In 2006 dance diva extraordinaire Kate Ryan swayed across the Eurovision stage for Belgium.  Unfortunately, despite great predictions for the song, it placed 12^th in the semi-final which meant she would not get a place in the final.  However, despite catty comments from Terry Wogan (who obviously feared its potential against the woeful Daz Simpson and Teenage Life) Kate would have the last laugh when Je T’Adore reached the number one spot in the Belgium charts. 

Born Katrien Verbeeck in1980, she developed a passion for music from an early age, learning to play both guitar and piano.  She started to sing in her parents’ pub and eventually formed a rock band, Melt.  It was while singing in the bar that she was discovered and launched as a solo dance artist.  Her debut single, Scream for More, penned by her own hand, went on to become an instant chart success.  As a result she was signed to EMI Belgium and launched her first album, Different.  This album would be one of the highest imported albums of 2001 to the United States.  Sadly, however, her deserved happiness at her success was overshadowed by her mother’s diagnosis of cancer from which she subsequently passed away.

Her follow up albums also proved successful on dance charts however charted low in pop charts.  In 2006, she released a double-sided single We All Belong, which – like Lara Fabian’s La Difference – was an anti-homophobia song.  It would go on to become the anthem for the Eurogames 2007.  The other side of the single was a cover of Voyage, Voyage by Desireless. 

In 2008, Kate took the best selling Benelux Artist Award at the World Music Awards.  Her next single Ella, Elle l’a reached Number 1 in Spain and in the UK MTV dance charts.  Her latest album French Connection has recently gone multi platinum and Kate is currently touring Canada to promote it.  She is due to launch another album in 2011, which will be targeted towards an American market.

Definately the best act from this years Melodifestivalen Timoteij are launching their debut album out tomorrow and the reports are good for schlager. But don’t take my word for it 30 second clips of each song are available to listen to here (just click on ‘Låtar’). My favourite apart from Kom is Glöm mig. I’m very easy to please though lol.

Here is their smash hit Kom from Melodifestivalen, which they should have won btw:

We would like to point out as well that aside from Norway who gave them the same amount, Ireland did them the most points out of any international jury to Timoteij in MF. Come over for a concert or seven girls

Well here it is after me harping on about them earlier I like it, it’s definitely a different approach for Alexander Bard, more slow and reminds me of Chicane in a way. I like it and hope they keep up the good work

Whilst having an old gawk around Youtube earlier I came across this little beauty.

It’s a wonderful French pop that’s kinda of like a mix between Lady Gaga and Dannii Minogue, really addictive and the video ain’t half bad either.

Her homepage is here: http://www.ysaferrer.com/

See here on the following link, it’s a Eurovision show on Romanian TV, she is a little bit into it but it’s still a good watch

There is always one entry in any given year, that “guilty pleasure” that you know you shouldn’t like but for some unexplained reason, no matter how hard your good taste trys to stop you, you can’t help but secretly fall in love with a song and performance. One of those songs and performances for me was Romania’s entry in 2004…

Sanda Ladosi entered with “I Admit”, an uptempo Eastern infused number about her admitting to her lover (which I am guessing was NOT her stylist) that she loved him and hoped he wasn’t a dream.

Now there are so many things wrong with this performance, her look, her lack of rhythm, her outfit, as one commentator put it, the “less clothes, more hair” approach to fashion, but for some reason that I cannot explain with any sense of logic, I love this.

I love that fact that she looks like an extra from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats, that she couldn’t decide on what to wear so wore her “sexy” nightie, I particulaly love the little shoulder dance she does on “I admit, I admit”, the dancer who decided to wear a see-through meshed vest ala Miranda’s gay work colleague in that Sex & the City episode. I love the by now obligatory feel up by her backing dancers, the Marcel Marceau hand movements and the throwing of gold dust for no apparent reason, maybe just to distract viewers from that hair for 2 seconds.

Anyways, when I got both the DVD and CD in the post after the Contest, it was this song and this performance that I ended up listening to and watching on repeat….

So there is my guilty pleasure, what’s yours?

