europopped

Good morning, Europe. I know it's cold where you are, but it's likely colder in Estonia. But that's ok! Because Cat Eye, aka Margaret, is going to heat up all of the EU and soon. This woman is new-ish on the scene and lately she's burning up Tallinn with two clips that dropped last month and are just about the best thing out of Estonia since Kerli. First up is Margaret's dubstep-influenced "Sundance," which is a one-take clip. A simply amazing song. More recent and just as good is "Ride," which Margaret does under the name Cat Eye. "Ride" is in the top 20 of the semifinals of Eesti Laul 2012 - the Estonian competition to determine this year's participant in the Eurovision Song Contest. The song competes 10th and is the last song in the 2nd semifinal show, which goes down 2/25. Everyone pray to the pop Jesus she wins, because Margaret is fucking fantastic. See below (both clips directed by Ergo Kuld, both tracks produced by Karel Kattai).

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She's back and back in a big way. Today, Hungarian singer Tóth Gabi revealed her new clip for "Nem Kell Végszó" and it's looking fantastic. I've covered Gabi before on this blog and she's always struck me as one that could break out of Budapest if she ever sang in English. She's looking kind of Medina-esque in this new clip and this song represents the people's choice so far in Hungary to represent them at Eurovision in 2012 (she is one of four remaining possibles to rep the country at ESC). Anyway, the song is about a breakup of sorts and it's quite passionate. I translated as few of the lyrics and they go like this: "You do not have to chase me/not your heart be not be so!/You do not need cue/do not have to call me!  Flames of fire, there was passion/Today, the desire is not running/there is no you and me."

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So this year well-known Estonian pop singer Mia is competing in the Baltic nation's annual Eesti Laul competition, the winner of which goes on to represent Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest. It's not surprising at all that Mia is in the mix to rep the country at ESC, she's on the radio all the time there. What is surprising, however, is the song the singer is going in with this year. "Bon Voyage" is an unusally good house/dubstep/pop fusion with a hook that might make some Swedes jealous. If this ends up winning at Eesti Laul, it would not only herald the arrival of house music in earnest at the competition, but it would also signal the start of house/dubstep-esque offerings becoming possible contenders at Eurovision, a true sea change for the festival that's mostly known as a place to hear more traditional rock and pop songs (though rap has been making inroads the past few years). Check out "Bon Voyage," written by Vahur Valgmaa, below and let's see how it does (Eesti Laul begins February 18th). UPDATE: A video has been released 2/16/12. It's below.

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I've been just stunned at the poor choices Austria has this year for their possibles to rep Vienna at the annual Eurovision Song Contest this year. We've got a drag queen. We've got an electro-rap act that has good songs, but the one they chose for ESC 2012 is awful. And the list goes on. However, there is one jam that everyone can agree might not embarrass Austria: !DelaDap's "Crazy Swing." The tune is very much in keeping with Austria's newfound love of updated takes on swing music (see Parov Stelar's "Catgroove") and it might be enough to win over everyone. But !Deladap are not really that well known. And electro rappers Trackshittaz are huge in Austria with many young female fans (and they just signed with Sony Music Germany). Who knows what will happen, but let's pray that the song below becomes the official 2012 ESC anthem for Austria.

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As soon as I heard this song I re-tweeted Ivi Adamou last week when it dropped. Great tune that has generated a lot of excitement among those who follow the annual Eurovision Song Contest. I've written about Ivi before, but this new song of hers (one of three she is deciding between for ESC) is made of win. Today, the Cypriot singer debuted a studio video of the track so if you haven't yet heard it, take a listen below. Simply a lovely pop song (written by Alex Papaconstantinou, Bjorn Djupstrom, Alexandra Zakka and Viktor Svensson) that might do well in Baku later this year at ESC should this end up being the song she sings in the competition. Later this month a televised show in Cyprus where the public and a jury vote, will determine if this song or one of the others will head to ESC along with Ivi.

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