Saturday, 29 December 2007

I'm back!

Christmas was...well,boring to be honest.But it doesn't matter,because there's loads to look forward to- the Russian Winter Festival (obviously),Belarus's Eurofest final doesn't seem too far away,the as yet unknown New Year's Eve plans (go back to Guildford for some of our new and exciting cocktail- Dennis In A Cup,and watch lots of Chelsi videos on the computer,or stay here in Kent with some Asti and...Chelsi videos on the computer- I just don't know).And of course there's the 4 Hills competition- the most exciting part of the ski jumping season (apart from Holmenkollen).It started today,and although we all know Thomas Morgenstern is going to win it,I'm supporting his lovely Austrian teammate,Andreas Kofler,looking rather nice here in an Austrian police uniform...

Of course I'll be supporting Anders Jacobsen too (back after his horrible crash in Trondheim a few weeks ago),but he hasn't really been able to match the great form he had at the beginning of last year...
Anyway,enough of the ski jumping.For now :).I wanted to post a video which I saw quite a long time ago but which also disappeared off of youtube for some reason.Might be a few days premature but whatever,here's Dima Bilan singing a festive New Year's version of Pozdravlayu.He's a lovely chap is Dima,organising a surprise party for his girlfriend (although he looks more surprised than her),complete with a scary dog and industrial strength party poppers.I'd take that dog back if I was you Dima,it shouldn't be making noises like that.

Monday, 24 December 2007

WYM Europop Advent Calendar: Christmas Eve!

So.There's been some pretty awful Christmas songs on this blog in the past 3 weeks,but I thought I'd save the best for last.It's a favourite of ours at Europop Mansions Surrey Branch,because it's just a bit mad.George Michael had his camp moments but this is quite something- it's everyone's favourite all-male former Russian pop duo Smash singing Last Christmas.What are the dodgy silver fluffy coats about I ask?And what has Vlad taken to make him so hyperactive?And why have they nicked Ola's black and white whirly thing from Eurovision?

If I'm not back on here before,have a fabulous Christmas and a Eurotastic new year :)

Sunday, 23 December 2007

2007 Countdown Part 4

So of course it was very close between Work Your Magic and this one,but my favourite song of this year is....

1: Måns Zelmerlöw- Cara Mia


Yes it’s Måns again. According to itunes, I’ve played this song 698 times. Well, not quite, but it will be before long probably. When I found out the results of Melodifestivalen, I was in a sulk that Andreas Johnson didn’t win (just like last year really). And then I heard Cara Mia and thought it was even more of an injustice that The Ark won (even though I love them now, as I said before, Ola Salo is an amazing lyricist, and some of his songs have meant a lot to me in recent times shall we say). I still think this would have done better than The Worrying Kind at Eurovision, it reminds me of Mihai’s Tornero (the best song of last year, and not just in Eurovision terms either), only it might even be a bit better than that. Everything about it is fabulous, the intro that makes you think “what the hell is this?”, the frenetic chorus, the big ending…it’s a bit of a Europop masterpiece I think :) So that’s 3 of Måns’s songs in my little countdown. That’s not bad. Maybe I should buy his album now, I’m thinking it would probably be quite a good investment.


There's been many other fabulous Europop tunes this year that I haven't mentioned of course- Venke Knutson's Holiday, practically everything that Sopho Khalvashi did, the Lene Marlin and Lovebugs song Avalon, and of course the super Do You Believe by Litesound...it's been a Eurotastic year,I hope 2008 will be the same :)

WYM Europop Advent Calendar: 23/12

Here's Jill Johnson (Swedish apparantly...) singing I Want You For Christmas.Yeah and I want to live on a desert island with nothing but the Chelsi boys, Dima Koldun, Per Ciljan Skjelbred and non stop ski jumping on the telly for entertainment.But I don't think I'll get that.Not this year :)

Christmas Eve tomorrow.An exciting song coming up...

Saturday, 22 December 2007

Do you believe that love can last forever?

Here it is,my official favourite Eurovision related song of 2008 so far :)

2007 Countdown Part 3

4: Måns Zelmerlöw- Brother Oh Brother

Although there’s a few dodgy lines in this song… “I thought she was the one, until I realised that she was gone…” “I thought you knew… well now I do,” I can overlook them :) This is such a tune. And it sounds really good on Keira’s fabulous new ipod hi-fi thing.

3: Chelsi- Krilya/Ya Shagayu Pa Moskve/Careless Whisper/Ya Ne Umru Bez Tvoi Liubvi

OK OK, I know I’ve just listed 4 songs there, but I couldn’t possibly choose between them, they’re all so good. Chelsi have undoubtedly been my greatest musical discovery this year, they’ve taken me and Keira back to the good old days of British pop. Well, obviously they sing in Russian and we don’t always know what they’re singing about, but they’re just like a 90s boyband really (except they wear suits which just makes them even better). Of course it helps that Arseniy Borodin is one of the hottest men on the planet, but their music is nothing short of fabulous. Krilya has the added bonus of a…nice video, Ya Shagayu Pa Moskve is wonderful (not their song, I know, but it’s still a great version, I even got to play it in one of my Russian lessons a few months ago), Careless Whisper is, again, another super cover, even if they do miss out a word in the chorus which sounds a bit strange. Ya Ne Umru Bez Tvoi Liubvi is in fact a cover of a Dima Koldun song so I’ve been told, and although I said before I prefer Dima’s version, I think I’ve changed my mind. I love the intro, I love the guitar solo in the middle, I love the way when it gets quieter towards the end that you think it’s finished, and I love the way Roman shouts Ya Ne Umru Bez Liubvi in the last chorus…yeah, it’s an alright song :)

2: Dima Koldun- Work Your Magic

Say what you like about Filip Kirkorov (and me and Keira often do), he made a bloody good job of this song. Oh how we tried to promote it to everyone we knew in the run up to Eurovision. Well OK, it was about 3 months actually. No one seemed to take any notice though. It’s a travesty Belarus got no points from the UK, says something about the rubbish musical taste of the British public though I suppose… Yes Molitva was a good song, but let’s face it, it was just a generic Balkan ballad really, whereas Work Your Magic was a bit different to your normal Eurovision fare. It’s completely dramatic and over the top, but catchy and brilliant at the same time. And not only has it given me the title of my blog, but also provided us with Loving Potion, a world class cocktail knocked up one evening in the bright yellow holiday camp in Guildford. Oh yes, and the small matter of it being sung by the sexiest Belarussian in the world simply adds to its appeal. Actually no, it’s sung by the sexiest man in the world full stop (Dima was recently unanimously voted the hottest man on the planet. By me and Keira).

It's Ruslan!

Some nice Belarussian (probably) has put the video of Ruslan's fabulous Hasta La Vista on youtube.OK,so the performance isn't that great,but whatever,he's in the final now.I think I read somewhere that Ruslan won Russia's Narodniy Artist competition (the same thing Dima was in before Fabrika),don't know when though.Anyway,watch this,it's soooo good!If not slightly catchy,I woke up with it in my head this morning,worryingly.Hopefully they'll hurry up and put Litesound on next.