María Ólafs: "The song is about stepping out of the darkness"

Time for an interview with the Icelandic act! Here are the answers of MARÍA ÓLAFS:
Name: Maria Olafs
Birthday: 2. February 1993
Height: 160 cm
Favorite color: Gold and Pink
Favourite food: Chicken
What is the strangest thing you have in your room? I still have my easter egg there
What are you really good at? Icelandic, I was no. 1 in my school
What are you really bad at? Drawing, I am horrible in that
Childhood idol: Selma and Birgitta Haukdal
Childhood memory: My grandparents farm
Tell me something no one knows about you: I love chocolate
Favorite movie: Sound of music
Favorite TV series: Friends
Tell me a super power you wish you had: Flying
What is your guilty pleasure? Chocolate
Name a song that never fails to make you happy: Happy - Pharrell
Can you teach me some interesting words in Icelandic? Takk fyrir, Thank you

Photo: Jonatan Gretarsson

Hello Maria, how are you?
I am great

How would you describe yourself as an artist?
I put my soul into everything I do.

Lets talk about your Eurovision story, how did it all begin?
Stop Wait Go group wrote the song with me in mind and asked me to sing it in Songvakeppnin. I connected with the song and the rest is history.

"Unbroken" is the title of your song and its written by  you, Ásgeir Orri Ásgeirsson, Pálmi Ragnar Ásgeirsson and Sæþór Kristjánsson. How was it to work with them?
I have known them since 2010 and always liked working with them.

Whats the story behind the song?
The song is about stepping out of the darkness and into the light. How you need to have courage to do that because you are the only one stopping yourself from being Unbroken

Photo: Jonatan Gretarsson

What can we expect to see on the eurovision stage?
Me and my beautiful new dress :)

Tell me about the official video of the song:
It was made in an old cement factory, the temperature was -9C° and we were freezing. 

Do you already know what you are going to wear for eurovision? any hint?
Yes, I will be wearing a pink and gold dress which is in the making now. We will be showing the dress to Europe online on the 9th of May.

Have you heard any of the eurovision 2015 songs? any favorite?
Yes I have heard them all and the Australian song is my favorite at the moment.

What do you like about Eurovision?
It unites people and their culture

Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word:
Freedom: Butterfly
Nightmare: Scared
Racoon: Friends
Iceland: Nature
Dreams: Eurovision

What are your plans for 2015?
A lot of singing this year

Is there anything you want to say to close the interview?
Stay honest and happy

Thanks to Maria for the interview! Good luck in Vienna.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariaolafsottir

Loïc Nottet: I just want to sing as better as I can and share something with the audience

Time for me to post an interview with one of the most interesting entries of 2015!  Here are the answers of LOÏC NOTTET:
Name: Loïc 
Birthday: 10 abril 1996 
Height: I don’t know my height  
Favorite color: black 
Favorite food: pizza
3 things that makes you happy: Sia, music in general and my bed (laugh) 
What’s your strangest talent? I see colors in my head. I associate memories, songs, etc. with colors. For example, for the 5th grade of school I see the color gold and brown.  
Home alone and you're bored. What do you do? I write music and I watch movies or Youtube videos to inspire me.
What is the strangest thing you have in your room?  I have a coat hanger hanged on the ceiling. 
What are you really good at? I don’t really know because I don’t usually like what I do. 
Childhood idol: M Pokora  
Childhood memory: my dog Pongo, a dalmatian.
Tell me something no one knows about you: I love to eat my dinner at breakfast time.  
What would you do if you were invisible? I think I would visit my idols.  
Craziest thing you've ever done: When I was a child (I think I was 8 ) I drove my mum’s car and I couldn’t stop it. She was running behind me and shouted a lot.
Favorite movie: Burton’s Alice in Wonderland 
Favorite TV series: ”American Horror story” and “Shameless”. 
Tell me a super power you wish you had:  Teleportation
What's your favorite part of your body? I don’t know
What is your guilty pleasure? McDonald's
Name a song that never fails to make you happy: Mark Ronson feat Bruno Mars Uptown funk.    

How would you describe yourself as an artist?
I am Loïc Nottet, I am 18 years old. I am a perfectionist. Maybe too much. I am someone that is ambitious and who likes challenges and who doesn’t like to lose challenges and fights. I mean I am not going to be happy if I lose my own project, if I mess my song or my video or my performance. I don’t want to lose challenges against myself. I am not someone that likes competitions, I don’t care about that. I just want to sing as better as I can and do my work like I want and share something with the audience and just have fun.

What did you learn from your experience at "The Voice Belgique"?
I learned a lot about the cameras and the way to move with it. I also learned to sing with real musicians! It was amazing and very interesting!

Now let’s talk about Eurovision, how did it all begin?
I finished second at “The Voice Belgique”. After that I signed my contract with Sony Music. And one day in August I think the RTBF (the national French speaking broadcaster) contacted Sony Music to know if I was interested in participating at the ESC and after that Sony called me. At first I didn’t say yes right away. I said “ok I have to think about it”. I thought a lot about it because I was a completely new artist without songs, style, or pictures, without anything and I wanted to be sure we had time enough to do everything we had to do. That’s why I didn’t said yes directly.

"Rhythm Inside" is the title of your song, what’s the story behind it?
I was alone in my room around midnight something like that and I just begun to play with my piano and suddenly I found cool chords. Then I tried to sing on it and I found the melody of “Rhythm Inside” and the song was born like that.
I knew that I wanted to talk about what hurts me. I really take care about equality so I just wanted to talk about that in my song because I think it is important for an artist to say what he thinks and to make people react on it.
So I contacted BJ Scott that I knew from The Voice to put words on my ideas and I think she did it great.

Describe the song with 4 words?
Powerful, simple, bright and pure (in sounds).

Tell me about the official video of "Rhythm Inside":
I wrote a story about white people, black people and red people. The white means what the society would like us to be, the black means the difference and the red means that finally everyone is the same inside. Of course we are different, we have different personalities and cultures but inside we have the same things: a heart, blood and that’s all that matters.

What can we expect to see on the Eurovision stage for the performance?
Hahahaaaa, I want to keep some mystery. It will be about black and white. …And maybe some red ... Why not? Who knows? (laugh) 

Do you already know what you are going to wear for Eurovision? any hint?
Of course I know what I’ll wear: I drew it :)

Have you heard any of the Eurovision 2015 songs? any favorite?
I didn’t listen to the others. I made that decision because I don’t want to stress and have pressure. I know “Rhythm Inside” is different, it is not a typical Eurovision song. I don’t want to listen to the other songs because I don’t want to compare my work with the other artists and suddenly have a huge stress.

What do you like about Eurovision?
It's an event about sharing. A lot of artists represent their country and their culture, it's very interesting!

What do you dislike about Eurovision?
There are a lot of rehearsals. (laugh)

Tell me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word:
Sia: amazing
Nightmare: inspiring
Cat: black
Fangirling: louder
Stage: dance
Belgium: chocolate
Dreams: Evasion

What are your plans for 2015?
I don’t already have plans for after Eurovision. I wish to do an album one day but I don’t know when. Maybe next year or in 2 years or…

Is there anything you want to say to close the interview?
Thank you very much for your interest in me :) And see you soon! :)

Thanks to Loic for the interview! Cant wait to see him on the eurovision stage!

Official website: http://www.loicnottet.be/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loicnottetvoice

Twitter: https://twitter.com/L0oiic

Instagram: https://instagram.com/loicnottet

Voltaj: "Our show will be a surprise!"

Hello Romania! Are you ready for a new interview? Here are the answers of VOLTAJ:
Name: Calin Goia
Birthday: 24 May
Height: 1.81
Favorite color: black
What do you do in the band: vocalist
What’s your strangest talent? I can sing with my nose at two flutes, at the same time
What is the strangest thing you have in your room? Nothing special
What are you really good at? swimming
What are you really bad at? cooking
Childhood idol: Freddie Mercury
Childhood memory: my first bike.. it was a present for my 10th aniversary
Tell me something no one knows about you: I won't
What would you do if you were invisible? same things
Craziest thing you've ever done: riding my motorbike with 250km/h
Favorite movie: Forrest Gump
Favorite TV series: Seinfeld
Tell me a super power you wish you had: the power to fly
What's your favorite part of your body? my eyes
What is your guilty pleasure? french fries
Name a song that never fails to make you happy: Radio Ga Ga
If you were a product, how would you sell yourself? pure energy
Can you teach me some interesting words in romanian? yes: viezure, mânz

Name: Adrian Cristescu
Birthday: 6.11.1985
Height: 1,78
Favorite color: green/lime
What do you do in the band: keyboard player
What’s your strangest talent? I can easily adapt to any music genre. 
What is the strangest thing you have in your room? A jar of coins that I know for sure I will never use. 
What are you really good at? Music and... Kind of that's all!
What are you really bad at? Not losing temper in traffic.
Childhood idol: Michael Petrucciani
Childhood memory: Practicing piano and then practicing some more...
Tell me something no one knows about you: Then everybody would know so... Not answering that!
What would you do if you were invisible? Walk around the Area 58 base, google servers and NASA facilities. 
Craziest thing you've ever done: Skipped two months of highschool without knowing. 
Favorite movie: The Legend of 1900
Favorite TV series: Breaking Bad
Tell me a super power you wish you had: pacience or wisdom (each one would do)
What's your favorite part of your body? The fingers. 
What is your guilty pleasure? Sweets and video games (lots of them)
Name a song that never fails to make you happy: Ain't no mountain high enough
If you were a product, how would you sell yourself? Buy me! Buy me! You don't really need a reason to!
Can you teach me some interesting words in romanian? You should learn to say "de la capăt" and keep saying it 'till 23 of may!

Name: Gabriel Constantin
Birthday: 31 July
Height: 1.73
Favorite color: black
What do you do in the band: play guitar
What’s your strangest talent? none
What is the strangest thing you have in your room? Can’t tell
What are you really good at? inhaling
What are you really bad at? exhaling
Childhood idol: Han Solo
Childhood memory: watching Han Solo
Tell me something no one knows about you: something
What would you do if you were invisible? visible
Craziest thing you've ever done: still waiting to do it
Favorite movie: Star Wars
Favorite TV series: Star Wars Series
Tell me a super power you wish you had: the force
What's your favorite part of your body? soul
What is your guilty pleasure? Admiring Vader in secret
Name a song that never fails to make you happy: Star Wars Theme
If you were a product, how would you sell yourself? Buy me!
Can you teach me some interesting words in romanian? Era tac-su!

Name: Vali (Prunus)
Birthday: 7 January 
Height: 1,86m
Favorite color: red
What do you do in the band: bassist
What’s your strangest talent?  I’m an ordinary man, I don’t have strange talents.
What is the strangest thing you have in your room?  Many posters with rock bands
What are you really good at? Cooking
What are you really bad at? Fixing cars
Childhood idol: Freddie Mercury
Childhood memory: I went to my first rock concert when I was 14. That was the moment when I decided to become a rock star.
Tell me something no one knows about you: I love exotic flowers and I adopted 4 stray dogs.
What would you do if you were invisible? I would go to Madonna’s home.
Craziest thing you've ever done: scuba diving
Favorite movie: Star Wars
Favorite TV series: Star Trek
Tell me a super power you wish you had: I wish I could drive a car with my mind 
What's your favorite part of your body? Eyes 
What is your guilty pleasure? Goulash and cream cakes
Name a song that never fails to make you happy: Diamonds and rust (Judas Priest)
If you were a product, how would you sell yourself? I am as good as it gets
Can you teach me some interesting words in romanian? Voltaj e cea mai tare trupa!!! :)

Name: Oliver Sterian
Birthday: 30 August
Height: 1.78
Favorite color: black
What do you do in the band: drummer
What’s your strangest talent? I don’t have.
What is the strangest thing you have in your room? I don’t have something special. 
What are you really good at? Cooking 
What are you really bad at? Playing football
Childhood idol:  my father, Valeriu Sterian 
Childhood memory:  the first time I was on stage 
Tell me something no one knows about you: I won’t
What would you do if you were invisible? The same things I do now. 
Craziest thing you've ever done: none
Favorite movie: American Sniper
Favorite TV series:  El Barco
Tell me a super power you wish you had: the power to fly 
What's your favorite part of your body? eyes
What is your guilty pleasure? Chocolate cakes
Name a song that never fails to make you happy: Happy - Pharrell Williams
If you were a product, how would you sell yourself? I’m the best, buy me!
Can you teach me some interesting words in romanian? Fericire, bucurie, speranță

Boggie: "I love it when my songs are able to move people emotionally"

Photo: Enikő Várai

It's time for a new interview! She won A dal 2015 and she is going to represent Hungary in Vienna. Here are the answers of BOGGIE:
Name: Boggie
Birthday: 30th of November
Height: 155 cm
Favorite color: blue, white, beige
Favourite food: stuffed cabbage (traditional Hungarian food)
What’s your strangest talent? My personality:-)
What is the strangest thing you have in your room? a broken mirror
What are you really good at? singing, cooking
What are you really bad at? tidying
Childhood idol: Terence Hill
Childhood memory: singing on a tree
Tell me something no one knows about you: I'm a vitamin junkie:-)
What would you do if you were invisible? I would sneak into a spaceship.
Favorite movie: Her
Favorite series: Full Metal Alchemist
Tell me a super power you wish you had: healing ability
What is your guilty pleasure? chocolate
Name a song that never fails to make you happy: Love on Top
Can you teach me some interesting words in Hungarian? "Szeretlek" which means "I love you"

Hello Boggie! How are you?
Hello! I'm great! Everything is going well. We have several rehearsals each week. We're working on the choreography, the visuals and we're practicing the song with a native English coach.

How would you describe yourself as an artist?
I'm a singer-songwriter: I believe it's really important to start to compose your songs because it defines your character and it helps you to find your own voice. In time you'll see that it was worth it. I love it when my songs are able to move people emotionally and inspired them. 

Photo: Enikő Várai

Tell me a bit about your career:
I started at a really early age but when I went to music school I was around twelve years old. I started with classical vocal training and I studied classical piano for 5 years. Afterwards, I went to a special jazz conservatory and finally I finished my musical studies in the only pop music school in Hungary.
I formed my band in 2009, since then I continuously give concerts in Hungary and abroad as well. Boggie is my stage name it comes from Boglárka and you cannot find a similar name in any other language. I lived in Paris for a year as a babysitter. French music and culture inspired me a lot. My music is a great mixture of everything that I studied: pop, jazz, French chanson, country, folk, classical music... What I do is something that I call high-quality pop. I released my first album in 2013. It includes my worldwide hit Parfüm/Nouveau Parfum, this album reached third place at the Billboard.

My second album "All Is One Is All" has just come out at the end of October 2014 which includes "Wars for Nothing".

Now let's talk about Eurovision! How did it all begin?
Actually my song was written for my second album "All is One is All, which was just released in October 2014, not for the Song Contest. We picked "Wars for Nothing" from among our other songs. I wanted to be represented with an English song and a song with an important message. 

Photo: Nikolett Penziás

In my career, participating in A Dal 2015 was a logical step after my song Parfüm. This is the only television show in Hungary where you can introduce your own composition to a bigger audience.

Photo: Nikolett Penziás

"Wars for Nothing" is the title of your song and its written by you, Áron Sebestyén and Sára Hélène Bori. How was it working with them?
I have always worked with co-composers since the beginning of my career. Áron and Sára are with me for my first and my second album as well. They are good friends of mine. What I really appreciate in them is their perfectionism and professionalism.

What's the story behind the song?
My song is a hymnic ballad pleading for peace. We have different background stories. I, personally, can be easily touched by any human's suffering and nowadays we have more and more of it near and far. Three composers, many inspirations and one goal: to raise people's attention to this issue. I truly believe that through music we can make the world a better place. 

Tell me about the performance, what can we expect to see on the Eurovision stage?
My performance was very simple in the Dal2015. I want to keep this simplicity and puritanism and just focus on the message. We're going to change the visuals in the background and we will play around with the LED floor as well. We are going to have new outfits, so we're working really hard to be able to give the best possible performance on the stage in Vienna.

Have you heard any of the Eurovision 2015 songs? any favorite?
Yes, I have already listened to others, unfortunately not all of them. I really like the Belgian song. It's really cool!

What do you like about Eurovision?
It is the perfect opportunity for different cultures, different nations to meet. We can exchange ideas, musical inspirations and probably we can also get to know each other's cultures better.

What do you dislike about Eurovision?
In the last few years I didn't like the amount of glitter used in the shows:-)

Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word:
A Dal juries: hard job
Fear: losing somebody
Stage: the freedom the space on stage gives me
Watermelon: summer
Nouveau Parfum: fairy tale
Dreams: plenty

What are your plans for 2015?
I've just released my second album "All Is One Is All" which includes "Wars for Nothing".I continuously give concert as part of an album release tour in my whole country with my band. In autumn I'll also have a little European tour and I got a re-invitation from the US this year. Oh, I'm so excited! I'm looking forward to having the chance to possibly play for the US audience again.

Is there anything you want to say to close the interview?
Thank you for reading my interview. I really hope to see you in Vienna!:-)

Thanks to Boggie for the interview! Good luck!

Official web: http://www.boggieofficial.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BoggieOfficial
Twitter: https://twitter.com/boggieofficial

Melodifestivalen 2015: Mina favoritlåtar

Time to make a list of my 5 favorite songs from MF 2015! 

7th place: Midnight Boy - Dont say no

Very cool song!

6th place: Emelie Irewald - Där och då med dig

Such a beautiful song and her performance was so pure! 

5th place: Caroline Wennergren - Black swan

One of the best songs of MF 2015 and Caroline did a very classy performance! She deserved to get in the final! #Justice4Caroline 

Andra Chansen: Andreas Weise - Bring out the fire

This was so much better than Linus Svennings song this year! #StupidApp Well done, Andreas!

Final: Mariette - Dont stop believing

I love Mans but this is my Melodifestivalen 2015 winner! Hope to see Mariette or Miss Li participating in Mello again! 

"Results"

5.Midnight Boy

4.Andreas Weise

3.Emelie Irewald

2.Caroline Wennergren

1.Mariette

Sweden 2015: Måns Zelmerlöw!

Photo: Per Kristiansen

This year I missed 3 live shows from MF (4th semifinal, Andra Chansen and the Final) and I will make a little post with my favs Mello 2015 songs later but now its time to talk about the winner:

This was Mans 3rd MF and he finally won! This wasnt my favorite song in the MF final but I guess it was my 2nd place. I think the performance is better than the song but that doesnt mean the song is bad! He is a very good performer and Im sure he is going to do a brilliant show in Vienna! GO SWEDEN! GO MANS!

Norway 2015: A monster like me

Photo: NRK/Julia Naglestad

Here are the MGP 2015 winners:

I fell in love with this song when I heard the 15secs preview on the NRK page the day of the press conference and it was so good to see them win MGP! Once again Norway (For the 3rd year in a row) is one of my top favs for Eurovision! (Good job Vivi!) GO NORWAY!

Now its time for a shout out!

Here are 2 of my MGP 2015 favorites:

Karin Park

Karin has such a magnetic stage presence and I love the song! (She deserved to get into the gold final!)

Staysman & Lazz

This was so fun! (The orchestra moment was brilliant) (Part of me thinks we needed this song in eurovision this year)

Australia 2015: Guy Sebastian

AUSTRALIA? WHAT? Here is their 1st Eurovision entry:

FORGET TOMORROW, WE CAN DO TONIGHT AGAIN!
YES! YES! YES! Love the song and Guy is such a fab artist! Cant wait to see him rock the stage in may! Go Australia!

United Kingdom 2015: Electro Velvet

Photo: BBC/Sarah Dunn

Here is the british entry:

Hmm I dont dislike it but they are not on my favs. I have no idea about their chances but everything will depend on their performance!

Spain 2015: Edurne

Photo: TVE

Here is the spanish entry:

How many singers like her are around the world? She doesnt have something that makes me say "Oh! thats Edurne". She is very beautiful and she is a good singer but her biggest problem is that she lacks of charisma on stage.

Germany 2015: Ann Sophie!

Photo: Rolf Klatt | eurovision.de

The german final this year was dramatic but we got a very good 2nd place/winner:

Love, love, love this song! She needs to work a bit on the performance but this is one of my favs this year and I hope it gets a good result!

BIG SHOUT OUT TO MY USFÖ WINNERS: LAING!


Brilliant songs and performances! Well done girls! It would have been a dream to see them on the eurovision stage! They were incredible!

France 2015: Lisa Angell

Photo: Nathalie Guyon/France TV

Here is the french entry:

1 word: Forgettable

Austria 2015: The Makemakes

Photos: Thomas Ramstorfer

Here is the Austrian entry:

I like them and the song is nice! Not sure if they will get a great result in the final night but its a very cool entry.

Poland 2015: Monika Kuszyńska

Photos: Stanisław Leszczyński

Here is the song that is going to represent Poland in Vienna:

Last year Poland was one of my biggest favorites and I was expecting something different from them but they selected a very safe entry and Im a bit disappointed! The juries might like this entry a lot but I cant see it getting out of the bottom 10 in the final.

Slovenia 2015: Maraaya!

Photo; Tibor Golob

Here is the Slovenian entry:

Love this song! Very catchy melody and her voice fits the song perfectly. Slovenia deserves a top 10 result this year! Go Slovenia!

Azerbaijan 2015: Elnur Huseynov

Photo: Magnus Ragnvid

Elnur represented Azerbaijan in 2008 with "Day after day" and he is back this year, here is his song:

Beautiful song! This is going to get a great result in may!

Israel 2015: Nadav Guedj

Photo: Ronen Akerman

Time to go to Israel, here is their entry:

*Dancing* I like this a lot! (Guilty pleasure) This is a very fun entry and I hope they can do a powerful performance! Good luck Nadav!