NuVidz: Emmelie de Forest, Carl Espen, Natascha Bessez, Dotan!

Emmelie de Forest's new single Drunk Tonight has received somewhat of a mixed reaction. The song itself is pretty good but it's the video-clip that's got people talking. The Danish star gets naked near a swimming pool and she cries a lot. An iPhone also gets chucked into the pool.. What do you guys make of this? Holding On is Carl Espen's latest song. Great voice and the lyrics are fantastic. Like his Eurovision entry, it was composed by Josefin Winther. This blogger adores Natascha Bessez and she has recently released the video-clip for La Da Di Da. She participated in DMGP - along with Danish saxophonist Michael Rune. Her voice is awesome! Y'all can support her by liking her Facebook page. Finally, Dotan's Home has been extremely successful in the Dutch charts. He's also rumoured to be the Dutch representative for Eurovision 2015....

Turkey: No plans to return in 2015!

Yüksek Sadakat - the Turkush representatives in 2011

Turkey won't be returning to Eurovision next year... Speculation has been rife in recent weeks regarding Turkey's return and even potential participants however Eurovision Ireland contacted Head of International Public Relations at TRT and they said:

TRT won’t be participating in the 2015 contest in Austria and the future remains to be seen.

This means Turkey joins Slovakia, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Czech Republic and Andorra whom have all confirmed they won't be sending a representative to Austria.

The Netherlands: Alain Clark already selected?

The Common Linnents achieved 2nd place for The Netherlands in Copenhagen so their successor has a pretty big job on their hands! But who is the chosen one? Apparently it could be Alain Clark! AVROTROS, the Dutch broadcaster, are yet to make an announcement regarding their participant for next years contest but Alain Clark is one of the main candidates - according to De Telegraaf. Alain Clark has sold 180,000 albums and This Ain't Gonna Work is one of his biggest hits. Dotan, a singer-songwriter from Amsterdam, has also been rumoured... Meanwhile, this blogger would love to see Caro Emerald fly the Dutch flag in Vienna! Anyway, an official announcement is due within the next couple of months.

HOLIDAY SEASON!

I'm going on holiday and therefore won't be able to blog for the next couple of weeks or so. Y'all can follow either Life After Helsinki or ESC Starz for all the latest news, though! I'll be back soon ahead of the 2015 national final season. Until then, enjoy this funky tune! :)

Austria: National selection in 2015!

It has already been announced the Austrian entry for Vienna 2015 will be chosen via a national selection. Details regarding the selection are yet to be revealed. However, it is already believed that the selection will consist of numerous shows - with the grand final taking place in March. Who will represent Austria on home soil? This blogger wouldn't mind seeing Natália Kelly return.

Georgia: Artist announcement in September?

It is confirmed that Georgia will send a representative to Austria! Rumours had been circulated since the contest that Georgia may face a three year ban from Eurovision. However it appears the Georgians won't be disqualified. Their jury vote was very suspicious and declared invalid - because all jury members had voted exactly the same from 3 point up to 12 points. Therefore, only Georgian televote was used in the final. This raises the question - are juries really necessary anyway? This isn't the first controversial issue with the jury vote. The Georgian act will apparently be reveled next month. I wonder who will get the honour?

Missed Opportunities 2014: Romania!

Romania decided to send Paula Seling & Ovi to Copenhagen - after the duo won the national selection. Was this the best Romania had to offer? I think so. But that doesn't mean it was my favourite in the selection, even though I did really like Miracle! Favourites of mine included:

Vaida - One More Time
Vaida won the televote and came runner-up with One More Time. The reason she didn't win was because the jury slaughtered her and only awarded her four points.. therefore Paula and Ovi had more points overall - and therefore they won! This is a peaceful song. Her voice is sweet and the performance was also very nice... It would have made the final in Copenhagen.

Stefan Stan feat. TeddyK - Breathe
Breath was a haunting duet sung by two extraordinary singers! I thought their performance could be messy but it was actually a very beautiful and touching presentation.. Stefan Stan won the Romanian version of 'The Voice' in 2011. The juries would've adored this and it could have been a dark horse... Very good indeed! They came 5th overall.

Renee Santana feat. Mike Diamondz - Letting go 
Finally, we have my favourite! Letting Go was fun, modern and very catchy. Renee's live vocals weren't the best though and maybe this is why the Romanian public didn't vote for them? There's just something fabulous about this one... Would they have done well in Eurovision? It' hard to say, but I would have voted for them! :')

VIENNA TO HOST EUROVISION 2015!

After months of rumours and speculation, it's been officially revealed that the 60th Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Vienna! Therefore, the contest will indeed be held in Wiener Stadthalle. This arena has a capacity of approx. 16,000. The Director General of ORF, Alexander Wrabetz, said:

"Vienna is the city of music and arts in the heart of Europe. Together we will do everything to assure a successful 60th Eurovision Song Contest."  

Vienna was the obvious choice from the start. Do you think this is a good decision? Details regarding hotel bookings and tickets will be revealed towards the end of the year whilst the official list of confirmed participants won't be revealed until January 2015.

