May 192013
 

20-year-old Danish singer Emmelie de Forest won the Eurovision Song Contest with her performance “Only Teardrops” (scroll down for videos).

Emmelie de Forest

Emmelie de Forest won the Eurovision 2013 (Photo: Albin Olsson
License: CC-BY-SA-3.0)

In fact the bookmakers had previously announced that the young singer would be the main favorite and maybe it was that prediction that influenced the evolution of the competition.

In the end Denmark received 281 points and was followed by Azerbaijan with 234 points, and Ukraine 214 points.

The second position of the podium was claimed by Farid Mammadov of Azerbaijan with the song Hold Me, and the third was taken by Ukraine’s Zlata Ognevich who sang her “Gravity”.

26 countries participated in the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 held on Saturday night in Malmö, Sweden.

Video: Interview Emmelie de Forest – winner Eurovision Song Contest 2013

Video: Farid Mammadov – Hold Me (Azerbaijan) – Eurovision 2013 Grand Final

Video: Zlata Ognevich – Gravity (Ukraine) – Eurovision 2013 Grand Final

May 182013
 

Numbers can let people baffled in many situations and Eurovision song festival is no exception.

Eurovision Romania Participation

Guess who should win Eurovision 2013 in Malmö, Sweden???

A strange coincidence shows that Romania’s stage appearance in the final of the Eurovision determines the winner of the continental music contest in the next year and that has happened for 3 years in a row since 2009 till present. If the pattern does not change, Romania is supposed to claim this year’s competition which is taking place over the weekend in Malmö, Sweden.

Let’s take a look at the picture on the right and make a brief overview:

1) In 2009, Romanian singer Elena entered the Eurovision final at the position 22 with the song “The Balkan Girls” and the following year, 2010, the song “Satellite” (number 22) performed by Germany representative Lena won the competition.

2) The same story occurred in 2010. The starting position of Romania, -represented by Paula Seling and Ovi with “Playing with Fire”-, was 19 and in 2011, in Dusseldorf, Germany, the winners were delivered by the position 19 (Ell / Nikki from Azerbaijan with the song “Running Scared”).

3) The surprising situation repeated in 2011 as well: Romania’s entry position was 17 (Hotel FM with “Change”), and in 2012, the winning song was “Euphoria” performed by Sweden’s Loreen who popped up in the finale as the 17th contestant.

4) If the chain of coincidences goes on, Romania would be the big winner this year. At the Eurovision 2012, Romanian song “Zaleilah” (Mandinga) was the 14th perfomance of the contest. And guess who starts this year at the same position? Well, none else than Romanian rep. Cezar Ouatu with his song “It’s My Life”.

Whether numbers’ prediction will be true or not, it remains to see that Saturday night. Meanwhile good luck to Cezar who appears to have real chances of becoming a “Caesar”!

May 152013
 

EUROVISION 2013: The first semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 took place on Tuesday evening.

16 out of the 39 competitors tried to qualify to the grand final on May 18 in Malmö, Sweden, but only ten succeeded.

The 10 countries that received most votes from the public and the jury members were announced in random order:

Moldavia
Lithuania
Ireland
Estonia
Belarus
Denmark
Russia
Belgium
Ukraine
Netherlands

Denmark was considered the main favorite of the contest.

Mar 312013
 

Phil Ramone, an American music producer, digital recording pioneer, co-founder of record label A & R Recording and a 14 times Grammy award-winner, died Saturday in Manhattan, New York at the age of 79, his family announced. Initially news reports claimed that Mr. Ramone was 72-year-old, however public records as well as his family confirmed that he was born Jan. 5, 1934.

Phil Ramone

Phil Ramone, one of the most renowned music producers died in New York on Saturday (Wikimedia CC0)

Death was made public by the artist’s son, Matthew. He gave no details about the cause of the death, but it was known that Phil Ramone was hospitalized in Manhattan, in late February, for treatment of an aortic aneurysm, writes New York Times.

Phil Ramone, considered one of the most successful music producer in history, has worked with some of the most prestigious artists of the past 50 years, including Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon, Billy Joel and Barbara Streisand.

Ramone was attributed the first successful commercial album released on a compact disc (CD) in 1982 – “52nd Street” album of singer Billy Joel.

Phil Ramone was born in South Africa in 1934, but he grew up in Brooklyn as his family moved to New York a few years after his birth.

The artist started his own record label – A & R Recording – at the age of 19. Throughout his career, Ramone received 14 Grammy Awards, including the title “producer of the year” in 1981, and three titles “album of the year” for “Still Crazy After All These Years” (Paul Simon – 1976), “52nd Street “(Billy Joel, 1980) and” Genius Loves Company “(Ray Charles, 2005).

As a sound engineer, Phil Ramone was the author of numerous innovations, including the digital audio “surround” in cinematography.

Mar 172013
 

British singer Amy Winehouse is set to receive -posthumously- a star on the Music Walk of Fame Boulevard in London on the day when she would have turned 30.

Amy Winehouse

Late singer Amy Winehouse to be awarded the first star on Music Walk of Fame in London (hbvl.be)

The star dedicated to the late singer will be the first to inaugurate this boulevard similar to Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, but focused on celebrities from music and not acting industry, writes the Daily Express.

The celebrity star will thus be unveiled on September 14, after organizers received the green light for this project earlier this month.

Among the bands and singers likely to be awarded a star on the boulevard from Camden neighborhood in the British capital, there are The Clash, Oasis, Blur, Madness and The Libertines.

Amy Winehouse died on 23 July 2011, after she had fought many years with alcohol and drug dependency. She was found lying dead on the bed in her apartment from Camden in north London, and two empty bottles of vodka were near her body.

Mar 152013
 

Anouk’s Eurovision Song “Birds” became a No. 1 hit. The song claimed the highest position the Mega Top 50 chart this weekend (scroll down for video).

Anouk Eurovision

Anouk to represent The Netherlands at Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden

According to TROS, this is the first time when a Dutch Eurovision entry moves to the top of the charts. So far six entries ranked 3rd, including last year’s Joan Franka’s “You and me”.

Previously, there were also other Eurovision songs to have become No. 1, but were entries from other countries. Moreover, they took the highest position only after the festival had been held.

Anouk’s song, which she is gonna perform on 14 May in Malmö, was presented this week. The initial reactions were mixed. While Song Festival Commentator Cornald Maas spoke of “really the best Dutch song to ever go to the European Contest”, critics called the song boring and a bad copy of the style of the British singer Adele.

Video: Anouk – Birds, Eurovision Song Contest 2013 (The Netherlands)

Feb 282013
 

Disaster for legendary music band The Temptations as the deaths of two ex-members -Richard Street and Damon Harris- occurred within 10-days of each other.

Richard Street, a member of The Temptations group for quarter a century, died Wednesday in a hospital from Las Vegas at the age of 70.

The musician was hospitalized five days before dying, accusing back pain and breathing difficulty. Doctors discovered a blood clot in one of his lungs.

Vocal group The Temptations became famous for their success with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s.

Richard Street sang along with two members of The Temptations – Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin – since 1950, but he only joined the band in 1971. The other two members were Dennis Edwards and Damon Harris.

Alongside “The Temptations”, a symbol of the Motown record label, Richard Street released a number of famous songs, including the single “Papa Was a Rollin ‘Stone”, which won a Grammy Award.

Richard Street performed with “The Temptations” until 1993 when he left the band due to disagreements with Otis Williams.

Richard Street’s death came just 10 days after the death of another group member, Damon Harris, who died on February 18 at the age of 62, 14 years after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The Temptations

The Temptations: left to right: Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, and Dennis Edwards. Damon Harris and Richard Street died within a 10-day time interval (Wikimedia CC0)

Feb 282013
 

Anastacia, a well known American singer highly appreciated for her voice received recently a terrible blow: she was diagnosed with a terrible disease: breast cancer, after she had managed to overcome a similar disease many years ago.

Anastacia

US singer Anastacia was diagnosed with breast cancer for 2nd time (By Robob [CC-BY-SA-3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

After being diagnosed again with breast cancer, Anastacia was forced to cancel all concerts as part of her European tour which would have taken place this spring.

The 44-year-old artist was scheduled to give a concert in London on April 6, but all the shows were canceled due to her health problems.

“Unfortunately, Anastacia was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time, after having survived the battle with the disease in 2003.

Therefore, she had to cancel all concerts, tours and travel,” wrote singer’s representatives on her Facebook page.

Anastacia had previously faced this illness back in 2003 when she was first diagnosed with cancer after a routine mammogram investigation.

At that time, the star underwent surgery and radiation therapy which proved successful in curing the disease.

Feb 252013
 

Jennifer Lawrence stumbled on her gown and fell forward on her hands while walking up the stairs to collect the much coveted Oscar award (scroll down for video).

Jennifer Lawrence

Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence trips and falls before claiming prize

Jennifer Lawrence, who won the “Best Actress” Oscar for her lead role in “Silver Linings Playbook” was the protagonist of a quite embarrassing moment while heading to the stage to pick up her prize. Wearing a spectacular dress and visibly touched by the moment, Jennifer Lawrence tripped on the stairs and fell. She got quickly back to her feet encouraged by wave of applause from attendees.

Jennifer Lawrence received an Oscar trophy for best actress in leading role for her performance in the movie “Silver Linings Playbook” at the 85th Academy Awards in Los Angeles. This was the second Oscar nomination for Jennifer Lawrence and first time when she claimed the prize.

Video: Jennifer Lawrence trips up the stairs and falls before claiming Oscar trophy

Feb 252013
 

The famous Oscar statuettes were awarded last night in L.A. The “Best Film Award” was claimed by “Argo” and Ang Lee was nominated as the “Best Director” for “Life of Pi”.

The 85th edition of the Academy Awards took place last night at Hollywood & Highland Center in Los Angeles. The gala was hosted by actor Seth MacFarlane.

Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi” was most awarded this year as the film managed to collect four Oscars. “Les Miserables” and “Argo” won three awards.

Hereafter is the full list of winning movies and actors
Best Picture (Film): Argo

Argo Oscars 2013

Best Picture: Argo chosen as most successful movie


Best Actor in Leading Role: Daniel Day-Lewis (“Lincoln”)
Daniel Day-Lewis

Daniel Day-Lewis gets Oscar for his lead role in Lincoln


Best Actress in Leading Role: Jennifer Lawrence (“Silver Linings Playbook”)
Jennifer Lawrence Oscar winner

Jennifer Lawrence claims “Best Actress” Oscar for her main role in “Silver Linings Playbook”


Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz (“Django Unchained”)
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway – “Les Miserables”
Best Director: Ang Lee (“Life of Pi”)
Best Foreign Language Film: “Amour” (Austria)
Best Animated Feature Film: “Brave”
Best Original Screenplay: ‘Django Unchained’
Best Adapted Screenplay: “Argo”
Best Animated Short film: “Paperman” directed by John Kahrs
Best Cinematography: “Life of Pi” – Claudio Miranda
Best Visual Effects: “Life of Pi”
Best Costume: “Anna Karenina”
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: “Les Miserables”
Best Live Action Short Film: “Curfew”, directed by Shawn Christensen
Best Documentary (short subject): “Inocence”, directed by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix
Best Documentary (Feature): “Searching for Sugar Man ‘
Best Sound Mixing: “Les Miserables”
Best Sound Editing (tie): “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Skyfall”
Best Film Editing: “Argo”
Best Production Design: “Lincoln”
Best Original Score: “Life of Pi,” Mychael Danna.
Best Original Song: “Skyfall” (“Skyfall”)