Milly Scott (1935) is recognised as the first black singer to take part in the Eurovision Contest. She is a Dutch singer and actress of Surinamese origin and represented The Netherlands in the 1966 Eurovision Song Contest.
Scott had built up a career as a successful nightclub jazz singer, which led to her being given her own TV show, Scott in de Roos, in 1965. As a result, in 1966, she was given the chance to take part in the Dutch Eurovision selection, where her song "Fernando en Filippo" was a clear winner.
Scott went forward to the 11th Eurovision Song Contest, held in Luxembourg City on 5 March, where "Fernando en Filippo" ended the evening in 15th place of 18 entries with votes only from the UK and Ireland, continuing a run of poor Dutch results dating back to 1960. Although "Fernando en Filippo" was something of a novelty song (and was performed as such) at a time when ballads dominated Eurovision, Scott would subsequently claim controversially that her disappointing result was attributable, at least in part, to racism on the part of the voting jurors.
On her website she writes. “People didn’t realize I was the first black singer who took part in the contest. The Netherlands was reasonably "accustomed" to people of colour, but many other countries outside Holland absolutely not. The exceptions were Britain and Ireland, from each of them I got one point (so two points total), from the rest I got ZEROS.
Although I had performed for TV and radio with huge success, in the festival I was crushed. My first encounter with discrimination was a fact! It was 1967.”
Scott was born in 1935 in Den Helder in the Netherlands as Marion Henriette Louise Molly.
The Italian singer Senit represented San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Düsseldorf (Germany), but didn’t make it to the final on 14 May. She lost in the first semi-final yesterday.
Senhit Zadik Zadik known as Senit was born (1979) and raised in Bologna, Italy by her Eritrean parents. She started her career abroad, in musicals like Fame, The Lion King and Hair, and performed in Switzerland and Germany.
In 2002 she returned to Italy and claimed to fame in the Italian music business releasing her debut album in 2006 and her second album Un tesoro é necessariamente nascosto in 2007 with these singles: La mia cittá é cambiata, La cosa giusta, La faccia che ho. In 2009 she released her third album So high,all in English with three singles Work hard, No More and Party on the dance floor.
The Norwegian entry Stella Mwangi also didn't make to the final.
"Black people look at themselves from the perspective of white people," says writer Grada Kilomba. "They don't look at themselves from their own perspective."
Kilomba, the author of “Plantation Memories – Episodes of Every Day Racism", has origins in the West African Islands São Tomé e Príncipe and was born in Lisbon where she studied clinical psychology and psychoanalysis at ISPA.
In a very interesting video she describes the nature of racism in Europe, how white Europeans can repair their relationships to minorities, and minorities can heal themselves.
In an interview which was republished in Africanvenir Kilomba answers the question: what exactly does it mean to be white?
"White is not a colour. White is a political definition, which represents historical, political and social privileges of a certain group that has access to dominant structures and institutions of society. Whiteness represents the reality and history of a certain group. When we talk about what it means to be white, then we talk about politics and certainly not about biology. Just like the term black is a political identity, which refers to a historicity, political and social realities and not to biology.
As we know there are black people who are very light-skinned, others who are dark-skinned, others who have blue eyes. It is the political history and reality that constructs these terms."
COMPETE WITH PRODUCERS FROM ALL OVER EUROPE! Enter the European Diversidad Remix Contest. Diversidad, a unique European urban experience
20 artists, 12 countries, 9 languages. Gathering some of the Best European MC’s, beatmakers, dj and singer on a unique album.
The Experience Album’s tracks were produced by Spike Miller (France), Cookin Soul (Spain), Eversor (Greece) and C.H.I (Luxembourg).
Now it’s your turn to create your own remix and show your skills to the international community of the Diversidad fans. The first 2 tracks to be remixed are :
* The eXperience : 93 BPM * I Got It! : 92 BPM
Prize : The producers of the 3 best remixes will win :
• The whole collection of the Diversidad artists solo albums • The Experience Album • The 2008 Diversidad dvd • Great exposure for the 3 remixes on : the Diversidad website, facebook page and newsletter • 2 tickets for the Diversidad show in Paris (France, May 18) or Vienna (Austria, May 21)
I had never heard of the American art project "The Image of the Black in Western Art" until I stumbled upon a presentation of Professor Henry Louis Gates.
