The biggest musical event in Europe has become known to tbe the annual Eurovision Song Contest which in turn features a variety of nations competing for that elite prize. A number of artists have gathered fame and fortune from the event including 1973 winner, Anne Marie David who has managed to keep doing what she does best, meaning perform to the masses. In the past couple of months, she has been working on a brand new version of the song 'Tu Te Recoonaitras'.

The classic has now been revisted, modernized to fit into the year 2011 thanks to the help of singer/songwriter/producer Mave O'Rick. When the song was first released, there were no compact discs, neither cassettes and therefore, it was released on a Vinyl. This time round, things are different though because the brand new version entitled 'Tu Te Recoonaitras (Encore Une Fois)' is a song that will tackle the dance scene in the best possible way illustrating a club sound making it sound contemporary. The re-recorded French version has been done by the lady herself whose voice, look and instict has not changed throughout the years. In the meantime though, the German artist, Mave O'Rock, a singer/songwriter/producer came up with the idea to create the German version 'Du Bist' which is a duet between the two.

Source: Press Release

The participation of Malta in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest came to an end just a couple of months ago with interest dwindling and funds spent in other areas in the music industry helping to promote local artists in the best possible way. Still, the event has managed to kick start the career of a number of well known artists from the present crop of talent which continues to emerge and represent the highest standard. One of the aforementioned artists is surely; Sophie who is now seventeen years old. The young and charismatic entertainer took to the stage of the prestigious foreign event back in 2006 with the song '' finishing in a mid-table position but since then, she has worked hard to achieve success, co-writing her own tracks whilst also taking care of production along with her team of professionals known as 'Totally Sophie Music Limited' which guide her through every step of the way.

There was a problem with the transition from the Junior stages of the industry to the senior ones but it seems that all has changed now with both Sophie and Marilena Gauci, both being former Maltese representatives at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest making it to the live stages of the local competition. In recent days, the Public Broadcasting Services was receiving songs for next years' musical competition to see who will succeed Glen Vella as the local representative in the biggest musical event in Europe and a stunning one hundred and sixty one (161) entries were submitted, an increase of twenty (20) songs over the past year. Many people had been wondering whether this years' semi-finalist, Sophie was one of the people who submitted a track and contacting a representative of her musical team, Godwin Debattista, this is what he had to say 'Sophie will not be singing in the upcoming Malta Eurovision Song Contest. She is very busy working on her first album and hence she decided to concentrate on this'. This news which comes to a surprise features the second entrant from 2011 to not even submit. We would like to wish Sophie and the rest of her team the very best of luck in her endeavours over the next couple of months.

It seems that the interest in Finland is peaking this time round because the broadcaster responsible for the nations' participation in the musical event has decided to host their national selection in the Helsinki Ice Hall which has a maximum capacity of over 10,000 people. This is the largest venue to play as base for the finals of the country for almost twenty years. The recent results for Finland have been positive, reaching the finals in all occasions except once. Their latest entry entitled 'Da Da Dam' performed by Paradise Oskar reaching the lower echelons of the scoreboard in the grand final.

The national final of the country under the running title 'UMK' will be taking place on the 25th February 2012 and fans of the selection and the musical competition have a week-long presale in which they can acquite tickets. The best seats, meaning somewhere in front of the stage cost €35 and for those loyal fans, there will also be an official after party at 'Club Helsinki' party with tickets costing €10. Booking can take place until the 30th October 2011, therefore better get going before the time is up.

The Finnish broadcaster, YLE, will be revealing the best forty (40) demos which they received for the competition. They will also be posted on the official website of the UMK which in turn refers to a contest for brand new music. In the meantime, the main radio station being YLE Radio Suomi will also be airing the songs on Sundays in the month of January. In time, the songs will be shortlisted to a mere twelve (12) from when onwards, only six (6) will make it to the final stages with an appointed jury making their respective decisions. Amongst the names which are being rumoured include, pop princess; Anja Niskanen as well as dance act; Movetron along with others.

