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Måns Zelmerlöw today releases a brand new single in support of Sarah Sjöström

SCANDIPOP.CO.UK REPORTS / SWEDEN – Måns Zelmerlöw today releases a brand new single. A special release, it’s in support of Sarah Sjöström who is currently competing for Sweden in the FINA World Championships in Budapest. The song is called ‘We Can Be The Rulers’, and is written by Måns, along with Moh Denebi and Paddy Dalton. And as it’s behind said team, it’s very much in the same sound and style that we all enjoyed on MZW’s most recent album ‘Chameleon’. It’s an electro ballad with the sort of uplifting lyric and tone that befits a sporting anthem. Though it slots in perfectly amongst his repertoire, and stands out on its own as a strong single.

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Harel Skaat slams Shaked over gov’t opposition to same-sex couples adopting children

ISRAEL – Israeli singer Harel Skaat has a message for LGBT youth in Israel: don’t enlist in the IDF. The popular singer wrote an emotional Facebook post Sunday night after hearing that the government will petition the Supreme Court to oppose easing the restrictions on adoption by same-sex couples. Skaat spoke earlier that evening to a gay youth group in Beersheba, and thanked them for listening to his words.

“The day will come in a few years that you will have to enlist in the army and do your part,” began Skaat. “As an Israeli who loves his country and is proud to be a Jew and talks about that around the world, who served proudly in the army and whose boyfriend is an IDF major who serves almost a month out of the year, I call on you not to enlist in the army!”

Skaat, who represented Israel in the Eurovision in 2010, has had many hit singles in Israel, including “Now,” “Kama Od Efshar” and “Boom.” He also served as a judge this past year on the “Next Star for Eurovision” TV competition show.

Skaat had other recommendations for gay youth living in Israel. “And you know what, don’t pay taxes either on the money you will soon be earning,” he added. “Basically any requirement the country asks of you – ignore. Because that’s what they do to you and the equal rights that are due to you.”

Gay marriage is not legal in Israel. The country will register, but not recognize, same-sex unions performed outside the country – the same as it does for any civil unions. Same-sex couples are not banned from adopting children in Israel, but they are only considered if a heterosexual couple cannot be found for a child. Gay couples in Israel can also not use legal surrogates in the country, and for that reason, many turn to women living abroad to carry their offspring.

Skaat slammed Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, whose Justice Ministry authored the government submission to the Supreme Court on adoption. “To Mrs. Ayelet Shaked and all the other cowardly politicians like you,” he wrote. “You aren’t worthy of us. I can only hope that the millions of people who marched in Tel Aviv in the recent pride parade in order to allow you to boast to the world about your flawed acceptance of us, will become an electoral force that will finally kick you out [of office]. There is a new generation that won’t tolerate your hypocrisy much longer.”

Around 200,000 people took part in Tel Aviv’s Pride Parade last month.

Speaking to Ynet on Monday morning, Skaat made clear he didn’t regret or retract anything he said. “The government’s decision hurt me a lot,” he said. “This isn’t a provocation, it’s my life and the lives of hundreds of thousands here in Israel…. I perform with love and pride in front of soldiers and NGOs that support the IDF. I give what I can and I’ll continue to do so.”

SOURCE: JERSULAME POST

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Carmen Manet from Slovenia win Eurovision Choir of the Year!

LATVIA – Carmen Manet from Slovenia has won the very first Eurovision Choir of the Year competition followed by the Wales and Latvia. The event was held in Latvia’s capital Riga and is the latest addition to the Eurovision Family of Events. The inaugural Eurovision Choir of the Year was hosted by Grammy-winning composer and conductor Eric Whitacre and Latvian Television’s culture presenter Eva Johansone. Each choir performed a six-minute set without music. The songs could include one or several works and pieces that reflect their respective national or regional character in some way. The choirs were judged by a high-profile jury, including British composer John Rutter and Latvian mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča. (source: EBU)

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RTE cost for Eurovision 2017 revealed and brings reactions

THESUN.IE REPORTS / IRELAND – A massive 331,482 Euros was spent by RTE on this year’s Eurovision flop with the singer, backing vocalists and tour manager spending two weeks in Kiev, the Irish Sun can reveal. The broadcaster sent a team 16 people to Ukraine including ex-Hometown star Brendan Murray who represented the nation. And we can also reveal Louis Walsh, who used to manage the lad’s former band, was paid for his service as a consultant.

