Posts Tagged ‘Azerbaijan’

You can take the girl out of Eurovision, but you can’t take Eurovision out of the girl. Three months after finishing fifth at ESC 2010, Azerbaijan’s Safura continues to pout and pander to the camera as if all of Europe is watching.

In the video for her second single “March On,” she prances around two souped-up SUVs, vogues inside a cage and dances in an abandoned parking lot. Although she sings of soldiers and strength and perseverance, her facial expression suggests, “I’m easy. Invade me.” From a production standpoint, Safura reinterprets Destiny Child’s “Survivor” video: three women in camouflage grind in the city while singing about strength, and a gratuitous glamor sequence captures Safura with a leaf in her hair. You can compare the videos below.

Safura’s “March On”:

March On lyrics:

The battle has begun and we must move as one Despite what we’ve done we can achieve And yes we bleed and we scar But we can’t forget who we are Now we’ve reached the stars We can’t stop believin’

We used to be enemies, now we need us We’re gonna be backin’ up, backin’ up And with every move, with every breath we take

We’re gonna march on, like there’s nothing in our way We’re gonna march on, like soldiers – not afraid Yeah, we’re carved in time here on the front line We’re gonna march on on Yeah, we’re gonna march, yeah, we’re gonna march Yeah, we’re gonna march on

We know what lies up ahead up ahead, up ahead But we push, push on instead Of turning out backs on a friend We begin to realise what we’ve achieved

We used to be enemies, now we need us We’re gonna be backin’ up, backin’ up And with every move, with every breath we take

We’re gonna march on, like there’s nothing in our way We’re gonna march on, like soldiers – not afraid Yeah, we’re carved in time here on the front line We’re gonna march on on Yeah, we’re gonna march, yeah, we’re gonna march Yeah, we’re gonna march

1, 2, 3, 4, just keep marchin on the floor 5, 6, 7, 8, get up it’s never too late 8, 7, 6, 5, everybody come alive 4, 3, 2, 1, keep on marchin’, march on Keep on marchin’, march Keep on marchin’, march Keep on marchin’, march on

We’re gonna march on, like there’s nothing in our way We’re gonna march on on, like soldiers – not afraid Yeah, we’re carved in time here on the front line

We’re gonna march on, like there’s nothing in our way We’re gonna march on, like soldiers – not afraid Yeah, we’re carved in time here on the front line We’re gonna march on on Yeah, we’re gonna march, yeah, we’re gonna march Yeah, we’re gonna march on

Destiny’s Child with “Survivor”:

On March 29, Wiwi Bloggs began his annual search for Eurovision’s Next Top Model with 26 beautiful contestants from across Europe. Slovakia’s Kristina Pelakova brought youth and vitality. Moldova’s Olia Tira brought an edgy look and Lady Gaga-like costumes. And Armenia’s Eva Rivas brought long legs and an uncanny resemblance to actress Angelina Jolie. But in the end one woman rose above them all. Following two months and nearly 8,000 votes, Wiwi is proud to announce that Romania’s Paula Seling is Eurovision’s Next Top Model.

Final Results: 1. Romania, Paula Seling (1,359, 31.35%) 2. Azerbaijan, Safura (978, 22.56%) 3. Armenia, Eva Rivas (601, 13.86%) 4. Croatia, Feminnem, Nika Antolos (283, 6.53%) 5. Germany, Lena Meyer-Landrut (259, 5.97%) 6. Ukraine, Alyosha (186, 4.29%) 7. Georgia, Sofia Nizharadze (129, 2.98%) 8. Portugal, Filipa Azevedo (82, 1.89%) 9. Moldova, Olia Tira (81, 1.87%) 10. Sweden, Anna Bergendahl (78, 1.8%) 11. Slovenia, Barbara Ogrinc (77, 1.78%) 12. Albania, Juliana Pasha (75, 1.73%) 13. Slovakia, Kristina (74, 1.71%) 14. Latvia, Aisha (73, 1.68%)

Paula won over European voters with her porcelain skin, Hollywood smile and attractive curves. She’s clearly a natural beauty, but she also knows how to work a variety of looks. As you can see in her official preview video of “Playing With Fire,” Paula feels as comfortable in a frock as she does in a leather bodysuit.

