In early September Turkish broadcaster TRT announced its first shortlist of candidates for Eurovision 2011. Now officials have added five more names to the pot. They are:
1. Hadise. Turkey’s 2009 Eurovision representative, she’s the most famous Belgian singer of Turkish descent, has appeared in countless commercials, knows how to lip-sync and, most importantly, was runner-up in Wiwi’s search for Eurovision’s Next Top Model in 2009. Here she is on stage in Moscow:
2. Burcu Günes
Another Turk who is easy on the eyes, Burcu auditioned to represent Turkey at the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest but failed to make it. Here she is performing “Tamandir” from her most recent album.
3. Serdar Ortaç
A leading light in Turkey’s pop-folk scene, Serdar likes to take his shirt off in his videos. Wiwi does not understand why.
4. Sila
“…Dan Sonra,” the first single from Sila’s 2007 debut album, was the biggest hit in Turkey that year, and her second single “Kenar Süsü” reached #2 on the Turkish charts.
5. Tarkan
The son of Turkish immigrants to West Germany, Tarkan is credited with sparking a boom in Turkish pop music in the 1990s. He’s sold more 29 million albums, the Turkish media is obsessed with him and he’s probably the biggest Turkish pop star in the world. Here’s his most famous single “Simarik.” Listen for the kiss…
According to TRT’s poll on Facebook, fans are torn between front-runner Tarkan and second-place Hadise:
Of this second ground of candidates, who do you want to see represent Turkey? Vote in Wiwi’s poll below. Also, be sure and vote in the poll for the first five contestants, too.
Hadise sucks. She lost in 2009, so why should we send her now???