Mălina Olinescu (January 29 1974 - December 12 2011) was a Romanian singer.
Coming from a family of artists, her father was an actor and her mother was a singer, Mălina loved music and started singing at the age of five. As a child she participated in many festivals and school choirs. After her graduation from school she sang in clubs in Bucharest. In 1995 she participated in the music festival Aurelian Andreescu where she won the first prize. In 1996 Mălina joined a team of talented singers called School Star which was a very popular TV show in Romania. In that same year Mălina won the 3rd prize in a music festival called Mamaia.
In 1997 Mălina participated again in the Mamaia festival where she won first prize and she met the composer Adrian Romcescu. Adrian was impressed by Mălina and asked her if she want to sing his song Eu Cred at the Romanian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 1998. The song came 1st and was one of the favorites for victory in Birmingham but stranded on a disappointing 22nd place. After the contest Mălina released a few singles but they weren't very successful. In 2003 Mălina participated again in the Romanian pre-selection but stranded in the semi-finals with the song Tacerea Doare.
After a very exiting voting the Georgian Candy girls won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2011. The Dutch Rachel came 2nd which is great, I think. I was just a little disappointed that Russia only came 4th. In my opinion a 5th place for Armenia is far too high. That's propably because the organizing country often has an advantage over the other countries. But I enjoyed the show very much!
Results:
01. Georgia: Candy – Candy Music 108
02. The Netherlands: Rachel – Teenager 103
03. Belarus: Lidia Zabolotskaya – Angely Dobra 99
04. Russia: Katya Ryabova – Kak Romeo I Julietta 99
05. Armenia: Dalita – Welcome To Armenia 85
06. Moldova: Lerica – No, No 78
07. Belgium: Femke – Een Kusje Meer 64
08. Bulgaria: Ivan Ivanov – Supergeroy 60
09. Sweden: Erik Rapp – Faller 57
10. Lithuania: Paulina Skrablytė – Debesys 53
11. Ukraine: Kristall – Evropa 42
12. F.Y.R Macedonia: Dorijan Dlaka – Zhimi Ovoj Frak 31
13. Latvia: Amanda Bashmakova – Meness Suns 31
The winner of the Second Chance Contest 2011 is Iceland with Yohanna and her song Nótt. I like the song very much but my favourite was Something In Your Eyes by Jenny Silver from Sweden.
Here are the results of the S.C.C. 2011:
01. Yohanna - Nótt (Iceland) 224
02. Jenny Silver - Something in Your eyes (Sweden) 201
03. Modo con Emma - Arriverà (Italy) 153
04. Le Freak - 25 Hours A Day (Denmark) 136
05. Chen Aharoni - Or (Israel) 119
06. Nikki Ponte - I Don't Wanna Dance (Greece) 106
07. Helene Bøksle - Vardlokk (Norway) 99
08. Lucía Pérez - Abrázame (Spain) 80
09. Lena - Push Forward (Germany) 73
10. April - Ladadidej (Slovenia) 49
11. Rui Andrade - Em Nome Do Amor (Portugal) 36
12. Nikki Kavanagh - Falling (Ireland) 23
12. Saara Alto - Blessed With Love (Finland) 23
14. Trachshittaz feat. Lukas Plöchl - Oida Taunz (Austria) 16
15. Anna Gogola - Ktos Taki Jak Ty (Poland) 13
16. Jacques Houdek - Stotinama Godina (Croatia) 12
17. Gautier Reyz - Addiction (Belgium) 10
18. 3Js - De Stroom (The Netherlands) 8
18. J Anvil - Topsy Turvy (Malta) 8
20. Linas Adomaitis - Floating To You (Lithuania) 3
21. Matin Srbinoski - Ram Tam Tam (F.Y.R. Macedonia) 0
You can click here if you want more information about the Second Chance Contest.
Femke Verschueren, 11 years old, represents Belgium with the song Een Kusje Meer.
Femke lives in Morkhoven, Antwerp, Belgium. Her passion is music, Femke sings and plays the piano.
The young and happy spirit of Femke inspired music producers Peter Gillis and Vincent Goeminne to write and compose Een Kusje Meer.
Peter Gillis is somewhat the king of Belgian kidspop and has a noted history in the Junior Eurovision Contest. He produced the winning song of the last three Belgian pre-selections.
Vincent Goeminne also has a long history of hit records. He was one of the driving forces behind the success story of The Dinky Toys, a multi-platinum-selling Belgian popband in the early 90s.
The girl-group Candy will represent Georgia with the song Candy Music.
The group consists of Irina, Mariam, Ann, Gvantsa and Irina.
Irina Khechanova was born in Tbilisi, Georgia on December 3, 2000. In 2009, Irina was the winner of the best singer prize of Tbilisi Olympic song contest. She has participated in song contests held in different cities of Turkey. Irina is also the spokesperson of a candy company and jewellery manufacturing company!
Mariam Gvaladze was born in Rustavi, Georgia on February 9, 1997. Since 2007 she has been a participant of numerous music festivals. For example, she is the winner of the New Star 2009 - Republic Estrade Contest.
Ann Khanchaliani was born in Tbilisi, Georgia on May 19, 1996. Starting from 2002 up to present Anna was the student of Zakaria Paliashvili Central Music School (Violin) and Tbilisi Music school #number 2 (Classical Vocal). In 2010 she was the winner of the International Music Contest in FYR Macedonia. In TV program Talent she became the Finalist and Discovery of the year.
Gvantsa Saneblidze was born in Kutaisi, Georgia on October 26, 1997. She has also done very well at many music festivals. Gvantsa speaks - English, Russian and French.
Irina (Ira) Kovalenko was born in Tbilisi Georgia on March 29, 1997. Since 2006 she started taking professional vocal lessons. She is a participant of different song consents, festivals and cultural events both in Georgia and abroad. Ira speaks English, Russian, German and learns Japanese! Outside school hours she is fond of tennis. In 2007 she placed 6th in Tennis Championship of Georgia.
George Kukhianidze is a famous Georgian composer and the author of many songs. His co-wrote the Georgian entry for the Junior ESC in 2007, 2008 and 2010.
He is the author of Candy music, the lyrics of which was written by the girls themselves.
Erik Rapp, 15 years old, represents Sweden with the song Faller.
Erik lives in Leksland, Sweden. He always loved music and started to sing at a choir at the age of 5. At school his interest in music was stimulated by his music teacher. Erik sings and plays flute and saxophone.
Erik wrote his song with help from Johan Jamtberg and Mikael Gunneras.
