ASIAN MISSION TO EUROVISION!

ON DINA TV

2007-05-24T18:01:00.000+08:00

Maybe someone missed our live performance on TV the minutes before the show started. Here it is!

BACK TO REALITY!

2007-05-14T19:03:00.000+08:00

What an incredible week!

I've finally fulfilled my lifelong dream of going to a Eurovision Song Contest. Watching clips of the show on the internet, I must say that it definitely is much much MUCH better live!!

Only 2 days later and many details of next year's ESC have emerged:

Here's what we know so far:

Eurovision Song Contest 2008 will be held in Serbia thanks to Maria Serifovic
Most likely it will be held in Belgrade, although there are debates about whether they should host it in some other city.
If it is indeed Belgrade, the venue will most likely be at the Beogradska Arena sks Belgrade Arena which seats approximately 23,000 people.
Palestine seems to have launched their own "Palestinian mission to Eurovision" too! No doubt someone took the "Tea Bags" lyrics a bit too serious!!!
Several late submissions to the EBU for this year's ESC will try to make it again - these include: Italy, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan and Tunisia.
Other countries that have shown interest in taking part in the event include the likes of Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Slovakia, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Syria and even Iraq!!!
Lebanon tried for ESC 2007 but failed - the EBU has banned them until 2009!
The Kosovars are apparently keen on joining in on the fun too!

A lot of people seem to think the suits at the EBU have gone mad and need some geography refresher lessons, but hey, think about the whole point of the Eurovision it was to unite countries that were previously against each other.

I for one support this... this however means that they whole format of the Eurovision needs to me reworked!

More on that next time... jet lag is starting to kick in!

Thanks again to all the lovely Finnish people! Helsinki is a really great place and I was really impressed by the whole event!

AM2E have also become minor superstars in our own right! We appeared on TV in several countries... apparently a tiny picture of us appeared in the free "Metro" paper of Moscow... we went live on Web TV and most importantly, we spoke to Verka Serduchka!

Yay! In the words of the crazy mirror-headed Ukranian... OK! Happy end!

AND THE WINNER IS!!!

2007-05-13T08:23:00.000+08:00

Congratulations Serbia and Maria - the win was well deserved!

Looks like it will be Belgrade 2008!

HERE WE GO!!!

2007-05-13T02:47:00.001+08:00

So much excitement! All the planning and work leads up to this moment! Let's get it started!

GO THE ARK!!

2007-05-13T01:45:00.001+08:00

MF on GREEK TV!

2007-05-13T01:31:00.001+08:00

2 HOURS TO GO!

2007-05-13T01:12:00.001+08:00

We've arrived at HartWALL. Crazy atmosphere!! Tanzen!

PREPARATION!

2007-05-13T00:02:00.001+08:00

Only 3 hours to in and we prepare by filling ourselves with one nice Chinese food!

Imagine MF walking into a shinese restaurant with his costume on! B-)

A SERIOUS THOUGHT

2007-05-12T17:43:00.000+08:00

Yes, we do love Verka (Ukraine) and her highly addictive song. Yes, the whole Hartwall Arena will stand up and dance to her song this evening. Yes, this is party and great fun and everything else the Eurovision should be about... BUT...

AM2E are seriously wondering how the ESC will look next year if the winning monsters will be followed by a winning Verka. Will ESC be flooded by too many characters who will do anything to have the craziest, weirdest and most sensational show both on and off stage? How fun will it be if half the contestants are Verkas??

Maybe the future of ESC will be better if Serbia claims victory tonight. A normal girl with a great voice, powerful performance without gimmicks and a song that really reaches out to people.

AND THE WINNER IS... ACCORDING TO AM2E!!!

2007-05-12T05:52:00.000+08:00

Back from the final rehearsal for the final! Great show!! Don't miss Lordi and the hysteric show by Apocalypse (Can someone smell the pyrotechnics!!!).

So who will win?

First a list of competitors we would LIKE to win:

Spain: Boyband with G:son's signature catchy song and colorful performance

Serbia: Sometimes less is more...

Ukraine: Sometimes over the top with extra everything is even better

Sweden: Ola is Ola is Ohlala

SK's choice: Bulgaria: A banging song by banging of 100 drums

MF's choice: Germany: Super cool, classy, big band schlager

Despite our failiure of picking the right songs in the semi we will give it another try.

This is what we think will happen:

5th place: Spain

4th place: Bulgaria

3rd place: Latvia

2nd place: Ukraine

1st place: Serbia

Of course our predictions are based on what we have seen at the reherals and we would not be surprised if any of the 2nd-5th place predictions actually win... however we feel that there is a big threat from 6 men with high hats (Latvia) to grab 1st place!!