Paula has the looks of an international superstar, but she also has the talent. The 31-year old is already one of Romania’s biggest pop stars, having released 13 albums, and she’s opened for the likes of Joan Baez, Chick Corea, Michael Bolton and Beyonce. Romanians love this woman. Avantaje magazine named her Woman of the Year in 2002 and she won “Best Music Video” at the 2002 Romanian MTV Music Awards for “Serile Verii” (Summer Nights).

Wiwi was lucky enough to see Paula perform at London’s Shadow Lounge ahead of Eurovision. She was so kind to all of her fans and clearly loved performing in front of a crowd. But Wiwi gathered as much from this video of “Get Up Now” in which she takes a shower for her fans!

Unlike a number of her competitors, Paula doesn’t have an ego problem and she doesn’t take her fans for granted. Following her third place finish at Eurovision, she posted this “thank you” video on www.paulaseling.com.

Paula looks particularly stunning in this video for “Timpul” (Time).

The Road to Becoming Eurovision’s Next Top Model

During the first week of voting, readers cast 310 votes. Armenia’s long-legged beauty Eva Rivas jumped into the lead with 35% of all votes. Azerbaijan’s Safura followed closely behind with 18%. And Germany’s Lena Meyer-Landrut made a case for herself with 8%. At this stage of the contest, Paula sat in fifth position with just 5% of the vote and Wiwi was worried the Romanian beauty might not make it to the top. But she wouldn’t be sent home this week because seven women received no votes or just one vote, equivalent to 0%. Wiwi decided to send home Finland’s Susan Aho and Johanna Virtanen, and Belarus’ Yulia Shishko and Alyona Karpovich.

Eliminated: Both halves of Finland’s folk duo Kuunkuiskaajat

Things took a dramatic turn during the second week of competition. The vote tally climbed to more than 2,200 as voters across the Republic of Georgia logged on to support their candidate Sofia Nizharadze. She jumped from ninth place with just 3% of all votes to first place with 59%. Armenia’s Eva Rivas, who had just planted apricot trees in Cyprus as a goodwill gesture, remained in contention with 14%. Paula fell to seventh place following the surge from Sofia and from Latvia’s Aisha (who went on to finish last in the first Eurovision semi-final).

Once again, Wiwi had to send four women home: Iceland’s Hera Bjork, Ireland’s Niamh Kavanagh, Malta’s Thea Garrett and Belarus’ Ninel Karpovich. None of them received more than 8 votes, and Wiwi could not justify sparing any of them. In fact, Wiwi actually took a sick pleasure in sending Ninel home: she was the last female member of 3 + 2 and Wiwi really didn’t care for their song.

The final Belarusian bites the dust

Only 18 women remained in the Top Model House during the third week of competition. At this point, more than 3,300 votes had been cast. Georgia’s Sofia continued to push ahead, eating up an impressive 66% of all votes. Wiwi had to say goodbye to Chanée, Denmark’s most famous singer of Thai descent, Sieneke, the plus-size representative from the Netherlands, and Neda Parmac and Pamela Ramljak, two-thirds of the Croatian trio Feminnem.

Croatia’s Feminnem

By the end of the semi-finals, more than 3,500 votes had been cast and it looked like Georgia was going to walk away with its first victory in Eurovision’s Next Top Model. Unfortunately for them, all votes were reset. This was only fair given that people had voted for contestants who had been eliminated. Now everyone had a chance to vote again. To help them make their decision, voters could now review interviews with each contestant, check out online portfolios and watch them on stage at Eurovision.

