Posts Tagged ‘Turkey’

Turkey’s state broadcaster TRT has announced its short list of candidates for Eurovision 2011. The public will cast their votes sometime between now and December. The finalists are listed below. Take a look at them in action, and then vote for your favorite!

Atiye Deniz. Born in Germany to a Turkish father and a Dutch mother, Atiye could exploit her pan-European background to bring in points from across the continent. The 21-year old likes to mix R&B with sounds from the Orient—conjures up sounds of Hadise from 2009, no?—and her fierce look would make her a strong contender in Wiwi’s annual search for Eurovision’s Next Top Model. Here she is singing her debut single “Don’t Think (Sanma)”:

Emre Aydin. The former lead of rock group 6. Cadde, Emre won “Europe’s Favorite Act” at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards. Even so, he’s Wiwi’s least favorite finalist. Given that Turkey just placed second with all-male rock band maNga, it’d be a big mistake to follow up with yet another rocker—no matter how good he is. Emre singing “Bu Yagmurlar”:

Sebnem Ferah. Wiwi was pretty surprised to see Sebnem make the cut. TRT included her on last year’s short list, but she withdrew because “Eurovision is no longer a song contest.” Ouch. Has Sebnem had a change of heart? Or is TRT just trying to provoke her? Here she is singing “Ben Sarkimi Soylerken”:

Hande Yener. This 37-year old pop singer lost to Emre Aydin  for “Best Turkish Act” at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards. Will Eurovision mark her revenge? Here’s her edgy video for “Hayrola”:

Murat Boz. At 1.95 meters tall, Murat could be this year’s answer to 2010′s long-legged Armenian contestant Eva Rivas. Following Hadise’s fourth place finish at Eurovision 2009, rumors circulated that TRT wanted Boz to carry the Eurovision torch. Now rumors are spreading on Twitter that he’s the insider’s pick for 2011. Will the rumors finally prove true? Boz with “Aski Bulamam Ben”:

On May 29 the men of Eurovision battled it out with their voices. Now it’s time to battle it out with their bodies. Since March, Wiwi’s readers have cast more than 12,600 votes (7,440 in the semi-finals, and 5,235 so far in the final) to determine who deserves the title of Eurovision’s Next Top Male Model 2010.

With only one week of voting left, the contest remains a battle between Turkey’s edgy rocker Ferman Akgul and Israel’s sexy manboy Harel Skaat. The Turk currently claims 38% of all votes, with the Israeli trailing with 23% (Wiwi dares not draw comparisons with the recent drama on board the Mavi Marmara in the Gaza flotilla). Despite being eliminated in the semi-finals of Eurovision (the singing contest, not the modeling contest), Poland’s Marcin Mrozinski remains in third place with 9%. 

As this vote will determine Europe’s next big thang, please review footage of all of the men in action at Eurovision below. Then review their online portfolios and get a sense of their personality and charm by watching these interviews. You can see the most up-to-date results at the bottom of this post. Polls close on Sunday, June 13 at noon. It’s up to you, Europe! Keep voting!