Anyway, here are some pictures from the finals rehersal:

Greetings! From the land of Hope and Lordi!

I Love you mi Vida!!

THEEEEEEEEE AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Suave and sophisticated Roger Cicero!

Too many sparkles and lights and too bombastic... but we love it! And we love Verka!

GO EAST! BUT WHERE'D THE WEST GO?!

2007-05-11T18:19:00.000+08:00

It as a great Semi-final show last night which lasted a whole 4 hours at the Hartwall Areena!!

As for the results, AM2E made 3 correct predictions while the others all seemed to qualify against the odds!!!

Belarus
FYR Macedonia
Slovenia
Hungary
Georgia
Latvia
Serbia
Bulgaria
Turkey
Moldova

Looks like the final will be a real battle of the East and West!

This year's results have brought up some speculations that the funding countries i.e. the Big 4 might decide to pull out due to the imbalance in votes!

We understand this because even the countries we thought were only medicore in the semi-final reherals really stepped up for the live performance and deserved to go through but did not!

Even though they did not go through, we feel the following performances were absolutely brilliant and deserve a mention:

DJ Bobo - Vampires are Alive - Switzerland

DJ Bobo must have been very shocked to hear the results as he was tipped as a favourite to go through to the final! The performance was great and everyone was impressed!

DQ - Drama Queen - Denmark

At the end of the performance, Peter Andersen, performer of DQ received a standing ovation!! Everyone was singing along, therefore it is difficult to understand how he was not able to go through!!

Cyprus - Comme ci Comme ca - Evridiki

This was AM2E's hot facourite to get through... the performance was absolutely stunning and it is a real shame that she did not go through!

Iceland - Valentine Lost - Erikur Hauksson

In a competition full of over the top ballads and such, it is nice to see someone who still believes in real Rock n' Roll. Erikur's performance was definately worth a better destiny!!!

Norway - Ven a Bailar Conmigo - Guri Schenke

Guri's performance was sensational and it really got the crowd going!!! But it obviously did not move the rest of the European voting crowd. This song was great! Catchy! Fun! Too bad it's not in the final!!!

Anyway, what's happened has happened. We are off to see the rehersals for the final performances tonight which will be great!!! AM2E can't wait to see Lordi again! And The Ark, Les Fatals Picards, Sarbel, D'Nash and of course, the lovely, Verka Serduchka......... etc!!!

A last note about last night - we are happy that Hungary got through. Her performance was flawless! The same goes for Serbia which also got a standing ovation!!!

Good Luck to all the performers in the Final!!!

(Here is a picture of the winner from last night who have qualified into the Finals!)

IT'S VERKA!

2007-05-11T00:00:00.001+08:00

We ran into the Ukraine's Verka Serduchka! Klyova! She was very lovely and signed my fanbook!

Spaciba Verka!

AM2E's FAVOURITE QUALIFIERS

2007-05-10T23:04:00.000+08:00

We have just watched the final rehearsal for the big semi final show tonight. These are the songs we hope will qualify for the final (in order of appearance)

Bulgaria: Powerful song and a powerful performance. Heavy drums and a nice voice!

Cyprus: Will also be one of the favourites in the final

Belarus: Nice performance with climbing girls!

Iceland: Only just, but Eirikur gives his very best on the stage!

Switzerland: We were expecting more from the vampires but still a qualifier

Denmark: Drama Queen really gets the audience going!

Serbia: So nice, so soft, so powerful, so... great!!!

Norway: Most impressive dress change ever!

Hungary: A song we did not expect much from but it was a really pleasant surprise. What a voice!!

Belgium: Love Power! Swing it guys!

Closest to qualify to this list was Andorra, Poland, Turkey and Macedonia.

This is what we think. In a few ours we will know what Europe thinks!

SO CLOSE TO THE STAGE!

2007-05-10T18:03:00.001+08:00

We are in! Stage looks fabulous! Only one hour until final rehearsal of the semi starts.

HELLO FROM HARTWALL AREENA

2007-05-10T17:41:00.001+08:00

AND ME TO THE ARENA WE GO!

2007-05-10T17:27:00.001+08:00

Here we go!! Helsinki has made it extremely easy for visitors and we are very happy about it!

Here is MF sitting on the special ESC2007 train!

COOPERATION AND EQUALITY

2007-05-10T17:22:00.001+08:00

Eurovision is not only about silly songs and crazy performances! The EU government has taken this opportunity to promote equal opportunities between the EU countries and to embrace each others diversities!

:-)

Roger Cicero

2007-05-09T20:51:00.001+08:00

This is the guy representing Germany! Roger is a really nice and very friendly guy and 50% me AM2E hopes he will make it at the top 5!

We had a chance to hear Roger sing a swall part of his entry FRAUEN REGIEREN DIE WELT.

