Saturday 29 June 2013
But where was Žare Berber?
Now, you may have noticed something unusual about this year's contest. That's right. Someone was missing. Those maths geniuses out there probably noticed that although there were 23 songs entered into this year's Suncane Skale, only 22 of them were performed tonight. Žare Berber, the famous Macedonian TV show host, Survivor contestant and of course barber, was absent tonight. Him and his song, Ponekad, were nowhere to be seen on the show. What happened? Where was he? Well, not at Sunčane Skale, obviously. Perhaps someone in the region could shed some light on the situation?
Congratulations to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia!
Well, that was bloody brilliant! A big congratulations goes out to the winning song tonight, which was 'Majske kiše' by Kemal Monteno & Teška Industrija, a song representing both Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia. It proved very popular with, well, just about everyone,
Also congratulations to the second and third placed entrants, Danijel Pavlović for Serbia, and Joce Panov for Macedonia!
A big commiserations though to Progešila Roda, who I absolutely loved tonight! But for some reason they came last with 12 points. Maybe they were a bit too 'progessive' for this show?
And also Glenys and Kevin, who did Great Britain and America proud once again! You know what they say... they say dreams, are for dreamers. Also they said they both wanted to do the Eurovision! Yes please! I want to see the two of them on a Eurovision Song Contest in the future. Overall, they got 37 points tonight. My favourite song, 'Korak po Korak', by Igor Cukrov, only did one point better with 38.
(And yes, like last year I did do a write up about the show while it was on, but annoyingly I'll have to reformat it for blogger).
Next up though, a post about, well, the big mystery of the evening. The missing song of Suncane Skale, 'Ponekad'.
Also congratulations to the second and third placed entrants, Danijel Pavlović for Serbia, and Joce Panov for Macedonia!
A big commiserations though to Progešila Roda, who I absolutely loved tonight! But for some reason they came last with 12 points. Maybe they were a bit too 'progessive' for this show?
And also Glenys and Kevin, who did Great Britain and America proud once again! You know what they say... they say dreams, are for dreamers. Also they said they both wanted to do the Eurovision! Yes please! I want to see the two of them on a Eurovision Song Contest in the future. Overall, they got 37 points tonight. My favourite song, 'Korak po Korak', by Igor Cukrov, only did one point better with 38.
(And yes, like last year I did do a write up about the show while it was on, but annoyingly I'll have to reformat it for blogger).
Next up though, a post about, well, the big mystery of the evening. The missing song of Suncane Skale, 'Ponekad'.
And... the results are in!
 | |||
| Full Results of Suncane Skale 2013 |
Monday 24 June 2013
RTCG Stream 29.06.2013
RTCG Stream
mms://beotelmedia.beotel.net/tvcg
What is this, you ask? Why, this is the official streaming link for RTCG (Radio i Televizija Crne Core). So you can type this into Windows Media Player, VLC media player, or any media player of your choice and it should work, and then you can watch Sunčane Skale, or you can watch Montenegrin TV all day long if you want to. Sunčane Skale is also going to be on the following channels:
MRT (Macedonia Radio Television)
CMC (Croatian Music Channel)
DRS (Drugacija Radio Stanica)
BHRT (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Z1
Net TV (Slovenia)
KCN (Kopernikus Cable Network)
Balkanika Music Television
DM Sat
Svet Plus - Radio i Televizija
Elmag RTV
Televizija BGD - tvbgd.com
SC - 29.06.2013 - 9pm (CET)
PS: I found out here that it also starts at 9:00pm (CET). I also found out that Montenegro is one hour ahead of us (the UK) so that's 8pm GMT. (Seriously are we the only country in the world to use GMT or what?)
Anyway, I hope this helped you! :D
mms://beotelmedia.beotel.net/tvcg
What is this, you ask? Why, this is the official streaming link for RTCG (Radio i Televizija Crne Core). So you can type this into Windows Media Player, VLC media player, or any media player of your choice and it should work, and then you can watch Sunčane Skale, or you can watch Montenegrin TV all day long if you want to. Sunčane Skale is also going to be on the following channels:
MRT (Macedonia Radio Television)
CMC (Croatian Music Channel)
DRS (Drugacija Radio Stanica)
BHRT (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Z1
Net TV (Slovenia)
KCN (Kopernikus Cable Network)
Balkanika Music Television
DM Sat
Svet Plus - Radio i Televizija
Elmag RTV
Televizija BGD - tvbgd.com
SC - 29.06.2013 - 9pm (CET)
PS: I found out here that it also starts at 9:00pm (CET). I also found out that Montenegro is one hour ahead of us (the UK) so that's 8pm GMT. (Seriously are we the only country in the world to use GMT or what?)
Anyway, I hope this helped you! :D
Sunčane Skale Official Facebook Page
Hello everyone, I've got a link to share with you all today, Sunčane Skale got a new official facebook page! All y'all with FB should go like, it already has 52 and the page has only been up for like, a day or something. By the way, the contest is this Saturday (I know, that came around quick), it's also been over a whole month since ESC.
Very soon I'll make a post detailing the stream that the Montenegrin TV station (RTCG) do, and other stuff, so that those of us not in the countries where it's being shown can watch it as well.
Sunday 16 June 2013
Tahmina's New Song - Fairytale About Love
You might remember Tahmina Nayazova, she represented Tajikistan at Sunčane Skale 2012 last year with the song Boom Boom Boom and did very well. Now she has a new song, Fairytale About Love. Link provided by MeshPR, who helped a lot with that last post I wrote about Sunčane Skale, and he also wrote the lyrics to this song. Enjoy!
Saturday 15 June 2013
Suncane Skale site updated, MP3s added
Well, I'm not exactly sure when this happened, but checking the Suncane Skale website just now, I see that all the MP3s have been added for all the songs from this year's contest, I guess because the contest is now only two weeks away (!) Well, I better get downloading, you should too!
