All posts by Roy van der Merwe

competition

HEJ GAMLE MAN COMPETITION

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The 7th competition in our ten part series involves again something to do with ABBA. In 1969 Bjorn and Benny released a song in Swedish called HEJ GAMLE MAN which became quite a big hit. I only heard the song for the first time in 1996 and loved it from the first minute and I always wanted it to be covered. Steven Sterling did it, both in English and in Afrikaans.

The Afrikaans title is KLEIN PIK SOENTJIES (Small cheek kisses) and the English title is SHOW ME THE WAY.

A copy of this will be handed to the ABBA museum but we have two copies for Bjorn and Benny fans.

The question is – if Bjorn and Benny ask you for which 2016 artist should they compose a song, who will you suggest and why?

Please put your answers as a comment to this post.

1-hey gamble

competition

ONE MORE TIME FOR A COMPETITION

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Yes it is time for the 6th competition in our series of ten in the run-up to the 2016 Eurovision song contest. Because we are in Sweden and in Stockholm, most of the competitions will center around ABBA, the museum and other Swedish artists.

With the compliments of STERLING MUSIC, two copies can be won of the Afrikaans cover of the 1996 Swedish Eurovision entry, DEN VILDA originally sung by ONE MORE TIME – this trio featured Peter, the son of Benny of Abba and Peter’s wife Nanna and her sister. R O W will hand a copy of it to One more time in Stockholm but two lucky fans can each have a copy of it.

In Afrikaans it is called WIEGELIED (Lullaby).

The question for this is, if you have to sing a lullaby to a baby, which Eurovision song will you pick and why. Once again answers must be placed on this post as comments.

1-one more time

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LIGHTHOUSE X WILL LIVE-STEAM INTIMATE SHOW

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On April 25th at 8pm, Lighthouse X will deliver a special and intimate show. It will be live-streamed online, making it possible for everyone to attend the show in the comfort of their own home – completely free. During the show, the audience can ask the Danish representatives of the Eurovision Song Contest questions, which they will answer live. 

In May, Stockholm will host the Eurovision Song Contest, and the Danish representatives are called Søren Bregendal, Johannes Nymark and Martin Skriver – also known as Lighthouse X. They are representing Denmark with their uplifiting pop hit, Soldiers of Love.

Before Lighthouse X travel to Sweden and participate in the grand show, they are inviting everyone to join them for a quite different performance – an intimate concert. And it will not be the regular kind of intimate show, as it will be live-streamed, allowing everyone to attend the concert in the comfort of their own home – completely free.

An interactive experience for the audience

The show takes place on April 25th at 8pm, and fans of the band can look forward to experiencing the band play their most popular songs in the very special setting. The concert can be experienced through this link – please note that registration is required to gain access: www.tinyurl.com/lhx-intim

It will also be an interactive experience for the audience, as they can ask Søren, Johannes and Martin questions during the show, which they will answer lively. The Lighthouse X members will also share both fun and moving stories.

Back to basics before the trip to Stockholm

“We are really looking forward to trying out this format, as it is both very intimate and far-reaching all at once,” Søren Bregendal explains and continues:

“It will be an exciting and challenging contrast to the big Eurovision performance, which we are also busy preparing for. It will be a back to basics performance, and I think that’s healthy for us. And regardless of the format, our mission always stays the same – to make a positive change through music, because we have an honest belief that music can unite people in a way that no other ways of communication can.”

 

competition

THIS TIME – A FIRE WORKS COMPETITION

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Sony South Africa has made available the brand new CD of the group 4werke (fireworkers) called 4WARM as a price in a competition. 4werke consists of 4 South African singers, all R O W members – Elizma Theron, Liezel Pieters, Nicholis Louw and Ray Dylan.

The CD has 14 tracks but one of them is a Eurovision cover – Lithuania 2015 – THIS TIME, originally sung by Monika Linkyte and Vaidas Baumila. 4werke covers the song in English since we were unable to contact the composers to get permission for the Afrikaans lyrics.

In order to win this CD, you will have to do a comment to this post about your favourite Lithuanian Eurovision entry and why you like that particular song. Sony will decide who is the winner.

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competition

CZECH IN FOR ANOTHER COMPETITION

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It is time to czech in for another competition – this time it involves a cover of one of the Eurovision entries from the Czech republic.

Marli and Gert kitaar covered the 2015 Czech entry HOPE NEVER DIES originally sung by Marta Jandova and Vaclav Noid Barta. They call it HART SE  SNARE (Strings of the heart).

Marli has made one copy available for one of our fans. The question is

We have heard that the Czech republic is now focusing on a new name for the country. If you had been asked to pick a new name for this country, what would you pick? Give us just your choice of name and the most interesting to Marli will win the CD single. You can send your answers as a comment to this post

 

competition

DANKIE VIR DIE WOORDE COMPETITION

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Because I have time today, I will also introduce our third competition. This is open to EACH AND EVERY EUROVISION fan, not just R O W members.

The competition is about DANKIE VIR DIE WOORDE (thank you for the words). It is an AFRIKAANS cover of the ABBA song THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC. Nedine Blom, a South African singer and also R O W member wrote the lyrics and recorded it as a tribute to ABBA and the museum. There are only a few copies, of which one will go to the museum, one of obviously for me, and then a few to be won by fans. You will have to comment on this post as follows: over the years many Eurovision entries consisted of just ONE word, several winners like WATERLOO and HEROES. Now you have to think about your most loved ONE WORD title of a Eurovision entry and give a short reason why you like that one word. Winners will be announced before Stockholm and if the winners are there, they will get it there, others will be posted.

competition

ABBA MEDLEY COMPETITION

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We have another competition, but this unfortunately is only for R O W members who will be at the ABBA museum on Wednesday 11 May.

Two South African singers (and R O W members) have done ABBA medleys and these songs are now available on one CD. There are just 5 copies, one will be given to the museum and 4 others to R O W members who are at the museum that day. It will be a lucky draw so everybody who will be there – your name will be put into a hat and the first 4 names drawn, will get these medley singles. The songs on the medleys are

PATRICIA LEWIS

01 – Ring ring

02 – S O S

03 – Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight

04 – Waterloo

05 – Thank you for the music

RIANA VAN WYK

01 – Take a chance on me

02 – Dancing queen

03 – Mamma mia

04 – Thank you for the music

 

competition

SANNA NIELSEN MUSIC COMPETITION

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Linda Kilian’s new CD HOOR JY MY (Do you hear me) contains no less than 6 Sanna Nielsen covers, two in English and four in Afrikaans. Mad events has kindly donated two CD’s to us and one will be given to Sanna herself and the other one is up for grabs in a competition. Before we get to the competition, here is information on the six covers

01 – HEART OF MINE – same title as it is covered in English

02 – I’M IN LOVE, Sanna’s 2011 selection song – same title as it is covered in English

03 – VAGAR DU, VAGAR JAG, Sanna’s 2007 selection song – SAL JY WAAG (Will you take a risk)

04 – IF YOU WERE MINE – EK DINK AAN JOU (I think about you)

05 – EMPTY ROOM, Sanna’s 2008 selection song – SO ALLEEN (So alone)

06 – UNDO, Sanna’s 2014 Eurovision entry – HOOR JY MY (Do you hear me)

Now how to win this CD? Do a comment on this post and tell us your favourite of the 6 Sanna songs and why. One lucky fan will win this CD. If that person is in Stockholm, he or she will get it there, otherwise we will post it to you once Eurovision is over

Single release

WALK ON WATER released as a single

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Today Malta’s biggest pop star Ira Losco is releasing her single “Walk On Water” together with Warner Music Sweden. The song is written by a well known Swedish songwriter team and is one of the favourites to win Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm. Ira’s single has already gained great attention in the social medias and the music video for “Walk On Water” has passed more than one million views on YouTube. The team behind this powerful song, beside the artist herself, consists of Swedish Melodifestivalen star Molly Pettersson Hammar, songwriter Lisa Desmond and producer duo Tim Larsson and Tobias Lundgren. Tim and Tobias were behind this year’s breakthrough success Boris René with the hit song “Put Your Love On Me” in the Swedish selections for ESC. They’re also known for their hits with Celine Dion and Susan Boyle, to mention a couple.

“Ira is an exceptional singer, and we think this is a very strong song not only for Eurovision but also for commercial release. We look forward to working with her over the next months, and of course to her visiting Stockholm for Eurovision itself,” said Robert Skowronski, A&R and Product Manager at Warner Music Sweden.

With a career spanning over 15 years and more than 20 Music Awards, Ira Losco is one of the biggest names in Malta’s music industry. Previously Ira has been opening concerts for Sir Elton John and performed alongside Akon, Maroon 5, Enrique Iglesias, Ronan Keating, Katie Melua, Tokio Hotel and others. Ira is also no stranger to Eurovision. She was 12 points of winning the Eurovision Song Contest in Tallinn in 2002. With four albums behind her, she is now back to fight for the winning spot in Stockholm. Ira will perform in the first Eurovision semi-final on May 10th.

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FULL LIST OF OGAE REST OF THE WORLD VOTING

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We have published this already on our facebooks but thought it would look nice on the website as well

1 Australia
2 Russia
3 France
4 Hungary
5 Slovenia
6 Bulgaria
7 Azerbaijan
8 Ukraine
9 Spain
10 Croatia
11 Latvia
12 Germany
13 Italy
14 Iceland
15 Armenia
16 Cyprus
17 Malta
18 Estonia
19 Czech Republic
20 Norway
21 Belarus
22 Sweden
23 Denmark
24 Poland
25 Austria
26 United Kingdom
27 Israel
28 Serbia
29 Belgium
30 Netherlands
31 Bosnia & Herzegovina
32 Ireland
33 Albania
34 F Y R Macedonia
35 Finland
36 Lithuania
37 Greece
38 Georgia
39 Switzerland
40 San Marino
41 Romania
42 Moldova
43 Montenegro