3 reasons Germany should choose another contender

In this not so fabulous article Norwegian tabloid VG tells us Lena Meyer-Landrut doesn't know if she'll continue to be a musician in a year. She will be participating in Eurovision for Germany next year, but then she might just not sing anymore. Well, Germany, even though this year was successful, we're not sure you have picked your lady for 2011. Here's our reasons why:

1. Lena says she only plays for fun, with no intention of winning. Well, that's not exactly a lovely attitude before entering  a competition.
2. Lena doesn't want to play music after Eurovision next year. Well, if she'd rather promote Germany in..let's say..nude pics, we're sure she'll attract attention, but maybe not the one intended? And sho would play at the finale if she were to win again?
3. Believe it or not, there's a lot of serious artists in Eurovision who work very hard to win. That's why we're not sure Lena's ignorant attitude would be popular.

Hence some disappointment from GEE. We're starting to believe Didrik has given Lena a couple of not so good hints. And we all know how successful his strategy wasn't. But hey, best of luck with the diva, Germany.

Retro Sunday: Norway 2003

Today let’s turn to patriotism in the name of love. Because in GEE we are forever in love with this beautiful man:

Jostein Hasselgård quickly became a true Norwegian hero after scoring a great fourth place in the 2003 Eurovision final. We just love his dreamy look and clear voice as he tells us how he's in love with a beautiful girl from a magical world while his hands cherishes the piano. Ballads don't get much better than this. 

Oh, don’t we all just cherish that lovin feeling as the summer is heating up. Just lie down on a blanket by the sunset while Jostein lull you to sleep. And while we wait for Jostein to return to the Eurovision world, we can at least hear his lovely voice in the vocal ensemble Pust.

Have a great summer.

Retro Sunday: Sweden 1968

Every Sunday we give you some of our favorite old entries to cheer you up a little extra and make you miss the glorious old days. Today we bring you hipster coolness from Sweden:



The Swedes are undoubtedly the coolest fashionistas in Scandinavia, and back in the 60s this stylish fella showed Europe that hipsters existed long before the street style blogs came around to tell you what to wear. His cocky attitude and sleek appearance contrast the lyrics in this number as he's telling us that a young man knows he's in love for real when he don't even mind drinking his afternoon coffee with his girlfriend's mum, instead of hanging out with his buddies. How adorable is that! We love the jazzy, easy listening feel to this track and even today both the sound and the look are strangely modern and up to date. Groovy!

How hard can it get? Part 1 in which we woo our fav punk

In Norway it’s time to look forward as broadcaster NRK is advertising for applicants for MGP 2011. Rumor has it that Per Sundnes plans to put Helene Bøksle on the ESC stage for Norway next year. Miss Bøksle is lovely and all that, but not exactly our cup of tea. So we decided to ask ourselves the following: “In a country with so many great artists, why can’t we show Europe some decent music? What makes our best artists and songwriters stay away from such a great audience? And how hard can it get next year?” Follow us this summer as we challenge our favorite song writers to join and let them carry on the challenge to their favorites.

Let’s forget about the phantom of the opera. This year Norway needs to punk things up a little with someone already knowing their way around Germany. Null$katte$nylterne and their fab lead singer Torkil Torsvik might actually consider the job.

He’s one of the coolest Norwegians we know with a rough, dirty, but still very honest punk rocker style. He is Torkil Torsvik, aka Torkil the Reptile, and how can we not crave for him to rip off his shirt at the Eurovision stage in Germany next year? Wouldn’t that be fun, Reptile? “Well, I’ve never really considered participation”, he admits. “As a rocker, I’ve kinda thought of MGP as a phenomenon pretty far away from what I am doing. But since you ask me so directly, I might actually consider it. Some metal from Keep of Kalessin didn’t hurt this year, so maybe a little Trønder punk would shake things up a little next year?”

Trønder punk in their own dialect
Torkil and his band Nullskattesnylterne, translating to something as untranslatable as zerotaxcheaters, represent what we in Norway like to call Trønder rock. Trøndelag is the name of the counties in the middle of the country, around the cities Trondheim and, not the least, Namsos – the official rock capital of Norway and home city of Torkil and his buddies (although for connoisseurs, Torkil grew up in Kolvereid, a recruitment base for Namsos). A lot of good rock music has originated from this town, with Nullskattesnylterne being among the best. And of course they all sing in their own fab dialect, so no English and a lot of great guitar riffs for MGP there. We couldn’t think of a better contender for Helene Bøksle, whom we know Per Sundnes wants for next year. No nonsense Trønder punk over family friendly folklore pop anytime.

