Outstanding performances, sensational talent, and smashing aces within the vocal arts - these are some of the main characteristics that define the pop group BONAPARTI.LV, a six-man pop-tenor ensemble. The group was formed specifically for the Latvian Eurovision preselection. And it proved to be a roaring success — the majority of Latvian televoters sent their votes to these heartbreakers, these proverbial “Don Juans”.
Their path to success is paved by an international team consisting of composer Kjell Jennstig, authors of Italian text Torbjorn Wassenius and his charming wife Francesca Wassenius and the well known Swedish sound technician Bo Reimer, who has worked with artists such as Il Divo, The Backstreet Boys and Tom Jones, while the Latvian record company “Mic Rec” and agency “L Tips” are in charge of the management and production of the project. The team is ready to win their Waterloo - The Eurovision Song Contest, and hopes to be supported by the European community, because every Bonaparti wants to become a general!
Who are these heroes eager to be involved in rumours and intrigue, willing to sacrifice themselves for their art and our very entertainment?
Normunds JAKUŠONOKS
1. Keyboardist, songwriter, and the loudest voice on the Latvian pop scene.
2. The musical genius of multiple TV shows and owner of several night clubs.
3. Has a fantastic sense of humour.
Zigfrīds MUKTUPĀVELS
1. Popular singer, violinist, songwriter and producer.
2. The best anthem performer in Latvia.
3. Complete romantic.
Andris ĀBELİTE
1. Trumpeter, vocalist.
2. Veteran of Eurodziesma - with participations in 2001, 2002, and 2003.
3. Always a charmer.
Roberto MELONI
1. Vocalist and natural showman.
2. Italian by birth, Latvian by choice.
3. Renowned ladies man.
Kaspars TİMANIS
1. Trombonist and vocalist for multiple musical groups.
2. Skillful and stylish driver.
3. Confident Personality. Perfect Hair.
Andris ĒRGLIS
1. Vocalist and drum specialist at Liepaja symphonic orchestra.
2. The baby of the group.
3. Has an enigmatic appearance.
Participant: BONAPARTI.LV
Song: Questa Notte
Writers: Francesca RUSSO & Torbjorn WASSENIUS
Composer: Kjell JENNSTIG
Broadcaster: LTV
National selection: Eirodziesma 2007
The child of an Indonesian father and an Austrian mother, Eric PAPILAYA was born on June 9, 1978 in Vöcklabruck and grew up in Laakirchen. In late autumn 2006 Eric had managed to become one of the finalists among 2,486 competitors for the successful ORF „Starmania” format, and was the only „Starmaniac” to sing his own composition during one of the shows (a ballad called Alles, Was Du Bist. The stage is his elixir of life: At the early age of 15, Eric PAPILAYA founded the band Milk. It is obvious that Eric, born in Upper Austria, doesn’t fit into any clichés, he’s just too versatile to match a stereotype.
In late autumn 2006, as Eric and his wide stylistic range captured the attention of Austrian TV viewers, a critic wrote that „when Eric enters the stage, the sun rises”. The artist, age 28, had managed to become one of the finalists among 2,486 competitors for the successful ORF „Starmania” format, and was the only „Starmaniac” to sing his own composition during one of the shows (a ballad called Alles, Was Du Bist).
The stage is his elixir of life: At the early age of 15, Eric PAPILAYA founded the band MILK, whose music style he jokingly describes as “a mixture between Jamiroquai and the Söhne Mannheims”. It is obvious that Eric, born in Upper Austria, doesn’t fit into any clichés, he’s just too versatile to match a stereotype.
„I stayed with Milk until Starmania, that is, for 13 years. That is quite a long time. Most of the time, we played songs we wrote ourselves. We even released our own CD’s” says Eric. Moreover, he sang with Streetlife, a cover band that became popular in Austria with dozens of appearances every year: “We played a programme ranging from Robbie Williams to Bon Jovi,” says Eric. Which artists have influenced him personally? „Sammy Davis Jr., and also Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, just to name two.” Among today’s stars who dominate international charts, he is most impressed by US artist Kelly CLARKSON.
The child of an Indonesian father and an Austrian mother, Eric PAPILAYA was born on June 9, 1978 in Vöcklabruck and grew up in Laakirchen. After finishing school, he studied graphic design and has been living in Vienna for several years now. „Naturally, during the years of working as a graphic designer, I always dreamed of being able to make a living out of music,” admits Eric, a singer, a guitarist, and an entertainer for whom the doors to the music industry are now wide open.
The fact that the Austrian contribution to the Eurovision Song Contest is also the official Life Ball song represents an important sign and an additional personal motivation for Eric: “Tolerance for marginal groups and a pro-life approach are two of the messages of Life Ball. Due to the colour of my skin, I often experienced and had to fight against intolerance myself.”
Therefore, Get A Life - Get Alive is both a personal and a universal plea. As Eric exclaims, “I’ve completely internalized the pro-life statement of my song for Helsinki, and its message is also the motto by which I live my life: Don’t let yourself be dragged down by the things that happen around you or in the world, never take anything for granted, and seize every opportunity. The song totally strikes a chord with me and has an amazing drive to it.”
On May 10, Eric will be singing „I’ve got a vision in mind, I’m doing my time … Open your mind to a better life” to an audience of millions watching the Eurovision Song Contest. At the same time, these words will be his personal pledge.
“In simple words, the message of Get A Life - Get Alive is you can sleep when you’re dead,” he explains with a laugh. But don’t worry, nobody will think of sleep when listening to such a powerful rock tune anyway.
Greg USEK (composer)
Greg USEK’s career began in the late eighties, when he first felt called to produce music. In the mid-nineties, he began experimenting with electronic music. USEK has always been open to new inputs, and his ability to combine the best elements of glamorous pop with so-called underground music has earned him a reputation as a brilliant crossover producer.
His first worldwide release as a music engineer and co-producer was the remix of Tina Turner’s When The Heartache Is Over. The international breakthrough came in 2000, when he and his partner producer Sergio Flores were given the opportunity to produce Kylie Minogue’s comeback single Spinning Around. The single became a worldwide success, climbing to number one in the UK charts. Soon followed remixes for Tom Jones & Heather Small, Enrique Iglesias, Gloria Gaynor, Atomic Kitten, Vanessa Amorosi and several other artists, helping to consolidate USEK’s status as an internationally acknowledged producer.
Total Touch (songwriter)
Songwriter Austin HOWARD can look back at a long and international successful career.
HOWARD, a singer, producer, and songwriter founded his band Ellis, Beggs & Howard in 1987. The band received a Diamond Award for „Best New Group” for its first album „Homelands” (featuring the hits Big Bubbles, No Troubles and Where Did Tomorrow Go?). After leaving the band, Austin HOWARD continued to work with international artists, recently with Joss Stone on her hugely successful Mind, Body and Soul album. Austin is currently developing new entertainment programmes for the BBC.
Participant: Eric PAPILAYA
Song: Get A Life - Get Alive
Writer: Austin HOWARD
Composer: Greg USEK
Broadcaster: ORF
National selection: Internal selection
At the age of five Kenan was enrolled at The School for Music, in Istanbul. He was accepted, at the age of five with not only the highest grades for his age, but also specialising in Piano. Having completed six years of education in piano, he started flute classes with Erkan Alpay. In additon he took guitar classes with Erdem SÖKMEN, also a specialist in his area of music in the school. During this time he also studied drama and rhytmic instruments, while singing solo in the children’s choir.
Later he successfully graduated from Kültür Kolej and completed a “Communications” certificate program in Hesser College, New Hampshire, USA. He began an undergraduate course in Los Angeles Musicians Institute, to help him expand upon his music. During this time he developed his musical sounds though introducing Turkish influences along with showbiz beats. After a while he decided to return to Turkey with a new mixture of musical influences and continued his studies at Bilgi University in The Music Department.
Kenan DOĞULU, although a famous, popular and appreciated artist in Turkey, thinks what he has achieved in his musical career is still not sufficient. He continues to work consistently and to set his targets as high as possible, by selecting suitable and significant projects. In accomplishing these projects worldwide as well as in his home country he aims to become a world artist.
Discography
The first album of the artist, Yaparım Bilirsin was released in August 1993. Ninety three concerts were held that year , which was a considerable achievement in Turkey. His second album Sımsıkı Sıkı Sıkı was released in December 1994 and achieved an unbelievable success with one hundred and seventy five live performances that year. The album Kenan DOĞULU 3 which was launched in August 1996 achieved great success and expanded his fan base even more.
10. Yil Marsi, an anthem from the Republic of Turkey, was re-composed and presented to contemporary Turkey and Turkish people by Kenan DOĞULU, on October 29, 1997. The single Kenan DOĞULU 3.5 including the mentioned arrangement of the “10. Yil Mars” was released in 1997.
