CD Releases: Volare in the 10's

It's 55 years ago since Domenico Modugno's Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu) conquered the world. You probably all know that Eurocovers loves a bit of history, so the Eurovision classic features in many posts, including the 2008 series Anno Domenico.

I hadn't looked into it much recently, but after a rainy morning browsing the net I noticed that the everblue evergreen is still being recorded in it's 7th decade.

Emma

Followers of the Italian Festival di Sanremo, the mother of all songcontests, know Emma.

Emma Marrone entered the 2011 Sanremo together with Modà and the song Arriverà.

In 2012 she went it alone and won Sanremo with Non è L’Inferno.

As a true Sanremo star, Emma knows her classics and she recorded Volare for the film Benvenuti Al Nord. It’s a comedy about the rivalry between the Italian North and the Italian South. Emma’s Volare accompanies the end credits. (video)

The track was released on the re-issue of her 2011 album Sarò Libera (2012) which also added the Sanremo winner in two versions. (Universal music Italy). 

Emma cites Gianna Nannini as one of her main inflences. She accompanied Gianna on her 2011 Io E Te tour (see below)
Emma's latest album is Schiena, released in April 2013.

2014: Emma Marone is selected to represent Italy in the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen, Denmark. Read all about that here at the Copenhagen Collection.

Emma website

Chico and the Gypsies with Nana Mouskouri
Chico is Chico Bouchikhi, one of the founding members of the Gypsy Kings. in 2012 Chico and the Gypsies released an album with duets titled Chico and the Gypsies....and Friends.
Since the Gypsy Kings 1989 hit, Volare became a staple song for any self respecting Gypsy / Rumba outfit. So it's not unexpected the song found its way to this album. But the guest star on the song is a surprise: our Nana Mouskouri.

In Eurovision titles Nana Mouskouri would probably be the Grand Duchess of Eurovision or something.
In 1963 the Greek singer entered the Eurovision songcontest for Luxembourg with A Force De Prier (By the power of praying) and ended 8th.
No further explanation is needed, Nana Mouskouri continued to superstardom ever since and she is still touring the world with her emotional and uplifting encyclopedia of songs.

Other guests on the Chico CD include Charles Aznavour and Eurovision stars Gerard Lenorman and Patrick Fiori.
Here's a live video of Chico and Nana doing Volare

Chico and the Gypsies website

Gypsy Queens
U.K. based Gyspy Queens recorded Volare for their eponymous 2012 album. The band, led by Didier Casnati, presents a more jazzy style of gypsy music. Check out a BBC breakfast performance of the Queens' Volare here at their Youtube.

In 2010 Casnati already recorded Volare with Peruvian singer Jaime Cuadra for his album Latino (watch video)

Gypsy Queens just played the Isle Of Wight festival and you can also catch them at this years Glastonbury.
Their new single, also on the album, is a cover of L'Italiano, the Toto Cutugno classic. (video)

Gypsy Queens website

ケツメイシ
In Eurocovers Galaxy it's a small step from Gypsy music to Japan. Ketsumeishi is a Japanese hip-hop-pop boy/man band going since 2000. Their albums are simply titled Ketsunopolis (ケツノポリス) 1to 8.
1 was released in 2000 and 8 saw the light in 2012. Ketsunopolis 8 includes their coverversion of Volare in Japanese (ボラーレ).

Their 2012 hitsingle Love Love Summer includes two versions of Volare: The original album version and the FPM Everlust remix.
Volare is mostly a Gypsy Kings cover with some rappy bits thrown in, but still a great tune, especially the remix.

Ketsumeishi website

And some more

In 2010 actress / model / stylist / sex symbol Valeria Marini released Volare on a cdsingle with DJ Roberto Onofri. The cdsingle was only avalable with a magazine (Di Più) and allegedly sold 300.000 copies (of 500.000 pressed).

All proceeds were for the victims of the Abruzzo earthquake.

