The music industry has never been easy to crack and will most likely never be due to the fact that each artist gains credibility on the work he does by winning the respect of leading songwriters and producers before going even higher through record label executives. We have engaged three professional individuals from Norway, Sweden and The Netherlands to listen in to the songs of the first semi-final of this years' Eurovision Song Contest and following four entries, they have already noted what seems to be right and what seems to be dissatisfying according to them. The fifth review will take the readers to the country of Albania, a nation which has somewhat been treated in both a positive and a negative manner over the years. This time round they are represented by Rona Nishliu and her song 'Suus' composed by Florent Boshnjaku and penned by Rona herself.

Rona Nishliu was born in Mitrovica. Already as a high school graduate, she became known for her appearance in the talent show "Ethet & Krasta Show" which was held in Tirana during 2004. Music remains her passion. She took part in Festivali i Këngës, which is the Albanian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, in 2004 together with Teuta Kurti and Vesa Luma, and the trio was awarded the first junior prize.Even though Rona Nishliu is known for being a pop singer in Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro, she is actually a devoted experimental jazz musician, as well making her somewhat of a jack of all trades. 

Her interpretation is characterized with nuances of soul music influences as well. Her vocal range and interpretative power are her strongest points. Humanitarian work is an important field of action for Rona Nishliu. As a student she organized humanitarian concerts in Kosovo, and in 2009 she took part as a guest lecturer in the UNDP activity on Awareness Raising for the Importance of Volunteerism for Youngsters in Vushtri. Apart from that, she actively supports people with Autism, and she is a chairperson of the Institute for Sustainability and Development of Youth in Kosovo.

The Critics Voice Their Opinion

Jan Van Dijck

• The way the singer performs this song, and she is a real performer and great singer, looks like she ‘s having singing classes. Pity such a wonderful singer and performer with such a terrible song! Oh my ears! What have I done to deserve this? I cannot give this song more than three (3) points unfortunately.

Knut-Oyvind Hagen

• Gosh, that woman can sing! Too bad they didn’t give her a song that would work a bit better commercially. I love the drama and the strings, but it lacks the chorus that could take Albania high this year. She deserves to qualify though, and the juries will be impressed by her vocal chords, hence why I decided to give her five (5) points.

Pitchtunes

• Rona has a beautiful tone with a sensitive and powerful voice that works really well to the strings and piano. The song is good, but it feels like something’s missing for it to become a winner. Sorry just three (3) points for my end which is quite disappointing.

Entry Background

Performer: Rona Nishliu

Composer: Florent Boshnjaku

Author: Rona Nishliu

Song: Suus

Language: Albanian / Latin

Broadcaster: RTSH

History of the Nation

Albania is coming into this years' Eurovision Song Contest for their ninth participation in total having debuted back in the 2004 edition and failing to miss any one of the rest. Their first attempt with Anjeza Shaini remains to be their best result due to them reaching seventh place in the final. They have failed to qualify to the final on three occasions, two being consecutive between 2006 and 2007 and the other one being last year when they sent one the leading people in the music industry to represent them. They are yet to mark an impact on the proceedings of the competition but will surely be remembered by the Maltese whose artist Fabrizio Faniello in 2006 got his only point from the Albanian nation. Can Rona revive their presence in the final? We will be looking closely.

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

These reviews gives one notice to look even closer to the competition and the first semi-final is actually quite an interesting round with many tracks standing out for their uniqueness. All of the first three entries were so different from each other. Nevertheless, moving onto the next song which comes from the Baltic nation of Latvia. The issue with this country is that they have also been financially struck in the past couple of years but with the help of a major sponsor, they have managed to come out on top each time and participate. Their history is actually not too bad except for recent times but that will be further analysed later on actually. This year, they will be represented by Anmary who will be performing the track Beautiful Song composed by Ivars Makstnieks and penned by Rolands Ūdris.