Tuesday 11 June 2013
Greece withdraw from Eurovision 2014...?
"Today the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) expressed profound dismay on behalf of Europe’s entire public service media community at reports that ERT – a founding Member of the EBU in 1950 – has been shut down with immediate effect." - eurovision.tv
"ERT may stand for: Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi, Greece's former state broadcaster" - Wikipedia
Looking at the news today, the Greek national broadcaster, ERT, has now been shut down 'to save costs' with immediate effect. Now Greece does not official have a state broadcaster. And, as ERT is Greece's member of the EBU, no ERT means no there'll be no Greece for ESC. It looks highly unlikely the Greece will be participating in the Eurovision next year. So yes, it's not even one month after the final (or even one month after the first semi final) and already we have our first withdrawal. I just hope that this does not set a precedent for things to come.
"ERT may stand for: Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi, Greece's former state broadcaster" - Wikipedia
Looking at the news today, the Greek national broadcaster, ERT, has now been shut down 'to save costs' with immediate effect. Now Greece does not official have a state broadcaster. And, as ERT is Greece's member of the EBU, no ERT means no there'll be no Greece for ESC. It looks highly unlikely the Greece will be participating in the Eurovision next year. So yes, it's not even one month after the final (or even one month after the first semi final) and already we have our first withdrawal. I just hope that this does not set a precedent for things to come.
More about Sunčane Skale 2013
Hey everyone, Britski here. I've just recently received an email from the project leader of Sunčane Skale and who was also in the PR for the Macedonian delegation from ESC 2013, and he told me a lot of stuff I didn't know about the contest this year, so I thought I'd share all of these things with you guys.
Well, first thing's first, I now have a link to the official Telman video, rather than a reupload - Тельман - Сердце пополам
He then also very helpfully linked me to a video of Mave O'Rick - Heaven, which was posted on Youtube yesteday.
Mave O'Rick is a German singer who took part in the Swiss national final this year, but didn't get through to the live show. Here is Mave O'Rick's song 'My Beat', which took part in the national final selection process.
And here is an article in which Mave O'Rick speaks to ESC Daily about this song.
And now about Ellyland:
"Ellyland from Azerbaijan is also very well known there not only in Germany. She was at the Azeri National Final 2010 when Safura won. She is better known as Elli in Azerbaijan. In Germany she started now the new project "Ellyland" thats why you see so many german comments on this video :) The song is at the moment released in Germany, Austria & Switzerland (so far as I know)"
I didn't actually know that Ellyland had taken part in the national final, but I found Elly's 2010 NF video here if you want to see that. She is also a former member of the German band Bisou which was formed on the German TV show Popstars by German rapper Bushido.
More on the Eurovision connection now, Pamela Ramljak was a member of the band Femminem, and Ivana Banfić was a participant at Dora, the Croatian national final for the Eurovision.
As was mentioned earlier, Glenys Vargas was the backing singer for Juliana Pasha (Albania) back at ESC 2010 in Oslo. Also, if you want to know more about this, I recently discovered that Glenys Vargas has a blog and in this article she goes into a lot more detail about her time at Eurovision 2010. If you're interesting in the behind-the-scenes type stuff at ESC, this is a very good read. Also, it appears that Glenys and Kevin have their sights set on Eurovision, and could possibly represent someone in the near future?
US/UK Entries:
2011 - Power Positive
2012 - Love Me, Let Me Go
2013 - Dream!
This will be the third time that they represent the US/UK. As always, good luck to all the entrants, and I must thank MeshPR again for his very helpful email.
-Britski
Well, first thing's first, I now have a link to the official Telman video, rather than a reupload - Тельман - Сердце пополам
He then also very helpfully linked me to a video of Mave O'Rick - Heaven, which was posted on Youtube yesteday.
Mave O'Rick is a German singer who took part in the Swiss national final this year, but didn't get through to the live show. Here is Mave O'Rick's song 'My Beat', which took part in the national final selection process.
And here is an article in which Mave O'Rick speaks to ESC Daily about this song.
And now about Ellyland:
"Ellyland from Azerbaijan is also very well known there not only in Germany. She was at the Azeri National Final 2010 when Safura won. She is better known as Elli in Azerbaijan. In Germany she started now the new project "Ellyland" thats why you see so many german comments on this video :) The song is at the moment released in Germany, Austria & Switzerland (so far as I know)"
I didn't actually know that Ellyland had taken part in the national final, but I found Elly's 2010 NF video here if you want to see that. She is also a former member of the German band Bisou which was formed on the German TV show Popstars by German rapper Bushido.
More on the Eurovision connection now, Pamela Ramljak was a member of the band Femminem, and Ivana Banfić was a participant at Dora, the Croatian national final for the Eurovision.
As was mentioned earlier, Glenys Vargas was the backing singer for Juliana Pasha (Albania) back at ESC 2010 in Oslo. Also, if you want to know more about this, I recently discovered that Glenys Vargas has a blog and in this article she goes into a lot more detail about her time at Eurovision 2010. If you're interesting in the behind-the-scenes type stuff at ESC, this is a very good read. Also, it appears that Glenys and Kevin have their sights set on Eurovision, and could possibly represent someone in the near future?
US/UK Entries:
2011 - Power Positive
2012 - Love Me, Let Me Go
2013 - Dream!
This will be the third time that they represent the US/UK. As always, good luck to all the entrants, and I must thank MeshPR again for his very helpful email.
-Britski
Monday 10 June 2013
On the 'popular' British attitude to ESC
Hello, Britski here. I'm here to talk to you today about the popular British attitude to ESC. Granted, not everyone in Britain shares this opinion (I certainly don't), but this is the attitude which comes across most in the media. You know the one, the snarky, Wogan attitude.
