We love you Eurovision!!!

It is here!! Eurovision week is in our lives again!

One day to go to Semi 1 and 3 days to go before we fly out to Oslo to celebrate the 55th Eurovision Song Contest.

As we approach semi 1 I'll be rooting for Iceland, Belarus, Slovakia and Belguim tomorrow night and I have high hopes they will qualify.

Club Latter announced their line up for the week and we are so looking forward to seeing:

THURSDAY MAY 27 th: 2.semi afterparty
Charmed - My Heart Goes Boom
Queentastic - Absolutely Fabulous
Malin Scavenius – Under Stjernene

FRIDAY MAY 28 th: ESCTODAY 10 years anniversary party
Bobbysocks – La Det Swinge
Euroband – This Is My Life
Christine Guldbrandsen - Alvedansen

SATURDAY MAY 29th: Grand Finale afterparty
Velvet Inc – Tricky


Pure MGP and Eurovision fabulousness!

Unlike 2009 we don't have a clear winner which makes it even more exciting!

The welcome party was a pink parade with Niamh as life and soul of the party as usual!

Enjoy every minute of it and hope to see you all soon!

Aidan.

Rehearsal rundown!

Now that all semi final songs are rehearsed at the Telenor Arena it is time for a round up of what I'm thinking!
This time next week the Irish gang will be lumionous in our green, white and gold and going mental! It feels so great to feel so proud of our entry and to be in with a strong chance is so exhilarating.

Niamh's rehearsal was strong and consistent. I like the podium and this will be covered in the purple dress that Niamh will wear on the night. The colours of green changing to orange are complimentary of the song and of Niamh. The movement of the backing singers didn't impress everyone but I am sure the camera angles will portray it well. Niamh was saving her voice in parts which is a clever move.

Reaction in Oslo has been all positive and Ireland's odds continue to drop (now at 16/1 @ Boylesports)

The Irish press conference was great to watch! Niamh's experience with the media and overall charisma is captivating and she is always positive.

Denmark lacked a spark in their rehearsal and need to work on a number of things including staging.
Azerbaijan came across well in their rehearsal and I like the choreography and staging even if a win by Safura scares me for 2011!

Georgia have overcomplicated a simple song (similar to 'I Wish I could Pretend' Eurosong '09) and the crazy choreography now reminds me of Montenegro's entry in 2009

Croatia were strong and Turkey will easily qualify as the musical style is different and they have a lot of support in Eurovision.

Sweden has been well received and seems to have boosted its position in terms of popularity.

Belguim and Slovakia have changed little from their national final performance but both are very strong and will sail through to the final.

One of my favourites Belarus has divided opinion but I think the wings albeit strange are fun! The dresses are fabulous and the song still sounds strong.

Finland seemed to have added an extra sparkle to their performance and could still have an outside shot of making the final.

This may surprise many but Serbia has impressed me! I enjoyed Milan's quirky nature and the colourful staging kept me watching!

Tomorrow rehearsals go back to semi 1 even though I would love to see the 5 finalists rehearse to get a fuller picture of it all.

Right now these are my predictions:

To Qualify
Semi 1: Moldova, Bosnia(not for the song!),Serbia, Sloavkia, Belguim, Albania, Greece, Belarus, Iceland and Portugal.

Semi 2: Armenia, Israel, Denmark, Ireland, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Georgia, Turkey, Sweden and Romania.

The winner of semi 1 will probably be between Belguim, Greece and Slovakia and Semi 2 will very likely be won by Azerbaijan.

Well done to Keith, Andrew and Peter at AKOE who are keeping us all up to date with the excitement.

Next Thursday cannot come quick enough! Hoping to see you all then!

SQ

Go Niamh!

Best Rehearsal of day 1: Slovakia!

Interview with Hera Bjork (She has that special something!)

The lovely Hera Bjork will represent Iceland at Eurovision 2010 in 11 days!

Schlagerqueen: Hi Hera. Thanks you for agreeing to do this interview! How are preparations going for Oslo?

Hera Bjork: Amazingly good, thank you for asking:) Everything is on schedule and I know this will all turn out in the best possible way! My Team and I are getting very good in solving little problems with a big smile on our face:)

SQ: You have a wonderful history with eurovision. You appeared in Selma's video in 1999, sang the classic 'Someday' and backing vocals for 'Is it True', How different does it feel this year?

HB: Not so different really! I had such a great time both in Moscow and with "Team Someday" and that fantastic feeling is still there:) I decided to take this not too seriously and focus on having fun fun fun with my favorite people around me on&off stage! This is a 3 minute window for Europe to get to know me and I just wanna look my best, do the best i can and be sincere!

SQ: That's what its all about! What is the message of 'Je ne sais Quoi'?

