An Xtra Happy Birthday; week 52

We bring you a total of 16 Xtra reasons to celebrate over Christmas! There are however two days this week without a Eurovision birthday, so on those days you'll have to find something else to drink to! As always (almost) we give you everything from winners to non-qualifiers, and this week their ages range from 85 to 29! Raise your glasses! One of the winners this week is from Israel, Gali Atari. December 24th This day is quite busy, and might be a bit to much it each of them get a their own cheer. That is five Eurovision Stars have a birthday this week, three ladies and two birthday boys. The youngest of them is a Eurovision winner. Giorgios Alkaios, 47 Giorgos Alkaios, along with his Friends, represented Greece at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo. They performed the song “Opa!”. In the first semi-final they finished second, thus qualifying for the grand final. They were among the favorites in the final, but there, however, they had to settle for 8th place. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfqOrMlwOjs Pamela Ramljak, 39 As part of the girl group Feminnem, Pamela represented both Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in Eurovision. The first time, in 2005, they performed “Call Me”, on behalf of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They were automatically qualified for the final, where they finished 14th. In 2010, Feminnem won the Croatian ticket for Oslo. They performed the ballad “Lako je sve” in the second semi-final. There they finished in 13th place, thus failing to qualify for the grand final. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kqof50gLBIo Pamela and the other two members of Feminnem also tried their luck in the Croatian pre-selections both in 2007 and 2009 without the same success. Anush, 38 Anush represented Armenia at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow. She did so alongside her sister Inga. They performed the song “Jan Jan” in the first semi-final, where they finished 5th. Due to this they earned a place in the grand final, where they finished in 10th place. Despite this being Armenia’s weakest result to date, they nonetheless gave their country its fourth consecutive top 10 placing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhfqLTT8mpo Maarja-Liis Ilus, 38 Maarja-Liis represented Estonia at both the 1996 and 1997 Eurovision Song Contests. In Oslo in 1997 she performed “Kaelakee hääl” alongside Ivo Linna. They finished in a very respectable fifth place. One year later she was back, this time performing “Keelatud maa“. Although she didn’t do quite as well as the year before, she still secured her second top 10 result, as she ended in 8th place. Maarja-Liis has also taken part in pre-selections in Estonia and Sweden without winning the ticket to Eurovision again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bN_chJNs1U Dima Bilan, 37 Dima Bilan won the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade for Russia with his song “Believe”. He also represented his country at the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest in Athens. Athough he didn’t win at that attempt, his third place nonetheless makes him one of the most successful Eurovision participants in the history of the contest. A lot of fans actually prefer his 2006 entry “Never Let You Go” to his winning song. Dima Bilan also participated in the Russian pre-selection in 2012 alongside Yulia Volkova (Tatu) with the song “Back to Her Future“. They were however defeated by the grannies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-72s4WzUcKI December 25th The Christmas day Eurovision people hav e been rather successful at Eurovision. That is all of the four of them have placed in the top 12 at their year at Eurovision. Two of them placed second and thrid in the same year. Boris Novković, 51 Croatia selected Boris in 2005 to represent them at Eurovision Song Contest. Therefore he went on stage in Kiev, Ukraine, and performed his song “Vukovi umiru sami (Wolfs die alone)” where he became 4th at the semi final. Which of course meant that he would take part at the final as well. At the final he got 115 point which gave him the 11th place. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pfaElEFo28 Boris came close to entering Eurovision in 1990 on behalf of Yugoslavia, as he was second at the national selection. However that song, “Dajana” went instead to international festival in Kuala Lumpur. Paula Seling, 40 Paula is a well know singer in Romania and got involved with Eurovision with style. In 2010 she teamed up with Ovi and won Selectia Nationala. Therefore they entered the Eurovision Contest in Oslo, Norway with their song “Playing With Fire”. Advancing from the semi final, with there flaming piano, and scoring the 3rd place! This was the second time Romania became 3rd which is their best scoring at Eurovision up to date. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OlG9g4-cyg Seling´s Eurovision story did not end there because she and Ovi took part again in 2014. Then with the song “Miracle” at the stage in Copenhagen, Denmark. They once again made it to the grand final. Where they got 72 points, which secured the act the 12th place. Ferman Akgül, 39 In the same year as Paula Seling first entered, Turkey selected maNga to represent them at Eurovision. Ferman is the lead singer of the rock band maNga. Their song ” We Could Be The Same” won the second semi final and reached the second place at the final. Which is Turkey’s second best placement in the Eurovision Song Contest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=524Yy7JWBd4 Marco Mengoni, 30 Marco Mengoni represented Italy at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö. He was selected through the Sanremo Festival, which he won with his own song “L’essenziale”. The original version of the song was just over 3.30, therefore it had to be shortened for Eurovision. On the night of the final in Sweden, Marco finished in 7th place, giving Italy their third consecutive top 10 result after returning to the contest in 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8oaxDV1q6o December 27th This day is dedicated to one birthday girl, She is one of three Monaco´s performers in the new millennium. Lise Darly, 37 The singer Lise was chosen to take part at Eurovision on the behalf of Monaco in 2005. Her song is called "Tout De Moi" by Philippe Bosco wrote, but he also wrote the the previous Monegasque entry. Unfortuanlly for her the song did not Advance to the final. Here is more info, from our Throwback Thursday articles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjqkIf3lQAk December 28th Today we have three Eurovision Birthdays, one is from Finland, Macedonia and Portugal. One of them is a Eurovision winner, can you guess who that is? Kim Kuusi, 71 Finland selected Kim Kuus song “Old Man Fiddle” in 1975. Therefore he went on stage with his group “Pihasoittajat” Stockholm Sweden. The country inspired duet got 74 point, that means it came 7th out of 19 acts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yyQ_egqeF8 Kaliopi, 52 In 1996 Kaliopi Bukle entered the Macedonian pre-selction for Eurovision with the song “Samo ti” and won the contest. She would have become the become Macedonian’s first entry, the song however did not qualify from the non-televised audio pre-selection. She has then since been connected to the contest, as writer. However her chance on the Eurovision stage came in 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan. When Macedonia chose “Crno I Belo” to represent them at the Eurovision Song Contest. Kaliopi brought Macedonia to the final, where she got 71 points which secured her the 13th place.Her second time at Eurovision came four years later, that is in at Stockholm in 2016. There she sang the song “Dona” with her great voice, but unfortunately for her the song did not advance to the final show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSuCdNEy9w0 Salvador Sobral, 29 Portugal surely made the right chose to pick Salvador this year with the song “Amar Pelos Dois”. This sweet and sincere song, written by his sister Lusía Sobral, touch most people deeply, well more then enough to win both the televotes and jury votes with 758 points in total! At the end of the show he sang it as a duet with his sister. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qotooj7ODCM December 29th Just as yesterday, we have three Eurovision Singers. As well as one winner, this time from Israel. Milly Scott, 85 Netherlands picked the singer and actress, Milly in 1966. She has Surinamese origin, and was the first woman of color to take part at Eurovision. Her song "Fernando en Filippo" placed 15th out of 18 countries. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVHqkE5Qx18 Gali Atari, 65 Gali Atari took part at Eurovision for Israel along with the band Milk and Honey. They performed in their home country in 1979, the song is called "Hallelujah". They did very well and won the contest, therefore giving Israel Eurovision victory two years in a row. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9ICfqiPSdk Barbara Berta, 55 Switzerland decided to let Barbara represent them in 1997. Therefore she sang "Dentro di me" in Dublin, which she composed herself. The song placed 22nd out of 25 entries. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4HsUDdItMQ All of us here at escXtra send our very best wishes to every single one of this week's birthday girls and boys.

December 29th

Milly Scott, 85

Gali Atari, 65

Barbara Berta, 55

Hlynur Sigurðsson

Comments on An Xtra Happy Birthday; week 52

December 29th

Milly Scott, 85

Gali Atari, 65

Barbara Berta, 55

Hlynur Sigurðsson

Comments on An Xtra Happy Birthday; week 52

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