"We don't need Europe, it's all political, all the songs are horrible, look at the state of this, Eurovision's a joke" blah blah blah. Let's forget for a moment that it's more cultural than political, and that ESC has been the host to some very good songs over the years. This attitude, which started with Terry Wogan, quite frankly stinks.
Then, as the votes start pouring in, it suddenly becomes "Oh my god why don't we win this contest every year?! Don't they know we Brits invented the music industry! They all hate us we should withdraw!!!!" And they say I take Eurovision seriously?
And what's with this withdrawing nonsense every year? When the England team do horrifically and get beaten by every other team every time there's a World Cup or Euro, do people say the England team should withdraw? No! Of course they don't! So what makes Eurovision so different? If we withdraw we certainly don't win. And the reason we don't win is that we're not giving this contest the respect it deserves. We're treating Eurovision as a joke and it bloody well shows. You want the contest to be held in the British Isles once more? It's take to start taking it a little more seriously.
"We don't need Europe, it's all political, all the songs are horrible, look at the state of this, Eurovision's a joke" blah blah blah. Let's forget for a moment that it's more cultural than political, and that ESC has been the host to some very good songs over the years. This attitude, which started with Terry Wogan, quite frankly stinks.
Then, as the votes start pouring in, it suddenly becomes "Oh my god why don't we win this contest every year?! Don't they know we Brits invented the music industry! They all hate us we should withdraw!!!!" And they say I take Eurovision seriously?
And what's with this withdrawing nonsense every year? When the England team do horrifically and get beaten by every other team every time there's a World Cup or Euro, do people say the England team should withdraw? No! Of course they don't! So what makes Eurovision so different? If we withdraw we certainly don't win. And the reason we don't win is that we're not giving this contest the respect it deserves. We're treating Eurovision as a joke and it bloody well shows. You want the contest to be held in the British Isles once more? It's take to start taking it a little more seriously.
Sunday 9 June 2013
The Bundesvision Conspiracy - Thuringia - Hannes Kinder und Band - Deja Vu
So, I was checking the Bundesvision Wikipedia de page yet again (yes I keep checking up on it. Yes that might be a little obsessive), and found out that Thuringia's song has now been filled in, meaning that as of this moment two song titles have been revealed. The second is Thuringia's Hannes Kinder and Band with Deju Vu (or Déjà-vu if you want to get pedantic.) This was a song I wasn't able to find, so I thought I'd make a poor attempt at being a detective yet again. Looking on google there is a cached page of the Hannes Kinder Musik youtube page, which links to this video, a video of deju vu. However, this has now been mysteriously made private. I guess deja vu will remain a mystery.
You can however, check out this other song of Hannes Kinder's, 'Wir hören unsere Lieder'.
Updaaaate: Deja vu, deja vu... Britski turned super sleuth for y'all, and managed to find Hannes Kinder's Soundcloud! And yes, this has Deja Vu! It's also here. So yes, now there are two songs from the Bundesvision that we know of so far. And it's a pretty strong showing from Thuringia this year, I must say.
Rating: 9/10
You can however, check out this other song of Hannes Kinder's, 'Wir hören unsere Lieder'.
Updaaaate: Deja vu, deja vu... Britski turned super sleuth for y'all, and managed to find Hannes Kinder's Soundcloud! And yes, this has Deja Vu! It's also here. So yes, now there are two songs from the Bundesvision that we know of so far. And it's a pretty strong showing from Thuringia this year, I must say.
Rating: 9/10
Saturday 8 June 2013
Sunčane Skale 2013 Song List Released
Hello there, Britski here. I'm here again to talk to you about Sunčane Skale 2013.
Recently, a list of all the songs and artists due to perform on this year's Sunčane Skale has been released on the official Sunčane Skale website. Here, I go through Youtube looking for these songs and we'll take a sneak peek at what this year's contest has to offer. Keep in mind that, just like in the Bundesvision, just because the song titles have been put out there doesn't mean that all the songs are out yet, and a few of these I was unable to find. Well, most of them I was unable to find. (More surprises though for the actual contest, I guess). And weirdly, it looks like there is only going to be the 'Best Summer Song' part of Sunčane Skale this year, I haven't seen any news about the 'New Stars' thing they had last year.
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Sunčane Skale - Summer Stars Songs:
Glenys Vargas and Kevin Ettienne - Dream! (Britain and America)
Well, let's start off first of all with the British and American joint entry. After coming fourth in last year's contest, Glenys and Kevin are back again to fly the red white and blue (twice!) and are back with their song Dream. The song's got a nice message that we all should listen to. And the great thing about Sunčane Skale is that, unlike the Eurovision, we don't totally suck at it (poor Bonnie). We (and America) could get a good result again this year!
GO UK
GO USA
Rating: 9.5/10
Telman - Serde Popolam (Russia)
I don't remember there being a Russian entry last year, in fact I'm pretty sure there wasn't. But they are a welcome addition to this year's contest and their song ain't half bad. For some reason the music video is in Amsterdam. Also this video only has 20 views so you should totally go and view it right now and increase it to the high high score of 21.
Rating: 7/10
Kemal Monteno & Teška Industrija - Majske kiše (Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia)
Another joint entry now, it's Bosnia and Croatia. Out of all the Sunčane Skale videos I have looked at today, this one has the most views. Over 100,000, in fact! I'll assume that Kemal Monteno and Teška Industrija are both well known in the Balkans. But could it be an omen for this winning? The song is great, starts out as a very nice ballad indeed, and then gets more uptempo as it goes on. Doesn't really fit with the quite dark music video, but hey-ho. And with this act seeming to be very popular, it totally has a chance of winning!
Rating: 9.5/10
Ivana Banfić - Izgužvana svila (Croatia)
I don't have a clue what the 'CMCFestival' is, but apparently this was on something called the 'CMC Festival'. (Could it stand for Croatian Music Festival??? Maybe?) But the song itself is very nice. Good job Croatia.
