In the western music industry, it seems that one of the artists that will not require an introduction is Anouk from The Netherlands whose past success definitely precedes her especially in the pop/rock genre which is truly a safe haven. She will be representing her home country in a bid to take them back into the final for the very first since 2004, which was also the first year in which the semi-final system was introduced. Their entry entitled Without You performed by Re-Union had failed miserably within the final achieving one of the lower end results. Birds, the track that Anouk will be presenting to Europe on the night of the first semi-final is co-written with Martin Gjerstad and Tore Johansson is a melanchonic ballad which is being perceived as finishing in the top ten. 

Anouk is somewhat making a return to the music industry with her new album Sad Singalong Songs set for official release during the week of the Eurovision Song Contest under the Goldilox imprint. Birds, the first official single off the album is the most successful resounding track since 2009 when her track Woman managed to climb to number #3 in the Dutch Charts as opposed to #33 in the Belgian Charts. Her Eurovision entry has already hit number #2 in her home country as opposed to number #24 in Belgium. When one takes into account current sales through iTunes, Birds finds itself at number #24 in The Netherlands and number #75 in Sweden, therefore making it one of the most successful entries in this years' Eurovision Song Contest. Looking at the Betting Odds at the moment, it seems that the song is seen as a contender for top five with the current list seeming putting Denmark in first place, followed by Ukraine and Norway as the first and second runners-up and Russia and The Netherlands following closely behind. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news.

Source: esctracker.com

Ira Losco began her music career relatively early and achieved success as she built a road to the top noting that she went from a variety of local competitions to represent Malta within the Eurovision Song Contest, earning the first runner-up position with 7th Wonder composed by Philip Vella to the lyrics of Gerard James Borg. Upon her return, she was a true hero and she has built a reputable career, releasing her fifth studio album entitled The Fire, earlier this year. Working with the likes of producer, Howard Keith of Jagged House, Ira has always managed to carve out an image which keeps her grounded and true to herself. 

Her latest studio album has received rave reviews from local critics and has also led the albums chart on iTunes for five consecutive weeks and the next step is promoting the material off it through a number of live performances, and one of the first will be coming at the Beland Music Festival. Alongside her band, Ira will be performing with a nine piece band on Saturday, 11th May and remember that all of the proceeds would be going to Puttinu Cares, a charity which supports children in need. Ira Losco is a true, seasoned performer and in recent months, her live performances have been absolutely stunning. This will be one of the events of the season and despite following the tough act in the form of Kevin Borg on the day before, she will have the crowd at the palm of her hand considering how much she adores all of her fans.

Supporting Ira Losco on the night will be none other than two other bands, one of them being Planet Seed which is duly fronted by Klinsmann, finalist at the Malta Eurovision Song Contest on several occasions and the other one being known as The New Victorians. In the meantime, the evening shall be hosted by Moira Delia from Ilsien in-Nisa which airs on ONE Television as well as Christian Micallef who is known for hosting Replay on NET Television. Remember that you may purchase your copy of The Fire on iTunes. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news as soon as it becomes available. 

Source: Beland Music Festival, Official Ira Losco Facebook Page

Gianluca, the representative on behalf of Malta at the upcoming edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Tomorrow co-written by Boris Cezek and Dean Muscat has just concluded his promotional tour across Europe. He had the pleasure of visiting a number of countries including; Armenia, The Netherlands, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and the United Kingdom respectively. The media was present at every event and our colleagues at Radio International led by Juergen Boernig who is the escflashmalta.com Head of Communications spoke to our representative during the Eurovision In Concert within The Netherlands.

Despite being an apparent newcomer to the local music scene, Gianluca rose to fame relatively quickly having managed to come out of the Malta Eurovision Song Contest as the victor ahead of artists such as Kevin Borg whose presence was well respected by the crowd. Juergen basically asked Gianluca of his plans in the lead up to the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest whilst also discussing the alternate version of Tomorrow which features all of his family members. The first time that it was performed in public was during the programme, Xarabank aired on Television Malta and following the positive public reaction, it was thought best to record it and include it on the promotional disc which could be purchased on iTunes. 

