Star Sparkle Blog

The Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest is tonight, so this is the second of my annual posts. You can see the first one here:  Countdown to Eurovision 2025!: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2025/05/countdown-to-eurovision-2025.html     This year I saw the second semi-final (the one the UK could vote in) and some of the first one. I don't always watch them both because then I've heard all the songs beforehand (I listen to the ones that didn't get through afterwards). Here are my favourites from this year's contest. :)   Klavdia- Asteromáta (Greece) My favourite song in the second semi-final was Greece's entry, Asteromáta by Klavdia . I voted for her and she got through, so will be in the final.  Klavdia (full name Klavdia Papadopoulou) took her first steps in the entertainment business aged 15 appearing on Series/Season 5 on Ellada eheis talento (Greece's Got Talent). She then competed on S5 of The Voice of Greece , reaching the final and was ment...

Today's video is Az Sum Ti by Bulgarian Russian singer Kristian Kostov (who represented Bulgaria in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest , 8 years ago now!). Az Sum Ti is Kristian's latest single and his first time singing in Bulgarian for almost 10 years. It's part of an audio-visual project.  The song title translates as "I Am You" in English. The video premiered on 15th March.   Want more Kristian? Check out these posts: Music video for Iris, his 2023 single with VOSTOK (plus links to more music): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2023/06/weekly-music-video_14.html Audio for Espresso (released last year): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2024/05/weekly-music-video_15.html   P.S. Speaking of Eurovision , this year's contest is coming up! The Grand Final is on Saturday 17th May (with the semi-finals on the Tuesday and Thursday before). Keep up with Eurovision  news here:  https://eurovision.tv/event/basel-2025

Today's video is Ma bebe by STEFANIA X FAYDEE . Stefania is a Romanian singer and Faydee is Australian. Stefania's full name is Cristina Stefania. She was born in Galati, Romania and studied at the Dimitrie Cuclin High School of Arts, before moving to Bucharest in 2015, to pursue her passion for dancing. She kicked off her music career by releasing a cover of the song Nentori by Albanian singer Arilena Ara . (For more on Stefania's journey, check out her YouTube bio .) Random fact: Arilena was set to be Albania's entry in the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest , before it was cancelled due to the pandemic . Arilena discovered Stefania's cover and decided to promote her. Stefania then made her Romanian musical debut with the single Drinking About You in September 2017. She released her first album ALPHA in September 2022. Stefania's other singles/songs include Prea Tarziu, Bad Boy, Anni mei, Te sun eu and How I Love It with Romanian musician Cezar Guna . Her most rec...

This week's video is Espresso by Bulgarian Russian singer Kristian Kostov (who represented Bulgaria in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest ). Espresso is Kris' latest single and came out on 30th April. This is an audio. I like the gentle, poppy vibe of the song.   Kristian fan? Check out this post: Music video for Iris, his 2023 single with VOSTOK (plus links to more music): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2023/06/weekly-music-video_14.html   P.S. Speaking of Eurovision, Switzerland's Nemo won this year's contest with the song The Code . The UK got 46 points from the jury but zero points from the public. I don't think our song was that great but Olly tried, and I don't think any one deserves no points. The UK didn't actually come last (we came 18th out of 25), but people are acting like we did because of the public vote! It's just frustrating and I think people could be a bit kinder. Anyway, my favourite was Cyprus (I voted for them again, like in the ...

It's Eurovision season once again! I thought it was earlier this year but the final will be on Saturday 11th May which is around the same time as last year (it was 13th May in 2023)! The 68th Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Malmo, Sweden , since last year's winner was Loreen with Tattoo . It was actually the second time that Loreen had won, having previously come top with Euphoria back in 2012! The UK's entry this year is Olly Alexander (from Years and Years ) with Dizzy . I normally write two Eurovision posts, although for the past couple of years, I also did two "mini countdown" posts during April. Here are my posts from last year: Eurovision Round-up 2 (includes the countdown posts):  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2023/05/eurovision-round-up-2.html Eurovision 2023 Favourites: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2023/05/eurovision-2023-favourites.html   I thought for something different I would share the music videos for some of my favourite entries o...