Rating: 9/10
Danijel Pavlović - 3 dana (Serbia)
Now it's Serbia's turn to impress us! This is a nice touch, it's really really good, in fact a great job by Serbia.
Rating: 9/10
Jelena Kažanegra - Za tvoje usne (Montenegro)
It's a fairly decent effort from Montenegro, I feel like I know this song already >.> Maybe that's a bad sign, perhaps it's too generic. It might not stand out in the contest.
Rating: 8/10
Ellyland - Colorized (Azerbaijan)
After their great attempt last year, Azerbaijan are back once again! Lots of comments in German on the video, I guess Ellyland is more famous in Germany than here. It's a nice effort from Azerbaijan. All that pop stuff ain't usually my cup of tea, but this sounds a lot like what would be on the radio over here, so this song could be a smash hit. Theoretically speaking, of course. I mean hey, the Wombles were number 1 over here, anything can happen.
Rating: 6/10
Igor Cukrov - Korak po korak (Croatia)
Four words for this Croatian song: this is bloody brilliant! I really really enjoyed this song, my favourite so far. Fantastic song from Croatia!
Rating: 10/10
Dejan Seferović - Novi život (Montenegro)
Oh hey, a Montenegrin entry that I could find! This is one of the few Montenegrin songs that are actually on the internet. A decent attempt from Montenegro. It's not half bad. In fact, a very nice song from Montenegro.
Rating: 9.5/10
Ivana Martinović - Dodaj (Montenegro)
Montenegro sure are entering a lot of songs this year. Well, it is their contest, after all. I'm sure I remember Ivana from last year's Sunčane Skale, but can't be bothered to go back and check. I can't fault her song this year either, it's very very nice. One of my favourites from this year's contest. Montenegro's putting up some very good songs this year.
Rating: 9.5/10
Zare Berber - Ponekad (Macedonia)
Wow, this is the first (and only!) of this year's Macedonian entries that is actually available now on Youtube. In fact, this video has been on the tube for a whole year. Well, who the hell is Zare Berber? Apparently, he was on the Macedonian version of Survivor. No I am not joking. That is the truth. I know nothing about Macedonian Survivor, or any of the Survivor series actually, so I don't know anything more about that. Oh dear Macedonia, your song is putting me to sleep. Zzzzzzzzz...
Fairly neutral towards this.
Rating: 6/10
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Well, that was all the songs I could find as of now for Sunčane Skale 2013. Unlike last year's contest, I haven't really given out that many 10/10's yet. Only 'Korak po korak' got my 10/10 score. Maaan, I just feel like something is missing. I really wanted there to be some crazy Balkan ethnic music (preferrably with accordians and performed in silly ethnic dress/costumes). But maybe I'm just out of touch. With reality.
---
Youtube Links:
Glenys Vargas and Kevin Ettienne - Dream! (Britain and America) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GSIikICWlM
Telman - Serde Popolam (Russia) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDDQujxiDIo
Kemal Monteno & Teška Industrija - Majske kiše (Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsUNYerf7CU
Ivana Banfić - Izgužvana svila (Croatia) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq5HcCi4Jmc
Danijel Pavlović - 3 dana (Serbia) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgAXeSMvGJ0
Jelena Kažanegra - Za tvoje usne (Montenegro) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg36qng-X9c
Ellyland - Colorized (Azerbaijan) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLB7RSNlEpE
Igor Cukrov - Korak po korak (Croatia) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIGowtk3jGM
Dejan Seferović - Novi život (Montenegro) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoGKYby2EnU
Ivana Martinović - Dodaj (Montenegro) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc0puhqz4WQ
Zare Berber - Ponekad (Macedonia) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKne4O4dSFw
---
These songs ain't on the internet (yet):
Marko Prentić - Na tamnoj strani mjeseca (Montenegro) - What a shame, Montenegro is the host country but their song isn't here yet. In fact, if you type this into Youtube no results come up at all. But I'll be looking out for this.
Denis - Sakrivam bol (Macedonia) - Now, although he is just listed as 'Denis', I assume that this is Denis Murat from last year's Sunčane Skale. It could be a completely different Denis from Macedonia, I don't really know. What I do know however, it that this song isn't on the interwebs yet.
Joce Panov - Boli me tvoj dodir (Macedonia) - "No video resullts for Joce Panov - Boli me tvoj dodir" Well, that just makes me a sad bunny.
Bojan Jambrošić - Hajdemo zajedno (Croatia) - Sadly they don't have this either. However, they have another song by Bojan called 'Preko ruba vremena' which is quite nice, hopefully his Sunčane Skale entry is just as good.
Kristijan Rahimovski - Dio naše ljubavi (Croatia) - Again, Youtube doesn't have this one.
Saška Janković - Ono kad (Serbia) - They don't have this either, although Saška was on Beosong 2013 with Duga u tvojim očima. It's always good to see people from the Eurovision/National Finals on Sunčane Skale. For me, anyway.
April - Paše mi (Slovenia) - Nope. Zip. Nada. Not there. Sorry Slovenia.
Mave O`Rick - Heaven (Germany) - Glad to see that Germany, my all time favourite country in the whole world, is back again this year at Sunčane Skale! They don't have this song yet though. Youtube tells me that Mave O'Rick was on something called 'The Worldstar International Contest' in Moldova. I've never heard of 'Worldstar International Contest' before. Why are there so many Eurovision spin-offs that I don't know about?
Pamela Ramljak - Ovaj put (Croatia) - Not there either. I think by this point there are more songs I haven't been able to find than those I could find.
Pero Stefanović - Sad ubijedi me (Montenegro) - A lot of Montenegrin entries this year. This one they didn't have either.
Deana Dasović - Ljubav od juče (Bosnia-Herzegovina) - "No video results for 'Deana Dasović Ljubav od juče'." No results at all.
Pogrešila Roda - Nije bitno (Serbia) - Aw, they didn't have this one either. A shame, cos this band's got a cool name. From Youtube it looks like they were on 'Serbia's Got Talent' or some show like that.
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Well, there you have it! That's the end of that, until the 29th June, when Sunčane Skale is happening for real. Sunčane Skale 2012 was amazing, brilliant, perfect even. I sure hope this year's contest can live up to the legacy of greatness laid out before it. Oh, what am I saying, I'm getting too carried away again! See y'all next time!
Recently, a list of all the songs and artists due to perform on this year's Sunčane Skale has been released on the official Sunčane Skale website. Here, I go through Youtube looking for these songs and we'll take a sneak peek at what this year's contest has to offer. Keep in mind that, just like in the Bundesvision, just because the song titles have been put out there doesn't mean that all the songs are out yet, and a few of these I was unable to find. Well, most of them I was unable to find. (More surprises though for the actual contest, I guess). And weirdly, it looks like there is only going to be the 'Best Summer Song' part of Sunčane Skale this year, I haven't seen any news about the 'New Stars' thing they had last year.
---
Sunčane Skale - Summer Stars Songs:
Glenys Vargas and Kevin Ettienne - Dream! (Britain and America)
Well, let's start off first of all with the British and American joint entry. After coming fourth in last year's contest, Glenys and Kevin are back again to fly the red white and blue (twice!) and are back with their song Dream. The song's got a nice message that we all should listen to. And the great thing about Sunčane Skale is that, unlike the Eurovision, we don't totally suck at it (poor Bonnie). We (and America) could get a good result again this year!
GO UK
GO USA
Rating: 9.5/10
Telman - Serde Popolam (Russia)
I don't remember there being a Russian entry last year, in fact I'm pretty sure there wasn't. But they are a welcome addition to this year's contest and their song ain't half bad. For some reason the music video is in Amsterdam. Also this video only has 20 views so you should totally go and view it right now and increase it to the high high score of 21.
Rating: 7/10
Kemal Monteno & Teška Industrija - Majske kiše (Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia)
Another joint entry now, it's Bosnia and Croatia. Out of all the Sunčane Skale videos I have looked at today, this one has the most views. Over 100,000, in fact! I'll assume that Kemal Monteno and Teška Industrija are both well known in the Balkans. But could it be an omen for this winning? The song is great, starts out as a very nice ballad indeed, and then gets more uptempo as it goes on. Doesn't really fit with the quite dark music video, but hey-ho. And with this act seeming to be very popular, it totally has a chance of winning!
Rating: 9.5/10
Ivana Banfić - Izgužvana svila (Croatia)
I don't have a clue what the 'CMCFestival' is, but apparently this was on something called the 'CMC Festival'. (Could it stand for Croatian Music Festival??? Maybe?) But the song itself is very nice. Good job Croatia.
Rating: 9/10
Danijel Pavlović - 3 dana (Serbia)
Now it's Serbia's turn to impress us! This is a nice touch, it's really really good, in fact a great job by Serbia.
Rating: 9/10
Jelena Kažanegra - Za tvoje usne (Montenegro)
It's a fairly decent effort from Montenegro, I feel like I know this song already >.> Maybe that's a bad sign, perhaps it's too generic. It might not stand out in the contest.
Rating: 8/10
Ellyland - Colorized (Azerbaijan)
After their great attempt last year, Azerbaijan are back once again! Lots of comments in German on the video, I guess Ellyland is more famous in Germany than here. It's a nice effort from Azerbaijan. All that pop stuff ain't usually my cup of tea, but this sounds a lot like what would be on the radio over here, so this song could be a smash hit. Theoretically speaking, of course. I mean hey, the Wombles were number 1 over here, anything can happen.
Rating: 6/10
Igor Cukrov - Korak po korak (Croatia)
Four words for this Croatian song: this is bloody brilliant! I really really enjoyed this song, my favourite so far. Fantastic song from Croatia!
Rating: 10/10
Dejan Seferović - Novi život (Montenegro)
Oh hey, a Montenegrin entry that I could find! This is one of the few Montenegrin songs that are actually on the internet. A decent attempt from Montenegro. It's not half bad. In fact, a very nice song from Montenegro.
Rating: 9.5/10
Ivana Martinović - Dodaj (Montenegro)
Montenegro sure are entering a lot of songs this year. Well, it is their contest, after all. I'm sure I remember Ivana from last year's Sunčane Skale, but can't be bothered to go back and check. I can't fault her song this year either, it's very very nice. One of my favourites from this year's contest. Montenegro's putting up some very good songs this year.
Rating: 9.5/10
Zare Berber - Ponekad (Macedonia)
Wow, this is the first (and only!) of this year's Macedonian entries that is actually available now on Youtube. In fact, this video has been on the tube for a whole year. Well, who the hell is Zare Berber? Apparently, he was on the Macedonian version of Survivor. No I am not joking. That is the truth. I know nothing about Macedonian Survivor, or any of the Survivor series actually, so I don't know anything more about that. Oh dear Macedonia, your song is putting me to sleep. Zzzzzzzzz...
Fairly neutral towards this.
Rating: 6/10
---
Well, that was all the songs I could find as of now for Sunčane Skale 2013. Unlike last year's contest, I haven't really given out that many 10/10's yet. Only 'Korak po korak' got my 10/10 score. Maaan, I just feel like something is missing. I really wanted there to be some crazy Balkan ethnic music (preferrably with accordians and performed in silly ethnic dress/costumes). But maybe I'm just out of touch. With reality.