According to the website www.imageoftheblack.com the project started in the 1960s, as a response to segregation in the United States by the influential art patron Dominique de Menil. He began a research project and photo archive called The Image of the Black in Western Art.
The Harvard W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research presented an new edition coveted five original books, as well as an additional five volumes.
A presentation of Vera Ingrid Grant about the collection
The American art project reminded me of the exhibition "Black is Beautiful" in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam in 2008 about the attractiveness of black people for artists of the Low Countries. It was an exhibition of roughly 130 paintings, drawings and manuscripts from Dutch and international collections.
Very interesting to check out are the short films and tests on the online exhibition. Go straight to the Short films & View test at www.blackisbeautifulamsterdam.nl
What I find interesting about these images is seeing the faces and expressions of black people of centuries ago. Some of the paintings are as detailed as digital photos. The photo above is of Caspar de Crayer 1584- 1669, study of the head of a black man, from around 1631-1635.
USA
A presentation of Henry Louis Gates, Jr., on The Image of the Black in Western Art.
A group of European Hip Hop artists came together and created the Experience Album. The Album has been released through a worldwide online distribution and it includes 14 tracks representing the highest level of contemporary European Hip Hop.
Diversidad is a group of famous European MC's, DJ's and beat-makers. 20 artists from 12 different countries speaking 9 different languages came together to create a unique album.
Launched by the European Music Office and supported by the European Commission, a first edition of Diversidad took place in 2008 when a single track was recorded with a dozen of European artists including Akhenaton (FR), Curse (DE), Promoe from Looptroop (SE), Abd Al Malik (FR), Sam The Kid (PT) among others.
Diversidad is back with a full LP created from scratch by a new selection of artists and recorded in just 10 days at the ICP studio in Brussels. The first single “The eXperience” gathers all the MCs on a track produced by Spike Miller.
Since its release in June it has received airplay on many European radio stations. The rest of the songs are combinations of 3 to 6 artists rhyming on different languages about a common theme. From the typical ego-trip track (Go Hard) to the classic love song (Amore Criminale) or from the “jungle” of their European hometowns (Concrete Jungle) to a nostalgic ballad (On My Way), each topic on the album tells the story of young adults living in today’s Europe.
No matter where they’re from, the artists share the same passion for the urban culture and connected around that common love for hip hop. More than a big reunion of nationalities, the Diversidad album is first and foremost a classic hip hop album featuring skilled and talented artists.
Diversidad is not only an album but also a show that will tour across Europe in spring and summer 2011, a graphic art exhibition and a movie series available on www.diversidad-experience.com. The album’s lyrics are available on Diversidad’s website.
Last year I went to Berlin to visit a friend who moved there. During my trip I experienced something special. Most of my friends told me I was totally crazy to have done what I did. They might be right, but I think that this story deserves a place on this blog.
It was a last minute decision so I couldn’t get a seat reservation anymore in the high speed train between Cologne and Berlin. I decided to go anyway and ended up in an overcrowded train sitting on the floor in the hallway. Sharing the hallway with me were, among others, two Russian dudes who looked kind of tough. Bald head, bomber jacket, big chains. They had plastic bags full of beer cans and were drinking the whole time. I tended to ignore them, they definitely looked like skinhead hooligans and I supposed they wouldn’t consider me a potential friend. It turned out I was wrong. I read a book and tried not to look up at them. I succeeded quiet well during the first hours (the trip took about 6 hours), but I noticed that one of them gave me a sympathetic nod once in a while. It crossed my mind for a few seconds that he might be gay, but I quickly decided against it. They looked definitely very straight. Some time halfway between Cologne and Berlin one of them asked me in perfect German if I wanted a beer. I hesitated for a second, it was too early in the day for being drinking, but being tired of reading the same book for more than three hours in a row, I thought why not and accepted the offer. It was a holiday anyway. We started to chat, they turned out to be more German than I thought. I saw it as a good opportunity to oil up my German before reaching Berlin.
