Die Autobahn To Düsseldorf: Yüksek Sadakat

Turkish singer Nilüfer (Nilüfer Yumlu) who we all of course remember from the 1978 Eurovision entry Sevince by Nazar (group, she was in it) has released a new album titled 12 Düet.

It means 12 Duets and it features 12 songs Nilüfer recorded with Turkish rock singers and bands.

Track 2 on the album is Göreceksin Kendini featuring Yüksek Sadakat.

Yüksek Sadakat is of course the 2011 Turkish entrant and Göreceksin Kendini is a coverversion of Tu Te Reconnaitras, the 1973 Eurovision winner by Anne-Marie David (for Luxembourg).

It is the third time Nilüfer recorded Göreceksin Kendini.
It first appeared on a single (CBS 1646, pic left) and a later recording was released on the Various artists album Bak Bir Varmış Bir Yokmuş 3 (Odeon Koleksiyon )

Nilüfer also recorded Greek entry Socrates (by Elpida, 1979) as Beyaz Mendil which was a b-side to single Oh Oh (Burç 3511).

On her album Sen Mühimsin Nilüfer released a wonderful version of the Turkish 1990 entry Gözlerinin Hapsindeyim originally by Kayahan Açar. (Yasar YCD 90007)

As far as I know Göreceksin Kendini is the first ever Eurocover for Yüksek Sadakat.

Read more about Yüksek Sadakat here at The Düsseldorf Collection.

Nilüfers 12 Düet album is out now in the Turkish shops.

Other artists duetting on the album are Şebnem Ferah, Malt, Teoman, Gece Yolcuları, Hayko Sepkin and many others.

Estando Contigo
Sadly it's the end of The Autobahn for David Sancho.
The actor and big band style singer was axed in yesterdays Spanish pre-thing round.
But let's pay him a visit at his website where you can listen to a highly enjoyable version of Estando Contigo, Spains first ever entry.
There's also some other songs in audio or video (Click Saber first, then canciones).

VII: Year Of The Puppet - Suna Artun Poyraz from Turkey

The Turkish version of Puppet On A String, Ben Senin Kuklan Değilim, is another one I couldn't find much info on. The song is by Suna Artun Poyraz and can be found on a single (Ezgi Plákk 45-12?) and a Turkish various artists LP 'Yıldızlar geçidi' (Ezgi Plákk).

I don't know who Suna Artun Poyraz is, the only thing I know is that she recorded several coverversions of 60's songs and that she released some singles as Suna Artun (without Poyraz).
If anyone knows some more or has a picture, please let me know.

A recommended site for fans of (any) coverversions is http://www.birzamanlar.net/ which has an extensive lists of versions in Turkish with titles and artists of the originals and the covered versions.

More Turkish Eurocovers in the near future.

Zoukovery: Discover Zouk Covers

I haven't been able to find out much about this outfit, Zoukovery. They're either from from La Reunion, French overseas department, east of Madagascar, or from a French Polynesian or Caribbean territory.
Their albums bear the imaginative titles Zoukovery 1, 2, 3 and 4 and for the rest I'm a totally clueless.

Zouk music originates in Guadeloupe and Martinique and has spread across the world, well mostly across French territories.
Zoukovery's albums were recorded in the last 10 years and they feature several versions of Eurovision songs, all in French. It isn't hardcore zouk on offer, but polite gentle versions perfect for your outdoor dinner parties.

Here's a short Zouk discography with Zoukovery's songs and two more. I'm missing half of them and any information would be very welcome.

Elle etait si jolie (France 1963 - Alian Barrière)
- Zoukovery - CD Zoukovery Vol. 3
N'avoue Jamais (France 1965 - Guy Mardel)
- Poz k'fe - CD Avec ou sans sucre vol. 2
Un banc, un arbre, une rue (Monaco 1971 - Severine)
- Zoukovery - CD Zoukovery vol. 4
Après toi - (Luxembourg 1972 - Vicky Leandros)
- Zoukovery (+ instrumental) - L'Album Zoukovery Vol 1
Tu te reconnaitras (Luxembourg 1973 - Anne-Marie David)
- Zoukovery - CD Zoukovery Vol. 4
L 'Oiseau et l'enfant (France 1977 - Marie Myriam)
- Zoukovery - CD Zoukovery Vol. 4
- New Generation (Tahiti) - CD Ia Ho`e o To`u Nuna`a (1998)
Si la vie est cadeau (Luxembourg 1983 - Corinne Hermès)
- Zoukovery - CD Zoukovery vol. 4
White and black blues (France 1990 - Joelle Ursull)
- C. Wyllis - CD Le top du zouk (CDMC, 2002)
Joelle Ursull, Miss Guadeloupe 1979, original singer of White and black blues, once was a member of Zouk Machine, the Guadeloupe girl trio that had a European hit with Maldòn (La musique dans la peau) in the early 90's. By then Ursull had already been kicked out of the band, but she got her revenge with the successful Eurovision song and recommended album Black French. The lyrics to White and black blues are penned by Serge Gainsbourg.



