Tag Archives: 2017 Eurovision Song Contest

Levina performs ‘Perfect Life’ on ZDF-Fernsehgarten on tour in Fuerteventura

Levina {copyright: ZDF}
Levina {copyright: ZDF}

Levina will soon be representing Germany at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest with her song Perfect Life. She has been warming up for this by appearing on the German tv show ZDF-Fernsehgarten on tour in the Spanish island of Fuerteventura.

You can see her performance below.

Source: ESC Covers; ZDF

 

 

Watch Lucie Jones perform ‘Never Give Up On You’ on Graham Norton Show

Lucie Jones {copyright: BBC}
Lucie Jones {copyright: BBC}

Lucie Jones warmed up for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest by performing her United Kingdom entry, Never Give Up On You, on the Graham Norton show on BBC this weekend.

Lucie gave a confident and clear vocal performance of her song. You can see her performance below.

Source: ESC Covers; BBC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtlUatoAKns

Ilinca & Alex Florea warm up for Eurovision with performance at 2017 European Championships of Artistic Gymnastics

Ilinca & Alex Florea {copyright: TVR}
Ilinca & Alex Florea {copyright: TVR}

Very soon Ilinca & Alex Florea will be taking to the stage in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest with Yodel It! for Romania. They have been warming up with lots of promotion appearances and they have just appeared at the closing ceremony of the 2017 European Championships of Artistic Gymnastics.

You can see Ilinca & Alex Florea perform Yodel It! below.

Source: TVR; ESC Covers

Ilinca & Alex Florea release charming video clip for ‘Yodel It!’

Ilinca feat. Alex Florea {copyright: Cat Music}
Ilinca feat. Alex Florea {copyright: Cat Music}

The  cute and quirky entry from Romania is Yodel It!, by Ilinca feat. Alexa Florea. Now the official video clip has been released. It is a charming clip with Ilinca looking beautiful walking around the town wearing a lovely yellow dress and Alex rapping and singing from the rooftops with other joining in the fun through video. The clip was filmed in the beautiful city of Cluj Nacoja, were Ilinca originates from. The video is courtesy of Cat Music. Cinematography is by Florin Balan and it is produced by Vali Anita and Sergiu Stoiadin.

Yodel It! is composed by Mihai Alexandru with lyrics by Alexa Niculae. Romania will compete in semi-final two on 11 May in Kiev.

You can see the video for Yodel It! below

Source: Cat Music; ESC Covers

Omar Naber releases the official video for ‘On My Way’

Omar Naber {copyright: RTVSLO)
Omar Naber {copyright: RTVSLO)

Omar Naber will represent Slovenia at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev with his song On My Way. The official video for the song has just been released. It is shot in black and white and quite atmospheric.

Omar also represented Slovenia, ironically in Kiev also, at the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest with Stop.

Slovenia will participate in the first semi-final on 9 May.

You can see the video for On My Way below.

Source: ESC Covers

Lucie Jones releases 7th Heaven remix of ‘Never Give Up On You’

Lucie Jones {copyright: hawtcelebs.com}
Lucie Jones {copyright: hawtcelebs.com}

Lucie Jones will represent United Kingdom in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest with her song Never Give Up On You. Lucie has just released a remix of the song. It is the 7th Heaven Club Mix and there is a radio edit and extended club version.

The remix works very well with the song and in my opinion would make a great entry itself for the Eurovision stage.

You can hear the 7th Heaven Club Mix radio edit of Never Give Up On You below.

Source: ESC Covers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KTH9bhvWk8

Armenia: Listen to Artsvik and ‘Fly With Me’

Artsvik {copyright: AMPTV}
Artsvik {copyright: AMPTV}

The final song to be presented for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest is from Armenia. The song, Fly Be Me, by Artsvik has just been premiered. It has some ethnic tones and appears to be an interesting song which could look very good on stage. The music is by Lilit Navasardyan and Levon Navasardyan with lyrics by Avet Barseghyan and David Tserunyan.

The music video is very capturing and the director is Arthur Manukyan and the cinematographer is Mko Malkhasyan. The costume designer is Aram Nikolyan with choreography by Hovhannes Sargsyan. It is an AMPTV production.

You can see the video for Fly By Me below.

Source: ESC Bubble; ESC Covers

 

Gallery: Naviband concert in Belarus

Naviband {copyright: Eliana Goncharova}
Naviband {copyright: Eliana Goncharova}

Naviband will represent Belarus at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest with Historyja majho žyccia. This week they played a special concert in Gomel in Belarus. Eliana Goncharova was their to experience the concert and also make these special photos for ESC Covers.

Photos copyright@Eliana Goncharova

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Interview: Alexa Niculae (lyricist of ‘Yodel It!’ – ESC 2017 Romania)

Alexa Niculae {copyright: adpm.ro}
Alexa Niculae {copyright: adpm.ro}

Alexa Niculae is the lyricist and Mihai Alexandru, the composer of Yodel It! by Ilinca feat. Alex Florea, which is the song that will represent Romania at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev.

Here Alexa speaks to ESC Covers –

1. Hello Alexa. Many congratulations to you and Mihai Alexandru for composing, ‘Yodel It!’ by Ilinca & Alex Florea, the winning song of 2017 Selectia Nationala in Romania. What does this success mean to you and how does it feel to be representing your country the Eurovision Song Contest?

Thank you so much! To me, representing Romania in the Eurovision contest has always been a dream of mine and now that the dream has come true, it’s an honour. Every year since I was a little girl I’ve watched this show and I find it amazing every time. As you know, I tried as a singer but I’ve tried my hand at writing as well for the competition. And this year it seems we got our lucky break, not only for myself but for Mihai Alexandru as well who really wanted to comeback in the competition.

2. Could you tell us your inspiration in composing ‘Yodel It!’?

The idea of a yodelling song combining rap with a mix of rock was Mihai’s idea but I thought of giving it a good message and so I wrote the lyrics to it.
It’s very uplifting, basically I thought of the everyday life of someone who is stuck in a routine, running in circles, doing something that they don’t enjoy and have put their dreams aside and want to break free of all of that. Something that I think many people will relate to. And I thought of the idea of someone coming along and lifting your spirit and giving you courage in breaking out of that cycle by using the “Yodel”‘ to feel better. Because just listening to someone yodel makes you smile and gives you a good vibe. That’s what yodelling does to me . Ha ha!.. And that’s how the lyrics came in my mind.

3. How did you come to work with Ilinca & Alex Florea? The song is a unique style.

I knew Ilinca and Alex from a talent show they were on two years ago, and I thought they had great voices. Mihai wanted to do a song with yodelling and saw Ilinca on tv and so he invited her to sing it. Then he realised that the song needed a male presence and after a short search , we found Alex Florea and we thought he was a good choice for the song, not only because of his voice but because of his energy as well. He is “rock” and we loved that. And in this context we realised that he has rap skills as well. They have great chemistry on stage and that’s a very good thing. And it shows .

4. Alexa, you are an established singer yourself and have participated in the Selectia Nationala in the past. Could you tell us about your previous participations in the selection?

My most recent try for the Eurovision Contest was two years ago when I collaborated with Aurelian Temisan for the song ‘Chica Latina’ and that was a wonderful experience even though we didn’t win but we got to perform in front of 4,000 people and it felt amazing. I also tried my luck in 2009 and 2010 as a solo performance but I also wrote the lyrics to other songs that got selected in the national competition, for example for Renne Santana in 2013 and 2014. What can I say, this year was finally the lucky year.

5. You participated in Megastar tv show in Romania. Could you tell us about this experience and tell us about some of the songs you performed?

The Megastar tv show was more like American Idol . I finished in the top 3 and I got to sing a lot of good but hard songs. My favourite songs in this competition were ‘I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker by Sandi Thom, ‘Irreplaceable’ by Beyonce, ‘Breakaway’ by Kelly Clarkson and of course ‘Waterloo’ by ABBA . It was a good experience for me, I learned a lot of things about myself and how courageous I can be under pressure.

6. Could you tell us about some of your songs you have released and where readers can listen to your music?

Last year, I had a collaboration with Serkan, a Turkish singer , and together we released the song called ‘IMDAT’ which means “SOS”. It was played on the radio in Turkey and Albania. I sing at events and I also work at the tv show “Cronica Carcotasilor” on Prima Tv where I present a funny column called “Vocea Poporului”. I also wrote lyrics for a few artists in Romania as well as from abroad. You can check out ‘IMDAT’ on Youtube channel as well as my Eurovision performances from the last years.

7. Have you participated in any other music festivals in Romania or abroad?

Besides Megastar and Eurovision, the National selection, no. I’ve tried of doing my artistic thing locally let’s say. I had the chance of presenting a musical contest called Global Battle of the Bands in London, UK. And I got the chance to host it twice. I learned a lot of great things there and I met a lot of cool people.

8. Do you have a favourite Eurovision song from the past?

I really loved Loreen with ‘Euphoria’ and ‘Heroes’ by Mans Zelmerlow. . I also have favourite songs that actually didn’t win but could’ve like ‘A Million Voices’ by Polina Gagarina a few years ago and of course our Romanian contestants like Paula Seling and Ovi with ‘Playing With Fire’ and Sistem with Luminita and ‘Let Me Try’. Believe me , it’s a looong list!!!

9. Who are your own musical influences?

I listen to a lot of music and I’m influenced more by good singers and good attitude on stage. Just to name a few of my favourite artists: Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Shakira but the legends as well Freddie Mercury, Celine Dion, Tina Turner. It’s a long list here too. Ha ha!!

Thank you very much Alexa. We wish you lots of luck in Kiev. Pass on our good wishes to Mihai and of course Ilinca and Alex Florea.

Thank you very much Ian. It’s a wonderful thing to finally be a part of this wonderful ride. I will send them all your good wishes. See you in Kiev!

You can hear IMDAT by Alexa with Serkan below as well as see a performance of Yodel It! by Ilinca feat. Alex Florea from the Selectia Nationala final

Albania: Lindita releases English final version – ‘World’

Lindita - from the official preview clip of 'World'
Lindita – from the official preview clip of ‘World’

Way back in December Lindita won the Festivali i Këngës with her song Botë and won the right to represent Albania at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. Now Lindita has released the totally revamped version of her song in English. It is entitled World.

The new studio and final version has a more polished production. It is a power ballad with a lot of emotion. She has also released the official video to accompany the song.

You can see the official preview video of World below.

Source: ESC Covers; youtube/Eurovisionsongcontest channel