Senhit has released the latest of her regular #FreakyTripToRotterdam project with a cover of Waterloo by ABBA (the 1974 Eurovision winning song). She has definitely done a complete rehaul of the song with her own unique version and dramatic and ‘freaky’ styles. Maybe it is not for all tastes but credit Senhit for trying something different.
Senhit was chosen to represent San Marino at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest with Freaky! until the show was cancelled due to the world health pandemic. She also represented them in 2011 with Stand By. However, she will get the chance again to represent San Marino at the 2021 Eurovision.
You can see the music video for Waterloo by Senhit below.
ESC Covers has decided to do some projects in the run-up to the 2021 Eurovision song contest from Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The first project for January will focus on JANTJE SMIT (or JAN SMIT as he is now known since he is grown up). Jan will be one of the presenters/hosts of the 2021 Eurovision. In 1997 I discovered JANTJE as an 11 year old when he recorded his single song and it became a huge hit. The song is called IK ZING DIT LIED VOOR JOU ALLEEN. Andrea Jurgens, a child female star from Germany recorded the song for the first time when she was 12 or so. Jantjie’s single became a big seller and I had followed his career since then. So for the 31 days of January, I will focus each day on one of his songs over the years.
Anxhela Peristeri has won the Festivali i Këngës #59 contest and will therefore represent Albania at the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest. Her song is called Karma.
Karma is a powerful and dramatic ethnic pop song and is composed by Kledi Bahiti (music) and Olti Curri (lyrics).
18 acts performed in the grand final of Festivali i Këngës #59.
Faith-Louise has released the official music video for her new song Blaaa. It is a cool clip filmed at Clacton Pier in Essex, England.
The lyrics for Blaaa are by Faith-Louise. The music is produced by Ashea at SAFO Music Group. The video clip is courtesy of Holly Leach (HollyVision Digital Productions).
Blaaa is available to purchase or stream via most digital stores such as Amazon, Spotify, Apple Music and many more.
Faith-Louise continues to blossom as a young and contemporary artist. Her previous single was Breakthrough which received a lot of acclaim. She has won many awards including Factor Essex in the UK and her new song has been played by BBC Introducing.
You can see the official music video for Blaaa below.
The competing acts to take part in the France 2021 Eurovision selection. The new selection process is called Eurovision France – C’est vous qui décidez!
Roxen & Alexander Rybak have collaborated on a new song called Wonderland. It is an upbeat and catchy track with a positive and happy vibe. I am not sure Alexander actually sings on this track but I presume he is involved in the music playing.
Wonderland is available to purchase or stream via most digital stores such as Amazon, Spotify and many more.
Roxen was chosen to represent Romania at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest with Alcohol You. The competition was, however, cancelled due to the world health pandemic. Roxen will get another chance as she has been confirmed to represent Romania at the 2021 Eurovision.
Alexander Rybak won the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest for Norway with Fairytale. He returned to compete again for Norway the 2018 Eurovision with That’s How You Write A Song.
Elena Tsagrinou has been chosen to represent Cyprus at the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest. The song she will perform will be El Diablo (The Devil) which will be revealed at a later date.
Elena is a very popular and much respected singer in the Greek music scene. She is 26 years old and first came in to the spotlight in 2008, at 14 years, when she was a popular contestant in ‘Greece Got Talent’, where she got to the semi-finals.
In 2013 Elene joined the OtherView group, and they had many hit songs. Then in 2018 she began her solo recording career and has had many hit songs and music videos and performed in concerts and shows in Greece and Cyprus.
Elena is also a successful personality where she has been a coach on the ‘Just The 2 Of Us’ music show, she has been a presenter on ‘The Voice of Greece’ and recently has been presenting her own show ‘K-Pop Stars’ on MAD TV in Greece and Cyprus.
The song that Elena will sing at Eurovision 2021 is El Diablo. It is composed by successful songwriters, Jimmy “Joker” Thornfeldt (Swedish music producer and writer for worldwide artists like Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull, Usher and Nicki Minaj), Laurell Barker (Canadian songwriter who composed the 2019 ESC Swiss entry She Got Me by Luca Hänni and had KPop success with Twice, Oh My Girl and Girls Generation and Swedish hits including for Hanna Ferm), Oxa (Brazilian born singer, songwriter and dancer and took part in many musicals as well as The Voice of Germany in 2019) and Thomas Stengaard (Award winning Danish songwriter/producer who wrote the Denmark ESC winning song for Emmelie de Forrest, Only Teardrops, in 2013. He was also one of the writers of the German 2018 ESC song by You Let Me Walk Alone by Michael Schulte).
You can see the music videos of Lógia (from 2019) and Amore (2020) by Elena Tsagrinou below.
The dates for the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest have been revealed –
The first semi-final will be on Tuesday 18 May and the second semi-final on Thursday 20 May with the Grand Final on Saturday 22 May in Rotterdam.
The Executive Producer, Sietse Bakker, advised – “The music, the artists, the fans, the competition and the international character combined is what makes the Eurovision Song Contest so special. We now have a year to explore all scenarios in detail with the parties involved and to make the shows happen regardless of the circumstances, with adjustments if necessary. We still aim high!”