Dat war schon!

Here we are!

2007-05-09T20:21:00.001+08:00

Just arrived in Helsinki! The city is full of hundreds of activities for the ESC and we'll be posting all the coolest stuff here!

But now, we're rushing off to meet Roger Cicero, the German rep at the ESC! Stay tuned!

HELLO HELSINKI!!!

2007-05-09T03:15:00.000+08:00

After hours of travelling and a few days of holidays, we will finally be arriving in Helsinki tomorrow!!

AM2E is totally prepared and ready to rock n' roll!

We are preparing for a media storm when we arrive and are currently working to scehdule the meetings with several European newspapers!

Here is a message to all of you who are still interested in getting in touch with us:

HONG KONG - HELSINKI TO SUPPORT THE ARK!

Asian Mission to Eurovision (AM2E) is finally on the way. AM2E is the unusual journey of two Hong Konger's to Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki.

"Since Eurovision has not yet come to Asia we will bring Asia to Eurovision", Mathias Fridholm, co-founder of AM2E says. Totally they will spend 40 hours of travelling in order to see the spectacular show live. It is also a costly adventure.

"Only calling from Hong Kong to reserve tickets and waiting in the telephone queue costed us 700 Hong Kong dollars", says Mr Fridholm.

"But it is worth every cent", says Sai Daswani. "I am really excited about watching the Eurovision live for the first time. I have a few favourites like France's Les Fatals Picards, Romania's Todomondo, Cyprus' Evridiki and I especially like the Swedish entry, The Ark. I find Ola Salo very talented and intelligent and I really look forward to all the great performances!"

AM2E is currently working on plans to get the support of local broadcasters in Asia to consider “EurAsia Song Contest”.

For more information about AM2E please call +46 70 560 62 07.

On our way!

2007-05-08T17:53:00.001+08:00

Here we are at the Hong Kong International Airport! We will have a short stay in Sweden before arriving in Helsinki!

Visit our new blog at this address because we will be posting messages from A brand new Sony Ericsson mobile phone about all the Eurovision happenings in real time!

ASIAVISION... REALITY!!?

2007-05-07T08:47:00.000+08:00

Looks likes someone is actually taking us seriously.

Have a read right here...

Eurovision goes global!!

Eurovision.tv director Bjørn Erichsen has spoken about the plans EBU has to ensure the growth of the most popular musical TV show in Europe, The Eurovision Song Contest. The Reference Group have developed a 2007-2011 a marketing, development and security plan for the contest which has already been approved by the EBU TV committee and has received a warm welcome by the Heads of Delegations during the March meeting in Helsinki.

The future of the competition looks bright as is, with its popularity growing steadily year by year. This has obviously taken a lot of hard work and foresight but EBU is not prepared to leave the fate of its "Jewel in the crown" as Mr Erichsen calls the contest, to chance. He explains the need for constant evaluation of the Eurovision Song Contest format; "You have to protect the core values of the contest (...) But meanwhile, you have to revamp, to attract new and younger audiences."

One thing is certain, that a great investment is required to maintain the high standard and expand, something that EBU is ready for. "We have developed an investment plan with 12 to 14 new activities, to be introduced in the next couple of years," Mr Erichsen says. Most of these activities will be behind-the-scenes but others will be certainly noticed by the general audience and the hard core of the fan body.

One of the most exciting projects is the contest's expansion to other world markets. "Imagine an American, Asian, Middle-East or African version of the song contest," Bjørn Erichsen says. EBU intends to license the format of the Eurovision Song Contest across the world. The possibility of a World Song Contest does not seem so remote any more. "In the most optimistic mood, in two years, being more realistic, in three to four years," said Bjørn Erichsen.

For 2007 a number of new features are scheduled. Starting with the Eurovision Countdown, a magazine-like television programme in three episodes. It aims at informing viewers on the latest contest related news, keep them updated on the preparations and offer historic background material. An other exciting - and highly attractive incentive for the participating artists- is the Winner's tour. This year's winning entry will be able to enjoy a Winner's tour, a sort of pan European lap of honour. Preparations are already under way with all participating acts confirming availability should they win.

It is a common secret that die-hard fans all over Europe love to collect and rewatch past Eurovision Song Contests over and over again. In a couple of year's time they will have the chance to do this online as EBU is working on a way to collect and put them up for the world to watch. "We want to be present on a number of platforms, and that is why we reserved budget to make that happen," Bjørn Erichsen says. "It's an old dream to put all historic Eurovision Song Contests on the web, but it is a complicated issue and there are a lot of copyright issues to deal with. We have set aside money to clear those copyrights, but it will take a year or two to complete this procedure," he concludes

What are the worst fears of the eurovision.tv director? What is it that makes him sweat in relation to the contest and what measures are taken to make sure nothing major goes wrong? Bjørn Erichsen's number one fear is terrorism. "We are always deeply involved with security measures, closely cooperating with the host city authories who take security very, very serious. We don't see that as audience, and we shouldn't (...) but behind the scenes, there is strong security machine to take care of it," he explains. His second worst fear is failure of the televoting system : We declare a winner and the next morning, we find out that the winner is not the winner. To avoid that, we have triple backup systems, auditors before and afterwards, and we do everything possible to get that right," he says. In the unlikely event of a televoting problem there are always the backup juries standing by in all 42 participating countries.
You can watch the full interview here. (under EXTRA)

3...2...1... AND LIFT OFF!!!

2007-05-04T17:07:00.000+08:00

Finally the Asian Mission to Eurovision is about to start. In 5 hours we leave Hong Kong territory for a Eurovision week in Euroland!

Preparations have been according to plan: T-shirts have been printed, Chinese costumes have been bought and songs have been listened to. We also hear that preparations in Finland are progressing. Yesterday the first rehearsals on stage were performed. The stage looks really amazing!!

We will hopefully be back shortly with news from Europe and our best guesses for the competition.

EUROVISION... HERE WE COME!!!

GETTING CLOSER!!

2007-04-18T18:23:00.000+08:00

Only two weeks until Asian Mission To Eurovision takes off from Hong Kong.

Preparations are on the way, not only in Hong Kong but even more in Helsinki. The construction of the stage has started in Hartwall Arena. There has been many rumours about snow fall, fog screens etc, etc so it will be interesting to see how things develop. The weight of the hundred of lights mounted at the roof of Hartwall Arena will be just as much as the construction can take. If there will be snow fall the snow needs to be removed immediately from the roof. If you want to follow the construction of the stage, check out this diary!

HELP NEEDED FROM UK EUROVISION FANS!!

2007-03-26T13:06:00.000+08:00

Attention Eurovision fans from the UK!!

I need your help! - The last couple of times I had the chance to watch the entire Eurovision show, I was living in the UK and it was the BBC broadcast of the show - if you've seen it, you'd know that the highlight of the show is really Terry Wogan and his 'light-hearted' comments!

So we are asking for help from our readers in the UK to see if someone would be kind enough to record the show off TV so that we gets to Terry's comments (and in the off chance that our faces might appear!)!

In exchange, we will be more than happy to get a souvenir from the Eurovision Finals in Helsinki and send it to you!!

Please click here to send us an email, or just leave a message in the comments section below. We really really appreciate your help!!!

EUROVISION FEVER IN ASIA

2007-03-25T20:00:00.000+08:00

Earlier this week I heard Johnny Logan's Hold Me Now in a restaurant here in Hong Kong (no it was not an Irish pub!). Finally the Eurovision fever is coming to Asia!

By the way we have found out that ESC has been shown on Hong Kong television some years ago!! Now we are starting the campaign to make this happen again. Check out this press release on how things can develop!! Maybe...

And if you are interested in meeting-up in Helsinki to talk to us about our hopes for Eurovision in Asia, or if you'd simply like to share some Eurovision Madness... please click here to send us an email!

PREDICTIONS

2007-03-25T19:28:00.000+08:00

All around Europe there are now different web pages where you can vote for the song that you want/think will win. Some very clear favourites have appeared:

TURKEY is in the lead in not less than five polls.
CYPRUS is also in the lead in five polls.
SPAIN is in the lead in four.
SERBIA is the predicted winner on two sites.
BELARUS, RUSSIA, POLAND and GREECE are in the lead on one page each.

When it comes to the betting odds the situation is completely different. All seven betting companies that ha released odds has SWEDEN as their favourites (Sweden currently gives 4-7 times the money). SWITZERLAND is second and BELARUS is third.

Videos of all songs can be found further down in this blog.

Please let AM2E contribute to the confusion: we think that UKRAINE is becoming highly addictive and will be very dangerous. Let's DANZING!!
Ok, happy end...

Who will become as happy as the monsters??

TIME TO BET?

2007-03-20T19:08:00.000+08:00

The very first betting odds are out for the Eurovision. BETFAIR currently have the following favourites:

1. Sweden 6x
2. Serbia 19x
3. Greece 21x
4. UK (!) 22x
5. Ukraine (!!) 22x

Well, this is still early days. More companies will start the betting soon and AM2E will of course follow the development.

SNOW OVER LES FATALS PICRADS!!

2007-03-19T21:54:00.000+08:00

What's this all about? Could it really be true? Are les Fatals Picards really going to perform in the snow...in May... ?!

