After 3 Semi-Finals the Icelandic populace (and a bucket load of fans from around Europe) are gearing up for Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2011, organised by Icelandic broadcaster Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV) on Feb 12th.

As Sigurjón Brink was tragically taken form us last week, RUV have given a his song an automatic qualifier to the final. Apart from that 2 songs from each of the 3 semis was chosen making it 7 in total.

As many of you already know Yohanna (Iceland 2009) is back again this year, but she actually doesn’t have the fans 100% behind her, a lot are going between Erna Hrönn and Jógvan Hansen. So who exactly will fill Hera’s very sizable shoes to be the Icelandic representative in Dusseldorf?  Nothing screams winner here to me but then again Iceland does love it’s rehashing of their songs. I just hope to be put next to the Icelandic fans again, it was great to be screaming “ISLAND, ISLAND” when Hera was coming on stage, at least it helped mask our own very

The running order is as below:

1: Haraldur Reynisson, with “Ef ég hefði vængi” (“If I had wings”)

2: Erna Hrönn with “Ástin mín eina” (“My old love”)

3: Yohanna with “Nótt” (Night)

4: Matthías Matthíasson & Erla Björg Káradóttir with “Eruptions”

5: Jógvan Hansen – “Ég lofa” (I promise)

6: Magni Ásgeirsson with “Ég trúi á betra líf” (I believe in a better life)

7: Sjonni Brink’s friends with “Aftur Heim”

Iceland will take part in the second half of the first Semi-Final on May 10th in Dusseldorf.

Last night The Dutch chose Je Vecht Nooit Alleen to be the song for 3JS to sing in Dusseldorf, as a song it’s all right, but it’s no winner if you ask me. Will it ven qualify to the final? We can only wait and see what the other countries put through on the night.

The Netherlands will perform in the first half of the Second Semi Final on May 12th 2011.

From RTE.ie

Late last year RTÉ Television announced that it was taking a different approach to selecting this year’s Eurovision entry.

RTÉ nominated five mentors with proven experience in the Irish music industry and asked them to select an artist and a song each, that they believe has the potential to be a Eurovision winner.

Ronan Hardiman is mentoring Don Mescall who is performing ‘Talking With Jennifer’ (written by Ronan Hardiman and Don Mescall).

Caroline Downey Desmond is the mentor for Jedward, who will sing ‘Lipstick’ (written by Dan Priddy, Lars Jensen and Martin Larson).

The mystery act will be mentored by Willie Kavanagh. They will sing a song called ‘Shine On’ (written by Patrick Mahoney).

Liam Lawton is the mentor for The Vard Sisters, who will compete with a song called ‘Send Me An Angel’ (written by Liam Lawton).

Nikki Kavanagh’s mentor is David Hayes and her song is ‘Falling’ (written by Christina Schilling and Camilla).

Viewers will get a sneak preview of the five acts in ‘Eurosong 2011 – The Players’, a special behind-the-scenes documentary which will be broadcast on Saturday 5 February on RTÉ One.

In this documentary Marty Whelan follows the five mentors through the six weeks they have been allotted by RTÉ to find a winning act for the Eurovision Song Contest.

The winning act will be selected on ‘Eurosong 2011′ on ‘The Late Late Show’ on Friday 11 February.

As was the case last year, Ireland’s Eurovision entry will be selected by a combination of public and regional jury vote.

This is how the line-up of this year’s Eurosong is looking like :

1. Don Mescall - Talking with Jennifer (Ronan Hardiman & Don Mescall )
2. Jedward - Lipstick (Dan Priddy, Lars Jensen and Martin Larson)
3. Mystery Act - Shine On (Patrick Mahoney)
4. The Vard Sisters - Send me an angel (Liam Lawton)
5. Nikki Kavanagh - Falling (Christina Schilling, Camilla Gottschalck, Jonas Gladnikoff and Hanif Sabzevari)

Don’t forget to vote for your favourite song in Eurosong 2011

Vote now for who you think should represent Ireland in Eurosong 2010

We were delighted and priviliged to have a chat with the very talented and Fabulous Nikki Kavanagh earlier today.