Lidiya Zablotskaya, 13 years old, represents Belarus with the song Angely Dobra.
Lidiya was born in Mogilev, Belarus. She made her first appearance when she was just 4 years old and She immediately won the audience's love, "The Golden Voice" and "Charming Girl" were her first titles.
In 2010 she already participated in the Belarussian national final for the Junior ESC but she came 4th.
Rachel Traets represents The Netherlands with the song Teenager.
Rachel was born on August 16 1998, in Wouw in the Netherlands. During the Dutch pre-selection for the Junior ESC Rachel received the maximum amount of points from the juries and the audience.
Her performance was the first step into the show business and she has changed from an anonymous girl of the south-west of the Netherlands into a very popular young artist. Her song is already a big hit and she has been invited in several Dutch television shows.
Rachel wrote the song herself but got some help from the producers trio The Future Presidents.
Dorjan Dlaka, born on November 6th 1997 in Skopje, represents F.Y.R Macedonia with the song Zimi Ovoj Frak.
Dorjan started performing at the age of 7, on the festival Super Star as a backing vocalist and dancer. Later he participated in many festival all over Europe.
In 2010 he traveled to Belarus as a member of the FYR Macedonian delegation for the 2010 Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
Paulina Skrabytė, 10 years old, represents Lithuania with the song Debesys.
Paulina is a Lithuanian singer and plays the flute, piano and guitar. Despite her young age Paulina already won many contests like the Baltic Transit Contest and the Baltic Talent Contest.
Pailina wrote her song together with Mindaugas Lapinskis.
Dalita Avanesyan, 12 years old, represents Armenia with the song Welcome To Armenia.
Dalita is an Armenian singer, dancer, model, TV personality and studies piano, vocals and guitar at the Aleksandr Spendiaryan Music School.
Dalita won several Beauty contests, she won the Armenian Dance Olympics in 2009 and 2010 and she had a couple of hits in Armenia. In 2010 she took part in the Armenian national final for the Junior ESC with the song Jraharsi Erg which reached the top 5.
Lerika (April 7 1999), the pseudonym of Valeria Engalycheva, represents Moldova with the song No, No
Lerika was born in Moldova. She performed at international children's music contests all over the world and is very successfully.
Lerika wrote the song No No together with Eugeniu Doibani who also has an impressive background in the entertainment world the same way as Lerika, taking part in many vocalist competitions and has already released two albums.
Katya Ryabova, born as Ekaterina Ryabova on August 4 1997, represents Russia with the song Romeo And Juliet (Kak Romeo i Dzhulyett)
Katya Ryabova is a Russian singer. She is from Shchyolkovo (Russia), and now resides in Yubileyny, Moscow Region.
She was selected to represent her country in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song Malenkiy Prints (Little Prince). At the contest on 21 November in Kiev, she finished third, as she got the same total points than runner-up Luara Hayrapetyan from Armenia, but earning two 12-point sets for three earned by the Armenian entry. In 2011 she took part in the National Final for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest again. And again she won, this time with the song Kak Romeo i Dzhulyetta.
Barbara Alexandra Reemer, better known as Sandra Reemer, born on October 17 1950 in Bandung (Indonesia), is a Dutch singer and presenter.
Sandra Reemer was born in Indonesia and moved with her parents to the Netherlands in 1958. At the age of 10 Sandra got a guitar and she started to perform at talent shows. In 1961 Sandra covered the Italian song Al Di La.
In 1966 Sandra was chosen to form the duo Sandra & Andres together with Dries Holten. The duo was very popular in Europe and they released many successful singles and albums. In 1972 Sandra & Andres represented the Netherlands at the ESC in Edinburgh with the song Als Het Om De Liefde Gaat which came 4th. In 1975 Andres broke the partnership with Sandra and started a new duo with Rosy Pereira. Rosy & Andres participated at the Dutch national final for the ESC in 1976 with the song I Was Born To Love.
After her break up with Andres Sandra started her solo career. In 1976 Sandra took part at the Dutch pre-selection for the ESC which she won with the song The Party Is Over. At the ESC in The Hague Sandra came 9th. In 1970 Sandra already took part at the Dutch national final for the ESC with the song Voorbij Is De Winter which came last.
In 1979 Sandra was chosen to represent the Netherlands for the 3rd time at the ESC. With a new look Sandra and her band Xandra went to Jerusalem with the song Colorado which was written by her husband Ferdi Bolland. At the ESC Colorado came only 12th but the song was a big hit in Scandinavia and Denmark.
In the early 80s Sandra released a couple of singles but they weren't very successful. In 1983 Sandra was a backing vocalist for Bernadette who sang the dutch entry at the ESC in Germany. Also in the 80s Sandra was very popular as a TV presenter, she hosted many TV shows. In 1987 Sandra released two successful singles, All Out Of Love and La Colegiala.
From 2000 to 2005 Sandra was one of the members of the Dutch Divas. They scored a big hit with the song From New York To L.A. Sandra is still performing, usually for charity. She has her own foundation to raise money for disabled people in Africa.
In 2010 Sandra organized an exhibition about the history of the Dutch ESC dresses.
In November 2011 Sandra has announced that she stops her singing career.
The duo Spooky and Sue consisted of Iwan Groeneveld from Aruba and Sue Chaloner from the UK.
Iwan sang in the Dutch band The Swinging Soul Machine who had a big hit in 1969 with the song Spooky's Day Off. Sue Chaloner played in 1969 the leading part in the musical Hair.
Originally Sue was asked to form a duo with Big John Russell but his jealous wife forbade the collaboration but it is also said that Big John couldn't perform on stage due to his weight.
The first and biggest hit was Swingin' On A Star, the second hit was You Talk Too Much, both with the voice of Big John.
In 1976 Spooky and Sue participated at the Dutch national final for the ESC with the song Do You Dig It which came last but was a hit in The Netherlands.
In 1977 the duo split up to start solo-careers. Iwan's first solo single flopped and later he joined the band The Surfers. Sue is still singing as a backing vocalist and as a member of the band Soul Train.
Babe was a Dutch girl group, formed in 1979 by Dutch producer, singer and composer Peter Koelewijn who also wrote almost all the Babe songs. Babe originally consisted of Gemma van Eck, Rita van Rooy and Monique Hagemeyer. In 1980 Monique was replaced by Margot van der Ven and in 1982 Gemma was replaced my Marga Bult who represented the Netherlands at the ESC in 1987.
Babe had 16 hits in the Netherlands and were also very popular in Indonesia, Malaysia, Lebanon, Korea and Europe.