Source: YLE

Many people have been regarding the Swiss selection as somewhat a little bit confusing and this is due to the fact that a number of regional broadcasters have brought about various methods in selecting the finalists who will be competing in a show set to take place on the 10th December 2011 within the Bodesse Arena in Kreuzlingen. Kicking off with one of the aforementioned broadcasters, in the form of RSI which represents the Italian speaking part of the nation will be hosting a televised national selection in order to select the two entries which will then go on to compete for the right to represent Switzerland. An appointed panel of judges had selected six (6) songs whilst an array of tracks were fighting it out with the public for the final two spots in contention and these were announced earlier this morning whilst the second broadcaster, the French regional, RTS also selected their ten finalists who will be competing for the respective three spots in the final.

Earlier this morning, the voting came to an end with regards to RSI and the selection of the artists was made in the best possible way. The results were extremely close but unfortunately, only two songs could make it the through and these were the one of Chiara Dubrey entitled 'Anima Nuova' as well as 'The Big Picture' performed by Laetitia. Unfortunately for them, the South African band, Romanz who are also competing in another two regional selections in an aim to represent Switzerland came in third place, missing out just by a couple of points but then again, they did get some good news today because they made the final short-list for the French broadcaster, RTS, whose internet vote also came to a close as the ten (10) songs with the most songs made it to the final in which, online voting will count for a quarter (1/4) of the vote as opposed to the votes of the jury which will now count for three quarters (3/4). For more details about the RSI or RTS selections, please select the necessary broadcasters and click on them. Stay tuned for more news only on ESCflashmalta.

Source: RSI, RTS

One of the main financial supporters of the annual Eurovision Song Contest throughout the years has been none other than Spain. It is important to point out the fact that the music industry especially when it comes to Latin and pop has been flourishing for quite some time with a couple of names, now becoming renowned on an international scale. A fan-site of the largest musical event in Europe namely, eurovision-spain just conducted an extensive research method in order to see who the ideal representative for the nation would be in Baku, and the result was quite close but a winner was duly selection.

In the beginning of the millenium, one of the main musical reality shows that was sweeping the nation was Operacion Triunfo which saw to a number of success stories in the Eurovision Song Contest including Rosa, Beth and Ramon from 2002 till 2004. The name that came out on top was a contestant in the reality show bearing the name Chenoa and it is important to note that she was also a backing vocalist for Rosa who took to the stage on behalf of Spain with the song 'Europe's Living a Celebration' achieving seventh (7th) place with a total of eighty-one points. Joining her during the performance was also superstar, David Bisbal.

The poll was won by the artist just last year actually and it shows how much she is wanted to represent the country in the event. The initial number of names amounted to three hundred, thirty six (336) but then, an internal jury elected by the website, shortlisted the candidates to a resounding hundred (100). From then onwards, seven journalists from eurovision-spain along with another three (3) from AEV Spain, esctoday.com and eurovision.tv got the chance to select the best possible artists in a long process which included ten (10) semi-finals, a second chance round and a grand final, which is very much like a Melodifestivalen.

This piece of news is given publicity in the Spanish media actually with newspaper interest coming from; Vertele, Intereconomia, Europapress, Abc, ADN an Lavozlibre amongst others. The total number of votes cast were a staggering two hundres and sixty eight thousand, two hundred and eighty (268,280) and that clearly shows the amount of interesting in this project. Below you can see the full top ten which mind you incorporates artists such as former Eurovision Song Contest representatives; Soraya Arnelas and Rosa as well as multiple national finalist; Mirela.

• 1st Place: Chenoa - 3.429 votes
• 2nd Place: Soraya Arnelas - 3.224 votes
• 3rd Place: Malú - 3.090 votes
• 4th Place: Mirela - 3.009 votes
• 5th Place: Merche - 2.658 votes
• 6th Place: Rosa - 2.625 votes
• 7th Place: Rocío Rivas - 2.480 votes
• 8th Place: David Bustamante - 2.448 votes
• 9th Place: Amaral - 2.445 votes
• 10th Place: Dover - 2.435 votes

 

During the course of time, governing bodies might establish new ideologies, new foundations on how to go about a number of systems and it seems that this is the case in Norway with the Melodi Grand Prix receiving a reshuffle following the nations' non-qualification to the final for the very time in four years as Stella Mwangi and her song 'Haba Haba' did not make the cut. The national selection of Norway is one of the most popular and followed in the run up to the Eurovision Song Contest because of its sheer quality and production.

The main change that was announced this morning is that the number of finalists will be rising from twenty one (21) to a resounding twenty four (24), therefore that means that the three (3) semi-finals will include eight (8) entries as opposed to the seven (7) that had been making up the showcases for the last couple of years. The broadcaster, NRK, also host to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009 also announced that there will be no second chance round as of next year and that means that there will only be a grand final. Instead of the axed show, now there will be a forty minute pre-show every Thursday introducting the host cities, bringing about rehearsal coverage and also the latest news from the artists themselves.

For the 2012 edition of the Melodi Grand Prix, the cities chosen to host have already had a taste of musical entertainment with two of them having done the honour of presenting semi-finals in recent years with another brand new city by the name of Larvik gaining importance due to a brand new arena which has just been built, making it a perfect candidate. The hosts for this years' competition will be none other than frontman Per Sundnes and the beautiful Marte Stoksad as they were back in 2010. This will be the fifty first (51st) edition of the competition and will be produced by the broadcaster, NRK along with EyeworksDinamo

• Semi-Final 1: Ørland – Saturday 21 January 2012
• Semi-Final 2: Larvik - Saturday 28 January 2012
• Semi-Final 3: Florø - Saturday 4 February 2012
• Final: Oslo - Saturday 11 February 2012

Source: NRK

When it comes to speaking about Malta's participation into the Eurovision Song Contest, the first thing that foreign fans note is the fact that despite some amazing talent, there is a tendency to send slightly dated tracks which many believe could have potential to do well within the event but in recent months, things have been changing and last years' national selection proved this to be the case with the quality improving on so many fronts that many followers did not actually believe that it was the Maltese putting up such a final. The reason for all this was surely the fact that foreign songwriters submitted entries putting the local ones to the test in competition with them eventually edging them out in the final stages. Public Broadcasting Services led by Chief Executive Officer, Anton Attard is looking forward to another edition with a high quality production surely kept in mind. In recent days, ESCflashmalta has been bringing you the exclusives from the submissions and the latest comes from none other than Dimal whose collaboration with Deborah C has also made the entrance into the first selection phase.

We have just caught this news and bringing it to you exclusively but the interest of Dimal in the Malta Eurovision Song Contest is actually quite the story. We have chatted to the star who for those that do not know won the Best RnB / Hip-Hop artist award just last year at the Malta Music Awards. His style and genre would definitely be a first for our nation at the biggest musical event in Europe and thus, we have decided to see the story through and have found out that he alongside local singer, Deborah C who has just won the public award at the Konkors Kanzunetta Indipendenza were contacted by former Malta Eurosong Chairperson Grace Borg about the possibility of a duet with the song being written by none other than veteran songwriter; Ralph Siegel.

Speaking to ESCflashmalta, this is what Dimal had to say 'The song was written by Ralph Siegel from Germany especially for us, but he also had some other Maltese artists who wanted to have a song from him but he refused therefore leaving our song as the only submission from him'. He went onto talk about the song saying that it 'is really fresh and has an up to date sound with a very positive message, something that Maltese needs'. He seems to be in very good spirits with very high belief in the song staying that it 'can win'. One has to keep in mind that Dimal is part Russian and part Ukrainian having been living here for five years and this could also be an interesting lobbying point.

On the other side of the spectrum, we have also been in touch with Deborah C who stated that 'this was one of the great experiences I've ever done so far' going onto add that 'working with such professional people (Ralph and his team) overseas is something extraordinary and exciting as well working with Dimal was another goal in my music carrer; he's cool in every single way, determined and an extremely hard worker! we had to learn a new  song in three (3) days time and luckily enough we managed to give an good interpretation on the recording. Moreover, I believe the song is a very catchy one and the fact that it includes some rapping parts, makes it all the more interesting and modern.' We would like to wish this team, the very best of luck as Malta's aim to send something completely different and out of the box continues.

