Below you will find a list of the entries in this semi and a link to the multi-upload site to download them. The songs should also go up on Noah's site shortly - I'll add that link ASAP. (Thanks as ever, Noah!)
If anyone has any grievances, please contact me directly at the email address you submitted your entries to instead of (or at least before) raising them on the MB. Oh, and if your entry isn't in this semi, it's obviously in the other one ;)
Before we start, though, a reminder about voting...
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Voting
1. If your entry is in this semi, you must vote. If you don't, your entry will be disqualified, regardless of whether it would have qualified or not.
2. Voting is also open to sponsors whose entries are in the other semi and non-participants.
3. Voting is in Eurovision style: 1-8, 10 & 12 points. You can't vote for your own entry.
4. The email address to send your votes to is the same as the one you submitted your entry to: etnw2013@gmail.com. Please make your subject line something like "Anthi's Semi 1 votes".
5. The deadline for voting in Semi 1 is next Sunday 27 January.
6. Remember that you are not simply voting for your favourite entries: your main criteria should still be how authentic you feel the entries are (i.e. how good a match they are for the year + country combination). For example, if you listen to one song and think "yep, that sounds exactly like what a Portuguese entry in 1999 would have been like" and then another and think "I like that more than the Portugal 1999 entry, but it's not as good a match", Portugal 1999 - or whatever it is - should still get higher points. Then again, you might find 10 entries that you think are all good matches, in which case it then more or less comes down to taste ;) Take a look at the bios below for further details on each entry and why their sponsors think they make good matches.
The top 8 entries from each semi will qualify for the final plus the highest-scoring 9th placed song, to make a final - just like the semis - of 17 songs. I'm nothing if not symmetrical!
Did I miss anything? Let me know/ask if I have. Enjoy listening and voting, and good luck to all of the sponsors!
Now, onto the songs...
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SEMI 1
01 Israel 2000 - Zikukim (Moshe Perez)
02 France 1978 - Je suis toutes les femmes (Dalida)
03 The Netherlands 1980 - Pierrot (Bonnie St. Claire)
04 Czechoslovakia 1969 - Hrom aby do tě, lásko má (Eva Pilarová)
05 Malta 2009 - Feeling Better (Malika Ayane)
06 Sweden 2001 - Higher (Peter Jöback)
07 United Kingdom 1990 - There's Got To Be A Way (Mariah Carey)
08 Estonia 2012 - Melyse (Iiris)
09 Germany 1968 - Du mußt mit den Wimpern klimpern (Renate Kern)
10 Yugoslavia 1988 - Kakva noć (Svi na ples) (Neki To Vole Vruće)
11 Monaco 1972 - C'est ma prière (Mike Brant)
12 Austria 2002 - This Is My Time (Sasha)
13 United Kingdom 1961 - Walkin' Back To Happiness (Helen Shapiro)
14 Belgium 2004 - I've Only Begun To Fight (Natalia)
15 Armenia 2012 - Haya haya (Kristina Shahiryan)
16 Greece 1998 - Fila me (Rififi)
17 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1973 - Zbogom ili doviđenja (Kemal Monteno)
Download link: http://www.multiupload.nl/ZHFESGA6VD
And Noah's link: www.eurobosniamp3.com/etnw/ETNW_2013_Semi_1.zip
And here are the bios...
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Israel 2000Zikukim - Moshe Perez
Zikukim was released by Israeli singer Moshe Perez in 2011. While it has no connection to Eurovision, it is a very Israel-at-Eurovision song and could suit just about any year from 1970 onwards – but especially 2000. Though Same'ach wasn't a joke entry as such, I'd forgotten how bad Ping Pong really were (even worse than Scooch!), and I wish they'd sent something like Zikukim to match the level of quality of the other songs that year.
France 1978Je suis toutes les femmes - Dalida
Je
suis toutes les femmes was
released by Egyptian-born Italian singer Dalida in 1978. Having lived
most of her adult life in France, and singing almost all of her songs
in French, Dalida would undoubtedly have sung for the country if
she'd entered Eurovision. She may well have challenged for a
successive title for France in 1978, snapping up 12 points from Italy
(whose 1959 entry Ciao,
ciao bambina was a regular
feature of her repertoire) and other countries.
The
Netherlands 1980
Pierrot - Bonnie St. Claire
Pierrot
was released by Dutch singer Bonnie St. Claire in1980, two years
before the last of her three national final appearances. People in
the Netherlands were unhappy with the internal selection of Amsterdam
and didn't rate it as a song, while Pierrot
was ten times the hit that year's ESC entry proved to be. To me it
also sounds like a worthy successor to Mallemolen
and
a prelude to Het
is een wonder.
Czechoslovakia 1969
Hrom
aby do tě,
lásko
má - Eva
Pilarová
Hrom
aby do tě,
lásko
má
was
released by Czech singer Eva Pilarová
in 1969. Czechoslovakia showed a couple of ESCs back in the '60s and,
had politics allowed it, would surely have taken part. They regularly
sent artists to international festivals, as they did with Eva
Pilarová
and this song, to the 'Golden Cock' in Rio de Janeiro. And if it
could be sent there, it could just as easily have been sent to
Madrid.
Malta 2009
Feeling
Better - Malika Ayane
Feeling
Better was
released by Moroccan-Italian singer Malika Ayane in 2008. After
another disappointing result the previous year, she was poached by
Malta while taking part in San Remo. However, they favoured this song
over her San Remo entry, feeling its happy-clappy sound was better
suited to Eurovision and more in line with their own more successful
entries of the early 2000s.
Sweden 2001
Higher - Peter
Jöback
Higher
was released by Swedish singer Peter Jöback in 2000, ten years
before he would appear in the line-up of Melodifestivalen. The song
is a strong example of the ABBA-tinged Scandipop that the Nordic
countries were entering in the early noughties, and I feel that it
would have scored a top 5 finish for Sweden in Copenhagen.
United
Kingdom 1990
There's Got To Be A Way - Mariah Carey
There's
Got To Be A Way was
released by American singer Mariah Carey in 1990. She obviously has
no connection to Eurovision, but with lyrics like “...maybe
then the future will be a time without war, destitution and sorrow
and the hungry children won't have to die”, how could it not fit?
The melody, key changes and big finish don't hurt either.
Estonia 2012
Melyse - Iiris
Melyse
was released by two-time Eesti laul entrant Iiris in 2012. It feels
really Estonian.
Germany 1968
Du
mußt mit den Wimpern klimpern - Renate
Kern
Du
mußt mit den Wimpern klimpern
was released by German singer Renate Kern in 1968 – eight years
before she sought to revive her flagging career by attempting
(unsuccessfully) to enter the national final for Eurovision. But as
one of the rising stars of schlager that year, riding high on a top
ten hit, she would have been a logical and for that matter home-grown
alternative to Wencke's Ein
Hoch der Liebe.
Yugoslavia 1988
Kakva
noć
(Svi na ples) - Neki To Vole Vruće
Kakva
noć
was
released by Croatian band Neki
To Vole Vruće
in 1988, five years before they would take part in Dora. The song is
a perfect example of late '80s Yugo pop-rock, very similar to what
the country sent to Eurovision between 1987 and 1990, and the band
are from Croatia – just like the actual Yugoslav entrants from 1987
to 1989.
Monaco 1972
C'est
ma prière - Mike
Brant
C'est
ma prière
was released by Cypriot-born, Israeli-raised singer Mike Brant in
1972. He began singing English and French songs in resort
restaurants, hotels and night clubs as a teenager and would
eventually go on to record a French cover version of a San Remo entry
that would prove more popular than the original. His musical roots
and less than perfect French pronunciation and the cheesy message of
this song would have made it perfect for Monaco at ESC!
Austria 2002
This
Is My Time - Sasha
This
Is My Time was
released by German singer Sasha in 2002 and would go on to become the
FIFA World Cup television theme. Like the Austrian entry it's
standing in for, it's a catchy if slightly dated German-sounding pop
song with a repetitive but memorable chorus sung in English by a male
artist.
United
Kingdom 1961
Walkin' Back To Happiness - Helen Shapiro
Walkin'
Back To Happiness was
released by English singer Helen Shapiro in 1961. Given that Shapiro
was the UK's undisputed queen of pop at the time and that this song
is typical of the sort of light, fluffy pop the country was sending
to Eurovision in the early '60s, it's amazing the BBC never apprached
her to do the contest. She may well have become Essex's first ESC
winner six years before it actually happened!
Belgium 2004
I've
Only Begun To Fight - Natalia
I've
Only Begun To Fight was
released by Belgian singer Natalia in 2003. When she entered the
national final in 2004 people expected her song to be as good as
this, a number one and her biggest hit. Needless to say it wasn't,
and people felt this song should have been saved for Eurovision
instead. She was the most popular singer in Flanders at the time and
would almost certainly have beaten Xandee.
Armenia 2012
Haya
haya - Kristina Shahiryan
Haya
haya
was released by Armenian newcomer Kristina Shahiryan in 2011. It's an
ethno-pop dance song with a chorus in which the singer repeats a word
twice – just like three other Armenian entries. Ms Shahiryan also
matches the trend of the country sending new, young female artists to
Eurovision. The song is all in Armenian, which they would undoubtedly
have gone for in Baku just to stir up controversy.
Greece 1998
Fila
me - Rififi
Fila
me
was re-released by Greek band Rififi in 1999 after originally seeing
the light of day in 1991. The group have no connection to Eurovision,
but their rock stylings make the song a good match for the country's
actual entry that year.
Bosnia
and Herzegovina 1973
Zbogom ili doviđenja - Kemal
Monteno
Zbogom
ili doviđenja
was released by Bosnian singer Kemal Monteno in 1973. He would go on
to take part in the Yugoslav semi-finals for Eurovision in 1974
before enjoying widespread success throughout Yugoslavia. The song
has a sound typical of Yugoslav entries from this era, and it seems
likely that an artist of Monteno's calibre would have sought to
represent the federation early in his career.
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