In 1980 Babe participated at the World Songfestival in Seoul, Korea where they won The Best National Custom Award.
In 1982 Babe was part of the Dutch team which participated at the Knokke Songfestival in Belgium where they got no points at all because they didn't follow the rules of the festival. The rules said that Babe should sing at least one song in Dutch but they didn't.
It is said that the song Boomerang was entered in the Luxemburg internal selection for the ESC of 1982. Unfortunately the "expert" jury chose the song Cours Après Le Temps instead of Boomerang.
In 1983 Babe was chosen as the most successful girl group in the Netherlands.
After a couple of less successful years Babe split up in 1986.
Mazhar-Fuat-Özkan also known as MFÖ ia a Turkish band and consists of Mazhar Alanson (February 13, 1950 Ankara), Fuat Güner (April 1, 1948 Ankara) and Özkan Uğur (October 17, 1953 Istanbul) .The men are both musician and actor. MFÖ is one of the most important bands in Turkey.
In 1968 Mazhar and Fuat started as a duo, two years later they were joined by Özkan. Since then the band released more than 80 songs. In 1984 they had their first hit with the song Ele güne karşı which was chosen as song of the year in Turkey.
In 1985 and 1988 MFÖ won the Turkish pre-selection for the ESC. In 1985 the song Didai Didai Dai came 14th at the ESC in Göteborg and in 1988 Sufi came 15th in Dublin. In 1987 they participated again at the Turkish national final with the song No Problem and in 1989 they came only 15th with Adi Naim.
In 1995 the three members of MFÖ started a solo career but occasionally they perform as a trio.
Euson, born as Julio Bernardo Euson on April 12 1941 in Aruba, is a Dutch/Aruban singer.
In the late 50s Julio formed his first band in Aruba. After he won some talent shows he moved to the Netherlands in 1962 where he joined the bands The Scarlets, Kreole Kats and Stax. Stax was quite popular but Julio left the band in 1970 to start a solo career.
In 1971 Julio had his biggest hit with the song Both Sides Now which made him a very popular artist in the Netherlands.
In 1972 Julio represented the Netherlands at the Viña del Mar Song Festival in Chile with his own song Julie which came 1st. After that he released many not so successful singles.
In 1977, after the release of his last album, Julio moved to Chile where he started the company P.J. Productions. He also produced music for several Chilean artists.
In the 90s Julio moved to the USA. In 2001 he played the part of a detective in the movie The Brothers Grimm.
Lys Assia, born Rosa Mina Schärer on March 3 1926, Rupperswil, Aargau, Switzerland, is a Swiss singer who won the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. When Lys Assia was a young girl she was a dancer. In 1940, however, she stood in for a female singer. People who heard her singing liked it, so she changed from dancing to singing.
In 1950 Lys had her first success with the song O Mein Papa from the musical Feuerwerk.
In 1956 she was the winner of the very first Eurovision Song Contest, in which she sang the song Refrain for Switzerland. She had also been in the German national final of that year. She returned to the contest again for Switzerland in 1957 and 1958. In 1957 she came 8th out of 10 with L'enfant Que J'étais but in 1958 she came 2nd with the song Giorgio.
After her last hit in 1962, Sterne Von Syrakus, she stopped her singing career to spend more time with her family. In 2002 she made her comeback and gave a couple of concerts and performed in many TV shows. In 2003 and 2005 Lys released a couple of successful cd's. In 2008 she started the voting procedure during the Grand Final of the ESC in Belgrade and in 2009 she handed over the trophy for winning the ESC to Alexande Rybak.
In September 2011, Lys Assia entered her song C'était Ma Vie written by Ralph Siegel and Jean Paul Cara into the Swiss national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
OTI Festival (Spanish: Festival OTI de la Canción) was an annual singing competition, held between 1972 and 2000, among active member countries of the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana. The members of OTI are: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, Uruguay, Venezuela, Portugal and Brazil.
The prefix Ibero- refers to the Iberian peninsula in Europe, consisting of Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and Gibraltar. Ibero-America is formed by all Spanish-speaking countries in America, in addition to Brazil, which is Portuguese-speaking, but excludes the French-speaking countries Haiti, French Guiana, Martinique and Guadeloupe. The exclusion of the French-speaking regions differentiates Ibero-America from Latin America, as well as the inclusion of the European states of the Iberian peninsula if they are included in the definition. The English-speaking countries Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados, Antigua, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada, and the Dutch-speaking Suriname are also excluded from Ibero-America.
The 1st OTI Festival was won by Brazil with the song Diálogo sung by Claudia Regina y Tobías.
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, born march 30, 1968, is a Canadian singer. She was a teen star in the French-speaking part of Canada. In 1990 she released the English album Unison, establishing herself as a pop artist in the USA and other English-speaking countries in the world. During the 1990s, with the help of René Angélil, she achieved worldwide fame after signing with Epic Records and releasing several English albums along with additional French albums, becoming one of the most successful artists in pop music history. However, in 1999 at the height of her success, Dion announced a hiatus from entertainment in order to start a family and spend time with her husband. She returned to the top of pop music in 2002 and signed a three-year contract to perform nightly in a five-star theatrical show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.
Céline Dion's music has been influenced by genres ranging from rock and R&B to gospel and classical. While her releases have often received mixed critical reception, she is renowned for her technically skilled and powerful vocals. Céline Dion is the best-selling Canadian artist of all time, is the second best-selling female artist in the US and is the only female artist to have two singles sell more than a million copies in the UK. In addition, her 1995 album D'eux, is the best-selling French-language album of all time. In 2004, after surpassing 175 million in album sales worldwide, she was presented with the Chopard Diamond Award at the World Music Awards for becoming the best-selling female artist of all time. According to Sony Music Entertainment, Céline Dion has sold over 200 million albums worldwide.
Before her breakthrough in the 1990s and her victory at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1988 with the song Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi Céline represented France at the World Popular Song Festival with the song Tellement J'ai D'amour Pour Toi which came 3rd and won a Best Song award. At the W.P.S.F. of 1982 Céline also won the Maestro Award which was awarded to the artist who was most appreciated by the orchestra. The song was a big hit in Canada.
Sérgio Borges was born as Sérgio Justo Camacho Borges in Madeira on October 18 1944. In 1964 he was one of the founders of the Portuguese band Conjunto Académico João Paulo. In 1966 Sérgio participated at the Festival RTP da Canção, the Portuguese pre-selection for the ESC, with the song Eu Nunca Direi Adeus which came 2nd and won the press award.
