Airi Ojamets

Airi Ojamets (November 8 1977 Talinn) is an Estonian country singer.

Airi participated in 2005 in the Estonian national final for the ESC with the song Dream In A Dream which came 4th.

Halla Margrét Árnadóttir

Halla Margrét Árnadóttir (born April 23, 1964 in Reykjavik) is an Icelandic singer who represented her country in the Eurovision Song Contest 1987, in Brussels. In that competition she sang the entry Hægt Og Hljótt with music and lyrics by Valgeir Guðjónsson; the conductor was Hjálmar Ragnarsson. The song ended in 16th place and received 28 points.

Since 1997 Margrét has been an opera and concert singer. As a soprano, she stars on two DVDs, as Anna in Puccini's Le Villi, and as Tigrana in Puccini's Edgar.

Alana Dante

Alana Dante (real name Christel Hoogewijs, born 1 December 1969) is a Belgium-born singer. Early in her life she went to a music academy to study violin and receive singing lessons. She performed regularly at karaoke bars and clubs in Belgium before she came professional successful.

Alana started her professional career in 1997 with a dance version of Céline Dion's song "Think Twice".

Her big breakthrough was with her 1998 hit Take me for a ride. Her next single The Life of the Part" became an even bigger hit. In 1999 Alana Dante won the 3rd semi-final of the Belgian selections for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Get Ready For The Sunsand. In the final it came 3rd. In the semi-final Alana used a "machine" which gave her voice a more powerful sound but in the final she wasn't allowed to use it again.

Alana Dante was involved in a scandal when a sex tape of her was reportedly stolen from her and leaked on the internet.

Intervision Song Contest - Maywood

In 1987 Maywood represented The Netherlands at the Intervision Song Contest in Sopot with Deeper Than The Night and Stay With Me. Deeper Than The Night won the Nightingale prize.

World Popular Song Festival - Maywood

Maywood represented the Netherlands in the World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo in 1979 with the song Let Me Know which didn't reach the Grand Final.

Nicole & Hugo

Nicole & Hugo are a famous couple from Belgium. They participated 3 times in de Belgian national final. In 1971 with Goeiemorgen Morgen (1st), in 1973 with Jij En Ik En Wij (equal 4th) and Baby Baby (1st) and in 2004 with Love Is All Around which didn't make it into the final.

In 1971 they won the Belgian final but they didn't went to Dublin because Nicole became ill, they were replaced by Lily Castel & Jacques Raymond, they finnished 14th.
 
In 1973 Nicole & Hugo went to Luxemburg with a dance routine and purple suits but unfortunately they ended in last place.

In 1974 Nicole & Hugo represented Belgium in Japan in the World Popular Song Festival with the song Met De Zomer Mee, they came 2nd and won the Outstanding Song Award. It was the best result ever for Belgium in the W.P.S.F.

Ogi Radivojević

Ognjan Ogi Radivojević is a Serbian singer, composer and producer with many talents. He plays piano since he was 5 years old. He earned master degree in conducting and became 4th generation of educated musicians in his family. He was piano teacher at jazz department at Music High school.

He has been played various instruments at rock bands, jazz ensembles and as studio musician since he was 13 years old.
In his carrier he played Europe wide, alongside many jazz artists, such as Dusko Gojkovic, Stjepko Gut, Clark Terry. He played also in ”Big Band”, Serbian's National Television’s jazz orchestra from 1992 to 1997. For the last two years with them, ’96 and ’97, he was Big Band’s conductor and producer.

Ogi Radivojević became a world wide known artist playing alongside Goran Bregovic from 1992 to 2004.
As a conductor, producer, singer, orchestrator, art director and percussionist, Ogi Radivojević, with his authentic appearance and charisma, was trademark of Goran Bregovic’s music at over 600 concerts world wide.
Ogi Radivojevic took part in writing music for more then ten foreign movies, and worked on albums of Iggy Pop (USA), Ofra Haza (Israel), Yorgos Dalaras (Greece), Sezen Aksu (Turkey), Kayah (Poland), Krisztof Krawcyk (Poland), Cezaria Evora (Capo Verde).