This shook things up dramatically. A total of 4,344 votes were cast in the final and all of Europe’s love took a sharp turn toward Romania. Georgia’s Sofia fell from first place to seventh; Romania’s Paula jumped from seventh place to first. Paula’s spectacular performances during the second semi-final and the final clearly earned her a lot of votes. Wearing a black leather cat suit probably didn’t hurt either.

Paula had a fantastic career before Eurovision, and Wiwi knows she is going to have an even better one now that it’s over. The voters and sponsors of Eurovision’s Next Top Model are all  behind you Paula. Now go out there and make Wiwi proud!

Eurovision’s Next Top Model: Vote Now in the Final! Eurovision’s Next Top Model: Vote Now in the Semi-finals! Elimination #1 Elimination #2 Elimination #3 Semi-final Results

Eurovision may be over, but the race to become an international superstar is only just beginning. Now that the women of Eurovision have put down their microphones and are catching up on some much-needed rest, it’s up to the rest of us to give them a bit of encouragement by judging them on their physical appearance!

Since March, Wiwi’s readers have cast more than 7,000 votes (3,500 in the semi-finals, and 3,500 in the finals) to determine who deserves the prestigious and life-affirming title of Eurovision’s Next Top Model 2010. Following strong performances during Eurovision, three woman have emerged as the favorites. Azerbaijan’s Safura currently claims  26.5% of all votes, followed by Romania’s Paula Seling with 22%, and Armenia’s Eva Rivas with 15.5%.

Below you can see the complete standings as of June 3, and footage of the women in action during Eurovision 2010. I understand that their beauty and generous cleavage may distract you (along with the fire and pyrotechnics), but please pay attention to to their overall appearance and sense of movement. Do they “give face” while singing? Have they been attending all of their teeth whitening sessions? Do they own their clothes, or do their clothes own them? Beyond pure aesthetics, Eurovision’s Next Top Model must be able to convey personality on the runway. It’s also important that she can convey sweet and light off of it, too. To help you assess each woman’s attitude and charm, please watch these interviews before casting your vote. And don’t forget to review each contestant’s portfolio by clicking here. Wiwi will close the poll on Friday, June 11 at 11:59pm. You can cast your vote at the end of this post.

1. Azerbaijan, Safura (939, 26.5%)

2. Romania, Paula Seling (771, 21.76%)

3. Armenia, Eva Rivas (548, 15.46%)

4. Croatia, Feminnem, Nika Antolos (274, 7.73%)

5. Germany, Lena Meyer-Landrut (231, 6.52%)

6. Ukraine, Alyosha (164, 4.63%)

7. Georgia, Sofia Nizharadze (111, 3.13%)

8. Portugal, Filipa Azevedo (79, 2.23%)

9. Sweden, Anna Bergendahl (73, 2.06%)

10. Moldova, Olia Tira (72, 2.03%)

11. Albania, Juliana Pasha (71, 2%)

12. Latvia, Aisha (71, 2%)

13. Slovenia, The woman in Ansambel Roka Žlindre (71, 2%)

14. Slovakia, Kristina (69, 1.95%)

UPDATE: Romania’s Paula Seling is Eurovision’s Next Top Model!

Safura is Azerbaijan’s strongest-ever Eurovision entry, a fixture on Eurovision blogs and news sites and the bookies’ favorite. Even so, British songwriter Peter Waterman says he can’t understand what all the fuss is about. Speaking on BBC radio’s Ken Bruce show this morning, Waterman dismissed the Azeri entry.

I heard the favourite that everyone’s talking about . I’m sorry but if that’s the favourite then we have a fighting chance. If that’s the best they can do then erm… yeah! Do you know they’ve spent a million dollars? It’s not about spending money. We spent £100.

We need to get this man some immodium pronto because he is spewing verbal diarrhea. Josh can sing—no doubt about that. But his song “That Sounds Good To Me” is total cliché:

So if you bring the sunshine, I’ll bring the good times Just add your laughter, it’s happy-ever-after I don’t know about you but that sounds good to me

You can compare Azerbaijan to the United Kingdom below. It’s really no contest….

Bad song:

Better song: