Janika Sillamaa just missed out on Millstreet in 1993...
Estonia's first entry and six others from Kvalifikacija za Millstreet
were on this week's LET ME BE THE ONE!
The big focus on this week's show was the first ever Eurovision semi-final that some of you may never have heard of! Given the dissolution of the Soviet Union, there were suddenly more nations who wanted to participate at the Contest but there were only a finite number of spaces. A small competition for those interested was put in place with seven nations participating:
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Croatia
Estonia
Hungary
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
B&H, Croatia and Slovenia all made it through and the full story is here, but you have the chance to listen to all seven entries (if you haven't already done so) by clicking on the Mixcloud:
And the playlist?
Musiqq - "Angel In Disguise"
Christer Björkman - "I morgon är en annan dag"
Lord Of The Lost - "Blood & Glitter"
Pauline - "Imagine Us"
Blanche - "City Lights
Elina Born & Stig Rästa - "Goodbye To Yesterday"
RAIVEN - "Zažarim"
Christian Ingebrigtsen - "Wonder Of The World"
Çetin Alp & The Short Wave - "Opera"
Agoney - "Intacto"
Fazla - "Sva bol svijeta"
Put - "Don't Ever Cry"
1X Band - "Tih deževen dan"
Janika Sillamaa - "Muretut meelt ja südametuld"
Andrea Szulák - "Árva reggel"
Dida Drăgan - "Nu pleca"
Elán - "Amnestia na neveru"
Amanda Aasa - "Late"
TEYA & SALENA - "Bye Bye Bye"
Tanel Padar - "Mustad purjed"
Salvador Sobral - "pedra quente"
Poli Genova ft Rodrigo Ace - "La Rumba"
So hour 2 provided seven classic Eurovision songs from the 1990s - there were a few other items that I highlighted on the show, starting with another Estonian, one of the ever presents of modern day Eesti Laul...
Click on each link for a Dropbox of the track to appear and you can listen to them, providing feedback via these choices...
pole minu maitse / not my taste
suht okei / fair
meeldib / like it
ülihea / excellent
As I said in the show, given the timing of this request, I do wonder if this might lead to one of the five being his new release and maybe even an Eesti Laul entry? At the very least, it is a way of helping Stig out!
Amanda Aasa also appeared on the show as I wanted to flag up her project of releasing 19 songs in 18 months. The explanation of the project is where to go to for a full explanation of that and for song #1 "BEDÖVAD" ('Stunned') - I played her Melodifestivalen 2020 song "Late", as cutting the swearing out of her new track would devalue it totally. She has a very emotional story to tell - it is here.
Now if you are in Spain or looking for somewhere else to go Eurovision-wise instead of the sold-out OGAE UK Eurobash, OGAE Spain's "Music On" looks a very good shout! Ten artists are on the bill:
Alma
Fabrizio Faniello
Blanca Paloma
Bojana Stamenov
Natalia Barbu
Blanche
Eimear Quinn
Nuša Derenda
Robin Bengtsson
Rosa López
That is an incredible line-up! I have no idea if tickets are still available - those who aren't OGAE Spain members can email ogaespain@ogaespain.com to find out.
If you can recognise who this is rocking the militaria vibe,
You'll know one nation on next week's LET ME BE THE ONE!