---
Youtube Links:
Glenys Vargas and Kevin Ettienne - Dream! (Britain and America) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GSIikICWlM
Telman - Serde Popolam (Russia) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDDQujxiDIo
Kemal Monteno & Teška Industrija - Majske kiše (Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsUNYerf7CU
Ivana Banfić - Izgužvana svila (Croatia) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq5HcCi4Jmc
Danijel Pavlović - 3 dana (Serbia) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgAXeSMvGJ0
Jelena Kažanegra - Za tvoje usne (Montenegro) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg36qng-X9c
Ellyland - Colorized (Azerbaijan) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLB7RSNlEpE
Igor Cukrov - Korak po korak (Croatia) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIGowtk3jGM
Dejan Seferović - Novi život (Montenegro) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoGKYby2EnU
Ivana Martinović - Dodaj (Montenegro) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc0puhqz4WQ
Zare Berber - Ponekad (Macedonia) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKne4O4dSFw
---
These songs ain't on the internet (yet):
Marko Prentić - Na tamnoj strani mjeseca (Montenegro) - What a shame, Montenegro is the host country but their song isn't here yet. In fact, if you type this into Youtube no results come up at all. But I'll be looking out for this.
Denis - Sakrivam bol (Macedonia) - Now, although he is just listed as 'Denis', I assume that this is Denis Murat from last year's Sunčane Skale. It could be a completely different Denis from Macedonia, I don't really know. What I do know however, it that this song isn't on the interwebs yet.
Joce Panov - Boli me tvoj dodir (Macedonia) - "No video resullts for Joce Panov - Boli me tvoj dodir" Well, that just makes me a sad bunny.
Bojan Jambrošić - Hajdemo zajedno (Croatia) - Sadly they don't have this either. However, they have another song by Bojan called 'Preko ruba vremena' which is quite nice, hopefully his Sunčane Skale entry is just as good.
Kristijan Rahimovski - Dio naše ljubavi (Croatia) - Again, Youtube doesn't have this one.
Saška Janković - Ono kad (Serbia) - They don't have this either, although Saška was on Beosong 2013 with Duga u tvojim očima. It's always good to see people from the Eurovision/National Finals on Sunčane Skale. For me, anyway.
April - Paše mi (Slovenia) - Nope. Zip. Nada. Not there. Sorry Slovenia.
Mave O`Rick - Heaven (Germany) - Glad to see that Germany, my all time favourite country in the whole world, is back again this year at Sunčane Skale! They don't have this song yet though. Youtube tells me that Mave O'Rick was on something called 'The Worldstar International Contest' in Moldova. I've never heard of 'Worldstar International Contest' before. Why are there so many Eurovision spin-offs that I don't know about?
Pamela Ramljak - Ovaj put (Croatia) - Not there either. I think by this point there are more songs I haven't been able to find than those I could find.
Pero Stefanović - Sad ubijedi me (Montenegro) - A lot of Montenegrin entries this year. This one they didn't have either.
Deana Dasović - Ljubav od juče (Bosnia-Herzegovina) - "No video results for 'Deana Dasović Ljubav od juče'." No results at all.
Pogrešila Roda - Nije bitno (Serbia) - Aw, they didn't have this one either. A shame, cos this band's got a cool name. From Youtube it looks like they were on 'Serbia's Got Talent' or some show like that.
---
Well, there you have it! That's the end of that, until the 29th June, when Sunčane Skale is happening for real. Sunčane Skale 2012 was amazing, brilliant, perfect even. I sure hope this year's contest can live up to the legacy of greatness laid out before it. Oh, what am I saying, I'm getting too carried away again! See y'all next time!
Friday 7 June 2013
Bundesvision Song Contest 2013 - Bosse - Istanbul
So I couldn't help but notice today that on the German Wikipedia article for Bundesvision, all of the artists are now filled in, meaning that we now have a complete list who is representing which state. I didn't actually know that many of the people, but I guess they're all way more famous in Germany. Bosse was one of the names I did recognise as they represented Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) back in 2011 with Anna Loos, with the song 'Frankfurt Oder'. Bosse are back representing Lower Saxony again, this time with the song Istanbul. In fact, 'Istanbul' is the only song title that has been filled in on the article, meaning that we don't know what the other songs in this year's contest will be. Not yet, anyway.
So, let's have a little look at their song, Istanbul. I would say that this is a lot stronger than their 2011 entry, it's got a very nice ethnic Turkish feel to it, and the chorus is very strong. I would say that the first song revealed for this year's contest is very good indeed.
Rating: 9/10
So, let's have a little look at their song, Istanbul. I would say that this is a lot stronger than their 2011 entry, it's got a very nice ethnic Turkish feel to it, and the chorus is very strong. I would say that the first song revealed for this year's contest is very good indeed.
Rating: 9/10
Wednesday 5 June 2013
Re: The New Xbox One Console
This point ain't about SC, ESC, or even BuViSoCo, so I'll keep this brief. But I would like to talk to you about the new Xbox One console for a moment, and about the unfair restrictions that Microsoft is imposing on their customers (if anyone actually buy this, that is). As of yet it is unknown if Sony will be following suit with their PS4, but here are the restrictions that we know are going to be put in place for the XBox One:
Always Online
Technically you can't 'buy' an Xbox One or any of it's games, Microsoft treats you, the customer, as if you are just 'renting' the console. And when they want they can just switch you off and then all you have is an expensive, useless plastic box.
Killing Off Used Games
And those games you do buy? You don't own them. You can't sell these games that cost £40 a pop to anyone else, or trade them in at your local game store for newer games.
Weird always-on Kinect
Big Brother is here in the form of Kinect, always watching, always listening.
Obvious privacy issues aside, electricity costs money!
And the last point:
Complete rip-off
Enjoy spending £40 on your games, if you don't like the game then you're stuck with it.
The customers are treated with contempt yet again by the big companies. What a load of rubbish this new console is, I for one won't be buying it. imo Xbox is finished.
If you support us you might consider signing the petition that has been set up over at http://www.xboxshun.com/. Only by standing up to these big companies and by making our voices heard do we get treated fairly, instead of as cashcows.
Always Online
Technically you can't 'buy' an Xbox One or any of it's games, Microsoft treats you, the customer, as if you are just 'renting' the console. And when they want they can just switch you off and then all you have is an expensive, useless plastic box.
Killing Off Used Games
And those games you do buy? You don't own them. You can't sell these games that cost £40 a pop to anyone else, or trade them in at your local game store for newer games.
Weird always-on Kinect
Big Brother is here in the form of Kinect, always watching, always listening.
Obvious privacy issues aside, electricity costs money!
And the last point:
Complete rip-off
Enjoy spending £40 on your games, if you don't like the game then you're stuck with it.
The customers are treated with contempt yet again by the big companies. What a load of rubbish this new console is, I for one won't be buying it. imo Xbox is finished.
If you support us you might consider signing the petition that has been set up over at http://www.xboxshun.com/. Only by standing up to these big companies and by making our voices heard do we get treated fairly, instead of as cashcows.
Tuesday 21 May 2013
My Top 10 ESC 2013
The quality of songs in this year's contest was very good imo, this was a hard list to choose from, but here it is!
My top 10 from the Eurovision Song Contest 2013:
#10 - 1 Point - Aliona Moon - O Mie (Moldova)
Pasha Parfeny from last year is back, this time as a song writer. With brilliant lyrics like "The Maya were not so wrong, it’s the end of the world, it’s done ’cause you are gone" Moldova made the smart decision and switched the language to Moldovan so nobody could understand it. The song itself is pretty good, and the huge growing dress is pretty impressive.
#9 - 2 Points - Bye Alex - Kedvesem (Hungary)
Hungary don't disappoint, and Kedvesem is a very catchy, sweet little song. And just check out the cute music video in the background! Also Kedvesem has been charting recently in several countries. I'm pretty sure songs in Hungarian don't chart very often so this is an acheivement to be proud of.
#8 - 3 Points - Marco Mengoni - L'essenziale (Italy)
Italy always sends something very classy to Eurovision, this year is no exception, and Italy send yet another classy song. So, Italy's gotta win sometime soon, right? They've come very close recently. Italy 2015, come on!
#7 - 4 Points - Moje 3 - Ljubav je svuda (Serbia)
I really liked this song. Unfortunately, it didn't go through to the final. But, don't be sad, Serbia fans! For Moje 3 do not go away empty handed, oh no, for they win the esteemed 'Barbara Dex' award for wearing some of the most bizarre costumes ever to grace the Eurovision stage. Better luck next year Serbia.
#6 - 5 Points - Esma and Vlatko - Pred da se razdeni (Macedonia)
Now, back in March there was a lot of drama over the Macedonian Eurovision entry, because their original song, Imperija, was withdrawn. Imperija was great, and I still don't know why they felt the need to change it. Pred da se razdeni was soon revealed as their real Eurovision entry. Europe was shocked that they didn't also change this song. This song starts out very well, but there were some problems with the way this came across on stage. Mainly that these aren't two singers go all that well together. Vlatko's singing a ballad while Esma sort of adds 'le le la la' every so often to a dubstep beat. But whatever, I enjoyed it, even though it was more like two songs than one, and for that it gets my 5 points.
#5 - 6 Points - Who See - Igranka (Montenegro)
This was great! Come on, this had everything, dubstep, rap, astronauts. Astronauts, for goodness sake! And it still didn't qualify! This should have qualified hands down! I just don't know what the voting public are looking for!
#4 - 7 Points - El Sueño De Morfeo - Contigo hasta el final (Spain)
These guys make bagpipes cool. I don't know how this didn't score higher, this song was beautiful, and the Spanish language is a joy to listen to. Sadly, Spain's good friend and neighbour, Portugal, was absent from the contest this year, and so couldn't give Spain their well deserved 12 points.
#3 - 8 Points - Anouk - Birds (The Netherlands)
This song really stood out for me. And Anouk has given the contest more popularity in her home country, after so many times of not qualifying from the semi finals, certain people in the Netherlands were even talking about withdrawing! Oh no! But that's all forgotten about now of course, with Anouk's great result.
#2 - 10 Points - Koza Mostra feat. Agathon Iakovidis - Alcohol Is Free (Greece)
Well, this song was just fun all around. This is exactly the sort of thing that the Eurovision needs more of. I would have said this deserved a higher result but Koza Mostra and Agathon are probably counting their lucky stars that they didn't win and force Greece to host the thing next year. OPAAAAAAA~
#1 - 12 Points - Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov - Samo Shampioni (Bulgaria)
You might remember Elitsa and Stoyan from the Eurovision in 2007, where they did amazingly well and got Bulgaria's best result at Eurovision ever. Now they are back once again to represent Bulgaria. After an initial changing of the song from Kismet to Samo Shampioni (a great improvement, I must say), it looked like Bulgaria's qualification was certain. They were great, absolutely brilliant, and I would say that Samo Shampioni was even better than their 2007 song, Voda. Then comes the second semi final. The night of the biggest injustice of this year's contest, when these two didn't get through to the final. I don't know what the juries where thinking. Wait, I know what they were thinking, 'let's vote for the countries that are giving us bribe money'. Disgraceful.
My top 10 from the Eurovision Song Contest 2013:
#10 - 1 Point - Aliona Moon - O Mie (Moldova)
Pasha Parfeny from last year is back, this time as a song writer. With brilliant lyrics like "The Maya were not so wrong, it’s the end of the world, it’s done ’cause you are gone" Moldova made the smart decision and switched the language to Moldovan so nobody could understand it. The song itself is pretty good, and the huge growing dress is pretty impressive.
#9 - 2 Points - Bye Alex - Kedvesem (Hungary)
Hungary don't disappoint, and Kedvesem is a very catchy, sweet little song. And just check out the cute music video in the background! Also Kedvesem has been charting recently in several countries. I'm pretty sure songs in Hungarian don't chart very often so this is an acheivement to be proud of.
