Roll On 2013!

A Very Happy New Year to all friends of Eurocovers, may 2013 bring you something wonderful you haven't even dreamt of. 
And lots of great music....

And don't forget to check out The Malmö Collection, collecting all details on the releases of the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest.

You can also find us on Facebook

Everyone's A Star - Lola Dutronic

Lola Dutronic are producer/keyboard/knobtwiddler Richard Citroen and vocalist Stephanie B. operating from Canada and Germany. I hadn't heard of them, but they've been making sweet musique since 2004 (well, Citroen has).
They have released a few albums and EPs and their latest offering is Everyone's A Star (out on Red Star).
Eurocovers loves all this sensuous retro frenchy stuff and so will you. If you like bands like St. Etienne, Peach, Pizzicato Five and your basic French whispering godesses, Lola Dutronic is defenitely worth a listen.
I'm pleased to find a 2012 version of our beloved 1967 classic Love Is Blue / L'amour Est Bleu.

You can listen to the whole album at Lola Dutronics bandcamp where you can also find details on how to order the CD or digital release. (If you order the CD you'll get the download version straight away). LD also have a facebook and a Youtube channel.

Love Is Blue, originally L'Amour Est Bleu by Vicky (4th in 1967 contest) is written by André Popp and Pierre Cour.
It is the second most covered Eurovision song of all times.

2015 update
Lola Dutronic have released a radio remix of their Love Is Blue. Check it out and buy it here at LD's Bandcamp

Find out more about it in the 10000 coverversions post and in these Eurocovers items.

Please note there are no downloads available through Eurocovers.
Find us at Facebook 

P.S. I was horrified to be even enjoying a Dire Straits song (S.O.S. on Everyone's A Star). (But it's not all coverversions, many tracks are written by the band themselves)

Juan Carlos Calderón 1938 - 2012

Spanish musician and songwriter Juan Carlos Calderón has passed away yesterday.
Eurovision fans know him for writing four wonderful entries for Spain, and one of those is an evergreen he will always be remembered for by everyone: Eres Tú.

Eres Tú was performed by Mocedades in the 1973 contest and ended second. It became one of the biggest Eurovision hits of all time. Mocedades (even) took it to the US top 10 as Eres Tu / Touch The Wind and many artists covered the song over the years. A few names are Bing Crosby, Eydie Gormé, Tish Hinojosa, The Kelly Family, Perry Como, Petula Clark, The Shirelles, Rika Zaraï, Byron Lee and Acker Bilk.
Below is a wonderful video of Johnny Mathis singing Eres Tú with Calderón at the piano.


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The 1989 entry Nacida Para Amar is also known as Amante Del Amor, a version with different lyrics which has been recorded by several Latin American singers most notably Luis Miguel.

Calderóns Eurovision entries:
1973 - Eres Tú - Mocedades (2nd place)
1975 - Tú Volverás - Sergio Y Estibaliz (10th)
1985 - La Fiesta Terminó - Paloma San Basilio (14th)
1989 - Nacida Para Amar - Nina (6th)

More about Eres Tú, #8 in the top 10 most covered Eurovision songs in this Eurocovers post.


Juan Carlos Calderón website.

Smurphoria!

Just a bit of news from the Little Blue Men With White Pointy Hats:
The German Smurfs (Schlümpfe) have been shaking their tiny booty's to Euphoria just as we all did. Their version of Loreens Eurovision winner is titled Ein Schlümpfentag (A Smurf day) and it can be found on their new German market CD Die Hits Der Schlümpfe Vol. 2 out now. (Universal 0602537225903)

As we all know The Smurfs are cunning multilinguists. The critters also released a new album in Dutch and that also includes a version of Euphoria. This time it's titled Mooi Smurfenland (Beautiful Smurf country). 
The seasonal album Winterpret Met De Smurfen (Winterfun with the Smurfs) is released on November 30 and also includes covers of Gangnam Style, Call Me Maybe, Little Talks and some other 2012 hits. And it has Last Christmas too (EMI 5099997954828).

And as a bit of coincidental trivia, Euphoria singer Loreen provides the voice of Smurfette (Smurfan in Swedish) in the 2011 Smurfbuster movie The Smurfs (Smurfarna). I don't know if Loreen is on the books for the new film The Smurfs 2, expected in July 2013.

I don't know if any other regional Smurfs have recorded 2012 Eurovision songs. The French guys (Les Schtroumpfs) just have a new album out but just as the French grown up disque buying publique they have ignored Euphoria.

If you want to find out about the 2011 Smurftastic coverversions (Popular, Haba Haba) in Swedish, Danish and Norwegian check out this Eurocovers post.
For older Smurfocovers, here's another post for you.

Please note, the Eurocovers posts don't include any audio material / downloads.

It's a small world after all.

Some of us are old enough to remember 1976.
Austria's Eurovision entry My Little World by Waterloo and Robinson (Hans Kreuzmayr and Sepp Krassnitzer) finished a respectable 5th in the The Hague Eurovision Song Contest, won by the mighty Brotherhood Of Man.
Prior to their Eurovision result, Waterloo and Robinson already scored a few hits with Baby Blue and Hollywood, the latter reportedly even being a #1 in Brasil.

Waterloo and / or Robinson have re-recorded their Austrian #1 hitMy Little World several times, but since both their solo re-recordings from 2008 it has been a few years, so it's time for a new one.
(see below)

Das Comebackalbum
To cut a short story even shorter Schlagerfans, Das Comebackalbum is titled Baby Blue and is by Berger, Maier and Waterloo. So Waterloo = Waterloo (leatherfaceon the left), Berger = Ricky Berger and I guess Maier = Christian Maier, producer (but he's not in the picture, and neither is Robinson, who's probably occupied elsewhere).

The Baby Blue album will be released on November 23 and it will include new versions of W and R hits including Baby Blue, Hollywood and My Little World. It will also include a coverversion of the U.K. 1972 entry Beg Steal or Borrow (New Seekers) and  favorite Clout song Substitute (although the Righteous Bro's recorded it first, I know).
Excerpts are already up up up at Amazon.de.
BMW (oh....) have their Facebook.

Here's the list of recordings of My Little World by at least one of the original singers, maybe there are more, just let me know.
h
MY LITTLE WORLD (english) - Waterloo and Robinson

- single  (International Philips 2121 286)

Meine Kleine Welt (german)

- single  (ATOM 238 075)

My Little World (german/english medley) 

- on '2 x Gold' commemorative 7" single (ATOM C-VSTP 558)

My Little World (first english version with 'rude' lyrics)

- single (Portugal: Planisom PLS 5005)*

Meine kleine Welt (re-recording german, year???)

- on single (Germany: Bellaphon 100 05185)

Meine kleine Welt - robinson (solo version 1990)

-   E details wanted

My Little World (english 2008) - Robinson    

- on CD The ballad of my life (Tonora 400.892)

Meine kleine Welt (german 2008) - Robinson

- on CD Ein Morgen mit dir  (Tonora 400.896)

My Little World (english 2008) - Waterloo

- on CD Ewigkeit (Echo 61445)

My Little World (english 2012) - Berger, Maier, Waterloo
- on CD Baby Blue, to be released November 23

  

Details from The Eurovision Collectors Guide.

* not entirely sure of this release as I have never heard it.

Flemish Schlager
And some more release news from the cheesy variety. Laat Me Nu Gaan (Let me go now or rather Just let me go) is a single by Belgian Schlager singer Jo Vally. It's a coverversion of Non Ho L'Eta (Per Amarti), the 1964 Eurovision winner by Gigliola Cinquetti for Italy.
Don't know if there's a cdsingle, but the track is available at iTunes Belgium and possibly other sources.

Tanya V - Euphoria in Afrikaans

Here's the new video of the Afrikaans coverversion of Loreens 2012 Eurovision winner Euphoria.
The Afrikaans lyrics are written by Chrissie Rossouw.
Tanya V's facebook


Mia - Eufooria
Estonian singer Mia recorded a version in her own language. It uses the original backingtrack so it's not an official release. But it's fun and can listen to it here and there you'll also find a download link (for a wave file).
You may know Mia from her 2012 Eurolaul entry Bon Voyage.

Angelina I Els Moderns - Canto I Vull Viure

Here's a bit of Catalonian Retro fun for all to be enjoyed.

Angelina and her Modern Boys do not only have the looks, but also have the tunes to go with it.

On their eponymous 2009 album they treat us to Nina De Cera, a Catalan version of Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son (Luxembourgs 1965 winner by France Gall). You can listen to the full album here at their website.

GRAN RESERVA

Also on their website is a section called Gran Reserva in which they present some unreleased songs and you can even download them. One of the songs is Canto I Vull Viure, which is their take on the Catalan version of the 1969 Spanish Eurovision (co)winner Vivo Cantando originally by Salomé.

You can download that one here at the Gran Reserva download page (just rightclick on the title and save).

(or just have a listen here)

Angelina I Els Moderns - links and sources

Website - Myspace - Facebook - Youtube

Note From The Editor
All links to uploaded songs at Eurocovers have been deleted as my uploader has terminated my account for copyright infringement.
I can understand their point of view and bear no grudge against them, but to the petty little weazels who scour the internet just to be able to snitch for a few pennies: I hope your children will be ugly.

I won't be creating a new account, so from now on Eurocovers will only feature news, release info and links to websites with content that is legal and interesting for the Eurocovers reader.
All the Eurocovers posts, stories, discographies etcetera, stay up and I hope you'll still enjoy the read.
It was great while it lasted, wasn't it?

Euphoria - Tyler Ward & Alex G

Tyler Ward and Alex G. do Loreens Euphoria, The Eurovision hit that still populates the top 10s in the European charts after three months (a record for a Eurovision hit)

The Ward/G. track is out through iTunes on Tyler Wards album The Hollywood Sessions EP which also includes other coverversions like thàt other song that just won't go away: Somebody That I Used To Know.
Euphoria was already available as a single at iTunes since May.

I like the way they fooled around with the song in a minimal electronic pop-style but I haven't decided yet if Ward is just gorgeous or a bit slappable.

American singer/songwriter Tyler Ward has been opening for stars like Gavin de Graw and one of the Jonasses, but in autumn he'll be touring the world on his own. 21 dates in Europe in October including Germany, Netherlands, Denmark and of course Loreenland. Check out the dates here at his website.
A full album is expected later this year.
Alex G. has also been recording many coverversions (iTunes) but a release with her own work is expected in September.

If you want to find out more about Loreen's Euphoria, the remixes, constantly updated chart domination and other very important trivia, please check this page at the Baku Collection.
You'll also find the details on some other coverversions, from the amazing to the appalling.

The Voice Of Irish Hip Hop

The Voice, Irelands 7th Eurovision winner by Eimear Quinn (1996) is one of the least covered Eurovision winners but here's a makeover that makes up for that.

Irish hip hop persons Terawrizt have recorded a track titled The Voice which is basically a rap track with a bit of the The Voice refrain as a returning motif.
It's Hip Hop so Featurings are obligatory and this one is featuring Redzer, Nugget and Medz.
The beats are by Londons beatsmith Tony Mahoney.

I like it a lot although one of the rappers slightly reminds me a bit of Dustin the Turkey.

The track is released on the Reign Of Tera EP which is released through iTunes but you can also get it for free (at the time of writing) at Class A.'s music store. where you can also just give the track a listen.

Special thanks to Roy D. Hacksaw

All eyes on Baku: Eurovision 2012

Tonight is the night. The 57th Eurovision final starts at, 24.00 local Baku time. 21.00 CET.
My country didn't make it to the final for the 8th time in a row, which must be some sort of record.
We're used to it, sad, but we'll be having big fun anyway.

Update: It's done, What's Another Year and all that. I'll leave most of the pre-contest text here, with the additions from the day after below

Eurocovers favorites Bulgaria, Finland and the Trackshittaz from Austria were killed of in the semi's, eternal shame on Europe for that.
Eurocovers loves Euphoria, The Sound Of Our Hearts and Love Is Blind very much, but good luck to everyone of course.

And special congrats to Malta's Kurt Calleja for being so lovely and fun and making it to the final and to Albania's Rona for being such a stunning singer.
And final break a leg to wonderful legend Engelbert Humperdinck who has the ghastly task to open the contest, but can take a nap during the other performances.
Oh and Jedward are probably the nicest blokes in the world.

If you're not in Eurovision TV world you can follow the show here:
Eurovision TV (Update: now the adress for re-watching!)
Songfestival NL - also have a second screen


If you want to have a quick info-check of all entries from the final  check them out at The Baku Collection:
Some Eurocovers posts feature: Anggun (France), Engelbert Humperdinck, Soluna Samay (Denmark), Trackshittaz and Jedward (Ireland).
And already some of the 2012 entries have been covered. Find out more here at Eurocovers.


Update:
And this is what happened:

Latest updated:
Sweden - Wins Eurovision 2012: Euphoria! for Loreen International hit, cds out now, remixes,  Acoustic and Dansband Schlager coverversions
Russia - Runner Up: Baku Babushka's win second semi, 10! Party versions of  For Everybody released
Serbia - 3rd place for Željko Joksimović  Nije Ljubav Stvar, Download Spanish, Symphonic and new Trubači version 
Azerbaijan - 4th: Sabina Babayeva, remixes, New ethnic version, Remix competition winner, new Jazz version
Albania -  Best ever result for Albania: Rona Nishliu, New Suus, English version
Estonia - 6th: Ott Lepland sings Kuula. English, Spanish and Russian versions, cdsingle
Turkey - 7th: Can Bonomo Loves Us Back, promo update
Germany - 8th: Roman Lob cds, new website, album out now
Italy - 9th Nina Zilli, L'Amore È Femmina (Out Of Love)
Spain - 10th Pastora Soler, digital EP, Quedate Conmigo. stunning coverversion, best result since 2004.
11 to 26:
Moldova - Pasha Parfeny, Trumpet out for the girls
Romania - Mandinga cds, pick up Club De Mandinga CD with Libertatea mag, tracklist CD
Macedonia - Kaliopi Crno i Belo, download Russian version
Lithuania - Well Donny!  Love Is Blind, Another version (French) and debut album tracklist, updates.
Ukraine - Gaitana Be her guest to download, Special edition album details
Cyprus -  La La Love for Ivi Adamou, Euro Edition CD, remix, Kids: books are important
Greece - Eleftheria Eleftheriou  Aphrodisiac promo and cdsingle info.
Bosnia Hercegovina - Maya Sar Korake Ti Znam. Italian, English versions, promo update
Ireland - Jedward II cdsingle, Watershedline, Young Love in June.
Iceland - Greta and Jónsi  digital EP release
Malta - What A (semi) Night for Kurt Calleja, cdsingle and new mixes
France - Anggun updates, cds, duet versions
Denmark - Soluna Samay, Around the world, Best Of the old stuff release
Hungary - Compact Disco, 10 versions of SOOH, cdsingle
United Kingdom - Engelbert Humperdinck, cdsingle Out Now!, Autobiography: What's in a name?
Norway - Tooji wins battle with Sofi but tails at ESC final , Acoustic version released, coverversion, updates

Stranded in the 2nd semi:
Bulgaria - Sofi Marinova just misses the final, download song, promo updates
Croatia - Nina Badric Nebo remixes, cdsingle, Remix competition
Portugal - Festival da Canção, CD! digital single for Filipa Sousa, promo
Georgia - Anri Joxadze, no final for The Joker
The Netherlands - Joan packs her feather, Dreamcatcher! #1 hit, promo updates
Belarus - Litesound Heroes go home empty handed. Listen to new version and remixes.
Slovenia - Eva Boto. EMA CD, versions update, cdsingle
Slovakia - Miro Šmajda a.k.a. Max Jason Mai to Baku, Don't Close Your Eyes

Stranded in the 1st semi
Switzerland - Unbreakable, CD info, Sinplus, 7th Heaven remix, 11th in semi
Finland - UMK CD out now, Pernilla back to the handball competition
Israel - Izabo to Baku, versions update, Album details, Time to go
San Marino - Valentina Monetta Stock Exchange, 17 versions and counting, Social Network Song and the F-word song.
Montenegro Rambo Amadeus Not Last!' Brain Awareness, download
Latvia - New Beautiful Song for Anmary, cdsingle promo updates
Belgium - Iris' Would You cdsingle and album Seventeen
Austria - Trackshittaz backside closes rear, cds out now, listen to the remixes
And some other bits and pieces

Handbook For Baku, Recommended reading
The other 'Collections' 1956 - 2008
Shopping tips - Who has their CD out in the shops
Who is in and who is out: The Pots! The Pots! The Draw!

Azerbaijan History - Check out all details on Azerbaijan's first 4 Eurovision entries, versions and releases.

Baku Collection Frontpage

Armenia - Withdraws from Eurovision 2012
Poland skips a year