OIKOTIMES.COM

TURKISH SONG FOR CAN BONOMO (2012) PRESENTED

GHASSAN (DENMARK) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:58:31 +0000

This evening Turkish song for the Baku 2012 Eurovision Song Contest presented through TRT prime time news. The song is titled "Love me back" and the first web reactions are kinda negative as many fans expected more, although the tune seems catchy enough and could be memorable. OFFICIAL CAN BANOMO FACEBOOK PAGE 94lG7xI5-HE

TVE KICKS OFF TELEVOTING 2012

MARKUS (GERMANY) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:31:33 +0000

15,000 Euros and a trip for two in Baku for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 is the key motive for all Spanish people to follow the song selection of TVE and Pastora Soler and give thebest voting in the show. TVE launched the televoting marathon today and calls all Spanish nation to vote for the best possible choice so Pastora can bring a great result in Baku. VOTING NUMBERS Ahora o nunca: 905445152 SMS CANCION NUNCA 25152 Quédate conmigo: 905445152 SMS CANCION CONMIGO 25152 Tu vida es tu vida: 905445152 SMS CANCION VIDA 25152

NO PROBLEM AFTER LEAK OF SONG

GHASSAN (DENMARK) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:25:39 +0000

Swedish national broadcaster seems worried over a second leak in the 2012 Melodifestivalen edition but keeps both songs in the running for representing the country in the Baku 2012 Eurovision Song Contest edition. After the leak of Loreen's song "Euphoria" two days ago the song of Charlotte Perelli "The Girl" was also leaked on YouTube. SVT is not considering both entry teams responsible therefore decided to keep the songs in the line up. qjIZFt_tU28

COMPACT DISCO OFFICIAL VIDEO IN MARCH

ALENKA (SWITZERLAND) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:02:42 +0000

The record label of Compact Disco (Hungary 2012) who was also behind one of the successful Eurovision entries for Hungary in the recent years with Magdi Rúzsa (Hungary 2007) announced today that the band will release their official video for "Soung of our Hearts" in mid March along with the promo CD release. Until then enjoy their unoficial video below and read their interview given recently to oikotimes.com here. Compact Disco have also confirmed participation in Eurovision in Concert 2012 which takes place in Amsterdam on April 21. bwqrTPXjc1w

UNACCEPTABLE RACIST COMMENT ON GAITANA (2012)

SUBMITTED — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:31:58 +0000

A Ukrainian nationalist party is under fire after a high profile member suggested a black singer cannot represent the country at a popular international song contest. Pop star Gaitana, 32, who was born in Kiev to a Congolese father and Ukrainian mother, was chosen last week to represent Ukraine at the 2012 Eurovision Song contest to be held in May in the ex-Soviet republic of Azerbaijan. Yuri Sirotyuk of the political party Svoboda (Freedom) was quoted by media as saying Gaitana does not represent Ukrainian culture, and Ukraine will be associated with Africa if she sings in the contest. Ukraine's National Television condemned the statement as racist and demanded Sirotyuk apologizes to Gaitana Wednesday. Gaitana was to issue a statement later in the day. Gaitana will be guest in the Bulgarian 2012 National Final source: wsls.com

A TOTALLY DIFFERENT ACT BY SAKIS

FOTIS (GREECE) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:05:41 +0000

Sakis Rouvas participated in the serenade campaign of world known beer through Facebook. In order to promote the event in Greece, the brand in association with MTV Greece asked Sakis Rouvas to submit his serenade and then shot a video with the performance, available below -i-bHd3YXAs

BBC RUMORS TO END ON MARCH 12?

ALENKA (SWITZERLAND) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 07:38:20 +0000

There are unconfirmed information that BBC will make the announcement for the Eurovision 2012 participant on March 12. The information comes from local blogs but the only hint we had from BBC is the facebook statement that "patience is a virtue and soon there will be announcements". The UK fans are not happy with the delay this year but they keep cross fingers to be compensated by a great name announced. Local tabloids like The Sun keep rumoring that Will Young and Geri Halliwell are two of the names to be announced. Let's wait a bit more and see...

