So to make this a little different I found this while looking through the internets. It is the Hardchorus European Song Contest. 4 countries are competing in the contest which is organised by Puma. All the songs are from the Eurovision Song Contest! Here are the entries:

The United Kingdom: That Sounds Good To Me (2010)

Italy: Fiumi Di Parole (1997)

France: Allez Ola Olé (2010)

Germany: Ein bißchen Frieden (1982)

Ani Lorak is supporting the contest! Shady Lady (2008)

Check out the Puma page on Youtube to vote! What is your favourite entry?

Related articles by Zemanta

• Terry Wogan fronts Puma song campaign | Media Monkey (guardian.co.uk)

It has been announced in Cologne today at a joint ARD/ProSieban Press Conference in Cologne that Lena Mayer-Landrut will again represent Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011.

Stefan Raab had the following to say:

“If Germany would win the World Cup, it would be stupid even if the winning team would not run for the next time. Morally and musically it is clear that Lena has to defend the title in her own country.”.

The media are running with the title “never change a winning team”

While there will be a show to pick the Unser Song Für… (Our song for…) to select the song.

This a first for the Eurovision and I wonder will it work for the Germans?

Correction: This has happened in the past. In 1957 Lys Assia, the winner in 1956, again represented Switzerland in Frankfurt, but ended up in 8th position. It also happened in 1958 when the Dutch winner from 1958 Corry Brokken finished in joint last place in Hilversum. Will that happen to Lena?

H/t ESCDaily

Did anyone see the Hera Hera Bjork and the Volcano skit at the Eurovision Final?

Basically they had a small smoking volcano in front of Iceland in the green room and when the camera zoomed in, Hera put her had to stop the volcano.

Simple humour I know, but I thought it was hilarious as I’m a big fan of Hera. Some screen shots are below – you can click on them to enlarge them.

With Eurovision 2010 having drawn to a close have any of the singers left a lasting impression.   Every year I find someone to enchant me and whose career I start to follow from Kate Ryan to Mihai Traistairiu, Charlotte Perelli to Sandra Oxenryd, Alexander Rybak to Lara Fabian.  This year the most outstanding vocalist was the beautiful Sofia Nizharadze representing Georgia.

The song itself ‘Shine’ was so so, and while I really did like the choreography I felt it wasn’t needed for the song.  What I only found out afterwards was Sofia is a trained soprano.  Most recently she shared a stage with the great Jose Carreras dueting on ‘Tonight’ from ‘West side story’.  I love when artists prove they have amazing vocal ranges.  For instance Charlotte Church can sing soprano yet her normal singing voice is mediocre at best, a point proved when she was overshadowed vocally by the contestants on ‘Over the rainbow’.   Sophia’s vocal on ‘Shine’ however remained top notch, despite been thrown about the stage.

Of Turkish Georgian origins she began studing piano and singing in the state Conservatory where she graduated with honors moving on to the Gnesiny academy of music where she also graduated with honors.

She has won several international song contests, including the Italian ‘Bravo, Bravissimo’ , the Russian ‘Crystal Note’ and the Georgian ‘Crystal fur-tree’ competitions.  In 2004 she moved to Russia after getting  the lead role in Gerard Presgurvics musical extravaganza of ‘Romeo and Juillet’ however when the war between Russia and Georgia broke out in 2008 she returned home.

She has covered some amazing songs from ‘I am telling you’ from ‘Dreamgirls’ to Lara Fabians ‘Adagio’ also taking on the role of Christine for a performance of ‘Phantom of the Opera’ and all this by the age of twenty four.

Without any shadow of a doubt she is a force to look out for, with looks to rival Cheryl Cole and a vocal range to knock her out of the water all she needs is a Simon Cowell to get her an international break.

Der Spiegel (in English) has an article on the debate currently raging between German mayors on where next years Eurovision Song Contest should be held. (Provisional dates are 17 May and 19 May 2011, with the final planned for the evening of 21 May 2011)

The Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, has stated “Berlin would of course be delighted” to host the contest. “The Grand Prix would fit well with the city and with its creative potential.”

The Mayor of Hamburg, Ole von Beust, immediately through his city into the mix “For years, the city has closely followed the Grand Prix, and we will do everything we can to bring it to Hamburg.”

Of course in any discussion Lena’s home town of Hannover has to be in the mix and the Governor of Lower Saxony, Christian Wulff, stated “it would be great if the Song Contest would come to the media capital of Hanover.”

And not to be out done, the Governor of North Rhine-Westphalia, Jürgen Rüttgers, expressed interest, calling his state an “outstanding site for the Eurovision final.” That would be either Cologne or Düsseldorf.

Of course the former host cities Frankfurt Am Main (1957) and Munich (1983) cant be left out either.

So the following are possibilities:

• Berlin
• Hannover
• Hamburg
• Cologne
• Düsseldorf
• Frankfurt Am Main
• Munich

Where would you like to see it hosted?

So as the Voice has already blogged about the winner, here are the results from the 55th Eurovision Song Contest.

1. Germany 256
2. Turkey 170
3. Romania 162
4. Denmark 149
5. Azerbaijan 145
6. Belgium 143
7. Armenia 141
8. Greece 140
9. Georgia 136
10. Ukraine 108
11. Russia 90
12. France 82
13. Serbia 72
14. Israel 71
15. Spain 68
16. Albania 62
17. Bosnia and Herzegovina 51
18. Portugal 43
19. Iceland 41
20. Norway 35
21. Cyprus 27
22. Moldova 27
23. Ireland 25
24. Belarus 18
25. United Kingdom 10

The show itself was amazing and there was a bit of controversy in the pub last night when it was announced that Spain would perform again after their stage invasion! Though at the time we thought it was part of the act! Most of the singers were on top form and our Niamh Kavanagh hit that final note!

After an interesting interval which had everyone in the pub laughing and clapping and trying to join in, it was time for the voting.

It was very interesting to watch the voting last night. After the first two countries voting, Denmark had been awarded two 12 points! It looked like they may be a serious contender, but then Germany took over. Germany got 12 points from 9 countries and every time Lena looked completely shocked! By the end of the competition only 5 countries failed to give Germany any points at all. When the result poor Lena didnt know what to do! She didnt even know she had to sing again! Even in the middle of her reprise she stated “this is crazy!”

Again well done to Germany!

Also thank you Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Israel, Switzerland and the United Kingdom for voting for Ireland!

So love it or hate it, Germany has won the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. Personally, I love the song. It is quirky, it is fun and I happen to quite like Lena. At the end of the day she’s an 19 year old girl so I think fair dues to her for winning. I am also delighted that one of the Big 4 won, proof if proof was needed that if a country sends the right song and the right singer then it’s anyone’s contest to win.

Just a quick note on Niamh. She performed fantastically tonight and could not have made me prouder. Niamh should come home with her head held high. I will say however, that a huge rethink on what we select to represent us and how we select it is in order if we are ever to grace the top end of the leader board again.

All in all, a great show from Norway, result for Ireland is disappointing but Germany has provided us with a good winner. It will be interesting to see what surprises Germany holds in store for us next year. I hope you enjoyed the show.

These pictures are from the Friday 28th dress rehearsal of the Eurovision Final. We were very lucky to have front row seats, albeit on the side.

We had an amazing overview of the stage, the performers and the production team, especially the camera men who kept running up and down the stage.

All countries performed to a high standard, and to be honest, its hard to know how the voting will go. We do hope that it’s Ireland of course!

[nggallery id=4]

“Soon we will know who’ll be the best in the Eurovision Song Contest”

Join me from 19.30 to cheer on Niamh and all your Eurovision favourites as we liveblog from our respective living rooms.

If you are using twitter you can contribute by using hashtag #escgp

As Ireland pointed out in our jury vote:

We shall be anxiously awaiting 2011, for the most amazing come back in history!!!!!!!!!