Aunty is back Darlings! She got stuck in Iceland for the last week and you’ll all be glad to know that all charges have now been dropped. Any rumours of volcanic eruptions and her coincidental visit have now been quashed…

If you have any problems or have any questions that Aunty can help with then please submit them here.

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Peter from Cork asks:

“I often find the dancers to be the main attraction at Eurovision; I’m thinking of last year’s centurions for Ukraine. Why do i seem to focus on the gyrating men in the background and not the person singing their hearts out?”
Peter my dear I ask what is the problem with this ?

To answer your question I will take a two pronged answer.

1

Yes the “Anti Crisis Girl” was nothing short of a prozzy onstage….but the men more then made up for her performance.YUMMY…and what about helena’s greek lads a few years back pppphhhhooooaaaarrrr !!!!!

of course its not always the case.

Remember Kenan Dougulu from turkey …that cheeky little scamp could “shake it up shikarem” me any time….never once looked at the dancers….and I know you may find this strange but lead singer with Greenjolly from the Ukraine in 2005 was a bit of a meat head but he deffo turned my head that year and I didn’t even notice the “cute” jailbait hip hop dancers onstage with him. Of course who can forget sakis…..and shake shake shake…….again I didn’t even see the 2 bit hookers stripping him on stage….and who can forget Mr Unibrow Alexander from last year…..I never thought I would find unibrows and a fiddle attractive…….but my that lad could work it…….again the 2 blonde barefoot backers in pink didn’t even register in my brain……apart from their fabulous hair of course and the “tra la’s”……lol.

If of course both the singer and the dancers are woeful you are in trouble….

Who said “Dervish”

2

Some of the singing is crap and the dancers are the only thing going for the performance………………Angelica Agurbash / Sibel Tuzun anyone !!!

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Stephen from Cork:

“Why do I always end up knowing the words to all the Eurovision Songs every year?”

Hi Stephen…………Your like me…………I even know the words of all the “foreign” language song which is great fun to listen to.

You should hear my version of “Molitva” its flawless.

Now to answer your question again , there are two possible answers.

A good eurovision song especially the chorus should be remembered after 1 listen.

Some are so easy 5 year olds in primary school would remember em…..i.e.”Dinga ding dong”………”La La la”………”Love” !!!”and the song that every 5 year old child in primary school should be singing….”Diva” .

Then we move on to the song titles generally always repeated repeated and repeated they are made that way to stick in your brain….

”Im in love with a fairytale”…….

“Rock and roll angels bring thine hard rock hallelujah”

“You are the one you’re my number 1”

”Every way that I can.”
Bet you know all those ones don’t you ?

Yes indeed a good eurovision song is made to stick in your brain.

If its brutal it wont stick in your brain.

For example I bet you don’t know the words to “Tyolki ellaa” from Finland this year…

One reason …………its shite !!!!!!

And answer number 2 to your question……………………………………………….

Your queer dear !!!!!!!!

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Michael from Dublin:
“Sheila I’m torn between going to Oslo and staying at home and getting drunk on vodka, any advice?”

Oh darling Michael (I love that name Michael), why not have the best of both worlds….Go to Oslo and get drunk on vodka there!!

To anyone who hasn’t made a eurovison song contest before…if you have to sell your mother and father to go DO IT.

It is the most fun you will ever have with your clothes on ….

And with the amount of Mary’s that go to it you will of course get a chance to get your clothes off as well.

I realise Oslo is scandalously expensive but as I said it would be well worth your while…even if you cant get a ticket for the show itself.

Somewhere like Oslo will be Eurovision-mad and craic will be had everywhere in the city.

If all else fails and you are stuck here in Ireland – unfortunately the vast majority of Irish people don’t “get” the eurovision – so a night out to see the competition can sometimes be a bit of a let down …fabulous glamour on one screen and ‘Prime Time’ on the other….disgraceful…….

So my advice would be get to the offie , have the dinner at half five , so you have a free run of the evening, invite all the euro geeks/nerds (and me) , get sloshed and enjoy the best night of the year.

Note to self …..check ebay and see how the bids are going for Mam and Dad.

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If you have any problems or have any questions that Aunty can help with then please submit them here.