#8 - 3 Points - Marco Mengoni - L'essenziale (Italy)
Italy always sends something very classy to Eurovision, this year is no exception, and Italy send yet another classy song. So, Italy's gotta win sometime soon, right? They've come very close recently. Italy 2015, come on!
#7 - 4 Points - Moje 3 - Ljubav je svuda (Serbia)
I really liked this song. Unfortunately, it didn't go through to the final. But, don't be sad, Serbia fans! For Moje 3 do not go away empty handed, oh no, for they win the esteemed 'Barbara Dex' award for wearing some of the most bizarre costumes ever to grace the Eurovision stage. Better luck next year Serbia.
#6 - 5 Points - Esma and Vlatko - Pred da se razdeni (Macedonia)
Now, back in March there was a lot of drama over the Macedonian Eurovision entry, because their original song, Imperija, was withdrawn. Imperija was great, and I still don't know why they felt the need to change it. Pred da se razdeni was soon revealed as their real Eurovision entry. Europe was shocked that they didn't also change this song. This song starts out very well, but there were some problems with the way this came across on stage. Mainly that these aren't two singers go all that well together. Vlatko's singing a ballad while Esma sort of adds 'le le la la' every so often to a dubstep beat. But whatever, I enjoyed it, even though it was more like two songs than one, and for that it gets my 5 points.
#5 - 6 Points - Who See - Igranka (Montenegro)
This was great! Come on, this had everything, dubstep, rap, astronauts. Astronauts, for goodness sake! And it still didn't qualify! This should have qualified hands down! I just don't know what the voting public are looking for!
#4 - 7 Points - El Sueño De Morfeo - Contigo hasta el final (Spain)
These guys make bagpipes cool. I don't know how this didn't score higher, this song was beautiful, and the Spanish language is a joy to listen to. Sadly, Spain's good friend and neighbour, Portugal, was absent from the contest this year, and so couldn't give Spain their well deserved 12 points.
#3 - 8 Points - Anouk - Birds (The Netherlands)
This song really stood out for me. And Anouk has given the contest more popularity in her home country, after so many times of not qualifying from the semi finals, certain people in the Netherlands were even talking about withdrawing! Oh no! But that's all forgotten about now of course, with Anouk's great result.
#2 - 10 Points - Koza Mostra feat. Agathon Iakovidis - Alcohol Is Free (Greece)
Well, this song was just fun all around. This is exactly the sort of thing that the Eurovision needs more of. I would have said this deserved a higher result but Koza Mostra and Agathon are probably counting their lucky stars that they didn't win and force Greece to host the thing next year. OPAAAAAAA~
#1 - 12 Points - Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov - Samo Shampioni (Bulgaria)
You might remember Elitsa and Stoyan from the Eurovision in 2007, where they did amazingly well and got Bulgaria's best result at Eurovision ever. Now they are back once again to represent Bulgaria. After an initial changing of the song from Kismet to Samo Shampioni (a great improvement, I must say), it looked like Bulgaria's qualification was certain. They were great, absolutely brilliant, and I would say that Samo Shampioni was even better than their 2007 song, Voda. Then comes the second semi final. The night of the biggest injustice of this year's contest, when these two didn't get through to the final. I don't know what the juries where thinking. Wait, I know what they were thinking, 'let's vote for the countries that are giving us bribe money'. Disgraceful.
Monday 20 May 2013
My Melodifestivalen 2013 Top 4
Here's a little ranking I did for MF, thought I'd post it here.
My Top 4 Melodifestivalen Final Songs:
#4 - 7 Points - Robin Stjernberg - You
The overall winner of MF. It wasn't the worst choice that Sweden could have made, and it's a pretty decent song.
#3 - 8 points - Louise Hoffsten - Only the Dead Fish Follow The Stream
This was a very pretty little song, and this could have done well at ESC. I mean, look at how well Anouk's song about birds falling down did for the Netherlands, this type of song is what the contest needs.
#2 - 10 Points - Yohio - Heartbreak Hotel
Now this was bloody brilliant, and this song was insanely catchy. I would have been very happy if this had won MF. In fact, when the votes first came pouring in, it looked like Yohio would win the contest. But alas, it wasn't to be.
#1 - 12 Points - Ravaillacz - En riktig jävla schlager
My absolute favourite song from Melodifestivalen 2013. I don't care what anyone else says, I loved this. The Swedish language is just great to listen to (seriously there needs to be more songs in Swedish in MF), and I really hope that one day Sweden once again chooses a Swedish song to represent them. Not to mention that Tommy Körberg sent two of my favourite ESC songs of all time in 1969 and 1988. This is clearly the true winner of Melodifestivalen.
Honourable Mentions: Copacabanana by Sean Banan was hilarious, but I'm not sure Sweden would have wanted it to represent their country.
Friday 15 March 2013
Melodifestivalen and Google Translate
Looking at articles on Melodifestivalen 2013 and in particular my favourites Ravaillacz, I discovered that Google Translate translates 'Tommy Körberg' as 'Jump the gun'. Why it does this, I don't know, but looking further into this, it seems that Google Translate has a lot of trouble with Swedish names.
For example, typing 'Carola Häggkvist' into google translate gives the result 'Sweet Dreams'. Markoolio is now 'Metallica'. And finally, Niklas Strömstedt means 'Diamond Rio', whatever that is.
It's all very confusing, I don't know how they reach these conclusions. I still don't know what 'Diamond Rio' means. Silly google. That's all for now, and if you know any more weird name translations, leave a comment!
For example, typing 'Carola Häggkvist' into google translate gives the result 'Sweet Dreams'. Markoolio is now 'Metallica'. And finally, Niklas Strömstedt means 'Diamond Rio', whatever that is.
It's all very confusing, I don't know how they reach these conclusions. I still don't know what 'Diamond Rio' means. Silly google. That's all for now, and if you know any more weird name translations, leave a comment!
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