1. Turkey, Ferman Akgül (1,965, 37.54%)

2. Israel, Harel Skaat (1,209, 23.09%)

3. Poland, Marcin Mrozinski (460, 8.79%)

4. Norway, Didrik Solli-Tangen (361, 6.9%)

5. Spain, Daniel Diges (295, 5.64%)

6. Bosnia, Vukasin Brajic (261, 4.99%)

7. Romania, Ovi (249, 4.76%)

8. Serbia, Milan Stankovic (124, 2.37%)

9. Bulgaria, Miro (67, 1.28%)

10. Belgium, Tom Dice (66, 1.26%)

11. Greece, Giorgos Alkaios (56, 1.07% )

12. Cyprus, Jon Lilygreen (50, 0.96%)

13. Russia, Peter Nalitch (38, 0.73%)

14. United Kingdom, Josh Dubovie (34, 0.65%)

The results: Eurovision’s Next Top Male Model: Interviews With the Finalists

Eurovision’s Next Top Male Model: It’s Turkey vs. Israel

Eurovision’s Next Top Male Model: Elimination #3

Eurovision’s Next Top Male Model: Elimination #2

Eurovision’s Next Top Male Model: Elimination #1

MaNga delivered Turkey its best Eurovision finish since Sertab Erener won in 2003. In honor of maNga’s second place finish, Turkish fans have cranked out a series of club mixes. Wiwi approves! Have a listen below, and be sure to check out all of this year’s other Eurovision remixes.

DJ Bünyamin’s Club Mix

Dj Kenan 2010 Remix

DJ Evil

Tekelman Remix

Germany’s Lena Meyer-Landrut with Satellite

Slovakia’s Kristina with Horehronie

Malta’s Thea Garrett with My Dream

Poland’s Marcin Mrozinski

Armenia’s Eva Rivas

Sweden’s Anna Bergendahl

Finland’s Kuunkuiskaajat

Cyprus’ Jon Lilygreen & the Islanders

Romania’s Paula Seling and Ovi

Ireland’s Niamh Kavanagh

Opponents of Turkey’s bid to join the E.U. portray it as an alien culture with social and religious beliefs that are decidedly un-European. Following his election as French president in 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy said Europe “must give itself borders” and declared that Turkey “has no place” in the organization. In “We Could Be The Same,” Turkish rap-rock band maNga begs to differ. With their perfect English, well-produced rips and suggestive lyrics, they narrow the social distance between Turks and their European counterparts, and make it clear that Turkey’s youth have their eyes locked firmly on the West.

WATCH:

It’s hard to identify anything Turkish about Turkey’s Eurovision entry—and that’s the point. The country isn’t full of fanatics like scaremongers in Western Europe would have you think. It does, however, have at least one edgy and stylish rock group. And if I had to guess I’d say they’re proponents of secularism. The band, which has said the song is about peaceful co-existence, hasn’t given any public statements on Turkey’s E.U. bid. But their official preview video seems to tell Europe to tear down the barbed wire.

I can see that this could be fate. I can love you more than they hate. Doesn’t matter who they will blame. We can beat them at their own game.

They already are. MaNga won Best European Act at the 2009 MTV European Music Awards, beating out Brit frontrunner Pixie Lott. And its front man Ferman Akgül is a leading contender in my own online competition to identify Eurovision’s Next Top Male Model. There’s clearly an appetite for Turkey. Even so, maNga knows it’ll be tough to win over everyone.

And I feel I’m turning the page. And I feel the world is a stage. I don’t think the drama will stop. I don’t think they’ll give up the rage.

Prediction: Since the introduction of televoting in 1997, Turkey can do no wrong at Eurovision. Its acts cut across genre and consistently place at or near the top. In 2003 it won with an entourage of belly dancers. In 2004 it placed fourth with a ska punk band. In 2007 it placed fourth with an Anatolian hip-hop artist. And last year it placed fourth with a sexy Arabian Nights number. Critics say the Turkish diaspora is responsible for the country’s success. For instance, Turkey tends to receive top points from Germany which has around 2,000,000 citizens of Turkish descent.

Regardless of the why, Turkey is a force to be reckoned with. It’s the only rock entry with a legitimate chance of winning. And it’s one of the few Eurovision entries that is already prominent in large parts of Europe. Despite competing in the more difficult second semi-final, which includes Azerbaijan’s much-ballyhooed starlet Safura and Armenia’s Angelina Jolie look-a-like Eva Rivas, Turkey will breeze through to the final.

Bookies currently have Turkey listed as finishing around tenth. But given their mainstream sound, I’m confident the professional jury of music producers will rate this slightly higher. If the Turkish diaspora does make a difference in the televoting portion of the competition, Turkey could find itself with a fighting chance to make the top five.

Watch maNga’s first Eurovision rehearsal: