It's a year since Eurovision already! That means that it's been a year since my post on 3 singers I discovered through Eurovison. The 2013 contest is held in Malmo, Sweden, who won last year with the song Euphoria by Loreen. The UK's entry is Believe In Me by Bonnie Tyler. The song sounds ok, better than last year's by Englebert Humperdinck anyway! lol.This year I thought I'd do a post on the songs I've liked over the years. :)
Jan Jan- Inga and Anush (Armenia)
Sisters Inga and Anush Arshakyan represented Armenia in 2009 with the song Jan Jan and finished in 10th place. They had released 3 albums before they entered Eurovision. Inga plays the violin and Anush is a pianist. Jan Jan translates as "My Dear". It's a folky song with a good rhythm.
For more on the sisters visit their official site:http://www.ingaanush.am/*
Wild Dances- Ruslana (Ukraine)
Ruslana won the contest for Ukraine in 2004. Can't believe it was 9 years ago!! Wild Dances is a different style to the poppy type songs, the drums and trembita, (a traditional instrument) made it stand out. Everyone seemed to have drums the year after! lol. The song was sung in both English and Ukranian and was from Ruslana's concept album Dyki Tantsi (Wild Dances) which was inspired by the folk music and dances of her father's people the Hutsuls, who live in the Ukrainian Carpathian mountains.
For more on Ruslana visit these links:
Official site
Official Facebook
My Number One- Helena Paparizou (Greece)
Another winner, this time from 2005. This was a long time ago as well. My Number One is a catchy dance pop song with a good beat. Helena (her real name is Elena but she's known abroad as Helena) is a Swedish singer with Greek heritage and represented Greece. She had already released an album before Eurovision but her win really launched her career.
For more Helena visit these links:
Official site (not been updated since 2009)*
MySpace (last update 2011)
Official Facebook (current)
Update 17/5/19: Above Facebook now redirects to Helena's official page: https://www.facebook.com/helenapaparizouofficial
Fairytale- Alexander Ryback (Norway)
Alexander Ryback was the 2009 winner. I think Fairytale is a bit of an odd song but I like it, lol. I like the violin music and I think the chorus is the best bit. Alexander was born in Belarus and moved to Norway when he was 4. He got to the semi final in Idol, the Norwegian version of Pop Idol and also won a competition called Kjempesjansen (The Great Opportunity).
Visit his official site here: http://www.alexanderrybak.com/
We Could Be The Same- maNga (Turkey)
This is definitely not your typical Eurovison song! It's a mixture of different styles, like nu metal, rock, electronica and rap. They came in 2nd in 2010. maNga's members are singer Ferman Akgül, guitarist Yağmur Sarıgül "Yamyam", bass guitar player Cem Bahtiyar and drummer Özgür Can Öney. There are also two former members, Orçun Şekerusta and Efe Yılmaz.
Check out their site here: http://www.manga.web.tr/index.php?lg=en
Update May '19: Checked if this link was still working and Firefox told me it was a potiential security risk, so be careful of going on it. :)
Love Me Back- Can Bonomo (Turkey)
This was another really odd one but for some reason I liked it! lol. It had a ship/sailor theme because he's singing "Hop onto my ship baby, I'll make you mine". The dancers were weird but they served a purpose- to make a ship! Quite clever how they did it. Love Me Back came 7th last year. Turkey aren't entering the contest the 2013 contest, one of the reasons being they don't agree with the rules. Can Bonomo is a Turkish Jewish singer. He released his first album Meczup in 2011.
Visit his site for more info: http://www.canbonomo.com/tr/ *
That's it! I wonder what songs there'll be this year. I saw the semi finals and thought the first one was better than the second. The ones that stood out were Ukraine's entry Gravity by Zlata Ognevich and Serbia's Ljubav Je Svuda by Moje 3 (which didn't get through). I was unable to vote in the first semi final (when the UK could vote) because I was out but I recorded it and watched it later. The final is on BBC1 tomorrow at 8pm (9pm standard European time). For all the news on Eurovision and more information on the contestants, check out the official website: www.eurovision.tv
*17/5/19: Sites now gone.
Jan Jan- Inga and Anush (Armenia)
Sisters Inga and Anush Arshakyan represented Armenia in 2009 with the song Jan Jan and finished in 10th place. They had released 3 albums before they entered Eurovision. Inga plays the violin and Anush is a pianist. Jan Jan translates as "My Dear". It's a folky song with a good rhythm.
For more on the sisters visit their official site:
Wild Dances- Ruslana (Ukraine)
Ruslana won the contest for Ukraine in 2004. Can't believe it was 9 years ago!! Wild Dances is a different style to the poppy type songs, the drums and trembita, (a traditional instrument) made it stand out. Everyone seemed to have drums the year after! lol. The song was sung in both English and Ukranian and was from Ruslana's concept album Dyki Tantsi (Wild Dances) which was inspired by the folk music and dances of her father's people the Hutsuls, who live in the Ukrainian Carpathian mountains.
For more on Ruslana visit these links:
Official site
Official Facebook
My Number One- Helena Paparizou (Greece)
Another winner, this time from 2005. This was a long time ago as well. My Number One is a catchy dance pop song with a good beat. Helena (her real name is Elena but she's known abroad as Helena) is a Swedish singer with Greek heritage and represented Greece. She had already released an album before Eurovision but her win really launched her career.
For more Helena visit these links:
MySpace (last update 2011)
Official Facebook (current)
Update 17/5/19: Above Facebook now redirects to Helena's official page: https://www.facebook.com/helenapaparizouofficial
Fairytale- Alexander Ryback (Norway)
Alexander Ryback was the 2009 winner. I think Fairytale is a bit of an odd song but I like it, lol. I like the violin music and I think the chorus is the best bit. Alexander was born in Belarus and moved to Norway when he was 4. He got to the semi final in Idol, the Norwegian version of Pop Idol and also won a competition called Kjempesjansen (The Great Opportunity).
Visit his official site here: http://www.alexanderrybak.com/
We Could Be The Same- maNga (Turkey)
This is definitely not your typical Eurovison song! It's a mixture of different styles, like nu metal, rock, electronica and rap. They came in 2nd in 2010. maNga's members are singer Ferman Akgül, guitarist Yağmur Sarıgül "Yamyam", bass guitar player Cem Bahtiyar and drummer Özgür Can Öney. There are also two former members, Orçun Şekerusta and Efe Yılmaz.
Check out their site here: http://www.manga.web.tr/index.php?lg=en
Update May '19: Checked if this link was still working and Firefox told me it was a potiential security risk, so be careful of going on it. :)
Love Me Back- Can Bonomo (Turkey)
This was another really odd one but for some reason I liked it! lol. It had a ship/sailor theme because he's singing "Hop onto my ship baby, I'll make you mine". The dancers were weird but they served a purpose- to make a ship! Quite clever how they did it. Love Me Back came 7th last year. Turkey aren't entering the contest the 2013 contest, one of the reasons being they don't agree with the rules. Can Bonomo is a Turkish Jewish singer. He released his first album Meczup in 2011.
That's it! I wonder what songs there'll be this year. I saw the semi finals and thought the first one was better than the second. The ones that stood out were Ukraine's entry Gravity by Zlata Ognevich and Serbia's Ljubav Je Svuda by Moje 3 (which didn't get through). I was unable to vote in the first semi final (when the UK could vote) because I was out but I recorded it and watched it later. The final is on BBC1 tomorrow at 8pm (9pm standard European time). For all the news on Eurovision and more information on the contestants, check out the official website: www.eurovision.tv
*17/5/19: Sites now gone.
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