http://queerovision.wordpress.com/queerovision-chart/

 Do not forget to vote for your personal favorites!

Magdi Rúzsa´s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest became somewhat of a fairy tale come true. Not only did she manage to qualify for the final, she also reached the 9th place in the grand final and thereby secured Hungary a guaranteed place in next year´s final. After the final Magdi received the Composers´ award and recently she won the ESC Radio Award for Best Female 2007. In the same voting Unsubstantial Blues won 2nd prize in the Best song 2007 category.

Warm congratulations Magdi on the 9th place in the Eurovision Song Contest final and the 2nd place in the qualifying heat! How does it feel?

- It was really big pleasure!

Are you the slightest bit disappointed that you did not finish 2nd in the final as well?

- Well, we didn’t know in the final, that we had qualified in second place. We are not disappointed, as we saw that voting was rather based on geographical and national base than on musical taste

You finished in the top 3 in the televote in all the Nordic countries, why do you think your song was so popular in that particular region?

- I think my song is different from the others in the contest, and Nordic countries have a really sophisticated taste, so I am very happy they liked my song.

You were born in Serbia, how did you feel when you got 12 points in the Serbian televote?

- I was extremely happy, I know this was thanks to the people living in Vojvodina and the nearby.

And what do you think about the Serbian victory?

- It is a really great song, and she is a really big talent, so she deserved it well.

Did you make any news friends among your fellow competitors in Helsinki?

- Well, we made good relationship with Dado Topic, and there is a chance of future co-operation with him as well

Whose idea was it to have the bus stop sign on stage in Helsinki?

- It was my idea, and my label boss chose a nice bus stop design for it

What are your plans now? Are you going to release anything in other countries than Hungary?

- My CD has just been made available on Amazon.de and we hope that our Hungarian distributor Universal Music can make the release in Nordic territories happen.

Would you ever consider participating in the Eurovision Song Contest again?

- Yes, sure, why not, but again only with such a song that is typical of me

Favourite Eurovision Song Contest entry from the past:
Lane Moje by Zejko Joksimovic (Serbia 2004)

I would like to do a duet with this artist:
There are too many, but with Dado Topic for sure

If I had not been an artist I would have like to have become:
I was working as a maternity nurse

The best memory that I brought back with me from Helsinki:
There were too many, but the moment I learnt, my song was chosen the best song by all composers maybe

Favourite Internet site:
www.rmfc.hu my fans’ website, I love them

Magdi chooses:

Dog                                         Cat
Working in the studio     Performing live
Reading                                 Writing

Now you can download 13 versions and the video of the Russian entry for the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest, Song #1 performed by Serebro.

The song is currently at number 9 in the Queerovision chart.

Enjoy!

Number of tracks: 16 

Duration: 62:46

Best song: Sing For Me

From having been considered by many as somewhat of a one hit wonder Mr. Johnson, whose room according to the title of his latest studio album was on fire, got his second breakthrough at last year´s Melodifestivalen when he set a lot of hearts on fire with the fantastic Sing For Me. The entry was the juries´ favourite but it only finished 3rd after the televotes had been counted. However, the song went on to become a smash hit and topped almost every chart possible for months on end.

This year Andreas went one place better in Melodifestivalen when he - all dressed in leather and allegedly performning without any underwear – came 2nd with A Little Bit Of Love.

As is always the case with greatest hits collections it is quite difficult to judge the contents. Some of the songs were released several years ago and the different tracks were not intented to complement each other.

The quality of the songs is somewhat uneven and spans from the ingenious to the downright boring. It is obvious, though, that a lot of Andreas´ songs have been heavily underrated. The great Show Me Love and The Games We Play are certainly well worthy of a reminder.

There are also two brand new tracks on the album. The upcoming single Go For The Soul is bound to be a minor summer hit. The other new song Do What You Want is a nice enough rock song, but it lacks a hook so it does not really stand out.

However, it is the hits Glorious, Sing For Me and A Little Bit Of Love that are the real highlights of the collection.

Personally I miss the ballad Drop In The Ocean which in my humble opinion is one of Andreas´ best and most beautiful songs ever.

Although Andreas has said that he will take a break from Melodifestivalen next I hope he will change his mind and give it another go with the song of his life.

Grade (0-5):

The Collector can be bought at CDON.com

Andreas´ website can be found here

Click here to see the top 10 and the new challengers. And do not forget to cast your votes for next month´s chart.

Number of tracks: 13

Duration: 45:32

Best song: Bol do ludila

Molitva & Marija was a magical and unique fusion of magnificent music and an awesome artist.

None of the songs on Marija´s second album from 2006 reach the same wuthering heights as Molitva. But that does not mean that Bez ljubavi is a bad album. Far from it!

The 13 tracks are middle-of-the-road Balkan pop of the kind that first and foremost Vanna has made hugely popular in the former Yugoslav countries. However, several of the songs lack the melodic hooks that have become one of the Croatian superstar´s trademarks.

Although it would be impossible – and perhaps not even something to wish for – to make an album made up entirely of power ballads like Molitva I would have preferred a little less R´n´B influences in the musical arrangements and a little more emotion and drama in songs that make use of and show Marija´s full vocal abilities.

Ironically the best songs on the album are the three bonus tracks. The ballad Bol do ludilo which won Marija the 1st prize at the Budva Festival 2004 can perhaps be seen as an indication of what was to come for Marija, but it does not play in the same league as the Eurovision winning song.

It seems highly unlikely that Marija will be able to conquer Europe with her most recent collection of songs. I think, however, that Marija grew several sizes as an artist on the stage in Helsinki and therefore I am looking very curious to see and hear what Marija will do next. She definately has the voice to make it big but she urgently needs a truly great album in English to make sure that she will not fall into the category of Eurovision winners who were never able to build a solid career after being triumphant in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Grade (0-5):

Marija´s website can be visited here 

Marija´s album can be bought at Yu4You.com

Number of tracks: 15

Duration: 48:54

Best song: Frauen regier´n die Welt 

Despite finishing in a rather disappointing 19th place in the Eurovision Song Contest I sincerely hope that German Roger Cicero will try to make a name for himself in the rest of Europe.

The album Männersachen (Male matters) is a classy mixture of modern and good old-fashioned swing music. Roger´s style of music makes you think of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Robbie Williams, but he is never just a mere imitation of his idols. Mr Cicero is a great entertainer and singer in his own right and never has the German language sounded more beautiful than when the sweet syllables are flowing from Roger´s mouth. And the lyrics are mostly witty and very clever.

Apart from the smashing Eurovision entry the best songs are the hit single Zieh die Schuh aus, the ballads Ich Atme ein and Fachman in Sachen Anna, the cosy and bossa novaish Wenn sie dich fragt and the bonus track So geil Berlin.

There are, however, a track or two that could have been left in the desk drawer. For instance the I am not a man for one woman-track Kein Mann für eine Frau which, when it comes to the lyrics, is a little too reminiscent of Lou Bega´s Mambo No. 5 and therefore seems a little outdated.

But in all Roger´s album is just outstanding. I warmly recommend it to everybody who liked – or even loved – this year´s German Eurovision entry.

Grade (0-5):

Visit Roger´s website here

Männersachen can be purchased on Amazon.de

Number of tracks: 11 

Duration: 42:53

Best song: Absolutely No Decorum 

It seems pointless (!) to keep on trying to figure out what went wrong for Swedish band The Ark in the Eurovision Song Contest. Maybe it suffices to simply say that Ola Salo and Co. could not deliver what Europe wanted this time around.

When listening to The Ark´s recently released album it becomes more than evident that the band has no reason to feel depressed by the “Eurovision failure”. As always The Ark delivers a briliant mixture of catchy easy-to-so-sing-along-to rock songs and lyrics that make you rethink a lot of things that you have always taken for granted. Title track Prayer For The Weekend and the first hit from the album, Absolutely No Decorum, both show The Ark from the band´s very best side.

And however much I appreciate this year´s Swedish Eurovision entry I cannot help getting the feeling that The Worrying Kind does not really fit the rest of the songs on the album. The rest of the new material seems more genuine and somehow more honest. Just to illustrate what I mean: The Worrying Kind is currently used in a commercial for men´s clothes and in fact it is quite suitable for that purpose. Something which none of the other songs would have been.

Prayer For The Weekend may not be The Ark´s best album but it is undoubtedly the most easily accessible musically and by far the one with the greatest hit potential. Eurovision may not have been ready for The Ark, but I think that Europe is.

Grade (0-5):

Prayer For The Weekend can be bought at CDON.

The Ark´s website can be found here.

Number of tracks: 14 (the acoustic version of Cara Mia is included as a “hidden track”)

Duration: 50:26

Best song: Dreaming 

Melodifestivalen bronze medalist and recent winner of the National Final Song Contest, Måns Zelmerlöw, has released his eagerly anticipated debut album. Among the contributors to the album Henrik Wikström, Fredrik Kempe, Niklas Edberger, Robin Mortensen Lynch, Niklas Olovson and Måns himself can be found.

Apart from the Melodifestivalen entry the best songs on the album are Dreaming which can be described as Cara Mia´s cheery sibling and the upcoming single Work of Art (Da Vinci) which is a contemporary and charming flirt with the musical styles of the 70s.

Unfortunately the rest of the album leaves a lot to be desired, both when it comes to the music and the lyrics. A majority of the songs are the kind that you can easily listen to on the radio but once they end you have as easily forgotten them.

The track The Prayer which was one of the best tracks on Danish ESC participant in 2005 Jakob Sveistrup´s second album Fragments is included here as well, but Måns´ interpretation of this fabulous song is oddly uninteresting - probably because he is not as good a vocalist as Jakob.

Another problem with Stand By For … is that it gives a somewhat unpersonal impression. Some of the songs sound a little like Robbie Williams while others lead the thoughts to Bono/U2, Pet Shop Boys and Alcazar. Hopefully Måns will develop a more personal sound on his next album.

Grade (0-5):

Stand By For … can be purchased at CDON.

Måns´ website can be found here.

Photo: Manuela Davies, www.anaivanovic.com

Ana Ivanovic, 19 years old and currently ranked 8th on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Rankings:

“I would like to congratulate Marija. It was a very nice song and she has a great voice. I don´t usually watch the Eurovision Song Contest but I was playing in a final the next day so I was excited and could not sleep so well. I was still awake at midnight when there was a repeat performance of the song. I was obviously very happy to see that Serbia won. Maybe it was a lucky sign for me for my match!”

Indeed it could have been because the day after Marija´s Eurovision victory Ana won the final of the Tier I tournament in Berlin over world No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova and broke into the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time in her career.

Every year the website The House of Eurovision invites its readers to vote for the artist who they think was the worst dressed. The winner is then presented with a Barbara Dex Award.

The award is named after the Belgian representative in 1993. She finished last with the beautiful Iemand als jij wearing a – to say the very least - less beautiful dress.

This year Ukrainian drag artist Verka Serduchka grabbed the award just a few votes ahead of Marija Serifovic which means that the runner-up in the actual contest got a somewhat dubious revenge. Third place went to Moldova´s Natalia Barbu and her soon-to-be-if-not-already legendary Cher-outfit. You can download the full results of the voting here.

And you can view photos of former Barbara Dex Award winners here.

Photo: www.manszelmerlow.se  

Måns Zelmerlöw has won the annual National Final Song Contest arranged by David & Miguel at Eurovision Madrid.

The song Cara Mia, which placed 3rd in Swedish preselection Melodifestivalen, won the hearts of the European voters and finished well ahead of Iceland´s participant in 2004, Jónsi, and the song Segdu mer. Third came Finnish Johanna Kurkela with the song Olet uneni kaunein.

The winner of the National Final Song Contest is found among the songs that competed in a national preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest but did not win in their respective countries. Voters from all over Europe listen to each and every one of the entries and vote for their favourites in a qualifying heat, then in four semi finals and last but by no means least the Grand Final.

This year was the 8th time that the National Final Song Contest was held. These are the songs and artists that have won the contest throughout the years:

2000: Hrvatska rapsodija, Cronika (Magazin). Croatia.

2001: So Much Love, Ebonique. Netherlands 

2002: Se in se, Karmen Stavec. Slovenia 

2003: Not A Sinner, Nor A Saint, Alcazar. Sweden 

2004: Min kärlek, Shirley Clamp. Sweden

2005: Håll om mig, Nanne Grönvall. Sweden

2006: Mandoline, Sasa Lendero. Slovenia

2007: Cara Mia, Måns Zelmerlöw. Sweden

Madonna´s new song Hey You can be downloaded for free here for a limited period time.