Related Eurocovers Post: A Eurocover from Tahiti.

Site Tip:
I mentioned this website before, but there's a lot of new stuff to find at the website of Jean Paul Cara, composer of L'oiseau et l'enfant. Recent additions are covers in Basque, Finnish, Estonian and Turkish. Highly recommended.

The Kids Are Alright !!

Junior Eurovision, the JESC, who needs it?
The Kids do!
The Eurovision spin-off for the under 16s has proven to be a popular tv show for the youngsters aspiring to be the next singer/songwriter (they're supposed to write the songs themselves).
Fun for all the family to be had and the 5th edition taking place in Rotterdam, Netherlands next Saturday (8th December) is no exception.

Junior Eurovision is for the kids, so it's not really Eurocovers material, although there was this one time winner for Spain (2004) with the superbly titled Antes Muerta Que Sencilla (Rather dead than common) by Maria Isabel that wouldn't have been out of place in the adult competition and even got covered by some adults in Mexico (see comments) (Horoscopes de Durango, pictured), in the Dominican Republic (merengue by Juliana) and in Spain by Las Supremas De Mostoles.
You can also find the Youtube of the original version by Maria Isabel.

Eurovision history has been littered with pre-pubescents. Gigliola Cinquetti was too young to love in 1964, 1986 winner Sandra Kim (J'aime la vie) lied about her age to get in the competition and 1989 saw two toddlers on the stage. Israels barely potty trained Gili Natanel singing along with Galit (Derech Ha Melech) and Nathalie Pacque (J'ai Volé La Vie) for France, who was like 4 months or something. (She just got a baby, congratulations Nat!)

To get to the point, here are some youngsters doing cover versions of your favorite grown up Eurovision songs. They will melt every mommy's heart and make you want to make / adopt some of the critters yourself. And there's three parts!

The Kids Are Alright - Part 1. - The Girls
1961 Estando Contigo
Spains debut entry was performed by the ever fabulosa Conchita Bautista but it was the version by Marisol (a.k.a. Pepa Flores) that made the song really famous in Spain. She sang it in the hitmovie Ha Llegando Un Angel (An angel has appeared) and you can watch a clip of it at Youtube (Check out the guys in the backing!)



1965 Poupée De Cire,
----------------Poupée De Son
Considering the fact that the original song allegedly is about an activity unmentionable at this decent family blog, it's a bit unsettling to hear a 6 year old infant sing it. She must have been lured by all the little dollies.
Tatiana (Tatiana Eva Marie) recorded the song in 1992 on her first album Tatiana Chante when she was 6, and has since made name as a comedian, model and singer. Her latest (rather beautiful) CDs with Compagnie Zorongo: Narandilé and Rhapsodia are influeced by her Romanian, Greek, Dutch, French, Swiss, Turkish and Gipsy heritage and you can hear some of her music at her MySpace and website.
Tatiana Chante includes covers of songs by celebrated French songwriters like Gainsbourg, Michel Polnareff, Françoise Hardy and Guy Beart.
The CD also includes a song Ah! Quelle Histoire which could be Cliff Richards Congratulations or not. (Anyone knows?)

2006 Girls and Horses
In 2006 Germany sent Texas Lighting with their perfect slice of country pop No No Never, which failed to get Europe televoting (even though it's really really quite good).

Teresa Strobl loves horses, she even caught horsefever, as she is singing in her version of No No Never, Pferdefieber. It's from the Kiddy Contest 2006 CD, from an Austrian TV competition in which kids sing hits in their own style, and with kid-proof lyrics. Previous Kiddy Contests (& CDs) have featured a few Eurovision covers:
- Kiddy kids - Jungs (Love Shine A Light, UK 97, from CD Kiddy contest 3, 1997).
- Nicki Freiberger - Mein superstar (Zusammen Geh'n, Austria 92, from CD Kiddy Contest 9, 2003)
- Teresa Strobl - Pferdefieber (No No Never, Germany 06, on CD Kiddy Contest 12, 2006)The 2007 edition CD did not produce any Eurocovers.

Another hippic version of No No Never, Mein Kleines Süsses Fohlen (My sweet little foal) was recorded by the Lollipops, two girls who have released a zillion records but remain in their mid teens. The Lollipops CD with the song is Reiterferien sind der Hit, but they also have a new CD out Zusammen sind wir doppelt stark on which they cover the German 2007 entry Frauen regier'n die Welt (Roger Cicero) as Kids Regiern Die Welt (Kids rule the world).