They shared more beers with me until there were none left (and they had brought many). I decided to buy some in the bar and to pay them more drinks. Half an hour before reaching Berlin we had drunken all the beers there were in the train’s mini bar. I felt kind of drunk and they were definitely a bit drunk too. But it was clear that they were better drinkers than I was, more used to heavy drinking. Everybody was looking at us, a strange trio, but we couldn’t care less, talked all the time and laughed together.
The time I passed with them drinking beer was very pleasant. They were curious to know where I was from and I explained. I asked them the same question and they turned out to be Germans of Russian descent, but also the other way around, Russians of German descent. I didn’t understand immediately and they started to explain their story.
Actually since the late middle ages until the early 20th century, Germans migrated to Russia for new opportunities. These people assimilated to Russian culture although some kept a distinct German identity. They lived all over the Soviet Union. When the iron curtain fell and the Soviet Union collapsed Germany accepted any person who could prove to be ethnically German to get a German passport and come back to Germany. Many Russians of German descent jumped on the opportunity.
These two guys were descendants of Germans who migrated to Russia generations ago, maybe centuries ago. Their surnames sounded German, but that was about the only thing German about them. They told me that their parents moved to Berlin in the early 90’s. They were still very young children then and they grew up in Germany. But they kept on speaking Russian in the household, lived in predominantly Russian neighborhoods and made mostly Russian-speaking friends.
They stressed the common experience they and me had as children of migrants, as people who never really belong, as people who share the experience of displacement and multilingualism. I liked that thought. And as our conversation evolved I started to ask questions too, about how they look, about how they can be perceived as racist skinheads and so on. They stressed that they weren’t racists, they said they were victims of racism too, that German people hated them.
I was fascinated and listened while the conversation evolved to football and Saint-Petersburg, the team they both supported. One of them was even such a big fan that he travelled all over Europe to see all matches Saint-Petersburg had to play abroad. He said he liked to travel, to see different places and that his love for football was a good excuse to do it. But still I couldn’t stop thinking that the guy really looked like a prototype hooligan who might be nice to me now, but who would have kicked my ass in very different circumstances.
When getting closer to Berlin they asked me if I already had plans. I actually didn’t, I only planned to see my friend in a few hours as he was still at work. So I still had some time to kill. They invited me to join them. They would go to one’s place and have some more drinks there and watch some video’s. They told me they had nothing to do that day, they worked hard for several weeks on a construction site and had some cash to spend now. Again I hesitated. Where would I end up? What would a black guy with dreadlocks do with skinheads? Did they try to trick me into some man hunting? The wildest thoughts went through my head? But my intuition, more than movies or politics, told me these guys were really all right. They were actually very friendly, warm, generous and sympathetic. My adventurous, crazy and anthropological me said just to go for it. So I accepted their offer and followed them into Ost-Berlin. After half an hour with metro and busses we arrived at some apartment blocks. I had kept a sharp eye on the itinerary so that I would easily find my way back. First we went to the shop to get some more beers and then went to one of them’s place.
We started drinking again and watching Youtube. I drank slowly. They wanted to show me video’s of hooligan fights in Russia, some hip hop video’s and so on. They started to roll joints, two more skinheads came in. All were friendly to me although I saw some surprise in their eyes. They spoke Russian with each other sometimes, so I couldn’t understand but I was tempted to think that they saw me as a potential danger to them too. Who was I? What was I doing there? All understandable questions, and I guessed the other two assured them that I was OK.
I spend around 2 or 3 hours there, the owner of the place was getting very very drunk, too drunk actually. He started to put some Saint-Petersburg Hooligan video’s with songs. He sang them along and he started to do the Sieg Heil sign while singing. I was kind of embarrassed about it, and I noticed that the three others were too. They tried to assure me that it’s just football and that I shouldn’t feel threatened. The thing is that I didn’t feel threatened. Was I naïve? Maybe so, but the truth is that nothing happened to me, the atmosphere was very relaxed and everybody was friendly and nice to me. I even went out once with one of the new guys to get some more beers and he was actually very soft, he wanted to know about me, was curious about my experience of being black in Europe and so on. I thought that I may have been the very first black person this guy actually talks to (instead of shouting racist slurs to). These guys were not stupid, they were just low class immigrants with a lot of frustrations, just like many other immigrant kids. They were put into a situation in which they had to talk to me as human beings to human beings.