Source: ADNkronos

Vanessa Neigert recorded a German version of Volare fore her 2012 album also titled Volare. The album also includes a version of Piove (Ciao Ciao Bambina), the 1959 Modugno Eurovision classic. Vanessa Neigert specializes in the classics from the 50’s and 60’s. She recorded the German 1962 entry Zwei Kleine Italiener for her debut album Mit 17 Hat Man Noch Träume (Ariola, 2009).

Vanessa Neigert website

Gianna Nannini is a famous singer in Italy, but attempts to make her success global have not resulted in world domination. Pity, really as she made some incredible albums. Her biggest claim to international fame is probably Un Estate Italiana (with Edoardo Bennato), a theme tune to the 1990 football world cup. In the 80's she scored a few European hits with I Maschi and Bello E Impossibile.

She released Volare on her 2011 album Io E Te. (Sony Music Italy) The song was also included on the live edition of the same album. Nannini probably had no trouble remembering the lyrics as she was one of the singers who recorded Volare For Ethiopia back in 1985 (see this Eurocovers post)

Gianna Nannini website

Andrea Bocelli never recorded a real studio version of Volare except for a Barilla pasta commercial. But he has been performing the song live on many occasions. Live album One Night In Central Park, recorded in (you guessed it) Central park, New York features a live version with David Foster at the piano. (Sugar Music, 2011)

Other stars guesting are Tony Bennett and Eurovision Royal Celine Dion. 

Andrea Bocelli website

Francisco recorded a Spanish live version of Volare with Santiago Segura for his album La Voz. 

Now, many singers are named Francisco, so I don’t really know who this is. He must be someone, as the album has some impirtant guests.
Update: Francisco won the OTI contest (Spanish language Song contest) twice. (1981 and 1992) and is a well known singer in Spain. (Thanks José Antonio!)

Well worth mentioning is that La Voz also includes a version of Al Di Là  (Más alla in Spanish) the Italian 1961 Eurovision entry, as it's a duet with no one less than Pastora Soler of Baku Eurovision fame. 
And there's Dio Come Ti Amo (Dios como te amo in Spanish) performed with Paca Ribes. This is Domenico Modugno's 1966 Eurovision song.
Other people guesting are Julio Iglesias Jr. and Daniel Diges (Oslo 2010) (Warner music Spain).

Sex And Drugs and Eurovision: The Olsen Brothers Trippin' Road Movie

Gourmet film have released this lovely tribute to the Olsen Brothers (Jørgen and Niels Olsen). It's a funny movie revealing the secret of how the brothers got the inspiration for their 2000 Eurovision song Fly On The Wings Of Love.
The short film, carrying the title of the Eurovision winner, is set in the early 70's. The Brødrene are hitch hiking through the U.S. on their way to San Francisco to make it in America.
The road trip stars Allan Hyde, Aske Bang, Emma Bell and Hailey Boyle. Hyde and Bang directed and Nina Helveg produced. It features several Olsen Brothers songs including their 1978 Danish Melodi Grand Prix hit San Francisco. (see below)
The full 16 minute movie is in above youtube, the bits in danish are subtitled.

The Brothers in 2010

Fly On The Wings Of Love won the Stockholm Eurovision Song Contest for Denmark in 2000. Originally the song was performed in Danish as Smuk Som Et Stjerneskud (Beautiful as a shooting star) in the Danish national final.
Sweden has become lucky ground for the Danes, as this year Denmark won the contest in Malmö with Emmelie De Forest and her Only Teardrops.

The actors:
Allan Hyde is a familiar face (although well disguised), he's known as vampire Godric on HBO's series True Blood.
Emma Bell also has a horror past, she was Amy in the first season of The Living Dead (AMC). She's also cast in the Dallas revival as Emma Brown (TNT), daughter of an ex-wife of Bobby Ewing (or something like that)
Aske Bang has been in a several Danish movies and TV series including an episode of Borgen.
Hailey Boyle is a stand up comedian.