One of the brand new initiative launched by the official website of the international competition is live video chats with the competing artists where fans and editors alike pose questions. Gianluca will be the one who has the honour today and as a matter of fact, Stella Floras from esctoday as well as John Stanton from eurovisionary will be joining Victor Escudero to pose the most difficult questions. The public are also urged to put their queries through by following the respective link. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news with regards to the participation of Gianluca as he takes to the stage of the Eurovision Song Contest on the 16th May with the track Tomorrow which as mentioned before is co-written by Dean Muscat and Boris Cezek.

Source: escflashmalta.com, radiointernational.tv

The editorial board at escflashmalta.com always has the interests of the readers at heart and for that simple reason, we have once more engaged a series of music professionals to listen to the entries competing in the Eurovision Song Contest, pass their judgement and assess them by a points system. The full result of their qualifying countries will be released on the eve of the respective semi-final. In the second semi-final, seventeen (17) countries will be in contention and in slot number five (5), the producers have decided to put none other than Finland, one of the longest competing countries. YLE, the broadcaster responsible for the participation of Finland organised a national selection which saw Krista Siegfrids finish at the winner with the track Marry Me which she co-wrote alongside Erik Nyholm, Kristoffer Karlsson, Jessica Lundström.

Krista Siegfrids came to prominence following her energetic performances at the tv-show The Voice of Finland. Subsequently, the multitalented Krista has taken Finland by a storm, winning the nation’s adoration with her catchy tunes, extravagant and stylish shows and her outspoken and sunny personality. This is a woman who dares and does according to her own catch phrase more is more! Krista Siegfrids and her fabulous #TeamDingDong are representing Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest with the super catchy song Marry Me! When I was five, I was totally obsessed by Carola’s Fångad Av En Stormvind. I used to sing and perform it all the time! My favourite was the wind machine and I used the hair dryer as one!

”We have this ongoing party going on! Happiness, craziness, open-mindedness and rainbow colours! Everybody is welcome, just join #TeamDingDong! We have the best parties because we love everybody! You gotta live life to the max and be the unique great you that you are!” Krista states. Krista combines music, dancing and acting in an unique way. She has performed in musicals and cabarets as well as many gigs and shows around the Nordic countries. The show is important. I want to entertain and it is important that everybody is having fun! The bigger the better, the crazier even better! This ever-energetic sunny whirlwind and #TeamDingDong is preparing for a true blast at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden.

”This is a dream come true for me. I have been a big fan since I was five and I have followed ESC every year. It is the biggest and craziest party in the world and we will make it even bigger and crazier! #TeamDingDong will make Europe go DingDong!” Krista’s debut album is released on the 10th of May. ”The record is one big party! It’s energetic pop-rock with many party tunes. Different themes and strong tracks. Music that makes your feet and your mind move!” In 2011, Finland managed to reach the final of the Eurovision Song Contest with a third place finish but unfortunately the result was not replicated in the final and this gave the country a brand new perception, one to change the system of selection. Thus came, Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu which includes three introductory shows, three elimination shows and a grand final. 

The early favourites; Mikael Saari and Diandra finished in second and third place respectively with Krista obtaining a landslide tele-vote. Finland has been one of the longest contributors to the Eurovision Song Contest having entered the event for the very first time in 1961 and appearing a total of forty-six (46) times, forty-two (42) of them within the final. Their only victory came back in 2006 with the group Lordi and the song Hard Rock Hallelujah sweeping both the semi-final and the final respectively. Since their victory, the results have improved and the country has only failed to qualify twice, two being in the last two years including in 2012 when Pernilla Karlsson took to the stage with the track Nar Jag Blundar, finishing in twelfth place. 

Professional Critics Voice their Opinion

Rating: 87%

Martin Isherwood: Good strong direct title, although not sure what our more liberally minded sisters will make of the lyrics! Interesting if slightly unusual vocal. Bells always either mean Christmas or weddings so I suppose that works. Got a good contemporary feel to the production. Hints of Katy Perry. Ok overall. You never know.

Sharon Vaughn: This is the type of track that truly has the feel of a winner and could definitely be a radio hit!

Stano Simor: Krista is very good performer, singer. Generally speaking, this song has the hit factor and that is pretty much evident. Nice gimmicks and modern production. Clearly one of the best songs of semifinal. Keeping fingers crossed for this one, so good luck!

Source: eurovision.tv

Fejn Tħobb il-Qalb and Fjura Fil-Kantina are two of the most recognised songs in the local music industry and tend to be played heavily either on radio or through guest appearances. They were both composed by none other than Maestro Ray Agius, one of the most renowned songwriters in the country. Despite being known mostly for writing the music, he has also been the individual behind some fantastic lyrics, making him a true all rounder. Nevertheless, his role in the series series entitled D.R.E.A.M.S is that of composer with lyrics being written by Michael Vella Haber and Evelyn Saliba La Rosa. The duo are also responsible for writing the script for the series, dictating the way that it evolves and creating a couple of loop holes along the way. escflashmalta.com has always been proud to support upcoming artists and this is one series which promotes the future of the local music industry. The series which airs on Television Malta, the main organ of transmittion for the Public Broadcasting Services will return for a twenty-first episode this evening.

Jade (Rachel Genovese) was surely the individual providing most of the comic moments in the past episode noting that she had to create a diversion in order for Katia (Jade Cini) to swipe the phone off Brandon (Jean Pierre Cassar). Indeed, this was a success when she almost suffocated him. The idea was to try and reveal Tiffany (Kristen Camilleri) as a completely crazed lunatic whose affections for Brandon have clouded her judgement in a bid to reclaim him from Antoinette (Annalise Psaila) who has been left out of this respective plot. In a close knit meeting, Jade alongside Katia and Jasmine (Rachael Tedesco Triccas) succeed but nevertheless, their plans might be foiled when Brandon realises what happened. It will be intriguing to see what reaction he will have especially as he confronts them with regards to the possibility that they might have his phone. Amber (Celine Cuschieri) was the second teenager involved in last weeks' storyline as her life is seemingly becoming public thanks to her friends, Chloe (Michela Dalli) and Lara (Petra Bugeja) being relatively nosey. In the past episode, Samwel (Joseph Fenech) was seen reuniting with Pamela (Lara Cuschieri) but nevertheless, it seems that the female counterpart in the equation is not feeling the moment and is trying to confront him. 

The reality of it all is that the public actually knows that it is Amber who is lying in this situation in an effort to lure his father away from Amber as her mother, Frances (Sabina Attard) is soon to be released from prison. At this point in time, Amber is going to be seen as extremely frustrated with the situation now that her friends know the truth about her mother. Chloe and Lara try to reach out and do their utmost to ease the situation but Amber won't have any of it unfortunately and thus the problem will continue to grow. The final individual who will surely be involved this time round is Karen (Lara Dimech) who most recently found out that the individual she thought to be her father was not and therefore, she is setting out on a father hunt with or without the help of Jeremy (Mikhail Attard). She did wake him up in the middle of the night but he seems to have a plan for more issues to come to light, ones which would resolve other issues. Another scintillating episode of D.R.E.A.M.S awaits on Television Malta right after the evening news bulletin at around 20:45 CET. Remember that every part of the episode bears a lot of importance and thus it is vital that one sees it through.

Source: Rewind Productions

Kevin Borg, first runner-up at this years' edition of the Malta Eurovision Song Contest with the track Needing You which he co-wrote with Michael Clauss, Simon Gribbe, Thomas Thornholm and Danne Attlerud will be returning to his home country in order to give a major concert. This event set for the 10th May 2013 will be taking place in the locality of Żejtun and will be kicking off this years' edition of The Beland Music Festival in aid of Puttinu Cares. In recent years, this prestigious week long of activities has been receiving a lot of exposure and attention from both locals and foreigners. Entertainment is offered for the whole week free of charge with a number of volunteers going round and collecting donations for a just cause.

The Beginning, the debut album from Kevin Borg following his success in the talent show, Idol managed to climb to number #3 in the Swedish charts and that was the beginning of what has been a pretty positive career. Within the first studio album, there were a number of hit singles including With Every Bit of Me, Street Lights and The Last Words. In recent years, songwriting has become more concurrent for the performer and as matter of fact, has a publishing deal with Lionheart Records, a subsidiary of Universal Music in Sweden. He has been working with a number of artists including none other than Robin Stjernberg who will represent Sweden with the track You. Kevin has always kept Malta close to heart and despite finishing in second place at the end of January, has pledged to support Gianluca in the best possible way as he represents Malta in Sweden with his entry Tomorrow co-written by Boris Cezek and Dean Muscat.

escflashmalta.com is proud to support The Beland Music Festival for a third year running and for this simple reason, our aim is to give you a detailed look at who will be performing and when. As a matter of fact, more articles will be released in the coming days. On the 10th May, Kevin Borg will also be supported by former Eurovision Song Contest representative; Glen Vella and one his backing vocalists, in the form of Pamela. In the meantime, Maestro Paul Abela has been enlisted to conduct the band as each performer takes to the stage to perform in a live manner. The hosts for the evening will be none other than Ronald Briffa and Pauline Agius, both of whom have hosted several competitions in recent years. Stay tuned for all of the latest news as soon as it becomes available and do not forget to buy Needing You on iTunes to continue supporting Kevin Borg.