Today's video is GADJE by German born, Kosovar-Albanian singer Dhurata Dora and Albanian singer Elvana Gjata . They teamed up for the single back in 2022. The two singers also worked together again for the song LUJ, last year.  Dhurata released her debut studio album DHURATA in March 2023. Her most recent singles are PALMA featuring Austrian rapper and singer RAF Camora , which came out last July and LEJ with Kosovo-Albanian rapper Don Xhoni , released in December. Elvana's most recent releases are the 2021 EP Çelu and the single Pak, released in July 2023. She also just brought out the song HANA from the new Albanian film 2 Gisht Mjaltë 2 (sequel l to 2019's 2 Gisht Mjaltë ).  GADJE is an Albanian language pop song (with the English line) with dance vibes. It was released in June 2022 but I only came across it recently.    Dhurata and/or Elvana fan? Check out these links: LUJ, their most recent song together, which features on Dhurata's album:  https://www.yo...

This week's video is Lonely by German born Kosovar/Kosovo Albanian singer Butrint Imeri and Kosovar singer Era Istrefi . I believe this is the first time the two artists have worked together. Lonely is a pop/R'n'B song  with dance elements, sung in Albanian with the odd English word (such as the title!). It was released in November.   Also check out the video for Butrint's latest single Gaboi, with Stealth and Vinz (released last month: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyozESjhh8E And here is Era's previous release Ta Du (from last June):  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2023/07/weekly-music-video_19.html   Want more Kosovar/Albanian music? Check out these posts:   Albanian music feature:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/09/albanian-music.html Era and Buta- 5AM (2022: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2022/11/weekly-music-video_30.html Dafina Zeqiri feat. MUMA- DASHNI (2022):  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2023/08/weekly-music-video.html N...

Today's music video is DASHNI by Dafina Zeqiri and featuring MUMA. Dafina is a Swedish born Kosovar (Kosovo Albanian) singer. She grew up in Sweden and moved to Kosovo aged 19.  Dafina comes from a musical background, since her mum Melihate was an Albanian folk/pop singer. Dafina herself started out in music by entering competitions and released her first album Knock Down in 2008.  Her music is mainly R'n'B and soul, with a mixture of other genres including trap and urban Albanian pop. She sings in both English and Albanian.  To date Dafina has brought out two more albums- Just Me (2011) and Dafine moj (2017) and the EP King (2017). Her singles include Adios, Knockdown featuring Hekuran Krasniqi , Dua qe ta di, Amazing Girl, Nje here ne jete with producer Cricket , Mos Shloe featuring Yll Limani  and DASHNI. Her latest single is DASMA. MUMA (real name Endrit Mumajesi) is an Albanian singer.  DASHNI was released in March last year. It's an Albanian language song....

Today's video is Ta Du by Kosovar (Kosovo Albanian) singer Era Istrefi . It's her latest single and came out last month.  Ta Du is an Albanian language song and the title translates as "I want" in English. It's more poppy than some of Era's previous releases.  Visit this link to to see an English translation of the lyrics:  https://lyricstranslate.com/en/ta-du-i-want-it.html Era fan? Check out this   post to   see the video for her last single Idiot (plus links   to more   videos) : https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2023/01/weekly-music-video_25.html

This week's video is Iris by Bulgarian Russian singer  Kristian Kostov  (who represented Bulgaria in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest ) and VOSTOK.  VOSTOK is an audiovisual project project created by Kristian, his brother Daniel Kostov and Sasha Xuman. It was launched in October 2020  with the release of the single Psycho. VOSTOK's other singles are Time, 2020 and Intentional. Iris is an English language song with a relaxing vibe. This is the official audio. I originally came across it on a  Russian YouTube channel (it was uploaded in March), and it was then uploaded to Kristian's official channel in May.  Kristian fan? C heck out these   links: Music video for his 2020 single Honest:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2020/03/weekly-music-video_11.html Includes Thinking (2020):  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2020/08/new-music-releases.html His latest single Mine:  https://youtu.be/dJnZTiypHcw And follow VOSTOK on Instagram: htt...

The Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest  is tonight, so here is the second of my annual posts! I also wrote two "mini countdown" posts this year. Here is the first post, another round-up of my Eurovision posts  (I did the first one back in 2017): Eurovision Round-up 2:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2023/05/eurovision-round-up-2.html   I watched some of the 1st semi-final on Tuesday but not all of it, because I find that if it's more interesting if I haven't seen all the acts first. So I tend to watch the semi-final that the UK can vote in and then I catch up on the acts that didn't get through online later. This year it was the 2nd one on Thursday that we could vote in, so I watched all of that. Here are my favourites from this year's contest. :) Brunette - Future Lover (Armenia) I voted for Armenia in the 2nd semi-final. Their entry is Future Lover by Brunette .  She got through and will be competing in the final.  Brunette's real name is El...

It's Eurovision season again! It always seems to come round quickly, lol. The 67th Eurovision Song Contest will be held in the UK for the first time in 25 years!! We last won in 1997's contest, with Katrina and the Waves'Love Shine a Light  (so we hosted the following year). The UK did not actually win last year but came second with  Sam Ryder's SPACE MAN . Still, it was very different to coming bottom in 2021! The 2022 ESC was won by the  Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra with the song Stefania . However, due to the  ongoing war in Ukraine  they are unable to host this year.  The semi-finals and the final will take place in Liverpool and will be a collaboration with Ukraine.  Back in 2017, I wrote a round-up all of my previous Eurovision posts on the blog (I first started writing about Eurovision back in 2012!). You can see that here:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/05/eurovision-round-up.html It's now been 6 years since I wrote that, so today ...

Today's video is Idiot by Kosovar (Kosovan Albanian singer Era Istrefi . It's her latest single and is an Albanian language song (with the odd English line). The video premiered on 29th December. Era fan? Check out these posts: Includes her hit single Bonbon, plus more Albanian music: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/09/albanian-music.html The music video for  TKRKT, released in spring 2022: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2022/08/weekly-music-video_17.html 5AM with Buta, released in Nov: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2022/11/weekly-music-video_30.html  

This week's video is 5AM by Kosovar (Kosovo Albanian) singer Era Istrefi and rapper Buta (real name Betim Januzaj, who is also from Kosovo. Buta is a well-known rapper who started releasing music in 2017 and has collaborated with several other rappers. He is known as the King of Albanian Trap . To date has released 5 EPs including Z. Ndjenja (2016), Dr Zhivago (2016) and his latest, Babayega' (2021), and two albums Pranvere/ Vere '17 (2017) which translates as "Spring/Summer" in English and Vjeshte/Dimer '18 (2018). Era (younger sister of Nora Istrefi ) is a popular singer whose career took off with the release of her 2015 single Bonbon. 5AM is the latest single for both Era and Buta, and was released on 10th November. It's an Albanian language song with the occasional English line.   For more music by Era visit these posts: Includes her hit single Bonbon: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/09/albanian-music.html The music video for last single TKRKT...

