In the top ten favorites for a long time there were so many representatives of the countries of the Big Five of the founders of Eurovision
In recent days, with predictions of bookmakers on the outcome of Eurovision-2018 something unimaginable is happening – the leaders fly out even from the top 10, while the regulars of the third dozen break into the top three most important favorites. Nevertheless, the day before the final show, a dozen leaders more or less formed. We tell who got into it, and what these performers will sing about.
Spoiler: for a long time in the top 10 there were not so many representatives of the Big Five countries at once! By the way, a full list of finalists and the order of their performances can be found here.
10th place – Estonia
Who: Elina Nechaeva is an opera singer. Was born in 1991 in Tallinn. She graduated from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theater in the class of academic vocal. In her childhood she dreamed of becoming an astronaut, instead she now takes cosmically high notes. At leisure, he loves watching Disney cartoons and Japanese anime, in particular the work of Hayao Miyazaki. Favorite composers consider Mozart and Tchaikovsky.
About what the song: The name of the ballad in the style of the classic crossover La Forza is translated from the Italian language as “Power”. The text of the song tells of a strong belief in yourself. Elina was one of the authors of the inspirational text and took part in writing music, so that the melody helped to maximally reveal her vocal data.
9th place – Norway
Who: Alexander Rybak was born in 1986. His hometown is Minsk. Alexander’s parents are also musicians: mother is a pianist, and father is a violinist. When the boy was five years old, the family moved to Norway’s Oslo. Here Rybak first took up the violin. For the performer this is the second Eurovision. His first attempt in 2009 ended in a victory, a record for the points scored and the deafening success of the song Fairytale. This year the singer has already managed to write his name in the history of Eurovision for the second time, having performed his 1500th song on the stage of the contest.
About what the song: The uncomplicated dance track “That’s How You Write A Song” for the current Eurovision Rybak wrote himself. On a merry melody he put a short rhymed instruction how to write a song: 1) believe in it, 2) sing it all day and 3) accept the result as it is.
8th place – Italy
Who: Ermal Meta was born in 1981 in Albania. His father cruelly treated his mother, so she took two sons and a daughter, left him to Italy. The desire for music Ermal inherited from his mother-violinist, played in several groups. Having started a solo career, he realized himself as a successful author. For five years, his discs eight times received the status of platinum and seven – gold. 80 concerts of his last tour were held at full notice.
The second member of the Italian duo, Fabrizio Moro, was born in 1975 in Rome. He started writing songs as a teenager. Professionally engaged in music for more than 20 years. During this time, released 12 successful albums. Six times I tried my strength at the festival in San Remo, which replaces Italy’s national selection for Eurovision, and eventually won a duet with Ermal Meta. The rest of the time, both performers are separate from each other.
About what the song: The song at Moreau and Meta was almost a hybrid of the traditional Italian stage with rap – they managed to cram such an amount of socially colored text into a three-minute track. The singers turn to people who are conducting wars and planning terrorist acts: “You did not do anything to me, you did not succeed.” The words of their songs in different languages will be shown during the translation of the number. By the way, the musicians said that they were inspired by last year’s explosions at the concert of Ariana Grande in Manchester, not scared, but on the contrary united people.
7th place – Ireland
Who: Ryan O’Shaughnessy was born in a musical family in 1992. At the age of eight he made his debut in the television series as an actor. I studied writing songs in Dublin. Already by that time, Ryan was quite a popular singer – he was invited as a guest to a television talent show. In addition, he is a highly sought-after match maker.
What is the song about: The lyric ballad “Together” tells of the suffering of the departed love. The lyrical hero compares himself with the iceberg, which is cold to the one in the ocean, but at the same time asks the question: “How can true love look into the eyes and lie?”.
6th place – Germany
Who: Michael Schulte was born in 1990. Since childhood, he has been interested in music, and began to sing about the same time, when to speak. Tried himself on television shows even took third place in “The Voice of Germany”, but became popular thanks to Youtube’s own channel, which began to cover covers for popular songs.
About what the song: The touching ballad of Schulte is a personal story about the loss of his father’s experience more than 10 years ago. The singer talks about the family idyll, which was destroyed by death. “You made this place a home, a shelter from a storm… But you’ll never know how far I went, because I had to go this way alone”, sings Michael.
5th place – Sweden
Who: Benjamin Ingrosso, born in 1997, comes from a large creative family of Italian descent. Many of his relatives are popular actors and musicians. Young Benjamin himself played musicals from childhood, and in 2014 he won the television show “Dancing with the Stars”.
What song: Not the fastest, but still dance song of the Swede with elements of the disco is called “Dance You Off”. The text of the composition tells about a guy who, with the help of a dance, tries to forget the lost love.
4th place – Lithuania
Who: Eva Zasimauskaite was born in Lithuanian Kaunas in 1993. Her parents are doctors, but her father was always fond of music and plays the guitar perfectly. At the age of seven, Eve was sent to music school, but the teachers felt that the girl would not sing. Nevertheless, she persistently developed a singing voice in herself. First I tried my strength in the choir and even found myself among the winners of the “Battle of the Choirs” project. In 2012, as a solo artist, she reached the super-final of the “Voice of Lithuania” project. In the national preselection for Eurovision participated as many as four times.
What song: A touching minimalistic pop ballad “When We’re Old” talks about love at first sight and long for a lifetime. The singer dedicated the song to her husband, who, by the way, comes to Eve at the end of the issue and takes her hand.
3rd place – France
Who: The duet Madame Monsieur includes singer Emily Sutt (1984) and producer Jean-Carl Luke (1982). Musicians have known and cooperated since 2008, and they began to perform together in 2013. Emily and Jean-Carl perform mostly electro pop.
What the song: The basis for the competitive track of the French lay the real story of the birth of a girl named Mercy. Her name is in tune with the French words “thank you” and “mercy.” She was born to a Nigerian woman who fled to Europe through the Mediterranean. Baby came into the world right in the boat. Impressed musicians wrote about this song, which calls to be merciful to the weak. And for the line Je suis tous ces enfants que la mer a pris: je vivrai cent mille ans. (“I am all those children who were taken by the sea, I will live a hundred thousand years”), the French and were awarded the Eurostory Best Lyrics Award.
2nd place – Israel
Who: Singer Netta Barzilay was born in 1993 in Israel. The girl had time to try herself in a variety of professions – from serving in the army to working as a waitress. But the craving for music could not defeat anything. Even as a soldier of the Navy of Israel, Netta did not go through the drill and learned to handle weapons, and sang in the orchestra of the armed forces.
About which the song: “I’m not your toy, stupid boy,” sings in her inspiring dance and slightly hooligan track Netta. According to the meaning of the song – a real hymn to the body positive, it inspires women not to pursue the standards of beauty, but to be interesting personalities and think first of all about their own happiness.
1st place – Cyprus
Who: Eleni Foureira was born in 1987 in Albania, and now from time to time she lives in Greece. She began singing when she was three years old. After reaching adulthood for a while, Eleni sang in a popular Greek girlish band, but eventually still preferred a solo career. The singer repeatedly tried to convince the Greek broadcaster to send her to Eurovision, but her appeals were ignored. The Cypriots themselves suggested that they introduce their country. And Foureira immediately agreed.
What the song: Bright girl was offered to perform a passionate dance track Fuego. The name of the song is Spanish and translated as “Flame”, and the text of the song is English-speaking. He tells about the power of love to kindle a real fire in the soul.