The running order of the Eurovision Song Contest tends to be quite ironic at times and it seems that two opposing entries have been put back to back to give the critics and the viewers even more interest. The draw for the running order is conducted without any pretenses of course but nevertheless, it is quite funny how things have panned out. This statement comes to knowledge due to the fact that many believe that San Marino will not qualify to the finals as opposed to Cyprus who are seemingly looking at their best result in years with many people even going onto state that the song is better than the Greek one which was presented earlier on in our reviews. Therefore, track twelve is the one from Cyprus bearing the name La La Love performed by Ivi Adamou and written by Alex Papaconstantinou, Bjorn Djupström, Alexandra Zakka & Viktor Svensson. It is quite an interesting collaboration again and this will be one of the songs to look out for during the evening.

Eighteen year old Ivi Adamou, started her career at 16 emerging from X Factor 2 in Greece, where she got the opportunity to show her vocal potential and her powerful character to a greater extent. She started taking music lessons at a very early age. Music theory, vocal lessons and piano.  Soon after the talent show she signed releasing her debut Gold album Kalokeri Stin Kardia and the first single A*G*A*P*I. Two more hit singles followed from the debut album: Sose Me and To Mistiko Mou Na Vreis.

She also had the number one summer hit of the year 2010 with her guest performance in the song San Erthi I Mera, by the most popular Greek hip-hop act, Stavento. After her appearance on the Mad Video Music Awards 2010 with the band OtherView the word was out….a new star is born! The EP Christmas with Ivi was released in December of 2010 in Greece and also was certified Gold. In April of 2011, she has a very successful comeback with the band Melisses recording together the single Krata ta matia sou klista and a very big summer tour followed with Ivi and the band. In July 2011, her second solo album ‘San Ena Oniro” was released, which includes the latest single Voltes Sta Asteria.

The Critics Voice Their Opinion

Jan Van Dijck

• This song is cheap but catchy and could turn out in being a hit in the discotheques in both Cyprus and Greece and who knows in our European countries. It has a melody line and catchy words easy to remember. So what? La La Love! I give this song seven (7) points.

Knut-Oyvind Hagen

• Finally, Cyprus challenges their big brother Greece this year! This entry hasn’t got as big a hook in the chorus as the Greek song “Aphrodisiac”, but it feels a lot more sophisticated and the production has a more modern and individual sound. It is not a winner, but it is easily listenable, and I would love for Cyprus to at least get to the final with this. Let's give this song six (6) points.

Pitchtunes

• A modern uptempo club song with potential. Mediocer verses, with a even better bridge. The chorus has a catchy ”lalala” b-part and contains a lot of energy. Vocal performance has some flaws. Seven (7) points are well-deserved in this case though.

Entry Background

Performer: Ivi Adamou

Composers: Alex Papaconstantinou, Bjorn Djupström, Alexandra Zakka & Viktor Svensson

Authors: Alex Papaconstantinou, Bjorn Djupström, Alexandra Zakka & Viktor Svensson

Song: La La Love

Language: English

Broadcaster: CyBC

History of the Nation

Cyprus have been competing in the Eurovision Song Contest for thirty (30) years and therefore this will surely be a year to remember in their regard. The very first entry which they had presented to the competition was back in 1981 with the group Island performing the song Monika finishing in sixth position but they would ultimately obtain and equal their best result result of fifth on three occasions, the first being in 1982 with Anna Vissi and her track Mono I Agapi, then in 1997 with Hara & Andreas Constantinou and their entry Mana Mou and the last time being in 2004 when the British born Lisa Andreas performed a charming rendition of her song Stronger Every Minute astounding the audience with a crystal clear voice and a lovely slow and simple ballad.

Source: Eurovision.tv for the Biographical Information and all respective media

The reviews are quickly moving forward and despite the recent time in lieu which had to be adhered to due to a technical fault, we are back with the eleventh entry in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan. The songs in the first semi-final feature a diversity of genres and that is why many fans of the competition feel that there will be a number of surprises in terms of the nations that will eventually be making it to the final stages. There are a couple of songs which will be expected to qyualify but then the other spots will remain a mystery until the live performances which are known to make or break an entry with both the juries and the people at home. This spot in the running order has been granted to the smallest nation to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest being San Marino who this year will be represented by Valentina Monetta and the track 'The Social Network Song (Oh Oh – Uh - Oh Oh)' composed by Ralph Siegel and penned by Timothy Touchton & José Santana Rodriguez.

The internal selection started, the proposals left were finally two and then one, but at the very last moment the unplanned happened. They needed a good, young, Sammarinese singer and they needed her straight away. Valentina Monetta was singing on a Saturday night, and that same night, the SMtv director was there by chance. She listened to her, and really appreciated her. She was the perfect singer for the song they had already selected. On the Monday they organised an audition. Monetta has got a rich career, and she is used to adapting every style to suit her. Two days afterwards she recorded the song and shot the video in the production studio. 

With her first group 'Tiberio' she got her first taste of Black Music vocals (R&B, Soul, Funky, Acid Jazz), while she worked with Hip Hop with her second group 'Parafunky' and started a new partnership with Monica Giacomobono for the Sharm project, which then became Harem-B. In 2002 she released the single Sharp in collaboration with Paul Manners Production. She continued her collaboration with vocalist Vanessa J and high calliper musicians like Marcello Sutera, Nicola Peruk and Nabuk. 

In the meantime, she was able to put her love of jazz and Bossa nova into practice with various local bands. In 2006, she joined the discography project, 2black, a very successful record in 2004 with the single (a remake of In Alto Mare by Loredana Bertè) Waves of Love, releasing the main track VAI with a new single in the summer of 2006. She has backed performers such as Silvie Vartan, Vanessa-J, DJ Master Frees, Bombo’s, El Ruben, Elena Cattaneo and Dance-House for musical productions, and the New York artist R Fame. 

She has also worked with Sammarinese band Blue Mobile. In the meantime, Valentina created her bases, her melodies and her beats, submitting the song Se Non Ci Sei Tu for the competition to select the artist to represent San Marino at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008. Today, thanks to her experience, better self-awareness and talent, Valentina Monetta started to explore her love of jazz and Bebop rediscovering the importance of Italian music and its artists. She recorded her album Il Mio Gioco Preferito with the trio 'My Funky Valentine'.

The Critics Voice Their Opinion

Jan Van Dijck

• Oh, oh, uh,oh, oh! What the hell is this…..? I can’t find any words in describing it! I just cannot award this any points, unfortunately hence zero (0) points from my end. It’s all together really ridiculous!

Knut-Oyvind Hagen

• Sometimes it’s actually wise to stay at home. San Marino’s “effort” is so crap that it nearly makes you sick. An ordinary 12-year old will write better songs than this within 15 minutes! I recommend every viewer to put the remote on its mute-function during these 3 minutes, cause music like this can start wars or fights any time. As my colleague above, zero (0) points!

Pitchtunes

• A dance-influenced song with a cheesy touch and too much autotune. Melody is catchy sometimes but lacks a message. We have decided to give this entry two (2) points for the effort.

Entry Background

Performers: Valentina Monetta

Composers: Ralph Siegel

Authors: Timothy Touchton & José Santana Rodriguez

Song: The Social Network Song (Uh Uh - Oh - Uh Uh)

Language: English / Italian

Broadcaster: SMRTV

History of the Nation

San Marino is the last country to join the Eurovision Song Contest coming into the competition back in 2008 when the group Miodio took on the competition with the song Complice and following a disappointing result, they pulled out of the event only to return last year with a well known performer who goes by the name of Senit. The song that she performed in the competition was entitled Stand By and improved on the first result but still did not manage to qualify unfortunately and are hoping that their third entry will achieve a different result but most of the people and the experts do not seem to agree.

Source: Eurovision.tv for the Biographical Information and all respective media

The Croatian representative at the 2012 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest is the experienced Nina Badric but in recent weeks has been forced to stay away from the media speculation that was surrounding her participation and this is due to the fact that she had to have an operation on her vocal chords due to certain complications that had developed over a long period of time. Nevertheless, everything has somewhat resolved itself and the artist is now making a number of appearances promoting her entry and speaking about how the preparations for Baku are going.

Nina Badric has worked her way up to huge success in a career that started with her debut album entitled Godine Nestvarne back in 1995. This would be the first of seven compilation discs for the artists, her most recent entitled Nebo just last year. The track she will be presenting at the Eurovision Song Contest is actually the title track of that same album and she has gone onto announce that on stage, she will be joined by three backing vocalists and also two dancers, going onto specify that the choreography will not be traditional but more artistic as seen within the preview video of the track. Croatia will be competing alongside Malta in the second semi-final of this years' musical competition. Stay tuned to www.escflashmalta.com for more information as soon as it is released.

Source: HRT

Nine reviews have now been published and therefore, we move onto the tenth one in accordance with the draw for the running order in order to give the readers a better analysis to how the songs styles will be heard about after each other. In the first semi-final one could easily note that there are not too many issues because most of the songs manage to stand up on their own and reach the best possible result. The next country, is Israel, a debatable nation on whether it is actually European such as Azerbaijan due to the ties with another continent. Nevertheless, they have presented great songs over the years and this time round they have chosen a very interesting track entitled Time written by Ran Shem-Tov & Shiri Hadar who are part of the performing group known as Izabo.

Izabo are best described as a brilliant, action packed combination of Psychadelic Rock, Disco, Punk flavoured with Arabic spices. They secured a spot as one of Israel’s most successful alternative pop bands with the 2003 release of their debut album The Fun Makers. From there Izabo went on to sign with Sony BMG, and in the same year released “The Morning Hero EP” in the UK and began to take their funky sounds to an international audience. In January of 2005 The Fun Makers was released in the Benelux countries via the label Rough Trade NL, and in 2006 it was released in France via Roymusic/ Discograph.

Since 2006, Izabo have been busy touring Europe constantly and showcasing their catchy disco beats at a variety of festivals including Trans Musicales, The Paleo Festival, and Eurosonic. Their second album Superlight was released in Israel and France in 2008 with Roymusic/ Discograph to rave reviews. In October 2011 Izabo signed with the English Label 100% Records, who signed artists among Gossip, Moby and Placebo. Izabo’s first three Track EP has been released in the United Kingdom this July, with their brand new album due to be released by the end of the year, in the UK, Europe & Israel.

The Critics Voice Their Opinion

Jan Van Dijck

• This song brings me back to the Motown Sound. The song itself has a melody line that reminds to one of ABBA’s less known songs “Nina, Pretty Ballarina” included in ABBA’s first album. But the song is catchy, funny and the band members of Izabo are enjoying. Will Europe enjoy it? I did and I give it seven (7) points.

Knut-Oyvind Hagen

• Israel goes in a rather crazy direction this year. But where other crazy efforts fail miserably, like Montenegro, this actually works in its own special way, because there is some musicality in it. And I believe that originality is something that should be credited, so five (5) points they shall receive, although I’m not crazy about the song!

Pitchtunes

• A rock/pop song with nice strings added to it. The chorus is the best part in there but the melody has a silly ”asian” feel to it. Not enough to make it a good song. We can only give this track three (3) points.

Entry Background

Performers: Izabo

Composers: Ran Shem-Tov & Shiri Hadar

Authors: Ran Shem-Tov & Shiri Hadar

Song: Time

Language: English

Broadcaster: IBA

History of the Nation

One can always learn new facts about a country when it comes to the Eurovision Song Contest. Israel is one of the nations who has never finished last in the event. Their first participation came in 1973 with the beautiful track Ey Sham performed by Ilanit which finished in fourth place making it a very respectable debut. This entry did cause some interesting talk because the conductor of the orchestra was a woman, the first ever at the music competition. They would continue to reach positive results year after year and in their first five years of competition, their worst placing was eleventh. Their first victory would come in 1978 with A-Ba-Ni-Bi performed by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta but they would reach the top placing once more the following year in 1979 with Hallelujah sung by Gali Atari & Milk and Honey. The results would continue to flourish and another victory would be recorded by Dana International and her track Diva in 1998. Since the qualification system was introduced Israel failed to make it through on three (3) occasions and made it through on another four (4) occasions. 

Source: Eurovision.tv for the Biographical Information and all respective media

A collective group of countries come together to form a continent but then again, the definition is too broad in the sense of the word and therefore, there is more than meets the eye at times. When it comes to Europe, most of the countries are re-grouped into smaller areas such as the Baltics, the Balkans or even Scandinavia. There is a specification based on history or even geographical location but these countries look out for each other despite for example having had to face themselves in civil wars throughout the years. The next country to be analysed further by our critics is none other than Finland who will be represented by the young Pernilla with the song När Jag Blundar written by Jonas Karlsson, who happens to be the brother of the performer.

Pernilla has a strong and emotional voice, which has received acclaim in Finland. “När Jag Blundar was written for my mother. I relate to the lyrics deeply and I hope this comes through in a universal way – after all, there is an instinctive bond between a mother and a child, regardless of whether they are present in each other’s lives or not. The song expresses gratitude for motherly love and understanding”, Pernilla says. 

När Jag Blundar was written by Pernilla’s brother Jonas Karlsson, who is an acclaimed producer in Finland. “This is a family project and I like it that way. These people know me like no-one else and I am able to express myself openly, which is important to me. In addition, my mother is huge fan of the Eurovision Song Contest so you can imagine how overjoyed she is that a song that was written for her by her son and sung by her daughter will be performed in Baku!", Pernilla laughs. Pernilla belongs to the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland. “People have asked me whether I will sing in Swedish in Baku. Yes, I will. När Jag Blundar was written in Swedish. It would now be difficult for me to capture the emotional depth in another language”.

Pernilla has always been involved in music, albeit not professionally: “Music has been my dear friend and I have been singing and dancing more or less my whole life. When I was 15 I won a contest called The Smallest Schlager Competition in the World. Nonetheless, I continued to concentrate on my other passion, handball. It is only now that I will pursue music wholeheartedly and professionally,” Pernilla says. Currently Pernilla is working on new material with her brother Jonas.

The Critics Voice Their Opinion

Jan Van Dijck

• I personally like this song, but just as a song for the ESC and that’s where it was composed for, to compete in the Contest. The song itself is a bit repetitive. Maybe to the final, maybe not but I believe that six (6) points are deserved. 

Knut-Oyvind Hagen

• This is tender, liberating and has an individual artistic quality about it. The Finnish accent is so strong that you nearly forget it is sung in Swedish, but that makes it all even more charming. I would love to see this do well, but I don’t really believe it will. Qualification should be Finland’s highest ambition. I will give this seven (7) points. 

Pitchtunes

• A nice melody with a hurtful voice. Not a very exciting performance, gets a bit dull after a while. This song has a stripped down production that works well with her voice. We are not really getting into this song, so four (4) points from us.

Entry Background

Performer: Pernilla

Composer: Jonas Karlsson

Author: Jonas Karlsson

Song: När Jag Blundar

Language: Swedish

Broadcaster: YLE

History of the Nation

Finland was one of the longest competing nations in the Eurovision Song Contest without a victory prior to the year 2006 actually and therefore they might have slowly been giving up on winning but more using the event as a platform to promote their music. In the years leading up to that prestigious moment, they did miss out on a number of years. It is widely known that their 2000 entrant Nina Astrom had actually beat the popular band Nightwish with her track A Little Bit for example and they could have been the first winners should things had went differently. Prior to the victory with the song Hard Rock Hallelujah, their best result had been achieved back in 1973 when Marion Rung took to the stage with the song Tom Tom Tom. Since then though, results have been better and most of the time, Finland has been in the final only missing out in 2010.

Source: Eurovision.tv for the Biographical Information and all respective media

It has been noted on more than one occasion that the Maltese Islands take their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest very seriously and this seems to be the case this year with Kurt Calleja who will be taking to Baku in Azerbaijan with the track This Is The Night, co-written between Johan Jämtberg, Mikael Gunnerås and the performer himself. One of the main aspects which seems to befit the track is an enjoyable routine which is being carried out by a number of people and was also the subject of our April Fools Joke here on www.escflashmalta.com but nevertheless, the day has come as several individuals are expected to flock to Valletta for the biggest dance of 2012.

Later on today at around 10:30 CET, the main square in front of Parliament will become a sight of colours and amusement with a number of people carrying out the dance that has been choreographed by Warren Bonello, part of the staging committee for this years' delegation. All of the team that will be representing Malta is expected to be in attendance alongside members of the Public Broadcasting Services who are shouldering the event through Where's Everybody and their flagship programme Xarabank hosted weekly on Friday nights by Peppi Azzopardi. We would like everyone to go and support the Maltese representative and have an enjoyable time. You can view the children of St.Paul's Bay Primary School training for the day in the video clip below. Stay tuned to www.escflashmalta.com for more information.

Source: Xarabank

It has already been quite the interesting journey with our set of critics, who are actually four but the last two join together as one of the upcoming production houses in Sweden. They have already highlighted which of the seven serve as their favourites and will now be moving on their eight track but nevertheless, their top ten might not reflect the marking as seen within these articles and this is because they are just rating how a song sounds to them on its' own thus far. The next entry comes from Belgium whose Flemish broadcaster had decided to send a newcomer to represent them in the event by the name of Iris and the track that she will be performing entitled Would You? was one of the two that she performed in a two song national selection. It is a co-write between three Belgians including; Nina Sampermans, Jean Bosco Safari and Walter Mannaerts.

After Sandra Kim (who won with J’aime la vie in ’86, when was just 13), Iris is the youngest ever Belgian Eurovision Song Contest candidate. This spontaneous flower from Noorderwijk (Herentals) is only 17, but is all set to give Europe an unforgettable performance. Iris was clearly bitten by the music bug when she was just a child. She skipped her way through her childhood, singing and dancing. She joined her local school choir. She sang a few local gigs and then, suddenly, she was ‘spotted’ in 2010 at a talent competition, jointly organised by Flemish teen magazine ‘Joepie’ and ‘Sonic Angel’ (the record company behind Tom Dice, who came 6th in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with Me and my guitar). Iris won herself a record deal and soon afterwards released her first hit single Wonderful. 

When the VRT (the Flemish public broadcaster) announced that Iris would be representing Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, she was still relatively inexperienced and had never before appeared on national TV. The VRT was won over by her youthful enthusiasm, her fresh look and her intriguing stem. For Iris this announcement was a dream come true. She had been dreaming of singing at the Eurovision Song Contest since her childhood. Together with the VRT, Iris (and record company Sonic Angel) went in search of lyricists and composers. Two songs were finally selected: Safety net and Would you. On Saturday 17 March 2012, Flemish TV viewers made the final choice. When she represents Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, Iris will be singing Would you.

The Critics Voice Their Opinion

Jan Van Dijck

• A simple ballad, very powerful performed. I believe that it is Iris voice that makes this ballad so interesting. It has a strong chorus. Hope it will reach the final! Let's give this a clear seven (7) points.

Knut-Oyvind Hagen

• The Belgian song starts very promising, naked and genuine. It loses some of its impact halfway through or so, and ends up somewhere between horrible and fantastic, but still I want to give credit to the singer. It won’t reach the left side of the score board, but I wouldn’t be astonished if Belgium reaches the final. It is very borderline so hence, my five (5) points.

Pitchtunes

• This is a ballad that doesn’t touch you emotionally. Iris is off pitch too many times. Because of this songs “naked” sound her voice needs something extra to shine through. Unfortunately, she doesn’t succeed in doing that. Well, five (5) points will suffice this one though.

Entry Background

Performer: Iris

Composers: Nina Sampermans, Jean Bosco Safari and Walter Mannaerts

Authors: Nina Sampermans, Jean Bosco Safari and Walter Mannaerts

Song: Would You?

Language: English

Broadcaster: VRT

 History of the Nation

Like Switzerland, Belgium is one of the founding countries of the Eurovision Song Contest and finished in the bottom position a total of eight times but then again, their results have been quite positive except since the introduction of the semi-final system which has seen them slumber to disaster unfortunately. They have only made it out of the semi-final once, and that was in 2010 with Tom Dice and his song Me and My Guitar who would go onto finish in sixth place at the end of the evening. Last year, they missed out on the final ever so slightly with Witloof Bay and their song With Love Baby finishing in eleventh place. The nation will be hoping that Iris can put her nerves aside and manage to put Belgium through to the final once more hoping that another top ten result could be viable.

Source: Eurovision.tv for the Biographical Information and all respective media

The seventh performance of the night during the first semi-final has been given to none other than Switzerland who were the first country to select their representative and entry altogether for this years' Eurovision Song Contest. Our critics are yet on board to listen to this track within the respective running order as drawn a couple of weeks ago thinking that the songs have actually been put in quite an interesting order due to the varying song styles in this respective showcase. The small country in the middle of the continent will be represented by a pair of brothers who call themselves as Sinplus and the song that they will be performing is entitled Unbreakable written by the brothers themselves, therefore Gabriel and Ivan Broggini. Switzerland are infamously known amongst the locals as the ones who took away the success of Glen Vella by surpassing our entry by just one point during last years' event.

Ivan and Gabriel Broggini: Two brothers, both musicians, both with a natural talent for songwriting. They grew up listening to Queen, Bob Marley and U2 and began playing music at an early age. Ivan’s passion was the guitar from the very first. Gabriel played keyboards and drums, but soon picked up the guitar too and discovered his passion for singing. At the age of thirteen, both brothers were already playing in their own bands and were spending hours practicing in their father’s practice room. When Gabriel left college, he decided to head to San Diego.

He was able to sample the city’s underground music scene. When he returned from America, the brothers decided to form a band on their own and to write songs together. Thus they established the inFinity project. Their first single, entitled Without Identity, made it to the charts, and the corresponding video clip was broadcasted by several television stations including VIVA. They also had the chance to perform at major venues throughout Switzerland such as Kofmehl and Dynamo and won various contests.

Meanwhile the band was named “Sinplus”. The two brothers recorded a new EP entitled Get Control, produced in Zurich featuring a single entitled "1984", which is included in a prestigious Californian compilation. At that point, the brothers felt the need for a change of scene and so set off for LA where they recorded another EP entitled Happy And Free. The single was aired on various Swiss and Italian radio stations and the video clip was broadcast in both countries. Meanwhile, the brothers wrote Shoot, a track that became one of the official anthems of the 2009 World Hockey Championships.

Their song was included in a compilation featuring the top shots of the swiss music business like Krokus. Furthermore, Sinplus were given the chance to perform in front of thousands of people at various ice rinks including the BernArena in Switzerland. On December 10th 2011 Sinplus were elected to represent Switzerland in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest in Baku with the single Unbreakable. The duo has just finished recording their first LP entitled DISINFORMATION, featuring eleven tracks, which will be released at the end of April 2012. Sinplus are currently performing in several cities all over Europe.

The Critics Voice Their Opinion

 Jan Van Dijck

• So far, Switzerland has one of the best songs in the first semi-final. This song could make it into the European Charts and do well in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Definitely one of my favorites! Hear, Hear, eight (8) points for this entry.

Knut-Oyvind Hagen

• This song reminds me of some Turkish rock entries. I get a bit offput by the bad English pronunciation, but musically this works. Especially the production sounds awesome coming after Romania. It isn't a masterpiece, but deserves to qualify and deserves a full six (6) points.

Pitchtunes

• Very nice intro with the guitars. Male vocals works really well to this uptempo rock song. The ‘Unbreakable’ hook could be slightly better. I think that this song will qualify and gets seven (7) points from our end.

Entry Background

Performers: Sinplus

Composers: Gabriel & Ivan Broggini

Authors: Gabriel & Ivan Broggini

Song: Unbreakable

Language: English

Broadcaster: SRG SSR idée suisse

History of the Nation

Switzerland is one of the founding countries of the Eurovision Song Contest and actually playing the host of the event during the inagaural edition which they would eventually win thanks to Lys Assia with the song Refrain. Their results would not really be not be as good during the years by racking up seven last place finishes including in 2010 within the semi-final and in 2011 in the final thanks to Michael Von Der Heide and his track Il Pleut De L'Or and Anna Rossinelli with In Love for a While. Something that the nation will be remembered by is their victory in 1988 when Canadian born Celine Dion took to the stage with her song Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi and winning the competition by just one point. The performer would go onto become one of the biggest selling artists of all time and also recording one of the leading soundtracks of our generation, My Heart Will Go On from the Titanic.

Source: Eurovision.tv for the Biographical Information and all respective media

In the past couple of days, the Maltese representative at the 2012 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest has been quite busy noting that he has continued his promotional tour, even adding a couple of unplanned stops such as the one in Turkey. Earlier this year, Kurt Calleja along with his band were selected to be the ones to fly the flag on behalf of the country with the song This Is The Night by virtue of garnering the support of the public by quite a large margin, somewhat double the votes of the runner-up. 

The visit was quite short yet somewhat beneficial noting that Kurt managed to get into a number of schedules there by being interviewed for the programme 'Music Magazine, broadcast on the music channel of TRT and also another programme, this time live hosted by the well known and the beautiful Şevval Sam who in recent days also welcomed the Greek representative, Eleftheria Eleftheriou. Both the Maltese and the Turkish representatives were present during the show and in fact, performed some tracks together apart from singing the songs that will ultimately see them competing within the Eurovision Song Contest including This Is The Night and Love Me Back. Kurt Calleja is back in Malta today as he prepares to take part in the countries' biggest flash mob taking place in Valletta on Saturday, 14th April 2012 at 10:30 CET. Both countries will be competing in the second semi-final of this years' Eurovision Song Contest. Stay tuned to www.escflashmalta.com for more information as soon as it becomes available.

Source: TVM

Time flies when one is having fun and in day three of our reviews, we head onto the sixth nation carefully analyzed by a set of professional individuals who hail from countries who have won the Eurovision Song Contest on more than one occasion. Together, they seem to have compiled a list of qualifiers but nevertheless, this will be revealed closer to the actual event. In the meantime though, all of the marks being presented within the reviews are an opinion on the song and not within the frame of the competition. Their chances of qualification will be rate more or less through this system but believe me, some interesting results will be noted. The sixth country is Romanian who will be represented by the group Mandinga with the song Zaleilah composed by Costi Ionita and penned by Elena Ionescu & Dihigo Omar Secada.

Mandinga is a unique band in Romania. The cultural variety, as a result of mixing Romanian and Cuban musicians, guarantees the best show on stage. The group is capable of pleasing the most heterogeneous crowds. Mandinga consists of 7 members: Elena (lead vocals), Alex (trumpet), Chupi (drums), El Niño (congas), Omar (piano), Zach (saxophone) and Tony (trombone). Only six of them will sing on the stage in Baku, Tony being just their Green Room supporter.

The band started 10 years ago. Since then they have become known as the best latino band in the country. They have released no less than four albums so far and at the moment, the band members are working on a new album which will be released soon. Mandinga's success has gone beyond the borders of Romania and that is because they were not afraid to create and launch new concepts for their shows. 

Anyone who meets Mandinga can see and listen to the 7 musicians playing latino music, latin jazz, balkan salsa or even club music, as they do in their Club de Mandinga show. Any Mandinga appearance on a stage turns into a spectacular show due to the blend of sounds, virtuosity and impeccable visual construction. Mandinga is representing Romania in Eurovision Song Contest 2012, after the group received both the public and jury votes in the Romanian national selection.

The Critics Voice Their Opinion

Jan Van Dijck

• Can this song become a summer hit? Looks like Shakira’s sound in the beginning of her career. Big effort to please every European citizen. From Spanish lyrics to the sound of bag pipes. Just have my doubts where this song wants to bring us. It’s all very déjà vu. Well, here's a four (4) pointer from my end.

Knut-Oyvind Hagen

• Balkan party! But I would have to be quite drunk to truly appreciate this. The song too simple, the production is too bad, and I wish that the singer would spend some more time practicing her singing. It seems like she has spent too much of her time in front of the mirror rehearsing ridiculous posing. I believe that two (2) points is enough for this track.

Pitchtunes

• A summer smash song that will get a lot of people going crazy on the dancefloor. The accordion is really nice. Vocals could be better, the chorus drops a bit because of a way too relaxed performance. It still has a good melody which saves the song. I will give this six (6) points.

 

Entry Background

 Performers: Mandinga

 Composer: Costi Ionita

Authors: Elena Ionescu & Dihigo Omar Secada

 Song: Zaleilah

 Language: Spanish

Broadcaster: TVR

Source: Eurovision.tv for the Biographical Information and all respective media