The Team of Radio International is back this week and would like to invite to join the weekly Ultimate Eurovision Experience to overcome to Post Eurovision Depression. The Show is broadcast on 106.8FM and Digital Cable 41 in the Netherlands and also via the internet via www.radiointernational.tv and will also be web-televised via the show's own Live Video Channel via the website. The simulcast will be from 2000 – 2300 hours CET this Wednesday.

Eurovision Song Contest Spotlight - Eurovision 2012 - The Aftershow Party:  

The 57th Eurovision Song Contest was staged on 26 May 2012 in Baku and each of our Eurovision Correspondants will each week be giving us their assessment of how they watched the shows and what they think of it. Of course, it goes without saying, it is spiced with their choice of songs from this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Continuing this new mini-series is Marcus Keppel-Palmer

Interview with Stefan Galea (Malta): 

One of Malta's young music talents is Stefan Galea who is no stranger to the ears of the listeners to Radio International as his music is aired on the show. Still a student Stefan also aims at an international singing career and hoping to be able that one day he will be representing Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest. At the Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2012 which is the national selection process of Malta to find a suitable song to represent the country at the Eurovision Song Contest JP met Stefan for an interview which you can hear during this week's edition of the show. Stefan is not only an actor in the Maltese TV series called D.R.E.A.M.S. but also a fine singer and his repertoire is growing as he is producing more and more music. Songs such as "Can't wait for FAF, Fittest Girl in History and Take it or leave it have been aired on Radio International in the past. The website is abailable here. Enjoy the interview on this week's edition of Radio International.  

 Euro Friends Song Contest 2012 with Andy Simon: 

The Euro Friends Song Contest in search for the ultimate Eurovision song as voted for by the many fans around the world.  Andy  Simon joins us again next week to reveal the qualifiers for the next round.  The website of the Euro Friends Song Contest you will find here (www.euro-friends.com) where you can easily vote for your favourite Eurovision songs per country and also see The Euro-Friends TV Show as hosted by Andy Simon. You can also join the Facebook Group.  Andy is back next week and he reveals the final qualifiers in Heat 50 (Germany).  

Interview with Nina Badric (Croatia 2012):  

After Daria Kinzer representing Croatia at the Eurovision Song Contest in Duesseldorf in 2011 - one of Croatia's biggest artists represented Croatia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan - NINA BADRIC. Unfortunately, she did not manage to qualify Croatia for the Grand Final as with only 42 points in Semi Final 2 she ranked 12th with the song "Nebo". Only the Top Ten of the Semi Finals meet in the Grand Final. However, Lilian, Eric and JP had the big pleasure meeting the singer in the Press Centre in Baku for a very funny interview. A must listen!  Enjoy.

Eurovision Song Contest News with Luke Fisher from escXtra.com:

Check out the latest developments connected to the Eurovision Song Contest. Whether it is music releases of Eurovision performers, appearances, special concerts, gossip, news, etc. Luke will have the latest updates during this week's edition of the show.

Interview with Ott Lepland (Estonia 2012):  

An amazing success for the entry of Estonia to the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. First Ott Lepland could qualify his country into the Grand Final from Semi Final 2 where he ranked 4th with 100 points and then in the Final - What a performance! - he reached a very remarkable 6th place with a total of 120 points. A very strong power ballade called "Kuula" which means "Listen!". Eric & JP met the singer in the Baku Press Centre for an interview which you can hear during this week's edition of Radio International. Enjoy! :) 

Eurovision Music Requests/Eurovision Quiz:

A big part of the show is playing listeners' requests. Submit your requests and / or greetings to your Eurovision friends through Radio International via the CONTACT Link on www.radiointernational.tv. But also don’t miss out on the weekly Eurovision Quiz where you can win a dip into the freshly filled up Goodies Bag or pick a Eurovision Song Contest from the past on DVD. 

Interview with Kaliopi (FYR Macedonia 2012):  

Kaliopi represented The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYRoM) at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Crno E Belo" (Black and White) which reached Number 13 in the Grand Final. Kaliopi was already selected in the national final to represent FYROM at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1996 with the song "Samo Ti" ("Only You"), however, she never made it to the Eurovision stage back in 1996 due to her not having enough average vote to take part at the Eurovision Song Contest that particular year. An amazing lady and an amazing voice - JP had the pleasure to meet her for a few words describing her happiness that she managed to qualify FYROM to the Grand Final which did not happen for quite some years. Listen to this interview during this week's edition of Radio International.   

More interviews with the 2012 Eurostars will be on the next editions of Radio International. Watch out for them every Wednesday. Join Radio International on Wednesday, 13 June 2012 from 2000 - 2300 hours CET, via the website or on FM. Radio International is available live via  www.radiointernational.tv and on FM 106.8 and Digital Cabel Channel 41 in parts of the Netherlands. Should you not be able to listen live, the show will appear in the Programme’s Show Archive a few hours after it’s airing on the radio.

Source: Team of Radio International

It as been yet another interesting day in Baku, Azerbaijan wit the final acts competing in the second semi-final taking to the stage for the very first time with the hope of representing their country in the best possible way. Some acts ave a tendency to warm up in front of a huge and this might have been the case for Estonia, a nation which has been written off on quite a hefty amount of occasions including with bookmakers who have put the track in a disappointingly low position nevertheless, despite being well below the number twenty in the overall scoreboard, they have started their rise and will most likely continue to do so when they give another rehearsal, one which will certainly pull in votes from both judges and the viewers at home. Estonia this year are being represented by Ott Lepland and his track Kuula which translates into Hear Me actually with the English version released just a couple of days back.

The fact of the matter is that the performer did not do anything special on the stage of Baku, the host city of the 2012 Eurovision Son Contest. He took to the stage wearing very smart casual attire and belting out the notes as he should. He could have taken the son on his own actually but decided he would like some company and that is why the female backing vocalist from the national final marks er return on stage, this time wearing a beautiful white gown. The vocals were out of this world and if he can manage to keep this going, Estonia will be achieving their best result in years, most likely better tan the one they managed back in 2009 with the group Urban Symphony and the song Randajad which finished in sixth place at the end of the evening. Remember that Estonia is competing in the same semi-final as Malta and would therefore be eligible to receive your vote on the evening. View the first rehearsal below and judge it yourselves. It is the kind of song which the Maltese pretty much like actually. Stay tuned for more news on escflashmalta.com in the coming hours.

Source; Eurovision.tv

One of the countries which seems to have become a dark horse for many is surely Estonia and their first rehearsal later this week is very much expected by both fans and journalists alike noting that the beautiful ballad was performed impeccably during the national selection in which Ott Lepland managed to cruise to victory based on a final round of televoting. In the Eurovision Song Contest, the version of the song that he will be performing is the one in Estonian bearing the name Kuula but nevertheless he has recorded a number of different versions showcasing the beauty of the entry on more than one language showing that indeed music is a universal language.

The three languages which have proven to be the most popular for Ott Lepland include the English one to which the song has been remodeled into Hear Me, the Spanish one which has been given the title Escucha and the Russian version in which it bears the title Слушай. When the track was initially chosen, the reaction to it was somewhat mixed but these types of ballads always have a place at the Eurovision Song Contest and with the focus being on the vocals, it will surely shine on the night for sounding different than the Balkan entries that will be previewed during the second semi-final, which happens to be the same one in which Kurt Calleja and the rest of his team will be competing with the track This Is The Night. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news as soon as it becomes available.

Source: Ott Lepland Facebook, ERR

The latter part of the second semi-final has to be one of the most intriguing spectacles noting that the variety of genres is very much reflected especially following an array of Balkan tunes which will become somewhat synonymous. Despite their beauty, it is somewhat extremely important that they all relate to each other and some of them might be left out and that is why the next ballad is different because it has a different sound, more notable which will be respected by a number of people around the continent. The country that is being referred to is none other than Estonia who this year have decided to send the crooning Ott Lepland with the song Kuula which he composed alongside Aapo Ilves. 

He has always beaten the competition by an impressive margin. In the final of Eesti Laul, for example, he received 67% of the votes. Ott was already well known in Estonia when he was still a child. He released four albums of children's songs and performed in the theatre, but left the limelight when he became a teenager and focussed on his studies of music. The result is here: he is one of the most respected vocalists in Estonia, an excellent pianist, and the author of some of the biggest radio hits of recent years.

His vocal coach Maiken has this to say about Kuula: "This song has the potential to be the I Will Always Love You of this century – it is a powerful and simple balance with the potential to become an international hit." Ott's strengths are his powerful voice and down-to-earth demeanour. He is not a show-off, but a true and serious artist. He may be a little reserved, but it is this trait that makes people take him seriously and gives him the charm that has brought him the love of his audiences. Yes, that's what a true Estonian man is like! Get ready, Eurovision – here he comes!

Ott was born on 17 May 1987 in Tallinn. He has released two albums that were aimed at the Estonian market and contained many songs he had written himself. The first book about Ott, Lubage mul olla. Ott Lepland (Let Me Be. Ott Lepland) was published at the end of 2010. A part of the sales revenue is transferred into a grant fund, which helps young people study singing. The grant recipients are picked by Ott Lepland himself. He also donated the 20,000 euros he won on Laulupealinn to Kärdla Town for charity.

It seems that taking one victory after another has come easy to Ott so far. Only time will tell whether his success will continue on the Eurovision Song Contest stage. Ott himself has said: "I feel that I've been lucky. I believe that the reason why I've been so successful is that I've done my own thing and remained true to myself."

The Critics Voice Their Opinion

Magnus Kaxe

• Back to ballads. This time a musical piece sung in Estonian. The song slowly builds up to the grand finale. The singer has a great voice and the song is beautifully written. I would have loved to hear it in English because the Estonian language sound a little bit hard for my taste. Nevertheless, well crafted and deserving of six (6) points.

Marion Welter

• Without a doubt, this is more of a song to my liking. The music of this ballad is astonishing, it is just wonderful and his voice is amazing, somewhat beyond what I was expecting. This is a maximum points kind of entry therefore ten (10) points.

Tobias Larsson

• One of the best ballads in the line-up, leaving you wonder how tiny Estonia can come up with so many really good songs. Very good singing, powerful and controlled at the same time, complete with very soft and tender lyrics. Nine (9) points from my end.

Entry Background 

Performer: Ott Lepland  

Composer: Ott Lepland  

Author: Aapo Ilves

Song: Kuula

Language: Eesti  

Broadcaster: ERR 

History of the Nation

This year will mark the eighteenth participation of Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest and one can remark that there have been a number of positive results especially due to non-consecutive top ten finishes from 1996 until 2002 with the nation finishing at the top of the scoreboard in 2001 thanks to Dave Benton and Tanel Padar and the song Everybody. The following year, they were close but still far by virtue of finishing in third place with Runaway performed by the Swedish singer Sahlene. Since the introduction of the semi-final system, things have been far bleaker unfortunately though and the country has only managed to turn their luck around since 2009 noting that Urban Symphony and their song Randajad finished in sixth place before the country failed to qualify again in 2010 and then reaching the final again last year before failing to make an impact with Rockefeller Street ending in the last place. Ott Lepland will hope to restore some pride in his country with his entry which is doing well in polls and betting odds putting it in sixth place to qualify.

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

The 2012 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest which is going to be staged in Baku, Azerbaijan draws closer and many artists are preparing to switch on a number of alarm clocks as they brave the different time zone nevertheless, many are looking to perfect their performance off stage prior to even thinking about being there as the preparations for each representative continue. In the past couple of days, one of the acts that we managed to speak to was none other than Ott Lepland, the man who will be honouring the colours; blue, black and white, those that best represent Estonia, the winning country of the 2001 music competition and then of course, host of the 2002 edition, one which the Maltese will surely remember with the birth of a star, that is Ira Losco. Within this interview, Ott speaks about his emergence as an artist, his career and his upcoming preparations for the event.

There are many sides to Ott Lepland as an artist with humble beginnings coming through musical theatre, having performed the lead role of Troy Bolton in an adapated version of High School Musical but then again, as the years progressed, you made a decision to go slightly more mainstream by tackling the Estonian music market and thus signed up for the Estonian version of 'Idol' which was were selected for with the backing of the judges and not only making it to the live shows but finishing at the top of the competition without ever languishing at the bottom two. What can you tell us about your early years and how did this competition make you the artist you are today? 

Before Idols I was a simple boy who went to school and liked music. I had studied music in school: both piano and singing. When Idol show came, my friends urged me to take part. I didn’t have any expectations but everything went very well. It made me a lot more self-confident and gave me the possibilty to present my music to Estonia and leave an input to music as such in Estonia.

Skimming through your career achievements, one would notice that the very first time that you made a public debut in terms of recordings was back in 1995 and 1996 having worked with the likes of Seafarm Records and BG Muusik to release four albums but then again, the first major platform in terms of music making came following your stint on 'Idol' wheareas you released a self-titled compilation with Crunch Industry in 2010 and then another album entitled 'Laulan Ma Sing' in 2011. You have been at this for quite some time but then again end up learning new things everyday. What could you tell us about the meaning behind the two albums and do you have general creative control over the songs you publish?

1995-96, as i was a child, i sang children’s songs. Now,15 years later after the Idols i had a possibilty to release my own record. My first album had two of my own songs but mainly songs from other auhtors. My second album has songs from other auhtors too, but half of it contains songs from me as an author. My goal is to move towars releasing more and more music written by myself and i can be only happy that my management allows me to do so.

The very first time that Estonia entered the Eurovision Song Contest was back in 1994 with the song 'Nagu Merelaine' performed by Silvi Vrait which did not fare well at all finishing in twenty four position with just two points to it's name but the broadcaster; ERR took a new musical directiton starting two years later ad the results would ultimately flourish managing to reach the top ten on six of the next seven occasions, with songs that have been noted to be timeless. Amongst such songs was the victory of Tanel Padar, Dave Benton & 2XL with the song 'Everybody'. What do you remember of the first entries sent on behalf of Estonia and what do you remember from winning the esteemed music competition?

I have followed the Eurovision from since I was very young. As I come from a very musical family (my mother is a music teacher) I know pretty much all the songs that have represented Estonia in Eurovision. Now, as an active musician, I have the honor of knowing most of the artists who have represented Estonia as well. What I can recall is Silvi Vrait, then Maarja Liis Ilus, Koit Toome and others. I have followed and I have only positive recollections of the whole thing.