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Ireland 2018 🇮🇪 Ryan promises to ‘step it up’ ahead of Eurovision final

IRELAND – Ireland’s Eurovision hopeful Ryan O’Shaughnessy has said he’s going to “step it up” ahead of next month’s contest in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon. The 25-year-old Dublin born singer will be performing his track Together, which he wrote as part of a team of The Nucleus writers, in the first semi-final on Tuesday May 8. The former Britain’s Got Talent finalist spoke to RTÉ Entertainment at the pre-Eurovision Israel Calling event this week, where he revealed his confidence levels are high following a live performance in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square in front of a crowd of over 10,000 people.

Although he admitted the live performance in front of a huge crowd was “really intense,” he said there was “great energy” and “great vibes” on the night.The Skerries star said he’s feeling confident about the upcoming contest in May.

“I felt confident about it from the start and I think I’m still on that wavelength,” he said. “I’m trying not to over think it too much and just do my best every time and practice makes perfect so the more we do it the better it’s going to get.

“I think we’re going to do now is to step it up every time with our performance and by the time we get to Portugal we’ll have it nailed.”
When asked if he enjoyed any other performances at Israel Calling, Ryan said “there’s a lot of songs to take in, a lot of music”, but singled out France’s Madame Monsieur and Iceland’s Ari Ólafsson for praise.

He added: “When you’re performing like that you don’t really have much time to take in other people’s performances because you’re thinking about your own. It’s a bit selfish but that’s the way it is. I know there were a lot of really good performances.”

A group of 25 of this year’s Eurovision contestants got a chance to bond and get to know one another at Israel Calling, and while Ryan says it’s been “a really good party” he’s hoping to get “a bit of downtime now in Dublin for a day”.

“I might get an hour to sleep at some point”, he joked, before continuing: “There’s two more parties to go and a London show before we get to Lisbon and a full week of rehearsals so it’s just go go go.

“I’m looking forward to the 13th of May and being able to just relax. The lead up to that is going to be really intense but I like being busy and it’s been a lot of fun.”

When it was suggested that the Eurovision hopefuls seem more like friends than competitors, Ryan said: “It’s kind of that way, yeah. Everybody’s getting along, there’s not so many false attitudes, everybody’s really positive and just happy to get along with one another which is really nice.

“There’s nothing worse that when people are trying to be something else. So that’s really positive, I like that a lot and I’m making some really good friends, I’m gravitating towards some people more than others, and I think that’s just the whole spirit of the event. It’s a really lovely vibe.”

The singer-songwriter says he’s relishing the chance to visit other countries with the Eurovision class of 2018 and make the most of the opportunity.

“We’re all travelling from country to country and we’re going to meet each other in different places, it’s a rare gathering, so I think everyone knows that and everyone feels that energy and it’s about really making the most of it”, he said.

Ryan will perform his track Together in the first Eurovision semi-final on Tuesday May 8. The second semi-final takes place on Thursday May 10, with the final set for Saturday May 12.

Joining Saara on her show on 25th April is X Factor winner Matt Terry, and Irish Eurovision entry Ryan O’Shaughnessy. The show will take place at Under the Bridge in London. Saara has mentioned that she will be performing songs from her album, as well as “lots of Eurovision surprises”. Tickets have gone on sale, and are available to purchase.

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Switzerland 2018 🇨🇭 the story and the making of “Stones” unveiled

ZIBBZ.COM REPORTS / SWITZERLAND – It was great reading all your feedback after our last blog post – thank you so much for that. It’s been some crazy weeks since then!! We shot our music video for “Stones” and we are so excited to be able to share with you today. I think it’s safe to say that we are proud of the outcome.

But we are jumping the gun a little bit by talking about the outcome here because obviously the music video wasn’t just a magical unicorn that appeared out of nowhere. Although that does sound great..?