Anmary begins singing her life story during Beautiful Song, it tells the story of a girl who dreams about walking on to the world stage, but allowing herself some humble pride while imagining life as a superstar. She was born in the rural town of Gulbene. She admits that music has been a part of her world since childhood. Her father would sing lullabies and play the guitar for her, and her mother encouraged her to enrol in music school, where she learned to play the piano. She started her stage career in the televised reality show TheTalent Factory, where she earned the runners up spot.

In the past Anmary has taken part in a variety of musical projects, has performed in the musical West Side Story, and been the lead vocalist for the groups Sunny Sense and Mash Mash. She has demonstrated her vocal skills to listeners elsewhere in Europe too. Dr. Christoph Schönherr, composer and professor at the Hamburg College of Music and Theatre, chose Anmary to sing solo in his work Magnificat, which toured with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra around Germany, Spain, France and Belgium.

Anmary continued to develop her vocal skills while studying and today works as a vocal coach and singer. Her greatest fan is her two-year-old son Marts Gabriels. A number of Latvian music professionals have acknowledged her vocal mastery, while listeners are drawn to the quality of her voice, her always pleasant demeanour, and the sincerity of her emotional range,which can be heard throughout her performance. "Music is my oxygen. Singing is a delight, and I get that indescribable feeling of goosebumps before any stage performance. And then this overwhelming sense of satisfaction and pleasure that somebody may be enjoying those same goosebumps while listening to my songs.” says Anmary.

The Critics Voice Their Opinion

Jan Van Dijck

• I can’t hear the “beauty” in this “song”. It really annoys me this one and if I was Mick Jagger, who is mentioned in the lyrics, I would complain about that matter, and inform for not to be wanted associated in such a silly song. Hence following this, my first three (3) points.

Knut-Oyvind Hagen

• Oh my. I took part in the Latvian final in 2008 and fell in love with the country, but lately they have been miserably out of tune with this competition. The video starts up in such an amateurish way that it hurts, and it isn’t a very “Beautiful song” either. The chorus is hummable, but that’s it. Come on, Latvia. You can do miles better and agreeing fully with my colleague, three (3) points it is.

Pitchtunes

• Nice melody, with a good acoustic pop sound. It does however become boring after a while, probably because of small variation in the vocals. Still, it is quite decent and therefore five (5) points are somewhat deserved.

Entry Background

Performer: Anmary

Composer: Ivars Makstnieks

Author: Rolands Ūdris

Song: Beautiful Song

Language: English

Broadcaster: LTV 

History of the Nation

The first glimpse of this nation at the Eurovision Song Contest came in 2000 when the group Brainstorm won over a number of fans from all over the continent with their rendition of the track My Star finishing in third place. They do not repeat their performance, the second time round unfortunately but nevertheless, manage to win on their third attempt with what is described to be the worst ever commercial winner of the event, not even managing to reach the top thirty in Latvia. The song entitled I Wanna by Marie N flew under the radar and pipped Malta at the very last minute. The results have not bee so sublime in recent years especially since they have failed to qualify for the past three years. It will be interesting whether Anmary can turn around that bad fortune bestowed on the former winning country.

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

We have just received word that another country has joined in the ‘Eurovision in Concert’ which will be held on April 21st in Amsterdam. And this is none other than Portugal who will be represented by Filipa Sousa at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Her song is titled ‘Vida Minha’ and is a typical traditional entry which one could expect from the nation. It is written by Andrej Babic and Carlos Coelho who are known for writin the song Senhora Do Mar, a song which changed the perspective of many people about the countries' music tastes.

There are more than 25 countries who will be performing in this event which would surely hype those Eurovision fans coming from all over the globe. The event is to be based on 2 parts just like the 3 previous years; the day program which is open for the press and then the much awaited concert. The show will be hosted by Cornald Maas and Ruth Jacott (ESC ’93). It is to be noted that Filipa will also be flying to London for The London Eurovision Party" event. Portugal is competing in the second semi-final with Malta. We would like to wish Filipa the best of luck.

Special thanks to Nelson Costa who contributed this News

Two reviews have been noted down in the preparation of seeing, and checking out all of the entries in the first semi-final of this years' Eurovision Song Contest which is taking place in a region which might not even be European at times, that is Baku in Azerbaijan. Nevertheless, the third slot of the running order has been granted to none other than the country with one of the most successful records since the millennium and that is of course Greece. Low budgeting profiles have been a case in point this year and with the nation being politically tormented in recent months, it was a great show by Universal Music Greece to step in and host a national final which in the end was won by Eleftheria Eleftheriou who will be performing the track Aphrodisiac co-written between Dimitri Stassos, Mikaela Stenström and Dajana Lööf.

Eleftheria Eleftheriou was born on the 12th of May 1989, in Paralimni, Cyprus. Since childhood she had a great passion with music. Her one and only dream was to become a singer. In addition she loves also painting, dancing and playing sports. In her school years she took piano and music theory lessons.At the age of 15 she started phonetic lessons. At the age of 16, she became soloist in the national folk orchestra of RIK broadcasting corporation, in Cyprus. She participated also in various music contests. When she graduated from high school, she started her Music and Performance studies, in the University of Surrey in London. 

She became popular from her participation in the talent show X-Factor 2, in 2010, where although she was not the winner, she definitely made a great impression to everyone. Right after the show, she collaborated with Sakis Rouvas, singing together in his live performances. The same year she started singing with one of the famous Greek singers, Nikos Vertis. Together, they also toured abroad, in Europe and Australia. In 2010 she released her first personal single Tables Are Turning, while in April 2011, she did the vocals in the huge hit single of Housetwins, Never. In the autumn 2011, she initiated her cooperation with Universal Music, getting ready to make a big step in her career. She is totally obsessed with Eurovision Song Contest and she keeps her body, voice and soul…ready to go on stage of the Baku Crystal Hall Arena.

The Critics Voice Their Opinion

 Jan Van Dijck

• A typical Greek Eurovision pop song “made in Sweden”! Very much in the style of “( I Would) Die For You”, “My Numer One” and “ Yassou Maria” Therefor the song doesn’t sound very original to me, but quit sure it will achieve a place in the big Final. Once more a seven (7) pointer will surely be my mark.

Knut-Oyvind Hagen

• Greece is party country “number one” in this contest, and they keep their reputation one more time. It’s fun, a pretty chic and guys, and the chorus is of the catchy kind, that makes you want to dance. I have to say though, that this composition is totally soulless, I have heard it all before, in better versions. But keep up the party! Let's see, I would go with six (6) points for this one.

Pitchtunes

• This song makes you want to dance. It’s has some similarities to Helena Paparizou’s song ‘My Number One’. The chorus is catchy and easy to remember. Could be a potential winner or at least one of the top candidates. We both agree that this number deserves a solid nine (9) out of the final ten (10) points.

Entry Background

Performer: Eleftheria Eleftheriou

Composers: Dimitri Stassos, Mikaela Stenström and Dajana Lööf

Authors: Dimitri Stassos, Mikaela Stenström and Dajana Lööf

Song: Aphrodisiac

Language: English

Broadcasters: ERT

History of the Nation

The very first appearance of Greece at the Eurovision Song Contest actually came way back in 1974 and it was definitely not a bad result albeit the seven points that were received in the long run but three years later, they would achieve their very first top five result by virtue of the performance given by Paschalis, Marianna, Robert and Bessy to the song Mathima Solfege. This result would ultimately be their best until repeated in 1992 with the singer Kleopatra who performed Olou Tou Kosmou I Elpida. It has been noted though that the millennium has proved positive for Greece noting down that they reached third in 2001 thanks to Antique and their song Die for You before ultimately grabbing victory in 2005 thanks to their lead singer Helena Paparizou and her entry My Number One which pipped Malta to the position. Their run of results after this has seen them always reach the top ten actually.

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

Following the revelation of the premier review, we move onto the second country competing for a spot in the final by competing in the first semi-final set to take place on the 22nd May 2012 within the city of Baku, Azerbaijan. There has been talk that this round in the competition is slightly easier to get through due to the mediocre number of songs but nevertheless, it seems that Iceland falls into a pile of entries which is receiving sublime criticism and praise from most fans and critics all over the continent. Since turning their results around, the nation has been very successful actually with consecutive qualifications and hoping to keep that record in tact are the lovely Greta Salóme & Jónsi who will be performing the track Never Forget which has been written by one of the singers; Greta Salóme.

Greta Salóme Stefánsdóttir was born in 1986. Music runs in the family as her mother Kristin Lilliendahl made some records in her teens, and her grandfather Karl Lilliendahl was a guitarist and renowned bandleader. Greta began her violin studies in 1991 when she was only four years old and has never looked back. At thirteen she entered Reykjavik College of Music. In the autumn of 2004 she was accepted into the Iceland Academy of Arts, where she continued her studies. She graduated with a bachelor‘s degree in 2008. Currently she‘s working on her master‘s degree at the Iceland Academy of Arts and is studying advanced vocal technique called Complete Vocal.

She is a professional musician and has a position as a violinist in the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra. She regularly performs with classical and pop music ensembles, has made several radio and TV appearances and is a busy studio musician. In 2011,Greta Salóme had another song ready in her mind. This was Mundu Eftir Mér which she and Jónsi finished recording early last summer. When hearing the song a colleague urged Greta Salóme to try for the Söngvakeppni Sjonvarpsins, Icelandic selection process for the Eurovision Song Contest. She took his advice and actually ended up having two songs in the final.

Jónsi, or to quote his full name, Jón Jósep Snaebjörnsson was born in 1977 in Akureyri the biggest town in northern Iceland. He started singing at an early age and took part in a national college song contest before moving to Reykjavik in 1997. Two years later he joined the soul orientated pop group ‘Í Svörtum Fötum’ who dressed in black suits and white shirts and started his singing and songwriting career. The group had already abandoned the Blues Brothers image when they released their first self financed album in 2000. They made three successful albums and after a year long break released a "Best Of" album in 2009. The band is currently active touring Iceland. Jónsi starred as Danny with Iceland‘s 2003 Eurovision entrant Birgitta Haukdal as Sandy in the musical Grease in 2003 and other musicals followed during the next years.

In 2004, Sveinn Runar Sigurdsson, the composer of Heaven asked Jónsi to perform the song in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 in Istanbul. Jónsi made his first self titled and critically acclaimed solo album in 2005. Over the last few years he has had some TV experience acting in shows and films along with hosting the Icelandic version of Singing Bee and presenting the youth sports programme Skolahreysti. Jónsi is married with two children and lives with his family in Reykjavík.

The Critics Voice Their Opinion

 Jan Van Dijck

• Nice dramatic song with some ethnic elements. Very well performed with strong emotion. Believe that this song will make it into the big final. I believe that seven (7) points will work for this entry.

Knut-Oyvind Hagen

• Now we’re talking! Iceland is one of my favourite Eurovision-countries, and they certainly don’t let me down this year. Beautiful voices, enchanting melody and terrific arrangement, the string attacks add drama and emotions to the song. Personally I would love them to sing in their wonderful native language, but this is after Serbia the best ballad in this year’s contest, and for me the best song of the first semi. As you might have noticed, I am quite fond of this song, hence nine (9) points would suffice.

Pitchtunes

• A beautiful rock song with a touch from Iceland. It has a dramatic sound with nicely added strings and piano. Vocals are good, especially the chorus. The song has good potential to reach a top 10 position. Despite the positives, we will give it a resounding six (6) points.

Entry Background

 Performers: Greta Salome & Jonsi

 Composer: Greta Salome

Author: Greta Salome

Song: Never Forget

Language: English

 Broadcaster: RUV

History of the Nation

Iceland has been competing in the Eurovision Song Contest as much as my native Malta and will this year be commemorating twenty-five years which is quite an interesting milestone for nations who are yet to record a victory. Also, like Malta, the Scandinavian country has finished in the runner-up position twice, the first time coming in 1999 thanks to the musical stylings of Selma and her track All Out of Luck finishing behind Sweden and second time round came in 2009 when Yohanna performed the beautiful ballad Is It True, finishing behind Norway. The country has turned their wrong fortune around and have been in the final each and every year since 2008 when Euroband had represented Iceland with the song This Is My Life. They will be hoping that the betting odds and the fans are correct and that they will look forward to a top ten in the final.

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

Just hours ago, we unveiled a brand new project which will be taking our readers through a journey of all of the competing entries in this years' Eurovision Song Contest which is set to take place in Baku, Azerbaijan. The first panel of critics as presented earlier this week are three males whose experience in the industry is well defined through what they have accomplished thus far. Kicking off with the first semi-final reviews, we head onto the Ex-Yugoslavian nation of Montenegro which was also recently separated from its counterpart Serbia, making them both independent nations. An internal selection was held by the national broadcaster; RTCG in which the popular Rambo Amadeus was chosen to perform the song Euro Neuro written by the performer himself, Rambo Amadeus.

Rambo Amadeus, the composer, writer and performer of the Montenegrin entry, is a cult-figure of the Ex-Yugoslav music scene. During his music career he succeeded in remaining clearly distant from the common so called “radio friendly” music, frequently using parody to express his beliefs. The self-called “World Mega Tzar” is famous for his crazy jazz-funk music, interesting texts and unpredictable live performances, spiced with brutal satire, which is sometimes standing on the border of stand-up comedy. The name of Rambo Amadeus is linked with the creation of the term of “turbo folk”, a unique music phenomenon of the Balkan Region, often linked to strange taste, aggressive folk music and mass popularity.

Antonije Pušić (his real name) was born in Herceg Novi, a town on the Bay of Kotor, which is officially included in the list of the thirty most beautiful bays in the world. As a youth, he won a number of recognitions for his achievements in sports sailing. His songs combine satirical lyrics on the nature of common people and silliness of local politics. He uses a mixture of musical styles including jazz and rock (converging towards drum and bass lately), and self-conscious ironic wit. His stage name itself is made from John Rambo and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Known also as a "charming king of jovial pop", his concerts are never mere repetitions of recorded songs, but a mixture of musical improvisation and humor exploiting all aspects of human nature in a crude manner.

Some fans compare his style and career path with those of Frank Zappa or Captain Beefheart. Six years ago he was declared for the first ambassador of UNICEF in Montenegro. Lately he used his creativity and fame the best way he could in order to give his contribution to UNICEF’s initiative to create an environment without violence in schools. He has issued 19 albums, and won numerous prizes for his music work, including the Grand Prix at the film festival in Valencia (Spain) for the music theme in the movie Boomerang and the Golden Rose at the festival of Montreux.

The Critics Voice Their Opinion

Jan Van Dijck

• No doubt that this song really gets on my nerves. Don’t believe that this song will achieve any success not even in Montenegro it self! I just cannot award this song any points, very sorry hence a nil (0) points for me.

Knut-Oyvind Hagen

• This is quite simply horrific. I find it utterly impossible to take this piece of ”music” seriously, and it isn’t at all amusing either. His voice is horrendous, and I just hope that Europe’s viewers won’t zip to another channel because of this opening song. I would certainly understand them though. I would just like to give this song one (1) point for the effort.

Pitchtunes

• The song has a funky vibe with nice bass and drums. The rap is horrible; and the chants don’t make it much better. Montenegro should come up with something more entertaining. Although we do agree with our colleagues in the review, there is something hence our three (3) points for this first entry.

Entry Background

Performer: Rambo Amadeus

Composer: Rambo Amadeus

Author: Rambo Amadeus

Song: Euro Neuro

Language: English / Montenegrin

Broadcaster: RTCG

History of the Nation

Following the split of Serbia & Montenegro, they both entered as independent nations at the Eurovision Song Contest but it seems that the event has been much kinder to the other counterpart noting that this side of the former nation is yet to make it to the finals of the esteemed musical event and following three (3) disappointments and lack of funds, the broadcaster decided to stop partcipating altogether before marking a return to the competition this year. Their best attempt thus far came in 2009 when they were represented by the beautiful Andrea Demirovic with the song Just Get Out of My Life written by the renowned Ralph Siegel. In the history of the event, Montenegro has given and received the most points from neighbouring nation, Bosnia & Herzegovina. 

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

Maya Sar who is the representative of Bosnia & Herzegovina for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with her song ‘Korake ti znam’ which is described as a typical Italian ballad, had shared some info regarding her performance on a Bosnian TV show. She claimed; “The song Korake ti znam is full of emotions and I want to stick to it – I will perform alone on stage in Baku, give a performance without any special effects and try to bring all my emotions to viewers. I hope I will make citizens of B&H proud and that they will appreciate my job”.

She also said that her favourite song from all the other 41 competitors is Ott Lepland’s song ‘Kuula’ which is representing Estonia. She also said that she likes the current hot favourite of the contest; Sweden. And as for the Balkans she said that Željko, Nina, Amadeus and Kaliopi are all special in their own way for the simple reason that they present who they actually are. There will also be an an Italian version of ‘Korake ti znam’ which is to be released very soon as the English version can be seen below. We would like to wish Maya Sar and Bosnia & Herzegovina, the best of luck. They will be competing in the second semi-final with Malta on the 24th of May.

Source: BHRT, ESCDaily

The British Broadcasting Corporation has been on a number of occasions that they do not take their annual participation in the Eurovision Song Contest seriously and hence, have been trying to take up a new approach and that is to send acts who have already gained credibility over the course of time such as Blue last year whose song I Can managed to reach eleventh place, the best result this decade considering that they had finished in last place in the previous year thanks to Josh Dubovie whose song That Sounds Good to Me was written by Pete Waterman, the same person behind hits written for Steps and Kylie Minogue amongst others. This year, they have decided to send a legend in the form of Engelbert Humperdinck.

The chosen artist does not require a lot of introduction known by many to be the British version of the great Elvis Presley. Engelbert has managed to do what many artists aspire to do and that is sell millions of records apart from obtaining stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and last but not least, a nod for a Grammy. He has won a number of awards and is mostly known for his song Release Me released way back in 1966. It peaks across the boards and gave the artist his fame. He has gone onto release a multitude of singles and albums and continues to perform sold out concerts including one in Malta just a couple of months ago. The song that he will be performing at the Eurovision Song Contest is entitled Love Will Set You Free and will be released as a physical and digital single on the 30th April 2012 under the Conehead Label.

The Conehead Label has been steadily rising as one of the leading labels in the United Kingdom having managed to attract a number of artists including X Factor stars Rhydian and Stacey Solomon but then again, one could also notice more famous artists such as Peter Andre and Bodies Without Organs who tried to represent Sweden on a number of occasions, failing to grab that ticket. Engelbert is one of their most recent signings actually and apart from releasing his Eurovision single on this label, he will also be releasing an album, one which will surely be entertaining for his fans as it will celebrate his 75th birthday. Stay tuned to www.escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news about the United Kingdom.

Source: Conehead Records

their respective preview videos and therefore, it is the time to commence our annual feature in which a set of professional individuals come together to comment on the songs competing in each round, marking them on an individual basis and then also choosing which songs they believe will ultimately qualify to the final night. The Critics Choice was initiated last year under a different name but has progressed slowly thanks to an undeniably stunning amount of professionals who have continuously supported our work.

The first semi-final seems to be quite open according to our set of critics who will be revealed momentarily. There seems to be a general consensus that the winner will not be coming out of this round of eighteen competitors yet nevertheless, there is some great work which can surely reach a high placing in the final. For the first semi-final, escflashmalta has decided to call upon three males, the first of which is Jan Van Dijck, the second being Knut-Oyvind Hagen and last but not least Max Persson. They come from The Netherlands, Norway and Sweden featuring a mixture of diverse backgrounds as will be seen.

Jan Van Dijck

Many Maltese might remember this name quite profusely noting that he has been in the finals of the Malta Eurovision Song Contest for the past two years as a songwriter to the songs performed by Richard Edwards who was given third place by the public on two consecutive years. His name is now written in stone having been the one to write Finally, the song which remains in the hearts of the Maltese public as the one which should have represented Malta. Nevertheless, the Dutch born composer has worked with other countries having been the person behind the Portuguese entry back in 1990 entitled Há sempre alguém. He also tried to represent Portugal once more in 2008 but his entry was pipped to second place thanks to Vania Fernandez who would go onto suceed in qualifying on behalf of Portugal for the very first time since the qualification system was put into place. At the moment, he is continuously working with Richard Edwards, with the hope of continuing to write tracks together, so that an album becomes somewhat possible.

Knut-Oyvind Hagen

In the past couple of years, the profile of Knut-Oyvind Hagen in the world of the Eurovision Song Contest has risen due to the fact that his entries have been garnering attention all over the continent. The one which the fans will surely remember is Rocket Ride from Norway performed by Jannicke Abrahamsen which reached the runner-up position back in 2007 when Guri Schanke and her song Ven a Bailar Conmingo' won the ticket. Nevertheless, another song which people will surely remember being written by him is the song Superhero performed by Sandra Oxenyrd in the finals of the Polish national selection the following year. The track was very popular with the fans yet did not manage to garner the ticket. This year, he submitted a song with local singer Kaya in the national final entitled Touched by an Angel and got through to the second phase before elimination. He is currently working with the Norwegian broadcaster, NRK within their music side and their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Max Persson &  Salar Gorgees (Pitchtunes)

The final name is a collaboration between Max Persson and Salar Gorgees, one of the upcoming team of music producers in the Scandinavian country of Sweden at the moment. They are together, the co-owners of the company; Pitchtunes based in Stockholm and has most recently worked with the local music sensation and now of course, Swedish Idol winner; Kevin Borg. The track that they worked upon is known as Unstoppable and served as somewhat of a comeback track for the artist who is currently working on yet another album which should be released in due course. The most tentalisizing project that Max and Salar have worked on though in recent months apart from this is surely the track Hungover released on the album Original Me by Cascada who knows for a number of hits including What Hurts the Most, Everytime We Touch, Evacuate The Dancefloor and Truly Madly Deeply. Working with some of the stars in the business gives more of a coherent idea of what the industry is shaping up to be.

The first review will appear as of tomorrow, Monday 9th April and will be featuring Montenegro. It is quite interesting the way that the points went for the acts in the first semi-final. Stay tuned to www.escflashmalta.com as we bring you these comments, biographies, pictures and of course the official preview videos as presented to the European Broadcasting Union. We would like to personally thanks Jarmo Siim and the rest of the team behind the Eurovision Song Contest who have been so kind to aid us in this project for yet another year. Be ready to read some scintillating comments and then on the night of the first semi-final, a live review by one of our editors and local singer Raquela. Stay tuned!

Earlier this year, Bulgarian held a two part national selection to decide on their representative for the 2012 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest which will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan. At the end of the final, it was revealed that Sofi Marinova along with the song Love Unlimited had been the one which both the juries and the televoting combined declared as the winner. She had been one of the two favourites coming into the event and therefore, there were no surprises. The song in itself is quite interesting and features a club anthem with some traditional sounds, somewhat unfamiliar to the audiences around Europe yet catchy at the same time. 

Last night, the official preview video for the track was revealed as BNT has been working hard to make sure that everything is perfect this time round putting in a lot of effort within their presentation. They coordinated with the record label of Sofi being Sunny Music to come up with a finalized project. The video in itself tells fice different stories about love and how reactions can leave marks on people. The singer; features in bits and pieces being noted as the figure who brings the stories together hence the subject of the song. Stay tuned to www.escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news with regards to the competing countries in the upcoming music competition.

Source: BNT, Sunny Music