Forget the usual pyrotechnics and glitter explosions! Esctoday.com reports here that Les Fatals Picards are apparently going to perform in a snowdome!! Talk about originality!

I think that will be really great because listening to the song and remember the feeling of being in Paris, I think if you imagine yourself in a snowdome with someone you love next to you is pretty accurate! - I cannot wait to see that!!

Bai ze way, een case you wur wundeuring what ze 'ell zay sing in zeuh song L'amour a la francaise, check this out...

I remember jolie demoiselle, the last summer, nous, la tour Eiffel
I remember comme tu étais belle, so beautiful with your sac Chanel
Sur les ponts de la Seine, let's do it again, again, again, again,
You gave me a rendez-vous, what is it ? what is it ?

Je le chercher à toi, dans les rues,
Je ne suis pas venir car tu ne l'es plus
Je le regarde partout, where are you ?
My heart is bleeding, Oh I miss you
L'amour à la française, let's do it again, again, again, again,
You gave me a rendez-vous

Et je cours, je cours, je cours , I've lost l'amour, l'amour, l'amour
Je suis perdu, here without you, and I'm crazy, seul à Paris
Je tu le manque, sans toi I can't, et sous la pluie, I feel sorry
Champs Elysées, alone, la nuit, le Moulin Rouge, I feel guilty

Et le soleil est plus brûlant que les oiseaux,
Et dans le ciel, I miss you so
A souvenir, a rendez-vous,
Des fleurs des fleurs des fleurs for you
Je tu le manque, sans toi I can't,
Et sous la pluie, I feel sorry
Je suis perdu here without you, and I'm crazy, seul à Paris

I remember jolie demoiselle, the last summer, comme tu étais belle
I remember, nous, la tour Eiffel , so beautiful with your sac Chanel
L'amour à la française, c'est que je t'aime, je t'aime, je t'aime, je t'aime
I give you a rendez-vous

Et je cours, je cours, je cours, I've lost l'amour, l'amour, l'amour
Je suis perdu, here without you and I'm crazy, seul à Paris
Je tu le manque, sans toi I can't et sous la pluie, I feel sorry
Champs Elysées, alone, la nuit, le Moulin Rouge, I feel guilty

Et le soleil est plus brûlant que les oiseaux
Et dans le ciel, I miss you so
A souvenir, a rendez-vous,
Des fleurs des fleurs des fleurs for you
Je tu le manque, sans toi I can't
Et sous la pluie, I feel sorry
Je suis perdu here without you...

...AND 12 POINTS GOES TO...

2007-03-16T13:58:00.000+08:00

Finally the list is complete. This is the start list in Helsinki! The variety of the songs this year is huge. So just sit back, listen and find your favourite. More information about the songs can be found in AM2E's country focus to the right. AM2E will also soon come back with their opinions about the songs.

The songs already qualified for the final are:
1. Armenia - Anytime you need, Hayko
2. Bosnia - Rijeka bez imena, Marija Sestic
3. Finland - Leave me alone, Hanna Pakarinen
4. France - L´amour à la française, Les Fatals Picards
5. Greece - Yassou Maria, Sarbel
6. Ireland - They can´t stop the spring, Dervish
7. Lithuania - Love or leave, 4 Fun
8. Romania - Liubi liubi, I love you, Todomondo
9. Russia - Song #1, Serebro
10. Spain - I love you mi vida, Nash
11.Great Britain - Flying the flag for you, Scooch
12. Sweden - The worrying kind, The Ark
13. Germany - Frauen regier´n die welt, Roger Cicero
14. Ukraine - Danzing, Verka Serduchka

The songs in the semi final are:

1. Turkey - Shake it up sekerim , Kenan Dogulu
2. Macedonia - Mojot svet , Karolina Goceva
3. Croatia - Vjerujem u ljubav , Dragonfly feat. Dado Topic
4. Norway - Ven a bailar conmigo , Guri Schanke
5. Latvia - Questa notte , Bonaparti.lv
6. Switzerland - Vampires are alive , DJ Bobo
7. Denmark - Drama queen , DQ
8. Israel - Push the button , Teapacks
9. Malta - Vertigo, Olivia Lewis
10. Poland - Time to party, The Jet Set
11. Belgium - Love power , KMG
12. Iceland - Ég les í lófa þínum , Eiríkur Hauksson
13. Albania - Balada e gurit , Aida & Frederik Ndoci
14. Cyprus - Comme çi comme ça , Evridiki
15. Slovenia - Cvet z juga , Alenka Gotar
16. Bulgaria - Voda, Elitsa & Stojan
17. Estonia - Partners in crime , Gerli Padar
18. Portugal - Danca Conmigo, Sabrina
19. Netherlands - On top of the world , Edsilia Rombley
20. Belarus - Work your magic , Dimitri Koldun
21. Andorra - Save the world, Anonymous
22. Montenegro - Hajde kroči , Stevan Faddy
23. Georgia - My story , Sopho Khalvashi
24. Hungary - Unsubstantial blues, Magdi Rúzsa
25. Moldavia - Fight, Natalia Barbu
26. Austria - Get alive, get a life, Eric Papilaya
27. Serbia - Molitva, Marija Serifovic
28. Czech Republic - Mala Dama, Kabat

HURRAY FOR THE ARK!

2007-03-11T05:47:00.000+08:00

Swedes are going bananas over The Ark's big win tonight!! Celebrations are taking place all over the country!

Smalanders supporting THE ARK!!! Yippi!

A message from Sweden to Europe:

"THE ARK will blow you off the stage!!!"

THE ARK GOES TO HELSINKI!

2007-03-11T05:03:00.000+08:00

Superb performances from Andreas Johnson, Sonja Alden and Marie Lindberg... even Mans Zelmerlow didn't do so bad... unfortunately they weren't good enough to beat the deserving winners!

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE ARK! SEE YOU IN HELSINKI!

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN...

2007-03-10T21:59:00.000+08:00

Only about 7 hours until we find out who is representing Sweden at the 2007 Eurovision!!!

VS.

Isn't it blatantly obvious that THE ARK are gonna be the winners?!?!?!

Good luck to Ola Salo & Co. You have 100% support from AM2E!!

AND THE WINNER IS....?

2007-03-06T11:33:00.000+08:00

After 5 weeks of qualifications the Swedish Melodifestivalen has finally reached the final. On Saturday we will finally know who will represent Sweden in Helsinki. And have no doubt about it: THIS IS BIG! Half the Swedish population will sit in front of the television and more than 2 million votes will probably be handed in. And the winner is...?

AM2E has the feeling that this will be a struggle to the very last vote between two artists: Mans Zelmerlow and the Ark.

Mans is a Swedish Idol participant and he has also won a dance show called Let's Dance. No doubt that he has a big fan club among the young people. His song is called Care Mia (which by the way does not mean My Car!) which is a uptempo rather traditional Eurovision disco schlager. But a very talented one.

The Ark is a Swedish group with the lead singer and song writer Ola Salo in the front. The Ark have had several hits in Sweden and has also enjoyed some success internationally. "It Takes a Fool to Remain Sane", "Calleth You, Cometh I" and "Father of a Son" are some examples of Ola's super intelligent song writing. The Melodifestivalen song "The Worrying Kind" is a bit different. A rock, boogie -woogie song with influences from the 70's, spiced with a clear sound of The Ark.

And the winner is...???

How many votes will Sebastian (another Swedish Idol participant) steal from Mans? Will the elderly voters rather prefer one of the ballades than The Ark? How will the jury groups vote? Will "Marie the teacher" who has never been on a stage before get so much sympathies from the viewers that they send her straight to Helsinki?

Impossible to say! But one thing is for sure:

Sunday morning at 03.00 AM local time two Hong Kongers will follow the great show on Internet and keep their fingers crossed that they will see The Ark in Helsinki on the 12th of May.

ESC IN CHINA!

2007-03-04T13:43:00.000+08:00

As everybody knows China is taking over the world. It will only be a question of time before the first Eurovision final is held in Beijing! In order to give you some help AM2E hereby present you with the one and only:

EUROVISION PHRASE BOOK IN CHINESE!!!

Who is Lordi?
Lordi shi shei?

Why is the UK song so crappy!
Ying guo de ge wei shenme name nan ting a!

Oh my god! My ears are bleeding!
Tian ah! Wo de erduo zai shen se!

Which telephone number can I use to vote for Armenia?
Qing wen ying gai yong na ge dian hua hao ma tou ya mei ni ya yi piao?

Vampires are alive!
Xi Xie gui huo le!

Wake me up when this song has finished.
Shou chang shi cai jiao wo ba.

Why does Dschingis Khan not join this year?
Cheng ji si han jin nian wei shenme meiyou can jia?

Hooray for our Eurovision commrades in Europe!
Wei wo men ou zhou de tong zhi men wan sui!

This year the Chinese song will be nominated by the central government
Zhong yang zheng fu hui ti ming jin nian dai biao zhong guo de ge.

Pay attention to the pronunciation and you will be well prepared for your first ESC in China! Please give us some suggestion to other ESC phrases you want to have translated!

DO YOU REMEMBER...

2007-02-27T12:41:00.000+08:00

DSCHINGHIS KHAN?!

This übercool pop group from Germany was especially created to join the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest where their song Dschinghis Khan song came in a respectable second!! They were popular for a short while after the 1979 ESC mostly in Europe, Russia and Japan. The group reformed in 2005 for a performance in Moscow with a new stand-in as Genghis Khan (the original one dies in 2005).

The band is now known as "The Legacy of Dschinghis Khan" are currently touring in Kazakhstan together with a Mongolian circus act names "Cirque du Dschinghis Khan"!

Click here to visit Dschinghis Khan's official website.

Warning: These videos are extremely corny and the songs are highly addictive!!
Watch their original performance of Dschinghis Khan at the 1979 Eurovision in Spain!

Watch their equally addictive and hilarious video Moskau!

UPDATING...

2007-02-23T14:54:00.000+08:00

Spent lots of time last week updating this blog...

As you see, there are a couple of new things for you to look at on the right like the Country Profiles which are very interesting!! -

I've also put up a counter on the page, and in 3 days we've had quite a number of visitors even though not many people know about this site!!

Unfortunately, nobody seems to want to leave us any comments...

Please let us know what you think... about the site, about the Eurovision Song Contest in general or about any of the songs you're hoping to win this year!!!

Thank you!!

SMILE, IT'S EUROVISION!

2007-02-20T17:14:00.000+08:00

Eurovision would not be Eurovision unless there were some songs that give you a good laugh. Listening to these songs really make you wonder how they made it to the international final. But it is still great entertainment and that is what Eurovision is all about! Let's check out some of them!

This Finnish song about nuclear bombs is a perfect example.
If you feel a bit relaxed, why not have a look at Norway 1968?
Ethnic themes in songs has become increasingly popular. Norway was early as usual.

Enjoy! More will come!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2007-02-18T12:08:00.000+08:00

No, we are not late. Today is Chinese New Year Day, celebrated all around Asia. There are 12 animal signs in Chinese astrology, and this year is the year of the Pig so everyone is going pignanas. Check out these pictures of last nights celebration in Hong Kong.

Animals in Eurovision are not so common, but also not totally unheard of. Check out this entry from Austria 2003. One of the few times where animals has been on stage. Very strange song though...

COUNTRY FOCUS: DENMARK

2007-02-17T19:14:00.000+08:00

Check out am2e's exclusive country focus on Denmark in the links on the right. In Country Focus we try to give you the most memorable moments from each country's Eurovision history. Watch the winners and remember the unforettable moments.

More countries will follow soon!

Enjoy!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

2007-02-14T14:04:00.000+08:00

On Valentines day I think it is time to choose the best love song that has ever participated in Eurovision. Not easy! Most songs are about love, right!

Anyway, this is my choice, the winner of 1980, and one of the first memories I have from Eurovision.

Interesting to see what SK will pick.

Happy Valentines Day from AM2E!

MOLVANIA 2004 EUROVISION ENTRY

2007-02-14T12:22:00.001+08:00

Electronik Supersonik by Zlad!

Did we miss something? ... hehehe.....

HONG KONG - HELSINKI: THE COMPARISON

2007-02-13T15:18:00.000+08:00

We are getting closer to the big event so let us present you with...

Your complete and essential guide to Hong Kong and Helsinki:

Distance between the cities: 7836 km (4870 miles)

Time difference: 6 hours (5 hours in summer)

Flying time: 10 hours (unless you do like we will be doing, fly via Munich and Copenhagen. It takes a lot more time!!)

National airlines:
Finland: Finnair
Hong Kong: Cathay Pacific

Climate in May:
Helsinki: 8,5 degrees C, 42,1 mm rain
Hong Kong: 26,1 degrees C, 298,3 mm rain

Population:
Helsinki: 560.000
Hong Kong: 7.000.000

Number of times hosting the Eurovision:
Helsinki: 0
Hong Kong: 0

Number of times preparing to host the Eurovision:
Helsinki: 1
Hong Kong: 0

Number of Hong-Kongers visiting Eurovision in Helsinki: 2!!!

US!!!!

ROMANIA HAS DECIDED!!!

2007-02-11T12:03:00.000+08:00

A few weeks ago, I heard some of the possible entries from Romania to the Eurovision and was a bit disappointed by some of the entries, for example, there was a song by the Rednex (who are Swedish) called "Well-O-Wee". I have to say, this song had a way of staying in your head... in a very annoying way!!

But today, I heard the song that was chosen by the Romain public to represent the country at the Eurovision... WOW!!!

The group is called Locomondo and the song is "Liubi, Liubi, I love you". I know, I know, it sounds really cheesy, but listen to it once and I guarantee you will like it!!!

Click here to watch the video for Liubi, Liubi, I Love you!