In recent years, one of the most successful nations in the Eurovision Song Contest has been none other than Israel managing to qualify in each and every year since 2008 when Bo'az Ma'uda had taken to the stage with the song 'The Fire In Your Eyes' which finished in an astouding ninth position. Earlier this nation, the nation suffered a terrible embarrassment as former winner of the musical event, Dana International failed to make it out of the semi-final with her track 'Ding Dong' therefore prompting the broadcaster to implement a number of changes to their selection procedure.

According to the rules and regulations published by IBA, a number of local television production companies have been called to submit their respective proposals to the selection which will be entitled 'Kdam' as has been the case for quite some time. Things are changing for the better as there will be a series of three (3) to four (4) episodes each one lasting just forty five (45) minutes, culminating in a grand final which will see a maximum of six (6) established and active artists competing for the coveted prize. The twist is that each singer will be ne presenting two songs, in a preliminary stage from which one song will be selected for each artists.

An external company is being brought in but the broadcaster will hold the rights to make the final selections. This is the very first time that such a selection method is being used in Israel and the idea was taking up following meetings between IBA with fans and the OGAE Committee. The idea is to achieve the grandeur that the nation is known for presenting quality at the best possible platform. Keep following ESCflashmalta for the latest news as soon as it becomes available.

Source: IBA

The Melodi Grand Prix is one of a number of national selections which are receiving a number of alterations in order to improve on the results achieved by the respective nations in this years' Eurovision Song Contest. A couple of weeks ago, the submission process came to an end and now the excitement beings with the first act knowing that they are through to the selection, hoping to represent Norway in the next musical event. The first competing act in the Melodi Grand Prix will be a girl-group by the name of 'Irresistible' who came to fame following their entry into the second edition of the local reality musical television series, X Factor.

The group is made up of four girls known as follows; Saima Irén Mian, Lise Viktoria Hagen, Ingri Rønning and Hanne Rindal Ree. They are all massive fans of the competition and find themselves extremely lucky to have been shortlisted. They first came together whilst studying music in the high school of Orkdal. They auditioned for the X Factor but as always, groups do not tend to do well and despite gaining exposure by reaching the final, the finished in ninth place. They are currently in the process of recording their debut album whilst looking for a record deal abroad noting interest from Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands amongst others. Stay tuned to ESCflashmalta for more news in the coming weeks.

The next edition of the annual Melodi Grand Prix is going to be slightly different that it has been in recent years and this is due to the fact that there will be no second chance round whilst each semi-final will also be hosting one more entry than usual totalling them to eight per week. In the past couple of days, the broadcaster, NRK, has decided to start revealing the names of the acts who will be in the selection. The first group announced was 'Irresistible' from the musical reality television series 'X Factor' but now, another two acts, both solo performers have been revealed.

The second act which was announced to have made the cut into the 2012 edition of the Melodi Grand Prix is already a familiar face in the world of music and this is due the fact that has represented Norway on the international scene before having gone to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest back in 2005 achieving what would be the best result that the nation would obtain, finishing in third place. The sixteen year old performer by the name of Malin has already released six albums and recently won the Norwegian Grammy award for the youngest performer with so many accolades to her name. The announcement of the artist was made in quite an interesting manner actually because Per Sundes, the host and organizer of the Melodi Grand Prix showed up in the middle of a field with balloons and cameras. The singer was gobsmacked stating that she 'knew nothing'.

Earlier today, the third act was made known to the public but the name is not all that popular so to speak because she is a model turned performer according to our information. The singer who goes by the name of Isabel Ødegår becomes another act to reach the live stages of the Melodi Grand Prix with a song by the famous singer/songwriter Thomas Hell. The idea at first was to create the best possible song to fit into the selection but then, it seems as if the song was more created to be viable for her and this made it quite an interesting concept. The newcomer artist stated that she is very happy to be working with such a professional name. In the meantime, the well known songwriter behind her entry, Thomas stated that is 'relatively calm' and this is due to the fact that Isabel is 'not so good at dancing'.

Source: NRK