There is a lot of stuff going on out there in the Euroverse, and even though it might not be “breaking news”, it’s all well worth a mention! We bring you another baby, a summer tour, a family reunion, surgery, a collaboration and someone who turned out not to be as dead as Google said! Just doing our bit to make sure you’re all up to speed with what’s going on! (Oh, and a bit of football…just because!)
Alexander undergoes surgery!
Two time Eurovision participant and one time winner, Alexander Rybak, has had to cancel a few concerts recently. This is due to the operation he went through last week, when he had to have his tonsils removed. Even though this is not major surgery, the recovery is painful. And as any siner can confirm; any type of surgery anywhere near the throat is fairly terrifying. Alexander has struggled with his voice because of the tonsil problems for a while, and now he’s hopeful he’ll recover completely after the removal.
Although he was pretty exhausted and in loads of pain right after the surgery, he is now doing much better. As you can see below, he is busy preparing for the football World Cup. I wonder if his sticker album is complete? If not; are there anybody out there who’s got stickers to swap?
Júli + Þórdís = Benedikt Nói!
Júli Heiðar Halldórsson and þórdís Birna Borgarsdóttir took part in Söngvakeppnin both in 2016 (with “Spring yfir heiminn/Ready to Break Free“) and 2017 (with “Heim til þín“). They were also involved in Söngvakeppnin this year; Júli as songwriter and Þórdís as backing vocalist for Dagur, who finished in second place with “Í stormi“. As we could clearly see during the Icelandic final; there was something else brewing too! Þórdís was approximately six months pregnant at the time, and on 31 May she gave birth to a baby boy! Just a week ago, they revealed his name; Benedikt Nói Júlison. All of us here at escXtra send our warmest congratulations to the happy parents!
Welcome, Benedikt Nói!!
(Btw; this absolutely adorable picture is taken by Krissý Ljósmyndastúdíó. I almost wish I had a baby that needed photographing…)
Benjamin and Felix on tour together!
Benjamin Ingrosso and Felix Sandman competed against each other in Melodifestivalen earlier this year. As we all know; Benjamin won and Felix finished 2nd. Already befor the final, however, we got the feeling they didn’t really care too much who won, as long as it was one of them! It seemed they were equally happy with Benjamin’s victory, and Felix even joined Benjamin at the London Eurovision Party in April! They are also mutual fans of each other’s music. When Benjamin found out Felix loved his song “Do You Think About Me”, he immediately invited him to do a duet version of the song in Swedish!
And recently they revealed that they are going on tour together! For now all the gigs are in Sweden, so if you happen to be going to Sweden anytime between now and Christmas, make sure to check out their schedule!
Benjamin posted this picture on his instagram yesterday, and already it has close to 30 000 likes! These two are a dream team if ever there was one!
Gjoko Taneski found his long lost sister!
When he was 21 years old, Macedonian singer Gjoko Taneski found out he had an older sister, who was put up for adoption as an infant. She was born eleven years before Gjoko. He and his brothers started the search for her straight away, but it took years before they found any trace. In 2011, they learned that she lived in not too far from them, and later that year they finally met! Both Gjoko and his sister Elena expressed that they feel their lives are richer, now that the family is complete! (Yes, we know this isn’t exactly fresh news, but we all love a happy ending, so we don’t care!)
Gjoko Taneski represented Macedonia at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo. He finished 15th in the first semi-final with his sonf “Jas ja imam silata”.
But Carola wasn’t dead…
Swedish newspaper Expressen reports that, according to Google, three time Eurovision participant and one time winner, Carola Häggkvist died in Finland in November of 1997. Up until very recently, this was part of the information that would show up in a Google search.
This must come as quite the surprise to the popular singer, now 51 years old, who among other things has a lot of concerts lined up for this summer.
Carola’s management has looked into the matter, and after talking to google they report that there has been a mix-up. The Carola who died in 1997 is a Finnish artist named Carola Standertskjöld. This Carola was a jazz and schlager singer who was one of the most popular singers in Finland during the 60s.
The information seems to have been corrected after Carola’s management was in touch with Google, as a Google search today only tells us that Carola is a popular Swedish artist…
Áfram Ísland!
It’s a bit of a stretch, I know, but Icelandic goalie, Hannes, IS after all the director of the video for “Never Forget”, the Icelandic Eurovision entry from 2012. So I think Iceland’s draw against Argentina in today’s World Cup match warrants a mention. Well done, Hannes and the rest of #strákarnirokkar!!
We’ll be back with more tidbits next weekend! Until then; Enjoy summer and ÁFRAM ÍSLAND!!