NuVidz: Pastora Soler, Helena Paparizou, Waylon, Cheryl Cole ft. Tinie Tempah!

Pastora Soler restored Spain's faith in Eurovision and since Baku, the Spanish singer has released a new album entitled Conóceme. Vive is one of my favourite songs from this album. Meanwhile, Helena Paparizou has recently revealed her new single - Don’t Hold Back On Love. This dance track is already very popular in Greece! Perfect for the summer! Love Drunk is Waylon's new song. This blogger loves it.. #VeryImpressed! Waylon decided to leave The Common Linnets a couple of months ago so he could concentrate on his own music. This song will naturally feature on his upcoming album that'll be released in September, I believe. Cheryl Cole (or should that be Fernandez-Versini?) comeback single is Crazy Stupid Love, which features rapper Tinie Tempah. The song reached number one in the UK singles charts. She's returning to The X Factor this year and will release an album towards the end of the year! Welcome back, Chezza!

General: Lulu and Jessica Mauboy perform at Commonwealth closing ceremony!

The 2014 Commonwealth games has been dominating the news here in the United Kingdom and last night the closing ceremony took place. The event was held in Hampden Park, Glasgow. This blogger watched the show (as I wanted to see Jessica Mauboy perform) and boy she didn't disappoint! She performed 'Sea of Flags' and 'Everything is Possible'. The 2018 Commonwealth games will be held in Gold Coast City, Queensland, Australia. The audience didn't seem to enjoy her performance that much although I thought it was fabulous! Lulu opened the ceremony but didn't perform her Eurovision entry, unfortunately. Meanwhile Karen Matheson (France 1996) performed ' Ae Fond Kiss' - which was a beautiful ballad. Kylie Minogue was also there.. Well done Glasgow - the show was amazing!!

Missed Opportunities 2014: Estonia!

The Estonian selection Eesti Laul once again featured a number of great songs. This blogger enjoyed Tanja's winning song although I feel Estonia had stronger songs... here's a couple of my favourites:

Lenna Kuurmaa - Supernoova
Supernoova is a a lovely ballad, sung in Estonian! Lenna would've been a great choice. She has entered Eesti Laul on numerous occasions and even represented Switzerland in 2005 - with Vanilla Ninja. Would she have qualified? I don't know to be honest but it's a sweet song! A great effort from Lenna.

Sandra Nurmsalu - Kui tuuled pöörduvad
Sandra Nurmsalu's entry was absolutely the best song in the Estonian national final, in my opinion. Her song was unique, stunning, fabulous and very special. The jury ranked her 9th out of 10 participants and she came 3rd in the televote... What a shame!! Sandra represented Estonia in 2009 with her band, Urban Symphony, and achieved 6th place in the final!

France: Indila isn't interested in Eurovision...

Following TWIN TWIN's (Oh yeah!) disappointing result in Copenhagen, this blogger reckons Indila would have been the perfect representative for France next year - although she's already said that Eurovision isn't on the agenda. Sobs! Indila gave an interview to Le Petit Journal and when asked about entering Eurovision, the singer said:

It’s flattering, thank you! And it is true that I have seen an upsurge of Eurovision interest in me recently. I was very surprised because it’s like an exclusive for me. I do not think I have the makings of an artist who can represent France. So I was very happy. But I think I would refuse a request like that because it is a lot of pressure, responsibility, and I do not want to disappoint France. And then the level of media coverage would not help things.

Indila biggest hit is Dernière Danse. Of-course there are a number of talented French artists, but I just feel Indila would have been perfect...

Missed Opportunities 2014: Ireland!

After an eventful national final. Can-Linn featuring Kasey Smith won the right to represent Ireland in February - although the Irish entry bombed in Copenhagen. But why? Was the performance disappointing and lackluster? Were Kasey's vocals poor? Or was it just simply a case of the song not being good enough? Who knows! So maybe the Irish should have sent the gorgeous Patricia Roe instead....

Patricia Roe - Don't Hold On
Patrica Roe only managed 4th with her classy ballad - Don't Hold On. Her song was this bloggers favourite, and even though I liked the winning song, I think Ireland would have qualified with Patricia. Laura's song was pleasant but not instant enough... I personally feel the Irish selection needs revamping - maybe they should go internal next year?

Liechtenstein: No plans to debut in 2015!

Unfortunately, Liechtenstein will not send an entry to Eurovision next year and therefore they are still to make a debut.... 1FLTV, the national broadcaster, said the reason behind this decision is due to a lack of funding and also because the broadcaster isn't a member of the EBU - which makes participation impossible. Will the microstate ever make an appearance in Eurovision?

General: Eurovision logo is revamped!

The official Eurovision generic logo has been revamped by the EBU. There isn't a great deal of difference between this new logo and the previous one. I like it very much! The heart shape logo was introduced back in 2004. Executive Supervisor of Eurovision, Jon Ola Sand, has said:

"We conducted extensive research amongst the participating broadcasters, thousands of regular viewers, fans and other important stakeholders. One of the clear outcomes was that the logo is increasingly recognised, but that it could use a revamp after having been in use for 11 editions of the contest,"