Breaking News - David Hasselhoff records Miss Kiss Kiss Bang

Knight Rider and Bay Watch Beach Bum David Hasselhoff has recorded Miss Kiss Kiss Bang together with South African megastar Pamela...  Patricia Lewis.

It's all pictured a bit tragic and sensionalist in the South African press as they claim it's the last song national treasure Patricia Lewis will ever sing. She's diagnosed with tumors on her vocal chords and will have surgeory. And "it's possible she can never sing after the operation".
Let's all just hope all goes well so we can enjoy some more of Patricia's fabulous schlager-pop albums.

They recorded two songs together and one of them is Miss Kiss Kiss Bang (sung in Afrikaans), this years German Eurovision entry by Alex Swings Oscar Sings

LISTEN HERE
NEWS UPDATE HERE

David Hasselhoff is in South Africa to play around with some white sharks with big teeth to lively up his U.S. reality TV show that is currently being filmed. He re-scheduled his SA trip because of his close friend Patricia Lewis' impending operation.

Last friday they performed their new songs together at a special performance outside the Montecasino recording studio's near Johannesburg.

Patricia Lewis covered many Eurovision songs. On her last album Net Soos In Drome she recorded Swedish 2008 song Hero and two Melodifestivalen songs. (soundclips)
Also check Patricia Lewis at Eurocovers for older material.
For Hasselhoff it's his first Eurocover.
update: Miss Kiss Kiss Bang and As I Am the other songs Lewis recorded with Hasselhoff will be released on a repackaged issue of the Net Soos In Drome CD.

Original performers of Miss Kiss Kiss Bang, Alex Swings Oscar Sings, have already had their moment of worldwide superfamedom in the Oprah show - The Worlds Got Talent.

sources: News24.com, The Hoff News and thanks to Roy.
You can shop for most Patricia Lewis albums at Kalahari.

Priscilla Smith #1
Priscilla Smith is currently #1 on the Kingfisher FM Afrikaans top 10 with Klein Bietjie Liefde. It's an Afrikaans version of the Finnish 2000 entry A Little Bit (Nina Astrom).
The track is taken from the CD Net 'n Bietjie Liefde which also includes a cover version of the Hungarian 2008 entry.There's an excerpt of Klein Bietjie Liefde at reverbnation.
I hope to get some more details later.

Norway's Own Social Club - ¡Ay Caramba!

Noruega, Land Of Latin Rhythms.
Maybe this years Eurovision winner Fairytale by Alexander Rybak doesn't set your salsa* limbs in motion straight away and neither does any of the other Norwegian entries, but Hovedøen Social Club do a good job in bringing some latin flavours to the Norwegian classics.


Their latest (2nd) album ¡Ay Caramba! is a collection of songs in Norwegian in various Latin American music styles. And there's three Eurocovers, so I'm happy.

Voi Voi, Norway's first entry from 1960 (Nora Brockstedt) get a sizzling salsa makeover.
Romeo, Ketil Stokkans 1986 entry is a slice of merengue you can't sit still to and Lykken Er (1971, Hanne Krogh) is an off-beat bossa samba jazz exercise that goes a bit out of control halfway (in an artistic way of course).

You can listen to all tracks of the album (and the previous one) in the musicplayer at http://www.hovedoen.no/. The album is for sale at CD-ON and other Nordic sources and also digital at http://www.musikkonline.no/. (C&C records CCD039).

The Hovedøen website is in Norwegian and English



* And if not salsa, I think there's a good ole country version hidden in Fairytale somewhere too, get to work Country coverbands.

CD tip South Africa: Dewald Louw - Nooit Meer Sonder Jou

Here's another new South African release with a Eurocover. You don't find many Dutch entries covered in Afrikaans (except 1981 & loads of 1984) so it's a very nice surprise to hear Nooit Meer Sonder Jou, the Dutch 2007 entry On Top Of The World.

The original was the second entry for Edsilia Rombley, whose Hemel & Aarde from 1998 still is the best result for the Netherland in more than 30 years. On Top Of The World (in Dutch it was Nooit Meer Zonder Jou) didn't do as well, the song didn't make it to the final in Helsinki.

The singer is Dewald Louw, he's a South African Idols winner and has just released his 2nd album Ek En Jy (Me And You) on Sony/Vat 5 musiek.