Hi Nikki thank you for speaking with us, we are all delighted to hear that you are taking part in Eurosong, this year this time as a main act. How does that compare to your last 2 entries when you were a back vocalist?
Thank you! It’s more exciting & more nerve wracking at the same time! I love to sing backing vocals, its great discipline as a singer; you really learn how to use your voice well to compliment the lead singer. This time round it’s a tough song to sing, vocally challenging and very dynamic, I can’t wait to perform it!

(Nikki pictured in Oslo, second from left)
How was Oslo for you last year, any special memories, any gossip?
Oslo rocked, it was a fantastic experience, I’ve honestly never had such a good trip away meeting so many talented & wonderful people. We don’t reaslise how huge the contest really is, compared to the nationals it’s a totally different ball game!

You must come from a very musically talented family, how do they feel about yet another Kavanagh in the Eurovision?
I’m the only musical one would you believe! Everyone thinks Niamh (Kavanagh) and I are related but we arent! Mind you my daughter Eden is following closely in mommy’s footsteps!

Do you feel under pressure because people might be comparing you with Niamh Kavangh?
I don’t feel the pressure at all, I’m Niamh’s biggest fan, she is without doubt the finest singer ever to emerge from Ireland. I can sing…there is no doubt in that…but Niamh could sing the phonebook!

Do you play any instruments yourself?
I play a bit of guitar, getting stuck back into it at the moment, love acoustic spanish guitar, I intend to improve drastically!

Who do you listen to music wise, and who or what would influence you most?
At the moment I am a huge Rihanna & Pink fan, I listen to pretty much all kinds of music, I’ve a very diverse ear! Strong independent women who sing with heart & passion, live bands and serious attitudes, that’s where it’s at for me right now!

What is your favourite song from the Eurovision, and do you have any childhood memories of it at all?
We used to have Eurovision parties when we were kids! It was amazing but it seemed to die a death after we began to lose…a lot! We stuck to the same theme that worked for us all along,  fine songs and singers but time has moved on, we need to evolve as a nation and send more current acts, personally speaking! I don’t have one favourite I have loads! Loved all our winners of course, Niamh’s ‘In your eyes’ was probably the best one. Last year I loved Paula & Ovi from Romania & I loved Drip Drop

We all know that you were in X-factor a few years back, how did that affect your life? Would you do it again?
Gosh that was 2006 I think! Feels like a life time ago! It was a great experience but quite disappointing, they keep a lot of really bad or average singers that have some drama going on in their lives that might make good TV. As a singer, a devoted singer…that annoyed me! Just because I hadn’t got anything heartbreaking going on! I should have made something up! Was happy to get to boot camp though, made some great pals and it’s nice to see behind the scenes like that, gives you an eye opener. Leona Lewis won that year so let’s face it, she is awesome!

Of all the artists that you performed with who would you say you are most proud to have collaborated with?
Being a session singer, you sing with everyone and anyone, be it on TV shows as backing vocalist or sometimes on their albums you don’t even get to meet them! It’s all part of the job really and Irish singers don’t get calls to do anyone UK based so it’s pretty much our own artists. I loved singing with Sharon Shannon on The Late Late show with Eleanor Shanley & co., I love to sing harmonies and we had great fun rehearsing! Other than that I have sung support for some big acts in The George over the years!

Any plans for the future, outside of Eurovision. Do you have any tours or song launches ahead of you?
I think at the moment I’m focusing on the Eurosong, we’ve a big campaign of radio, tv, shoots & interviews set up for the next two weeks so I’m flat out with that!
I’ve been selecting songs for my album so will head off to Sweden to record later in the year. My diary is pretty jammed until October so I hope too much more doesn’t come in that I can’t say no to! I will be sleeping in my car!

Can you give us any hints on the song you have for Eurosong, we now know that it is called Falling? Anything special on the night planned?
The song is very current, has a Rihanna feel with a Pink vocal & space allowing, it will be a performance to be remembered!

What will your guna be like? Will it be fabulous?
If I could actually chose one it would be! Still at the drawing board but it will be very sleek, sexy & have some attitude thrown in for good measure! I hope to finalise this week….excited
This year RTE have changed the format of Eurosong to include mentors for each of the artists, has that helped do you think with the songs?
Yes definitely, David has been a superb mentor, we have the same vision and we are ploughing ahead! As the ‘artist’, its like having a manager looking after the show in all aspects, less work & pressure for me…It means I can focus on my look and vocal…and my dance moves of course

Who is this mystery act that have yet to be announced? We know you know who it is.
I think the cloak & dagger aspect is more to do with the group being so new the final line up hadn’t been finalised and also the name hadn’t been chosen. I think they just wanted to launch on the 5th Feb on the documentary to give themselves time enough to have everything worked out, track recorded & rehearsals in place, it’s more work when there are four people expected to gel together…which in fairness is what I would have done myself if we had considered a group option. They haven’t announced the names yet but we all know, worst kept secret with the music business but it’s done well to keep out of the press! Best of luck to them!

So, She’s going to Sweden (Fabulous), has a great dress planned (More Fabulous), Loves Romania’s entry from last year (Our performance of the year in the ESC Ireland awards) (Double Fabulous) with a great performance planned for the night, humble and extremely talented how can we not love this girl. Nikki you got our vote.

Nikki Kavanagh will perform  Falling by (Christina Schilling, Camilla Gottschalck, Jonas Gladnikoff and Hanif Sabzevari), she will be 5th on the night. Eurosong 2011 will take place on the Late Late Show – RTE 1 on Friday Feb 11th at 21.30 GMT.

Don’t forget to vote for your favorite entry for Eurosong this year on the following link.

Continuing with our German Artist profiles we have Germany’s answer to Britney Spears, the one and only,  Jeanette Biedermann.

Like many young stars today you need the trifecta, sing, dance and act.  Jeanette is accomplished at all three, from 1999-2004 she starred in the German soap opera ‘Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten’, playing the role of Maria Balzer.  The soap opera was a remake of the Australian soap ‘The Restless Years’.   From 2008-2010 she played the main character of Anna Polauke in the series ‘Anna und die Liebe’ , about a shy introverted character who is constant competition with her sister.  Dancing was never a problem for the star who began a career at the age of 6 in the Liliput circus as an acrobat.

Her first launch on the musical world came courtesy of the German newspaper ‘Bild’.  The newspaper launched a talent competition and out of the thousands that entered Jeanette won and launched her debut single ‘Das tut unheimlich weh’.  Trying to capitulate on the success of the single she entered it into the German qualifiers for the 1999 Eurovision.  She placed fourth.  The winning song by Corinna May was disqualified as it had been previously released on someone elses album so the runner up by ‘Supriz’ with ‘Journey to Jerusalem’ entered placing 3^rd on the night.

To date Biedermann has released 6 studio albums and 1 Christmas album. 

It wasn’t however until her 3^rd album ‘Rock my life’ the Biedermann started to achieve wider success.  The single ‘Rock my life’ reached number 3 in the German charts and 6 in the Austrian.  The next single off the album was a duet with our very own Ronan Keating and reached number 7 in Germany.  The album was certified Gold.  Her next album ‘Break on through’ went platinum. 

Her sixth studio album, ‘Naked Truth’ had a rock vibe and her first single off it ‘Run with me’ went to number 3 in the charts.  The follow up single ‘Bad Girls Club’ was one of her poorest charting positions at number 20. 

The seventh studio album is what drew my attention to the singer, ‘Undress to the Beat’ is euro pop at its finest.  The album is filled with quirky pop/dance songs and showcases a faster paced direction in Jeanettes music. 

Jeanette was also a Juror on the German panel for the 2009 Eurovision.

Nikki works regularly with The RTE Concert Orchestra & The Modern Gospel Ensemble and has toured extensively in Ireland, Europe and The United Arab Emirates.

Nikki has performed at some of the country’s most prestigious venues including The National Concert Hall, The Helix & Vicar Street but still loves to sing in the intimate and very personal settings of a church.

In 2006 Nikki was one of three singers in Ireland chosen by Simon Cowell & Louis Walsh to attend the X Factor boot camp where she got down to the last 25 out of 100,000 singers in total!

A regular face on TV, Nikki also appears on many leading Irish artists albums’ as backing vocalist from Red Hurley, Autamata, Les Bien, Scribble Orchestra and even Dustin the turkey!!! She has also done backing vocals for Deborah Harry (Blondie) Cilla Black, Rod Stewart & Jocelyn Brown not to mention supporting Dannii Minogue, Ultra Nate & Karen Ramerez in The George! Last two years running she has appeared as a soloist for RTE productions “Im still standing

She also appeared on ‘Eurosong 2008’ as backing vocalist for Marc Roberts, and more famously did backing vocals for her cousin Niamh Kavanagh last year with “It’s for You”

Nikki will take part in the Irish Eurosong on RTE 1, Late Late Show at 9.30 GMT on Friday Feb 11th. We wish her the best of luck on the night

For more information on Nikki you can see her webpage here: http://www.nikkikavanagh.com/

Or her Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/nikkikavanaghweddings

Here are some of her songs:

Don Mescall is an Irish singer songwriter set to perform in the Irish Eurosong final for Eurovision. Originally from the small parish of Ahane/Lisnagry in Co. Limerick, Mescall now splits his time between the UK, Ireland & USA.In describing Mescall’s music, the press typically makes reference to the styles of classic artists such as Paul Simon, Jackson Browne or a laid-back Springsteen, whilst the fresher-faced draw somewhat clichéd parallels to hugely successful contemporary singer/songwriters, the likes of David Gray and fellow Irishman, Damien Rice.

Since releasing his debut album “Innocent Run” in 2006, Don’s reputation as a songwriter has sky-rocketed with his songs being snapped up by a diverse range of top pop, country, folk and even classical artists and reaching the top of the charts on international shores.

Just a few of the stars who have enjoyed hits with Mescall’s songs are Rascal Flatts (a band described as “bigger than U2 in America”), Boyzone, The Backstreet Boys, Canadian Idol winner Theo Thams, Canada’s No 1 male artist Garou, the hugely successful American Idol contestant, Clay Aiken, Woodstock’s legendary Richie Havens, multi platinum artist Ronan Keating, new Irish stars The High Kings, the new Celtic Woman star Lynn Hilary, US country star Neal McCoy and Irish artist Frances Black, to name just a few.

Don in fact wrote an entry for Ireland back in 2007, he was part of the writing team that submitted an entry for Dervish.

He also was runner up for 2006 in Eurosong as well.

We wish Don the best of luck in Eurosong this year. You never know, 3rd times the charm.

Don will take part in the Irish Eurosong on RTE 1, Late Late Show at 9.30 GMT on Friday Feb 11th.

Love them or hate them either way you cannot deny how successful the X-Factor Twins are. These two have made a carrer of being awful, in fact that was the reason they were formed. But they are so good at being bad they are good, if you get what I mean…

John Paul Henry Daniel Richard Grimes and Edward Peter Anthony Kevin Patrick Grimes (born 16 October 1991) formed for the 6th series of X-Factor in 2009, the judges found it very hard to get rid of them as the public kept voting them in every week. They became renowned for their bad performances and quickly developed a cult following. They quickly developed a signature look with their blond quaffs.

Jedward signed a £90,000 one-album contract with Sony Music in January 2010. It was also announced that they would have their own ITV2 documentary. On 20 January, they performed their debut single “Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)” (a mashup of “Under Pressure” and “Ice Ice Baby”) at the 2010 National Television Awards with rapper Vanilla Ice, who performed with them in the second half of the song. “Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)” was released on 31 January and the CD came out two weeks later. The song debuted at #1 on the Irish Singles Chart and #2 on the UK Singles Chart. Having actually only had a one-single deal, Jedward were dropped by Sony on 16 March after their debut single failed to top the UK charts, but Universal Music signed them up on a three-album contract the following day, which coincidentally was Saint Patrick’s Day. On 4 June, Jedward announced that their second single would be a cover of Blink-182′s 1999 hit “All the Small Things”. They then appeared at T4 on the Beach at Weston-super-Mare on 4 July and performed a medley of “Ghostbusters/Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)/All the Small Things”. Whilst performing a roundoff during “Ghostbusters”, Edward fell and severely injured his left leg. This was later worsened when he fell again whilst doing a hip gesture near the end of “Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)”. He continued the performance of “All the Small Things” either limping or kneeling down. After the performance, Edward was taken to hospital and Jedward’s spokeswoman said at the time of the incident: “We think he’s broken his leg and at the very least has badly twisted the ligament in his knee.” It was later revealed that Edward had torn ligaments in his left knee and would require surgery on it, but he insisted that he would still be able to perform “even if I have to bring crutches on stage”.

On 16 July, Jedward’s single “All the Small Things” was released. Even though Blink-182 originally allowed Jedward to cover their song, they later ran a campaign to try and prevent the release of the twins’ version. This resulted in thousands of copies of Jedward’s version being recalled to their studio and destroyed. ”All the Small Things” peaked at #21 on the Irish Chart and #6 on the UK Indie Chart. On 26 July, Jedward released their debut album Planet Jedward, which went straight to #1 on the Irish Albums Chart and #17 on the UK Albums Chart. Blink-182 referenced Jedward at the Reading and Leeds Festival in August. Drummer Travis Barker announced “We would like very much to thank that band Jedward for allowing us to cover their song.” and frontman Tom DeLonge then said “Travis is super pissed about that shit and he wants to call them out to a fuckin duel.” These comments received both booing and cheering from the crowd. On 30 July, the twins appeared on the Channel 4 reality show Big Brother and performed “All the Small Things” in the garden as part the housemates’ task to “ignore the obvious”.

From 6 April to 1 May, Jedward completed their first solo tour, a sold-out 27-date tour of Ireland called the Planet Jedward Tour. Due to overwhelming demand, the Planet Jedward Tour was extended to 65 dates, with a second 38-date tour of concerts in both Ireland and the UK. The second tour began on 4 August and is scheduled to end in January 2011. The Irish Independent has rated the tour postively, saying that “Jedwardmania is right up there with Beatlemania”

Their manager is Louis Walsh whom many of ye know as the Judge on X-factor as well as manager to Boyzone and Westlife. He also managed Ronan Keatings solo career – this includes when he was submitting successful entries to Denmark – Brink 2009.

Their song for Eurosong is rumored to be called Lipstick, although if this picture that was circulated to the fan club yesterday is any indication then its true.

It is also said that Louie Sence will be doing their choreography for the night and lord forbid if they qualify. It’s more of a UK thing there – as he has become a recent z-list celebrity on the TV and papers over here, so don’t feel bad if you don’t know who that is

Also if it’s any indication for their favors in Eurosong then Brian Cowen even backed them at one point in their carrer. I do not doubt that they will win the public vote, but how will the Jury vote swing it on the night? Let’s face it Juries hate Jedward, but we have to wait and see on the night. Whatever happens we wish the boys well on the night.

Jedward will take part in the Irish Eurosong on RTE 1, Late Late Show at 9.30 GMT on Friday Feb 11th.

The public have spoken and you have declared Sweden to be then winner of the 2010 Kate Ryan Award, the one act the you wanted to see in the final of last years Eurovision.

Earlier we caught up with Anna to present her with her trophy

Runner Up:

The Netherlands’s Sieneke