The Brothers in 1972

Warning: Probably a bit NSFW: it has some unidentified cigarettes and hippy sex on LSD.

Gourmet Film is Allan Hyde's and Aske Bangs film project/company.
The film is co-funded by gifts from the public through Kickstarter.com and other sources.
They love Eurovision, check out their new years video Save Your Kisses For Me (upd. heavily geoblocked now) starring Aske Bang, Nina Helveg, Allan Hyde and Julie Grundtvig Wester as the Mighty Brotherhood Of Man.

Some links and sources: Updated 2021
Gourmet film website and facebook
Olsen Brothers website and  facebook (new)
Allan Hyde website
Hailey Boyle facebook
Emma Bell website
The Olsen Brothers Eurovision cover album here at Eurocovers
Shop for The Olsen Brothers CDs at BeaRecords

The Brothers in the 50's

Songs featured in the film:

San Francisco

- 2nd place in the 1978 Danish national final

Marie Marie        

- single from 1982

One Woman, Two Lovers

- from their 2000 CD Wings Of Love

I Have To Dance

- Single from 2000, follow up to the Eurovison winner

Angelina

- Single from 1972, the first hit for the Bro’s

Fly On The Wings Of Love

- The performance at the Stockholm contest is featured, Terry Wogan famously commenting "I have a sneaky suspicion about that one."

Additional score by Djarn Kargin and Daniel Vognstrup

Jan Johansen - Kedvesem

Jan Johansen loves Kedvesem (and so do I).
In case you missed it, ByeAlex finished 10th with Kedvesem (Sweetheart) in saturdays Eurovision final in Malmö, singing for Hungary.
Jan Johansen is the singer of the 1995 Swedish entry Se På Mig (3rd place in Dublin).

Kedvesem at the Malmö Collection has all the details and links to the versions of the lovely ByeAlex song. There's even one with a bit sung in Swedish by ByeAlex himself..

Jan's soundcloud
Jan Johansen has a book out (in Swedish)

Also check out everything about these Hungarian entries:
2014 - András Kállay Saunders at the Copenhagen Collection
2013 - ByeAlex at the Malmö Collection
2012 - Compact Disco at the Baku Collection
2011 - Kati Wolf at the Düsseldorf Collection
2009 - Adok Zoli at the Moscow Collection
You'll find versions, CD info, charts and other trivia

Update: Jan also recorded an English version She's The One, lyrics by Gabi Knoll.


Eisenhauer also covers ByeAlex' Eurovision hit.

cdsingle

Above video is a coverversion of the Hungarian 2013 entry Kedvesem by ByeAlex

It's sung in English by Eisenhauer and is titled One For Me.

The track wass released in May 2014 in Germany. The cdsingle includes four versions of the song.

One For Me - single version

One For Me - Thomas Lizzara mix

One For Me - "One Love" remix

One For Me - Karaoke

Out on Rhingtön (Universal Music), also available at your usual digital outlets.

Kedvesem ended 10th in the final in Malmö.
Read all about the original song and its versions here at the Malmö Collection.
For a coverversion by Swedish Eurovision singer Jan Johansen go here at Eurocovers.

Special thanks to Ivor Lyttle.

And here's a Swedish version by Mona Ersare

Here's a new Swedish coverversion of Kedvesem.
The singer is Mona Ersare. The track is released as a digital single.

More Hungarian stuff

Paprikajancsi (Puppet on a string)

Marika Késmárky a.k.a. Edina Pop

Zoller Zsolt - Szerelem miért múlsz

Toldy Mária -Viaszbaba - Poupée de cire, poupée de son

Takasa's You And Me the Estonian way

It's a well know fact Estonians like to sing, live to sing. So when this coverversion of the 2013 Swiss entry You And Me by Takasa  was recorded it was no problem to get 400 people to join in. The singers are from the Kärdla Uhisgümnaasium, which I guess is an Estonian education hotspot of some sorts. Nice and a funny video.
In Estonian the song is titled Ikka Jääd Sa Minuga which means something like Will you still be with me.