Junior Eurovision Song Contest official website
Junior Eurovision related CDs are available at BeaRecords. OUT NOW: The 2 CD with all entries for the Rotterdam contest + all karaoke versions.

Related Eurocovers Posts:
Gigliola Cinquetti - Non Ho L'eta in the top 10 most covered Eurovision songs.
France Galls Poupée De Cire in the top 10 most covered Eurovision songs.
Boom Bang A Bang (UK 1969) - By Pippi Lookalike Anne Mette

10.000 Eurocovers: Additions to ABBA's Waterloo

Here's some additions to Waterloo in the top 10 most covered Eurovision songs.

A rare version of the 1974 Eurovision classic I had been looking for for a long time is the Turkish version by Nilgün Atılgan. Most known as an actress, Atılgan released several records including this single Oldu mu? (Waterloo) on the Coskun label. (Coskun plak 1359)

Roymond.com presents an odd version of ABBA's Eurovision winner Waterloo features a mini Abba sample, cats and a disturbed vocal. Think The Colourblind James Experience meets Vincent Price. In a washing machine. You can get the track here.

An even more impressive version in the weirdness stakes is the version by Phil Granville you can find at at Dictionaraoke.com. Loving the wow wow wow's at the end.
"This site features parodies of popular songs using karaoke-style backing music with vocals provided by audio pronunciation samples from online dictionaries". Many other great classics get the Dictionaraoke treatment.

And I didn't want to let you hear this one (for your own good), but I can't refuse a request that is accompanied with praise and kisses.

It's the Babies Go Abba Version by the Sweet Little Band (see original article).



Babies Go ABBA, Aerosmith, Bob Marley, Elvis, Madonna, Shakira, Coldplay, Oasis etc - more info at RGS music
The original Waterloo article is here.

BLOG TIP:
Funky Czech In has a nice feature about Blue Swede, band of Eurovision singer Björn Skifs (Swedish entries of 1978 & 1981). Blue Swede preceded Abba by being the first Swedish act to top the US charts (1974 - Hooked on a feeling).

2008 welcomes Azerbaijan to the Eurovision stage.

The list of countries for Eurovision 2008 counts 43 and there's again two newcomers on the Eurovision stage. San Marino and Azerbaijan*. Austria opts out for 2008.
Eurocovers of course tries to find any excuse to present some songs here but so far I haven't been able to find any version sung in Azerbaijani (or Azeri-Turkish, check your wiki's).
If anyone knows any, just let me know….

But this is close, Muslim Magomaev (Müslüm Maqomayev, Муслим Магомаев, 1942-2008) is a classical singer (baritone) who was born in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, in 1942, USSR times.
He shares his name with his grandfather, legendary composer Muslim Magomaev (1885 - 1937), who was a pioneer of Azerbaijani music. His father was a painter and war hero, his mother an actress. Magomaev Jr. started as a classical singer but after a performance in Italy he also turned to popular music. Since he has recorded Italian and Russian versions of many Italian songs including several San Remo entries and (other) songs by Domenico Modugno. Later he was dubbed the Soviet Sinatra.

In 1966 and 1969 Muslim Magomaev performed in Paris Olympia with great success. The director of Olympia Bruno Coquatrix offered him a contract, and Muslim Magomaev was seriously considering an opportunity to pursue international career, but he didn't get the Ministry of Culture's permission, who claimed that it needed Muslim Magomaev to perform at governmental concerts. In 1969 he received MIDEM Gold Disc Award in Cannes for the album sales of over 4,5 million units. In 1973, at the very young age of 31, Muslim was awarded the Soviet Union's highest artistic title: People's Artist of the USSR. Muslim Magomaev is also known as a composer of songs, film soundtracks and music for theater performances. In addition, Magomaev played in films and acted as a host in television and radio broadcasts.

Muslim Magomaev has been living and working in Moscow since the early 1970s. In 1997, in recognition of Magomaev's professional successes, a Russian astronomical society named two planetoids of the solar system in honor of him and his wife, Tamara Sinyavskaya, a prominent Russian opera singer who was also awarded People's Artist of the USSR and worked as a soloist at the Bolshoi Theater. (source: Magomaev Website)
At his website (in English and Russian) you can read more and listen to a large selection of his songs: classical music, songs by Azerbaijani composers, western popular songs, film themes and many self composed works.

UPDATE: Muslim Magomaev died on October 25, 2008.

