The English Sides - Hungary, Croatia, and Slovenia
In the next few weeks and months this page will change to give you
the chance to meet again the stars of the 1997 contest. Thirteen of
the twenty-five songs have English versions and I intend to feature
them all. Today, I have added Hungary to this page of Croatia and Slovenia.
Hungary: Miert kell, hogy elmenj - V.I.P.
V.I.P
are Imre and Viktor Rakonczai, Alex Jozsa and Gergo Racz. V.I.P.'s
Eurovision song is being requested over and over on Hungarian radio.
The average age of linre, Viktor, Alex and Gergo is 20, and the boys
are all singers and multi-instrumentalists who write, compose and
arrange all their own songs. All four are studying music. Their debut
album is about to be released on the BMG Ariola label. The group is
backed by one of Hungary's leading management companies, R-Go, Manhanan.
VIKTOR RAKONCZAI was born in Budapest, Hungary, on October 16, 1976.
He began playing piano at the age of 13. Four years later he started
to work for Yamaha Instruments where he demonstrated electric
keyboards at music schools and exhibitions. He composes music and
studies in the Hungarian Academy of Music.
KRISZTINA
BOKOR FEKETE was born in Budapest, Hungary, on 12 May, 1970.
Krisztina graduated as a journalist in 1996 from the University of
Budapest and is continuing her studies at the University of Pedagogy.
She has been writing lyrics since 1992 and has received five 'Gold'
records for her songs.
On the right is the cover of V.I.P.'s debut album, which has been a
major hit in Hungary. Although the album contains the Eurovision Song
Contest Song, the English version is only found on the promotional
single, which I could not find in the record shops of Budapest in August.
Download the English version 60 seconds MPEG-3 (450K)
"WHY DO YOU HAVE TO GO?"
Music: Viktor Rakonczai/Sandor Jozsa
Lyrics: Krisztina Bokor/Anila Környei
How should I tell you that it was all real?
anything I should ask, you would not reply
you took another road, keep waiting for somebody new...
Croatia: Probudi me - ENI
The
ENI song is only available on a mini album CD, which includes a
CD-ROM movie of the video, and the performance in the Croatian
National final, the Dora. The CD is not a promotional one, and is
widely available in Croatia.
ENI is an acronym for the names Elena Tomecek, Nikolina Tomljanovic,
lvana Maricic and Iva Mocibob. These four girls have been singing
together far the past four years. They started out as solo singers in
the Putokazi choir out of which came the sextet PUT which represented
Croatia at the 1993 Eurosong with Don't Ever Cry. Elena is in her
last year of secondary school and comes from Rijeka, Nikolina is a
student and lvona and Iva are in their third year of secondary school
on Susak. The girls are good friends. lvona and Iva are in the same
class and Iva and Elena attend the School of Music in Rijeka. They
first appeared as ENI in 1995 at the Blue Pearl of Rovinj contest
These energetic young ladies will appear in Dublin with a song
written by Davor Tolja. Their vocals and choreography, as well as
flair, freshness and youth, are bound to capture the sympathy of Europe.
DAVOR
TOLJA was born in Rijeka in 1957, and graduated from Rijeka College
of Engineering's department of naval architecture. He has played
keyboards with bands such as Vrijeme i zemlja and Termiti, and began
his career as a composer with the band Denis & Denis, whose album
Cuvaj Se was voted the top album of its year.
ALIDA SARAR was born in Rijeka in 1961, and graduated fiom the
Nautical Academy's maritime traffic department, and from the Teacher
Training College's department of fine arts. She has written songs
with Davor Tolja since 1989.
This is the cover of the Putokazi allbum 'Zemlja', and the girls from
ENI form a major part of the voices is this rather new age ethnic CD.
'Probudi me' would seem well out of place in this album, but it is
very interesting
Download the English version (Wake me up) 60 seconds MPEG-3 (450K)
"WAKE ME UP"
Music: Davor Tolja
Lyrics: Alida Sarar
I don't need any gifts or flowers
to start me up today
I need someone to pull the trigger
and drive the sleep away
Slovenia: Zbudi se - Tanja Ribic
TANJA RIBIC was born on June 28th, 1968 in a mining town called
Trbovlje. As a child, she was fond of singing, but despite her
appearance, she was even more fond of soccer.
In high school, she sang in a music group and later studied drama at
the University of Ljubljana.
As a sophomore, she was given roles in the most important
professional Slovene theatres. Her first role was that of Marlene
Dietrich and while impersonating her, Tanja had the opportunity to
show her singing abilities. She graduated in 1991 and started a job
at the Civic Theatre of Ljubljana, the most successful theatre in
Slovenia. In the recent years, Tanja became one of the best actors in
this theatre, famous for her interpretation of character roles, as
well as her roles in comedies. She has also received awards for her
film roles.
As for her singing career, she had only sung in musicals until she
was invited to sing at the presentation of the Slovene media awards
in spring, 1996. The song she sang was called Simpatija and was
written by Sasa Losic who also wrote the song Zbudi se.
The
Slovene audience were very enthusiastic about the song and by
telepolling chose it for the Slovene entry of the Eurosong Contest in
Dublin. Tanja won over a dozen of famous Slovene performers.
A great inspiration in Tanja's work is her 7 month daughter. (born in
September 1996).
SASA LOSIC was born in Bosnia in 1964. He composes pop and
ethnicmusic, also writing scores the theatre plays and films. He led
a group described as one of the cultural phenomena of the 1980s,
Plavi Orkestar (The Blue Orchestra), who were greeted with
teenybopper hysteria He has sold a total of four million albums,
received numerous awards, and given 1,500 concerts around the world.
ZORAN PREDIN is a musician, poet and songwriter who has written many
scores for Slovene films, TV series and plays, as well as popular
songs. His anti-establishment group Lacni Franz (Hungry Franz) was a
hit in the former Yugoslavia. He has recorded nine LPs and five CDs.
Download the English version 60 seconds MPEG-3 (450K)
"WAKEN NOW"
Music : Sasa Losic
Lyrics: Zoran Predin
Somewhere at the town's end, there an old house sleeps
And at the ninth window maiden waits and weeps
Golden moon, counting, counting all her bitter tears
Night still hides them, almost like her fears...
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