Up Too Late: An Endless Search for Mr.Right & Other Important Things in Life

Labels: melancholy, music

I told myself so many times that long distance doesn't work for me [and it doesn't], yet here I am, in a pseudo long distance situation, dating a guy who's in Toronto, while I'm here, slaving away at my thesis, thousands of miles keeping us apart. I don't know how long I'll be able to go for before giving up on it, but it's good to know that someone's thinking of me. It's selfish, I'm selfish, but I can't help it.

Distant flickering, greener scenery.
This weather's bringing it all back again.
Great adventures, faces and condensation.
I'm going outside to take it all in.

Labels: men problems, music

Ever since Adelina Thaqi managed to get to my iPod playlist, her songs have always made their way into any mix I made - Je Vetem Ti (Only You) , Nje Here Ne Jete (Once in a Lifetime), S'mundem Me (I can't do it Anymore) , and then, more recently, Me Do Mua (Love me) and Kontrast, have left me thinking how much more creative this girl can get.

The daughter of Rasim Thaqi, a Kosovar comedian known as Cima and a favourite of any slapstick comedy fans, Adelina turned out to be nothing like him. She most recently won the Bruna Spiler Music Contest for singers from the Balkans when she performed arias from some prominent operas.

I was just listening to her song, Sonte (Tonight), which I love. I'm less fond of the Latin American soap opera clothes she's wearing in the video [below].

Labels: favourite music, Kosova, Kosovo, mp3, music, muzike

Directed by the Academy Award nominated director Steven Cantor, "James Blunt: Return to Kosovo" is a moving medley of James Blunt's songs and his memories of Kosovo in 1999, when he happened to be part of the first group of 50 soldiers to enter the war-ravaged land.


In 2006, Blunt returned to Kosovo, to see how much has changed since he returned from his mission of defending the border between Kosovo and Serbia. Blunt finds that lots of things have indeed changed for the better.

One of the most difficult bits for me to watch in the documentary is the discussion Blunt has with one of his interpreters about the interpreter's father, whose bones were found six years after he went missing. Blunt's abrupt change of topics was a little distracting: He turns to the girl next to him and asks her about her family.

While I appreciate that this documentary was a commercial device for creating a James Blunt fan machine, it had lots of genuine emotion. It was raw, emotional, and, most of all, honest. Maybe I like James Blunt just a hint more thanks to this doc. Damn the media team for James Blunt! :)

Labels: documentary, Kosova, Kosovo, music

The winner of this year's Eurovision is Serbia, in its first year as an independent country (Last year, due to arguments re: who would represent Serbia & Montenegro in the contest, the country didn't participate). I didn't expect the 23-year old Marija Serifovic's Molitva [Prayer] to win, as it was just another sad ballad.

[To download all versions, including the dance remix of the song, go to the Serbian Eurovision site here and click on "all versions of Molitva" on the left.]

And the dancing? Aside from the Dolce&Gabbana suits [which looked amazing on the girls], there wasn't much dancing, and I think the conservative nature of the performance may have helped Serifovic in getting where she wanted to get.

The song, a sad cry for a lover who has left, was well-complemented by the supporting singers, which also did a bit of moving around, something which BBC's Mark Savage called "a slow-motion lesbian porn film".

Marija's deep and moving voice seems to have resonated across Europe and if anything, her on-stage performance helped her act.

Serifovic looks like a super-butch lesbian, and she is one, according to Kurir, a Serbian entertainment magazine, which published this article in 2004 about Marija's coming out to her father. The article is about an ad that supposedly showed up on gay-serbia.com. Serifovic refuses to acknowledge that it was she who posted the ad, as apparently she "cares not for computers and technology". "Besides", the article states "Marija told her father that she is attracted to the same sex and her father supported her, which is not surprising, as the two have always been close and have always had a good relationship". The article states Marija's mother's reaction to her coming out is not known. Verica Serifovic, Marija's mother, is a well-known turbo folk singer in Serbia.

Marija's voice is so touching. I somehow feel closer to her, now that I know she's gay, too. :)

The runner-up to the winner was Ukraine's drag queen Verka Serdyuchka, (who looks handsome when not in drag), the very one I thought was terrible in my review of this year's Eurovision. Third place went to Russia's Serebro, which was good, but never as good as Turkey's Kenan Dogulu, which got the fourth position on the contest. [Rapidshare mp3 link here) .

To find out the rest about other Eurovision winners, visit here.

For those of you who watched Eurovision, you may have noticed a funny trend during the semi-finals and finals...Red was the colour of this year's contest.

P.S: Here's a remix of Molitva

Labels: Eurovision, lesbian, music, Russia, Serbia, Turkey

After an exciting semi-finals evening in Helsinki, Europeans voted for the following as the 10 finalists for Saturday [in addition to those who qualified last year]. I have placed in bold the names of the countries I WANTED to win tonight, and just below that, the list of countries I would have voted for, had I had the chance to do it.

1.Belarus

2.Macedonia

3.Slovenia

4.Hungary

5.Georgia

6.Latvia

7.Serbia

8.Bulgaria

9.Turkey

10.Moldova


------

My favourites from this year's Eurovision Semi-finals:

1.Belarus

2.Bulgaria

3.Albania

4.Netherlands

5.Denmark

6.Serbia

7.Portugal

8.Macedonia

9.Turkey

10.Austria

Labels: Eurovision, Helsinki, music

Eurovision finals are on in two days. It's become a tradition for me to write about Eurovision on this blog. Here are my thoughts on some of this year's performers:

Albania - Aida & Frederik Ndoci - Hear my Plea
-This man should not have been chosen to represent Albania in Eurovision. Not only does his voice scare me, but his look [hair looks like he has a wig on, the goatee makes me think he's a member of the Albanian mafia, the red suit is just too unattractive, and don't even get me started on his English accent] is terrible. I wish Eliza Hoxha, who was dropped from the Albanian Eurovision finals, had been chosen. I chose one of her songs for my favourite songs in Albanian post a few months ago. Her song Hajde Sonte [mp3 link] should have made it to Eurovision, but sadly, the Albanian public chose Mr.Albanian mafia and his deadly [literally] ballad. See the winning entry below and decide for yourself.



Armenia - Hayko - Anytime You Need
-Armenia's entry this year may qualify for next year's competition and that way continue to compete for the finals, but I don't think the song will win. It's terribly haunting, which I love, and the video is great, but I am thinking Europe may be tired of sad songs. The last few years have seen a number of sad song winners, so something tells me this year may be the year of the change. Watch the video...it all happens in a room, but it's a beautiful song and a beautiful performance.



Bosnia & Herzegovina - Marija Sestic - Rijeka Bez Imena [Nameless River]
-Marija Sestic has a great voice, the song is super melancholic and sad [just the way I like them], but I don't get the video. The song is about a woman who mourns for the man who left her. The video is not that related to the subject matter. What's with motorbikes, ugly ships and children playing volleyball on them? BiH will probably get through the 14 qualifying semi-finalists, though. I would still vote for this song.


Bulgaria - Elitsa Todorova & Stoyan Yankoulov - Voda [Water]
-Wow! This year's song is an unusual entry for Bulgaria, which always does its best to have very Western songs. This year's entry, a dance ethno mix, is one of my favourites. I love Bulgarian ethnic singing and when it is combined with dance rhythms, it makes a great shake-it mix. The video is slightly on the odd side, but I love the use of the national instruments. I hope this song gets in!


Denmark - DQ - Drama Queen
Hmmm...I thought after all the hype, this song would be something good to listen to. It turns out, it's slightly trashy, make that very trashy. It's just something Denmark would come up with. The song sticks to you, but the video is just too much...ack to the silver curtains and pink crowns. I feel like a drama queen just watching it.


France - Les Fatals Picards - L'amour à la Française
This entry is terrible, but it's far too funny not to mention. You just need to give it a listen.


Macedonia - Karolina - Mojot Svet [My World]
This year, Macedonia has made an effort to bring in some of its ethnic rhythms by introducing to the rest of Europe a song that has a traditional song mixed in with a turbo folk'ish song that promotes a message of peace in the world, something that may bring it points in the Balkans. The lyrics of the refrain are about a world in which the singer sees herself as living in peace with others because in her world, there is no religion,there are no borders. All there is, is a Balkanic soul. You got dat' right, dawg. [The video is terrible].


Germany - Roger Cicero - Frauen Regier'n die Welt
I don't know if this political commentary or not. Germany's 2007 entry is titled "Women rule the world". I liked this entry. Germany liked it. Angela Merkel probably did too. Let's hope the women of the world [or at least Europe] vote for it.


Greece - Sarbel - Yassou Maria
Greece has had a good tradition of bringing in good entries to Eurovision and this year is no exception. Yassou Maria is full of rhythm, movement and dance, with hints of Greek/Turkish melody. I can't recall if I heard bouzouki somewhere in the song. The video is terrible, done in the musical, 50s Hollywood style, but the dancers and Sarbel are not bad, not bad at all.


Israel - Teapacks - Push the Button
Extremely political, totally depressing and hopefully not a qualifying song. The melody is great, but the lyrics ["If someone makes an error /He's gonna blow us up to biddy biddy kingdom come / There are some crazy rulers / They hide and try to fool us"] sound far too much like propaganda. The video is ok, though.


Netherlands - Edsilia Rombley - On Top of The World
I think the reason why I'd vote for Edsilia is because she sounds so much like Toni Braxton in her early days. Rombley's voice is great for top 40 stations. I don't think she could reach world fame or anything. On Top of The World may get to the top of the charts at Eurovison.


Russia - Serebro - Song #1
Great song, great video, it just may win. ;)


Turkey - Kenan Dogulu - Shake it up shekerim [my sweetie]
Usually Kenan Dogulu sings amazingly well. I don't know what happened to him in this song. I appreciate the little medley of Turkish melodies throughout the song, though.The video is great, though...If you don't watch anything else, watch this video ;)


Ukraine - Verka Serduchka - Dancing Lasha Tumbai
I don't get this song or video, but it's so worth seeing!!!

Labels: Europe, Eurovision, music