Bits and bobs and wonderful dreams

We're fast approaching the end of the 2010 Eurovision preselection season. In a week all countries should have made their minds up and we'll know all the songs. (see below)
Then the long wait starts....
With all the new stars it's busy busy busy at Eurocovers headquarters and I don't really have the time for in-depth dissections of Eurocovers artists and their discographies right now.
So here's just a few lovely ones I got recently.Wonderful Dream, an English language version of the Luxemburg 1973 winner by Malaysian singer Anita Sarawak.
Гелена Великанова - Лечу я: Letayu, an old Russian version of Volare by Gelena Velikanova

Mary Ann (U.K. 1979). Not covered very much, but Ragnar Kuusk & Agrofon from Estonia did. From a real MC.

成吉思汉 - 张碟. Another fabulous cover of Dschinghis Khan (Germany 1979) by some kid named Joshua. I think it's sung in Cantonese, correct me if I'm wrong.




The Oslo Collection: Latest News
Ukraine: Goodbye Vasyl, Aloysha breaks the rules *** Belgium: Tom charts in 2 countries! *** 2010 Promoconcert *** France: *** Belarus: new song selected *** Russia: Peter Nalitch, listen *** Azerbaijan: It's Drip Drop *** Switzerland: new Video *** Serbia: This is the Balkans *** Sweden: Anna Bergendahl wins MF ***Germany: Satellite - Lena Meyer-Landrut, cdsingle news ***Greece : Opa - Giorgos Alkaios*** United Kingdom: Josh Dubovie gets the Waterman song*** Netherlands: Sieneke to Oslo, cdsingle coverversions galore ***

Aurore Kimberley - L'Oiseau Et L'Enfant

13 year old French singer Aurore Kimberley has recorded a new gipsy tinged version of France's 1977 Eurovision winner l'Oiseau Et l'Enfant (original by Marie Myriam).

The song is included on her album Artistes De l'Ombre which should be out by now.

Listen to the song and read more at Aurores SkyRock blog or check her Youtube channel.

Dutch street organ Anton Pieck - Sha-La-Lie

The much debated Dutch 2010 Eurovision Ik Ben Verliefd (Sha-La-Lie) in a street organ version. Now if you don't love this.......

Till Hamingju Hera!

I haven't done any Road To Oslo style features this year as all Eurocovering favorites who had their discographies featured at Eurocovers seemed to fail miserably (see Eurocovers, A Jinx?)

But now I'm very happy to congratulate Hera Björk with her victory in Iceland. Her song Je Ne Sais Quoi is the Icelandic entry for Oslo 2010.
Hera Björk was featured in this Eurocovers post in 2007 and a bit in this one in 2009.

Je Ne Sais Quoi is not dissimilar to the mighty Eurobandiđ's This Is My Life but it's probably because both songs share songwriter Örlygur Smári (Öggi).

Hera Björk Þórhallsdóttir entered the Icelandic preselection in 2007 (with Mig Dreymdi) and in 2009 she ended 2nd (behind Believe Again) in the Danish final with Someday.
She also was a backing singer for the Icelandic entries of 2008 (Eurobandið) and 2009 (Yohanna).

Composer Öggi previously co-wrote the Icelandic entries of 2000 (Tell me - Einar & Telma) and 2008.

Hera Björk released two albums: Christmas album Ilmur Af Jólum in 2000 and Hera Björk in 2006. The 2006 album features an Icelandic coverversion of Alvedansen, the Norwegian 2006 entry.
In 2008 and 2009 Hera Björk was a part of Frostrósir.
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Hera Björk MySpace
Hera Björk Website
Örlygur Smári MySpace
Hera Björk at 2010 The Oslo Collection
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For all your Eurovision 2010 needs like release info, details on recorded versions and charts you can check out The Oslo Collection.

Moscow revisited: Believe Again

2010 is here and so is the new Eurovision season. Preselections, National finals, Melodi Grand Prixes or whatever you call them, are in full swing and a few days ago Denmark announced their 10 hopefuls. (info here at DR TV)

Song # 2, All About A Girl by Joakim Tranberg is written by the same team as last years Danish entry Believe Again: Lars Halvor Jensen, Martin Michael Larsson & Ronan Keating.
Ronan Keating is Mr. Rollercoaster of Boyzone, but you already knew that.
Of course there's 9 more songs and if the quality is as good as last year you should put some cash aside for the DMGP 2010 CD which will be released early februari.

Last year in Moscow the Danish entry performed by (Niels) Brinck ended 13th in the final, which is respectable but not exactly winning.
Believe Again scored a #1 hit in Denmark and got a platinum award. It also spent 2 weeks on the Swedish charts reaching # 44.
Who knows what could have been if there had been a proper release in Europe.
But almost a year later Believe Again is a winner at Eurocovers with the most successful coverversions of the year. Brinck homepage Brinck at The Moscow Collection

Jeroen Van Der Boom
Jeroen van der Boom, one of the Toppers (Dutch entry 2009) has recorded a Dutch version of Believe Again on his new album Verder (Red Bullet Music, released in September). The track is titled Weer Geloven.

