An Xtra Happy Birthday! Week 34

This week we have a whole lot of Eurovision Stars to celebrate! One pair of twins, a few winners, including Bobby Gee! August 20th Four Eurovision singers were born on the 20th of August, and we are, of course, here to celebrate them! Alice and Ellen Kessler, 82 Alice and Ellen, better known as the Kessler twins, represented Germany in the 2959 Eurovision Song Contest. They performed the song "Heute Abend Wollen Wir Tanzen Geh'n", giving us one of the first real "performances" on the Eurovision stage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z3nvP0D18 Peter Grönvall, 65 Peter Grönvall represented Sweden in the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo. He performed as part of the group One More Time, together with his wife Nanne Grönvall and Maria Rådsten. They were among the pre-contest favorites, and finished in a very respectable 3rd place with their song "Den Vilda". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evn1biXeDJ8 Kristina Pelakova, 31 Kristina Pelakova represented Slovakia in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo. She performed the song "Horehronie", and was one of the pre contest favorites. However, she finished in 16th place out of 17 in her semi-final, thus failing to qualify for the final. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8G6byTMr0o August 21st On this day there are three birthday boys and one birthday girl. You can say that the time has changed since the oldest performed on the Eurovision stage and the two others. Patrick Juvet, 68 Switzerland selected the model Patrick to be their representative at Eurovision in 1973. Therefore he "Je vais me marier, Marie,"in Luxembourg. At the end of the voting the song placed in 18th place. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLQNmuebqJk Antonio Carbonell, 48 Spain selected Antonio in 1996, therefore he went on stage in Oslo, Norway. His flamenco style song, “¡Ay, Qué Deseo!.” advanced from the Pre-qualifying round, however at the final it got 19 points. Therefore it ended up in 20th place out of 23. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRFfHq3_MgI Lukas Meijer, 30 Poland pick the DJ Gromee and the Swedish singer Lukas to be their act at Eurovision in 2018. Therefore they performed the song "Light Me Up" with the black hats at the second semi final in Lisbon. Unfortunally for them, the cheerful song did not qualify to the final. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyoiCyP4Bkg Demy, 27 Demy represented Greece in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv, with the song "This Is Love". She qualified for the grand final as the last act to qualify from the first semi-final. In the final she finished 19th. Her act included a cute scene where she disappears behind a screen and then appears on said screen, seemingly swimming. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO14p2uCzkM August 22nd Today we have three Eurovision birthday girls to celebrate! Kim Jackson, 53 Ireland picked Kim to go on their behalf to Eurovision in 1991. That is why she went to Rome and sang "Could It Be That I'm In Love". At the end of the show she shared the 10th place with Ireland's neighbor, UK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ird8mbrsrzc Jasmine, 42 Jasmine represented Finland at the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo. She performed the song "Niin kaunis on taivas", finishing in a very disappointing last place. This entry has been voted the worst Finish Eurovision entry by Finnish fans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KF8c9pnyKY Natalia Barbu, 39 Natalia Barbu represented Moldova at the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki. She finished top 10, actually 10th, in what is considered by many to be one of the most difficult editions of the contest. Natalia performed the song "Fight", and in addition to singing she also played the violin. "Fight" gave Moldova their second of three top 10 results. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZzcIOvoIfo August 23rd No less than eight Eurovision songers were born on August 23rd, so prepare yourself for a loooong list of congratulations!! One winner among them Bobby Gee. Vicky Leandros, 69 (or is it 66?) Vicky Leandros represented Luxembourg at the 1967 Eurovision with "L'amour est bleu" and again in 1972 with "Apres toi". In her first attempt she finished fourth, but the second time around she made it all the way to the top! Today she turns either 69 or 66; apparently she has not wanted to confirm her year of birth publicly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka89ORFu_Tc Bobby Gee, 65 Bobby represented the UK at the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest. He was part of the group Bucks Fizz, who won the contest with their song "Making Your Mind Up". He has later won the right to the name Bucks Fizz. The group, though with only Bobby remaining of the original member, is still active. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4-lKMGII_k Andrius Mamontovas, 51 Andrius represented Lithuania at the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest in Athens. He is the founder and lead singer of the group. They finished 6th in the grand final after having qualified in 5th place in their semi-final. Their entry, "We Are the Winners" is regarded as a joke entry by some. Others, however, think it's a great song that arrived on the Eurovision stage at just the right time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBAdOlQPbwg Gunvor Guggisberg, 44 Gunvor represented Switzerland at the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest with her own song, "Lass ihn". She was fairly high up on the list of favorites in the days leading up to the contest, but failed to recieve a single point, finishing dead last. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADKcj6GLWaM Ovi, 44 Ovi represented Romania at both the 2010 and 2014 Eurovisions, both times in duet with Paula Seling. In their first participation they reached 3rd place with "Playing With Fire". When they tried their luck again four years later, they finished 12th with "Miracle". Ovi also tied his luck in Norway's Melodi Grand Prix twice. In 2006 he failed to make it into the final with "The Better Side of Me". In 2009, however, he made it to the final, with "Seven Seconds", but didn't make it to the Godl Final. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9EtMZXeQZw Morgane, 43 Morgane represented Belgium at the 1992 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö. She finished in a rather disappointing 20th place out of 23 entries, with "Nous, on veut des violons". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u60o-w4uSms Alenka Gotar, 41 Alenka Gotar represented Slovenia at the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki. Finishing seventh in the semifinal, she secured Slovenia's first qualification at Eurovision. In the grand final she finished 15th with her entry "Cvet z juga". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKrOMagZnMI Roberto Bellarosa, 24 It seems today is a brilliant day to be born if you want to represent Belgium at Eurovision in Malmö. Just like Morgane, Roberto Bellarosa represented Belgium at Eurovision in Malmö, but in 2013. He qualified for the final with "Love Kills", where he finished in 12th place. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCl7OUFNSCA August 24th On this day there are three Eurovision Birthday boys. Two of them took part at Eurovision with a band. William Mangion, 60 In 1993, Malta selected the song "This Time" to be their act at Eurovision. That is William went on the stage that time. His singing brought him the 8th place out 25 entries. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0x04L0ll1k Jarkko Ahola, 71 Jarkko represented Finland at the 2008 Eurovision as part of the rock band Teräsbetoni. He is the band's singer and guitarist, and is also one of the founding members. They qualified for the grand final with "Missä miehet ratsastaa", where they ended in 22nd place out of 25 countries. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-nbF9dxbJ0 Janis Jabalts, 44 Janis Jubalts represented Latvia at the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm as part of the band Brainstorm. This was Latvia's debut at Eurovision, and there are quite a few people who believe that they should have won. Their song "My Star" has turned into a modern classic in the Euroverse. However, ther finished in a very respectable 3rd place, behind Denmark and Russia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1y9xhmMSDk August 25th Two birthdays to celebrate today, one has tight connections to Eurovision and Meldodifestevalen! Christer Björkman, 61 Björkman is maybe better know Eurovision for being the producer of Meldodifestivalen since 2002. Also known for being the Eurovision Show Producer for Malmö 2013 and Eurovision Contest Producer for Stockholm 2016. However he did win the Swedish selection in 1992, that is why he is on this birthday list. He performed "I morgon är en annan dag" in Oslo. Unfortunately his entry finished second to last. I am sure many people are super happy with Björkman's dedication to Eurovision. So Cheers to him! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6NmIHfNmPA Rona Nishliu, 32 After winning the 50th Festivali i Këngës, Rona Nishliu was chosen to represented Albania at the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest in Baku. She sang the song “Suus” in Albanian. Rona performed this really strong ballad with excellent vocals. That awarded her 146 points at the final, thus giving her the 5th place! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=671tCjePT3w August 26th Today their are two Eurovision singers that have a birthday. The older one took part in 1987 and the younger in 1989. Not so far between the performances, however at the time their countries where the furthest apart in Eurovision. Avi Kushnir, 58 Israel picked a comedic duo Lazy Bums to be their act at Eurovision in Brussels in 1987. One of the guys is Avi. He along with Nathan Dattner sang "Shir Habatlanim". You might know it better for the lyrics "Hupa, Hole Hupa, Hupa Hole". The section was quite controversial in Israel, however I think Europe was happy with their choice. That is the song ended in 8th place. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TCA-LGlVYA Daniel Ágúst, 49 Daníel Ágúst represented Iceland in the 1989 Eurovision Song Contest in Lausanne with the song "Það sem enginn sér". He finished last, after having recieved a total of 0 points. Today, Daníel Ágúst is part of the massively successful (understandably so!) duo GusGus. GusGus was founded back in 1995, then with a total of 10 members. Over the years people have come and gone, until they were only three left, in 2014. Last year, Högni Egilsson left, and GusGus is now a duo. Go check them out, if you haven't already! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymMGcwcaIm8 As you can see, the whole week is full of Eurovision birthday people. Do you share a birthday with some of them? Do you have a favorite song among these many entries? Also,who do you think as a birhday next week?