A lot of Romanians were upset with this choice. Many thought that the song "Dracula, My Love" by Andra Simplu should have gone though. OK I have to admit that the song is not so bad and it has some catchy parts, but I found it mostly to be repetitive and kind of got boring towards the end. And please, whatever obsession Romania still has with Dracula, I only have 1 thing to say... that is so 13th century or whatever, people!!!

I'm happy that Locomondo got through because their song is pretty genius - it'll appeal to many people because of the language and really, the songwrite only had to write 30 seconds of music... speed it up a little at the end and hey preseto! A lovely Romanian group ends up going to Helsinki! Can't wait to see them perform!!

Yay!

MELODIFESTIVALEN...

2007-01-27T23:02:00.000+08:00

The Melodifestivalen is the annual music competition organized by Swedish Television and Swedish Radio. The winner of the Melodifestivalen goes on to represent Sweden at the Eurovision.

Apparently the Melodifestivalen is the most watched program in all of Sweden and anyone who is old enough to know how to say "goo-goo-ga-ga" is supposedly counted as s viewer of the show, i.e. 4.2 million people!

I'm sure you must know who the most popular winners of Melotifestivalen must be! Click here if you don't!

Anyway, here are some of the entries for this year's Semi-finals:
- Anna Book: "Samba sambero"
- Tommy Nilsson: "Jag tror på människan"
- The Ark: "The Worrying Kind"
- Marie Lindberg: "Trying To Recall"

I have to say, the Swedish Melodifestivalen is a bit confusing, so I think I better go figure out how it works first!!

IT'S 2007!!! YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS...

2007-01-03T11:33:00.000+08:00

Yes! It means we are getting closer to the semis and the finals in Helsinki!! Hurray!

Of course, most of the countries are now in the process of choosing their songs & representatives for the semi-finals in Helsinki! Well, I can't wait till the lists are all final so that I can listen to them all to see which one I will like the best!

I think I have a soft spot for "ethnic" songs - like Eastern European songs or songs from Turkey... something with an ethnic twist. My actual favourite was Tina Carol's "Show Me Your Love", maybe because it had the sound of the balalaikas and also because of some of the sounds from the synthesizer were all in the right place. I also liked the entry from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Hari Mata Hari's "Lejla". You can see that they put a lot of effort into not only the song, but also the beautifully shot video.

Entries from Bosina-Herzegovina's put other countried to shame without a doubt. For exmaple, Daz Simpson's "Teenage Life". What was that all about?! I know the general opinion in English is that people there think the Eurovision is such a joke and only losers enjoy it, but they are making fools of themselves by putting in no effort at all!!

Also, I thought Albania's entry was a bit questionable. If you take a look at their entry, Luiz Ejlli's "Zjarr E Fthote". Both them are Bosnia-Herzegovina have recently been at war, but once is so nice and the other looks like a bad karaoke video!!!

I also did not like Lithuania's entry - "We are the Winners" by LT United. There wasn't much to it, just some guys shouting, "we are the winners". I could hear that at a football match if I wanted to!! I still can't believe they came 6th!!

OK enough complaning - I'm still excited to see what comes out this year!!

By the way, let's not forget about the best show of 2006!

HURRAY FOR EUROVISION!!

2006-12-23T23:44:00.000+08:00

I'm so happy I'm going to be able to finally be at a Eurovision Song Contest for real!! I've always only seen it on TV. In fact, I was never so interested in it, except for the few rare songs from the few years that was really awesome like ABBA or France Gall... anyway, in 2003 I watched the entire show from beginning to end and decided the Eurovision, although a bit cheesy sometimes, it was actually pretty good! (At least better than some of those American Idol wannabes!!).

Anyway, I have been trying to follow the Eurovision ever since, and I have to say, 2006 was the best show ever!! Everyone doubted Lordi! But I knew they would win from the beginning! (Some people were calling their music satanic!!!? I don't understand...). If you ask me, Lordi practically became the unifying force of Europe that evening!! Quite Amazing.

So this year, I'm hoping to live through all the hype and excitement and have fun in Helsinki in May 2007!!!

GUESS WHO'S GOING TO HELSINKI!!?

2006-12-10T23:13:00.000+08:00

We got tickets!!! Heall Yeah!!

After 3 hours calling to Finalnd from 2 landlines and 5 mobile phones, we finally got throught to Finland and made a reservation for our tickets!!! And it only came to a HK$300 phone bill!

YEEESSSSS!!!!!

HELSINKI, HERE WE COME!!!

MY FIRST EUROVISION POST!!

2006-10-23T17:05:00.000+08:00

Exciting News!

Today I have booked my plane tickets to Helsinki so that I can be at the Eurovision 2007!!! The Eurovision-obsessed lovely Swede is going to be with me, so it will be tons of fun!!

Now all we need to do is get some tickets!!! Fingers crossed!!!