Eurovision Update ~ Mary Strickler
I have renamed Our Mary S. She has been sending me everything about Eurovision except where the restrooms are located! So here is some current Eurovision news brought to you by Mary “Snoop the Scoop” Strickler. ~Marie
OGAE
Further information: OGAE
Organisation Générale des Amateurs de l’Eurovision (more commonly known as OGAE) is an international organisation that was founded in 1984 in Savonlinna, Finland by Jari-Pekka Koikkalainen.[86] The organisation consists of a network of over 40 Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs across Europe and beyond, and is a non-governmental, non-political, and non-profit company.[87] In what has become an annual tradition for the OGAE fan clubs, a voting poll will be opened from 1 May 2015 allowing members from forty clubs to vote for their favourite songs of the 2015 contest.[88] The table below will show the top five overall results, as the votes are cast.[89]
| Country | Performer(s) | Song | OGAE result[89] |
|---|---|---|---|
 Sweden |
Måns Zelmerlöw | “Heroes” | 113 |
 Italy |
Il Volo | “Grande amore” | 100 |
 Estonia |
Elina Born & Stig Rästa | “Goodbye to Yesterday” | 90 |
 Slovenia |
Maraaya | “Here for You” | 63 |
 Norway |
Mørland & Debrah Scarlett | “A Monster Like Me” | 55 |
I have read that Sweden is expected to win, but I think that may have been put out by Sweden fans. I wonder if any Flight Crew members have friends or family in the participating countries that can be encouraged to vote and vote for Il Volo. I have friends in Scotland and I think I will try to brainwash them.
Also, I looked up previous Eurovision winners and found 3 that I knew of: Celine Dion in 1988 singing Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi. I don’t know what that translates to in English maybe Don’t Party Without Me. (trying to be funny) but will look it up. Also, ABBA won in 1974 singing Waterloo (I know that song). And, last, LuLu from the UK wining in 1969 singing Boom Bang-a-Bang. Know of her but never heard of the song.
That is about all I have right now.
Mary
“Something is Happening Here!”
“Something is happening here!” is the first line of a comment Kitty wrote on my post the other day, “To: The Flight Crew”. The post was about welcoming Jim and Margaret to the Crew. Comments 30-36 were so profound that I didn’t want anyone to miss them. So, here they are…
I love this site. I certainly love Our Guys! And I am, most assuredly, proud to know all of you.
~Marie
Danielle’s Diaries
Il Volo fan and college student. Her experience following Il Volo
Ciao guys! Sorry I haven’t written recently, it is the end of the semester for me and I’m in the middle of prepping for finals. As I’m typing this I’m sitting here proctoring an exam for General Chemistry because I work as a Teacher’s Assistant. The freshmen in Gen. Chem and the other upperclassmen TA’s have grown to like Il Volo since I play their songs every week in lab. So far Beautiful Day and Surrender are the favorites. I haven’t actually had that much time to listen to the guys these past few weeks since I’ve been so busy, some nights I’m only getting 2 or 3 hours of sleep! I can’t believe I’m almost done with my second year of college! I never would have been able to do it without the guys music, it is seriously the only thing that gets me through my bad days. I know that no matter how stressful a class is or how hard an exam was, the beautiful music of Il Volo will always cheer me up and calm me down. Currently favorite song has been Romantica followed closely by Grande Amore, which is probably because my friendship with a guy I like keeps growing and growing, my friends believe he likes me back. Every time I talk to him Romantica plays in my head and I more deeply appreciate all the beautiful love songs the guys have sung. Canzone Per Te is also high on my list now after the release of that AMAZING music video! I showed it to my friends, and they adored it too. They said they are very quickly losing their hearts to these amazing Italians just like I have.
One quick story for you guys, last weekend was absolutely GORGEOUS! Saturday hit 75 degrees so we were spending the day outside in the sun. Around mid-day we decided to take a study break and go to the local ice cream place for some ice cream. My one friend told me to run grab one of my Il Volo CDs since it’s about a 15min drive. So I grabbed We Are Love and we popped it in. We had a minivan full of girls driving down the road with the windows down and blasting Il Volo, it was great! We listened to Beautiful Day, Surrender, Little Things, I Bring You To My Senses, and Historia De Un Amor. You should have heard all of us yelling out the lyrics and laughing and being crazy, it was the most fun we had all week! If only the guys could have joined us, I’m sure they would have loved to have ice cream with 8 crazy college girls, don’t you think? Haha!
Well I’ve got to go now, time to collect the students exams! Until next time, Ciao ragazzi!! Ti voglio bene!
Watch Il Volo Worldwide Streaming and a poll
Thanks for the lead Gina. Don’t forget to scroll down to the red paragraph! ~Marie
UPDATE: it seems there’s some scheduling conflicts. Italy has a Meet and Greet with the press scheduled at the same time on May 17th. We’ll have to wait until it’s closer to the date and we find out for certain.
The Flight will perform on May 17 at the Vienna Staatsoper
Good news for fans of Flight . A few days before the ‘ Eurovision Song Contest , Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto and Gianluca Ginoble will perform in the magnificent setting of the Vienna State Opera , the most famous theater in the Austrian capital that will host the European song contest.
The performance will take place in the show Pop Meets Opera , a very special matinee scheduled May 17 at 12 am to be attended by big names work as Plácido Domingo andJuan Diego Flórez and the ensemble The Philharmonics (or musicians of ‘orchestra of the State Opera / Vienna Philharmonic) but also people linked to the world of Eurovision as Conchita Wurst , winner of 2014.
On stage also some singers in the competition in the current festival, which kicks off May 19 to 23. The news today Verdens Gang , the most widely read newspaper in Norway, announcing the presence of the candidates Norwegian Mørland & Debrah Scarlettalong with those of The Flight to Italy, John Karayannis for Cyprus, Nina Sublatti for Georgia, Molly Sterling for Ireland and Boggie for Hungary.
The online travel guide of the city of Vienna ( wien.info/it ) also announces the procedures for the event:
The event will be televised by the Austrian channel ORF III at 20.15 within the programErlebnis Bühne . But the matinee can be seen streaming worldwide, without time constraints and free of charge, through the portal www.staatsoperlive.com .
Pop meets Opera will also be transmitted outdoors in the square in front of the Vienna State Opera, under the ” Oper live am Platz “.
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Plus, WIWIBLOGGS have another poll:
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Poll: Who is your favourite automatic qualifier of 2015?
Who most deserves their spot in the final?
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Jim, you acknowledged Il Volo beautifully… We all feel the same as you… We love Il Volo and we all want to protect them as if they were our own…
To be a Flight Crew member the only qualification is that you love Il VOLO… You passed with flying colors.. Welcome to our family…
Thank you Jeannette!!! I’ll work the Coach and Economy Section on today’s flight and you take First Class for the kind ‘Welcome Aboard’ you and the others have given me,…..now,…where do we keep those little bags of pretzels and peanuts??? Ms. Marie, lol, you bet a circle-saw,…and rude critics too,…those kids are worth every ounce of support I can give them!! After all, my mom sent them to me in her stead this last Christmas. One of the best gifts she ever gave me. I’d like to share this with all of you, too. My buddies have been listening to Il Volo from my downloads on every fishing trip we’ve been on since December when I’ve been doing the driving. The last three trips we’ve taken one of them has done the driving besides me for a change, and when they get to my place to pick me up they make sure I bring “those Italian boys” along with me, lol,…..because they now pontificate we catch more fish when the scaly rascals hear the boys singing from the boat!!! Now how’s that for a “fish tale”?!? But, what is truly charming about my story,….is that I occasionally catch one of the ‘old goats’ (lol), humming an Il Volo tune when they’re puttering about the campsite! And that, Ms. Marie,..is genuinely heartwarming to observe. Thank you all so much for helping me understand this phenomenon better than I could have ever done so on my own. A special thanks to Anncruise and KittyKam for initially reaching out to me with the right directions to take in order to learn more about these three tremendous gentlemen. I thought I was the only one who felt this way after hearing them sing the first time. I could water the front lawn with tears every time I hear them perform the ‘Ave Maria’. Godspeed, Il Volo,…and the Flight Crew, too.
Hi Jim & Margaret I just discovered you have joined our Flight Crew. Welcome & congratulations you both are in the right place. You are a man after my own heart Jim by reiterating how you will stand up for these wonderful young men. That is what I did for one of them a while ago by writing a couple of letters to a few people defending the hurt he was feeling. I think they made a difference because I got 2 responses & things seemed to change for that young man.
These young men are the same age as my grandson & I will do anything I can for him & I feel the same about Il Volo. There are no other singers on the planet as good & wholesome as they are. My heart overflows with love for these young men & especially Ignazio.
I am glad you Jim & |Margaret feel the same way as we all do. Have fun blogging.
It is wonderful to read the messages from Jim and Margaret. Jim, my introduction to Il Volo is very similar to yours. I lost 2 sons 6 weeks apart and felt as though I had lost my mind, my soul and my heart. five months later, I first heard Il Volo by a fluke. I was channel surfing and nothing seemed interesting until I happened to stop on the public TV station and Il Volo was singing. Their voices and personalities were amazing. After just a few songs, my stress, tension, sorrow were eased away. I could feel myself relax for the first time in months. I believe these three young men, and they were very young in early 2012, are a gift from God for healing broken spirits. I have heard many others tell similar stories after finding Il Volo. My best to you as you heal from grief.
From Sandi:
I, too, am an IL Volo lover…perhaps a better description, an IL Volo lover Grandma. I am an mature teacher who has worked with teenagers for many years. I observed years ago that teenage boys were very much like “squirrels in boy suits”. I have loved, guided and at times, chewed on the ears of many of these “squirrels”. I was so enamored with the young men of IL Volo when I first saw them on PBS. They were such a endearing bundle of talent, energy, joy, and young teenager charm that it was love at first sight! I have followed them via twitter and then, I found all of you…my kind of people! Thank you so much. I hope I can be a useful member and friend who is most willing to support and nurture these delightful and inspiring young men. Sandi
Something is happening here! Something almost beyond explanation. It seems to me that we are suddenly welcoming more and more crew members into our family. I am very proud to be able to contribute here, and to have been asked, but I’m even more so now because this site encourages mature fans to feel comfortable voiceing their thoughts, appreciation, respect, and deep admiration for three young men who are giving hope, and joy, by doing nothing more than being themselves. They are able to convey feelings, relate experiences, and make friends without the fear of being laughed at or made to feel strange. The majority of us here, have grandchildren, or even great grandchildren, and at times have said that they care for, and even worry about these young ones as if they were. Not only has it been said that a Grandmothers love must be earned; but once earned, it will always be. I’ve been asked several times why Grandma aged ladies love Il Volo so much. Isn’t that a bit out of the ordinary? My answer has always been: It’s because we ARE Grandmas. We have lived long enough to recognize good from not, and appreciate it when we see it. Kindness, compassion, manners, rank high in our assessment, and have been sorely lacking by todays standards. When we see it, it’s applauded, and cherished. Those young men display, to us, what is the important things that go far beyond even beautiful voices, and looks. God has outdone himself in the creating of these three. Instilling them with qualities that we readily recognize, and never ignore. Because of this, they are gaining, and gaining the adoration they deserve, without even having to try. We do love them!