Source: The Beland Music Festival

escflashmalta.com has enlisted three individuals from different music industries to help analyse and classify the tracks competing in the second semi-final of this years' edition of the Eurovision Song Contest noting that they come from the United Kingdom, United States and the Czech Republic respectively. In the earlier section of the draw comes Azerbaijan, which has been drawn by the producers in slot number four (4) following the performance of the FYR Macedonia. The idea of the producers is to have as many different genres as possible spread out in order to keep the competition flowing both for the public and the jury alike. Ictimai Television, broadcaster for Azerbaijan will be represent by Farid Mammadov whose entry Hold Me is composed by Dimitrios Kontopoulos with lyrics by John Ballard and Ralph Charlie Al Fahel.

Farid, age 21, has effortlessly proven that he is one of the finest vocalists in Azerbaijan. To win the national final Farid provided a touching performance of the song Hold Me a very strong romantic ballad. The song is composed by Dimitrios Kontopoulos, who previously produced Eurovision songs for Ani Lorak, Sakis Rouvas and had 27 number one hits in Greek national airplay charts. The main source of inspiration to Farid has been Azerbaijani music as well soul, jazz, and pop. He was raised on Mugham, a form of traditional Azerbaijani folk music and very complex vocal art. Meanwhile, since the age of eight Farid got engaged to the soul and jazz music, in particular Stevie Wonder. At his very first concert he performed Wonder's all-time-hit I Just Called to Say I Love You. He is also a talented songwriter. At the semi-final of the national selection Farid performed his own song Gel Yanima (Come to Me).

His competitive spirit is also shown in Farid's strong passion for sports. He enjoys participating in freestyle wrestling, which is regarded as the Azerbaijan's national sport, and Brazilian martial art capoeira. There is no doubt that he inherited sporting abilities from his parents. Farids mother was a silver medalist for the Soviet Union in gymnastics. Not to mention both parents are also into music with Farid's mum playing piano and his father used to sing and play keyboards in a rock band. Farid was honoured to work with such outstanding mentors in his country as Vagif Gerayzade and Aybeniz Hashimova before he became a mature solo singer. Although it was his dream to sing for Azerbaijan, he previously had never participated in national selections to the Eurovision Song Contest, as he felt like the time was not right for him.

Over the last few years he has developed his singing ability to the point where he was ready to succeed. Farid managed to win not only the jury vote in the final, he also gained the highest number of televotes from the audience during the qualifying rounds. In autumn 2012, as many other finalists of the Azerbaijani national selection, Farid took part in the casting process for the new international music talent show The Big Stage (Böyük Səhnə). In the show top-rated songwriters, producers, choreographers and vocal coaches from Azerbaijan, USA, the UK, Greece, Sweden and Ukraine worked closely together to create a very special artistic environment for young performers with the only aim to polish their skills and help the emerging talents. There at the creative campus of the show Farid came to the Dimitrios Kontopoulos' attention - the composer of Hold Me.

In 2008, Azerbaijan entered the Eurovision Song Contest for the very first time and managed to finish in a respectable eighth place with the song Day After Day performed by Elnur & Samir but things have only got better and that remains to be their worst result thus far noting that they managed a second runner-up finish in 2009 with Always sung by another duet, this time being Aysel and Arash and then ultimately finishing on top of the leaderboard in 2011 with the song Running Scared sung by Ell & Nikki. They will be hoping that their success within the top ten will continue this year and it has no reason not too considering that Farid is an extremely competent performer with the song being relatively strong. Malta and Azerbaijan have built a strong bond over the past couple of years and therefore, it is not surprising that Farid will be stopping by Malta this coming weekend.

Professional Critics Voice their Opinion

Rating: 87%

Martin Isherwood: Very strong chorus. Lyrics works well. Very strong voice. Not sure about the key change - feels a little bit forced. Love the production once the track is in fully. Hints of 'Glorious' Andreas Johnson or Robbie Williams Millennium in the chorus. Great song!

