OGAE Home Composed Song Contest 2008

The 17th edition of the OGAE Home Composed Song Contest for amateur composers, lyricists and singers takes place this year, virtually hosted from Hamburg by Stefan Engel, winner of the 2007 edition. The deadline for the submission of the songs is 12th October2008.

Read more HERE

For more information visit the contest’s official site, here.

Malta Song Board to fall under PBS

The responsibilities of the Malta Song Board will now be handed over to the PBS, as a new Board of Directors, headed by Dr. Clare Thake Vassallo has been appointed.Dr. Vassallo, who has already served on the Board for several years, is a senior lecturer at the Department of Translation and Interpretation within the Faculty of Arts.

She joined the Board in the year 2000, where she served for four years, after joining again in 2005 and was in charge of the restructuring of children’s programs on TVM.

Other members of the board include Joseph Bonello, Lara Tonna, Josef N. Grech and Isabelle Gatt.

Meanwhile, it was also announced, that the Malta Song Board will not be re-appointed.

Instead, the Board’s responsibility will fall under the remit of the PBS.

READ MORE....


source:OGAEMalta

Possible collaboration between Mihai Traistariu and Claudia Faniello

OGAEMALTA.com contacted Claudia Faniello's manager Trevor Fenech of Bubbles Entertainment to follow the story about a possible collaboration between the Romanian singer and composer, Mihai Traistariu and the local singer, Claudia Faniello.

Claudia, who is currently on a cruise as part of a realtiy show produced by Where's Everybody, is still awaiting an official invitation by the Romanian composer to finalise the deal proposed by Mihai himself.

In a recent press release, Mihai informed the international media that he has set his eyes on the Maltese singer, Claudia Faniello for whom he would like to write Malta's winning song for Eurovision 2009. "Claudia can win Eurovision with such a song", had commented a very optimistic Mihai.

"We are still waiting for the deal to start", confirmed Mr Fenech, "This is not the first time that Mihai has proposed us such a collaboration, however some 'interferences' from third parties set obstacles along the way. We are hoping that this time Mihai will keep his promise and come forward with his proposal", stated Claudia's manager.

On speaking with OGAEMALTA.com, Mr Fenech explained that Claudia is considering all possible options for her participation in next year's Malta Song for Europe. "She might not even participate! It is still early in the day", concluded Mr Fenech, who is quite aware that Claudia is being tipped as one of the hot favourites to win next year's Malta Song for Europe following her 2nd and 3rd place at the MSFE 2008.

In the meantime, Claudia Faniello's CARAVAGGIO will represent OGAE MALTA at the OGAE SECOND CHANCE CONTEST 2008, following a vote held among the members of OGAE MALTA.




source and photo: OGAE MALTA

Why Malta is not taking part in the Eurovision Dance Contest?

OGAE Malta reports:

OGAE Malta, the official Eurovision fan club, which is affiliated to OGAE International, has asked the Maltasong board and the administration of the Public Broadcasting Services to explain why Malta did not apply to take part in the first Eurovision dance contest, which will be held on 1 September this year.

OGAE Malta believes that this could have been a golden opportunity for professional Maltese dancers to compete against other professionals from around Europe and show their talents in this dance competition.

OGAE Malta also believes that the exercise could help the Maltasong board team, as the local delegation for the Eurovision Song Contest, to build stronger ties with other European members of the European Broadcasting Union.

Malta would eventually benefit from such ties in all the competitions held by EBU – the Eurovision Song Contest, the Junior Eurovision and now the Eurovision Dance Contest.

So far, no reaction was received from neither the Maltasong Board nor the PBS Administration.

source:OGAE Malta.com

Dana International wins the OGAE Israel preselection

Dana International is the winner of the OGAE Israel selection for the OGAE International contest of OGAESC 2007 with the song Hakol Ze Letova t Dana International ranked 1st with 261 pts while Sarit Hadat (2002 Israeli entrant) came 2nd with 189 points.

Listen the song here

source:OGAE Israel

Help OGAE Israel pick their entry for the OGAE Song Contest 2007

Source:OGAE Malta

OGAE Israel is happy to invite you to help them choose their entry for OGESC 2007.

"Sabress" is the name of our pre-selection for the Ogae song contest 2007 & it's the second year of that format. From a total entries of 30 and after 3 semi-finals OGAE Israel got to the final stage: the BIG FINAL!

Below is the link to the final in which you can watch the competing entries via youtube and cast your votes!Please be kind enough to forward this message to your friends.
http://forums.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=499797

OGAE Israel thanks you for your co-operation and may the best song win!

OGAE Video Contest 2007

For the first time in its history the OGAE Video Contest, which is organised this time by OGAE Italy, reaches a record number of 22 participating countries.

So far, seven countries have submitted their entries and the running order has been decided.

The running order for this year's OGAE Video Contest is as follows:

France- Christophe Willem - Double Je
Poland
Ukraine
The Netherlands
Germany
Andorra
F.Y.R. Macedonia - Dani - Red Rain
Israel
Moldova - Olia Tira - Your place or mine
Turkey
Serbia
Austria
Estonia
Portugal Monica Sintra - Esqueci de lembrar de mim
Italy
Malta
Latvia - Lauris Reiniks - Nakts Veikalà
Rest of the World/Namibia
Greece - Mple - Ton idio to Theo
Ireland - Dolores O'Riordan - Ordinary Day
Slovenia
Russia

The deadline set for the submission of the videos is September 1. For more information you can visit the OVC site by clicking here.

France - Christophe Willem

sources:esctoday.com;OVC 2007 Official Website

OGAE Greece new board

OGAE Greece have elected their new board. With the exception of the current president, Antonis Karatzikos, and vice-president, Kostas Zisis, the rest of the new board consists of new members.

The new OGAE Greece board consists of:

Antonis Karatzikos, president

Kostas Zisis, Vice president

Helena Papadopoulou, Secretary General

Panyiotis Lapas, Treasurer

Babis Grammatikopoulos, Rest of Greece and Europe Communications Officer

Giorgos Kalpakidis, Public Relations Officer

Andreas Kalaitzis, Festival and Entertainment officer

The new board will currently be working on the organisation of the 2007 OGAE Song Contest, which came to Greece from Italy as Helena Paparizou won last year with Mambo. The contest will be presented both in English and French and the board are in search of the presenters.

source:esctoday.com;OGAE Greece

photo:OGAE Greece

OGAE Luxembourg Eurovision convention

esctoday.com reports:

OGAE Luxemburg are organising a Eurovision Song Contest convention in the hope to raise enough interest in the European microstate for the local broadcaster to join the contest once again. The convention will take place on 22nd September.

Luxembourg, despite its small size can boast an impressive record of five Eurovision Song Contest victories over the years. They were one of the first countries to join in 1956 and they left the contest in 1994, not to return since.

The local OGAE club, in an effort to show the existing interest in the contest and pressure the local broadcaster to reconsider, is organising a convention on September 22nd.

Members of all local media have been invited to attend.

The meeting will be preceded by a Eurovision evening with live singing by the invited artists. Anne Marie David, the 1973 winner, has already confirmed her participation and more artists are expected to join. On Saturday, a great number of activities has been planned for attending fans including a karaoke contest, open to everybody, a quiz, a tombola, disco night and more. The proceeds will go to charity.

If you wish to contact OGAE Luxembourg or any other OGAE club around Europe email ogae@esctoday.com

The new OGAE International Co-ordinator spoke to esctoday

Antonis Karatzikos, president of OGAE Greece, has been elected as the new International Coordinator of OGAE International. He will serve a two year term as a result of the recent elections held by OGAE presidents on 1st and 15th June.

esctoday.com spoke with the new OGAE IC in Athens to congratulate him on his election. Antonis spoke to esctoday about his plans for the immediate future, about his ambition to help found an OGAE club in every single participating country, about his expectations for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade and his views on the voting system.

"Let's discuss the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade

There are very high expectations for this next Eurovision Song Contest. First of all, it will be held in a very large stadium, so there will be a lot more fans present. It will be the biggest, or second biggest contest in history. If there are 15.000 seats it will be the second largest after Copenhagen, still it is huge. Consequently, the OGAE share of tickets will be larger, so more fans will travel to Belgrade. That means that we need to be much better organised this year. "

Read full interview HERE

New team heads OGAE France

On Sunday June 24th,OGAE France held its annual board meeting in Paris and completely renewed the board.

After 2 years of flawless work, Alex (the President), Patrice (the Treasurer) and Alain (the Secretary) decided to stop their activities. However they of course remain members of the French club.

Elections took place which resulted in a new board. Mathieu Kroon was elected the new President of Ogae-France. Mathieu is a young (22) and dynamic person with a very European background (he has origins from the Netherlands, Germany and Spain!). Jean-Louis Camet was appointed as the new treasurer and Francis Soghomonian as the new secretary.

The magazine of the French club (Cocoricovision) was also subject to changes. After 5 years of brilliant work, Alex Rouffignac decided to stop his work and Ethan Marchand is now the chief editor.

OGAE France hold several events during the year for their members. To join OGAE France, or for more information, email ogae@esctoday.com.

source:esctoday.com

Antonis Karatzikos:"OGAE is a large, loving family".

Antonis Karatzikos, president of OGAE Greece, has been elected as the new International Coordinator of OGAE International. He will serve a two year term as a result of the recent elections held by OGAE presidents on 1st and 15th June.

esctoday.com spoke with the new OGAE IC in Athens to congratulate him on his election. Antonis spoke to us about his plans for the immediate future, about his ambition to help found an OGAE club in every single participating country, about his expectations for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade and his views on the voting system. The full interview will be published later tonight on esctoday.com.

The new OGAE International Coordinator also has a message for the readers of esctoday.com - especially those not in one of the OGAE clubs yet- is this: “OGAE is a large, loving family. We do things about and for the Eurovision Song Contest 12 months a year and we have a great time! It is really worth for someone to join and experience the whole thing from within.”

source:esctoday.com

OGAE UK set for Birmingham Bash 2

The UK branch of OGAE are repeating the successful event of 2006 with the announcement of Birmingham Bash 2 on Saturday 6th October. The event is open to members and non-members and will be happy to accept members of other OGAE clubs from abroad too.

For the second consecutive year, organisers have chosen Birmingham, the host city of the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest, and one of the United Kingdom's most central points as the location for the fan club's annual get-together. Birmingham Bash 2 will take place at Jury's Inn Hotel on Broad Street.

Amongst the day's activities will be a Weakest Link style quiz, an intriguing Eurovision style contest, a glitzy Awards ceremony with special 'Stars in their Eyes' performances and a fantastic disco. And, in the year when the UK sent its 50th entry to the Contest, the Bash will welcome a number of special guests to talk about their experiences of representing the UK. The names of the special guests will be announced shortly.

Paul Marks-Jones, one of the team putting Birmingham Bash 2 together, said: "OGAE (UK), the UK Eurovision fan club, is delighted to be hosting its annual celebration of all things Eurovision in Birmingham for the 2nd consecutive year. In 2006 nearly 100 fans descended on the city and had a great time. This year's Bash promises to be a day full of fun and excitement, and no Eurovision follower can afford to miss it!"

source:OGAE Malta;

Antonis Karatzikos elected as the new co-ordinator of OGAE International

OGAE Malta reports:

Antonis Karatzikos, club president of OGAE Greece has been elected as the new co-ordinator of OGAE International.

The election was held 1st and 15th June, with all OGAE clubs with full membership rights requested to cast their votes for their favourite candidate out of the 4 who presented their nominations. Antonis Karatzikos won the majority of votes and was declared as the new International Co-ordinator of the OGAE Network.

The other candidates were Simon Bennett (OGAE UK), Miroslav Luburic (OGAE Serbia) and Roi Yechezkel (OGAE Israel).

Antonis Karatzikos is the sixth International Co-ordinator of the OGAE Network, the fourth to be elected through a voting. This is the second time for Antonis to serve in this post.

Back in 2005, following Greece's triumph in the contest and following the unexpected resignation of the former IC Aykut Berber from Turkey, there was a need for an immediate replacement. Antonis volunteered to take his place and started working with the rest of the Greek Board, being a permanent I.C. for 9 months.

Following a decision by the OGAE presidents board present in Helsinki, a new election was held on June 2007. Mr. Antonis Karatzikos (OGAE Greece) will serve as the new co-ordinator of OGAE International for a 2-year period till June 2009.

Antonis plans as the new OGAE IC for the following years include the setting up of a new OGAE Website with participation of all clubs in designing and functioning; the upcoming OGAE contests; stronger and more intense relationship with leading Eurovision websites and the EBU and possible ways for closer co-operation between OGAE clubs making OGAE more democratic.

OGAE MALTA sends its best wishes to the new OGAE International Co-ordinator and looks forward to extend its co-operation with all the members of the OGAE Network for the benefit of all the local and international Eurovision fans and artistes.