The song is written for the upcoming Live Earth concerts on July 7th when bands like Police, Genesis, Smashing Pumpkins and Red Hot Chili Peppers will play at charity concerts staged all around the world. Madonna will be performing her song at the Live Earth concert in the Wembley Stadium.

For each and every of the first million downloads Microsoft will donate 25 cents to environmental organistion Alliance for Climate Protection. So go and download it now and do the world some good, as Anonymous encouraged us to do in this year´s Andorran entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Swedish shopping mall Gallerian was filled to the brim with enthusiatic fans and people with Serbian roots earlier today when Marija Serifovic performed her winning song Molitva as a part of her Winner´s Tour.

After her performance Christer Björkman presented her with the Marcel Becanson Artistic Award that former Eurovision winners voted her the winner of. The award was not officially recieved by her on Saturday night due to the fact that Marija never made it to the official after party because of the Winner´s press conference.

Marija then told all the fans who had gathered to celebrate her victory that she was proud to be a Serb and that she was happy to be there. After that she went on to sign some autographs before she left for the next stop on her hectic tour throughout Europe.

The results of the Swedish televotes have been made public. Nearly half a million people televoted during the final and the votes were distributed like this:

1. Finland: Hanna Pakarinen – Leave Me Alone (86 660)
2. Serbia: Marija Serifovic – Molitva (58 886)
3. Hungary: Magdi Rúzsa – Unsubstantial Blues (33 974)
4. Turkey: Kenan Dogulu – Shake It Up Shekerim (28 650)
5. Bosnia-Herzegovina: Marija Sestic – Rijeka bez imena (27 602)
6. Russia: Serebro – Song #1 (24 945)
7. Greece: Sarbel – Yassou Maria (22 747)
8. Ukraine: Verka Serduchka – Dancing lasha tumbai (22 209)
9. Moldova: Natalia Barbu – Fight (19 787)
10. Germany: Roger Cicero – Frauen regieren die Welt (18 397)
11. Belarus: Dima Koldun – Work Your Magic (14 664)
12. Georgia: Sopho – Visionary Dream (14 535)
13. Bulgaria: Elitsa & Stoyan – Voda (11 019)
14. FYR Macedonia: Karolina Gocheva – Mojot svet (10 046)
15. Latvia: bonaparti.lv – Questa notte (9 784)
16. Armenia: Hayko – Anytime You Need (9 486)
17. France: Les Fatals Picards – L’amour a la francaise (8 054)
18. Romania: Todomondo – Liubi, liubi, I Love You (6 821)
19. Spain: D´Nash – I Love You Mi Vida (6 447)
20. Slovenia: Alenka Gotar – Cvet z juga (6 183)
21. UK: Scooch – Flying The Flag (For You) (4 467)
22. Ireland: Dervish – They Can’t Stop The Spring (4 160)
23. Lithuania: 4Fun – Love Or Leave (3 895)

Total: 453 418 votes                                                                                                                                                                              

During the qualifying heat less people chose to cast their vote, but the total number of calls was still over 100 000:

1. Iceland: Eiríkur Hauksson – Valentine Lost (20 981)
2. Serbia: Marija Serifovic – Molitva (18 929)
3. Hungary: Magdi Rúzsa – Unsubstantial Blues (11 414)
4. Turkey: Kenan Dogulu – Shake It Up Shekerim (11 063)
5. Norway: Guri Schanke – Ven a bailar conmigo (6 382)
6 FYR Macedonia: Karolina Gocheva – Mojot svet (4 566)
7. Denmark: DQ – Drama Queen (4 356)
8. Belarus: Dima Koldun – Work Your Magic (4 348)
9. Andorra: Anonymous – Salvem el món (4 219)
10. Latvia: bonaparti.lv – Questa Notte (3 911)
11. Cyprus: Evridiki – Comme ci, Comme ca (3 196)
12. Albania: Frederik Ndoci – Hear My Plea (3 178)
13. Moldova: Natalia Barbu – Fight (2 815)
14. Estonia: Gerli Padar – Partners In Crime (2 789)
15. Poland: The Jet Set – Time To Party (2 709)
16. Georgia: Sopho – Visionary Dream (2 593)
17. Switzerland: DJ BoBo – Vampires Are Alive (2 448)
18. Netherlands: Edsilia Rombley – On Top Of The World (2 051)
19. Slovenia: Alenka Gotar – Cvet z juga (2 043)
20. Israel: Teapacks – Push the Button (1 983)
21. Austria: Eric Papilaya – Get A Life – Get Alive (1 886)
22. Bulgaria: Elitsa & Stoyan – Voda (1 866)
23. Portugal: Sabrina – Danca Comigo (1 485)
24. Croatia: Dragonfly feat. Dado Topic – Vjerujem u ljubav (1 377)
25. Belgium: The KMGs – Love Power (1 261)
26. Montenegro: Stevan Faddy – Adje kroci (1 241)
27. Czech Republic: Kabát – Malá dáma (1 224)
28. Malta: Oliva Lewis – Vertigo (965)

Total: 127 279 votes

This hilarious parody of Verka Serduchka´s Danzing lasha tumbai was found on YouTube.

Number of tracks: 11

Duration: 33:49

Best song: Trying To Recall

The 31-year-old school teacher Marie Lindberg came out of nowhere and sang her way into our hearts with the haunting Trying To Recall in this year´s edition of Melodifestivalen. It was a fairy tale come true for the shy and inexperienced singer. But the big question in everybody´s minds was whether she would be able to build a long lasting career on her Melodifestivalen performance that truly touched people to tears.

Based on the debut album which bears the same name as her Melodifestivalen entry I would say that the answer to that question is definately yes. Trying To Recall is a great collection of eleven melodic and melancolic songs in the true singer-songwriter spirit. Marie has clearly been inspired by artists like Lisa Loeb and The Corrs and her music is a great illustration of the saying that less is more. She refrains from wailing and overproducing and in fact the simplicity is also the beauty of Trying To Recall.

Apart from the title song the best tracks on the album is the kind but catchy Revolt, the beautiful Bound To Die and the uptempo opening track Leona (Under Her Skin).

A strong melody never goes out of style and this is probably the reason why Trying to Recall gives a timeless impression. But although the album has no expiration date I still hope to hear more and new material from the musically gifted Marie Lindberg soon. I believe that her fairy tale will continue in many, many years to come.

 Grade (0-5):

Trying To Recall can be purchased here: http://www.cdon.com/

Marie´s website is to be found here: http://www.marielindberg.com/

Number of tracks: 13

Duration: 46:56

Best song: För att du finns

Multitalented artist and songwriter Sonja Aldén follows up her success in this year´s Melodifestivalen with one of the most beautiful and popular albums in Sweden this spring.

The fact that Sonja is one of Sweden´s most interesting and versatile artists became obvious to a lot of Eurovision fans already last year when she performed fan favourite Etymon in the second Melodifestivalen heat in Karlstad. On that occassion Sonja failed to qualify for the final, but this year she got her big – and well deserved - breakthrough with the beautiful ballad För att du finns.

Sonja´s entry for this year´s Melodifestivalen is included on the album, in both the original and an acoustic version, alongside eleven other melodic and well-composed songs written by Sonja, Bobby Ljunggren, Henrik Wikström and Ingela “Pling” Forsman.

Sonja´s personal and expressive voice fits the ballads that she so obviously loves to sing like hand in glove. And when she performs the wedding favourite Du är allt in a duet with best friend Shirley Clamp I for one get the chills. Other favourites include the folk music flirt Vila tryggt and the cosy and soulish Egen tid.

For all Eurovision fans it would have been a big bonus if Etymon and Sonja´s version of Invincible had both been included. But in fairness it should be said that the songs that did make it onto the album are all of the very highest quality so there is actually no need to complain. 

Till dig is an absolute must for everybody who loved För att du finns and for those of you who adore schlager goddesses Jill Johnson and Shirley Clamp.

Grade (0-5): 

Till dig can be purchased here: http://www.cdon.com/

Sonja´s website is located here: http://www.sonjaalden.se/

Sonja even has a Myspace page at: http://www.myspace.com/sonjaalden

You can listen to excerpts of all the songs on the album on Sonja´s record company Lionheart International´s website: http://www.lionheart-int.com/sonya(2).asp