In november it was released as a cdsingle which also includes an acoustic version of the song.
In Christmas week the cdsingle took the #1 spot on the Dutch singles-sales top 100, a second # 1 hit for Jensen, Larsson & Keating.
Jeroen Van Der Boom Home

South Africa
Four South African singers have recorded Believe Again song in Afrikaans, but it's Heinz Winckler who gets the clearance to release it. Wincklers version, Ek Kan Weer In Liefde Glo (I can believe in love again), is released on his new album which is out on Selekt Musiek in September.

Heinz Winckler was the winner of the first Idols (Pop Idol) in South Africa in 2002. You probably have seen him on the (one off) international show World Idol in 2003, where he finished 4th performing Aerosmiths I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing. (The winner was Kurt Nilsen from Norway).
Winckler released three albums, all sung in English and the new one is the first with songs in Afrikaans (although five songs are in English).
You can see the video in this post. The clip is also at Heinz Winckler MySpace where you can listen to some earlier songs (in English).

The first Afrikaans coverversion of Believe Again was recorded by Henri Alant. The track is called Ek Glo (I believe) and was originally planned to be on Alant's forthcoming CD, which seems unlikely now.
Ek Glo is already issued on a 6-track advance promo CD Sal Jy by Artists Warehouse.
Two other artists in the battle for Believe Again were Kobus Muller and Francois Marais.

Charl Stone
A fifth South African singer who has recorded Believe Again is Charl Stone.
Newcomer Charl is a policeman from George (on the south coast). He recorded Believe Again in English for his album 'n Nuwe Geur (a new scent).
You can listen to Believe Again and some other tracks from his debut at his MySpace.
Excepts of all album tracks are at RhythmMusicStore.




AustraliaOrianthi Panagharis is an Australian rock singer/guitarist who covers the song in English on her new album Believe (Geffen records).
The track is now titled Believe without the Again.
Read more about Orianthi at her website and find out about her Michael Jackson This Is It auditions at Popdirt.
The first single from Orianthi's album is According To You which is currently on the Australian charts (reaching #8 last december).
According To You also charts in the US Billboard hot 100 (currently at #26) and in various Canadian and Japanese charts.
Please note there's also a track called Believe on Orianthi's 2007 CD Violet Journey, but that's a different song. Obviously.

Special thanks to Roy & Songfestivalweblog and Dominique.
Parts of this article have already been featured at Eurocovers and the Moscow Collection.

Jeroen Van Der Booms cdsingle is available at BeaRecords who also stock the Brinck CD.
Both the Heinz Winckler & Charl Stone albums are available at Kalahari. (Heinz, Charl)
Digital versions are available at Rhythm Music Store. This South African download store offers mp3's worldwide, but I haven't tried it yet.
Orianthi's CD is available through all regular uni-ama-play-tunes webshops.

South Africa CD news: Dancing On Splintered Glass

Eurocovers has regularly featured CD info of South African artists recording your favorite Eurovision songs. Often in the Afrikaans language, or other exotic tongues like English.
So, when all eyes are on South Africa in 2010 , because of the Football (Soccer….) World Championship, Eurocovers continues to track the Afrikaans music scene for those artists covering your favorite Eurovision tunes.

Many popular and up and coming artists have selected one or two Eurocovers for their latest albums but this is the first time an artist decided to fill a CD with Eurovision songs only. And an interesting eclectic collection it is.
Since the South African Eurocovers boom started Dominec has been working on his CD Dans Ons Op Splinterglas and now it finally sees the light.
15 tracks are here. All are songs that have graced the Eurovision stage in the past 30 years, the oldest being Peter Sue and Marcs Io Senza Te (Switzerland 1981).

Here is the full tracklist of Dans Ons Op Splinterglas, released on Saturn Records.

Winde Van Verandering (Winds Of Change)
- Netherlands 1990 - Ik Wil Alles Met Je Delen - Maywood
Tornero
- Romania 2006 - Tornero - Mihai TraistariuBemin My Vanaand (Love Me Tonight)
- Belarus 2005 - Love Me Tonight - Angelica Agurbash
Sonder Jou (Without You)
- Andorra - Sense Tu - Jenny
Wat Kan Ek Doen (What Can I Do)
- Switzerland 1981 - Io Senza Te - Peter Sue & MarcJy Het My Verraai (You Betrayed Me)
- Bulgaria 2006 - Let Me Cry - Marianna Popova
Jy Het Myn Hart Gebreek (You Broke My Heart)
- Slovenia 2006 - Mr Nobody - Anzej DejanLa Dolce Vita
- Finland 1989 - La Dolce Vita - Anneli SaaristoBly Net By My (Just Stay With Me)
- Iceland 2004 - Heaven - JonsiSe Jy Vir My (Tell Me You're For Me)
- Russia - Never Let You Go - Dima BilanJy Is Die Een Vir My (You're The One For Me)
- Croatia 2004 - You Are The Only One - Ivan MiculicOns Laatste Nag (Our Last Night)
- Sweden 1995 Se På Mig - Jan JohansenJe T'adore
- Belgium 2006 - Je T'adore - Kate RyanOns Somersaand (Our Summer Evening)
- Malta 2001 - Another Summer Night - Fabrizio Faniello
Die Lewe Is Wat Jy Daarvan Maak (Life's What You Make It)
- Norway 2004 - High - Knut Anders Sørum