In September 1969 Portugal announced it's intention not to participate at the ESC in 1970 in protest against the voting system. Although they didn't participate in the ESC in Amsterdam the Portuguese held their own Festival RTP da Canção which was won by Sérgio Borges and his song Onde Vais Rio Que Eu Canto. In November 1970 Sérgio represented Portugal at the World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo with Onde Vais Rio Que Eu Canto which didn't reach the Grand Final.
Sérgio had a couple of hits in the 70s with Conjunto João Paulo until 1972 when they split up. For several years Sérgio peformed in the casino of Madeira.
In 1986 Sérgio participated again in the Porugese pre-selection for the ESC where he came equal last with the song Quebrar A Distância.
In 2005 Sérgio won an Award of Culture which was awarded by the Regional Government of Madeira.
Donna Hightower, born in Missouri on December 28 1926, is an American r&b, soul, jazz, pop and disco singer.
Donna grew up in Los Angles and was influenced by gospel and jazz and by artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Kay Star and Ella Mae Morse. In 1952 Donna was discovered and was invited to sing in Horace Henderson's orchestra. A couple of years later Donna won a record deal at a talent show and she made a few successful singles.
In 1959 Donna moved to Europe were she performed in Sweden, Spain, Germany, Belgium and France where she lived a couple of years. In Spain Donna won several prizes on festivals and made many records with Danny Daniel as the duo Danny y Donna. In 1972 Donna had her biggest hit world wide with the song This World Today Is A Mess which sold more than a million copies. After a few pop and disco records Donna recorded in 1976 the album El Jazz Y Donna. In 1991 Donna stopped her singing career and moved to Austin, Texas. Donna performs very occasionally.
In 1970 Donna took part in the Spanish pre-selection for the ESC with the song Soy Feliz which came 7th.
In 1971 Donna represented Spain in the World Popular Song Festival with the song If You Hold My Hand which was selected for the Grand Final but was disqualified because the song didn't follow the W.P.S.F. rules. The song became a big hit in Europe, Canada, the USA and Japan.
During his long career José Cid participated three times at the W.P.S.F. in Japan, twice as a singer and once as a composer.
In 1971 he took part with the song Ficou Para Tia which didn't reach the Grand Final and in 1972 José wrote the song Desde Que Me Ames Un Pouco for Vittorio Santos which also stranded in the semi-finals.
In 1975 José participated again with the song Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow which came 9th in the Grand Final and won an Outstanding Song Award. The Portuguese version of the song, Ontem Hoje E Amanhã, was a big hit in Portugal.
Ebonique is a Dutch group formed in 2000 by producer Tjeerd van Zanen. Originally Ebonique consisted of Ingrid Simons, Mieke de Jongh en Caroline Dest who was replaced by Danie Duzant in 2005.
In 2001 Ebonique participated in the Dutch national final with the song So Much Love which came 2nd.
The follow-up single Give A Little was the title song for the Dutch tv-show Big Diet. The song was a success in Germany.
In 2003 Ebonique participated again in the Dutch pre-selection for the ESC and this time they came 4th with the song Heatwave which was written by Gérard James Borg and Philip Vella.
Ebonique is still performing and during their performances they sing songs from the 70s and 80s like It's Raining Men, We Are Family, Conga, Rhythm Of The Night etc.
Jamala, born as Susana Jamaladinova on August 27 1983 in Kirgizistan, is an Ukrainian jazz, r&b and classical singer.
Jamala has been fond of music since her early childhood. She released her first single at the age of nine. Jamala entered the Simferopol Music College named after Tchaikovsky followed by the graduation from the National Music Academy named after Tchaikovsky as well, majoring in opera singing. Being at the top of her class, Jamala planned to devote herself to the classical music, envisioning her career as a soloist at the famous Milan La Scala Opera. Nevertheless her true passion for jazz and experiments with soul and oriental music has changed her plans defining the main streams of the future career.
Jamala made her first steps on the big stage at the age of fifteen. During the next few years she took part at dozens of vocal contests of Ukraine, Russia and Europe, where she received some prestigious awards. Since 2001 she was a soloist in the vocal quintet Beauty Band. The terrific performance at the junior 2006 Jazz festival of young artists brought Jamala a special award, while attracting the attention of the famous choreographer Elena Kolyadenko, who invited Jamala to perform the leading part in the Pas of Olena Kolyadenko multi genre musical and ballet Freedom. This part in the musical became an essential step in Jamala’s performing career.
The turning point in Jamala’s career came with her performance at the New Wave - 2009 International contest of young pop singers in summer 2009. The contest’s chief director statements regarding Jamala’s not fitting the format did not stop her from reaching the finals and more than that receiving a grand prize of the contest.
After that Jamala instantly became famous. Jamala performed many times in Ukrainian TV shows and won many awards in her country.
Early in 2011, Jamala took part in the Ukrainian national final for the ESC with the song Smile. The song was a crowd favorite and came 3rd in the final.
Burger Le Roux, born 1990 in Western Cape, is a South African singer and the winner of the reality television competition Supersterre, in 2010.
Burger started singing at the age of 9 and auditioned for Supersterre because he wants to be South Africa’s new Superstar.
The elimination from 250 participants to 10 was very challenging for him.
Steve Hofmeyer is his role model. In five years' time he would like to see himself participating in all the big festivals and with a lot of hits played on radio and also on CD racks.
For his album Burger covered two songs from Melodifestivalen 2010, Unstoppable and Manboy.
Azis, born as Vasill Troyanov Boyanov Katuras on March 7 1978, is Bulgarian Romani Chalga (pop-folk) singer known for his flamboyant persona.
Azis recorded and performed many songs with some of the most popular Bulgarian pop-folk singers like Sofi Marinova and Ustata. Azis also performed alongside Mariana Popova in the semi-final of the ESC 2006 with the song Let Me Cry.
His political career began in 2005 as a member of the Evronoma political party and ran in the general elections campaign in the summer of 2005, but Azis did not receive enough votes to become a member of the Parliament.
In 2006 Azis was elected as the 21st greatest Bulgarian of all time. In that same year he married his husband Niki Kitaetsa. Their marriage is not legally recognized given the laws of Bulgaria.
Since 2008 Azis is the host of the critically acclaimed talk-show Azis's Late Night Show.
For one of his albums Azis covered the ESC song Lane Moje.
Lisa Andreas (December 22 1987, Kent) is an English/Cypriot singer, model, actor and dancer.