Sharon Vaughn: There are not a lot of words to describe this song except that it is pretty much Eurovision by numbers but nevertheless, done in extremely well, bliss!

Stano Simor: Azerbaijan gives you traditionally depends on a strong representation and promotion. Hold Me has a strong melody, simple text that will be easily understood by the audience including countries of the far east, which is a strong demographic when it comes to this competition. The song has been seemingly written for Farid's vocals as it fits him perfectly. This should get Azerbaijan a very strong result, not in the semi-final but in the final!

Source: eurovision.tv

escflashmalta.com has enlisted the help of six individuals from the music industry to help analyse and assess the entries competing in this years' edition of the Eurovision Song Contest taking place in Sweden following the victory of Euphoria as performed by Loreen. In the second semi-final, there will be seventeen (17) performances in total noting that there is one more competing country than in the first semi-final. Following San Marino and Latvia who will be perform first and second respectively, comes slot number three (3) featuring the FYR Macedonia. As a matter of fact, the state broadcaster, MKRTV will be represented by the song Pred Da Se Razdeni co-written by Darko Dimitrov, Lazar Cvetkovski, Simeon Atanasov and Magdalena Cvetkovska with vocals provided by none other than a duet in the form of Esma & Lozano.

Esma started her career when she was a schoolgirl. First she performed in all school events, and one day she was nominated by the Principal of the school to represent the school on one very popular radio show called “The microphone is yours”, organised by Radio Skopje. That was in 1957 and Esma took the first prize in the competition and she received a large sum of money, but in that time of happiness she was also upset because she didn’t tell her parents where she was going, and was ashamed to tell them, and was afraid that her mother would find the prize money. In the end, Esma told the truth to her family. In that competition she was seen by Stevo Teodosievski, very famous musician and composer, who worked in Radio Skopje. He was fascinated by her voice, and came to her house asking her parents to allow her to be his student and a member of Ensemble Teodosievski. Her career expanded rapidly and she became very famous all over the world. In 1960 she performed in Paris Olympia.

 In 1958 she recorded her first record, with the legendary song Zoshto Si Me Majko Rodila, and after that her greatest hit Chaje Shukarije. In 1976 in India, in a city of Chandigarh, on the First Gypsy World Festival, she was crowned as the Queen of Gypsy. That certificate was given by Indira Gandi. Esma has been awarded with many, many awards and certificates. Vlatko Lozanoski - Lozano is a Macedonian singer from Kičevo - F.Y.R. Macedonia. His first public appearance was as a participant in the talent show Mak Stars (September 2007 - May 2008). A month later when the show was over, he won the Grand Prix on the first Macedonian Radio Festival called Starry Night where he sang the song Take Me Back, that was his first official single. In October 2008, singing only his third official single At The Time If Time Could Stand Still, Lozano was awarded, by the jury, the Debut Prize at MakFest, the most prestigious music festival in F.Y.R. Macedonia.

Two days later, on the final evening, Lozano won the MakFest Grand Prix, awarded by the audience. The Sun Doesn’t Shine On Me was his next single that became his greatest hit and it was officially declared the biggest Macedonian radio hit of the year, having won the first place at the Macedonian Radio Festival Mars in November 2008. In February 2009, he participated in F.Y.R. Macedonia's national selection for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest singing his fifth single Close To Me and was placed fourth. In July, he participated on the Slavyanski Bazar Festival in Vitebsk, Belarus and won the second prize. Next, Lozano performed I'm Your Angel along with Magdalena Cvetkoska on the Golden Wings Festival in Moldova, and they won the second prize. He was also awarded the Best Male Voice. His first album named Lozano was released in early 2010. In February 2010 he participated in the Macedonian national selection for the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest singing I’m Flying Towards You. 

FYR Macedonia has been competing in the Eurovision Song Contest since 1998 and this will ultimately be their thirteenth participation. MKRTV, the broadcaster decided to select their entry internally for the second consecutive year following the success of Kaliopi whose entry Crno i Belo finished in thirteenth place with seventy-one points, making it the second best result for the nation. Following four (4) consecutive non-qualifications, it was pretty much required to keep the public interested and therefore, one will be keen to see whether the Macedonian, Romani track will manage to take the nation into the final for the second consecutive year. Since the introduction of the semi-final system back in 2004, the country had always managed to get through to the final stage of the competition by virtue of finishing in either tenth or ninth place and therefore, scraping through. The system of voting changed in 2008 just when the song Let Me Love You by Tamar, Vrcak and Adrian was performed to the general public. When both jury and tele-voting came in, that being 2011, the results weren't improving until last year.