Ogi debuted as an actor in the movie Little world by Milos Radovic.
In 2005 he participated in the Serbia & Montenegro final for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Hajde Cico which he composed, produced and arranged. He came 3rd and the song became a big hit, it was top five in the charts for eight months.
In December 2006 Ogi released his first solo album U tebi kad me ima. This record was laureate of many awards, and among the top 5 selling albums in 2007.

During 2008, Ogi was hired as musical director and conductor on summer tour with French artist Emma Shaplin.

In april 2010. he released his second solo album.
Ogi Radivojevic produced and performed the official song of European Handball Championship 2012 that will be hosted in Serbia.

Igor Vukojević

Igor Vukojević (born 1975 in Doboj, Bosnia & Herzegovina) is a Bosnian Serb singer, musician and songwriter. He sings in the Ijekavski dialect of Bosnia.

Igor started playing guitar when he was 10 years old, composed his first song when he was 11 and did his first song arrangement at 14 years old. By that time he already played 3 instruments - drums, bass and guitar.

Igor Vukojević came 3rd in the 2003 Final for Eurovision Song Contest with Srce Ne Pita, 3rd in 2005 with the song Jabuka and 14th in the Serbian semi-final 2007 with the song Dobro Te Znam. He performs at the Pub/Bar Lobelia in Herceg Novi, Montenegro, every summer in July.

Tinka Milinović

Tinka Milinović (born November 27, 1973) is an Bosnian opera singer, international TV star, and recording artist.

Tinka has competed in the pre-selection of Bosnia Herzegovina for the Eurovision Song Contest 3 times. In 2002 with the song Sve Sto Imas Ti (14th), although she didn't won she became very popular in Bosnia Herzegovina after her participation in 2002. In 2003 she participated with the song I’m Never Gonna Fall (12th) and in 2005 with the Ralph Siegel song Sometimes I Wish I Were a Child Again. In 2005 the winner was chosen by 50% televoring and 50% by an "expert" jury. Igor Vukojevic with his song Jabuka won the televoting and Feminnem with their song Zovi won the "expert" jury vote. Tinka came second in both juries. After the voting both Tinka and Feminnem had 20 points but the votes of the "experts" were decisive so Feminnem won, Tinka came 2nd and Igor ended 3rd.

In 2006, Tinka Milinović represented Switzerland as a member of the group Six4one at the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens with the Ralph Siegel song If We All Give A Little which came 16th in the final.

Saša Lendero

Saša Lendero, born on August 3 1973 in Ljubljana, is a Slovenian singer.

She took part at EMA, the Slovenian pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, in 2005 with the song Metulj and 2006 with the song Mandoline. Both times she came 2nd.

In 2005 the televoters decided Omar Naber had the best song. But in 2006 the winner was chosen by televoting, SMS voting and a jury of "experts" each with a 1/3 weighting. Saša won the televote and the SMS vote but the "experts" gave her no points at all so it happend that the favourite of the "experts" won.

 

Festival di Sanremo - Marisa Sannia

Marisa Sannia (February 15, 1947 Iglesias, Sardinia, Italy - April 14, 2008 Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy) was an Italian singer. She started her career with success in pop music in the sixties. And she later became an interpreter of songs, composer, an actress and then finally an artistic researcher. She is primarily noted for being a singer in the Sardinian language, which was of course her native tongue.

In 1968 Marisa Sannia took part in the Festival di Sanremo in 1968 where she came 2nd with Casa Bianca.

Chris Doran

Christopher "Chris" Doran, (born 22 November 1979) is an Irish singer and kickboxer,
In 2004 Chris Doran won You're a Star, the Irish pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. Chris represented Ireland at the 49th Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul with the song If My World Stopped Turning finishing 23rd out of 24. The song was listed for 11 weeks on the Ireland Singles top 50. It entered the chart on position 1 .

Birgitta Haukdahl

Birgitta Haukdal Brynjarsdóttir (born July 28 1979 in Húsavík, Iceland) is an Icelandic singer.

For most of her life she has lived in the northern part of Iceland. In 1999 Birgitta replaced the lead vocalist of the pop group Írafár. They released their first single Hvar er ég? in the summer of 2000 which was followed by two more singles in 2001. The band signed a recording contract with Iceland’s biggest record company Skífan in 2002, releasing their first album Allt sem ég sé in that year. It is Iceland’s fastest selling pop album of the last 25 years, reaching platinum - which is not common in Iceland.