NINA ZILLI (2012) KICKS OFF TOUR

ALENKA (SWITZERLAND) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:17:24 +0000

Nina Zilli is about to kick off her Italian tour on April 10 until May 5 when she will prepare her luggage for Baku 2012 Eurovision Song Contest. The tour is titled "L'Amore e Femmina" and will focus on the new album she released on mid February. Nina might not have won the Sanremo Festival 2012 but she won the ticket to Eurovision, considered already as one of the hot favorites. TOUR DATES 10.04 in Firenze 11.04 in Rome 13.04 in Napoli 14.04 in Bari 20.04 in Pescara 21.04 in Rimini 26.04 in Milan 27.04 in Padova 28.04 in Bologna 05.05 in Torino

FEMINNEM (2005, 2010) FINALLY SPLIT UP

LUKA (SERBIA) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:11:32 +0000

The 2010 Croatian Eurovision representatives, girl group Feminnem, which also represented Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2005 have split up and gone their separate ways. The decision was made when one of the three members, Nika Antolos, decided to move to Moscow. The other group members, Neda Parmać and Pamela Ramljak, will continue to work in the music industry, although separately. They say they will all remain close friends. Group member, Neda Parmać, says “I’m shaken up and I’m lost. I need to go through that stage where I let all the emotions come out and see where to go from there”. Nika says she is moving to Moscow to be with her boyfriend. Feminnem was formed in 2004. In 2005 they represented Bosnia with the song “Call me” finishing fourteenth. In 2010 they won the Dora national selection in Croatia and represented the country with the song “Lako je sve” (Everything is easy) in Oslo. To the surprise of many they failed to qualify to the final. They previously attempted to represent Croatia in both 2007 and 2009 but didn’t win the national selection.

NEW LINE UP & DATE FOR GREECE 2012?

FOTIS (GREECE) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:46:14 +0000

The Greek saga for national final 2012 continues and new line up rumored today in the media making the entire project even more hilarious. Let's see the unconfirmed information in the most messy selection year for Greece, so far: The Greek national final is now moved between 12 to 15 of March while the songs will be aired by video on ERT between 5-10 of March. There is an idea to hold the show at River West Mall in Aigaleo area in Athens. Four names seems to finalize the line up: Eleftheria Eleftheriou (you know the one that blames everyone for her non existing talent besides herself), band Playmokills, band Velvet Fire and a singer named Dora! You are realizing that despite new and fresh blood in the Greek selection, we all know the outcome will be dreadful without having heard the songs yet! there is still no final decision and confirmation on the news

TIMATI & AIDA SUBMIT SONG FOR RUSSIA 2012

TEAM — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:35:40 +0000

Russian UNESCO ambassador and rapper/DJ Timati is submitting a song to the Russian national final 2012 with Aida, becoming the ultimate favorite for the grand final set for March 7th. The song is mainstream hip hop and is penned by a very popular American composer. Timati has been collaborating with various international stars like Snoop Dogg, P. Diddy, Busta Rhymes, Eve, Mario Winans and many others. He has numerous awards and the largest intercontinental collaboration and participation in the most diverse and ambitious projects. Aida - one of the youngest and most promising opera singers in the country. She has recently graduated from the famous Vienna Conservatory, but has already managed to gain popularity, as evidenced by numerous invitations to concerts and TV shows. Only in the last few months, the singer appeared on the programs of "Song of the Year", "Blue Light", "The Christmas Song of the Year", "Phantom of the Opera" and others. Aida cooperates with composers and performers of world level. She is a regular participant of large celebrations - performed in front of all the presidents of Russia, before the senior foreign guests. It will open Aida Universiade 2013 in Kazan.

IRISH DIVIDED OVER EUROVISION FUTURE

ALENKA (SWITZERLAND) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:20:57 +0000

The thejournal.ie poll asks the visitors to vote whether Ireland should continue participating in the Eurovision Song Contest especially under the country been in crisis since last year despite the pedigree results in the history of the contest. 47% of the visitors so far are pro Eurovision participation while 49% are against. The newspaper emphasizes also, that possible hosting of the contest in Ireland would be very expensive, something that it's not accurately true as all participating countries, voting revenues, ticket sales and Big 5 are contributing more than the 60% of the contest budget.