Professional Critics Voice their Opinion

Rating: 60%

Martin Isherwood: wish I taken languages at college. Good strong male voice - although gets a bit less predictable when the female vocal joins the track Good intro - sneaks in. Unusual feel change! Not sure what the middle section is for. Bit too much of a mix of ideas and feels for it to work well.

Sharon Vaughn: An awkward mix of genres. Too many to keep the song from being fractured. The attempt to make it modern detracted from the beauty of the song and the power of the male vocal.

Stano Simor: A typical balkan song with a number of classical interventions, somewhat well adjusted to the tastes of a European audience. The language is somewhat intriguing because it finds itself at a great advantage and is in contrast to other Eastern European languages, for the simple reason that it is easy on the ear. This is not for the first place in the semifinals, but if FYR Macedonia work on their promotion, it certainly has a chance to advance to the final.

Source: eurovision.tv

Kelly Schembri, a finalist in the 2011 edition of the Malta Eurovision Song Contest which took place at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta has somewhat been busy in recent months with both modelling and vocal performing. Apart from being part of the girl-group Monroe who performed in Malta during the recent Malta Music Awards broadcasted on Television Malta, she has also collaborated with Stephen Davids and Honorebel on another track entitled Strip Search which has received positive acclaim upon it's release.

Honorebel is a well known recording artist hailing from Jamaica and has worked with the likes of Pitbull, Akon, Flo-Rida, Sean Kingston, Shaggy and Afrojack. Strip Search which was released late in 2012 is an electro-pop track which a number of interludes which feature the hip/hop genre. A catchy beat and a thumping bass line is surely enough to get the crowd going and it seems that the people behind the song are trying to create a true summer hit considering the fact that the release of the official video took place in the past couple of hours. One of the co-writers of the track is also Gerard James Borg, a leading lyricist in the industry who has worked on a number of successful chart successes in Belgium, Iceland, Sweden and Malta. He was also the man behind five entries at the Eurovision Song Contest, including 2002 first runner-up 7th Wonder performed by Ira Losco. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news and enjoy the official video of Strip Search performed by Honorebel and featuring Stephen Davids and Kelly Schembri.

Source: YouTube

Alyona Lanskaya, the third female to represent Belarus at the Eurovision Song Contest in ten participations noting that male soloists have somewhat dominated the music scene. It is worth noting that in ten participations, only Dmitry Koldun and Work Your Magic achieved a respectable sixth place within the final with a mixed-gender group managing to make the final a couple of years later with the song Butterfly. escflashmalta.com with the help of Olivier Vanhoutte, part of the Belarussian Delegation this year has managed to get in touch with the female artist and speak to her about a variety of things including last years' attempt, this years' entry and what lies ahead in the future as a vocalist.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane to last year, when you were initially selected by the public and a professional jury to represent Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song All My Life, a beautiful ballad which would have truly stood out. Nevertheless, there were a number of complications and you were subsequently disqualified. What was the whole reasoning behind the affair and what gave you the courage to return after what had happened?

Well I loved All My Life in last years Eurofest but I believe that everything that happens is happening for a reason. It didn’t break at all my wish to return to national selection and I’m very happy of course to represent now Belarus in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest.

The return of the Eurofest competition has somewhat proven to be quite successful into acquiring a brand new audience for the Eurovision Song Contest with the general aim rather being at selecting the artist rather than a whole package. In the selection process, you performed the original track entitled Rhythm of Love which won over the public and a professional jury. Did you believe that it was required to select a different song despite the positive comments it was receiving from the fans of the international showcase?

I was obviously very happy to win National Selection last December with the song Rhythm of love penned by belarussian composer Leonid Shirin. I like to perform the song a lot but we had made always made it clear from the start that if we found a more appropriate song for the European audience we would change it. When Solayoh was proposed by Belgian composer Marc Paelinck along with several other songs, a special committee decided with a big majority that this was it, this should be the song to be sung in Malmö.