You can listen to the songs at the recordcompanies pages Saturn records where there is also some order information. I don't have the details on international orders, but you can drop them a mail for information.

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With Eurovision 2010 upon us and preselections in full force, the 2010 Oslo Collection is now launched. Here you'll find all release info on the entries of the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest in Norway. Bookmark now.

1970: All Kinds Of Hank.

This year it's 40 years ago that Ireland clocked up their first Eurovision victory. Many followed.
18 year old Dana's sweet lullaby All Kinds Of Everything sums up a few of her favorite things and the song may be a bit too saccharine according to todays standards. Hard Rock Hallelujah it is not.

At the time, Eurovision was practically dead, or at least in need of a doctor. Only 12 countries participated in the contest in Amsterdam.
Eurovision was overhauled (pimped, the kids) with some new inventions that still last today. The infamous Postcards, an opening show and more attention to the stage, which provides artists with different 'backdrops'.

Dutch TV did their thing, but a good part of Eurovisions saviour is thanks to Dana success. Plus Mary Hopkin was there for the U.K. and the world was introduced to Julio Iglesias.

All Kinds Of Everything, written by Derry Lindsay and Jackie Smith, was an international hit and it's genuine evergreen material. It takes its rightful place in the list of Irish classics.
The song travelled well and was recorded in at least 13 languages including Mandarin, Afrikaans and Icelandic. Dana however, only recorded the song in English.
I'm not launching an All Kinds Of Everything Year here, but there will be a few Eurocovers post dedicated to this Irish Eurovision gem.

Hank Locklin
The seminal American version (if there is such a thing) was recorded by honky tonk / country singer Hank Locklin.
Hank Locklin scored over 30 hits in the U.S. country charts and crossed over to the pop charts with Please Help Me I'm Falling, a U.S. top 10 hit in 1960 which was also his biggest hit in Europe.
It was probably his popularity in Ireland that made him notice All Kinds Of Everything. Already in 1964 he recorded an album Irish Songs, Country Style with all your Irish Eyes & Danny Boys (re-issued on CD in 2006)

In 1970 he delved in the Irish songbook again for his LP Bless Her Heart...I Love Her (US RCA 4392) and came home with All Kinds Of Everything.
A later recording appeared on the U.K. (only?) LP All Kinds Of Everything from 1980 (UK Top Spin TSLP 112).

Hank Locklin recorded over 60 albums and his songs were recorded by many artists including Dolly Parton, Dean Martin and Willie Nelson. He died last year at the age of 91.


Hank Locklin U.S. LP Discography
Please Help Me I'm Falling can be heard at at Hank Locklin's MySpace

A Jamaican reggae version of All Kinds is in the Eurocovers post Jamaica, Can I Have Your Votes Please pt. 2. Two (English) versions from China are here and a video by Mia Kalember from Yugoslavia is here.

It's Oh So Quiet

I know, Eurocovers hasn't been very active lately, snowed in, mostly with work. But your favorite Eurovision Coverversions site will be back in 2010 with some great stuff.


For now I wish all Eurocovers readers Happy Holidays, whichever ones you celebrate, and the best wishes for 2010!

Eurocovers supports the 100 Sportswheelchairs project of the Foppe De Haan Fonds

Eurocovers steunt het 100 Sportrolstoelen project van het Foppe De Haan fonds.

Pia Beck 1925 - 2009

Dutch Jazz pianist Pia Beck has died. She was a bit of a legend over here and I remember her TV performances in variety shows from the 70's well. But my memory doesn't go back far enough to recall Pia Becks popularity in the 50's and 60's.
Next to playing the piano she also sang on many of her records.
Below is one track she recorded for her LP Beck To The Future (1990). It's a coverversion of the Norwegian 1985 winner La Det Swinge (Bobbysocks!)
She also recorded a version of the Dutch 1959 winner 'n Beetje.

Some links:

Pia Beck Homepage with condolences register (in Dutch)
Some Youtubes: That's Life - C'est Formidable
Pia Beck Wiki (Dutch and German)

Priscilla - Klein bietjie liefde

And here's a bit of a world premier, Priscilla's new videoclip Klein Bietjie Liefde, an Afrikaans version of the Finnish entry A Little Bit by Nina Astrom (2000). The track is taken from Priscilla's CD Net 'N Bietjie Liefde, which was released earlier this year.