Magomaev Eurocovers.So far I have found two Eurocovers by Muslim Magomaev. Both are entries from 1965, the year of his visit to Milan, Italy.
Se Piangi, Se Ridi (Italian)- Italy 1965, originally by Bobby Solo
Voskovaya Kukla (Восковая кукла, Russian)
- Luxembourg 1965, France Galls Poupée De Cire ... ***
I don't have any details on the release of Se Piangi Se Ridi, but Poupée…. was issued on a Melodija 4 track EP (33ГД-0001045-2 see picture) and a compilation LP of the same year, Vsem kto lyubit pesnyu (#3)
The third song featured here is Non Pensare A Me, the 1967 SanRemo winner that was replaced at the rehearsing stages of the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna.**



*Where's Azerbaijan? (Azərbaycan): On the west side of the Caspian Sea with Russia to the North and Iran to the South. On the west Azerbaijan shares borders with Armenia (disputed) and Georgia. Capital city Baku is at the Caspian coast.
Azerbaijan seceded from the USSR in 1991 and has a populuation of 8,5 million.
The Eurovision Song Contest broadcast will start at 02.00 hours as in summer there is a 5 hour time difference.

** Non Pensare A Me was the 1967 San Remo winner by both Iva Zanicchi and Claudio Villa. Villa was supposed to sing it as the Italian Eurovision entry but the song had to be replaced just days before the contest because it broke the release rules (i.e. it was released to early). Instead, Claudia Villa represented Italy with Non Andare Piu Lontano, but Non Pensare A Me was the hit (mainly for Zannichi) and is covered by most artists that were in the business of covering popular Italian songs (Connie Francis, Andre Hazes, Yukari Ito, Agnaldo Timoteo, José Guardiola).
Of Non Andare Piu Lontano I only ever found one coverversion (by Los Catinos)

*** Can't get enough of Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son?, for more check these Eurocovers posts: Tatiana in The Kids Are Alright part 1, Les Sans Culottes in Eurocovers 1st Birthday, Shimatani Hitomi video, Arcade Fire (info only), My Tam (Vietnam) and Minami Saori (Japan) in the top 10 most covered Eurovision songs, Estonian Star Sisters and Swedish Anne Lie Rydé.

Blog Tip: Merci Cherie - Mrs Caroline Robinson

So Oranje won't see Austria. I know Guus Hiddink is on a crash course to world domination but I had hoped he was saving it for South Africa's world cup in 2010. But he just had to destroy the Dutch team, brutally chopped off the hand that fed him etcetera. Anyway, good luck to the sweet boys of Russia, hope you'll win the whole blody thing now.

Blog Tip - Merci Cherie
Euro2008 co-host Austria opted out of Eurovision for 2008, but 30 years ago they had Mrs. Caroline Robinson by Springtime. A Eurovision entry so corny you'd almost think it was British. So now go to the Merci Cherie blog where a great Italian coverversion of the song is featured. It's by Corrado (who he?) and it's in this Merci Cherie Post.


Some More News Bits

Patricia Lewis, Queen of South African Eurovision premiered some songs of her forthcoming CD in a live show. The songs included Hero (Sweden 2008), Empty Room (Swedens # 2 in the national selection of 2008) both in English. But the prize song has to be Ek Sal Altyd Vir Jou Lewe, which is an Afrikaans version of Live Forever, Magnificent Magnus Carlssons 2007 Swedish preselection song that didn't make it to Eurovision but was one of the biggest Melodifestivalen hits of the year.
Special thanks to Roy, More Patricia Lewis in this Eurocovers post.

For Real, the cool ska punk Eurovision entry by Athena (for Turkey, 4th in 2004) has received the dubious honour of being covered by Jochem van Gelder, Dutch kiddy TV host. His version is called Kamelentrein (Camel train). As kids are considered stupid but rich by the music industry it's lame and nothing is left of the greatness of the original.

You can see the Video at Jochem's website. The original is at this YouTube.

I got the news from: http://songfestival.web-log.nl

Rendez-Vous in Belgium
Belgium's premier alternative radio station Studio Brussel (StuBru) celebrates their 25th anniversary with a coverversions CD. The best and others from Belgiums alternative music scene each cover a song for each year that StuBru has been on air. The Album is titled Rendez-Vous, which is the song by Pas De Deux that almost divided Belgium after is was chosen as the Eurovision entry for München (1983). The new wave band presented a minimal song with just one line of silly lyrics and an even more silly dance routine and the country was in a state of shock.

The song is still one of the best Belgium ever sent (IMHO) and you can see the original Youtube here, booing included.

