Holy Humperdinck! It was announced today that the United Kingdom will be represented in this year’s Eurovision song contest by none other than the man, the legend, the walking double-entendre Engelbert Humperdinck! It has not been announced yet just what song the 75-year-old pop singer will actually sing in the competition. Unlike many of the other participating countries, the U.K.’s entrant is not selected by a preliminary contest – composer, producer, and performer are all recruited by the BBC. The song will be written and produced by Martin Terefe (who’s worked with KT Tunstall and a-ha) with co-writer Sacha Skarbek (who co-wrote James Blunt’s 2005 hit “You’re Beautiful”).
Denmark, Represent!Another day, another Eurovision entry! This week, the good people of Denmark delivered their final answer on who will represent them in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. Meet Soluna Samay, and listen to her winning song, “Should’ve Known Better”:
Aside from the requisite tailed military jacket (Eurovision visuals often tend to totalitarian homage), this is a totally credible pop song. I can easily imagine this getting play on the radio between Colbie Caillat and Kelly Clarkson.
About Samay: She’s 21, the daughter of a German musician, and fluent in four languages, having been born and raised in Guatemala and educated in the U.S. Soluna Samay was virtually a musician at birth; she started learning instruments, singing and writing songs as a very small child, and while still a middle-schooler, she released a single called “I Wish I Was a Seagull.” Did I mention that Soluna’s first name is a mash-up of the Spanish words for “sun” and “moon”? Seriously, you need to watch this:
“I Wish I Was a Seagull” (2003)
Almost makes Rebecca Black look like Mariah friggin’ Carey. Clearly Soluna’s gotten better as she’s grown up. Let that be a lesson to the Rebecca Black haters.
In the years since “Seagull”, Samay’s recorded numerous albums with her father, Gee Gee Kettel. Last fall, she put out a solo album (which is available commercially for download here in the U.S.) called Sing Out Loud. It’s recommended listening for those of us who miss the old Jewel. Actually, I don’t really miss the old Jewel, but her influence is evident in Samay’s music, and I really like Samay. She’s got a similar coffeehouse-folkie twang in her singing (in 2008, she and Kettel put out an album of covers including songs by CCR and The Band), and the same diary entry lyrical style. There have already been three singles released from Sing Out Loud, but the first one is my favorite:
The Single Artwork for ''Stay''The country that gave us a-ha in the 80s has selected their entry for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Norway will be represented this year by pop sensation Tooji, and his song “Stay”. The 23-year-old singer, in something of an upset, beat out 15-year-old Nora Foss Al-Jabri, in the finals of Norwegian’s Eurovision song selection contest Melodi Grand Prix.
Foss Al-Jabri is a lovely girl and her song “Somewhere Beautiful” is a lovely, Broadway-style ballad of yearning – you can totally hear an animated Disney princess singing it to a butterfly, or a lobster, or a frog. But though the judges loved her, rival Tooji won over the audience vote by the sheer force of his niceness. Apparently, when she’s not singing, Miss Nora has a foul mouth. (Meanwhile, when Tooji’s not singing, he’s talking about how wonderful his team of dancers is.)
Nora Foss Al-Jabri “Somewhere Beautiful”
Note to Norwegian television producers: if you ever consider developing a Norwegian version of Glee, I think we may have found the girl to play Quinn.
Interestingly enough, for the first Eurovision hosted by the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan – which is just about as Middle Eastern as the European Broadcasting Union gets – both of Norway’s top two finalists have roots in the region. Al-Jabri’s father is from Iraq, and Tooji was born in Iran. His Persian roots are showing on “Stay.” Imagine if Salome had done her dance of the seven veils in a Munich night club, circa A.D. 2009.
I have to say, I’m totally with Team Tooji on this one. “Stay” is the most convincing Eurovision entry I’ve heard so far this year. It’s got a great beat, and you can sabre dance to it. And: it’s actually available for download on Amazon here in the U.S. (Yup, I’ve already got it on my iPod!)
Holy Humperdinck! It was announced today that the United Kingdom will be represented in this year’s Eurovision song contest by none other than the man, the legend, the walking double-entendre Engelbert Humperdinck! It has not been announced yet just what song the 75-year-old pop singer will actually sing in the competition. Unlike many of the other participating countries, the U.K.’s entrant is not selected by a preliminary contest – composer, producer, and performer are all recruited by the BBC. The song will be written and produced by Martin Terefe (who’s worked with KT Tunstall and a-ha) with co-writer Sacha Skarbek (who co-wrote James Blunt’s 2005 hit “You’re Beautiful”). 