Sing-a-long and choir chicks unleashed
But what does Torkil think is a good song? “It's the one tune people can't listen to without moving their body and perhaps also sing along”, he describes. “Our band loves sing-a-long and party atmosphere. But a song is also good if it can hit a certain mood in people, and then both text and melody is important. I also guess if you are to make a typical Eurovision-song, then the sense of recognition is important. And it should fit the concept of a gigantic stage, pyro effects and 3 choir chicks unleashed”, he upholds.

Well, so far we're even more certain this man could make a great song for us. When we contacted Torkil, we kinda didn't expect him to digg Eurovision, but he ensures us he gets the good entertainment of it all. “I did love Jan Teigen in the 80s. It was heating up a little with Glasnost, but it was cold war, goddamnit. Romeo by Ketil Stokkan was also lovely”, Torkil says. The problem is more the fact that he doesn't like to compete in music, which he thinks is a general opinion among musicians. Along with the fear of being labeled as a Eurovision artist, similar to how Idol participants gets their Idol prefix, he predicts this to be the reason established artists stay away from MGP.

 "Hey, Per, we'd show Europe the real pyro"



No more playback, please
Nonetheless, Torkil thinks it could be good PR for a band to participate as long as it is carefully planned. Although if he were to adjust the competition, he would lose the chairs in the arena, make the stage smaller and more intimate plus get rid of choir chicks and playback music. “Today this is a competition in studio production and costumes more than being able to actually play a decent song. That's more about hitting the right trends in Europe”, he nags.

Torkil's main concern along with only being able to play one single song is having to perform with playback. If he were to contribute a song for MGP, he would prefer for him and Nullskattesnylterne to perform it. “But not with costumes and choreography. We would play live, but suspect it's not allowed? That would be a reason for not participating. And I would only play our own song with my band. I'm a vocalist in Nullskattesnylterne, not a solo artist”, he maintains. Well, no problem for GEE, that, as we also love the rest of this tight band with their great guitars and drums. And we are very sure the MGP and Eurovision crowds would love these hunky men's tendency of ripping of their shirts and lighting up their pyros, so not much more choreography needed there. This is the whole package on a silver platter, maybe even for Mr. Sundnes?

So, when Nullskattesnylterne win MGP 2011, what would be their preferred destination for Eurovision in Germany? "Nürnberg", Torkil replies instantly. "It's a great city, and we have many fans there after touring a lot in that area. The historical context also adds to the greatness", he finishes. And GEE can't wait to see him there.

Our hard verdict:
Sing-a-long and party mood, pyromaniacs and ripping off your shirt. This certainly evokes dreams in GEE's hearts. As for playback, NRK won’t give us a decent answer, but most playbacks are due to the rule of only six people on stage, we think. And Nullskattesnylterne will follow that rule. Dear Torkil with friends. We want you in MGP. And we would be so happy to escort you to Germany. There's really nothing else to say except when can we expect your song to be finished?

Up next: Lars Vaular
It's time for Torkil to pass on the challenge to someone he would like to see in MGP. What's his hard choice? "I would like to challenge Lars Vaular to give it a try", he says. "Norwegian lyrics are far too few in MGP, and in Norwegian music in general. Besides Lars Vaular has a cool attitude that could be a hit in Europe." Well, we couldn't disagree on that one, so let's see if we can find him in the summer heat.

In the meantime, follow them on TV and get up and dance to the Norwegian kind of punk, aka Null$katte$nylterne:

How hard is it now? Part 1 in which N'evergreen is evergreen

My hard is yours. That was the grand message from Norway this year. Leading GEE to check out the hardness of several Eurovision blokes. But the contest is over and how hard is it all now? Follow us as we check out how the fab artists are doing these days.

Eurovision 2010 ended a while ago, and summer days are warm and lazy. In a moment like this we ask ourselves what keeps Tomas N'evergreen busy? Sure looks like a lot.

"I think I look very Russian in this one. Or maybe a little bit Cuban?"
(Pic nicked from nevergreen.com)


Pure bliss in Oslo
As one half of Chanée and N'evergreen, Danish Tomas N'evergreen, aka Tomas Christiansen, was one of the most successful participants this year. Denmark started off with a couple of douze points and managed to hit a glorious fourth place in the end - indeed very much better than the rest of Scandinavia. He ensures he had a great time in Oslo. "Singing in front of 100 million people was the best", he proclaims.