Dewald's 12 track album is a recommended well produced pop-rock record. It has Edsilia's song, an Arvingarna cover (Liefkry = Leva Lycklig) and a cover of Mika's Grace Kelly (in English) and also a number of original songs like the quite great first radiosingle Lekker Kry.

The CD is available at several South African webshops including Kalahari who ship internationally
I'm pleased that the album and/or seperate tracks are available as downloads through many sources (MTV, Mediagigant nl, Virgin fr and many more) and you can listen to the full tracks at MusicMe.

Dewald blog (In Afrikaans) - Edsilia at BeaRecords

CD tip: From Brasil To Greece - BossaVision

Bossavision is a collection of Eurocovers in Bossanova-lite style by Brasilian singers. It's a Greek project (hence the large number of Greek entries) coordinated by Easy Coutiel & Nektarios Tyrakis.
It has all your favorite winners Ding-A-Dong, Waterloo, L'oiseau et l'enfant and Diva and unevitably Volare, the oldest entry in the collection. It's great to see modern Eurovision back in Brasil (they sort of lost interest after the 70's), although I haven't found any Brasilian website mentioning this collection.

Barbara Mendes for example has released several CDs in Greece including a live collection recorded in Greece in 2001.

The laid back bossa collection is a bit monotonous at times, but it's the perfect soundtrack for a romantic night on the beach or dinner party with the neighbours. The CD is released in Greece on Mercury/Universal and is available through some Greek webshops like Yupi, Greekbooks, GreekMusicShop.

Tracklist:
1. Barbara Mendes (pic) - My Number One (Greece 2005)
2. Carol (Assad) & Zeca Rodrigues - Every Way That I Can (Turkey 2003)
3. Marcela Mangabeira - Ding A Dong (Netherlands 1975)
4. Saloa Farah - Die For You (Greece 2001)
5. Eliza Lacerda - Waterloo (Sweden 1974)
6. Barbara Mendes - Secret Combination (Greece 2008)
7. Rachelle Spring - Diva (Israel 1998)
8. Marcela Mangabeira - Shake It (Greece 2004)
9. Flavio Mendes - Save Your Kisses For Me (U.K. 1976)
10. Marion - Tell Me (I Anixi, Greece 1991)
11. Daniela Procopio - Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare) (Italy 1958)
12. Rachelle Spring - Solfege Lesson (Mathema Solfege, Greece 1977)
13. Marion - L' Oiseau Et L'Enfant (France 1977)
14. Guilherme Ge - Tornero (Romania 2006)
15. Marion - Apres Toi (Luxembourg 1972)
16. Carol (Assad) & Zeca Rodrigues (pic) - Where Are You Now (U.K. 1998)

Check out Planetworks and here is a Youtube promo

Brasil is the non Eurovision country with the most Eurocovers to its name.
From the first contest in 1956 (with at least 7 versions by Brasilian artists)* to well into the 70's Eurovision songs have been covered by artists from Brasil.
About every Italian entry, most of the songs from the U.K. and many of the winners and hits from other countries.

If you use this search link you'll get all the Eurocovers posts that have (or mention) Eurovision coverversions from Brasil.

Also check out the Janelão Eurovision blog for a Brasilian look on Eurovision.

* Winner Refrain was covered in Brasil by at least three artists: Carlos Augusto, Aracy (Araci) Costa and Arthur Murat.
Italian entry Amami Se Vuoi was covered by Zézé Gonzaga, Wilma Bentivegna, Vicente Celestino and pianist Britinho. Most have been released on good old 78rpm records.

Monaco 1965 - Ann Lee + Spain 1989 - Amante Del Amor

While glorious Eurovision 2009 winner Alexander Rybak is busy conquering the world it's time for Eurocovers to travel back to the olden days. Here's a Dutch coverversion of Monaco's 1965 entry Va Dire A L'Amour, originally by Marjorie Noël.
I don't know anything about Ann Lee, except that she's not the Europop singer that gave the world the 1998 hit 2 Times. So this is a short post. --- 

MySpace YourSpace OuttaSpace
I've been browsing MySpace so you don't have to.

Amante Del Amor - Nacida Para Amar
The title Amante Del Amor may not ring a bell straight away, even with Eurovision diehards, but it's a Eurocover.
The lyrics to the 1989 Spanish entry Nacida Para Amar by the Lovely Nina (6th place) were rewritten by the original writer Juan Carlos Calderón for the South American market. The new lyrics were also created to suit a male singer better and the most famous singer who had a go at the new version was , Mexican megastar Luis Miguel (YouTube).

Luis Miguel recorded it for his 20 Años CD from 1999. A few more covers were recorded and my favorite version is by Wichy Camacho. This Puerto Rican salsa singer has a great voice and his Amante Del Amor from 1996 is a slice of romantic Salsa that will sex up any party. (CD Amante Del Amor, WEA 1996)

I found two nice Amantes on MySpace. The first one is by Alex Llanos from Chile, who's version has only been listened to 46 times.
The second one with double the amount of listenings is Christian Sulas from Argentina. Go on, pay these guys a visit.



I'm looking for a version from Venezuela by Maricruz Quintero. (From the album Niebla and Lluvia, 1993). Thanks in advance!

Vaida Genyte ir Renata Razanauskiene - Meiles balsas

Lithuanian live version of La Voix, Swedens 2009 entry for Moscow

Portugal 2009 Streets Of Love - Todas as ruas do amor

This is a coverversion of this years Portuguese entry originally by Flor De Lis. It may be amateur, but you can't tell. Very well done.

Netherlands 2009 - Mesjieu Maurice - Sjien

Charity Coverversion of the Dutch 2009 entry. Mesjieu Maurice recorded the song in Dutch and Limburgian (this clip). Proceeds of the cdsingle are going to the Toon Hermans foundation who support people with cancer. Also check http://www.mesjieumaurice.nl/. Now we eagerly await the Albanian coverversion.

Eurovision 2009 - Whose Time Is It Anyway?

This years entry for the U.K. is It's My Time by Jade. It's a slightly OTT musical score written by Andrew Lloyd Webber with lyrics by Diane Warren. Think The Greatest Love Of All or My Impossible Dream.

Jade at The Moscow Collection

A coverversion for the clubs is recorded by Almighty Divas. A 4-track promo is issued (Almighty Records ALMY 246) and digital release will follow soon.
You can hear an excerpt in the player at the Almighty Records website (skip some songs and then it's there)

Another (definitely much better) release is by Clubkidz Featuring Sam Solace. This one also includes 4 dance mixes of Jades Eurovision entry.
Check out Remixarchive for more. (click the pic)

I wonder how this all fits in Andrew Lloyd Webbers plans for World Domination. Especially since the U.K. release of Jade's single is postponed until after Eurovision.
Although the Russians can get the cd single with the Russian O.K. Magazine.

Эмиль Горовец - The Moscow Weeks - Emil Gorovets

Here's a re-hash of an older Eurocovers post, but I think the Moscow Weeks can't go by without mentioning Emil Gorovets, who recorded some of the great 60's Eurovision entries in Russian.
I know I promised a feature story about the Russian Jewish singer, but even after much research I wasn't able to write a coherent story that does his life story justice.
Emil Gorovets was born in Ukraine in 1927, moved to the US in 1970 and died in 2001 in New York.

So for The Moscow Weeks you'll have to make do with his Eurovision covers discography and the songs (♫) most songs are in Russian but there is also one from his rare Yiddish LP Emil Gorovets sings the worlds songs in Yiddish.
Эмиль Горовец - Eurocovers discography
Austria 1966 - Merci Cherie - Udo Jürgens
Мерси, Шери - on Russian Flexi 00019601-2
A Dank (in Yiddish) - LP (LPG 1003)
Luxembourg 1967 - L'amour Est Bleu - Vicky
Тень и свет (Ten I svet) - on LP Poet
U.K. 1967 - Puppet On A String - Sandie Shaw
Я не кукла (Ya ne kukla) - on flexi EP Melodija 0001183-4
U.K. 1968 - Congratulations- Cliff Richard
Сто поздравлений (Sto Pozdravleniy) - on flexi EP Melodija Д 00025771-2
Israel 1979 - Hallelujah - Milk & Honey
Hallelujah (English/Russian) - on CD Luchshie Pesni (1996)

The Russian compilation 2CD Emil Gorovets - Zolotaya kollektsiya retro 2004 features all 60's tracks in Russian.

A good discography of Gorovets' Russian work is here.

Details and tracklist of the Yiddish LP are here