HB: Enjoy & Love:) You meet people every single day that you are drawn to without being able to explain why? It´s that certain "Je Ne Sais Quoi" about you that I love and I can´t put my finger on it but it´s there and it´s feel damn nice;-D

SQ: Have you heard the other entries for 2010? If so which songs do you like?

HB: I like them all so far:) Some are bad and some are genius but the magic will happen in Oslo when I hear them live and meet the people behind them! But I can never choose just one song...I always love about 15:)

SQ: What is your favourite Eurovision song of all time?

HB: Ohhhh how can you ask such a question?:) I cannot choice one!! I simply will not:-)

SQ: How did you feel to get such a great draw in the running order?

HB: Ohh I cried like a Beauty Queen I was so happy:) I was in London when I got the news and we popped one Champagne to celebrate our lucky number 17:-)

SQ: Iceland would be one of my dream eurovision locations. What would eurovision be like in Reykjavík?

HB: I know it will be fantastic because we have the perfect little city to host this! Iceland is the most gay friendly country in the universe and because of that we could actually make it a true celebration of the rainbow of music & people on this planet of ours:-) Hope to see you here soon;-D

SQ: looking forward to it! How do you feel about the current ash situation?!

HB: I try to be optimistic about it! This is not the end of the world and it is in no way appropriate for me to complain over this...even though it might delay some flights! Mother Nature needs to speak out and so it is! I feel for the people in this world who have hunger & war upon them. We are all OK up here and everyone is doing their best to help the farmers who are getting all the ash over their crop and animals! But everyone is alive, getting hugs and plenty of food and fresh Icelandic water:-) So, no complaints from this lady!

SQ: What 5 words would describe Hera Bjork?

HB: Honest, loving, positive, grateful & happy:)

SQ: Have you any message for the readers of schlagerqueen?

HB: Keep smiling and life will unfold itself in front of you full of schlagers and glamour:-D Looking forward to see you in Oslo:-) Knús&kram, Hera Björk

SQ: Fabulous! Thank you so much Hera. I will be there cheering for you in Oslo!!

Check out Hera's new video:

Oslo here we come!!!!!!

Eurovision countdown Part 1

In case you missed part 1 of the Eurovision countdown shown on RTE last here you can find it here.

Interview with Dame Hera Bjork coming soon..

Dança comigo!

Date: Thursday, 06 May 2010
Time: 20:30 - 23:00
Location: Meeting House Squaure

Tonight the Eurovision flashmob dance for the interval act of Eurovision 2010 will come to Dublin! Bow and arrow!!!

I am getting my twinkle toes down there later this evening. Hope to see you all there!

Location:
Time: 20.30-23.00
Dresscode: colourful and happy!


We are looking forward to seeing YOU there!!


SHARE THE MOMENT

Baku, Dublin, Zagreb 2011?

Tonight three weeks Eurovision 2010 will be kicking off at the Telenor Arena in Oslo!
I am beyond excited and I have a feeling this year will be a very exciting contest with a great host city, a strong Irish entry and no clear winner at this stage.

I will be there from Thursday morning until Sunday and am delighted to get semi 2 in this year. We are staying at the Radisson Blu Scandinavia hotel which was originally the home of the euroclub but this has since changed!
Accreditation is sorted, flashmob has been practised for the Irish edition on Thursday in Temple Bar (part 4 is damn tricky!)but looking forward to being part of it having missed the postcard filmed at the Spire.

This Saturday I am meeting a number of Oslo bound eurovision fans to have a pre Oslo day which involves lunch, drinks, shopping for Irish flags, leprechaun hats and feater bowas and general euro chat!

At my Eurovision preview party we had a great night. It was won by Denmark and Ireland was 2nd (just like the OGAE vote in Enniscorthy!)

Others that did well were Iceland, Bealrus, Romania, Belguim, and Azerbaijan.

Portugal was a surprise favourite and as usual the U.K divided opinion. Ireland would have stormed to victory but thanks to 'That's how David D's it' who didn't score Niamh this didn't happen!

The big losers on the night were Russia, Poland and the Ukraine which was no surprise. Thanks to the guys for a fantastic night!

Niamh will be joined by an extra backing singer for Oslo and they are 2 weeks away from flying out to Norway for rehearsal. A full list of rehearsal can be seen here.

Niamh has returned from Romania, Belguim and the U.K. where she performed on a number of TV shows and was a resounding success at the Preview Party in The Shadow Lounge in London.

Everyone is wondering who could win at this stage and I think that Azerbaijan, Croatia and Ireland are definately up there with a shot as I think they will appeal to bothe televoters and juries. The thoughts of Baku 2011 puts me right off unfortunately but may the best song win...It's for You!!!