Eurovision 2009

[covarla]

It's that time again! Mmm Eurovision. Gotta love a song contest that encompasses all of Europe. Actually got to watch the semi-finals live, but missed the finals (might get to see the recast).

This years winners were:

1. Norway - "Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak

2. Iceland - "Is it True?" by Yohanna

3. Azerbaijan - "Always" by AySel and Arash

4. Turkey - "Dum Tek Tek" by Hadise

5. England - "It's My Time" by Jade Ewan

6. Estonia - "Randajad" by Urban Symphony (in Estonian)

7. Greece - "This is Our Night" by Sakis Rouvas

8. France - "Et s'il fallait le faire" by Patricia Kaas (in French)

9. Bosnia and Herzegovina - "Bistra voda" by Regina (in Bosnian)

10. Armenia - "Jan Jan" by Inga and Anush (in English and Armenian)

I also quite enjoyed Cyprus's entry "Firefly" by Christina Metaxa, Ireland's "Et Cetera" by Sinead Mulvey and Black Daisy, Slovenia's "Love Symphony" by Quartissimo featuring Martina Majerle, Ukraine's "Be My Valentie (Anti-Crisis Girl)" by Svetlana Loboda, and Israel's "There Must Be Another Way" by Noa & Mira Awad.

Also, the ceremonies opened with a performance by Cirque de Soleil.

Comments

[szeretni]

Hi! Just wanted to tell you that we're now two ppl on DW to like Mor Ve Otesi. ;)
I usually spell it Mor Ve Ötesi but then I found you, so now I'll have both spellings. ;)

[covarla]

The way you spell it is actually the correct way. I just don't usually remember to pull out the character map to get the Ö. Glad to know I'm not alone in my love of Mor Ve Ötesi!

[szeretni]

Right, of course. It's easier in Swedish because we use the letter ö. ;)
I found Mor Ve Ötesi when trying to avoid listening to the ESC. ;)
I don't usually like the music in that competition but two years ago I found a German jazz band that I really liked and some other songs were good, so I thought I'd start watching just to see if there were anything I liked.
I loved Mor Ve Ötesi right from the first time I heard them! :D I've tried to get a hold of their records but haven't found anything here.
The songs I have, I've managed to get through other sources, like YouTube.

I take it you must be European then, if you watch the ESC? ;)
I forgot to watch it this year, I was visiting my aunt on her 60-ieth birthday.

[covarla]

Most of the songs from the ESC don't really impress me, but usually there's a handful that are really good, like Mor Ve Otesi. This year I rather loved Urban Symphony. I only got to watch the semi-finals live, but they recast the finals online and I managed to watch that.

YouTube is a good source for Mor Ve Otesi. I was able to find two of their albums Yaz (3 songs) and Dunya Yalan Soyluyor (10 songs) on iTunes and a few other mp3s randomly on the internet.

Not European, just an American with a love of European (and Asian) music and languages.

[szeretni]

Yeah, my thoughts are the same really. I don't really care for that kind of music but sometimes there are gems and that's why I always watch it every year. :)

I've actually started to learn Turkish, thanks to Mor Ve Ötesi.
It's incredibly difficult but fun, I'm a huge language geek. ;)

I think my fave songs are: Yalniz Sarki, Deli, Sirket and Cambaza...but I guess I just like their style in general, even though I normally listen to a lot of jazz/funk/pop like Jamiroquai, Level 42 etc. :)

[szeretni]

And, you're also interested in shamanism! :D Nice, we seem to have a few things in common. :)

[covarla]

We do seem to have quite a few things in common, like TV shows. I've done a bit of work with shamanism for my grad school classes and Master's thesis.

[szeretni]

Really? That sounds fascinating! Would you like to tell me more about it?
I'm interested both from a cultural and historical perspective, aswell as a practical and spiritual perspective, even though I'm still a sceptic to some things I can't deny what I've experienced. Even though I can't explain the reasons for it...