The StuBru CD features the Eurovision classic in a new version by the equally great Vive La Fête. Full tracklist of the StuBru CD is here.
(sources: http://www.eurosong.be/, VRT StuBru)

Totally Off-Topic Blog Tips
I'm having great fun with a Czech coverversion of The Best Disco In Town (Ritchie Family hit from the late 70's) Žiješ v éře diskoték by Bezinky & Pražské smyčce. It's featured at the one and only Funky Czech-In.
And Global Vintage has two coverversions of Venus, the Shocking blue hit. One's in Turkish and the other one is in Greek. The latter is by Pascalis & the Olympians of Mathema Solfege fame.
(see this Eurocovers post for more about Mathema Solfege by Pascalis and his mates)

Eurovision 1990: Azucar Moreno - Bandido ...and then some

Another classic Eurovision moment: It's Zagreb, 1990 and Azucar Moreno are set to open the 35th contest with their groundbreaking (at least for Eurovision) Flamenco-House stunner Bandido (music by Raul Orellana & Jame Stinus, lyrics by José Luis Abel). But things go horribly wrong (Youtube).
After a long wait the backing tape finally starts but the Orchestra is still high on slivovits and they completely forget to play their parts. Sisters Toni & Encarna are not amused and walk off steaming. For a very long minute it's not clear if the sisters will return or if they are already running amok in the backstage area. But thankfully one of the favorites of the year gets a full airing and all is well in the end. Bandido only ends 5th and the winner is Insieme 1992 by Italian Toto Cutugno, who is dripping with black spray-on hairpaint when he walks on to carry the trophy home.

BEST BAND IN THE WORLD
Azucar Moreno are probably the best band in the world and since their breakthrough with the Bandido album (their 4th) they recorded 9 more. One is even more poptastic than the other and they are all highly recommended if you like passionate Flamenco- house crazyness and salsaflavored pop gems. And the occasional bonkers coverversion like Hava Nagila, Paint It Black or Tequila. Recommended personal favorites are Mambo (1991), Ojos Negros (1992), Amén (2000) and Bailando Con Lola.
Their success also spread to South America with a cover of Ven Devorame Otra Vez (Come and devour me again, 1990) and especially the El Amor album produced by Emilio Estefan (Gloria's hubby) in 1994. In 1996 they have a European summer hit with Solo Se Vive Una Vez (You only live once) from the album Esclava De Tu Piel (Slave to your skin).
Their most recent offering is Bailando Con Lola (2006), a tribute to Flamenco singer Lola Flores. You can listen to some of the tracks at their MySpace.
A selection of Azucar Moreno records for sale at BeaRecords

THE FUTURE
And there's good news, Encarna, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer last year is now declared cured. It's reported the girls are currenty working on their 14th album which should see the light of day at the end of this year. However other sources state Toni is working on a solo album and Azucar Moreno is on the backburner for a while.

SOME 2010 UPDATES (6-6-10)
Here's some great news on the best band in the world, Queens of the walk-off: Azucar Moreno. And their neices Alazan.
As you might know Azucars Moreno sisters Toñi and Encarna fell out big time after Encarna (the angry one) fell ill with breast cancer and Toñi (the bossy one) split up with her partner.
Things got really ugly but the girls seem to have made up (yay!!) and a new album is planned for the end of the year.  (well, make that somewhere in 2011 then)

Toñi Salazar has just released her new solo album Zero Azucar (!) which includes La Caña De España. That song was one of the many songs shortlisted in the Spanish national selection. (Youtube). It didn't make it to the final even though I voted for it…
Encarna released her solo album Desencuentro in 2009

Alazan
Meanwhile, Alazan, some nieces of The Moreno sisters celebrate their 10th anniversary with ditching a member* and releasing a compilation album 10.
10 includes a new version of the fabulous Alcanzaras La Luna from the 2000 Spanish final.
On the new version of Alcanzaras... you can hear and see Auntie Toñi and uncles Los Chungitos guest.
Watch La Caña de España here
You can watch the Alazan video here or listen to the new Alcanzaras here at Alazans homepage.
Source: Azucar Moreno Myspace (don't know if it's official or fanmade)

* actually, I don´t know when they became a duo

BANDIDO COVERS
Below there's a list of the coverversions of Bandido I know about and a few to listen to. Many are in Spanish although several of these are just cheap copies of the original song to fill MCs with even more cheap copies.

Atalaje (Spanish)
- on CD Eurovision Por Rumbas (1999). This album has 10 Spanish Eurocovers all in Rumba
Flamenco style
Andy & de Ania's - Bandieten der Liebe (German)
- on CD Zuhause etwas spannendes erleben (1996) (Danke Flavio!)
Antonia & Ronit - (translates as) Gipsy Vagabond (Hebrew)
- on CD, any info wantedAskin Nur Yengi - Zehir Gibisin (Turkish)
- on CD Hesap Ver and CD Aşk' In ŞarkilariPaul De Leeuw - Alleen maar de zon (Dutch)
- on CD Van U wil ik zingen (Varagram/Brommerpech)Los Chamarones (Spanish)
- on MC Rumbas mix para bailar. Vol. 5 (Disco Mercurio)
Maribel Cozar (Spanish)
- on CD Maribel Cozar (Sonograf)Dulce Veneno (Spanish)
- on MC Por Rumbas (Disco Mercurio)Los Gemelos (Spanish)
- on CD Escucha Como Cantan Los Gemelos (Fonoruz)Raíces (Spanish)
- on MC A Bailar La Rumba (F.P. Records)Rod's band (Spanish)
- on CD 40 Años De Eurovisión, album with cheap covers of 40 years of Spanish entriesSalsa Rumba band (Spanish)
- on CD Romantic Rumba's & Sizzling Salsas (1999) (Legacy)Zurriona (Spanish)
-on MC Rumbas De Exito (Divucsa)
+ instrumental versions by Gerardo Nuñez (Guitar, MC A Toda Rumba) and by Antonio Rodriguez & Jose Miguel Alvares (MC Rumbas Guay)If you have any additions to this list I'd be happy to hear from you.




and then some:
BERRYZ KOUBOU
Remember a few months ago Berryz Koubou released a cdsingle with their Japanese version of Dschinghis Khan. Great and all that, but now they have taken it a bit further and released yet another remix of the song. The Tarutaru mix mixes the Berrys Koubou version with the original German version by Dschinghis Khan themselves. In a totally hyper over the top fashion of course.

Now it would be a clever amateur mix-up, but actually it's the Koubou's latest released cdsingle. (King Records, available from cdjapan).

The cdsingle includes three tracks:


1. ジンギスカン タルタルミックス (Tarutaru remix)
2. ジンギスカン - Berryz工房
3.Dschinghis Khan - the original 1979 version by Dschinghis Khan.

Even the picture sleeve is a remix.
Some youtubes feature the new mix.



DE TOPPERS TO MOSCOW
And then there was the news of De Toppers as the Dutch entrants for Eurovision 2009 in Moscow.

The whole country is in uproar but the announcement restored the worldwide stockmarkets after last weeks devastating plunge.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on this surprising choice from the Dutch broadcaster, so I thought I'd let my light shine on it too.

De Toppers are René Froger, Gerard Joling and Gordon. Three filthy rich* singers who are able to entertain the masses with their no holds barred renditions of popular singalongs, torch songs and humpah classics. Their live shows are completely outrageous, and their wardrobe puts Dame Shirley Bassey's to shame.

Above all De Toppers are an immensely professional live act and no resources are spared to make their shows unforgettable. A preselection is planned on Februari 1st 2009, to select the perfect song for Eurovision 2009.
http://www.toppersinconcert.nl/

Gerard Joling represented the Netherlands in Dublin in 1988 with Shangri La, a typical 80's Eurovision song which ended 9th. Before that he already enjoyed a # 1 hit with Ticket To The Tropics and Eurovision didn't destroy his career as he scored his biggest hit with No More Bolero's in 1989. Joling also enjoyed popularity in Asia as well as in Belgium.
After 10 years of trying with really not so good records he scored another #1 with Maak Me Gek (drive me wild) in 2007 and with a duet with (un)dead André Hazes: Blijf Bij Mij (Stay with me)
Even though his records were crap from 1995 to 2006 he enjoyed a lot of popularity as a TV presenter and frequent guest in TV shows.
His corny OTT reality soaps with chum Gordon also filled the kitty and today Gerard Joling is hotter than ever. http://www.gerardjoling.nl/

Gordon tried to reach the Eurovision stage a few times, once as a poodle and once with a ballad. He enjoyed a #1 hit with his debut single and has also presented several TV shows. His one and a half braincell not in his pants has been put to use to cash in with his own line of clothing which makes even the thinnest people look obese. His hit songs with Re-Play were actually quite enjoyable. http://www.gordon.nl/

In the middle of the bitching bitches there's René Froger, calm, composed and heterosexual. Another #1 hit maker (also with his debut single) and a man able to fill a few stadiums every year. In fact is was his live show where Gordon & Joling guested that sparked the idea for De Toppers.
His current reality soap where he and his wife pretend to be poor for a month..... has raised some critisism, but I'm sure it'll all be blown over come Eurovision.
He released his first Dutch language album Passie a few months ago.
http://www.renefroger.nl/

TOPPERS EUROCOVERS
Next to some Eurovision medleys and live Eurocovers on DVDs each of the toppers have recorded at least two Eurocovers solo, which I won't upload here as their lawyers will be all over me in a second.

Gerard Joling
Ein Lied Kann Eine Brücke Sein (Germany 1975 by Joy Fleming)
- as Zing Met Me Mee (Dutch) on cdsingle (Bunny / Dino)Amsterdam (Netherlands 1980 by Maggie MacNeal
- on 7"inch single
Io Senza Te (Switserland 1981 by Peter, Sue and Marc)
- as Het Is Not Niet Voorbij, technically a Willeke Alberti cover. It was a top 10 hit a few months ago. on cdsingle and also on his latest CD Bloedheet.

René Froger
Ik Heb Zorgen (Belgium 1967 by Louis Neefs)
- on CD Louis Neefs 20 jaar later (various artists), tribute album to Louis Neefs who died in 1980.Go (U.K. 1988 by Scott Fitzgerald)
- on CD Pure (2004)

Gordon
Ik Hou Van Jou (Netherlands 1984 by Maribelle)
- on 7"and cdsingle (CNR) , a #26 hit in 1992. He also released an English version and a live version
Where Are You (U.K. 1998 by Imaani)
- as Waar Ben Jij (Dutch), a ballad version of the 1998 runner up. (CNR cdsingle)

Why is it a good thing that De Toppers are going to Moscow ? OK, De Toppers don't Rawk! and I prefer my Diva's to be female, but I do think it's a good thing to send them to Moscow. Moscow is in dire need of a good gay injection and I doubt if Putin will hire his spitting nanny's** to disrupt the festivities (A Gay pride is planned in Eurovision week) , with all Euro eyes watching this time. I'm 100% sure De Toppers will give good show if they haven't killed each other by then. And I really hope they can find the right song. Money should be no object. Bring out the sequins, feathers and fur*** and paint the town all kind of colours, but mainly pink.

* They're probably the only Dutch artists who can afford to have a café latte frappiato in Moscows starbucks.
**Old ladies spitting at the people marching in the attemped gay pride in moscow turned out to be payed for by authorities. Allegedly of course.
*** although I regret they'll propably go out and kill the baby seals for it themselves.

BLOG TIPS
I recommended this blog before but Blowupdoll continues to amaze. Currently running a series of Francoise Hardy songs in English in the fh in english week.
Another blog I have mostly been enjoying this week is Zvuci Jugoslavije. Extensive delving in the Yugoslavian music archives, from pop to classical and of course including several posts about Eurovision artists and even some Eurocovers too.

The Baku Weeks, part 1 and only

Since Eurovision 2007 Eurocovers readers are used to the So And So weeks highlighting the Eurovision history of the organizing country through coverversions of their greatest hits and by their popular singers.

No such luck this year, as Azerbaijans Eurovision History is short and I haven't found any Azerbaijani Eurocovers artists except the one that was already featured in 2008 Muslim Magomaev (1942-2008), when Azerbaijan entered the Eurovision family.

Below is a re-hash of that 2008 article with a few alterations.

Also check out
The Finweeks
The Belgrade Weeks
The Moscow Weeks
The Oslo Weeks
The Düsseldorf Weeks - German Classics
The Baku Collection, all about the cds, versions, charts of Eurovision 2012.
All about the releases of Azerbaijans first 4 entries in a Baku Collection special

If you know any Eurocovers from Azerbaijan (excluding live clips and youtube amateurs) please let me know.


Here's the 2008 article about Azerbaijani/Soviet singer Muslim Magomaev, the only Azerbaijani artist I know that has recorded Eurovision songs.

2008: welcomes Azerbaijan to the Eurovision stage.

The list of countries for Eurovision 2008 counts 43 and there's again two newcomers on the Eurovision stage. San Marino and Azerbaijan. Austria opts out for 2008.
Eurocovers of course tries to find any excuse to present some songs here but so far I haven't been able to find any version sung in Azerbaijani (or Azeri-Turkish, check your wiki's).
If anyone knows any, just let me know….

But this is close, Muslim Magomaev (Müslüm Maqomayev, Муслим Магомаев, 1942-2008) is a classical singer (baritone) who was born in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, in 1942, USSR times.
He shares his name with his grandfather, legendary composer Muslim Magomaev (1885 - 1937), who was a pioneer of Azerbaijani music. His father was a painter and war hero, his mother an actress. Magomaev Jr. started as a classical singer but after a performance in Italy he also turned to popular music. Since he has recorded Italian and Russian versions of many Italian songs including several San Remo entries and (other) songs by Domenico Modugno. Later he was dubbed the Soviet Sinatra.

In 1966 and 1969 Muslim Magomaev performed in Paris Olympia with great success. The director of Olympia Bruno Coquatrix offered him a contract, and Muslim Magomaev was seriously considering an opportunity to pursue international career, but he didn't get the Ministry of Culture's permission, who claimed that it needed Muslim Magomaev to perform at governmental concerts. In 1969 he received MIDEM Gold Disc Award in Cannes for the album sales of over 4,5 million units. In 1973, at the very young age of 31, Muslim was awarded the Soviet Union's highest artistic title: People's Artist of the USSR. Muslim Magomaev is also known as a composer of songs, film soundtracks and music for theater performances. In addition, Magomaev played in films and acted as a host in television and radio broadcasts.

Muslim Magomaev has been living and working in Moscow since the early 1970s. In 1997, in recognition of Magomaev's professional successes, a Russian astronomical society named two planetoids of the solar system in honor of him and his wife, Tamara Sinyavskaya, a prominent Russian opera singer who was also awarded People's Artist of the USSR and worked as a soloist at the Bolshoi Theater. (source: Magomaev Website)
At his website (in English and Russian) you can read more and listen to a large selection of his songs: classical music, songs by Azerbaijani composers, western popular songs, film themes and many self composed works.

ADDED Muslim Magomaev, died on October 25, 2008 at the age of 66, nine months after the original article was compiled.

Magomaev Eurocovers.
So far I have found two Eurocovers by Muslim Magomaev. Both are entries from 1965, the year of his visit to Milan, Italy.

Se Piangi, Se Ridi (Italian)
- Italy 1965, originally by Bobby Solo
Voskovaya Kukla (Восковая кукла, Russian)
- Luxembourg 1965, France Galls Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son.

I don't have any details on the release of Se Piangi Se Ridi, but Poupée…. was issued on a Melodija 4 track EP (33ГД-0001045-2, picture) and a compilation LP of the same year, Vsem kto lyubit pesnyu (No3)  / Всем, Кто Любит, Песню (№ 3)

The third song featured is Non Pensare A Me, the 1967 SanRemo winner that was replaced at the rehearsing stages of the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna.*

♫ Poupée - Se Piangi - Non Pensare

* Non Pensare A Me was the 1967 San Remo winner by both Iva Zanicchi and Claudio Villa. Villa was supposed to sing it as the Italian Eurovision entry but the song had to be replaced just days before the contest because it broke the release rules (i.e. it was released to early). Instead, Claudia Villa represented Italy with Non Andare Piu Lontano, but Non Pensare A Me was the hit (mainly for Zannichi) and is covered by most artists that were in the business of covering popular Italian songs (Connie Francis, Andre Hazes, Yukari Ito, Agnaldo Timoteo, José Guardiola).
Of Non Andare Piu Lontano I only ever found one coverversion (by Los Catinos)

Release news South Africa: Andriette, Heinz Winckler, Patricia & The Hoff

Andriette
South African singer Andriette (Norman) has just released her new album Dink Aan My (Think of me).
Dink Aan My is her second album, after last years Diamant.
There's one Eurovision cover on it and that's Düm Tek Tek, this years Turkish entry by Hadise. (4th place in Moscow).
Hadise's Düm Tek Tek already enjoyed some success in Japanese charts and it's Andriettes turn to make the song a hit in South Africa. It will be the next radiosingle of the Dink Aan My CD.

The album is a joyous mix of rock and pop and there's a beautiful version of Fleetwood Mac's Songbird on the 13 track CD.

The album is available at many digital sources like Virginmedia and itunes and the CD is available in South African (web) shops.
Andriette homepage (in Afrikaans)

Heinz Winckler
Heinz Wincklers CD Ek Kan Weer In Liefde Glo is also out this week. You have already seen the video of his coverversion of Believe Again (Denmark 2009). There's another track of Eurovision interest, Jy Gee My Butterflies. This is an Afrikaans version of Butterflies by Tone Damli Aaberge, the #2in this years Norwegian selection and a #2 hit in the Nowegian charts (Kept off the #1 spot by eventual winner Fairytaile).
As expected, Ek Kan Weer In Liefde Glo is a collection of solid pop rock songs, mostly original compositions and a few coverversions thrown in for good measure. The songs are in English and in Afrikaans.
The 16 track CD closes with a coverversion of Alphaville's Forever Young.

You can hear a collage of the album at Heinz' Youtube channel, where you can also find the video to the albums title track / Eurocover.
Heinz Winckler Homepage - Heinz at Eurocovers


Patricia and The Hoff
The third much talked about coverversion of this years contest, German entry Miss Kiss Kiss Bang by Patricia Lewis and David Hasselhoff is also out now. The song, originally by Oscar Loya and Alex Christensen (Alex Swings Oscar Sings) ended 20th, but hey, it was on Oprah so they actually won anyway.

LISTEN HERE

The Afrikaans coverversion can be found on the re-issued Patricia Lewis CD Net Soos In Drome, which also includes the other song Lewis recorded with Hasselhoff: As I Am.

Charlotte Perelli's Hero (Sweden 2008) and Swedish preselection songs Cara Mia (Måns Zelmerlow), Empty Room (Sanna Nielsen) and Live Forever (Magnus Carlsson) complete the tracks of Eurocovers interest.
As a bonus there are three videoclips on the CD including Hero, Miss Kiss Kiss Bang and Gee My Nog 'n Kans. The CD is released on Sony and is available internationally through Kalahari.
The Hoffnews - This is where you read it first .

More to come: Keep checking Eurocovers for more news on South African releases like the long awaited return of Sunette Bridges, the even longer awaited debut album of Dominec and new releases by Jeandre Odendaal and Eurocovers favorite heartthrob Tobi Jooste.