Eurovision came up in the conversation tonight in the Spiller household and there was no surprise when it came to the song my mother picked up. The conversation started as I thought that Sandy Kelly, who was on the Late, Late Show tonight, represented Ireland in the Eurovision. That got my mother singing!

Now of course I now know, that It was not Sandy Kelly, but Sandie Jones who represented Ireland in 1972 with a song completely as Gaeilge. This was the first and only time that Ireland entered a song in the “other” national language. The song was “Ceol and Ghrá” and it was written by Liam Mac Uistín and Joe Burkett. My mother has memories of it being recorded in Jury’s Hotel in Cork, which was across the water from her school.

It is the only Irish Eurovision song my mother knows off by heart (the one I know is Rock and Roll Kids) but I think its a really nice song, and maybe we should consider entering a song in Irish again in the future?

Anyway back in 1972 Sandie came 15th on 72 points. And here is her performance.

Enjoy this bit of Irish Eurovision history.

Here at Esc Ireland we are always partial to a good old balad! And over the coming weeks I hope to bring you my pick of the best balads.

To kick us off we have Yohanna whom representing Iceland in 2009 (and came second!) singing Beautiful Silence

Vertu með (aka Enjoy!)

In honour of awful British crimes against humanity (see Frank’s earlier post) let’s remember the Greatest Crime of All…

And now, why we secretly kind of love, love, love Cry Cry Baby

• 0:00 – The opening strumming of the Spanish guitar is kind of promising…
• 0:10 – But ohoh! The heifers in black parading around do not bode well!
• 0:20 – EUROVISION GOLD! Love, love’s not enough. In some alternative universe, where the laws of Physics are very, verydifferent, Jessica is in tune. And it’s considered acceptable to wear ice skating costumes in public. But look at her face; she knows she bombed.
• 0:22 – Oh dear, Chris is doing some Joe McCaul dancing with the middle aged Scouse backing dancers. I wonder is one his Mum? She must be so proud.
• 0:28 – Ew, she’s going down on her fag. Bad fag-hag. Bad fag-hag! Your cheap fake tan will rub off all over his cheap white shirt!
• 0:33 – Is Chris having a seizure? Maybe he’s some quirky oddball with the voice of an angel to rescue this mess…
• 0:37 – Maybe not…
• 0:50 – Amazingly, she’s gone even further off key!
• 1:00 – Come on! Ooh, it speaks! I bet Chris considers himself butch.
• 1:15 – Remember when all the gays had bleached mullets? The mid naughties were a dark time for Gay Crimes Against Hairstyling.
• 1:20 – The man with the Spanish guitar seems more and more like the banjo player from Deliverance.
• 1:28 – Ok, secretly… I kind of adore the dance routine. It’s British Chav Schlager!
• 1:42 – Oh dear, the three old slappers and the two up front are now singing in five different keys. Harmonizing they ain’t.
• 1:48 – Bye bye baby. Cry cry baby. Bye bye baby. Baby bye bye. The people who wrote this are presumably native English speakers? Dear God…
• 2:00 – She’s going down on the fag again…
• 2:11 – Backing dancers clapping their hands in the air like seals! Not one drunk poof in the auditorium can be bothered to join in! Where were the Schlagerboys???
• 2:14 – COME ON LATVIA! *tumbleweed in the hall*
• 2:25 – Baby Bye Byeeeeeeeeeeee. Worst key change ever! Although the impact is invariably lost when you’ve been wandering in and out of many different keys, some only audible to small Latvian rodents for the past two minutes.
• 2:48 – Does Chris need to pee? That’s what I used to do when I was five years old and needed to go but didn’t want to leave the dancefloor.
• 2:55 – Oh yeah, don’t wanna cry no more. Oooh, it’s getting a bit R’n'B! Chris is urban. He’s relevant.
• 3:02 – Oh, poor, poor Jessica. Look at her wee face! Chris is in seventh heaven (he probably thinks his impromptu dance moves and R’n'B bit at the end went down a treat) but she knows, SHE KNOWS she’s just bought herself a life serving Maccie Dee’s in Merseyside.

So, so bad, but kind of fabulous in its own way.