Lisa was discovered as a singer at the Strand in Gillingham. After that she performed at various concerts and road-shows giving her talent to support charities such as Children with Leukemia. She also performed in a concert at the Red Cube in London to raise fund for the September 11th attacks. Lisa has also performed at many Pride concerts.
In 2004 Lisa won the right to represent Cyprus at the ESC with the emotional ballad Stronger Every Minute. Lisa was the youngest artist taking part at the ESC in 2004 and came 5th in the final.
Lisa finished her degree at Trinity College of Music in Musical Theatre and is currently writing and co-producing her own songs.
Thomas Gustafsson (born February 25 1968) is a Swedish composer and musician from Skövde, Västergötland, Sweden. He is much more known nationally and internationally as Thomas G:son, his artistic name. Since 1998, Thomas has worked full time as a songwriter for the company G:songs. In addition to writing and composing songs for a living, he plays the guitar in a hard rock band. Thomas G:son is mostly known for the more than 60 songs he has written for national finals of eight different countries for the Eurovision Song Contest. He wrote song for the ESC pre-selections of Sweden, Spain, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Poland, Latvia, Romania and Belgium. He has also reached the Eurovision Song Contest five times, twice for Sweden (2001 and 2005), once for Norway (2007), once for Spain (2007), and once for Denmark (2010).
Melodifestivalen entries (Sweden)
Natten är Min Vän - Cleo Nilsson (1999), 8th place
Lyssna Till Ditt Hjärta (Listen To Your Heartbeat) - Friends (2001), 1st place (5th at ESC 2001)
Vem é Dé Du Vill Ha? - Kikki, Lotta & Bettan (2002), 3rd place
Ingenting är Större än Vi - Arvingarna (2002), 6th place (semi-final)
Världen Utanför - Barbados (2002), 4th place
What Difference Does It Make? - Poets (2002), 3rd place (semi-final)
Hela Världen För Mig - Sanna Nielsen (2003), 5th place
C'est La Vie - Hanson, Carson & Malmkvist (2004), 10th place
Tango Tango - Petra Nielsen (2004), 4th place
Säg Att Du Har ångrat Dig - Anne-Lie Rydé (2004), 4th place (semi-final)
Långt Bortom Tid Och Rum - Mathias Holmgren (2005), 4th place (semi-final)
As If Tomorrow Will Never Come - Katrina & The Nameless (2005), 3rd place (semi-final)
Så Nära - Anne-Lie Rydé (2005), 5th place (semi-final)
Evighet (Invincible) - Carola (2006), 1st place (5th at ESC 2006)
Ge Mig En Kaka Till Kaffet - Östen med Resten (2006), 6th place (semi-final)
Idag & Imorgon - Kikki Danielsson (2006), 10th place
Innan Natten är över - Kayo (2006), 6th place (semi-final)
When Loves Coming Back Again - Jessica Folcker (2006), 7th place (semi-final)
Silverland - Roger Pontare (2006), 4th place (semi-final)
Amanda - Jimmy Jansson (2007), eliminated in Second-Chance Round
Samba Sambero - Anna Book (2007), 9th place
Här För Mig Själv - Maja Gullstrand (2009), 8th place (semi-final)
Du Vinner över Mig - Mikael Rickfors (2009), 5th place (semi-final)
Show Me Heaven - Lili & Susie (2009), eliminated in Second-Chance Round
Thursdays - Lovestoned (2010), 6th place (semi-final)
I'm In Love - Sanna Nielsen (2011), 4th place
E De Fel På Mig - Linda Bengtzing (2011), 7th place
Something In Your Eyes - Jenny Silver (2011), eliminated in Second-Chance Round
Run - Anders Fernette (2011), 8th place (semi-final)
Melodi Grand Prix entries (Norway)
Din Hånd I Min Hånd - Kikki, Lotta & Bettan (2003), 4th place
Anyway You Want It - Ingvild Pedersen (2003), eliminated in semi-final
Absolutely Fabulous - Queentastic (2006), 3rd place
Ven A Bailar Conmigo - Guri Schanke (2007), 1st place (18th in ESC 2007 semi-final)
Rocket Ride - Jannicke Abrahamsen (2007), 2nd place
Euroviisut entries (Finland)
Who Cares About A Broken Heart? - Johanna (2002), 5th place
Say You Will, Say You Won't - Ressu (2002), 4th place
I Can't Stop Loving You - Kirsi Ranto (2004), 10th place (semi-final)
Till The End Of Time - Arja Koriseva (2004), 10th place
Misión Eurovisión entries (Spain)
I Love You Mi Vida - D'NASH (2007), 1st place (20th in ESC 2007)
Piénsame - Anael (2008), eliminated in online-voting
Te Prefiero - Baltanás (2008), eliminated in online-voting
Nada Es Comparable A Ti - Mirela (2009), 4th place
Amor Radical - Rebeca (2009), eliminated in online-voting
Perfecta - Venus (2010), 4th place
Recuérdame - Samuel & Patricia (2010), 5th place
En Una Vida - Coral Segovia (2010), 2nd place
Beautiful Life - Jose Galisteo (2010), 7th place
Abrázame - Lucía Pérez (2011), 2nd place
Eirodziesma entry (Latvia)
Heaven In Your Eyes - Elina Furmane (2006), 8th place
Selecţia Naţională entry (Romania)
Lovestruck - Indiggo (2007) (disqualified)
The girl duo Indiggo ,which was going to perform the song Lovestruck, was disqualified because they didn't turn up in time for a rehearsal. Additionally, an instrumental version of the song was not sent in time to the TV company.
Piosenka dla Europy entries (Poland)
Viva La Musica - Man Meadow (2008), 3rd place
Love Is Gonna Get You - Man Meadow (2009), 6th place
Eurosong entry (Belgium)
Addicted To You - Tanja Dexters (2008), 5th place (semi-final)
Dansk Melodi Grand Prix entry (Denmark)
In a Moment Like This - Chanée & Tomas N'evergreen (2010), 1st place (4th in ESC 2010)
Let Your Heart Be Mine - Jenny Berggren (2011), 8th place
25 Hours A Day - Le Freak (2011), 4th place
Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2010
Allt Jag Vill Ha - Josefine Ridell (2010), 11th place
Patrick Fiori (born as Patrick Jean-François Chouchayan on September 23 1969 in Marseille, France) is a French singer.
Patrick was born to an Armenian father (Jacques Chouchayan) and a Corsican mother (Marie Antoinette Fiori) in Marseille, France. When he was only 12 years old, he was offered his first role in the musical La Légende Des Santonniers. At the age of 17, he recorded his first single, entitled Stéphanie.