 Birgitta Haukdahl was chosen as the most popular singer of Iceland in 2003. In that year she won Söngvakeppnin, the Icelandic national final for the Eurovision Songcontest, with the song Segðu Mér Allt. Unfortunately she sung it in English at the contest in Riga and came 8th. In 2006 she participated again in the Icelandic pre-selection and came 4th with the song Mynd Af þér and in 2008 with Magni Áseirsson with the song Núna Veit Ég. In the final they didn't reach the top 3.

Tony Neef

Tony Neef (January 29 1961 Leek, the Netherlands) is a Dutch singer, actor, musicalstar, lyricist and voice actor.

In 1990 Tony participated in the Dutch national final for the ESC with the song Alles which stranded in the semi-finals. After that he joined the Musical group Jeans. In 1992 he tried again to represent the Netherlands at the ESC, he sang Nooit Vergeten together with Hella Koffeman which came 4th. In 2005, as a member of Airforce, he came 2nd with the Johnny Logan song How Does It Feel in the Dutch pre-selection for the ESC.

Nora Brockstedt

Nora Brockstedt is a successful Norwegian singer, born on 20 January 1923. She first entered a professional stage at the age of 20, namely the highly reputed Chat Noir in Oslo. During the next two decades, she managed to become one of Norway's most famous and beloved singers and entertainers. Throughout the 1950s she had several sing-along radio hits.

Nora Brockstedt won the Norwegian pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest three times. In 1960 with Voi Voi, in 1961 with Sommer I Palma and in 1963 with Solherv. At the Eurovision Song Contest she only performed twice. In 1963 she claimed she couldn't go because of other engagements although it's rumoured she feared a bad score with Solherv so Anita Anita Thallaug was chosen to go to London instead. At the Eurovision Anita came equal last.

Over the last few years, Nora has focused more on the jazz genre, with successful albums like As Time Goes By (2004) and Christmas Songs (2005). She also did jazz in the 60s, but was more known for her conventional pop songs.

Sophie & Magaly

The singing twins Sophie en Magalie Gilles from France were chosen by Ralph Siegel to sing his song Le Papa Pingouin for Luxemburg at the Eurovision Song Contest 1980. They went to The Hague with an act with a singing and dancing penguin. The hopes were very high but they only came 9th. The song was a commercial succes in France where one million copies of the single were sold.

Their second single, Arlequin, sold poorly and producer Ralph Siegel broke the contract with them. The twins told in a TV show they were paid only 5000 euros each for selling one million copies of their first single. However the producer Charles Talar gave a second chance to Sophie and Magaly. Unfortunately their follow-up singles Toi and Les Nanas De Zorro were equally unsuccessful and shortly thereafter the group disbanded.
 
This sadness continues with the fact that Magaly died in 1996. After her sisters death Sophie became very depressed and live in France now where she lives a secluded life.

Margriet Eshuijs

Lucifer











Margriet Eshuijs (October 14 Zaandam) is a Dutch pop singer.

Margriet played in several bands before she was asked to become the leading of the new founded band Lucifer in 1972. They had their biggest hit with House For Sale. In 1976 Lucifer participated in the Dutch national final for the ESC with the song Someone Is Waiting which finished 3rd. The band split up in 1979 and Margriet started her solo career. She became a singing teacher and played in the band the Dream were she met Maarten Peters. In 1989 Maarten wrote the song Liever Alleen for the Dutch national final and Margriet sang the demo of the song.

In 1988 she founded her Margriet Eshuijs band and played in many theaters. Margriet is still playing with her band.

Gary Lux

Gerhard "Gary" Lux (born January 26 1959) is an Austrian singer, most famous for having represented his country in the Eurovision Song Contest on six occasions. He was born in Ontario, Canada but returned to live in Austria with his parents as a young boy. He is married to Marianne and has 2 sons, Benny and Dennis. He has released solo albums entitled "Dreidimensional" and "City of Angels" inspired by some time he had spent in Los Angeles.

