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 | SNEAK PEEK |
Over the next few weeks I am presenting some songs to listen out for in the Eurovision selections. Given bandwidth limits I'm only leaving the soundfiles online for a limited period, but please come back regularly to hear other
potential Eurovision entries.
Earlier selections : Selection1 Selection 2 Selection 3 Selection 4 Selection 5
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HANS-PETTER MOEN & KIM HAGEN |
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"I Hear Music" |
On Friday 20th January, the second Norwegian semi-final took place in northern costal town of Bodo. Unsurprisingly drag queen duo Queentastic (covered in a previous "sneak peek") made to through, and the other song which qualified for
February's final in Oslo are the duo of Hans-Petter Moen and Kim Hagen with their American west coast flavoured song "I Hear Music", which thematically owes more than a little to the Beach Boys "I Can Hear Music". Hans-Petter Moen (28) and Kim Arne Hagen (29) gave an outstanding performance of their song in Bodo and
surprised many, who didn't rate the song on first listen. The duo already have experience of the Norwegian final, as they finished 3rd in 2005 performing as the group Cheezy Keys. This year's song which contains the wonderfully tongue-in-cheek line "I went to toilet singing to-da-loo" may be an outsider for Athens, but Norway has a
habit of not making the obvious choice when selecting its Eurovision entries. Nice shirts boys! |
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MARTS KRISTIÁNS KALNINS & MELO-MANIA "Say It Is" |
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Since their Eurovision debut in 2000, Latvia has tended to send something rather unusual to Eurovision. 2006 may be no exception as the 20 songs in the selection are an extremely mixed bag, musically. Lurking among them is the the song "Say It Is" which wouldn't
sound out of place on a Franz Ferdinand album. The vocalist is 25 year old Marts Kristians Kalnins, best known in Latvia as the lead singer with the group Autobuss Debesīs. Joining Marts will be an "instrumental cello rock group", the aptly named Melo-mania, a trio who came together in 2004. For those not of a medical persuasion
melomania is "a singular passion for music that is beyond all reason". I must admit that this is my favourite song of the 2006 season so far.
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JOHANNA PAKONEN |
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"Kerta Viimeinen" (The Last Time) |
No country has sent as many entries to Eurovision without success than Finland, but having seen fellow long-term failures Greece finally win the contest in 2005, Finnish broadcaster YLE is going all out for victory in 2006. Finnish television is also showing
several Eurovision related shows, including selecting the country's all time favourite entry (surely a dubious honour). The second semi-final of the 2006 selection was on Friday 20th January and sent three more songs to the final on March 10th. The pick of the three was the only song in Finnish "Kerta Viimeinen" sung by 29 year
old Johanna Pakonen. Johanna is a former "tango queen" and has released five albums in a career stretching back almost ten years. She has also had a couple of hit singles in the last couple of years, and if the Finns are looking for a more traditional Eurovision entry, then this may be the song they go for.
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