Of course it all started with a lot of brainstorming…sometimes a little heavy on the brain and at times it felt more like …just a storm. After hours upon hours of meetings and Skype talks and more meetings we had plenty of ideas but mostly knew that we a) really wanted to convey that you are your own worst enemy when it comes to bullying and b) that we wanted the video to feel like “us”, meaning, our style, our “vibe”, our music, our souls. Because that’s what it’s all about right? So after looking at different ideas and pitches we fleshed out one treatment. Thankfully we’re lucky to have the A-team with us, lead by our fearless directors Simon Steuri and Viet Dang who we’ve worked with several times before.

Next we got into the actual planning. We produced this ourselves, which means we had to location scout, organize all the talent for the video, choose costumes, buy props, etc etc. Since we worked with Holi powder it was quite the adventure to try and figure out how to use Holi powder and … to only get the things red you want to get RED. We are still dusting off the powder as we speak…it. Is. Everywhere.

AND THEN IT WAS HERE..the day of the shoot. We got up early, loaded the van and drove out to Studios60 downtown LA. After an hour and a half of set up time we started filming. The first two hours were mostly performance shots from every possible angle. At noon we had our background talent come in, aka all of our best friends in LA (thanks again so much for being there!!). For the Holi powder scenes the boys set up an entire tent (see below) so that the red powder wouldn’t get everywhere.. (it still did) But it was quite the set up!!

Let me tell you.. the day flew by…even though it was a 15 hour day.. and by the end we were all incredibly exhausted and incredibly happy. Before going home to hop into the shower for 3724871 hours we rewarded ourselves with some Thai food (and scared all the other costumers away with our red faces). We are thrilled to share this journey with you and are looking forward to hearing your feedback.

We would like to thank everyone again for coming out and being a huge part of our most important music video yet and especially our “A-Team”:

Simon Steuri // Director
Jonathan Sandford // DP
Alex Lake // Orange Grove Avenue
Viet Dang // Co-Director&Choreographer
Sabrina Kern // First Assistant Director&Actor
Yves Nicollier // Technical Assistant

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Malta 2018 🇲🇹 Christabelle impressed with mental health research at University

TVM.COM.MT REPORTS / MALTA – Singer Christabelle, who will represent Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest, today had the opportunity to observe the work carried out on mental disease research while visiting the Physiology and Biochemistry department at the University of Malta.

Seeking to raise awareness on mental health following her success with the song Taboo, Christabelle was invited by the Malta Neuroscience Network Programme to act as its ambassador with the aim of increasing funds for the research in this sector.

At the University, Christabelle met with Professor Giuseppe Di Giovanni, who explained the work currently going on aimed at discovering treatments for various types of mental health disorders. Among others, Christabelle observed a study on epilepsy which is being carried out in vitro in brain slices.

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Ukrainian Member UA:PBC 🇺🇦 faces new troubles as a broadcaster and Eurovision participation in danger

EBU.CH REPORTS / UKRAINE – Speaking at a Council of Europe conference in Kiev last week, UA:PBC managers stressed the urgency of finding adequate funding for the broadcaster which has been functioning with only half the budget prescribed by Ukrainian law.

UA:PBC, which celebrated its first birthday earlier this year, is going through a challenging process of restructuring to consolidate 28 regional units throughout the country, reduce staff numbers and make the switch to digital.

At last week’s conference, Members of Parliament, public service media experts, relevant institutions and representatives of civil society, came together to discuss funding models and best practice for public service media.

Finding sustainable funding for public service media in Ukraine is a long term ambition which will require changes in the legal framework and a new collection mechanism. At the same time, the broadcaster needs an urgent short term solution to ensure it can continue to function until the end of the year.

Head of Member Relations, CEE, Radka Betcheva said: “ We are extremely concerned that the lack of sustainable funding for UA:PBC will stifle the growth and development of this important democratic institution and is threatening its very existence at the current time. This may jeopardise Ukraine’s EU accession talks and endanger further EU financial help moving forward.”

In a further update the Ukrainian national broadcaster that the problem is thee government financing, the county is not voluntarily withdrawing from thee 2018 Eurovision Song Contest and all preparations for Lisbon are ongoing.

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Ireland 2018 🇮🇪 another ballad for Queen of Eurovision

IRELAND – RTE has announced singer songwriter Ryan O’Shaughnessy’s Together as Ireland’s Eurovision Song Contest entry. He has previously appeared on The Voice of Ireland and Britain’s Got Talent and he played Mark Halpin on Fair City for ten years.

Key industry professionals, songwriters and performers convened for the Eurovision Song Contest Forum in August last year to debate and think of new ideas on how to approach the contest this year. Over 300 songs were submitted to RTÉ for consideration before the November deadline.

Together was written for the Eurovision Song Contest by writers working in The Nucleus, a new Irish songwriting team and hub, founded by Hamlet Sweeney, that brings the international model of collaborative songwriting to Ireland.

It was penned by O’Shaughnessy, Mark Caplice and Laura Elizabeth Hughes.

Ryan said, “As one of three songwriters on Together, I’m delighted it has been chosen to represent Ireland in Eurovision 2018, and on top of that, to be asked to perform for my country is an absolute honour. I plan on doing Ireland proud by bringing a song and performance to Eurovision that we haven’t seen since the days of ‘Rock and Roll Kids’. Last year’s winning song from Salvador Sobral was a beautiful, melodic piece, and I think it may have carved the way for the Eurovision to revert back to being a song contest where true songs can flourish. I can’t wait to get onto that stage and perform an honest piece for millions of people.”

The final version of the song and video are still in production and will be released at a later date.

Ryan will be hoping to fare better than last year’s Irish entry, the balled ‘Dying to Try’ which was sung by former Hometown member Brendan Murray and which failed to qualify for the final.

SOURCE: INDIPENDENT.IE

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Brooke Borg 🇲🇹 Announces Official Name For Her Fans And Here’s What Other Celebs Should Call Theirs

MALTA – Following her strong performance at the Malta Eurovision Song Contest, singer Brooke Borg has continued to grow her fanbase across the island and internationally. So it was hardly a surprise when she finally announced the official name for her supporters, and this diva has christened them her ‘pack of wolves’.

The name comes from lyrics of her song’s chorus, and so the pack of wolves become Malta’s second titled supporters joining the ranks of Tamara Webb’s #Queens.

The concept of naming your fan base was most likely started by the queen diva herself, Mariah Carey, when back in the 90s her fans started self-identifying as Lambs, the pet name Mariah’s family called her back in the day.

But what could other Maltese celebs call their supporters?
1. Ben Camille’s fan base: The Ben Famille
2. Peppi Azzopardi’s fans: Xaramonks
3. Angie Laus’ fans: Woodlice
4. Ira Losco’s fans: Soldiers
5. Eileen Montesin’s fans: Beckys
6. Christabelle Borg’s fanbase: The Kingdom
BONUS: Chucky’s Fans: Dragons

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Ed Sheeran 🇬🇧 wants to pen a #Eurovision entry!

BBC.CO.UK REPORTS / UNITED KINGDOM – Ed Sheeran has said he would be up for writing a Eurovision entry for the United Kingdom – but wouldn’t want to perform it himself.
The superstar is one of Britain’s biggest pop exports of recent years.

“I would love to write a Eurovision song,” he said. “I don’t know that I’d ever enter it singing it. But I don’t think the rest of Europe wants England to win because of history and stuff.”

He didn’t expand on what “stuff” he was referring to, but presumably it might involve Brexit.

Sheeran’s latest album ÷ (Divide) was a major hit around the world and was the best-selling album of 2017 in countries including Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

He was speaking to BBC 5 live before the Brit Awards in London on Wednesday. He later lost out on the award for best British male at the ceremony to Stormzy. The UK will be represented at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon by Royal Academy of Music graduate SuRie.

