Welcome to our new series of posts – “The Looker” where we will share our wish list of artists participating in Eurovision.
But before we start, let us remark that our recommendations will not necessarily come true (as for example some countries select their artists by reality shows)
The previous chapters in the series are available as well:
1st post (Belgium, Israel, The Netherlands)
2nd post (Denmark, Iceland, North Macedonia)
3rd post (Finland, Norway, Sweden)
4th post (Austria, Czech Republic, Germany)
This time we will concentrate on 3 countries: Bulgaria, Greece, Romania
#1. JEREMY?
JEREMY? is a Bulgarian Indie rock band that was formed in 2013.
The band members are Ersin Mustafov (vocals, guitar), Tasho Kolev (guitars), Rosen Vatev (drums), Emiliyan Bonev (bass, vocals), and Krasimir Todorov (piano, synths).
They released their first video clip in 2014. Their single “Fake Fruits” was played on the Balkan MTV channel in 2015.
In 2016, they were the warm-up act for several concerts in Europe, where they performed in QUEEN + Adam Lambert tour.
So far the band has released 2 studio albums. Let’s listen to some of their songs:
In 2016, they released the song “King Kong”:
In 2018, they released the song “Go or Fall“:
In May 2021 they released the single “Day Job“:
Rock music could be an interesting direction for Bulgaria at Eurovision.
JEREMY? is an experienced band with pretty good songs that can easily conquer the listener’s heart.
#2.Vessy Boneva
Vesela Boneva (best known as Vessy Boneva) is a 33-years old Bulgarian singer. Her main genres are pop, dance, and house.
She has always had a passion for music, since childhood. At the age of 10, she received an invitation to record his first children’s album, Обърквация (Eng: Confusion).
Vessy has participated in a number of other competitions and festivals, including:
- 2003 – Dobrich “Sarandev” – first prize
- 2003 – Varna: “Goldfish” – first prize
- 2004 – “Hit minus one” – annual edition – second prize
- 2005 – “Seasons” Burgas – Grand Prix
- 2005 – Stara Zagora “Golden Lyre” – first prize.
Vessy is one of the faces of the “Don’t Close Your Eyes” campaign of the teenage magazine “BRAVO“, which has hired to communicate with children from all over Bulgaria about the problems related to school violence.
So far, she has released 5 albums and Eps:
“Обърквация“ (1998)
“Planet Magic“ (2007)
“Vessy Boneva EP“ (2012)
“Work of art“ (2013)
“Родината“ (2017)
In 2018, she released the duet “Дами канят” (Eng: ladies invite) together with Diona:
In 2020, she released the song “Ostani” (In the English version):
In 2020, she released the song “Две Планети” (Eng: Two Planets):
Vessy Boneva is a great singer with a lot of surprises to suggest: starting from dance-pop hits, to exciting ballads and more. I’m sure she can be a wonderful choice for Bulgaria.
#3. Ruth Koleva
Ruth Koleva is 31 years old Bulgarian singer-songwriter. Currently, she is based in New York.
During the 1990’s, Bulgaria hadled extreme financial collapse, and so Ruth’s father (who is an Olympian and twice World weightlifting champion) had to left the country. Ruth joined him, while her mother and twin brother were left behind. Ruth and her father lbied in India,Thailand and Bahrain along the years.
Ruth might be familiar for some of us, as she has participated in the Bulgarian national selection in 2011 with the song “Fever”:
In 2014, she released her dubut album “Ruth” . The album received the top prize at the Bulgarian Radio Awards in 2014 and sold thousands of copies in Japan. The producer Mark Ronson decalred the album amazing.
In 2018, she released her second album “Confidence”. It was produced by Kan Wakan, Ron Avant Jameel Bruner, Gene Coye and the full orchestra of Sofia Philharmonic. The album Included personal songs, influenced by soul and jazz music.
In her music, Ruth affecting positive change by raising awareness to LGBTQ+ rights, equality for all, domestic violence and mental illness.
In 2020, she released the song “On My Way“:
In 2020, she released the song “All The Guys”:
In 2021, she released the single “Salty“:
#1.Marina Satti
Marina Satti is 34 years old Greek singer, songwriter and music producer.
She was raised in Crete in a culturally diverse environment that had a significant impact on her musical development.
In 2007, she earned a scholarship in Berklee College of Music. she graduated in 2011, majoring in Contemporary Writing & Production.
In 2009, she earned her degree in classical piano and music theory and was awarded a distinction and first prize after completing her diploma in classical singing. In the same year, she represented Greece at the European Jazz Orchestra.
Along the years, she developed her signature musical style by combining elements of Greek, Arabic, and Balkan traditional music.
In 2017, she relased the song “Nifada“:
In 2017, she released the single “ΜΑΝΤΙΣΣΑ” which already has reached more than 48 million views on YouTube
In 2021, she released the single “Pali”:
Marina is a special artist, a one of a kind that has the ability to bring something ethnic and yet contemporary to Eurovision.
#2. Good Job Nicky
Nick Varthakouris (better known as Good Job Nicky) is 25 years old Greek singer.
Besides his passion to music, he also shows great interest in basketball (he was professional player) and fashion.
His breakthough was in 2020, but since then he gained a lot of success and fans.
In 2020, he released the song “January 8th“:
In 2020, he realsed the song “Clouds”:
In 2021, he released the song “Come Home“:
Good Job Nicky is a young but promising name in the industry. He knows how to leas his music into the center of the mainstream, but still show some uniqueness.
#3. Petros Iakovidis
Peter Iakovidis is 32 years old singer, composer and lyricist. He started playing music officialy at the age of 13. At his youth years, he learned to play guitar, bouzouki, percussion and piano.
His first single “O erotas mou gine” was released in 2015. Later on, he released another songs which became a huge success in the first days of releasing.
He has also colobaerted with Nikos Kourkoulis, George Mazonakis , Stan , Eleni Foureira , Konstantinos Argyros , Paola , Antipas , and Stamatis Gonidis.
So far, the singer has released 2 studio albums and 28 singles.
His first studio album was “Αποτυπώματα” (in 2017) andf the second was “Σου Τα ‘Δωσα Όλα” (in 2018).
In 2018, he released the song “Βράδια Αξημέρωτα” (Eng: Dark Nights):
In 2020, he released the song ” Σ’ Αγαπάω Σου Φώναξα” (Eng: I loved you, I call you):
In 2021, he released the song “Μου ‘Λειψες Πολύ” (Eng: I miss you very much):
Greece is a country with a beautiful langage and enormous herritage. I think It’s time for Greece to send something ethnic that communicates with the local industry.
Ioana Bianca Anuta (better known as JO) is 26 years old Romanian singer
At the age of 13 he started studying music theory and singing.
In 2009, she represented Romania at Junior Eurovision 2009 with the song “Ai puterea în mâna ta“:
She rose to fame after participating in “X- Factor Romania” in 2012 where she ended up in the 2nd place.
In 2012, she participated in the Romanian national selection for Eurovision 2012 with the song “Girls Don’t Cry“:
In 2018, she relesed the song “Sangeria“:
In 2021, she releaed the song “Dorul”:
In 2021, she released the song “Vocea ta” (English: your voice)
JO bring a great effort together with tons of talent and fresh attitude. I’m sure she can be a good option for Eurovision as well.
#2. Feli
Felicia Donose (better known as Feli) is 35 years old Romanian singer. She rose to fame in 2012, when she participated in the second seaeson of “Vocea României” (Eng: The Voice of Romania). She was eliminated in the semi-finals.
In 2018, Feli participated in Romanian selection for Eurovision 2018 with the song “Bună de iubit“(Royalty):
So far, she has released 3 studio albums:
“Feli Eu Sunt Feli” (in 2017) , “Feroza” (in 2019) and “Feli din poveste” (2021)
In 2019, she released the song “Doua inimi“:
In 2020, she released the song “Impreuna“:
In 2021, she released the song “Bade, tu esti pui de drac“:
Feli suggests a special cpmibnation of pop, hip hop and ethnic music. She might be the one who will make Romania to get back into the final.
#3. Eneli
Ileana-Maria Popescu (better known as Eneli) is 25 years old Romanian singer- songwriter.
Eneli began singing in a church choir at the age of five. In 2010 she started posting videos online on YouTube and then gave concerts in her hometown.
Eneli has been a lead singer in two bands: Paperglass and Seventh Zone. Between 2014 and 2017 Eneli studied Communication and Public Relations at the Faculty of Journalism and Communication Sciences at the University of Bucharest. In 2017, she began studying Songwriting / Music Composition in London, at The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, as part of a master’s program.
Together with the Turkish producer Mahmut Orhan, Eneli released the song “Save Me” on the Ultra Music Youtube channel. The song has garnered over 90 million views and is also composed by Eneli. With the song “Mhm Mhm”, Manuel Riva and Eneli climbed to 3rd place in the top Billboard Club Breakout Club in the United States. The song was nominated in 2016 at the MTV Europe Music Awards, in the “Best Romanian Act” category. In Romania, the single stayed 21 weeks in the top 10, culminating with 3rd place.
In addition to these collaborations, the artist also released several songs for the solo project, as an independent artist (“Chasing you”, “Follow Me”, “Cold”).
In 2016, she released the song “Mgm mhm” togethet with Manuel Riva. The song has reached more than 37 million views.
In 2018, she released the song “Back To Me” (together with the DJ Vanotek):
In 2021, she released the song “Chasing You”:
Eneli is a talented singer who has already exprienced in delivering mega hits. Her professional knowledge together with her repertoire puts her in high prority level to being Romania the respect they deserve.
Stay tuned for more recommendations to come, next time we will travel to other countrie