I had stopped drinking after a while, I didn’t want to lose control. The two guys I met on the train were way out there now. Fortunately the two others were still kind of sober. The main language spoken was often Russian now and I couldn’t really follow. I said that I had to go now, as I had a meeting with some friends, we shared e-mails and phone numbers, gave each other ‘man hugs’ and I left. Still, I didn’t feel like having a lasting internet relationship with these guys, so I gave an e-mail I nearly never use and a wrong phone number. I never tried to reach them again though.
Later that evening I told my story to my Berlin friend who said I was lucky not to get killed. I knew the stories of Adriano and other black Germans who were killed by skinheads in Germany. But I still don’t know, I think that the context gave me an opportunity to discover something I only had prejudice against and didn’t know. At the same time, without wanting to do it, I let them experience something they didn’t know. Still, they were the ones who offered me a beer, they were the ones who smiled sympathetically at me, and they were the ones who invited me in their home. I realized that I could have met the exact same 4 guys in a very different situation and that they would have seen me as an easy target to ventilate all their aggression and frustration, they could have killed me. But the thing was that at that time and place they wanted to be my friends.
The next day I was eating a quick snack in an antifa (antifascist) vegatarian snack bar in Friedrichshain and reading a magazine that lay there for customers. There was an article about hooligan skinheads and their use of fascist symbols, mostly by Russians. A study had shown that many of the kids using the nazi symbols didn’t even really know what these symbols stand for. They know it’s anti-communist and they know it is anti-establishment and that it shocks and scares people. As far as they are concerned it works for their purpose, it is not about history repeating itself, it is about expressing anger, aggression and frustration. Against everything that’s politically correct and socially accepted. Maybe they saw my dreadlocks as an expression of the same thing.
It’s maybe not all that strange. Skinhead culture has black roots after all, check these video’s below to discover a strange twist in musical history and racist attitude.
This is of course about England in the 70's, and not about Russian-German Hooligans in the 21st century. Still, I think that being a skinhead is first and for all an anti-establishment style, more than a political stance. Of course I do not ignore the dangers this 'style' has for all people who look like me.
I posted a press release of the European Union regarding the Sakharov Prize which was given to Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas. The 48-year-old doctor of psychology was invited to receive the €50,000 prize in Strasbourg on 15 December.
But as always there are of two sides of a story. I received a comment which sheds some light on the Cuban perspective. Main critique about the press release regarding Cuban Guillermo Fariñas was that is was misinformation in both North America and Europe. From the Cuban point of view the press release ignored and distorted the truth on purpose to bring up these individuals as advocates of alleged human rights violations, when they are actually paid agents of a foreign power to subvert the Constitution of a sovereign country.
The blog Black Women in Europe compiled a list of the most powerfull women in Europe. The Power List include seasoned politicians, accomplished performers, and champion athletes as well as social entrepreneurs and rising stars in the business world.
The list does not aim to assess rank but rather to underscore influential women from six categories: business, lifestyle, media, politics, and social entrepeneurs/NGOs. (Photo Diane Abbott MP UK.)
The Fifa World Cup 2018 hosting ballot will be on Thursday December 2nd. But after the latest revelations of corruption it's not clear if it will be a fair race.
Former international football star Ruud Gullit, who is the president of Holland and Belgium's joint bid, says in an interview (Dutch) in Football International today that the scandals create an advantage for the candidacy of the Netherlands and Belgium. The Fifa World Cup race 2018 is between England, Russia, Spain/Portugal and Netherlands/Belgium.
Strasbourg Oct 21 2010 - Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas has been declared the winner of the 2010 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The announcement was made on Thursday by European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek following a decision by the EP's political group leaders. Mr Fariñas will be invited to attend the award ceremony on 15 December in Strasbourg.
"Guillermo Fariñas was ready to sacrifice and risk his own health and life as a means of pressure to achieve change in Cuba", said Mr Buzek when announcing the winner today in plenary.
"I hope to hand over the award to him in person, here in Strasbourg, in December, which would be a tremendous moment for the European Parliament and for all Cuban prisoners of conscience. I sincerely hope that, together with Guillermo Fariñas, the Ladies in White (Damas de Blanco), another Cuban Sakharov laureate from 2005, will also be able to collect their Sakharov Prize in person". The president repeatedly calls, on behalf of the European Parliament, for the immediate release of all political prisoners in Cuba.
Guillermo Fariñas, aged 48, was nominated in the name of all those who fight in Cuba for freedom and human rights. He is a doctor of psychology, an independent journalist and a political dissident. He has conducted 23 hunger strikes over the years "not in his own favour but in order to defend his compatriots" said José Ignacio Salafranca (EPP, ES). Mr Fariñas ended his 135 day hunger strike on 8 July 2010 after the Havana government announced the release of 52 political prisoners following mediation by the Catholic Church.
A supporter of non-violence and someone who dared to denounce the Castro regime, "Guillermo Fariñas is a symbol in the struggle against the imprisonment of political opponents", according to the MEPs who nominated him. "Because he is defending dignity and democracy in his country, he is the ideal candidate for the Sakharov Prize", they argue.
Mr Fariñas was nominated by Joseph Daul, José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra, Jaime Mayor Oreja, Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, Jarosław Leszek Wałęsa and Francisco José Millán Mon on behalf of the Group of the European People's Party (EPP), by the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) and by Edvard Kožušník and 91 other MEPs.
The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named after Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, was established in December 1988 by the European Parliament as a means to honour individuals or organisations who dedicate their lives to the defence of human rights and freedoms, particularly the right to freedom of expression.
Video of the opening of the exhibit at the South Gallery of the UN Headquarters in New York on March 24 2010 Slavery Remembrance Day - 23 August 2010 (UNESCO)
This year the United Nations celebrated the third commemoration of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. This year's commemoration included an art exhibit and was dedicated to the people of Haiti. The video is of the Commemoration of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade of the UN on 25 March.
Slavery Remembrance Day falls on the anniversary of an uprising of enslaved Africans on the island of Saint Domingue (modern Haiti) on 23 August 1791. The date has been designated by UNESCO as Slavery Remembrance Day, a reminder that enslaved Africans were the main agents of their own liberation.
Today it's Mandela Day. On November 2009, the UN General Assembly declared July 18 Nelson Mandela International Day in recognition of the former South African president’s contribution to the culture of peace and freedom. Website www.nelsonmandela.org
I forgot of doing something special today, but I will catch up.
When it comes to pursuing higher education, most African students prefer Germany, France or the UK
About 77 per cent of all African students who study abroad do so in Europe while 18 per cent of all foreign students in Europe are from Africa, according to a report.
It also said out of about 144 million students who enrolled in institutions of higher education, about 3 million of them migrated from the Africa sub-region to Europe.
Prof Goolam Mohamedbhai, Secretary-General of the Association of African Universities (AAU), said this at a workshop in Accra. The event which brought together about 80 representatives of senior leadership and management personalities from Africa and Europe, explored how higher education institutions in both regions cope with the changing demands of their specific socio-economic environments.
Mohamedbhai said three European countries that received the largest number of the foreign students were the United Kingdom, Germany and France accounting for about 30 per cent. (Source: Pune Mirror.in)
Dave Benton was the first black singer to win the Eurovision Song Contest. Dave Benton, together with Estonian rock singer Tanel Padar and boyband 2XL, won Eurovision Song Contest for Estiona in 2001.
Benton was born on the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba in 1951 and in his 20s moved to the United States. As a drummer and a backing vocalist, he worked with The Drifters, Tom Jones, Billy Ocean, José Feliciano and the Platters. (Source wikipedia).
This is the last post about the Eurovision Song Contest. It was necessary to set the facts strait. The previous post about black singers at the contest is updated with singers from the UK, Sweden and of course Estonia. You can read the post here.
The Eurovison 2010 was won by Germany by the way, see the video of Lena with the song "Satellite" here.
Imaani from the UK singing "Where Are You?" Black singers at the Eurovision Song Contests. The Eurovision Song is the annual song contest of the European Broadcasting Union and member states of Europe.
Numerous black singers have competed at the contest. And one black singer won the contest in 2001. Dave Benton won the the contest with Estonian rock singer Tanel. The first black singer was probably Milly Scott from the Netherlands who sang at the contest in 1966. In this year’s contest singer Matador competed for France, he finished 12th place.
