Well hello there and welcome to EUROvisual – your weekly update on the preparations for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. This year, the contest will take place in Düsseldorf, Germany with the semi-finals due to be held on 10 and 12 May and the grand final on Saturday 14 May.
Blue set to release Eurovision single
This year, the United Kingdom is being represented by ‘man-band’, Blue with ‘I Can’. The group is thought to have a decent chance of winning the contest and will release the entry as a single on Monday 1 May. The iTunes EP includes three versions of the track, including an instrumental, as well as the official video. Fingers crossed for both chart and Eurovision success!
Five entries vying for pole position amongst Euro-fans
As reported in your last edition of EUROvisual, each year members of national branches of OGAE, the official Eurovision fan club, vote on their favourite entries in that year’s Eurovision Song Contest. With just two weeks left until the grand final of this year’s contest, a clear pattern is emerging in the voting. If the fan vote is accurate, the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 will be one of the following countries; Hungary, France, Sweden, United Kingdom or Estonia. These five countries have consistently featured in the higher positions of the fans’ votes and as of today, Hungary is in pole position. ‘What About My Dreams?’ by Kati Wolf is an unashamed dance number with a big chorus. The French entry, currently in 2nd position in the vote, is the exact opposite – an opera track called ‘Sognu’, performed by young tenor Amaury Vassili. You can see the current favourite to win this year’s Eurovision below. Let us know what you think by leaving your comment at the bottom of the page.
Country profile – Ireland
Each edition of EUROvisual profiles a certain participating nation. This week is dedicated to a particularly successful Eurovision country, Ireland. The country took part in the contest for the first time in 1965 and since its debut has won the grand prix a total of seven times, more than any other country. Its first victory came in 1970 with ‘All Kinds of Everything’ by Dana. Johnny Logan then went on to win the contest twice with ‘What’s Another Year?’ in 1980 and ‘Hold Me Now’ in 1987. Logan wrote himself into the annals of Eurovision history by writing the winning entry in the 1992 contest, ‘Why Me?’ performed by Linda Martin. The victory was the first in an impressive run of Euro-wins for Ireland in the 1990s. The nation went on to win the contest in 1993, 1994 and 1996. Irish fortunes have waned somewhat of late, particularly since the introduction of the semi-final system. However, we are going to stick to the ‘golden age’ of Ireland’s Eurovision history. You can see Ireland’s winning entry of 1992 below.
Now for a trip down memory lane…
1973 was the year that Cliff Richard made a second attempt at winning the contest, having been famously pipped at the post in 1968. However, his entry ‘Power To All Our Friends’ actually came 3rd. He never returned to the contest and now regularly lightheartedly refers to himself as the man who ‘lost the Eurovision Song Contest twice’. There was, though, another entry that year which has gone down in history as one of the most memorable ever. It was actually the entry which came 17th – out of 17. Belgium was represented in 1973 by the duo Nicole and Hugo with the song ‘Baby Baby’. There are several reasons to love this entry, not least the amazing purple flared one-pieces and the silver afro wigs on the backing singers. The entry’s crowning jewel, however, is definitely its frantic choreography, particularly towards its climax. It’s a Eurovision classic and its all for you! Enjoy!
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