Gary Lux represented Austria on the following occasions at the ESC:

    1983, as a member of Westend performing Hurricane (9th)
    1984, as a backing vocalist for Anita's Einfach Weg (19th)
    1985, as a solo artist performing Kinder Dieser Welt (8th)
    1987, as a solo artist performing Nur Noch Gefühl (20th)
    1993, as a backing vocalist for Tony Wegas'Maria Magdalena (14th)
    1995, as a backing vocalist for Stella Jones' Die Welt Dreht Sich Verkehrt (13th)

In the Austrian final of 1983 Gary also sang Bleib Wie Du Bist which came 4th. In 1984 he formed a duo with Gitti Seuberth and they participated in the Austrian final with the song Kumm Hoit Mit which came 2nd.

As a composer, Lux was placed second in the Austrian national heat for Eurovision in 1994 with the song "Solitaire" performed by Three Girl Madhouse.

Festival di Sanremo - Marco Carta

Marco Carta (born May 21, 1985 in Cagliari, Italy) is an Italian hairdresser and singer.

In 2007 Marco participated as a singer in the Talent Show Amici di Maria De Filippi. He won the competition with 75% of the public preferences. After the victory he participated as a guest on many television programs.

In 2008 Marco released the single Ti rincontrerò and his debut album which were both very succesful and reached platinum.

In 2009 Marco won the Festival di Sanremo with the song La Forze Mia. After that he became immense popular.

The Herrey's

The Herreys is a Swedish pop group, consisting of the three Mormon brothers Per Herrey (born August 9, 1958), Richard Herrey (born August 19, 1964) and Louis Herrey (born November 3, 1966). In 1984 they won the ESC on behalf of Sweden with the song Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley. At the time The Herreys won Eurovision, the brothers were living and working as singers in the United States. As a result, all three of the Herrey brothers are fluent in English as well as Swedish.

 In 1985 they won the Intervision Song Contest in Sopot with the song Sommarparty. The Herreys continued to record and tour for a few years, but had no hits of the same magnitude as the Eurovision winner. Eventually they stopped singing together.

The three brothers reunited to perform Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley in the intermission of one of the Swedish Melodifestivalen semifinals of 2002. Richard Herrey made an appearance at Congratulations, a 50th anniversary concert, held in Copenhagen, Denmark in October 2005. In February 2006, Richard Herrey released his first solo album, Jag e Kung.

In August 2009, The Herreys performed at the party of the recreational cycling ride VasaTrampet in Mora, Sweden.

Tight Fit

Tight Fit are a British pop group who had a number of hits in the early 1980s, including a UK No.1 (for three weeks) with their cover version of The Lion Sleeps Tonight in 1982. The group had two completely different line-ups - the first, a group of session singers in 1981 and a male/female trio in 1982.

In 1981, record producer Ken Gold came up with the idea to record a single made up of a medley of 1960s songs. The medley trend was in full swing at this time, following the success of the Stars on 45 singles. He put together a group of male/female session singers and released Back to the 60s under the group title Tight Fit. The song became a hit in the summer and reached No.4 in the UK Singles Chart. A follow-up, Back to the 60s Part 2 was released soon after and also hit the UK Top 40.

Later in the year record producer Tim Friese-Greene recorded the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight with another group of session singers. The song was released in early 1982 again under the title Tight Fit. The song gained instant attention and so a group was formed to front it. Dancer, singer and male model Steve Grant was teamed up with female singers Denise Gyngell and Julie Harris. The song reached No.1 in the UK for three weeks and the line-up were catapulted into sudden and unexpected stardom.

Satisfied that this line-up could actually sing in their own right, Friese-Greene produced their next single, Fantasy Island - a song which had been in the Dutch Eurovision Song Contest heats. The song, in a very similar vein to pop group ABBA, also became a success and reached No.5.

The group then set about recording an album as well as rehearsing for their first tour. A third single was released in August. Secret Heart was not as big as a success as the previous two and stalled at No.41. The debut album was released soon after, but coincided with both Denise Harris and Julie Gyngell leaving the group. Both unhappy with their contract, they claimed that they were not receiving any royalties from their hits and were being paid a paltry wage for their work. Swiftly two new female singers, Vicky Pemberton and Carol Stevens, were employed to take their place and the group released another single, I'm Undecided - a song from the album, with new vocals. The song failed to make the UK Chart and this signalled the end of Tight Fit's brief pop stardom. In an interview, Julie Harris stated that the public did not take to the new line-up and had she and Denise Gyngell been still with the group, it would have likely been a hit.

The following year, Tight Fit released one more single - a cover of Stephen Stills' Love The One You're With. Under the banner, Steve Grant with Tight Fit, the song completely missed the chart and the group split-up.

In 2008, members Denise Gyngell and Julie Harris reformed Tight Fit with new male member Silvio Gigante as a touring band, playing nightclubs around Britain. In 2010 they are touring in a show called Back to the Eighties, performing many well-known songs from the 1980s as well as their own hits. Steve Grant has also appeared with them at some gigs and with him, they are recording a new album for Sony Music, produced by Ross Alexander. Tight Fit are currently back in the recording studio. Recording new material as well as remixing some of their classic tracks like Fantasy Island for a new album due to be released called Now & Then.

Maywood

Maywood was a Dutch pop duo and consisted of Alice May and Caren Wood who were born as Aaltje and Doetje De Vries.

The sisters began their career in several bands like The Karina's, Colt 45 and The Lady pop's. In 1978 the sisters decided to start a duo and called themselves Maywood. They sang melancholic ballads and bouncy pop songs. The single You Treated Me Wrong was a minor hit for Maywood but was a breakthrough. After that they had many huge hits like Late At Night, Rio and Mother How Are You Today. They were very successful in the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Poland. Japan, Korea, Finland, Bulgaria, Indonesia, Russia, Spain and Latin America.

In the late 80's the success decreased. They tried to become successful again in Europe by taking part in the Dutch pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Ik Wil Alles Met Je Delen. Maywood won the pre-selection but finished on a very disappointing 15th place. They blamed their failure to the closed microphone of the Bach-trumpet and the miserable camera shoots but the audience blamed the low ranking to the dresses of the sisters….

After the ESC Maywood released a couple of unsuccessful songs and in 1995 Alice and Caren stopped their the cooperation and started solo-careers which weren't successful. The sisters got into an argument and Alice claimed the rights of all the songs and the judge decided Alice was right and Caren wasn't allowed to use the name Maywood or ex-Maywood ever again.

It isn't very likely that the sisters are ever performing again as a duo, but as Alice said: you'll never know…..

Eiríkur Hauksson

Eiríkur Hauksson (born July 4, 1959) is an Icelandic heavy metal vocalist who is educated as a teacher. Eiríkur is considered to be a talented vocalist, able to adopt various styles.

Eiríkur's career as a vocalist began when the song Sekur which he wrote and performed with the Icelandic rock group Start was voted the Icelandic song of the year in 1981. In 1984 Eiríkur's metal group Drýsill released the album Welcome To The Show.

In 1985 Eiríkur recorded two songs, Gaggó-Vest and Gull, written by Gunnar Þórðarson that both became wildly popular in Iceland. Almost overnight he had become one of the most popular singers in Iceland. Although his interest went with the heavy metal genre, he unpretentiously participated in the pop music scene in Iceland, participating in many group efforts in the 1980s.

In 1988 Eiríkur moved to Østfold in Norway to become the vocalist of the power metal group Artch. As their vocalist he's known as Eric Hawk.

Eiríkur was among Iceland's "national team" of singers who recorded Hjálpum þeim, Iceland's equivalent of Do They Know It's Christmas? and We Are the World.

In 1999 Eiríkur sang vocals on the album Soulburner by Swedish melodic death metal band Gardenian as a guest.

Since 2005, Eiríkur tours Europe as the vocalist of Ken Hensley's live band called Live Fire. In late 2007, Eiríkur was announced as the new lead vocalist of Magic Pie, a Norwegian prog rock band.

Eiríkur has also had more of a history with the Eurovision Song Contest than most heavy metal vocalists can claim. In the Icelandic national final of 1986 Eiríkur sang 3 songs which weren't very successful but the night's winner was the song Gleðibankinn written by Magnús Eiríksson and performed by Pálmi Gunnarsson. Since this was Iceland's first participation it was decided that a team of prominent singers would be sent with the song to Bergen. Eiríkur and Helga Möller joined Pálmi, forming the vocal trio ICY. Icelanders had high hopes for the song, and official pointers predicted good going, so it came as quite the shock when Gleðibankinn wound up in 16th place with only 19 points. In 1987 Eiríkur participated as a member of the band Módel who came 2nd with the song Lifið Er Lag. In 1991 Eiríkur was asked to represent Norway as a member of the group Just 4 Fun. In Rome they came 17th with the song Mrs. Thompson. In 2007 Eiríkur won the Icelandic national final with the song Ég Les í Lófa þínum. At the ESC he sang the English version of the song called Valentine Lost which didn't qualify for the Grand Final.

Brahim Attaeb

Brahim Attaeb was born on February 24 1984 in Torhout and is a Belgian-Moroccan singer.

In 2003 Brahim participated at Idool 2003 which was a Belgian talent show were he came 4th.

In 2006 Brahim participated in the Belgian pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song P.O.W.E.R. which came 4th. After that he released the song Turn The Music Up which was a big hit in Belgium and Morocco.
In 2008 Brahim participated again in Belgian national final. He came 4th with the song What I Like About You. In march 2011 he became the new presenter of the TV show I-Clips and he works as a radio presenter as well.

Mecano

Mecano started as a synth-pop ensemble by brothers Nacho and José María Cano, along with singer Ana Torroja, in Madrid in 1981. In a period of cultural experimentation in the newly democratic Spain, Mecano achieved its initial popularity with their debut single, Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar, a song about youth boredom and hangovers. The initial album, named after the band, became a collection of classics.

At the same time, Nacho Cano branched out into producing other bands, and both brothers wrote songs for other artists. Although those secondary acts wouldn't achieve the level of success Mecano gained, they turned out to be new testing grounds for Mecano.

Having achieved another huge hit in 1986 with Me Cuesta Tanto Olvidarte, the band reformed its musical approach with the album Entre El Cielo Y El Suelo. The new style emphasized more pop over techno. It also facilitated the export of the music to Latin America. This new versatility was evidenced by the cover of Hijo De La Luna by opera artist Montserrat Caballé. This song was also submitted by the band as a potential Eurovision Song Contest entry in 1986, however TVE "experts" selected the group Cadillac.

Their follow-up album, Descanso Dominical, produced two of their most popular singles: La Fuerza del Destino and Mujer Contra Mujer. The latter deals with a lesbian relationship, seen through the eyes of a friend, who only later realizes what is going on. It was recorded in French, English and Italian, giving Mecano their first truly global hit.

Aidalai, their following album, was published in 1991 and carried the same success of the previous two works. In 1993 the band announced a temporary split.

In 1998 the band released the album "Ana, Jose, Nacho" that mixed new songs with greatest hits. The band separated later that year and all three members went on to have solo careers, though only Ana found success as a singer. In 2005 keyboardist Nacho Cano wrote a musical based on 32 songs of the group, named after their first single: Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar.

In November 2009 the band reunited again but they split up after a few months.

Michelle

Michelle is the stage name of German singer Tanja Hewer. She was born in Villingen-Schwenningen on February 15 1972. She is one of the most popular singers of Germany during the last decade.

Michelle has been singing in local amateur bands since the age of 14. Through a friend who was working at a state broadcast company, she got the chance to perform on German TV in 1993. The popular German singer Kristina Bach recognized Michelle's talent. A little bit later, the songwriter Jean Frankfurter wrote and produced the song Und Heut' Nacht Will Ich Tanzen for her. Michelle's first single became a great success. Michelle got the chance to perform at ZDF-Hitparade, one of Germany's most popular music shows of that time. Her performance made her popular throughout the country.

Afterwards she participated in several German pop music festivals, for example the German national final for the ESC in 1997 were she came 3rd with the song Im Auge Des Orkans. In that same year she won the German Schlager Festival with Wie Flammen Im Wind. In 2001 Michelle participated again in the German national final with the song Wer Liebe Lebt which won the German pre-selection and came 8th in Copenhagen.

In 2003 Michelle decided to take break to cure out some health problems. In 2005 Michelle made a comeback album which was a huge success. After a break down on stage on 30 January 2007 she had to cancel her 2007 tour due to health problems. In March 2007 Michelle decided to put the "project" Michelle to an end. In October 2009 she released a new album called Goodbye Michelle and played several concerts and TV shows, explaining she wanted to give her fans a real farewell. She stated, however, that this was definitely her final album under the name Michelle but you'll never know....

Intervision Song Contest - Marion Rung

The famous finnish singer Marion Rung is well known for her two attempts to win the Eurovision Song Contest in 1962 and 1973.

