Liveblog: Press Conferences 14 may





Today, we will have Press Conferences again for the Eurovision Song Contest. We will keep you updated about them all the time.

15:31 Jesper Groth van Fyr & Flamme legt uit dat ze in het Deens zingen omdat ze dat zo fantastisch vonden aan het oude songfestival: dat was net een ansichtkaart uit ieder land. De mannen zeggen geïnspireerd te zijn door de muziek van eind jaren 70. Dat was niet een speciaal zo bedoeld geluid, maar door het schrijven ontstond dat zo. De heren geven aan dat ze alleen maar door het songfestival geïnspireerd zijn. Ze vinden de sfeer fantastisch. Ze waren ook nog erg onder de indruk dat ze een ooievaar gezien hadden. Een nieuw album zal waarschijnlijk in het Deens zijn, maar ze sluiten helemaal niet uit dat het anders wordt. 

15:06 Gjon’s Tears is satisfied with the second rehearsal. He is happy that the team is heading in the right direction. Gjon’s Tears says about his clothes that he likes to work with people he knows. He thinks it is important to give Swiss talent a chance. He collaborated with Sacha Jean Baptiste on the staging. He says it has changed something in him. He thought he couldn’t dance but she convinced him to do it anyway. Gjon’s Tears is happy to have people around him who change him. He is talking about melody and text: he lives from melody, but in this case the message of “Tout l’univers” is in the text. He adds that he is not only here as a singer, but that he is also active here as a composer and lyricist. That is his livelihood. Gjon talks a lot because he says: people listen to me here. That may not be the case in five years. He was happy that his style is immediately recognized in his song. 

14.49 Samanta Tina from Latvia sings a song by the Russian group A-Studio. Samanta speaks of the different roles she has: at home she is a mother, a sister and a daughter. As a teenager she was searching. She has participated in national finals for a long time and often. It brought her to tears when she first came on stage. She indicates that she would like to participate again if she gets the chance, just to experience it again. She doesn’t know yet in which genre she will sing. It is different every time she is on stage, so looking ahead is not her forte. She doesn’t want to be framed, she likes to mix genres. What she does know is that if she returns to the Eurovision song contest that it will be as a singer and not as a composer. “The stage is my place,” says Samanta. 

13.12 The second rehearsal of the Finnish band Blind Channel went well, pyrothechnics are added, and the gentlemen do not care anymore if something goes wrong, for example if someone has to vomit during the performance. It’s rock ‘n’ roll. They think representing Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest is cool because they show what Finland is good at: rock. They also like being number 1 in the Finnish charts, but they actually want to be number 1 everywhere in Europe. Presenting themselves as Finnish rockers all over Europe is something they like even more. For the grunt at the end, they got advise from Lordi (ESC 2006): he opens his voice with Pepsi Cola and chocolate. Yet they don’t just listen to rock songs. A favorite Eurovision song they mention is “Euforia”. They don’t want to cover that song though; they would like to work with Loreen. Beforehand they had heard negative stories about the Eurovision song contest in Finland, but they especially like it very much. They do what they have been doing for eight years: perform. 

12.47 VIKTORIA indicates that there are still some small things to be done about light and camera work. The delegation leader adds that these are very normal little things and thanks the people of the technology for their work. She tells about her father, who can be seen in the photo in the act, that he has ALS and therefore cannot be there to support her. When he saw the photo he burst into tears. VIKTORIA says to be very careful and to stay in her hotel room. The most important thing for her is to be able to perform here. The team used the time to write a new song, among other things. The subject is uncertainty and confidence in yourself and your own personality. Her personal victory (= viktoria) would be if she could make good contact with the audience and get the message across. Her inspiration often comes from movie soundtracks. 

12.22 The members of The Black Mamba wrote their song about a woman from Amsterdam. They themselves have no clear memory of Amsterdam for reasons that they will not go into further. They very much hope that the woman will recognize herself in the lyrics. But they met the woman in The Bulldog, a coffee shop in Amsterdam. Perhaps that says something. They like to be called hypnotic, just like the snake after which they are named they like to hypnotize their audience. They then administer their positive poison. The Black Mamba does feel some pressure now that they are seen as “dark horse”, but they also say: they are just numbers. At the end of the press conference, the members of the group sing another song. 

11.58 The rehearsal of Albanian Anxhela Peristeri went very well. The first is a bit more to explore the stage a bit. She indicates that she has learned here that an experience like the Eurovision song contest changes you in a positive way. She says she now knows she was born to sing. She likes the way she is treated in the Netherlands. She enjoys it. They spend a lot of time in the hotel room but have a good time together as a team. Anxhela has a strong voice. She says that getting up early is not very good for her voice, so she does voice exercises in the morning. She is glad that she now has to focus on singing in the evening. 

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After the Eurovision fame: Sandra Kim
After the Eurovision Fame

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Sandra Kim, born Sandra Caldarone in Montegnée (Liège, Belgium) on October 15, 1972, won the Eurovision Song Contest in Bergen (Norway) at the age of 13.5 in 1986, making her the youngest winner in the history of the festival.   J’aime la vie Her single, “J’aime la vie,” quickly achieved double platinum status. With over 350,000 copies sold in Belgium and 1.4 million worldwide, it topped the Belgian Top 50 for weeks. The following year, she participated in the Yamaha Tokyo Festival, finishing in fourth place alongside Eros Ramazzotti. Together with the Italian singer, she embarked on a tour of Japan. A few months later, Sandra was asked to sing the theme song for the animated series “Il était une fois la vie,” composed by Michel Legrand. She then enjoyed success with numerous singles, albums, gold records, and television appearances in Belgium and internationally. Her fame extended to the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Turkey, Romania, Israel, Japan, and the United States. Personal life Sandra Kim is of Italian descent. Her parents came to Belgium in the 1950s. In 2001 she married Jurgen Dlanghe.The singer also really wanted children, but, as she said: “Mother Nature didn’t grant them to me”. And the singer is still very sad about that. Furthermore, Sandra Kim is very discreet about her private life. The media attention is mainly focused on her work as an artist National Career Since 1990 she has focused mainly on her national career: she performed a patriotic song “J’aime mon pays” (I love my country)  before the Belgian royal family for King Boudewijn’s 60th birthday and his 40 years on the throne. That same year, she co-presented the music show “10 qu’on aime” on RTL-TVI. Her TV presence continued with her role as a jury member on “Pour la Gloire” in 1996 and singing “Song for Kosovo” in 1997 with Helmut Lotti and Paul Michiels. She then joined the cast of “Les Misérables” in Antwerp as Éponine. In the early 2000s, she performed as a soloist in musical revue shows touring Flanders and the Netherlands. In 2003, to celebrate Belgium’s monarchy’s 10th anniversary, Sandra and other artists recorded “Mon Pays.” ( My country).  In 2005, she performed “No n’ho l’eta” at Eurovision’s 50th anniversary gala. From 2006, she explored soul music with “The SouldivaZ,”   In 2011, she sang the Belgian national anthem in three languages at the Spa- Francorchamps F1 Grand Prix, and a documentary about Eurovision, “L’Autre vie,” ( The orher life)  was produced. The following years saw her sharing her life on TV, performing for national celebrations, and releasing new singles reflecting her Italian roots. In 2017 and 2018, she participated in Télévie and paid homage to Maurane. She collaborated on the “Bella Italia” project with Marco Z and Bejir, celebrating Italian culture. In 2022, she released the single “Gravity,” marking her 50th birthday, with a special concert and new song “Take me as I am.” In 2023, she performed at “The Masked Singer,” “Night of the Proms,” and celebrated her career milestones. She’s also involved in holiday projects and special commemorations. Sandra Kim is still active. Her current schedule can be found here Share

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After the Eurovision fame: Sandra Kim
After the Eurovision Fame
Anja Kroeze

After the Eurovision fame: Sandra Kim

Sandra Kim, born Sandra Caldarone in Montegnée (Liège, Belgium) on October 15, 1972, won the Eurovision Song Contest in Bergen (Norway) at the age of 13.5 in 1986, making her the youngest winner in the history of the festival.   J’aime la vie Her single, “J’aime la vie,” quickly achieved double platinum status. With over 350,000 copies sold in Belgium and 1.4 million worldwide, it topped the Belgian Top 50 for weeks. The following year, she participated in the Yamaha Tokyo Festival, finishing in fourth place alongside Eros Ramazzotti. Together with the Italian singer, she embarked on a tour of Japan. A few months later, Sandra was asked to sing the theme song for the animated series “Il était une fois la vie,” composed by Michel Legrand. She then enjoyed success with numerous singles, albums, gold records, and television appearances in Belgium and internationally. Her fame extended to the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Turkey, Romania, Israel, Japan, and the United States. Personal life Sandra Kim is of Italian descent. Her parents came to Belgium in the 1950s. In 2001 she married Jurgen Dlanghe.The singer also really wanted children, but, as she said: “Mother Nature didn’t grant them to me”. And the singer is still very sad about that. Furthermore, Sandra Kim is very discreet about her private life. The media attention is mainly focused on her work as an artist National Career Since 1990 she has focused mainly on her national career: she performed a patriotic song “J’aime mon pays” (I love my country)  before the Belgian royal family for King Boudewijn’s 60th birthday and his 40 years on the throne. That same year, she co-presented the music show “10 qu’on aime” on RTL-TVI. Her TV presence continued with her role as a jury member on “Pour la Gloire” in 1996 and singing “Song for Kosovo” in 1997 with Helmut Lotti and Paul Michiels. She then joined the cast of “Les Misérables” in Antwerp as Éponine. In the early 2000s, she performed as a soloist in musical revue shows touring Flanders and the Netherlands. In 2003, to celebrate Belgium’s monarchy’s 10th anniversary, Sandra and other artists recorded “Mon Pays.” ( My country).  In 2005, she performed “No n’ho l’eta” at Eurovision’s 50th anniversary gala. From 2006, she explored soul music with “The SouldivaZ,”   In 2011, she sang the Belgian national anthem in three languages at the Spa- Francorchamps F1 Grand Prix, and a documentary about Eurovision, “L’Autre vie,” ( The orher life)  was produced. The following years saw her sharing her life on TV, performing for national celebrations, and releasing new singles reflecting her Italian roots. In 2017 and 2018, she participated in Télévie and paid homage to Maurane. She collaborated on the “Bella Italia” project with Marco Z and Bejir, celebrating Italian culture. In 2022, she released the single “Gravity,” marking her 50th birthday, with a special concert and new song “Take me as I am.” In 2023, she performed at “The Masked Singer,” “Night of the Proms,” and celebrated her career milestones. She’s also involved in holiday projects and special commemorations. Sandra Kim is still active. Her current schedule can be found here Share

Share
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