2004 in Russia. First steps in the field of Eurovision After this success, producer Aizenshpis registered Bilan to participate in the national final of the Eurovision Song Contest. He sang in English: “Not that simple”. Although he was close, Dima Bilan didn’t win the ticket to the Eurovision song contest in Kiev. He did, however, have a hit with the song. The Russian version “”Ty dolzhna ryadom byt’” became one of the biggest hits of 2005. Several other hits followed. When Yuri Aizenshpis passed away in late 2005, producers lined up to take Dima under their wing, eventually Yana became Rudkovskaya his new producer. That caused another problem with his name, because it was officially owned by Aizenshpis’ company. When this conflict was resolved, Dima decided to officially register under the name Dima Bilan. Eurovision 2006In 2006, the Russian broadcaster wanted to be sure that Dima Bilan would represent the country at the Eurovision Song Contest. They decided to single him out without a national final. His song “Never let you go” did very well: a second place was awarded to him. Never had aĀ Russian candidateĀ finished higher. He subsequently represented Russia at the MTV Europe Awards and won an Award as best-selling Russian singer at the World Music Awards. Winning the Eurovision Song Contest In 2007, Dima Bilan recorded an English-language album with the famous producers Jim Beanz and Ryan Tedder. Again, he won awards at the MTV Russia Award. In 2008 a new Russian album was released. He also took part in the national final for the Eurovision song contest again. During the contest in Belgrade he sang “Believe”. The song was co-written by Jim Beanz. Dima was accompanied by Hungarian violinist Edvin Barton and Olympic figure skating champion Evgeni Plushenko. Dima Bilan managed to win the Eurovision Song Contest. No return to Eurovision The album “Believe” soon followed. In 2010, Dima Bilan had a song ready to participate in the Eurovision song contest: “White nights”. However, he decided not to. Joining again two years later would be too soon, according to Bilan. In that year he did play the lead role in a short film. In 2011, he released another new Russian album. The return to the song contest came in 2012: in duet with Yulia Volkova (known from t.A.T.u.), “Back to her future”. Despite their favorite role, they did not win but had to make do with second place. The Voice After the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, Dima Bilan released four more studio albums. He was also a coach in several seasons of the Russian version of The Voice. He was in the chair in seasons 1 through 3, in seasons 5 and 6, and will soon be seen again in season 10. He also coached the first four seasons of The Voice Kids in Russia. Ā 

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Natalia Gordienko

Ā© EBU/Andres Putting About Quick Facts NameNatalia Gordienko Born11 december 1987 NationalityšŸ‡²šŸ‡© Moldovan National SelectionMoldovan National Final 2005Moldovan National Final 2006Moldovan National Final 2020Internal selection 2021 In EurovisionRotterdam 2021Rotterdam 2020 (Cancelled)Athens (2006) SongSugar (2021)Prison (2020)Loca (2006, with Arsenium and Connect-R) Biography Natalia Gordienko is a Moldovan singer and dancer. She was born in the capital Chișinău. When she was 10 years old, she already performed in a show calledĀ Zolotoy Klyutchik. After finishing highschool, Natalia joined the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts, in the Pop and Jazz Vocal section.Ā She was the lead singer of the band Millennium. The band took part in the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest and took part in theĀ Golden Deer International ContestĀ inĀ Romania. InĀ 2006, she was chosen to representĀ MoldovaĀ in the Eurovision Song Contest together withĀ ArseniumĀ andĀ Connect-R. A year later, she won the New Wave Song Contest inĀ Belarus.Ā Ā Nataliaā€™s debut album ā€œTimeā€ was released inĀ 2010, followed by a second album, ā€œCununa de floriā€ inĀ 2011. InĀ 2015, she released a new single called ā€œSummertimeā€.Ā Natalia Gordienko was chosen to representĀ MoldovaĀ again in theĀ 2020Ā Eurovision Song Contest with the song ā€œPrisonā€. Unfortunately, that didnā€™t happen due to the cancellation of the contest. She was, however, invited to representĀ MoldovaĀ in theĀ 2021 contest. The same team from ā€œPrisonā€ also wrote ā€œSugarā€ for her, the entry she sang in 2021. Natalia reached the final with her song. The follow up of the song, “High heels”, reached the charts in Spain. Entries Sugar CountryšŸ‡²šŸ‡© Moldova Year2021 LanguageEnglish LyricsSharon VaughnMikhail Gutseriev ComposersPhilipp KirkorovDimitris Kontopoulos BackingsVictoria Chalkitis DancersIgor KuleshynMaxim BondarKostya VecherskyVyacheslav Veretennikov Results Semi Points: 179Position: 7Running order: 7 Results Finals Points: 115Position: 13Running order: 14 https://youtu.be/5I_1GTehgkI Prison CountryšŸ‡²šŸ‡© Moldova Year2020 LanguageEnglish LyricsSharon Vaughn ComposersPhilipp KirkorovDimitris Kontopoulos Backing Vocals– Results Semi Points: –Position: –Running order: – Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://youtu.be/RnD1ApDo5_k Loca (with Arsenium and Connect-R) CountryšŸ‡²šŸ‡© Moldova Year2006 LanguageEnglish/Spanish LyricsArsenium ComposersArsenium Backing Vocals3 backing vocals, names unkonown. Results Semi Points: –Position: –Running order: – Results Finals Points: 22Position: 20Running order: 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11Xi8u1gkTo

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šŸ‡·šŸ‡“ Blast from the Past: Romania 2006

We know a lot about Eurovision and we want to share this knowledge with you! Therefore weā€™d like to bring you a blast from the past. Today: Mihai Trăistariu, who represented Romania in the 2006 contest with “Tornero”. Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest Romania made its debut in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994. The country has mostly participated every year, missing out only a few times. One notable absence was in 2016, when the country was disqualified due to unpaid debts to the European Broadcasting Union.Romania has achieved several respectable placements throughout the years, but, so far, the country hasn’t won the contest. Romania’s best results were third place, achieved in 2005 with the song “Let Me Try” by Luminița Anghel & Sistem and in 2010 with the song “Playing with Fire” by Paula Seling & Ovi. Romania is known for bringing a variety of music genres to the contest, from pop and rock to folk and traditional. Some entries, like “Zaleilah” by Mandinga in 2012, featured a mix of Romanian folk sounds with modern beats, giving it a distinct flavor.This year, unfortunately, Romania was facing their worst score ever, getting no points at all in the semifinal for “D.G.T. (Off and on)” by Theodor Andrei. Luminița Anghel Selecția Națională 2006 The Romanian national final always has the name Selecția Națională, also in 2006. Two semifinals and a final took place, three days in a row. The final, containing twelve songs, was held on February 26th. “Hey a hey”, Gina Pop Band, 4 pts, 10th “Se tu vuoi”, Linda, 10 pts, 6th “It’s our world”, Maria Radu & Mike Peterson, 5 pts, 8th “Sunshine”, Jasmine, 5 pts, 8th “Jokero”, Akcent & Nico, 20 pts, 2nd “Brand new feeling”, Dora, 13 pts, 3rd “Sagapo”, MiDo, 3 pts, 12th “Tornero”, Mihai Trăistariu, 22 pts, 1st “Be my boyfriend”, Indiggo, 6 pts, 7th “I believe in my star”, Laurențiu Cazan, 12 pts, 4th “GĆ¢ndești prea high”, Delia, 4 pts, 10th “The universe”, Tony Poptămaș and Desperado, 12 pts, 4th Note that not only “Tornero” was a success. Ā “Jokero” by Akcent and Nico also became an international hit. Aksent – Jokero Mihai Trăistariu Born on December 16, 1979, in Piatra Neamț, Romania, Mihai displayed an early passion for music. He began his music education at the Carmen Sylva Art School in Piatra Neamț and later graduated from the Bucharest Academy of Music. Mihai’s breakthrough came with his participation in various music festivals. In 1999 Mihai joined the group Valahia. They took part in the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2000 with the song “Why” and reached a 2nd place. Also in 2002 (“Mother”, 4rd), and in 2004 (“Friends are friends”, 3rd). In 2005 he also took part, now in duet with Nico, “All the time”. It was the same year that Mihai’s debut album was released. But his rise to international fame was cemented with his Eurovision entry. In 2006, he performed the song “Tornero,” a catchy pop track infused with operatic elements. The song finished in 4th place, one of Romania’s highest rankings in the contest, and subsequently became a hit across Europe.In total, Mihai released four albums. Also, he took part in Selecția Națională numerous times. His most successful participation, apart from “Tornero”, was “I won’t surrender” in 2017, which reached a 2nd place. In 2019 Mihai withdrew, because he did not agree with Romanian television on the way the contest was organized. He had taken part in a show on another tv-station (Your Face Sounds Familiar) and stated “I do not trust the objectivity of the Eurovision Romania organisers, regarding the unclear situation about the competitors ā€” those who qualified through the pre-selection and those who were later favoured ā€” I decided to withdraw.”Nowadays, Mihai Trăistariu has another career….. he is, as far as we know, the only Eurovision participant with an OnlyFans page. Tornero The song stood out due to Mihai’s powerful vocal range and its infectious pop-opera blend. At the contest, held in Athens, Greece, “Tornero” managed to achieve 4th place with 172 points. This ranking is one of the highest Romania has achieved in the contest. The track is a pop song with operatic elements, and its title, “Tornero,” is an Italian word meaning “I will return.” The song is about a man who promises his love that he will return to her.Ā “Tornero” was well-received, not just within the Eurovision community, but also among general music enthusiasts. After the contest, it charted in several European countries and became a notable hit. Ā  Ā 

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After the Eurovision fame: Dima Bilan

Dima Bilan won the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest for Russia. Early life Dima Bilan was born as Victor Belan on December 24, 1981. He was born in Ust-Dzheguta, in the Autonomous Soviet Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia. He took part in several music competitions. For example, he won the “Young Voices of the Caucasus” competition. His first performance on television was in 1995, also in a talent show. In 1998, when he was 16 years old, he went to Moscow to participate in the Chunga-Changa festival, where the chairman of the jury gave him a diploma. He chose ‘Dima Bilan’ as his stage name; Dmitriy was his grandfather’s name. So Dima is a tribute to him. Breakthrough and first two albums Once he lived in Moscow, Dima began to record his first songs. The video of his debut single “Osen” became a success. The video was shot in the Gulf of Finland. At the time, under the pseudonym Dima Belan, he was regularly seen on MTV Russia.Although he studied to become an opera singer, he dreamed of a career as a pop singer. The dream came true when a classmate introduced him to producer Yuri Aizenshpis. His first real big success came in 2002, when he took fourth place in the New Wave festival. A new single and video, “Boom”, followed and in 2003 there was Dima Bilan’s debut album “Ya nochnoy huligan”. Television appearances followed, and his single “Na beregu neba” reached number 2 in the Russian charts. The album with the same name went gold in 2004. It became one of the best-selling albums of 2004 in Russia. First steps in the field of Eurovision After this success, producer Aizenshpis registered Bilan to participate in the national final of the Eurovision Song Contest. He sang in English: “Not that simple”. Although he was close, Dima Bilan didn’t win the ticket to the Eurovision song contest in Kiev. He did, however, have a hit with the song. The Russian version “”Ty dolzhna ryadom byt’” became one of the biggest hits of 2005. Several other hits followed. When Yuri Aizenshpis passed away in late 2005, producers lined up to take Dima under their wing, eventually Yana became Rudkovskaya his new producer. That caused another problem with his name, because it was officially owned by Aizenshpis’ company. When this conflict was resolved, Dima decided to officially register under the name Dima Bilan. Eurovision 2006In 2006, the Russian broadcaster wanted to be sure that Dima Bilan would represent the country at the Eurovision Song Contest. They decided to single him out without a national final. His song “Never let you go” did very well: a second place was awarded to him. Never had aĀ Russian candidateĀ finished higher. He subsequently represented Russia at the MTV Europe Awards and won an Award as best-selling Russian singer at the World Music Awards. Winning the Eurovision Song Contest In 2007, Dima Bilan recorded an English-language album with the famous producers Jim Beanz and Ryan Tedder. Again, he won awards at the MTV Russia Award. In 2008 a new Russian album was released. He also took part in the national final for the Eurovision song contest again. During the contest in Belgrade he sang “Believe”. The song was co-written by Jim Beanz. Dima was accompanied by Hungarian violinist Edvin Barton and Olympic figure skating champion Evgeni Plushenko. Dima Bilan managed to win the Eurovision Song Contest. No return to Eurovision The album “Believe” soon followed. In 2010, Dima Bilan had a song ready to participate in the Eurovision song contest: “White nights”. However, he decided not to. Joining again two years later would be too soon, according to Bilan. In that year he did play the lead role in a short film. In 2011, he released another new Russian album. The return to the song contest came in 2012: in duet with Yulia Volkova (known from t.A.T.u.), “Back to her future”. Despite their favorite role, they did not win but had to make do with second place. The Voice After the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, Dima Bilan released four more studio albums. He was also a coach in several seasons of the Russian version of The Voice. He was in the chair in seasons 1 through 3, in seasons 5 and 6, and will soon be seen again in season 10. He also coached the first four seasons of The Voice Kids in Russia. Ā 

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Natalia Gordienko

Ā© EBU/Andres Putting About Quick Facts NameNatalia Gordienko Born11 december 1987 NationalityšŸ‡²šŸ‡© Moldovan National SelectionMoldovan National Final 2005Moldovan National Final 2006Moldovan National Final 2020Internal selection 2021 In EurovisionRotterdam 2021Rotterdam 2020 (Cancelled)Athens (2006) SongSugar (2021)Prison (2020)Loca (2006, with Arsenium and Connect-R) Biography Natalia Gordienko is a Moldovan singer and dancer. She was born in the capital Chișinău. When she was 10 years old, she already performed in a show calledĀ Zolotoy Klyutchik. After finishing highschool, Natalia joined the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts, in the Pop and Jazz Vocal section.Ā She was the lead singer of the band Millennium. The band took part in the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest and took part in theĀ Golden Deer International ContestĀ inĀ Romania. InĀ 2006, she was chosen to representĀ MoldovaĀ in the Eurovision Song Contest together withĀ ArseniumĀ andĀ Connect-R. A year later, she won the New Wave Song Contest inĀ Belarus.Ā Ā Nataliaā€™s debut album ā€œTimeā€ was released inĀ 2010, followed by a second album, ā€œCununa de floriā€ inĀ 2011. InĀ 2015, she released a new single called ā€œSummertimeā€.Ā Natalia Gordienko was chosen to representĀ MoldovaĀ again in theĀ 2020Ā Eurovision Song Contest with the song ā€œPrisonā€. Unfortunately, that didnā€™t happen due to the cancellation of the contest. She was, however, invited to representĀ MoldovaĀ in theĀ 2021 contest. The same team from ā€œPrisonā€ also wrote ā€œSugarā€ for her, the entry she sang in 2021. Natalia reached the final with her song. The follow up of the song, “High heels”, reached the charts in Spain. Entries Sugar CountryšŸ‡²šŸ‡© Moldova Year2021 LanguageEnglish LyricsSharon VaughnMikhail Gutseriev ComposersPhilipp KirkorovDimitris Kontopoulos BackingsVictoria Chalkitis DancersIgor KuleshynMaxim BondarKostya VecherskyVyacheslav Veretennikov Results Semi Points: 179Position: 7Running order: 7 Results Finals Points: 115Position: 13Running order: 14 https://youtu.be/5I_1GTehgkI Prison CountryšŸ‡²šŸ‡© Moldova Year2020 LanguageEnglish LyricsSharon Vaughn ComposersPhilipp KirkorovDimitris Kontopoulos Backing Vocals– Results Semi Points: –Position: –Running order: – Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://youtu.be/RnD1ApDo5_k Loca (with Arsenium and Connect-R) CountryšŸ‡²šŸ‡© Moldova Year2006 LanguageEnglish/Spanish LyricsArsenium ComposersArsenium Backing Vocals3 backing vocals, names unkonown. Results Semi Points: –Position: –Running order: – Results Finals Points: 22Position: 20Running order: 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11Xi8u1gkTo

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šŸ‡·šŸ‡“ Blast from the Past: Romania 2006

We know a lot about Eurovision and we want to share this knowledge with you! Therefore weā€™d like to bring you a blast from the past. Today: Mihai Trăistariu, who represented Romania in the 2006 contest with “Tornero”. Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest Romania made its debut in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994. The country has mostly participated every year, missing out only a few times. One notable absence was in 2016, when the country was disqualified due to unpaid debts to the European Broadcasting Union.Romania has achieved several respectable placements throughout the years, but, so far, the country

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After the Eurovision fame: Dima Bilan

Dima Bilan won the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest for Russia. Early life Dima Bilan was born as Victor Belan on December 24, 1981. He was born in Ust-Dzheguta, in the Autonomous Soviet Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia. He took part in several music competitions. For example, he won the “Young Voices of the Caucasus” competition. His first performance on television was in 1995, also in a talent show. In 1998, when he was 16 years old, he went to Moscow to participate in the Chunga-Changa festival, where the chairman of the jury gave him a diploma. He chose ‘Dima Bilan’ as his stage

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Natalia Gordienko

Ā© EBU/Andres Putting About Quick Facts NameNatalia Gordienko Born11 december 1987 NationalityšŸ‡²šŸ‡© Moldovan National SelectionMoldovan National Final 2005Moldovan National Final 2006Moldovan National Final 2020Internal selection 2021 In EurovisionRotterdam 2021Rotterdam 2020 (Cancelled)Athens (2006) SongSugar (2021)Prison (2020)Loca (2006, with Arsenium and Connect-R) Biography Natalia Gordienko is a Moldovan singer and dancer. She was born in the capital Chișinău. When she was 10 years old, she already performed in a show calledĀ Zolotoy Klyutchik. After finishing highschool, Natalia joined the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts, in the Pop and Jazz Vocal section.Ā She was the lead singer of the band Millennium. The band took

Read More Ā»