No Eurovision birthdays yesterday, but today we are back with two! One birthday boy, one girl. They both qualified for the grand final in their year, but their result in the final are at opposite ends of the scoreboard. They both come from the eastern part of Europebut their Eurovision entries couldn’t be more different. Let’s do the old-fashioned “ladies first”…
Elena Gheorghe, 32
Elena represented Romania in the 2009 Eurovision in Moscow. She performed the song “Balkan Girls”, qualifying from her semi-final as number nine. In the grand final she finished 19th. Elena also participated in the Romanian pre-selection in 2005, then as singer of the band Mandinga. They finished 4th in the national final. She left Mandinga in 2006.
Farid Mammadov, 26
Farid represented Azerbaijan in the 2013 contest in Malmö. He finished second with the beautiful ballad “Hold Me”. That magic moment when Farid and the “shadow” in the box both drop to the floor is still one of the most breathtaking moments in Eurovision history. (Sorry; sometimes I just can’t help myself…) In addition to being a singer, Farid also does Greco-Roman wrestling and capoeira.
We wish both Elena and Farid super happy and Xtra lovely birthdays today, as they turn 32 and 26 respectively!!
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