Halloween may be over, but vampires are most certainly still alive! Recently, wiwibloggs reporter Deban caught up with DJ Bobo – the man responsible for one of Switzerland’s most memorable performances at Eurovision to date. They discuss the Michael Jackson tour, his albums Circus, Pirates of Dance and World in Motion, his song “Chihuahua”, and more!
“It was not a surprise”
DJ Bobo explains the success of his 1996 album – World in Motion – which spent 67 weeks in the Swiss charts, as well as charting in a gazillion other countries. Despite his tremendous success, which led to a tour with Michael Jackson, he still treasures “each and every golden record” – and says that you only appreciate them when you stop getting them.
“That was an accident”
The DJ-singer-songwriter admits that one of his greatest hits of all time, “Chihuahua,” came about by complete chance. The Spanish record company originally wanted Lou Bega to record a mambo song for their TV commercial – but instead they were pointed to this newly signed artist under the name of DJ Bobo. He was given 10 days to write and record the song which, despite his colleagues’ indifference, went on to achieve various gold, platinum and diamond certifications.
“Never try to choose your audience – the audience is choosing you”
Bobo laments that lots of modern musicians try and write music that would appeal to their contemporaries. As well as adults, DJ Bobo’s music has reached kids and grandparents – hence letting your audience choose you. He tells us that his fantasy themed music takes inspiration from various sources, such as the musicals “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Dirty Dancing” – and that he incorporates this excitement into his tour.
“Do something that no-one expects”
Bobo shares his uneasiness on SRF’s decision to allow international artists to compete in the Swiss national selection. In fact, he reveals that the reason he came to Eurovision was after watching Six4one in 2006 and thinking “they do not represent my country because they are not from my country.” With reference to what tactics he thinks Switzerland should employ for Eurovision 2016, he said that artists should “try to be original”. Well, we’ve got the list for that! He also emphasises how artists must not take the contest too seriously, and is thankful that his career was not damaged by a Eurovision flop.
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW BELOW:
Part two coming soon…
He did sell a lot of records. And party people enjoyed his dance sound in the 1990ies. But the Swiss don’t take him seriously and don’t see him as a proper artist. He doesn’t sell records anymore and his shows mainly attract families with little children, which is fine, but his days as a pop star are over.
Obviously ‘Vanilla Ninja’ in 2005 wasn’t the breaking point when Switzerland came 8th… Claudia D’Addio from SIX4ONE is Swiss, so how can DJ BOBO just write off 2006 with this rather isolationist and xenophobic sounding comment…
Half of the victories for Switzerland earned by a foreign artist, who’s Celine Dion, from Canada.
He’s kind a…pointless.