Today's video is Origin Beast by Korean/Russian singer Yuri Park . It's a unique English language song with a mix of singing and rapping. The Origin Beast video premiered on 30th June.     Visit this post to see another video of Yuri's, for the Russian language song На Муве (MOVE): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2022/01/weekly-music-video.html

Today's video is TKRKT, the latest single by Kosovar singer Era Istrefi . It's an Albanian and English language song and a mixture of  musical styles including EDM , pop and reggaeton . It's all about a young woman going out to party and have fun with her friends. TKRKT was released in May.  Also, here is BEBE which was released in March: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC8hOBTIOqE   Want more Albanian/Kosovan music? Check out these posts: Albanian Music feature (includes music by Era and her older sister Nora who is also a popular singer): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/09/albanian-music.html   Era and Nora Istrefi- Nuk E Di video (2019): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2019/05/weekly-music-video.html Nora Istrefi feat. NRG Band- Ki me lyp me m'pa:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2022/06/weekly-music-video.html KIDA and Butrint Imeri- AM/PM:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2022/07/weekly-music-video_20.html

This week's video is AM/PM by Kosovar singer KIDA and German born Albanian singer Butrint Imeri . KIDA's real name is Orhidea Latifi and she made her debut with the single Murder back in 2014. Her most successful singles to date include Ti,  Paranoia (featuring rapper Mozzik ), Pishmon (also featuring Mozzik) and Lila. KIDA released her debut album Orchide last December. She and Butrint have previously worked together on the 2021 single Dale, along with Ledri Vula . For more on Butrint, click on his name above or see the post linked below. AM and PM are two singles (Albanian language) and the video combines them both. It premiered on 2nd July.  Which is your favourite? For me it's PM. :)   For more on Kida visit these links:  Official YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAHVxL9FG3Sp8ltQtLEy_oA Official Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/kida/   And visit this post to watch the music video for Butrint's single M'ke rrejit  and read mor...

This week's video is Ki me lyp me m'pa by Kosovar singer Nora Istrefi and featuring NRG Band . It's an Albanian language song (I think Gheg Albanian ). Unfortunately, I can't find an English translation for the title online, so please let me know if you speak Albanian! :)  The single was released on 30th April.     Visit these posts for more music by Nora (and her younger sister Era): Music video for Ska Inat by Nora and her now ex-husband Robert Berisha : https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/08/weekly-music-video_2.html Era and Nora Istrefi- Nuk E Di video: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2019/05/weekly-music-video.html Dy Zemra with Butrint Imeri: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2021/01/weekly-music-video.html   And follow NRG here:  https://www.facebook.com/NRGbandfanclub   Want more Albanian music? Check out these posts:  Albanian Music (includes songs by Nora and her sister Era): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/09/albanian-music.ht...

The Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest is tonight so here is the 2nd of my annual posts! I also did two "mini countdown" posts this year. You can read them below: Eurovision Countdown- Past Contestant Hadise: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2022/04/eurovision-countdown-past-contestant.html Eurovision Countdown- ASC Contestant AleXa:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2022/04/eurovision-countdown-asc-contestant.html Countdown to Eurovision 2022!: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2022/05/countdown-to-eurovision-2022.html    For the past few years, I've just watched the semi-final that the UK can vote in because it can get boring if you've seen all the acts before the night of the final. And then I watch the acts from the other semi-final that didn't get through online later. This time I watched the 2nd Semi-Final although I did see some of the first one too, similar to last year . So, here are my favourites of 2022! :) Andromache- Ela (Cyprus) Cyprus...

This week's video is На Муве (MOVE) by Korean/Russian model turned singer Yuri Park (or Park Yuri in Korean terms) and featuring DMITRYSFACE. Yuri was born in Uzbekistan and later moved to Russia. According to a Harpers Bazaar article he has Korean, English and Russian heritage. As well as Russian, he speaks English and Korean. He moved to South Korea in 2015 to become a model, joining the model company ESteem Entertainment. Yuri got his start in the music business by appearing in the music video for Free Somebody by f(x) member Luna and after training for 3 years with a Korean music company, he was a contestant on the reality survival show Produce X 101. Yuri debuted in the K-pop duo JXR with Baekjin in December 2019 (now disbanded). He started uploading his solo music videos to YouTube in 2018 and his latest release is FINE. I can't find much info on DMITRYSFACE but I think his real name is Dmitry Leeguy. MOVE is a Russian language song and was released in Novembe...