Tuesday, April 19, 2011

New Videos from Norway and Finland

Norway's Stella Mwangi has just released the preview video for "Haba Haba" and, as expected, the fun, bouncy atmosphere in the song carries over perfectly to the parade-meets-beach-party setting in the clip:


Also in Nordic Eurovision news, Finland's Paradise Oskar has released a second video for "Da Da Dam" (granted, the first version wasn't bad!).

Sunday, April 17, 2011

New Videos from Serbia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom

Adding to the list of new videos for this year's ESC competitors are new clips from Serbia, Sweden, and the UK. 

Although Serbia's Nina will be singing "Caroban" in Serbian, a new video has just popped up with her singing the English-language rendition, "Magical".  The swinging-60's vibe remains vibrant and sweet, and Nina's just cheek-pinchingly adorable!  (Very Twiggy-meets-Edie-Sedgwick!)


Next up, Sweden's Eric Saade has released an official preview video for "Popular":

The lesson in this clip?  All of life's problems can be solved via a dance-off. 

And finally (for now, at least), the United Kingdom's representatives, Blue, have unveiled a new video for "I Can":

It's not a secret that I love this song, so having the boys release a second video was an unexpected treat!  Furthermore, the BBC aired a special on Blue's preparation for Düsseldorf, "Eurovision: Your Country Needs Blue".  With appearances by Cliff Richard, Lulu, and others, it's a pretty cool peek into what goes into putting a Eurovision entry together.

Until next time!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

New Videos from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Latvia (plus, new versions for France and Croatia!)

Over the past week, a number of new videos have been released for this year's Eurovision hopefuls.  Let's have a look, shall we?

First up, Armenia has revealed the official clip for Emmy's "Boom Boom", featuring German-Armenian boxer Arthur Abraham:

Well, at least the Armenians are probably realizing just how kitschy their song is...having Emmy and her pals dance around in a ring, wearing bedazzled boxing gloves and randomly turning into comic book characters is a pretty decent sign that they're taking "Boom Boom" with a grain of salt (and I, for one, could use a margarita after watching it.  Oy...)

Next up, we've got Armenia's cross-Caucasus neighbors (and perpetual rivals) Azerbaijan, who released a second clip for Eldar and Nigar's "Running Scared":

Compared to previous years' entries from Baku, "Running Scared" is elegant, subtle, and sweet.  The video is visually beautiful (not only because of the landscapes, but also for the copious shots of Eldar and Nigar!).  I'm not quite sure why Azerbaijan insisted on recording a second video for "Running Scared", as their first version was definitely not unpleasant, but considering the country's penchant for Eurovision excess, they probably just figured that any money spent was money well spent.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

New Videos/Versions for Bulgaria, Russia, Slovenia, Poland, and Belarus

Over the past few days, a number of official videos have been released for some of this year's entries (and we're still expecting ones from Israel, the UK, Armenia, Sweden, and Azerbaijan).  Plus, we've got new translations for a few entries!  Let's get right to it:

Starting off, Bulgaria's Poli Genova released the official clip for "Na Inat (For Spite)", and I must say that I'm really impressed!

This new video blends the anthemic pop-rock vibe of Poli's National Final performance with the universal message of "we can change the world together" that is all-so-prevalent in Eurovision.  Those who don't understand Bulgarian (like me, for example) will be able to hone into Poli's meaning pretty easily (if Miss Genova releasing a dove at the end doesn't hammer it home, you might need your head checked). 

Friday, April 1, 2011

Breaking News from the Czech Republic!!!

...and the surprises never end in the world of Eurovision!  It seems that within the past few moments, the Czech Republic has decided to put aside their differences with Eurovision, suck up the heavy late-registration fees and penalties, and submit an entry for Düsseldorf!  The Czechs have been absent from Eurovision since their nul-points placement back in 2009 with Gipsy.cz's "Aven Romale", and their highest placement ever was 2008's "Have Some Fun", which only received nine points in its semifinal and failed to qualify.

After the jump, check out the just-revealed entry for the Czech Republic!
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