But didn't we spot some trouble during rehearsal and a somewhat decrease in the great popularity they achieved in advance? Nope, Tomas doesn't seem to know very much about that, as he points out the song remained number four on the bookmakers' lists. “And rehearsals are for rehearsing. If we didn't have troubles rehearsing, there wouldn't be any reason to rehearse. We were very happy about the result and we think it went very well at the finale”, Tomas says. Well, he's right about that, and we do find that last part kinda appealing, compared to some of those other whiny, rehearsing people, none mentioned, none forgotten.

Still playing pop music
A good result was probably one of the reasons Tomas N’evergreen was warmly welcomed back both to Denmark and to Russia, where he lives. He thinks participating in Eurovision is good for artists, as it certainly is good promo to perform in front of so many people. Still, he hasn't changed his image much. “I still play pop music. I think people look at me the same”, he says.

Playing pop music is something that has proven successful for N'evergreen, as he is a big star in Russia. And he has kept himself busy even after the 29th of May. “We are on tour at the moment. We have released our album in Sweden Norway and Denmark and we are performing in Belarus. After that we go to Norway and Denmark for concerts and in between I am performing solo. I just came back from concert in a Austria”, he tells us, and we are very impressed by the pace of this man, who also reveals he's making music for a new movie.

In Russia with love
Making your own music, that is something we do appreciate in GEE. But why does Tomas choose to do it in Russia? “I love Russia. I have my friends there. And my home. And my nevesta. The music business in Russia and Denmark is very similar”, he explains. Oh, ok, we think, but wait a minute. Doesn't nevesta mean bride in Russian? Could that be the lovely woman by his side in Oslo? “It means fiancée”, Tomas clarifies. “She is a model and her name is Ekaterina Vinogradova”. That's cool, we think, she even managed to charm us the second we met her, offering to take the picture of us and her man. A quick google session tells us the 24 year old beauty is also successful in Russia, even has been playmate of the month in Playboy, so good on the Dane being in Russia with love.

"Hey girls, do you need some welding done?" 
"Yes please! Just let your lady take our picture first"
(pic by Tomas' nevesta)



Seems pretty clear to us the Danish success this year will not just be a one hit wonderboy. But will we see Tomas in front of 100 million people again? “Maybe I'll go again one day. It's a competition with many factors that we don't know. There's a lot of politics in this game. And the best song might not win”, he says. Well, if you live in Russia, you should be used to dealing with the politics of things, we'd like to add. But we don't.

Our hard verdict:
We're really pleasantly surprised by this man. He does seem like a hard working artist with an understanding of the world around him, unlike some of the younger, way too confident people who didn't do as well as expected in Oslo. Plus for preferring Eastern Europe, writing his own music, loving music, keeping up the pace, and having a playmate. Minus for somewhat boring answers and blaming politics. But hey, who could blame him?

Jump against racism

Well, this lad looks kinda familiar!

(pic from vg.no)



We can't quite make up our minds whether this Jimmy Jump is just bloody annoying or if he's actually kinda of cool... After all, he's harmless and we do like his message to the world this time. So we say, go for it!

Retro Sunday: Ukraine 2006

Every Sunday we give you some of our favorite old entries to cheer you up a little extra and make you miss the glorious old days. Today we bring you Eastern European girl power:

Ukraine has established a tradition of letting kickass lovely ladies represent the country in ESC, and there's no reason to quit as long as they do so well, we reckon. Tina Karol finished 7th in Athens and we noticed that it was still one of the most popular tracks on the dance floor at Euroclub in Oslo. We wouldn't mind dancing the night away to Tina's funky beats at Euroclub next year either!

Desperate times for Melodifestivalen?

The Swedes have been forced to conduct some soul searching after Anna's failure in Oslo this year. However, Melodifestivalen's grand old man, Christer Björkman remains safely in charge. In fact, from next year even more power will be placed in his hands, on the cost of less influence for the jury which previously selected the participants for the national qualification rounds. How very democratic. Mr. Björkman should consider himself lucky he's not a football coach as the last couple of years poor results for sure would have put him out of a job.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, we guess. But by all means, nothing would please us more than our dear neighbors back in shape and on top of their game next year in Germany! After all we give them our douze points anyways...

Lena coming to Norway

Yay, Lena Meyer-Landrut is coming to Norway on the 29th of July. She will be performing at the popular Norwegian show for TV, Allsang på grensen. Meaning something like "borderline sing-a-long" this tremendously popular TV show is a ripoff of the Swedish TV show Allsång på Skansen, and it's shot in a small town at the southernmost border between Norway and Sweden during the summer for a live audience. Various artists sing their songs and you're invited to sing along. We've never been the hugest of fans of the show, but Lena will for sure make it more interesting.

So, be sure to show up at Fredriksten Festning, Halden, or turn your channel to TV 2 on the 29th. In the meantime, let's practice the song now:

Retro Sunday: Turkey 1985

Every Sunday we give you some of our favorite old entries to cheer you up a little extra and make you miss the glorious old days. Today we suggest the perfect soundtrack to accompany lazy, sunny summer days:



In the pre televoting days, Turkey didn't do well with the juries, but this entry deserved a far better outcome. The tropical island sound mixed with oriental rhythms makes you just want to lounge by the beach sipping piña coladas all day long. Seeing the guys on stage with their dandy white suits and chic hats just adds to the summer vibe and we can't stop smiling when listening to this happy go lucky tune. Pure bliss!

The not so liberated Netherlands. In defence of Cornald Maas

The news of fabulous Dutch Eurovision commentator Cornald Maas being fired by the Broadcaster TROS just hit our holiday infected attention. Apparently Maas was fired over an ironic tweet saying the Dutch Eurovision participant this year, Sieneke was one of The Netherlands’ funny export products along with Joran von der Sloot and the PVV.

We are in shock, to say the least. When did The Netherlands become the country in Europe where the right to speak your mind isn't appreciated? In our somewhat naïve minds, we actually thought The Netherlands was a very liberal country, where you could smoke your pot and do what others could not. Now it turns out you can’t even do what others can.

Some people have taken this occasion to point out that personal messages in media such as Twitter and Facebook are not as private as one might think. Oh really? We’d kinda like to see it the other way around. Maybe it isn’t really the private sphere that is becoming public, but the public sphere that is being privatized? What if it's not the private persons that have to be careful about what views and opinions they share with the world in these so called social media channels, but instead the public that have to be careful about not letting it affect them? Do the people need social media training to make sure they don’t share their opinions with the wrong people or is it in fact the public that needs to get used to the private sphere being so much more accessible to them than before, without them having to access it all the time? We are moving away from a world where everything private was kept from the masses into a world in which the masses themselves have to decide what’s private and public, in our opinion. And where one has to deal with the fact that we are all people with minds and opinions of our own. It’s difficult for some, it seems. At least for the Dutch broadcasters. Maybe because it demands a little higher social intelligence?

Newsflash for you, TROS, social media is here to stay. It’s because people actually like to share their personal life and opinions and can handle others doing the same. We of course get the need to be professional and objective while on duty (except in GEE of course). But we cannot move into a world where journalists, PR people and their likings are shut out from what is rapidly becoming one of the most important social areas in society. Journalists are trusted with one of the most basic and important rights in a free society, the freedom of speech. This cannot only be applicable for their professional lives. Give them a break. At the moment it’s easier being a blogger than a journalist, and we are a bit unsure how healthy this is. But it does allow us bloggers to say this without anyone firing us: You are a couple of dickheads, TROS, and Sieneke's song and performance was so crappy it deserves all the shit it can get, even from her own people. And of course, neither ourselves nor Cornald Maas intend to make this a personal attack on Sieneke, who while in Oslo appeared to be nothing but a sweet and likable girl next door.

So, following our rather long line of thought there, we guess our main point is this: Firing Cornald Maas was very, very stupid, TROS. Please take a minute to consider the damage done by keeping this cool, funny fellow away from the Dutch people. In the meantime, we think back on meeting this man in Oslo after hearing about him from our friend Lex. We wish to catch up with Cornald in Germany next year. If TROS doesn’t take him back, we would love to hire him for NRK. He sure is a lot better than the various boring fellows trying to do the same job in Norway.

We support you, Cornald. Don’t you worry about your old fashioned, puritan, calvinist ex-employer. Just put a flash light under your chin and say you’re son of sin. And since TROS like to play kings, here’s a little something we thought might suit the situation: