Wiwi’s readers cast a total of 8,318 votes in our first semi-final prediction poll. If the results are anything to go by then the first semi-final is a three-horse race. Greece’s Eleftheria Eleftheriou leads the pack with her song “Aphrodisiac.” She earned 1,300 votes, or 15.5%, suggesting that her song really does turn Europe on. [...]
Elena Ionescu has filmed a special greeting for Wiwi’s readers, and the men of Mandinga have filmed themselves working out in honor of their fans on WiwiBloggs.Com. So it’s only appropriate that Mandinga and Wiwi finally got to hook up in person at the recent Eurovision in Concert event in Amsterdam. In the video below, [...]
A strong woman often has a strong man behind her. Romania’s Elena Ionescu is lucky enough to have several. The men of Mandinga—that’s Alex, Chupi, Bazooka, and Florin Zach—help Elena shape the group’s distinctive Romanian-Cuban sound, and also its hot, hot look. In this video filmed exclusively for WiwiBloggs.Com, the Mandinga boys give us a [...]
Wiwi: Romania remains one of the favorites with the Wiwi Jury, and Elena is still the front-runner in the race to become Eurovision’s Next Top Model. So naturally we’ve been holding our breath in anticipation of Mandinga’s first rehearsal. As expected they bring a lot of energy to the stage with their song “Zaleilah,” and [...]
Sweden’s Loreen and Romania’s Mandinga have emerged as the clear favorites in our poll “Who Will Win Eurovision 2012?“. Launched on March 25, the poll has recorded 13,627 votes as of May 5. Loreen (“Euphoria”) currently leads with 2,098 votes. That’s just 147 more than Mandinga (“Zaleilah”). In third place is Serbia’s Joksimovic (“Love Is [...]
Elena Ionescu is a beautiful woman. The lead singer of Romania’s 2012 Eurovision act Mandinga is currently dominating Wiwi’s annual search for Eurovision’s Next Top Model. As of 20 April, she had earned nearly 35% of all votes in the contest. But Elena isn’t just a pretty face: she’s also a talented singer and very, [...]
Each week the team at WiwiBloggs.Com pauses to reflect on all the nasty—and occasionally positive—comments you guys have made on our site. We’re going to start sharing some of our favorite comments and arguments so that they don’t go unnoticed. We’re all about openness, people, so let us know which Eurovision contestants you love—and which [...]
Elena Ionescu is the perma-tanned star of Romania’s Mandinga. Tulisa Contostavlos was the star of British hip-hop group N-Dubz. But is it possible that these two starlets were separated at birth? Wiwi feels like we’ll soon hear Romanian on British X-Factor, and rap in the middle of a Mandinga song in Baku! Take a look at these [...]
This morning the Wiwi Jury—our in-house panel of music unprofessionals—gathered in Wiwi’s dreary basement to review Romania’s cheery Eurovision entry “Zaleilah.” Some of us got up and danced. But one of our critics had to leave the room to find some painkillers. Uh, oh. Scroll down to read the reviews that tore the Wiwi Jury [...]
Read the lyrics and English translation of Mandinga’s “Zaleilah.” Recommend on Facebook Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Subscribe to the comments on this post Tell a friend
Since we last checked in on the bookies’ predictions on who will win the first semi-final of ESC 2012, the leaderboard has seen some major shifts. Denmark’s Soluna Samay remains on top at Betfair with odds of 107/50. However, she no longer shares that spot with San Marino. After unveiling her song “The Social Network,” [...]
Leather body suits, bag pipes and accordions rarely appear on stage at the same time—unless you’re Romanian pop group Mandinga. Their mishmash of folk music, pop couture, and spilling cleavage helped them win Romania’s national selection—and the opportunity to represent Bucharest in Baku. Recommend on Facebook Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Subscribe to the [...]
Last fall there were fears Romania wouldn’t compete at Eurovision 2012. But the perreniel Eurovision contender is back—and its national selection includes some pretty fierce acts. RTV, Romania’s state broadcaster, has now released videos of all 15 entries, which you can watch below. After you do, be sure to vote in our poll ahead of [...]
The European Broadcasting Union today announced that 43 countries will be flying their flags at Eurovision 2012 in Baku. Recommend on Facebook Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Subscribe to the comments on this post Tell a friend
British expatriate David Bryan has made a home for himself in Romania. So much so that Romanian voters chose to send him and his band Hotel FM to Eurovision 2011. David recently spoke with Wiwi about how he ended up in Romania, his love of music and his plans to have plenty of girls [...]
When he isn’t slapping his assistants and dragging them across the floor by their hair, Russian Eurovision diva Filip Kirkorov enjoys recording covers of Eurovision songs. So the slap-happy star recently teamed up with Russian songstress Kamalyia to record a cover of “Playing with Fire,” the 2010 Eurovision entry from Romania (which placed third). Two [...]
Ianna and Anthony Icuagu placed second at the Romanian national final with their song “Open Your Eyes.” Given that they earned the maximum 12 points from televoters, they know they’ve got on-screen appeal. So now the duo is attempting to enter the national selection contest in neighboring Moldova. They’ve entered a song written by Anthony [...]
On New Year’s Eve Hotel FM won the right to represent Romania at Eurovision 2011. But the group–which consists of David Bryan (singer), Gabriel Baruta (piano), and Alex Szus (drums)–have more songs in them than their Eurovision entry “Change.” You can check out some of their other work below. Recommend on Facebook Share with Stumblers [...]
Romania has revealed the 13 contestants who will compete at the national selection contest New Year’s Eve. Below you can listen to each of this year’s competitors. But before you do, review Paula Seling and Ovi‘s stellar performance from Oslo last year. They placed third. Recommend on Facebook Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Subscribe to [...]
She placed third at Eurovision 2010, and she won first place in Wiwi’s search for Eurovision’s Next Top Model. Now Romania’s Paula Seling has her eyes locked on winning ‘Dansez Pentru Tine,’ Romania’s version of ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ Recommend on Facebook Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Subscribe to the comments on this post [...]