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Romania 2018 🇷🇴 fourth semi final venue makes news

EURONEWS REPORTS / ROMANIA – Eurovision hosted hosted the country’s fourth semi-final in one of Romania’s most famous tourist hotspots. Candidates for Romania’s Eurovision 2018 entry have made history by performing 100 metres underground.

Over 20 tonnes of stage equipment were set up in Turda salt mine, Cluj County, for the fourth semi-final on Monday. The giant structure was used to extract table salt for hundreds of years until it closed in 1932. But 60 years later it was reopened to the public, and it now attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors per year.

Twelve singers competed for three spots in the Romanian final, to be held in Bucharest on February 25. Musician Tiri, who managed to secure his place in the competition, said of the Salida Turda: “I have heard it’s big, but it’s more than huge.

“The singing here was an honour, I think, because not many people had this opportunity to sing in a salt mine and I have heard it’s the most beautiful in Europe, or probably in the world.”

Tiri, along with fellow acts Claudia Andas and Feli came top in the semi-final and will compete against each other to represent Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest. Coincidentally, all three performers found fame while appearing on the singing contest The Voice of Romania in different years.

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United Kingdom 2018 🇬🇧 Australian press points out composer competition between the UK and Australia

AUSTRALIA – The song the UK is taking to this year’s Eurovision Song Contest was co-written by a Queenslander. Queensland songwriter Nicole Blair​ (pictured) is behind the pop ballad “Storm” which British singer SuRie will perform at the contest in Portugal in May. Blair told The Music she co-wrote the song with Gil Lewis and Sean Hargreaves during a one-day writing camp at London’s Tileyard Studios.

“It’s quite a different process [writing for Eurovision],” she said. “The first time I experienced writing for Eurovision was last year. The main elements for me are that I like to make the concept and lyrics very positive, something that is bold that will resonate with the Eurovision audience. It’s really important to try and think what the whole of Europe wants musically as well.”

SuRie will be up against Australian artist Jessica Mauboy, who is representing us in this year’s competition after performing in 2014 as an interval act.

The song Mauboy will perform is still under wraps. “I almost feel like [in 2014] I was the permission for Australia to become properly involved,” Mauboy said in December. “A year after that, the gate was opened for Australia… I almost feel like I’ve been waiting for this, like it’s unfinished business.”

Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey, who took over the job of hosting Australia’s Eurovision coverage last year, are set to return.

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Sandie Shaw 🇬🇧 1967 Eurovision winner honoured by Prince Charles

UNITED KINGDOM – She first dipped her toes into the pop world more than 50 years ago. On Thursday, 51 years after her triumph with Puppet on a String, Sandie Shaw was belatedly honoured with an MBE at Buckingham Palace. Barefoot and bewitching, the songstress became synonymous with the Sixties, winning hearts and giving Britain its first Eurovision victory.

Prince Charles had a question for the 70-year-old as he presented her with the award at the ceremony. ‘Why? Why has it taken so long for you to get here?’ he asked her.

She said afterwards: ‘I told him the truth. The truth is that women in music haven’t tended to be honoured in the past, certainly not in the Sixties. ‘He said he was glad I was here now. He was a bit stunned it had taken so long.’

Thrice-married Sandie, who quit the music business in 2013, also wore some comfortable shoes on the chilly day in London, albeit a lacework pair with open heels and toes.
Her decision to go barefoot in the Sixties was a practical one because she could never find the right size shoes, she once explained.

‘Over the years going barefoot has become my trademark,’ she once said. ‘I now feel it is more of a mindset… an expression of inner and outer freedom!’
Despite her 1967 victory, Sandie admitted she takes no interest in Eurovision now.

Asked if she had seen SuRie’s track Storm being chosen on Wednesday night to represent the UK at this year’s event, she said: ‘No, I watched Silent Witness.’

SOURCE: DAILYMAIL.CO.UK

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