The competition has been broadcast throughout Europe, but also in Australia, Canada, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Jordan, Korea, New Zealand and the United States, even though these countries do not participate. See the website of Eurovision Song Contest here.
Below a list of some of the entries of the Estonia, UK, The Netherlands, France, Portugal and Israel. The ranking is based on a final of 25 countries.
Estonia
Winner of Eurovision copenhagen 2001
Dave benton & Tanel - "Everybody" - 2001
In 2001 Dave benton performed with budding Estonian rock singer Tanel Padar and boyband 2XL to win the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 with their song "Everybody". Benton was born on the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba.
UK
Jade Ewen - "It's My Time" - 2009
The United Kingdom was a part of the "Big Four", so the song was entered directly into the final of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, held on 16 May 2009 in Moscow. The show received an average of 7.8 million viewers. She finished in 5th place.
Andy Abraham - "Even If" - 2008
According to betting site PaddyPower.com, the odds for the song to win the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 were 100/1. In the end, the song reached last place at 25th, with 14 points. The last place triggerd a response from Terry Wogan, he blamed "racist" Eastern Europeans for Britain's dismal showing in the Eurovision Song Contest. Read full story here.
Imaani - "Where Are You?" - 1998
"Where Are You?" was the United Kingdom entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1998, held in Birmingham, United Kingdom. It was sung by Imaani Saleem (Melanie Crosdale), the first black singer for the UK. She almost won. The song received 166 points, placing second in a field of 25. Imaani was born in Nottingham. Interesting detail is that she is one of the regular singers of the famous London Acid Jazz band Incognito.
Glennis Grace (born in Amsterdam) won the national contest in the Netherlands for the Eurovision song contest 2005, but didn’t make in to final. She had to leave the contest in the semi-final.
Edsilia Rombley - "Hemel en Aarde" ("Heaven and Earth") - 1998
Edsilia Rombley pulled the Netherlands out of semi-finals to the finals. Only the low ranking countries of the previous year had to compete in the semi-finals. In the finals she came in fourth place in a tele voting contest with the song “Hemel en aarde" ("Heaven and earth"). It was the best placing the Netherlands had seen since their last win in 1975. Edisila was born in Amsterdam and is of Dutch Caribbean descent.
Maxine and Franklin Brown- "De Eerste Keer" ("The first time" - 1996
Maxine & Franklin Brown represented the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest 1996. Their song “De eerste keel” (“The First Time”) came 7th with 78 points.
Ruth Jacott - "Vrede" ("Peace") - 1993
In 1993 Ruth Jacott was the second black female singer for the Netherland. She came in sixth place with the “song “Vrede" ("Peace"). Ruth Jaccot is of Surinamese descent.
Humphrey Campbell "Wijs Me de Weg" ("Show Me the Way") - 1992
Humphrey Campbell performing "Wijs Me de Weg" ("Show Me the Way"), the Dutch entry at the 1992 Eurovision Song Contest. He finished 9th place. Campbell is of Surinamese origins.
Milly Scott - "Fernando en Filippo" - 1966
Milly Scott was the first black singer for the Netherlands in 1966. She finished 15th place. Scott is of Surinamese descent.
France
Matador - "Allez Ola Olé" (2010)
Matador, born Jessy Kimbangi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, represented France this year. Matador mixes zouk, dancehall, reggae, and hiphop, building on American, African and Caribbean influences. France finished 12th place.
Joëlle Ursull - "White and Black Blues" - 1990
France's entry in the 1990 Eurovision Song Contest "White and Black Blues" by Joëlle Ursull who got the 2nd place. Usull is of Guadeloupean origins.
France is one of the most successful countries in the Eurovision Song Contest and has entered the competition fifty-two times since their debut at the very first contest in 1956. However, in recent years, the French results have been somewhat disappointing. Since 1998, when the televoting was invented, France has almost always been in the bottom-10 countries in the final. (Wikipedia.)
Portugal
Sara Tavares – “Chamar a música” -1994
Tavares won the Portuguese selection for the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. With the song Chamar a música (Call my music), She achieved an eighth position in Dublin, which is still one of the best Portuguese results in the contest ever. After her appearance in the contest, she went on to become a famous artist in her country, and later on in Europe.
Sweden
Afro-Dite - "Never let you go" - 2002
Afro-dite is a Swedish pop group made up of three pop singers. The group consists of Blossom Tainton-Lindquist, Gladys del Pilar and Kayo Shekoni. Afro-dite reached the 8th place
Israel
Eddie Butler - "Together We Are One" - 2006
Eddie Butler was the Israeli entry for the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, with soul ballad "Together We Are One". He finished 23th place.
Butler was born in the Negev Israel. Butler's parents are Americans, and members of the Black Hebrews African-American community that believes they are a lost tribe of Israel. His mother and father came to Israel for a visit 37 years ago and decided to stay.
Black singers Eurovision Song Contest overview
1966 - Ned: Milly Scott - "Fernando en Filippo" (15th) 1990 - Fr: Joëlle Ursull - "White and Black Blues" (2nd) 1992 - Ned: Humphrey Campbell "Wijs Me de Weg" ("Show Me the Way") (9th) 1993 - Ned: Ruth Jacott - "Vrede" ("Peace") - 1993 (6th) 1994 - Por: Sara Tavares – “Chamar a música” (8th) 1996 - Ned: Maxine and Franklin Brown- "De Eerste Keer" ("The first time") (7th) 1998 - Ned: - Edsilia Rombley - "Hemel en Aarde" ("Heaven and Earth") 1998 (4th) 1998 - UK: Imaani - "Where Are You?" (2nd) 2001 - Esto: Dave benton & Tanel - "Everybody" (1st) 2002 - SWE: Afro-Dite - "Never let you go" (8th) 2005 - Ned: Glennis Grace Netherlands – “My Impossible Dream” (semi-final) 2006 - Isr: Eddie Butler - "Together We Are One" (23th) 2008 - UK: Andy Abraham - "Even If" (23th) 2009 - UK: Jade Ewen - "It's My Time" - 2009 (5th) 2010 - Fr: Matador - "Allez Ola Olé" - 2010 (12th)
France will try to win the hearts of Europe in Oslo with a real summer hit this year, "Allez Ola Olé". For that they handpicked the charismatic singer Jessy Matador.
Jessy began his artistic career as a dancer in 2001. His artistic concept is a mixture of several styles, inspired by famous African - Ivorian music ranging from hip-hop, jamaican dancehall and zouk.
He made his debut in the group called Les Coeurs Brisés with which he has performed all around the world. He started his singing career in 2008 and has scored a summer hit with the song Decale Gwada. Jessy is currently in the studio finishing his new album. (source BBC)
Haddy Jatou N'jie (1979) will be one of the hosts of the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo. Haddy is a Norwegian singer, songwriter, author and journalist, and is a member of the group Queendom.
The anual contest will be seen by approximately 120 million views over three days (25, 27 and 29 May 2010). See more information on the blog Black Women in Europe.
An update: Haddy Jatou N'jie singing "Mitt lille land (My little country)". An interesting video which also shows the ethnic diversity in Norway.
DJ's Sunnery james & Ryan Marciano from Amsterdam will be on the main stage of the ‘Sensation’ dance event in the Amsterdam Arena on July 3rd in Amsterdam. Sensation is the biggest dance event in the world.
James and Marciano are the new stars in the dance scene. This year they launched their successful new dance concept called the Amazone Project. It was named Amazone after an inspirational vacation in the Amazone jungle of Surinam.
For most second generation Dutch Surinamese a jungle trip is often nothing more then a part of the standard back-to-the-roots trip, for James and Marciano it also became the bases for their new musical concept.
And for those who have forgotten
So if you're into trance, electro or house ... you may also like this
Euromight celebrates Europe's multicultural residents, telling their stories, discussing their concerns and marking the events that are important to their everyday lives.
Whether you are a European of black or brown descent, belong to an ethnic group not commonly recognized as European, or are simply interested in these unique Europeans, Euromight provides a vehicle that reflects Europe's diversity both in the region and beyond.
Euromight was founded by London-born journalist, writer, editor and professor Olive Vassell. Being born to parents of Caribbean origin, Olive was keenly aware from an early age that her family and other immigrant families were rarely represented in the social, cultural and political landscapes around them.