He has contributed, to a great extent, in making the Republic Anthem become popular by embeddeding these sounds in young Turkish minds again, yet with an alternative edge. Within the celebration programmes of 75th Annivesary of the Republic of Turkey in 1998, he also successfully accomplished a “Republic Road Show”. This started in Bursa, followed by Antalya, İstanbul, Ankara, İskenderun, Samsun, Selçuk and ended in İzmir.
In 1999, inspired by Turkish peoples reactions to the rearrangement of the 10. Yil Marsi, the artist released a new album with the rearrangement of the Genclik Marsi in the memory of Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey. He believes these works play an important role in conveying the spirit of nationalism to younger generations.
The new album Ben Senin Herşeyinim was released the same year. For two years he spend time developing new musical sounds and once again fulfilled the expectations of his fans with his album Ex Aşkım. It was a a hit in 2001. In 2002 Kenan DOĞULU 5.5, the unplugged version of Ex Aşkım was released and it reached mass audiences gaining as much appreciation as Ex Aşkım. He addressed his fans again in 2003 with a brand new album Demedi Deme.
He has a total of 21 video clips to the songs Yaparım Bilirsin, Kurşun Adres Sormaz Ki, Sımsıkı Sıkı Sıkı, Can Bebeğim, İsyan Bu Haykırış, Hiç Bana Sordun mu?, Kandırdım, Günah Değil Mi Bana?, 10. Yıl Marşı, Hiç Bana Sordun mu? (Remix), Gelinim, Gençlik Marşı, Ben Güzelden Anlarım, Ben Senin Herşeyinim, Tükendim Ben, Tutamıyorum Zamanı (acoustic), Tanımamışsın, Aşkım Aşkım, Aklım Karıştı, Cakkidi and Bas Harfi Ben. The video clip for the song İsyan Bu, Haykırış, filmed in Dinar, was performed for the sole purpose of helping and providing financial support to the earthquake victims in the region. The artist released his album Kenan DOĞULU 6.5 much to the appreciation of his fans. This album includes different remixes and versions of previous songs.
Finally he released his latest album Festival in May 2006 which won him three musical awards in Turkey. He won, best male singer, best song of the Year and most downloded Melody. His first two singles from the album have been number one in the charts in Turkey. These were Cakkidi (most downloaded song) and Bas Harfi Ben (best song of the year). His eighth studio album entered stores after a three and half year break. These recordings were made in Los Angeles, Amsterdam and Istanbul. Kenan DOĞULU has made these music and lyrics his signature.
Moreover, DOĞULU Ses ve Görüntü Hizmetleri Ltd. (DOĞULU Sound & Light Ltd.), was established by the artist in late December 2003. He started providing services for the music industry in his own facilities. This began in July 1998 with the added benefit of new yet experienced staff.
DOĞULU Productions have produced the albums of Kenan DOĞULU and furthermore produced album recordings for various artists in its studios. All kinds of local and foreign concerts, sports organizations, CD Plus productions, digital recording and mastering works are carried out by the company.
Participant: Kenan DOĞULU
Song: Shake It Up Shekerim
Writer: Kenan DOĞULU
Composer: Kenan DOĞULU
Broadcaster: TRT
National selection: Internal selection
The soprano singer Alenka GOTAR was born in Ljubljana in 1977. After finishing elementary and junior musical school, where she learned to play the piano and guitar, she then entered Secondary School Poljane and the Secondary Musical and Ballet School in Ljubljana, where she studied soloist singing under the tutelage of Prof Marcos Bajuk. In 1996, Alenka graduated from both schools and was immediately admitted to the Musik Akademie der Stadt in Basel, Switzerland, where she studied singing.
In 1999, she moved to Mozarteum in Salzburg, where she was invited by the distinguished musical expert Prof Lilian Sukis. Alenka graduated in 2000 and continued her postgraduate studies in singing and opera performance with Prof Lilian Sukis. Alenka received her M.A. in singing and theatre sciences in 2006. She enriched her singing education and experience in Rome with Ms Maja Sunari-Biankini and by attending seminars on singing, led by Ms Marjana Lipovsek and Mr Alfred Burgstaller.
In 1996, Alenka was awarded the first prize at the state competition for young musicians of the Republic of Slovenia and also the prize for the best interpretation of Slovene solos.
In 1999, she was awarded 3rd prize at the International Singing Festival “Feruccio Tagliavini” in Deutschlandsberg, Austria.
In 2003, Alenka won the special award from the Klagenfurt Theatre for the best world stage person, where a whole host of the worlds leading opera singers also took part.