Having 400 people doing a Eurocover may well be a record (The Kärdla's think so and I'm not arguing)
Takasa (short for Them Of The Salvation Army) are breaking one of two records in Eurovision this year, at 95, Bassplayer Emil Ramsauer is the oldest artist to grace the Eurovision stage.
The other record is by Ukraine who are parading the tallest ever person on the stage.

Eurovision 2013 is imminent. For details on all this years entries, releases, recordings, charts and other trivia, please grace The Malmö Collection with a visit.
Eurocovers also has a bit about Bonnie.

Release news: O Vento Mudou - Ricardo Oliveira

Portugal decided to stay home for the Malmö contest. Sad of course, but they can make it up to us by sending Ricardo Oliveira when they return in 2014. All he needs is someone to write a classy tune and record it with the orchestra as featured in the videoclip above.

The clip, O Vento Mudou (The wind changes) is a coverversion of the Portuguese 1967 entry originally by Eduardo Nascimento (12th place).

The song (released as digital single) is taken from the album which also bears the title O Vento Mudou which was released in Februari. 

I'm loving it, Oliveira's great voice and fab orchestra give the song a new lease of life, very different from the (also amazing) original.

Eurovision related tracks:
The album includes 12 reworkings of milestones in Portuguese music history and two Eurovision songs are included.

Next to the 1967 entry there's Sol De Inverno (Winter sun) originally performed by Simone de Oliveira in the 1965 contest.

Another Eurovision related cover on O Vento Mudou is Flor Sem Tempo (Timeless flower) by Paulo De Carvalho. The song finished 2nd 1971 Portuguese national final.
From the 1976 Festival is No Teu Poema a song that ended third in the final with all songs by Carlos Do Carmo.

There's also 20 Anos, a song made famous by José Cid (ESC 1980),  Adeus Tristeza by Fernando Tordo (ESC 1973) and Pensando Em Ti, a 1978 hit for Gemini who entered Eurovision in the same year with Dai Li Dou.

2004 debut album

From Idols to The Voice
Ricardo participated in A Voz De Portugal (The Voice Of Portugal). He finished second, but it enabled him to record this album, 10 years after his first record* and his lauch at Ídolos, Portugese Idols (where he also finished second). (2003).
In the Idols final one of the songs he performed was Chamar A Musica, the 1994 Portuguese entry by Sara Tavares. At the final of A Voz Sara and Ricardo performed a duet: Bom Feeling.

*Pic from debut album nicked from e-bay.

Special thanks to José Antonio!

Ricardo Oliveira Facebook

Full tracklist and a downloadable medley to sample the album are here at Universal Portugal

I don't know about the availablity of the album worldwide, but the CD is available at FNAC Portugal and the digital is at iTunes Portugal. 
For the Netherlands Ricardo's digital releases are available at MegaMedia. Germany: Amazon

O Vento Mudou, the 1967 EP sleeve

O Vento Mudou releases and coverversions.

Eduardo Nascimento released O Vento Mudou on an EP (Decca PEP 1193). He also released an English version Listen, released on a Decca promo EP with a front sleeve identical to the original EP.

Here’s a list of coverversions of O Vento Mudou that I know of and that have been officially released. If you know more, please let me know.

Nicolau Breyner

- on EP Livre (Tecla records TE 1016), re-issued on 1998 CD (Movieplay)

António Calvário (Eurovision 1964)
- on 7" and EP (EP: Spain Belter 51.791)

Da Vinci (Eurovision 1989)

- on CD Oicam (1995)

Delfins

- on 7" and 12", see this Eurocovers post

María de Fátima (NL based fado singer)

- on CD O Vento Mudou (Silvox 2012)

Adelaide Ferreira (Eurovision 1985)

- on CD Sentidos (BMG 2000)

Artur García

- On EP Porta Secreta (5th in NF 67, Marfer MEL 2-056)

Rádio Clube Nora

- on CD Ver Sons (Arte2, 2006)

Maria de Lourdes Resende

- on EP (Alvorada AEP 60904)

Ricardo Oliveira

- on CD O Vento Mudou (Universal 2013)

UHF

- on CD Porqué ? (Columbia 2010)

Grande Orquestra De Luís Gomes

- Instrumental on CD Portugal Deluxe - Volume 2 - Um Cocktail Swingante (1998)

Thee Chargers

- Surf guitar Instrumental on CD The Mansion Of The Doomed (2009), listen here

Umidaxon

Here's a sweet video from Uzbekistan. Umidaxon's Dema Dema is a coverversion of Show Me Your Love by Tina Karol. (7th place for Ukraine in the 2006 Athens Eurovision)

Sugarfree version of Bucks Fizz hit

Here's Belgian duo Sugarfree with their version of the 1981 Eurovision winner Making Your Mind Up by Bucks Fizz.
Sugarfree (Gildy Florus and Nathalie Prins) already released a few radio hits in Belgium and hopefully they will break through in the charts with this one.

Geef Er Een Lap Op (Go for it, liberally translator ed.) is available through digital sources but also out on a one track cdsingle (CNR Damaro).
Digital at amazon, iTunes, Megamedia (NL)

Also check out the Sugarfree website (in Dutch)

U.K. winner Making Your Mind Up by Bucks Fizz may be remembered of the skirt ripping gimmick, but the chirpy Eurovision jive also has proven itself as a true Eurovision classic.
The band went on to have an impressive string of hits including the magnificent My Camera Never Lies and the useful for Christmas hit The Land Of Make Believe, which was another international #1 for the band.
Two years ago the Fizz celebrated the 30th anniversary of the song by releasing a new version. (CD Up Until Now (The 30th Anniversary Hits Collection)).

Special thanks to JB!!!!

Let's get loud!

Found a coverversion of the 2013 Swedish entry on the tube. The band are Outtrigger (no, me neither) and their version of Robin Stjernbergs You is destined for the highly coveted interval spot of Melodifestivalen 2014. Great stuff.

Find out more about You by Robin Stjernberg and Melodifestivalen 2013 here at the Malmö Collection.

Beam Me Up Bonnie!

With Bonnie Tyler being the U.K. singer for Malmö it's a good moment to take a look at this one, where things boldly go in ways unexpected.
Lin Yu Chun from Taiwan duets with the one and only William Shatner, Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise. The clip is from the Lopez Tonight show, a U.S. late night show hosted by George Lopez (TBS).

Total Eclipse Of The Heart written by is a classic and Bonnie's biggest hit to date.
The song is written by Jim Steinman, the man who made Meatloaf the 80's staple diet and who gave Celine Dion It's All Coming Back To Me Now.

I love Startrek and William performing as a "singer" is one of those Space Oddities that make the universe such an exiting place to be part of.

Lin Yu Chun (林育羣) is no stranger to Eurocovers. The Taiwanese One Million Stars talent show sensation recorded a coverversion of the U.K. 2009 entry It's My Time (Jade Ewen).
More about that one here at Eurocovers.

Bonnie Tyler will represent the United Kingdom with Believe In Me from her new album Rocks And Honey.
Bits about Bonnie 2013 here at the Malmö Collection

Some more interesting Eclipses: One Direction, Josh Groban and Ellen Degeneres, Lucy Lawless (Xena) with Bonnie Tyler, 2000 Eurovision star Nicki French and even Metallica.

David Sancho - Estando Contigo!!

Nice to see the old classics aren't forgotten.
Here's Spain's very first entry Estando Contigo (Conchita Bautista) in a new version by David Sancho. It is taken from the album Sancho and Swing from 2011.

Sancho first performed Estando Contigo in the Spanish casting pre-selection thingy to find the 2011 Eurovision artist, but he was axed at an early stage.

Sancho and Swing Website
Special thanks to José Antonio.
More Estando Contigo at Eurocovers