Brendan, 20, was attempting to get us into final for the first time since 2013 but the entry, Dying to Try, did not hit the right notes. The Galway heartthrob was pipped by Bulgaria, Belarus, Croatia, Hungary, Denmark, Israel, Romania, Norway, Austria and The Netherlands. The total cost will come to more than €331k, according to the response to our Freedom of Information request.

The broadcaster stated: “RTE incurred a cost of approximately €331,482 in delivering Eurovision Song Contest television programming to Irish audiences. However, please note that as the RTE annual accounts for 2017 are not yet been finalised, that these costs do not include charges for RTE labour and support costs, as these will only be finalised once the annual accounts have been completed.”

An RTE spokeswoman added: “This compares with last year’s figure of €337,000. “Along with the participation fee the overall figure includes artist and designer fees, the cost of staging the performance including full dress rehearsals, graphics, props, pyrotechnics, costumes, choreography, postcard filming and song recording.”

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Dustin the Turkey claims RTÉ set him up to fail when he represented Ireland

THESUN.IE REPORTS / IRELAND – The famous puppet admits he was only winging it when he performed at the song contest in 2008 and failed to reach the finale.

The Den legend said: “When RTE came to me and said we’re going to send you off to Eurovision, cos we don’t want to win this thing, here’s ten grand in a brown envelope – I said grand.”

The Irelande Douze Pointe singer added: “Ireland didn’t win it, RTE saved money, all the maddsers phoned Joe Duffy, everyone was happy.

“I was the lead item on Questions and Answers before Pat Kenny put on that Frontline rubbish, that’s how mad the country is.”

Dustin is now eyeing up a stint at hosting RTÉ’s Dancing with the Stars show, but ruled out taking to the dancefloor himself.

He told the Irish Mirror: “I’ve no legs. I wouldn’t be going on making a show of myself. I thought Des Cahill was great on it.

“I thought Hughie was great; he had every minority – he was gay, at one stage he was black, and then he was a Traveller. He was brilliant.”

The former Den star weighed into the election of Leo Varadkar as Taoiseach.

He said: “I think it’s brilliant that we do have a Taoiseach who is gay but it’s a pity it’s him – I would have put Al Porter in for the craic.”

The turkey puppet believes in equality for all, except for people from Sligo.

He said “I think equality is the way it is – besides if you’re from Sligo then you shouldn’t have any rights – black, white, Catholic, Muslim, poultry, who cares, I think we should all get on.”

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Sandie Saw (UK 1967) in Queen’s birthday honours list

UNITED KINGDOM – Sandie Shaw, who sang Puppet on a String barefoot in 1967 to win the Eurovision song context – a song she later said she hated hated “from the very first oompah to the final bang on the big bass drum” – is awarded an MBE, and said she was proud to accept it as recognition of her work in Nichiren Buddhism, and towards fairer treatment for artists and creators in the music industry. “I hope that the honour will in some way raise awareness of these causes so close to my heart.”

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Big loss for O’G3NE as their beloved mother passes away

EUROVISIONHEADLINE.DE REPORTS – Isolde, the mother of the group O’G3NE, who represented The Netherlands at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest has died because of a rare kind of cancer.

The trio wrote the song “Lights and Shadows” together with their father for their mother who fought against cancer for a very long time. After Eurovision Isolde announced that she stopped her treatment for cancer. She came to Ukraine to visit O’G3NE and experience their Eurovision period.

O’G3NE announced via Facebook: “We trust that her armed forces, positivity, perseverance and eternal laughter will give us the strength to continue. Now there is the great sorrow. We hope everyone respects our privacy and gives us the peace and space to give this great sorrow a place. ”

OG3NE will stop their work as singers for a while to further this loss. Isolde’s farewell will take place in a closed circle.

RIP to Isolde and we give all our condolences to her family, friends and close society.

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Eurovision 2006 hostess Maria Menounos battles brain tumour, steps down from E!News

UNITED STATES – Maria Menounos is stepping down from her anchor role at E! News as she faces treatment for a brain tumor. Menounos, 39, told People magazine she was diagnosed with a tumor in April and recently underwent a seven-hour surgery to remove the golf-ball sized growth. Menounos’ diagnosis came as her mother, Litsa Menounos, is battling brain cancer.

“I am so grateful for the past three years at E!, I had such an amazing time co-hosting with Jason Kennedy and working everyday with the wonderful roster of talent on the show including producers, staff and crew,” said Menounos. “It was such a special, good-hearted group and one I’ll always consider family. A special thank you to Frances Berwick and [E! president] Adam Stotsky for all the support they have shown me through the years especially during these tough times. I will truly miss everyone and looking forward to this next chapter in my life.”

Menounos has been with the E! News team since 2014. She worked as a correspondent for “Access Hollywood” and “Today” before landing the co-anchor slot on the syndicated newsmagazine “Extra.”

Menounos has also been active in the technology arena, promoting innovations and new companies through her personal newsletter and her daily “Conversations with Maria Menounos” series on SiriusXM. It’s unclear if she will continue her hosting duties on SiriusXM. She has also chronicled her mother’s fight with stage four glioblastoma on her personal platforms.

Menounos told People that she is still recovering from the surgery that successfully removed almost all of the tumor.

“My face is still numb,” Menounos told People. “This is something that takes at least a month of healing, but I’m getting stronger and stronger every day and I’ll be back to normal very soon.”

SOURCE: VARIETY.COM

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Blue Plaque to be unveiled at Brighton Dome by BBC in honour of ABBA’s landmark 1974 Eurovision win

BRIGHTONDOME.ORG REPORTS / UNITED KINGDOM – A Blue Plaque to be unveiled at Brighton Dome honouring music legends Abba is one of 47 announced on June 14th by BBC Local Radio, BBC Asian Network and The British Plaque Trust, commemorating people or places that have influenced the musical landscape across the country.

BBC Sussex’s Blue Plaque, to go on Brighton Dome, will commemorate Abba who launched their career after winning the 19th Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden at the Brighton Dome on 6 April 1974.

The plaque will be unveiled on BBC Music Day (Thursday 15 June) between 6.45pm and 7pm, live on BBC Sussex. Bjorn Again will be performing Waterloo in the Pavilion Gardens shortly after the unveiling and everyone is invited to come down and join in the celebrations.

Each year Brighton Dome plays host to over 600 events spanning music, theatre, dance, comedy, literature, spoken word, visual arts, film and more as well as producing England’s leading and most-progressive mixed-arts celebration, the internationally-acclaimed Brighton Festival. Since becoming a music venue in 1867, Brighton Dome has hosted artists as varied as Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Nina Simone and Beyonce.

Other artists including David Bowie, John Peel and Sandy Denny will receive Blue Plaques in their honour.

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Lucie Jones celebrates her last day of singledom

UNITED KINGDOM – Eurovision’s Lucie Jones has joked she’s “broken” after partying up a storm on her glamorous hen do, complete with white bridal style gown and veil in the nightclub. The former X Factor contestant turned musical theatre star was whisked off for her bachelorette party by pals over the weekend, as she celebrates her final days of singledom before marrying fiance, chef Ethan Boroian.

Lucie, 26, tweeted: “I’m home. I’m broken. I’m so full of love for my amazing friends. Thank you thank you THANK YOU!”

She added a special shout out to actor BFF Lauren Samuels, who organised the ‘do.Lucie looked gorgeous in a series of pictures taken from a big night out over the weekend, showing her wearing a figure hugging white dress, bridal veil and red heels.

In one photo, Lucie is surrounded by her hens who are holding sparklers, while another shows the group posing around a grand table covered in champagne glasses. She captioned the latter picture: “The greatest people you will ever meet.” Lucie’s pal Lauren also shared photos to Instagram, including one showing a very fresh faced Lucie, dressed in a red floral sundress, sitting at a tasty looking breakfast table still wearing her veil.

Lucie met her fiance Ethan back in 2009 at X Factor bootcamp. While she went on to the live shows, Ethan was sent home at Judges’ Houses. They stayed in contact, however, and ended up going for dinner the following year as friends, which then blossomed into romance. And within a week of their first date, the smitten chef already knew Lucie was the woman for him and had begun to film a video he would eventually use to pop the question.

He secretly recorded himself holding up cards reading out, ‘Will you marry me?’ at a variety of destinations across the world during their 18-month romance, before finally getting down on one knee in Cardiff.

She told The Mirror: “We had such a perfect weekend. After he showed me the video, he got down on one knee and presented me with the most beautiful ring I have ever seen. It’s got a diamond that his dad gave his mum for their 10th wedding anniversary and that just means so much.”

SOURCE: THE MIRROR

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