Since 2000, Alenka GOTAR regularly appears at SNG Opera in balet Ljubljana, where she sings numerous prominent operatic roles. At the Europäische Musikmonat Festival 2001 in Basel, Alenka sang soprano in the multimedia opera Skamander by the Swiss composer Beato GYSIN, which was performed there for the first time.
Alenka GOTAR is a renowned concert solo singer. Up to now, she has performed with various orchestras and chamber groups in Slovenia, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Croatia and Scandinavia. In 2003, she did a recording for the Swiss radio station DRS3 with one of the most distinguished and respected composers of our time, György KURTAG. She also records with the RTV Slovenia Orchestra and collaborates with the most renowned conductors in Slovenia and Europe on regular basis.
In the 2004/2005 season, she was a permanent member of the ensemble of soloists at the SNG Opera in Balet Ljubljana. At the moment, she has regular guest appearances at the Maribor Opera. She is also a solo singer in Salzburg and at the SNG Opera in balet Ljubljana.
Andrej BABIC (composer)
Andrej has expressed his love of music from a very tender age. After finishing primary and secondary musical school, he began to compose in earnest. Andrej immediately reaped success with the group Teens. His songs reached the dizzy heights of gold sales, and also reached top of the charts.
When the group split up in 2001, Andrej continued to collaborate with one of the group members, Claudia Beni. In 2003, he wrote Više Nisam Tvoja for Claudia, who represented Croatia at the Eurovision song contest. After this success, Andrej worked with numerous Croatian singers and singers from other countries. In 2005, he wrote Call Me for the group Femminem, which represented Bosnia & Herzegovina at the Eurovision Song Contest in that same year. Andrej will try his luck again with his new song at the Eurovision for the third time and representing a third country - this time representing Slovenia.
Participant: Alenka GOTAR
Song: Cvet Z Juga
Writer: Andrej BABIC
Composer: Andrej BABIC
Broadcaster: RTVSLO
National selection: EMA 2007
THE KMG’s offer a glowing cocktail of ‘seventies’-inspired soul, disco and funk (influenced by the Commodores, Kool and the Gang, Earth Wind and Fire and Herbie Hancock) with only one ambition: to spread good feelings throughout the world with their funky soul power.
From the start, our “groovers” left nothing to chance and offered their audiences a real show: choreography, light shows, costumes, etc., all spiced up with a pinch of humour. THE KMG’s are first and foremost there to make people dance!
Paul CURTIZ (composer)
“LovePower” was born of the fruitful collaboration between the group and Paul CURTIZ.
Nourished by the same American influences as our Krazy Mess Groovers, Paul is far from being an unknown, as, after having formed half of the OWEN-CURTIZ duo, he now writes, composes and plays the guitar for others, such as Marka and Perry ROSE, and also composes for advertisements and the Internet.
For this occasion, Paul composed the music and shared lyrics-writing duties with SEXYFIRE.
The arrangements are also attributed to both THE KMG’s and Paul CURTIZ.
Participant: THE KMG’S (THE KRAZY MESS GROOVERS)
Song: LovePower
Writers: Paul CURTIZ & Wakas ASHIQ
Composer: Paul CURTIZ
Broadcaster: RTBF
National selection: Internal selection
Gerli Padar has been under discussion fairly much, both in Estonia and abroad. She started to sing in early childhood; victories in the song contests of the Estonian Television, “Laulukarussell ‘94″ (”The Roundabout of Song ‘94″) and “Kaks takti ette ‘97″ (”Two Times Forward ‘97″), brought along recognition. Gerli has studied in Jazz Gymnasium in Sweden.
Gerli has sung twice (1999 and 2002) in the Estonian national final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Gerli has played the leading roles in the musicals Cabaret and Chess. She has participated in many a gala performance: A. L. Webber’s gala, Memory, the Opera Gala, performed together with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. She has hosted many TV shows and danced to the final of the popular TV show, “Dancing With The Stars”. She is bringing up a 2.5-year-old daughter, Amanda Rebeca.
Backing vocals will be sung by the pupils of the singing studio of the Estonian Television, Mirjam Mesak and Johanna Münter, having participated several times in the song contests of the ETV.
Together with Gerli, also the best Estonian competitive dancers, Martin Parmas, Aleksandr Makarov and Marko Kiigajaan, having won a number of medals in World Championships, European Championships and World Cups, will be performing.
