Blog Archives
Molly’s “Children of the Universe”: The UK Changes Tactics
After years of disappointing results by the United Kingdom at Eurovision, the BBC was forced to take a long, hard look at their process for the Contest. Veterans like Engelbert Humperdinck and Bonnie Tyler may have brought a dash of notoriety (and, by extension, ratings) to the proceedings, but barely made an impact on the scoreboard. Bringing in a noted composer such as Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber worked nicely in 2009, but trying to duplicate the formula the next year gave the UK their third last-place finish in a less than a decade. Dedicated British fans gnashed their teeth in frustration, and established, contemporary artists pooh-poohed the ESC experience. What was a network (and a nation) to do?
Preview: Ireland’s “Eurosong 2014”
Ireland, despite holding the record for the most Eurovision wins (a whopping seven, including an unprecedented three-peat back in the 90’s), has had a spot of bumpy luck recently at the Contest. In their last ten participations, the country has had two last-place finishes in the Final (2007 and 2013), three non-qualifiers (2005, 2008, & 2009), and only two Top Ten placements (10th in 2006 and 8th in 2011). Can tonight’s Eurosong Final, a special presentation of the Late Late Show on RTÉ, give us a song that can bring the Emerald Isle back to its former glory? Read the rest of this entry
She’s Baaaack…Valentina goes for the Three-Peat
We haven’t even had time to get over 2013’s round of PED, but fans are already eagerly looking ahead to what will happen in Denmark next May. Unlike this past year’s announcements from Sanmarinese broadcaster SMRTV, where we had to wait until January for an artist and until March for a song, the delegation from the Serenissima Repubblica have not only anonunced their participation in 2014, but they’ve revealed their performer: 2012 and 2013 alum Valentina Monetta, likely with yet another Ralph Siegel composition. 
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Croatia: Klapa s Mora reveals “Mižerja”
Following a few difficult years on the Eurovision scoreboard, Croatian broadcaster HRT decided to return the country to its musical roots for ESC 2013 by sending a classic “klapa”, or traditional male harmonic group, to Malmö. Six of the most talented klapa singers were brought together to form a so-called “Super Klapa” (now officially called “Klapa s Mora“). Today, their song “Mižerja (Misery)” was revealed to the public. Read the rest of this entry
A Winner in Denmark: Emmelie de Forest
Ten songs went to bat tonight in Herning, but, as is the custom, only one could win the ticket to Malmö. After being winnowed down to a three-song Superfinal, one song stood head-and-shoulders above the rest and join the pantheon of Eurovision 2013 performers.
Welcoming back Armenia with Gor Sujyan
This year, despite the disheartening news that four nations would be withdrawing from Eurovision (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Portugal, Slovakia, and Turkey), the 2013 event welcomes Armenia back into the competitive fold. Skipping the show in Azerbaijan citing security reasons, nearly as soon as the curtain fell in Baku, the team from ARMTV confirmed their participation in Sweden. Of course, the rumors about who would carry the nation’s tricolor started swirling. The ever-present whispers of Armenian-American rockers System of a Down were quelled, and the gossip about the return of 2008 alumna Sirusho simply resulted in a lot of great publicity for her new single (which happens to be quite good)! Read the rest of this entry
A Song for Roberto: “Love Kills” in Belgium
On Sunday, Belgian radio station VivaCité hosted a rare audio-only National Final to pick a song for Roberto Bellarosa, the young winner of The Voice Belgique. Three songs were in the running, with two in English and one in Roberto’s native French. Read the rest of this entry
The ESC Insider 