In 1993 Patrick was chosen to represent France at the ESC with the song Mama Corsica which was written by François Valéry. The song was performed in French and Corsican and came 4th in Millstreet.
The following year, his first album was released, entitled Puisque C'est L'heure. His successful audition for the musical Notre Dame de Paris enabled him to originate the role of Phoebus both onstage and in the recording studio. With Daniel Lavoie and Garou, he recorded the successful song Belle. The following year, Patrick signed a contract with Sony and recorded his 3rd album Prends Moi. Patrick finally decided to end his role in Notre Dame de Paris in the year 2000 in order to dedicate more time to his fourth album, Chrysalide. Two years after, his fifth album was released and most recently, the album Les Choses De La Vie in 2008. His 2007 single 4 Mots Sur Un Piano was number one in the French charts for 2 weeks.
Elpida Karayiannopoulou, born October 1, 1950 in Spercheiada is a Greek singer who was one of the most successful singers in Greece in the 1970s and 1980s.
Elpida began her singing career in 1970 when she became the singer of an orchestra and recorded an album with them.
In 1972 Elpida participated in the Thessaloniki Music Festival with the song Den Ton Eida and was introduced to the public. In that same year she represented Greece at the World Popular Song Festival in Japan with the song Mh Teaae which made it into the Grand Final.
In 1973 Elpida recorded her first solo album and was chosen as the most popular singer in Greece.
In 1974 elpida represented Greece once again at the W.P.S.F with the song Min Ipohoris which came 4th and won a Special Award and an Outstanding Song Award.
In 1975 Elpida won the Viña del Mar Festival in Chile Pos Pes Mou Pos. She received various awards such as the Reward of Interpretation"in Poland, and a reward for television in Bulgaria. She also made a lot of television appearances in Latin America, Spain, Germany, UK, Holland, the Scandinavian Countries and made several television appearances in Israel.
In 1979 elpida won the Greek national final for the ESC with the song Socrates. At the ESC in Jerusalem she came 8th.
In 1986 Elpida represented Cyprus at the ESC in Bergen with the song Tora Zo which came last. It is rumoured that Elpida hated the song and she refused to sing it in Bergen. Just before the show she dicided to sing the song herself. It is said that one of the backing vocals was appointed to replace Elpida.
After the ESC Elpida released several successful albums. In 1997 she released her last album which was a compilation. Elpida released 17 albums in her 25-year recording history.
Dima Bilan, born as Víktor Nikoláevich Belán, December 24 1981, is a Russian actor and singer who is very popular in Russia.
At school Dima took part in performances, recited poems and sang songs. He graduated from Gnesins Musical College as a classical vocal performer. Dima made his debut at the Russian/Latvian festival New Wave in 2002. In 2003 dima released his debut album Nochnoy Huligan which was a success. In 2004 and 2005 he also released albums.
In 2005 Dima participated at the Rusian pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Not That Simple, which came 2nd.
In 2006 Dima was chosen internally to represent Russia with the song Never Let You Go which came 2nd at the ESC in Athens. Also in 2006 Dima received two Awards at the World Music Awards in London and he won awards for Best Artist and Best Song of the year at MTV Russian Music Awards.
In 2008 Dima participated again at the Russian pre-selection for the ESC with the song Believe. Dima won and represented his country in Serbia. During his performance Dima was accompanied by Hungarian violinist Edvin Marton and olympic and world champion figure skater Evgeni Plushenko. Dima won the contest receiving 272 points.
In 2012 Diam participated again at the Russian national final. This time he sang the song Back to the Future, together with Yuliya Volkova, which came 2nd.
The websitewww.andtheconductoris.euprovides it's visitors with full-scale biographies of all conductors who were involved in the ESC between 1956 and 1998.
Stefan Ludik (born April 5, 1981) is a Namibian misician, actor and former cricketer from Windhoek City. He was the first contestant to represent Namibia in the reality television program Big Brother Africa. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler who played for the Namibia Under-19s in 2000.
He competed in the first series of Big Brother Africa, where he first became famous. He is now a popular Afrikaans singer. Stefan covered the Finnish entry of 2009, Lose Control.
Mario del Monaco (July 27, 1915 - October 16, 1982) was an Italian tenor and is regarded by his admirers as being one of the greatest dramatic tenors of the 20th century.
Mario was born in Florence to a musical upper-class family. As a young boy he studied the violin but had a passion for singing. He graduated from the Rossini Conservatory at Pesaro.
Mario's career began in earnest with his debut in 1940 in Milan. He sang in Italy during the Second World War and married, in 1941, Rina Filipini. In 1946, he appeared at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, for the first time. During the ensuing years he became famous not only in London but also across the operatic world for his powerful, metallic voice.
Mario sang at the New York Metropolitan Opera from 1951 to 1959, enjoying particular success in dramatic parts. He soon established himself as one of a quartet of Italian tenor "superstars" who reached the peak of their fame in the 1950s and '60s.
Del Monaco made his first recordings in Milan in 1948. Later, he released several albums and appeared in many operas and concerts.
In 1965 Mario sang during the Interval act of the ESC in Naples. Mario del Monaco sang two Italian songs in old Neapolitan style. The orchestra was conducted by Maestro Gianni Ferrio.
In 1975 he retired from stage. He died in 1982 in Mestre as a result of nephritis.
Andranik Aleksanyan (born May 6 1998 in Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine) is a Ukrainian singer and songwriter of Armenian descent.
He attends a studio at Zaremba College of Music and studies under N.N. Reshovskaya. Since 2006, he has taken an active part in concert programs and contests and has been awarded many certificates of appreciation for his contributions to the development of the Armenian and Ukrainian cultures, as well as for the high artistic level of his performances. Andranik represented Ukraine in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Kiev, finishing in fifth place with the song Try Topoli, Try Surmy.
Andranik Aleksanyan suffers from a rare disease, achondrodysplasia, which is a congenital defect in the growth of bones.
Mariza Koch is a Greek folk music singer who has recorded 18 albums since starting her career in 1971. Mariza Koch was born in Athens in 1944 but lived in her mother's hometown in Santorini from a young age.
In an off-beat but original way Mariza Koch began her musical career in 1971 with an album titled Arabas. It consisted of a collection of traditional Greek folk songs blended with unusual beats from traditional and modern electronic instrumental sounds. On the other hand Mariza's unique vocals became the center piece of the music which on more than one occasion needed no accompaniment. No matter what one called it, the album was a resounding success. More albums followed with the sound eventually mellowing back into the original folk sounds of the past, where traditional instruments are used in there entirety. Mariza's most recent album included elements of traditional Greek music and Jazz Fusion. On 14 March 2010, Alpha TV ranked Mariza the 29th top-certified female artist in the nation's phonographic era since 1960.
In 1976 Mariza was chosen to represent Greece at the ESC with the song Panaghia Mou, Panaghia Mou (My Lady, My Lady) which came 13th.
The song was composed by Mariza herself with lyrics by Michael Fotiades. Panaghia Mou, Panaghia Mou was the second entry to represent Greece in the ESC after its debut in 1974. Greece had not taken part in the preceding Contest in 1975 in protest of Turkey's debut and its invasion of Cyprus in July 1974. The song was an outcry against the Turkish foreign policy.
Niklas Roger "Nicke" Borg, born on April 3 in Nässjö is a Swedish singer, guitarist and since 1989 a member of the sleaze rock band The Backyard Babies. Over the years they have released five albums and won a Swedish Grammy. They are popular in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark.
Nicke released several solo albums and got his own radio show on radio station Bandit Rock Stockholm.
In 2011 Nicke participated in the Swedish pre-selection for the ESC, Melodifestivalen, where he came 8th with the song Leaving Home.
Cathal Dunne, born in 1953 in Cork, is an Irish singer. He is most famous for representing Ireland in the 1979 ESC with the song Happy Man. He has since gained a following as Cahal Dunne, performing traditional Irish songs in the United States, where he now lives.
In 1974 Cathal graduated from University College Cork and Montfort College of Performing Arts after studying music. That same year he won the Castlebar Song Contest with the song Shalom. In 1975 he represented Ireland at the World Popular Song Festival with his own composition Lover, Not a Wife which didn't reach the Grand Final. In 1976 he participated in the Irish national final for the ESC with the song Danny which came 4th. During these years he played with his backing band, Stateside (and later, The Formula), on the Irish club circuit.
In 1979 Cathal entered his own composition Happy Man into the Irish pre-selection for the ESC. Competing against former Irish ESC entrants Tina Reynolds and Red Hurley and future winner Johnny Logan, he won the contest easily. Performing in Jerusalem at the final in March, he achieved a respectable fifth place with 80 points. The single went on to sell well in Europe and reached No.3 in the Irish charts. The song was produced by Nicky Graham.
In February 1982 he played some concerts in Michigan in the United States. These tempted him to move there permanently and the following year, Cathal emigrated from Ireland. Since then, he has made a name for himself as a singer of traditional Irish ballads and has released a number of albums.
Cathal now lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with his wife, Kathleen and son, Ryan
Al Bano and Romina Power were an Italian pop music which was formed by Al Bano Carissi (May 20, 1943), an Italian singer, actor and winemaker and Romina Francesca Power (October 2, 1951), an American-born singer and actress. Al Bano met Romina during the filming of the movie Nel Sole in 1967 and they Married on July 26, 1970 in Cellino San Marco.
Al Bano made his debut in 1966 and became very popular. Romina played in several musicals during her childhood and sang in Mexiacan Mariachi bands. As a couple they made seven films, based on their songs, between 1967 and 1983. Romina released three solo albums between 1969 and 1974 while Al Bano recored many successful singles and albums.
In 1975 Al Bano and Romina released their first album as a duo which was followed by numerous others. In 1976 the duo represented Italy at the ESC with the Italian/English song We'll Live It All Again which came 7th.
In 1982 the duo had their biggest hit with Felicita which came 2nd at the Festival di Sanremo. The song broke Italian records and became a hit all over the world.
In 1984 they won the Festival di Sanremo with the song Ci Sarà And in 1985 they represented Italy once again at the ESC where they came 7th with the song Magic Oh Magic.
In 1986, Al Bano and Romina Power signed a contract with WEA and published the album Sempre Sempre, which confirmed their international success.
In 1987, the album Libertà! was published. The couple's daughter Ylenia sang a duet with her mother Romina in "Abbi fede". The album sold well in Italy and across Europe. The same year they participated at the Festival di Sanremo 1987 with the song Nostalgia Canaglia. In 1989 they participated once again at the Festival di Sanremo with the song Cara terra mia.
In 1991, Al Bano and Romina Power again participated in the Festival di Sanremo, this time with the song Oggi Sposi. In the same year, they celebrated 25 years of their joint artistic careers with an anthology which included their most popular songs. They also wrote their autobiography, entitled Autoritratto dalla A alla R and released a video entitled the same.
In 1993, their album Notte e giorno was published.
After their daughter Ylenia Carrisi disappeared in January 1994 in New Orleans, Al Bano and Romina cancelled all of their concerts and dedicated all their time to the search of their daughter. Police efforts yielded no results.
In 1995, the couple released their last album Emozionale, followed by a video version, Una Vita Emozionale.
In 1996, Al Bano participated in the Sanremo Music Festival, singing È La Mia Vita. In 1997 he released a solo album Concerto Classico, while his wife recorded a CD with her son Yari and composer Maurizio Fabrizio, though this CD has never been released. She also had a part in the television mini-series The Return of Sandokan and in 1998, she published a book about her father, entitled Cercando mio padre.
In 1999, Al Bano announced their separation in an open letter to the weekly magazine Oggi, in which he explained reasons for their break-up. In 2008, Romina moved to USA (Arizona) while Al Bano was living in Cellino San Marco.
Al Bano still tours all over the world. He is a constant on Italian television and has a large number of fans who follow his career very closely. To date Al Bano has sold 165 million albums around the world.
In 2005 Romina was a judge in the Italian TV show Ballando con le stelle (dancing with the stars). She also organizes art exhibitions.
Paricipations of Albano and Romina at the Festival di Sanremo:
1982: Felicita, 2nd
1984: Ci Sarà. 1st
1987: Nostalgia Canaglia, 3rd
1989: Cara Terra Mia, 3rd
1991: Oggi Sposi, 8th
Participations of Al Bano at the Festival di Sanremo:
1996: È La Mia Vita, 7th
1997: Verso Il Sole, equal 4th
1999: Ancora In Volo, 6th
2007: Nel Perdono, 2nd
2011: Amanda È Libera, 3rd
The Azerbaijani national final for the ESC 2011 was held at the Akhundov Azerbaijan State Acedemic Opera & Ballet Theatre in Baku. Before the final there was a semi-final and 7 quarter-finals. The final was solely to select the singer to represent Azerbaijan at the ESC. The winners, Nigar Camal and Eldar Qasimov were chosen by an "expert" jury who decided to send a duet to the ESC. After the singers were known the song was chosen by an internal committee. They chose for Running Scared which won the ESC 2011.