A thumping beat, shirtless dancers and a flamenco infused genre could somewhat be the best idea of describing the chosen track Solayoh to the audience who will be watching you closely as you represent Belarus in this years’ edition of the competition. The track which has been written by Marc Paelinck and Martin King is quite visual in terms of sound and as a matter of fact, people have compared it to past entries from Turkey. What was your initial idea when you heard the track and what are your plans for the performance?

When I heard the song for the first time, I loved it a lot and knew this was a song with a big potential for the Eurovision. I was very happy that Marc Paelinck and Martin King proposed it to me to be sung at Eurovision. It has indeed these oriental influences and I’m honoured that its put along to many other successful entries from Turkey and others. About the stage act I promise you a great show on stage which is currently being preparing by Serbian choreographer ‘Zile’ Aleksa Raifovic from the Zilenium group in Belgrade. But to know all details you’ll have to wait for Sweden as otherwise it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore! (laughing)

Marc Paelinck is a seasoned songwriter in the music industry having written tracks for Sonny O’Brien, Dana Winner, Xandee, Sergio & The Ladies as well as Maltese songstress, Chiara. It is somewhat pivotal for a composer to have been within the competition beforehand and this is one who boasts not one or two participations by three in total, having always been in the final despite achieving mid-table results. What went through your mind when knowing that you would be working with Marc Paelinck and are you planning any future collaboration?

We started first collaborations shortly after last years Eurofest and have recorded some songs that will also be featured on my upcoming international album. Of course future collaborations are definitely considered. Marc is such a good composer and I’m sure we can reach a good result. Every year is different so I am looking only at myself and our performance, we are working very hard to give Belarus again a place in the final and then who knows what can happen!

One of the obstacles that Belarus has come to encounter throughout the years is surely the semi-final portion having only managed to qualify on two (2) out of nine (9) occasions thus far making is one of the most unsuccessful countries to participate. Nevertheless, according to the fans and the bookmakers, it seems that all that might soon be coming to an end with this particular entry for the simple reason that people have fallen heads over heels for it. Why do you think that the nation has not done well on a consistent basis and how do you view perception on your entry?

I have always supported the previous entries for Belarus and even went to Baku last year to cheer for Litesound, I’m very patriotic so it’s normal to do that. Why Belarus didn’t qualify many times till now I don’t know really. As I told before every Eurovision is different with other conditions and other competition. So I am mostly concentrating on the current moment and working hard to get back to the final on 18th May.

You will be taking part in the first semi-final of this years’ Eurovision Song Contest which ultimately comprises of sixteen (16) entries in total, one less than the second semi-final due to what was coined by the international media as a massive pull out. Nevertheless, the competition is still strong and one of your main exponents is surely Anouk with Birds on behalf of The Netherlands. Have you heard any of the other competing entries, even the Maltese one, Tomorrow which is taking part in the second semi-final and how do you view their chances of success?

To be honest I didn’t really have the time yet to listen carefully to all the other songs as my schedule is so tight with preparations and promotion for the ESC. I have indeed heard that Anouk who seems to be a big name in western Europe will represent Netherlands and looking forward to hear the song shortly. Unfortunately I didn’t hear Gianluca’s song ‘Tomorrow’, but you have made me curious so I’ll be doing this as soon as possible.

Prior to the official announcement of Solayoh as to being your entry for this years’ international spectacle, there were a lot of rumours going about with regards to songs received from foreign songwriters, all of which would have done Belarus proud. This is definitely a vote of confidence in your vocal capabilities. What are your plans following the Eurovision Song Contest and do you intend to continue building your relationship with the German based record label, CAP-Sounds?

Yes true we got several proposals from both belarussian as well as foreign composers, but in the end there was a very large majority to chose Solayoh! As you likely know the international album is almost ready and will be released the coming months, without a specific date set yet. I was very happy that for the very first in Belarussian participation the song was signed to the german record label Cap-Sounds who has already experience on Eurovision with several maltese entries amonst but you surely know.

Would you like to say anything to your fans and our readers on escflashmalta.com?

Hello my dear Maltese fans and readers of escflashmalta.com! I hope that you will enjoy the upcoming Eurovision to the fullest! Be happy also in your daily life, make the most out of it. And in case you have a less good day, then one advice: listen to my song Solayoh, I’m sure you will be in a good mood again! Big kisses from Minsk and hope to see you all soon! Grazzi Hafna for this interview!