An Xtra Happy Birthday; March 30th

Yesterday saw three former Eurovision participants celebrating their birthday. Today we double that, to give you a total of six (yes; SIX!) birthdays to celebrate! One was a massive star prior to participatingin the contest. Another is a former winner, and the biggest star Eurovision has ever helped produce. Celine Dion, 50 today! 

Dori Ghezzi, 72

Dori Ghezzi represented Italy at the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm. She did so alongside Wess, performing the song “Era”. Their song and performance earned them 115 points from the juries, thus landing them in 3rd place.

Celine Dion, 50

Celine Dion represented Switzerland at the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin. She performed the song “Ne partez pas sans moi”, winning the contest. And the rest, as they say, is history!

Haldor Lægreid, 48

Haldor represented Norway at the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen. He performed the ballad “On My Own”, finishing in shared last place with Iceland. Having been one of the pre-contest favorite, Johnny Logan described him as the one to beat, this result was a huge disappointment, both to Haldor and to the Norwegian people.

Anna Wisniewska, 41

Anna represented Poland at the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest in Athens. She did so as part of the group Ich Troje. They performed the song “Follow My Heart” in the semifinal. They finished 11th, thus just missing out on a place in the grand final.

Simon Webbe, 39

Simon represented the UK at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest in Dusseldorf. He did so as part of the world famous boyband Blue. They perofrmed the song “I Can”, finishing in a respectable 11th place. This is the country’s third best result this century.

Sabrina, 36

Sabrina represented Portugal at the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki. She performed the song “Dança comigo” in the semi-final. There, in the hardest semi-final in the history of the contest, she finished 11th, thus *just* failing to reach the grand final. Only four points separated Sabrina from the last qualifier, Moldova.

All of us here at escXtra want to wish today’s six Eurovision birthday stars the happiest of celebrations!