Nigar Jamal was born on September 1, 1980 and is an Azerbaijani singer who's currently living in London. She studied economics and management and graduated in 2001. Eldar was born on June 4, 1989, is anAzerbaijani singer and the great-grandson of a very famous actor couple. He studied music and piano.
The Azerbaijani national final for the ESC 2010 was held on March 2 in Buta Palace in Baku. Before the final there was a semi-final of which three acts went on to the final. The singers performed different songs from the ones they sang in the semi-final. The winning singer was chosen by an "expert" jury, while the winning song was not announced until March 18. Safura Alizadeh was chosen to represent Azerbaijan with the song Drip Drop. At the ESC Safura came 5th.
Safura Alizadeh (September 20, 1992, Baku) is an Azerbaijani singer and saxophonist. Safura began singing when she was very young and made her first stage appearance at age 6. In the course of her career, she sang in children's bands Sharg Ulduzlari and Bulbullar. Alizadeh took up violin lessons at the Baku Musical School No 2 but later also learned to play the piano and the saxophone. She became the winner of the national contest Yeni Ulduz. Since the eighth grade Safura has been studying at the school no. 23 in Baku.
Safura has signed a five-year contract with the Swedish record company Euteria. Her first album, It's My War, was released in June 2010 and had a success around Europe. Drip Drop was the first single released from It's My War.
Marianne Krupicka, better known by her stage name Marianne Mendt (September 29 1945 Vienna) is an Austrian jazz singer and actress.
Marianne started singing in jazz clubs and played bass with the group the Internationals. In 1970 she was noticed by talent-spotter Gerhard Bronner who also wrote her first hit Wie A Glock'n, which was used as the theme tune for a television drama. Marianne published several Austrian versions of well-known jazz and pop songs like Mercy Mercy Mercy, Spinning Wheel and Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In.
In 1971, Marianne was chosen by broadcaster ORF to represent Austria with the song Musik at the 16th Eurovision Song Contest, held in Dublin. It marked Austria's return to the ESC following a two-year absence. Musik is the only song performed at the ESC to date in the Viennese German dialect. The song Musik came 16th out of the 18 entries after a somewhat nervous and hesitant performance from Marianne.
Marianne combined her singing career with acting in productions at the large Vienna theaters. In the 1990s, Marianne's acting career came to the fore, notably in the role of Gitti Schimek in TV drama Kaisermühlen Blues which ran from 1992 until 2000.
Marianne Mendt remains an active performer, regularly appearing at concerts and jazz festivals in Austria.
Marcos Gómez Llunas (born September 19, 1971, Madrid) is a Spanish singer-songwriter who has been very successful in southern Europe and Latin America.
Marcos, son of Spanish musician Dyango, released his self-titled first album in 1993. He recorded several successful singles and in 1995, in Paraguay, he won the OTI Song Festival for Spain with the song Eres Mi Debilidad.
In 1997, Marcos Llunas was chosen internally by broadcaster TVE as the Spanish representative for the 42nd Eurovision Song Contest with his song Sin Rencor. At the contest, held in Dublin, Sin Rencor finished in 6th place of the 25 entries.
In the years following his Eurovision appearance, Marcos recorded in Portuguese and Catalan in addition to Spanish, and became particularly successful in Latin America. His most recent album, a career retrospective, was released in 2004 and he has been inactive as a recording artist since, although he has appeared as a judge on Spanish television talent shows.
Feminnem is a girl group from Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina and consists of Neda Parmać, Pamela Ramljak and Nika Antolos. In 2007 Nika joined the Feminnem to replace Ivana Marić who left the group to start a solo career.
Ivana and Pamela are from Bosnia & Herzegovima while Neda and Nika are Croatian.
The group formed in 2004, following the appearance of the three original members, on Hrvatski Idol. Their first single, Volim Te Mrzim Te, was a big hit in the Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia and Macedonia.
In 2005 Feminnem took part in the Bosnian national final for the ESC. In the Bosnian pre-selection there was a tie at the end of the voting, the "expert" jury vote took precedence so Feminnem won with the song Zovi. At the ESC they sang the English version, Call Me, which finished 14th.
In 2007 Feminnem tried to represent Croatia at the ESC in Helsinki with the song Navika. They came only 9th in the Croatian national final, Dora.
In 2009 they tried again to represent Croatia at the ESC but they came 3rd with the song Poljupci U Boji.
Feminnem took part at the Croatian national final for the third time in 2010, hoping to represent the country at the ESC in Oslo with their song Lako Je Sve. They finished only fourth in the semi-final, but they went on to win the final, receiving maximum points from both the jury and the telephone voters. At the ESC they stranded very unexpectedly in the semi-finals.
In 2009, the national final was allready planned to be held by the Azerbaijani broadcaster ITV. However, after the quality of the entries was deemed poor, ITV decided to organize an internal selection.
On January 17 it was revealed that Aysel Teymurzadeh, a 19 year old R&B singer, was selected to represent Azerbaijan at the ESC 2009 in Moscow. She was selected by a 7-member jury appointed by ITV. A few days later it was announced that the same jury unanimously chose the song Always written by and performed as a duet with Iranian/Swedish singer Arash.
As part of their promo tour, Aysel and Arash visited Slovenia, Romania and Sweden. At the ESC they came 3rd.
Aysel Teymurzadeh (April 25, 1989, Baku) is an Azerbaijani pop and R&B singer. Aysel started to sing at the age of 4 and the piano became her passion since childhood. Aysel graduated from the Intellect Lyceum and attended Texas High School in 2005-2006. Within days after her arrival in the USA, she signed up for the local choir. In 2005 Aysel participated in the talent show Yeni Ulduz.
After the ESC Aysel toured Europe with Arash and together they released an album.
Arash Labaf (April 23, 1977, Tehran)is an Iranian/Swedish singer, dancer, entertainer and producer. At the age of 10 Arah and his family moved to Sweden where he became interested in music. His debut album in 2005 was very popular in Azerbaijan, Turkey,Sweden, Russia, Slovenia, Greece and Poland. Arash had many hits all over Europe and colloborated with many famous artists. Since 2005 he released 3 succesful albums and many hit singles.
Mălina Olinescu (January 29 1974 - December 12 2011) was a Romanian singer.