Martin PARMAS (dancer)
Martin is studying simultaneously in the Faculty of Law of the University of Tartu and in the Department of Choreography of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Tallinn University on the specialty of competitive dance trainer. He has been engaged in competitive dance for 16 years (with his partner, Kaisa OJA).
International class in amateurs (S); belonged to the Estonian team up to going professional. He has won 9 gold, 11 silver and 6 bronze medals in amateurs in Estonian Championships. He has represented Estonia in international title contests (World Championships, European Championships, World Cups) 10 times, while making it to the semi-final three times among the best 12 pairs.
In 2005 Martin and Kaisa were accepted to the world organisation of dance teachers and professional competitive dancers, the WDC (World Dance Council), where their professional career would start. Among professionals, they have represented Estonia in World and European Championships for 6 times, while they have made it once to the final (6th place in 10 Dances in the European Championship of 2005) and to the semi-final (11th place in Standard Dances of the European Championship in 2005). 12th place in standard dances in Japanese Open Championships among 165 pairs and making it to the quarter-final in Standard Dances in the World Championship in the autumn of 2006 are also good results, as Martin, with his partner Kaisa, are amongst the youngest pairs in professionals in the whole world.
At the moment, Martin is an active professional dancer and a trainer in the Tartu Competitive Dance Club “Stiil”, the Aerobics Club “Rütmika”, and the trainer of the Can-Can Group. Since 2006, he is a teacher in the Dance and Ballet School of the Vanemuine Theatre. He was the finalist in the TV show, “Dancing With The Stars”, together with the singer, Gerli PADAR.
Aleksandr MAKAROV (dancer)
Aleksandr is studying international relations at university, as well as competitive dance, in which he became involved at the age of 7, being at top level for the past 10 years. He has represented Estonia in World and European Championships several times.
His best results:
Fivefold Estonian Champion;
Winner of the International Championship Under 21;
2nd place in the Blackpool Dance Festival U 21;
Twofold absolute winner in the Estonian Adult Cup events;
Multi-finalist of the World Cup events;
Second place in the Nordic Championship.
He is now active as a competitive dancer and is constantly going abroad for self-education by the best teachers. For the past four years, he has been teaching children at top level in the Competitive Dance Club “Leevi”.
Marko KIIGAJAAN (dancer)
Marko has been engaged in competitive dance for 13 years, and in volleyball and basketball for a few years.
His achievements:
13-fold medal winner in competitive dance in the Estonian Championships;
3-fold overall winner in the Estonian Cup;
5th place in the World Cup event in Sweden in 2005.
Since 2004 he belongs to the team of the Estonian Competitive Dance Union.
Champion of the Estonian School Sport Union in volleyball in boys’ class B.
Hendrik SAL-SALLER (composer)
The most successful Estonian songwriter of the past decade formed his first rock band at the age of 15 and has been involved in music and composing it through and through ever since. By now, over 200 songs are credited to the man, most of which have been big time hits in national radio stations.
Hendrik’s last and also the most wanted Estonian band, THE SMILERS was born in 1993, and is alive and kicking to this day: 10 albums have come out, over 100 live performances are given every year, and they have won countless prizes bearing different names, such as the Golden Disc, Artist of the Year, the Best Radio Hit, Author of the Year, etc. In addition to that, Hendrik has composed music for and been a producer of many other Estonian pop and rock stars and, from time to time, he has been seen singing in the company of Estonian Dream Big Band and The 21st Century Orchestra.
Berit VEIBER (songwriter)
Having been engaged in active sport for a half of her life, Berit, with her economic education, is a “newcomer” to the Estonian music business. Her entry to the local music market has been a success - lyrics by her, in both Estonian and English, have been sung by many a local pop star.
The lyrics of this year’s Estonian Eurovision song, Partners In Crime, have caused certain excitement in the audience as to what the story is about: forbidden love, a one-night stand, or rather something criminal? To find the answer to it, the author of the lyrics lets the listener decide …
Participant: Gerli PADAR
Song: Partners In Crime
Writers: Hendrik SAL-SALLER, Berit VEIBER
Composers: Hendrik SAL-SALLER, Berit VEIBER
Broadcaster: ETV
National selection: Eurolaul 2007
Magdi RÚZSA, the 21 year-old Hungarian girl from Kishegyes (near the Hungarian border in Serbia) was discovered in 2006 thanks to the televised pop idol contest Megastar in Hungary. She grew up in her hometown and studied in Subotica as a maternity nurse. After the high school, she wanted to go to Medical University, but as she could not afford it she decided to try her luck at the pop idol contest. Thus the smallest child of the family made her way to Budapest… and then the story began.
What happened to Magdi from this moment on was a real fairytale. The very first appearance in the series predestined her to be the winner, from week to week more and more people fell in love with her true, passionate, unique voice. The whole industry praised her and claimed her to be the biggest happening in the last 30 years. She was singing like her big favourite Janis JOPLIN.
After winning the competition, her cover album with the performed songs in the finals went to triple platinum status and has sold to date around 80 000 copies. Her first artist album Ördögi Angyal (Devilish Angel) was released on her birthday (28th November) and has sold 36,000 copies until today with only one video. These two records were the biggest selling releases in 2006 in Hungary. It was therefore no surprise that Magdi was voted New Talent of the Year, and therefore she has the chance to represent Hungary at the Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki, 2007. She picked her own song Unsubstantial Blues, in order to show her fantastic voice and express her emotions.
We all wish her good luck and hope that after conquering the Hungarian music lovers, she can show her extreme talent to a European audience.
Imre MOZSIK (composer, songwriter)
American born song and lyric writer/drummer Imre MOZSIK started musical studies at the age of 11. Participated in a number of amateur musical acts - from punk-rock to big band - before permanently moving to Budapest in 1989.
Has played in some of the most known live-acts in Hungary - the present one being a rock ‘n’ roll band named SUPERNEM(supreme sex). In the past 15 years, Imre has written song lyrics for some of Hungary’s top performers, as well as for singers/performers of other countries.
Participant: Magdi RÚZSA
Song: Unsubstantial Blues
Writer: Imre MOZSIK
Composer: Magdi RÚZSA
Broadcaster: MTV
National selection: Internal selection
Olivia LEWIS was born on the 18th October, 1978. At an early age, she started showing interest towards singing and performing and eventually started attending singing lessons. This was followed by a string of successful participations in local song festivals. Her winning streak was formidable and her huge collection of trophies is full of memories from these past festivals when she was so young.
Her first participation in the Song for Europe Festival was actually at age 14 as backing vocalist. A year later she was also backing vocalist for William Mangion’s winning This Time. She just missed participating in the Eurovision Song Contest of that year because of her young age.
In the mean time Olivia started focusing on various musical styles. Her preferred styles are R&B and soul. She likes listening to singers such as Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey and a host of other performers who have made their name in the black music scene.
After a few years, Olivia was encouraged to start training for jazz singing. This took most of her time, but results were soon to be forthcoming. In fact Olivia was the first Maltese singer to perform in the renowned Malta Jazz Festival together with the Paul Giordmaina Jazz Quarter. Her performance was memorable. Olivia has participated as lead singer in the Song for Europe Festival since she was 16 years old. In the process she has collaborated with the best composers on the island such as Paul Abela, Dominic Galea, Paul Giordmaina , Philip VELLA and Ray Agius amongst a host of others.
Her most memorable performances came in these last two participations. During last year’s festival she performed Take A Look, which was written by Paul Giordmaina and Fleur Balzan. During this festival she was classified first by the jury and second in the televoting, just missing the top spot by a few points. Déjà Vu, written by the winning duo Philip VELLA and Gerard James BORG got 11,369 votes, coming second and missing the top spot by 500 votes.
Olivia has also participated successfully in a host of foreign festivals. She has sung in the United Kingdom, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Serbia & Montenegro, Kazakhstan and a host of others. She placed first in the Lithuanian and Bulgarian festivals and second in the Kazakhstan festival.
2005 marked the release of Olivia’s first CD single, which contains Déjà Vu and also a remix of this song made by DJ Armani.
2007 has already been a big year for Olivia. She has just recently won the Malta Song for Europe with her song Vertigo. It was a landslide victory for Olivia, her performance getting almost 31,000 votes. As a result she will be representing Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest Semi Finals on the 10th May, 2007 in Helsinki. Olivia is also a leading singer in the entertainment industry, and her schedule is often packed with singing at events, hotels, concerts and other activities. She also participates in a daily television show called “Kalamita”, which attracts the highest viewership in the afternoon broadcasts on the island.
Philip VELLA (composer)
Philip VELLA is one of the most successful composers in Malta, and winner of several music awards such as ‘Best Composer’ (Malta Music Awards), ‘Best Sound Engineer’, and ‘Best Original Score’ (Malta TV Awards). He has been involved in many major projects such as the original EU song to mark Malta’s entry in the European Union, the Small Nations Games official song, and composed the original score for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting held in Malta.
His Eurovision credits range from being consultant to the 2003 Ukranian delegation, to composing his own entries. He has written the winning song for Malta four times, Desire (2000), 7th Wonder (2002) and On Again… Off Again (2004) Vertigo (2007). He has always had a top 10 finish, and came close to winning the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest, when 7th Wonder came in second place in Tallinn, Estonia.
He has written for many Eurovision national selections including Belgium, the Netherlands and Bulgaria, apart from Malta, where his entries were 2nd in 2001, and 2005 in the local selections. He has seen several of his compositions make it to the local charts, and has also worked with artists from the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Ukraine. One of his songs also participated in the Golden Stag festival in Romania, and won 3rd prize, and another 2nd prize in the international Mega Hit festival in Turkey.
Besides, he is also responsible for the soundtrack of many popular tv shows and soap operas and is the current composer of computer game company Black Pencil in Germany, who are the makers of Harry BUSTER and Smoke Attack 2. He is currently involved in producing for new and established artists.
Gerard James BORG
Gerard James BORG is a highly creative concept creator and lyric writer who amongst other projects, has written for the Eurovision song contest four times in six years; Desire (2000), 7th Wonder (2002), and On Again…Off Again (2004). All of his entries have reached a top 10 position, and he came very close to winning the Eurovision song contest in 2002 when his song - 7th Wonder - placed 2nd. He is back in the race with the 2007 Maltese entry Vertigo! He has also been awarded the Press Award for this song.
In 2001, and 2005, he was close again to victory with two songs Spellbound and Déjà Vu, which placed 2nd in the national contest. Spellbound went on to be voted ‘Song Of The Decade’, and Déjà Vu shot to number one in the local charts.
Gerard has written for several local and international artists. In 2003, he penned the song Heatwave, which placed 4th in the 2003 Dutch selection for the Eurovision Song Contest at the Ahoy in Rotterdam. He was also invited by Norwegian broadcaster NRK in 2005 to write for the Melodi Grand Prix - and together with Arve Furset (Norway 2003 entry), he wrote Velvet Blue for Norwegian artist Katrina Strugstad. In 2006, he co-wrote Absolutely Fabulous for Queentastic, with Thomas G:SON and Andreas Rickstand, which won the bronze medal in the Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix. That same year, he had three other songs in different national finals across Europe, including Beyond You for Belgian Vanessa Chinitor. This made Gerard the first lyricist to have four songs in four different national finals in the same year!
Other projects he has worked on, outside the Eurovision sphere, include creating concepts and lyrics for various singles and albums, and a solid collaboration with some of Europe’s top composers. His works - which range from pop to soul, to ballads, and rock - have been appreciated outside the Maltese shores, including the United States were Gerard has given an interview to Billboard Magazine journalist Fred BRONSON. Other interviews include many leading websites, journals, television and radio.
Participant: Olivia LEWIS
Song: Vertigo
Writer: Gerard James BORG
Composer: Philip VELLA
Broadcaster: PBS Malta
National selection: Malta Song For Europe 2007
When she was young, Guri SCHANKE wanted to become an interior designer, but thankfully she could not stay away from the stage for very long. Guri has quite an impressive list of merrits so far in her carriere. She has been in over 20 plays, musicals and television shows and has held leading roles in Les Miserables, Little Shop Of Horrors and Chess amongst others. She has also dubbed cartoons for Disney, and she is the official face of L’Oréal in Norway.
Guri is a dancer, a singer and an actor and over the years she has become a cherished part of Norwegian showbiz. Her dancing experience came in handy as she secured second place in the Norwegian edition of “Strictly Come Dancing.” Guri’s latest achievment, winning the Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix is a lifelong dream come true. The song Ven A Bailar Conmigo meaning “Come Dance With Me” is written especially for Guri by Swedish composer Thomas G:SON, who also wrote the Spanish entry this year.