THEY STICK TO EUROVISION DESPITE THE CRISIS

FOTIS (GREECE) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:21:49 +0000

It was a big need to write this post as many countries are suffering big time from the economic crisis around the world and Europe. It is important to see that no matter the big problems some countries have to deal with, they stick to Eurovision Song Contest as a mean to at least bring some pride to their nations even through a music television show. Eurovision Song Contest is quite popular in Europe, one of the top television family show. Despite practically bankrupt, countries like Greece, Portugal, Hungary, Romania and Ireland are entering the 2012 edition of the contest hoping that music can overcome the bad psychology in their societies. Even Italy and Spain who are also in trouble made sure they will give millions of viewers to the contest. Greece despite practically been destroyed in terms of economy and society, decided to enter Baku 2012 Eurovision edition. This time a record label will cover the costs of national final and delegation. A moderate show in a mall and young newcomers will consist the national selection aiming to bring hope to the Greek youth. No glamorous shows, no big budgets, no promo tours but still the idea of Eurovision exists still in the country. Portugal keep the Eurovision spirit up through Festival da Cancao despite the big problems RTP has and possible plans for privatization. From the applications (regionally and internationally) we see that the Eurovision idea is still big in the country and speaking to some local fans they still hope that a trophy to Lisbon can help the country, the economy and the national pride. Italy although starting to recovering from the crisis already, the keep Sanremo a grand show, using it for Eurovision as well (they always did anyway). A glamorous show dedicated to Italian music and their choice is obviously based on pure marketing: they send Nina to Baku with an image of Amy Winehouse which will work perfectly for them again! Ireland is also suffering from the crisis but they know they are the rulers of Eurovision as they already have 7 victories. It seems that Jedward are the only ones to restore the Irish pride and why not to bring the trophy to Dublin. A small moderate national selection again in Ireland but this is anyway the way they do it recently. Ireland no matter what has won the respect of Europeans in Eurovision because every time they hosted the show, they wrote history in terms of presentation, organization and production. Iceland is in deep trouble since 2008 maybe even worst than Greece. Though the country is working hard to get out of this mess. They even built a brand new venue and they always have great voices and songs in Eurovision. Jonsi and Greta are definitely going to impress everyone in Baku (both viewers and jury). The new venue in their capital might be small in Eurovision terms but for sure can help Iceland host the show if they win someday. Spain might be plundered by the crisis and the 23% of unemployment but Pastora Soler is going to give herself to make sure the national pride is up. Many of us, outside Spain, know that this is not a good choice for the country but it seems that the Spanish fans are happy for her and they're going to back her up in her bid for Baku. Hungary and Romania are also countries which have to deal with nasty austerity measures to save their nation's economies. Despite that, Romanian broadcaster stated that there was never an option to withdraw from the contest while Hungarian state television managed to hold semifinals and a final to find its Eurovision representative. It's only Poland who may be excused from abandoning the contest this year as it is too much to have Eurovision, Olympics and Euro 2012 co-hosting.

GUESTS LINE UP FOR FINAL ANNOUNCED

LUCIAN (ROMANIA) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:21:44 +0000

ORF has announced that several Eurovision stars will attend the Austrian National Final, next Friday, as VIP Guests. Among them we can see: Marianne Mendt (1971), Petra Frey (1994), Eric Papilaya (2007) and Nadine Beiler (2011). The hosts of the NF will be once again Mirjam, Andi and Robert, whom Eurovision fans will remember as they hosted last year’s NF also. ORF said that they decided to go for the same hosts again as they enjoy fame and popularity in Austria. The Austrian National Final will take place on 24th February and will be aired by ORF 1 at 20:15 CET. The running order from the 10 songs competing in the Austrian National Final will be revealed in the coming days. You can see the full line-up in alphabetical order below: !DelaDap Blockstars James Cottriall Krautschädl Papermoon Norbert Schneider Trackshittaz Valerie Conchita Wurst Mary Broadcast Band

OFFICIAL EUROVISION 2012 VIDEOS

TEAM — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 07:42:41 +0000

Through this post oikotimes.com will keep you updated on the official video clips of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 entries, plus the official facebook and twitter accounts of the participants for Baku. This post will be updated throughout the season so stay tuned. Only the official previews (not live performances) will be included in this post. (photo: eurovision.tv)

COUNTRY France Denmark Germany

VIDEO n/a here here

FACEBOOK n/a here here

INTERVIEWS here here n/a

TWITTER here here here

BIO here here here