Reality kicks in when the light goes out

So I haven't been blogging half as much as usual lately- there's soooo much going on at the minute,I just haven't had the time.2 main updates though- 1: Sounds of Europe is now on air at the earlier (and far more sensible) time of 9pm,which is wonderful news if only for us,because it means we can get the bus home instead of having to walk through Soviet-style Guildford at 1am in the fog. 2: I finally got to hear a bit of Dima Bilan's planned Eurovision song,I would post the link but if I remember rightly,the quality wasn't too great.It seemed quite a good song though- the Russian national final of course takes place next Sunday.
Ooh,also another bit of news while I'm here- tomorrow night,me and Keira are off to see Sash! the wonderful German DJ responsible for such delights as La Primavera (which we played on Sounds of Europe on the first show) and Ecuador (which we played on Sounds of Europe on Tuesday).We did want to(and this was the exciting thing I was hoping to write about the other week),get an interview with him for the radio station,but unfortunately it seems he has a bit of a tight schedule tomorrow night so there won't be time.Still though,it should be good to go and see a Euro legend in action :)
Must just leave you with this- it appears I really have been busy and have completely missed Kurt Nilsen's latest single Reality Kicks In.I love it.Here's a video of it complete with pretty pictures of Bergen.

:(

So we didn't get tickets for Making Your Mind Up or whatever it's called this year.But then again,seeing who's going to be competing,maybe that isn't such a bad thing.Still,it seems the evening of March 1st might still be exciting after all...Probably best I don't say anything yet but hopefully I'll find out more tomorrow and can let you know then :)

I don't want nobody but you

By the way,if you listened to Sounds of Europe last night,you'll have heard me exalting the wonderful Sergey Lazarev and his latest (?) song Girlfriend.And if you didn't listen to Sounds of Europe,well I'll say it again :) Girlfriend was written by Ben Adams of a1,my favourite ever British boyband.Ben's written songs for Sergey before,to varying degrees of success...but this is clearly the best one.It's so so catchy and the chorus has been going round my head for about 4 days now,which is quite annoying,but anyway,if you haven't heard it yet,then you must listen,it's everything a pop song should be :)
There is a real video to it,but it only seems to be available on a Russian equivalent of youtube that I don't like very much.And anyway,it's not the greatest music video ever,so I'm posting this 'live' version from the New Wave festival in Latvia instead.

Probably the most exciting news you'll hear all year....

Chelsi are going to be touring in Germany (of all places) in May! How exciting is that?! Obviously it'd be slightly more exciting if it was a bit later in the year,say October,when I'll actually be LIVING in Germany and so would be able to get to see them easier...Also the fact that I probably have exams until the end of May might be a bit of an issue,but it doesn't matter,it's still very exciting!

Late as usual

So the much awaited Häggkvist/Johnson duet last night has confirmed 2 things for me: 1- Carola is really really annoying and 2- I love Andreas! I haven't listened to all the songs from last night's semi final yet,not all the way throuh anyway,just the ones that got through to the final and Andra Chansen,but One Love is by far one of the best ones.Carola's voice is grating (not nearly as grating as Nicole's),but generally I think the song's a bit of an anthem.And also,I've wanted Andreas to win Melodifestivalen for the past 3 years now,so it'd be really good if Sweden chose One Love this year.

Ola's Love In Stereo was of course the other song to get to Andra Chansen.I was really looking forward to hearing his song when I found out he was going to be in Melodifestivalen,but I'm quite disappointed actually.But not as disappointed as I am with the fact Rongedal got through to the final.What were you thinking Sweden?!Mind you,they did send Amy Diamond to the final last week so I shouldn't really be surprised.Seriously though,I don't understand what's going on with the Scandinavian countries this year.Maybe Finland will make up for all these awful decisions...Although I do doubt that somehow.

However,something good did happen last night and that's that Sanna Nielsen is in the final.I really like Empty Room,although I do take the Schlagerboys' point that a gay remix complete with wind machines and key change would be better :) Still though,I reckon she'd do quite well in Belgrade,it's a really good song.

As for the others...well,there's not really anything to say about The Nicole.Why The Nicole anyway?Is she indie or something?Lasse Lindh was boring,I didn't really get the Kebabpizza thing,although like I said I haven't heard it all the way through,maybe I'd change my mind if I did.I did however think Alexander Schöld was pretty fabulous.It's a shame Den första svalan came second to last.I mean,Alexander's voice isn't the greatest,but the song is really happy and upbeat.And has just the right amount of guitars :)

Anyway,BWO next week.Not one of my favourite bands,but I'm sure they'll come up with something schlagertastic.There's hope for Sweden yet.

It's Valentine's Day...

And I shall be spending (part of) the evening at a radio station meeting- which isn't quite as bad as it sounds...- followed by many hours in front of my wonderful Chelsi DVD and learning about extended noun phrases in German.Such romance!

Good news though,is that there's still time to send in your entry to the new and exciting competition on Dima Bilan's website.The description made me laugh...

St Valentine’s Day is coming!
And this day Dima Bilan hasn’t forgotten about the holiday! He has prepared three Valentine cards with his autograph and congratulations for his faithful fans! You can get one of them!
But it is not easy to earn it. Use you fantasy and send Dima your own Valentine card with your greetings and wishes. The card is to be done by your hands or with the help of the computer. You can take a picture of the drawn ones.
Dima is waiting for your cards! The most creative and beautiful cards will be received until February 14(including). Send them by mail valentinka@bilandima.ru
Remember that fantasy is welcomed!

Fantasy is welcomed eh?

Anyway,nothing says love and romance quite like Dima Bilan splashing around on a Latvian beach and getting,erm,friendly with a girl who just so happens to be the director's daughter.Here's Ya Tak Lyublyu Tebya (I love you so much).

Bored

So there's 2 and a half hours til my next radio show (which you can listen to here),and as we've been planning it all week,there's not really anything left to do this evening.
2 bits of Dima Bilan related 'news' though,both of which I'm quite excited about.The first being that I found his version of Ave Maria the other night.Seems like a very strange song for a Russian to cover,or for any pop artist to cover for that matter,I don't know how that came about,but it's really lovely.No video or anything though,and I can't quite remember where I found it now,so that was a pointless bit of news really.Secondly though- it's been confirmed that Mr B's going to be attempting Eurovision again this year!That's very exciting indeed.According to the many websites I've read it on,the song will be in Spanish (Spanish?!) and was written by someone who's worked with Christina Aguilera.Ooh...That's it,Russian National Final Day (March 9th) will officially be a holiday at Europop Mansions Surrey Branch,complete with lots of raucous singing of Dima songs and lots of vodka too!Probably.

Le mie radici resteranno qua

Apart from listening to Brandur practically non stop when I'm on the internet at university,I've been really getting into another song lately too.It's called Sogno Americano (American Dream) and is on this MySpace page. I came across it at some stupid time yesterday morning whilst watching a re-run of some panel programme on the Napoli FC Supporters channel (don't ask).There is a video to it,quite a nice video I must say,but it doesn't appear to be on youtube yet so I'm having to listen to this song via MySpace,which is a bit rubbish.Anyway,check it out,it's really good.I particularly love the lyrics.Mostly because the Italian is basic enough for me to understand,yet it still makes a nice strong point :)

Dreamers like us can get around without spending a fortune

Just a quick post to let you know I'm in (musical) love again.Not with a Russian though.Or a Belarussian.Or even a Norwegian.
Brandur Enni,as you probably know from Melodifestivalen,is from the Faroe Islands like Teitur,who I also love lots.For an 18 year old,he's been around quite a while,having released an album and everything 6 years ago...I've probably mentioned my opinions about child stars before,but Brandur's early songs weren't actually that bad.At least the ones I've heard so far.Anyway,have a look at his MySpace page. There's 4 songs on there,I really like World Citizens.And All For You.And the other 2 as well actually,they're all fabulous.
Here's his Melodifestivalen attempt from last night as well.I think I like it,but there was no way Sweden was ever going to send anything less than schlagertastic.Still though,was choosing Amy Diamond really necessary?

Anyway.Linguistics coursework.Ethnicity and language planning in Luxembourg.Must concentrate...

Life will give us time to love again

I'm still sulking about Zuma not winning Siste Sjanse last night.So to stop me thinking about the injustice,and also to give me something to do in the 20 minutes I have before I have to run off to German,I thought I'd share a few songs I've been listening to quite a lot lately that are not Always Always.

This is Dima Bilan looking rather nice and singing Ne Skuchay, Bedniy Angel, from the Vremya Reka album.Quite old then,but I've only just come across it really.It's not as good as Yunskiy Dozhd,which is another old one that I've just come across,but there doesn't seem to be any videos of that one anywhere.


And this is Dima Koldun,not looking at his best it must be said- whoever chose that outfit has seriously questionable taste in fashion...Anyway,the song is a cover of Sofia Rotaru's Ty Uletish (You'll fly away).It's wonderful,it does sound a bit old fashioned,and the chorus may well get stuck in your head...But it's still fabulous.

Norway's Mediocre Grand Prix

I'm trying to do everything I can to avoid revising for tomorrow's Russian test.And seeing as I'm quite behind with recent Eurovision events,and seeing as Norway is by far my favourite European country,I thought I'd better have a listen to the contenders for the final of Melodi Grand Prix...
It seems a lot of people are a bit surprised Lene Alexandra didn't go through from the Siste Sjanse round in Oslo tonight.Why?!I don't mind Lene actually,but Sillycone Valley was awful in every way.Zuma however,I can understand.Always Always is fabulous!I love the guy's voice,the lyrics are hilarious,and it's soooo catchy.It would have done so well in Belgrade.


But alas,it seems Saturday's final will be pretty boring.I've had a listen to all the songs in it now,and can't say I'm that excited by any of them.There's not really any bad ones,they're all good in their own right I suppose,but there's nothing that I think will really stand out amongst the other 20 or so entries that Norway will be up against in the semi final on May 20th.
I heard Eastern Wind by Torstein Sødal about a week ago,and quite liked it.This may or may not be influenced by the fact that Christian Ingebrigtsen wrote it :) But yes, Torstein has a wonderful voice,and I'm sure he'd perform really well at Eurovision.But now I've heard Zuma,I can't get too excited about it anymore.

I'm liking Ann-Mari Andersen's Ándagassii too.Normally I find the ethnic-type songs boring and repetitive,but this is really good- more like a calmed down version of Neiokõsõ's Tii type ethnic than Lane Moje type ethnic.And it's nice to hear something sung in Sami for a change.It's not your typical Norwegian ESC song though,so I doubt she'll get through.
Then there's Crash! Complete with Jetzt Anders! style exclamation mark :) Get Up is Ok,a bit of pop rock never hurt anyone...

Not too excited about Veronica Akselsen (which is a shame,because I thought Like A Wind from 2006 was really good),or Maria Haukaas Storeng.

There's a place for people like Ole Ivars,but unfortunately I don't think that place is Eurovision.I don't mind Som i Himmelen,there's nothing wrong with a bit of old Norsk Dansband...but like a lot of people,I can't believe he got through to the final.Instead of Zuma.Someone commented on the youtube video saying "noe av det dårligste som har vært i mgp's historie" which made me laugh.Norway have been competing in Eurovision for years,I'm sure there's been a lot worse at some point.

Such as this This also got through instead of Zuma.Seriously Norway,what's happened?!First you choose boring Glenn Lyse to win Idol,and now this?!

Anyway,continuing with MGP,King of Trolls seems to be getting a lot of negative comments.But I think Far Away probably has the best chance of winning on Saturday.

All in all though,I'm really not bothered who wins,I don't think any of these songs would do very much in Belgrade.I think I'll stick with supporting Belarus for another year.Go Ruslan!

Tonight...

Is the first Sounds of Europe show.From 11pm til 1am you will be able to hear lots of wonderful European things on 1350AM if you're in Guildford.If you're not (which is probably the case),you can listen online ,just click the listen live bit at the top and it should work.Unfortunately we won't have much Russian stuff tonight,but we're going to work on that a bit.There will however be a bit of Anžej Dežan, The Ark and Paolo Meneguzzi.Hope you'll be able to listen!

Your name is in my every breath

Exciting times,this video (added to youtube yesterday),is of Dima K's new song Tsaryevna.Although it's not the video that I was talking about the other day.Whether or not that video and this song are meant to go together,I still don't know,but anyway,have a look :) It's a really nice song,sounds like he's been taking tips from Prohor and his ethno-pop- very different to Dima's normal stuff.



I'll (probably) be back later with news and things about Eurolaul which has been happening this evening.