Thomas G:SON
Born 25th feb 1968
Lives in Skövde, Sweden
Started his career as a guitarist and composer in the hard-rock band Masquerade
Discography MASQUERADE:
· Masquerade (1992)
· Surface Of Pain (1994)
· Flux (2001)
· In Disguise (2004)
Have won the Swedish selection for the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) two times:
· 2001 Listen To Your Heartbeat - FRIENDS, 5th place in ESC
· 2006 Invincible - Carola, 5th place in ESC
Have won the Norwegian selection for ESC one time:
· 2007 Ven A Bailar Conmigo - Guri SCHANKE
· 21 songs in the Swedish Melodifestivalen (2 songs 2007)
· 5 songs in Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix (2003, 2006, 2 songs 2007)
· 4 songs in the Finnish Euroviisut (2002, 2004)
· 1 song in the Latvian selection (2006)
· 1 song in the Romanian Selecţiei Naţionale (2007)
· 2 songs in the Spanish Misión Eurovisión (2007)
· 180 songs recorded in Sweden
· 70 songs recorded in Denmark
Several songs released in Norway, Finland, Germany, Japan, Greece, South Africa and more
Participant: Guri SCHANKE
Song: Ven A Bailar Conmigo
Writer: Thomas G:SON
Composer: Thomas G:SON
Broadcaster: NRK
National selection: Melodi Grand Prix 2007
She was born April 28th 1980 in Bitola. Her interest in music appeared in her early childhood, but the participation in the most popular Macedonian festival MAKFEST is what actually made her popular at age 11 and at the same time, marked the beginning of her music career.
Karolina had her first musical edition, the teenage album Mamo Pusti Me at age 12 in 1992. Kept attending festivals in Macedonia, as well as other countries and won an award at almost every competition she’s taken part in. The awards for best vocal interpretation are the ones she’s mostly proud of. She was rewarded best female artist on 12 Velicenstveni (Macedonian equivalent of the Grammy Awards) when she was only 14 years old.
She made her first professional contract with the musical-production company Avalon Produkcija and her career started going upwards ever since. Her first album Jas Imam Pesna which provoke excellent reactions at the public, was released the same year. This album was one of the top 3 most sold albums in Macedonia in 2000. After the great success of the album in Macedonia, the Serbia & Montenegrin company BK published a license edition for their market. Karolina successfully performed in every town of Macedonia, during the summer of 2000.
It was the autumn of 2001, when she already had her 2nd edition, the album Zosto Sonot Ima Kraj which was another confirmation of her great popularity and the status of a mega-star. Soon after the release of this album, Karolina started a new Macedonian tour finding a great acceptance of the audience everywhere she performed. Her concerts in Skopje came as a crown to all these things. She performed in a fully crowded Universal Hall three days in a row, in April 2002. This was something that no other Macedonian female artist has done before. A two year break followed, a period which was used for serious preparations of the next album. In this period, Karolina was the absolute winner at the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, according to the choice of the TV viewers, the audience and the jury. She represented Macedonia at the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest in Tallinn, Estonia. Znaes Kolku Vredam was the third album which appeared on the market in spring 2003. Even though it had a different concept than the previous 2, it was still very well accepted both from fans and critics.
The special edition for SCG under the label of “City Records” named Kad Zvezde Nam Se Sklope… Kao Nekada appeared at the same time as the Macedonian one. The SCG edition contained the same songs but sang in Serbian language. This was the album which defined Karolina’s position among the biggest music stars in the ex-Yugoslavian area.
This time, the promotion tour started with two concerts in the Universal Hall in November 2003, ending in August 2004 with big concerts in Prilep, Gostivar, Ohrid and the spectacular concert in Heraklea-Bitola.
Due to her great popularity, Karolina was used in the haircare products manufacturer Head & Shoulders’ advertisements, for the ex-Yugoslavian area in 2004, as well as the Kara collection at the beginning of 2005.
The fact that Karolina is already a big music star in the territory of ex-Yugoslavia, attracted the most widely recognized musicians from these countries to create the songs for the fourth album. So, the people who participate in her latest album are: Dino Merlin, Vlatko Stefanovski, Bajaga, Ivica Brcioski, Gibonni, Zlatko Origanski, Kaliopi, Mirko Vukomanovic, Mladen Markovic and Vesna Milanova.
This CD, Karolina’s forth album, named Vo Zaborav is released on 5th of December, 2005. Again Serbian record company “City Records” will be responsible for this album (Serbian translate “U zaboravu”) for the ex-Yugoslavian territory.
Vo Zaborav became on of the best selling album in Macedonia ever with more than 20,000 copies sold.
During the 2006 Karolina had a lot of promotional events all over ex-Yugoslavian territory.
And again in February 2007 Karolina wins “Skopje Festival”. Her song Mojot Svet (Grigor Koprov composer) was woted as the best song, and hence Karolina will represent Macedonia at the Eurovision Song Contest in Finland.
Participant: Karolina
Song: Mojot Svet
Writer: Ognen NEDELKOVSKI
Composer: Grigor KOPROV
Broadcaster: MKRTV
National selection: Eurosong 2007