An Xtra Happy Birthday; July 4th

After having a birthday free day yesterday, we are enjoying a very full July Tuesday; no less than FIVE names on the celebration list today! The youngest turns 25, while the oldest celebrates his 69th birthday! And we’ll start with the oldest; the Swede.

Tommy Körberg, 69

Tommy Körberg has represented Sweden in Eurovision twice; in 1969 and 1988. In 1969 he finished 9th out of 16 participating countries with the song “Judy min vän”. Hen he returned 19 years later, in 1988, he finished 12th out of 21 songs, with “Stad i ljus”. Even though he has taken part in the contest twice, he is probably more famous for his brilliant work as Anatolij Sergievskij in both the English and Swedish version of the musical Chess, and his performance of the Christmas classic “O helga natt”. He also tried his luck in Melodifestivalen in 1971 and 2013, without winning. Today he celebrates his 69th birthday!

Eirikur Hauksson, 58

Eirikur is one of the artist with the most Eurovision participations under his belt. He has graced the Eurovision stage no less than three times! And not just for his native Iceland. He moved to Norway in 1988, and in 1991 he was part of the group Just4Fun who represented Norway in Rome with “Mrs.Thompson”. Dispite being one of the pre-contest favorites they only finished 17th.
His other two participations were for Iceland; in their debut year and again in 2007. In his, and Iceland’s, Eurovision debut in 1986, he was part of Icy, who finished 16th in Bergen with “Gleðibankinn”. Gleðibankinn has turned into one of the proper Eurovision classics. His most recent participation was with “Valentine Lost” in 2007, when he finished 13th in what is considered to be the most difficult semi final of all times. He also tried to represent Iceland in 1988, with “Lífið er lag”, without winning the national contest.

Regina, 52

Regina represented Slovenia in the 1996 contest in Oslo. She performed the song “Dan najlepših sanj” finishing in a disappointing 21st place. This was not her first attempt at representing  her country at Eurovision, nor was it her last. She has actually tried her luck in EMA no less than eight times between 1993 and 2016. Today is her 42nd birthday!

Nina Badric, 45

Nina performed the Croatian entry, Nebo, at the 2012 Eurovision in Baku. Being one of the big stars on Balkan, everybody expected her to do well, but she failed to qualify from the semi, finishing only 12th.

Basim, 25

The fifth and final of today’s birthday greetings go to Basim, who turns 25! He represented Denmark on home ground in 2014, with “Cliche Love Song”. However, the televoters and juries didn’t think his song was a cliche, however, awarding it a total of 74 points. This was enough to land him in 9th place in the grand final.

All of us here at escXtra send our warmest congratulations to Tommy, Eirikur, Regina, Nina and Basim and hope they will have an Xtra happy birthday!