An Xtra Happy Birthday, week 41

October 14th 

A total of six Eurovision stars celebrate their birthday today, and we’re here to celebrate with them! Two of today’s birthday boys were born on the exact same day. Which makes sense, since they are twins!  But lets start with congratulation.

Cliff Richard, 78

In 1986, UK brought the big guns for Eurovision. They picked the world famous singer Cliff to be their performer for Eurovision. They made the right choice, because his entry “Congratulation” was a hit and placed 2nd at the Contest. And has become an Iconic song since then. Cliff  Richard is of course better know for for having sold 250 million records around the world with his brilliant songs.

Hanne Haugsand, 43

Hanne represented Norway at the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm. She did so as part of the girl trio Charmed. They finished 11th with their uptempo entry “My Heart Goes Boom”. Hanne has also taken part in Melodi Grand Prix twice as a solo artist; in 2006 with “Heavens in Your Eyes” and 2010 with “Don’t Stop“. However, she failed to qualify for the final both times.

Hakan and Gökhan Özoğuz (Athena), 42

Hakan and Gökhan are twin brothers, and they represented Turkey at the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest on homeground in Istanbul. Gökhan plays the guitar and is also the lead singer, while Hakan is a guitar player. In addition they are also two of the founding members of Athena. They finished 4th with their ska/rock entry “For Real”. Though they didn’t win, they recieved a total of 195 points, which is the highest number of points Turkey has ever gotten.

Ruslan Alehno, 37

Ruslan represented Belarus at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade. He performed the song “Hasta La Vista” in the second semi-final. Though he was one of the pre contest favorites of many fans, he only finished 17th in the semi. Consequently, he did not get to perform his song again in the grand final.

Iveta, 32

Iveta Mukuchyan represented Armenia at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm. Long before the contest kicked off she had become a huge fan favorite. Her modern pop entry “Love Wave” was among the favorites to win the contest. She finished second in her semi-final, thus qualifying for the grand final with flying colors. In the final, however, she only finished 7th.

That’s it for this week; 27 Eurovision stars to celebrate! All of us here at escXtra wish all of these wonderful artists the very happiest of birthdays!