Another month, another Eurovision birthday! Actually; another FIVE! Yeah, that’s right! No less than five Eurostars celebrate their birthdays today! And we will of course send Xtra warm greetings to them all! And for a change; let’s do them alphabetically by country today, instead of starting with the oldest! That means our first birthday boy out will be Jüri Pootsman, representing Estonia!
Jüri Pootsmann, 24
Jüri Pootsman represented Estonia at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm. He performed the entry “Play”, in the first semi, where he even included magic in his performance. However, he only finished in a rather disappointing 18th place, thus failing to qualify for the grand-final.
Catherine Ferry, 55
Catherine represented France at the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest in the Hague. She performed the cheerful song “Un, deux, trois”, finishing in a well deserved second place. This was back in the days when the “Big 4/5” countries still did well at the contest; Catherine was only beaten by the UK entry performed by Brothehood of Man.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUB339_KUeg
Hreimur, 40
Hreimur Örn Heimisson represented Iceland in the 2011 Eurovision in Dusseldorf. He was part of the group Sjonni’s Friends, performing the song “Coming Home”. He is the one who sings the first part of the song. Their reaction to being called as the final qualifier from their semi is magical; their joy is massive, and I don’t think anyone can watch it without smiling! In the final they finished in 20th place.
Marlayne, 47
Marlayne represented the Netherlands at the 1999 Eurovision Song Contest in Jerusalem, with the song “One Good Reason”. She finished in a very respectable 8th place, which was the last time the Netherlands finished inside of the top 10 until Anouk in 2013. Marlayne was also the Dutch spokesperson in 2000, 2001 and 2003, and served on the Dutch jury in 2014.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lQ40W3TaVU
Sebalter, 33
Sebalter represented Switzerland at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen. His entry, “Hunter of stars”, might be remembered mostly because of Sebalter’s very cheerful whistling. During his performance we also saw him play the fiddle. Sebalter competed in the second semi-final, where he finished in fourth place, thus qualifying for the grand final. On the Saturday night he finished 13th, giving Switzerland its best result since 2005.
All of us here at escXtra wish Jüri, Catherine, Hreimur, Marlayne and Sebalter the very best of birthdays!!