Less known are her victories of the Intervision Songcontest in Sopot, Poland in 1974 with the song Uskon Lauluun and in 1980 with the, in my opinion, great song Where Is The Night/Hyvästi Yö.

Wia Buze

Wia Buze is a Dutch singer. Most of her songs are sung in the dialect of the province of Groningen.

 In 1995 the Dutch weren't allowed to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest because Willeke Alberti didn't gather enough points for the Netherlands in 1994 with her ballad Waar Is De Zon. So the Dutch organized their own contest. Every regional broadcaster sent an representative. The contest was won bij Wia Buze who represented RTV Noord with the song Bij alles Wat Ik doe. For one of her albums she recorded a new version of her winning song.

Wia coverd the Dutch entry for the ESC 2010,  Ik Ben Verliefd (Sha La Lie), in the dialect of the Dutch province of Groningen.

World Popular Song Festival - Baccara

Baccara was a female vocal duo formed in 1977 by Spanish artists Mayte Mateos (February 7, 1951, Logroño) and María Mendiola (April 4, 1952, Madrid).

The pair rapidly achieved international success with their debut single Yes Sir, I Can Boogie, which reached number one across much of Europe. A successful follow-up single (Sorry, I'm A Lady) and European tour led to a number of album releases and numerous television appearances. In 1978 Baccara won the Luxemburg national final for the ESC with the song Parlez-vous français? At the ESC in Paris Baccara came 7th.

In 1977 Baccara participated in the World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo. In 1977 Baccara had several big hits all over Europe and Japan including Yes Sir I Can Boogie, Sorry I'm A Lady and Koochie Koo. For the song to represent Germany in Tokyo they chose Mad In Madrid, a quiet, melancholic ballad. It was a rather strange choice because they were known for their uptempo disco songs with a lot of cheerfulness. They were the pre-tournament favourites but Baccara stranded on a disapointing 14th place out of 40 participants.

Samira Bensaïd

Morocco sent a representative to the Eurovision Song Contest only once. That attempt was not very successful despite the fact that the Moroccans sent their most popular singer to The Hague. The expectations were very high for Samira Bensaïd and her song Bitakat Hob but unfortunately Samira came second last with 7 points from the Italian jury.

Samira Said was born and raised in Rabat, Morocco. She began singing at the age of 9 and she was discovered on a music program on Royal Moroccan TV, Mawaheb, alongside another popular singer, Aziza Jalal, when she was 13. She was quickly recognized as a young prodigy. She began singing professionally, encouraged by her family and backed up by important people in the Moroccan music scene like Al Rashdi and others.

In a short time, Samira Said became one of the leading names in her home country, recording many popular Arab songs.

Samira is still very popular around the world especially in Egypt and Morocco and she had many successes and hits.

One

ONE was a boy band that first appeared in 1999, recognized as both Greece and Cyprus's very first boy band. The band was formed by leading Cypriot-Greek composer Giorgos Theofanous who got them signed with Minos EMI and wrote all their music and lyrics, and consisted of Constantinos Christoforou, Demetres Koutsavlakis, Philippos Constantinos, Argyris Nastopoulos and Panos Tserpes. In 2003 Christoforou left the group shortly before the rest of the band formally disbanded. In their 6 year existence they enjoyed much commercial success and earned platinum certifications, as well as having staged memorable performances with successful Greek singers at music halls and in concerts.

At the end of 2001, national Cypriot broadcaster CyBC requested that they participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002. They agreed and Theofanous wrote the song Gimme especially for the occasion. Backup vocals were performed by Christina Argyri who was part of the stage duo Voice who represented Cyprus in 2000. After finishing in 6th place they became famous in both Cyprus and Greece and landed platinum certifications.

This was Christoforou's second Eurovision performance as already having represented Cyprus in 1996 with the song Mono Yia Mas.

Constantinos Christoforou went on to once again represent Cyprus as a solo artist in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song Ela Ela (Come Baby).

Snotkop

Francois Henning, in South- Africa better known as Snotkop, is a singer/rapper. He sings in Afrikaans and is very popular in South Africa.

He covered the song Lose Control, the Finish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009. The version of Snotkop feat. MoniQue is called Ek Val Vir Jou.