Eurovoxx's Eurovision Wishlist: Part 2/6

It's been almost two months since Portugal was crowned the winner of the 62nd Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv, Ukraine and many Euro-Fans are still craving for more Eurovision. To quell our need for more Eurovision, we set out to find singers from all over Europe and Australia and compile them into a wish-list for the Eurovision Song Contest. Over this six part series we will travel from Norway to Australia, from Iceland to Portugal and from Finland to Italy in search of our favourite artists from all over Europe.

Bulgaria - Mihaela Marinova

Originating from Sofia, Bulgaria, 19 year-old singer song writer Mihaela Marinova is our choice for Bulgaria in ESC. Mihaela first appeared on television as a participant on Bulgarian X Factor in 2013 wherein she made it to the "Judges' Houses" stage, however, is most notable for her participation in the subsequent edition of X Factor as she finished a respectable 3rd place. Despite not winning X Factor, she signed a record deal with Virginia Records, one of the largest labels in Bulgaria associated with the likes of DARA and Eurovision singer Kristian Kostov, and released her debut single "Stapka Napred" (Step Forward), which skyrocketed to number 1 in Bulgaria and quickly became the most played song on Bulgarian radio and television. "Stapka Napred" is a modern and current number accompanied by impressive vocals which leave a mark on the listener making them want to click replay after the song gets stuck in their head

Croatia - Luminize

Marcela, Matilda, Irena and Tea are Luminize. These four ladies were born in Croatia and always persisted in developing their skills in pursuit of becoming better musicians and artists. The group have stated that they were inspired by their music teacher after he decided to start an all-boy band. Originally the group covered other rock bands such as Guns 'n' Roses and ACDC and quickly amassed a large fan base especially by performing at local gigs as well as the Croatian preliminaries of Eurovision. When singer Marcela joined the band back in 2010 the current line of the band was finalised. Their new song "Twighlight" talks about one's inner struggles and does it in a manner that instantly grabs one's attention due to the mysterious vocals as well as the carefully constructed music video showcasing the band's members in a monochrome setting with sudden flashes of colour.

Cyprus - Christiana Loizu

Christiana Louizu Hadjiordanou, also known as Christiana Loizu, is a Cypriot singer hailing from the city of Larnaca, Cyprus who rose to fame after winning the fourth season of X Factor Bulgaria ahead of Eurovision 2017 participant Kristian Kostov. Christiana grew up in Cyprus, however, moved to Bulgaria in 2007 so as to pursue her studies in Opera singing at the Sofia National Academy of Music. In 2014 she attempted to represent Cyprus in their return to the Eurovision Song Contest alongside Marina Moskofian, however, failed to advance to the final. In 2015 Christiana auditioned for X Factor Bulgaria, instead of British X Factor, and went on to win the competition. After winning the show, Christiana was considered as the representative for Bulgaria at Eurovision 2016, however, BNT ultimatelty chose Poli Genova as their entrant to the contest. Christiana went on to release her first and, to date, only single entitled Phoenix with the record label "Virginia Records, . "Phoenix" is a dramatic pop song which showcases Christiana's flawless vocals which took her to the victory in Bulgaria's X Factor and houses all of the elements for a perfect Eurovision song.

Czech Republic - Lucie Vondrackova

Lucie Vondrackova is a Czech singer and actress who has starred in various films, TV shows and numerous roles in theatre productions. Born in 1980 in Prague modern-day Czech Republic, Lucie began her career at the age of 11 after playing a role in a number of TV shows, howeve,r began singing two years later after signing to Tommy Records. Lucie was born to musical parents as her father was a musician himself and her mother was a respected lyricist in the former Czechoslovakia and this clearly shows when one looks at the number of appearances she has made on television as well as her impressive discography. One of her most famous songs "Zombie" which was released back in 2013 has over 4.5 million views on YouTube and is a lot of fun to listen to and to watch. The song is set in a misty room bathed in lights of varying colours and features Lucie herself accompanied by a few musicians behind her. "Zombie" starts of fairly slowly but once you reach the chorus, the song becomes instantaneously memorable and Lucie's movements and facial expression add to the song and make it just a little bit more interesting to watch.

Denmark - Eivor

Eivor Palsdottir, known professionally as just Eivor, is a singer-songwritier hailing from the small archipelago of the Faroe Islands. Eivor is most known for her unique voice and style of music as well as her wide interest in varying music genres spanning, rock, jazz, folk, pop and European classical music, The majority of her songs are sung in Faroese, a Germanic language not unlike Icelandic, with a few sung in English and Icelandic too. She began her music career at the young age of 13 when she had her first performance on television and won her first singing competition in the same year. Educated as a classical violinist, Eivor also sings with the Faroese Symphony orchestra and has collaborated with countless other musicians and has over ten albums under her belt released continuously over the past 15 years. Her most famous song on her YouTube channel at the moment is the magical and haunting "I Tokuni" which is sung in her native language, Faroese. The song is portrayed in monochrome, black and white colours and Eivor's wispy and mystical voice take you to another world and immerse you in a wave of striking sounds and instruments leaving you craving for more. Although the Faroe Islands aren't able to compete by themselves at Eurovision to date, we think it would be interesting to see Denmark showcasing the Faroese culture at the contest and Eivor would definitely bring something memorable and show stopping.

Estonia - ELYSA

Elisa Kolk, also known just as ELYSA, is an Estonian singer born in the city of Tartu in 1997, who you may remember from the 2015 edition of Eestil Laul, Estonia's National Final for Eurovision, where she finished in third place in the superfinal. After the national final, she went on to release a new song entitled "Vee Ja Taeva Piir" as well as numerous others in the years following. One of her most known songs is "Silence the Sirens, which was released at the end of August in 2016. The song features ELYSA in numerous outfits and styles, however, what is most capitivating about this song is its ability to win you over instantly. "Silence the Sirens" starts off rather simply but builds gradually to the chorus which takes you completely by surprise. Combine this with ELYSA's delicate and yet strong voice and you have a compelling combination perfect for mainstream radio.

Finland - Jenni Vartiainen

Finnish pop singer Jenni Vartiainen gained fame in her home country of Finland after she won the Finnish television talent reality show "Pop Stars" along with two other female vocalists. The victory of the three ladies led them to form a band called Gimmel which began releasing new songs and music at the beginning of 2002. Unfortunately the group didn't last very long, however Jenni pursued a solo career and today is one of the most famous singers in the whole of Finland with 3 albums under her belt - two of them reaching number one on the Finnish charts - as well as numerous singles all achieving a great amount of success in Finland. The majority of Jenni's songs are sung in Finnish, one of which being Junat Ja Naiset, shown above. This is one of Jenni's most famous songs and is an anthemic and inspirational pop song boasting a catchy chorus and compelling string instruments in the background.

France - Marina Kaye

Marina Delmas, better known by her stage-name Marina Kaye, is a French singer, songwriter and composer hailing from the southern city of Marseille. In 2011, at the age of 13, she took part and won the French talent show: "La France A Un Incroyable Talent", the French version of the "Got Talent" series after performing "Rolling In The Deep", "Set Fire to the Rain" and "Firework". Marina gained significant publicity after releasing her debut single "Homeless", which as of July 2017 has over 30 million views, and lead her to collaborate with famous artists such as Sia, who wrote the song "Freeze You Out" for Marina (shown above). The song showcases Marina's powerful vocals, enchanting voice and vocal capabilities which compile together into a dramatic and emotional song with a storied music video. Already at the young age of 19, Marina has released an album back in 2015 called Fearless which housed her most famous number "Homeless". Aside from producing music, Marina is also set to play a role in the upcoming TV-Show Papounet, showing that she is no stranger when it comes to appearing in front of millions of people.

If you want a short recap of all the songs and artists, be sure to have a look at the video on our YouTube channel with this edition's singers and countries

What do you think of our choices? Do you agree with them? Make sure to let us know and check out the next installment of our wishlist next week. In the meantime be sure to follow our social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube!

#Bulgaria #Croatia #Cyprus #CzechRepublic #Denmark #Estonia #Finland #France #Wishlist #Eurovision