Ferry Graf (14 December 1931 - 26 July 2017) was an Austrian singer, who later became a Finnish citizen.
Before his musical career, Ferry Graf worked as a locksmith. [1]
In 1959, Graf was selected by the Austrian broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) to represent the country in the Eurovision Song Contest 1959, with the German language song "Der K und K Kalypso aus Wien" (The K and K Calypso from Vienna). The song ended second to last, in joint ninth place receiving four points. [2] Although the song was released as a single, it was not a commercial success.
In the years following his Eurovision participation, Graf made a few appearances in Austrian and German TV, including, playing at ZDF-Hitparade in 1969, [3] but made no major successes. In the 1970s, he moved to Finland, where he formed his own band, performing Hillbilly music, as well as German cover versions of Elvis Presley's classic song.
Ferry Graf had a Finnish citizenship and lived in Jyväskylä, where he also died in 2017.
Jürgen Udo Bockelmann, generally known as Udo Jürgens, was an Austrian composer and singer of popular music whose career spanned over 50 years. He won the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 for Austria, composed close to 1,000 songs, and sold over 104 million records. In 2007, he additionally obtained Swiss citizenship. In 2010, he legally changed his name to Udo Jürgens Bockelmann.
Maximilian Nepomuk Mutzke is a German singer, songwriter and television personality. He gained public interest in early 2004 when he won SSDSGPS, a talent contest hosted in Stefan Raab's late-night show TV total. Mutzke subsequently qualified for and won the national pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, Germany 12 Points!, and thus represented Germany with his debut single "Can't Wait Until Tonight" that year, eventually finishing eighth in a field of 24 participants. Meanwhile, "Can't Wait Until Tonight" debuted atop the German singles chart and became a top five hit in Austria and Switzerland. His eponymous debut album, a mixture of soul and pop songs in German and English language, was released in January 2005 and also reached number one in Germany, where it was certified gold by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI).
Bernd Weidung, known by his stage name Thomas Anders, is a German singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the vocalist of the pop duo Modern Talking.
Austria has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 56 times since its debut in 1957. The country has won twice, in 1966 and 2014, and such it holds the record for the longest gap between consecutive wins — 48 years. The Austrian participant broadcaster in the contest is Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF). Vienna was the host city on both of the occasions that the contest was held in Austria, in 1967 and 2015.
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest was a television programme organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to commemorate the Eurovision Song Contest's fiftieth anniversary and to determine the contest's most popular entrant of its fifty years. Hosted by Katrina Leskanich and Renārs Kaupers, the event took place at Forum, in Copenhagen on 22 October 2005. The host was Danish broadcaster DR. Fourteen songs from the contest's first half-century, chosen through an internet poll and by a jury, contested the event.
"Dschinghis Khan" is a song recorded by German disco group Dschinghis Khan, with music composed by Ralph Siegel and lyrics by Bernd Meinunger. It represented West Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979, held in Jerusalem, and was released as the first single from the group's debut album, Dschinghis Khan.
"Hold Me Now" is a song written and recorded by Irish singer-songwriter Johnny Logan. It represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1987 held in Brussels, resulting in his second win at the contest, as well as the country's third victory.
"What's Another Year" is a song recorded by Irish singer-songwriter Johnny Logan with music composed and lyrics written by Shay Healy. It represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 held in The Hague, resulting in his first win at the contest, as well as the country's second victory.
"Ein bißchen Frieden" is a song recorded by German singer Nicole, with music composed by Ralph Siegel and German lyrics written by Bernd Meinunger. It represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1982, held in Harrogate, resulting in the country's first ever win at the contest.
"Hard Rock Hallelujah" is a song by Finnish hard rock band Lordi. It represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, held in Athens, resulting in the country's only ever victory in the contest. It reached the No. 1 spot in Finland and reached the top 10 in eight other European countries. In the United Kingdom, the song peaked at No. 25.
"Insieme: 1992" is a song written and recorded by Toto Cutugno. It represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1990, held in Zagreb, resulting in the country's second victory in the contest.
"Congratulations" is a song recorded by British singer Cliff Richard written by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter. It represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968, held in London placing second behind the Spanish entry, "La, la, la".
Eurovision Young Musicians, often shortened to EYM, or Young Musicians, is a biennial classical music competition for European musicians that are aged between 12 and 21. It is organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and broadcast on television throughout Europe, with some countries holding national selections to choose their representatives for the contest.
"Rock Bottom" was the British entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977, performed in English by Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran. It was also written and produced by de Paul and Moran and released on the Polydor record label. Originally it was written for the group Blue Mink; and submitted unbeknown to de Paul and Moran as an entry for A Song For Europe by the publishers; when it was selected, de Paul agreed to perform the song if Moran would join her. On 9 March 1977, "Rock Bottom" was selected to represent the UK at the A Song for Europe 1977 event held at the New London Theatre, presented by Terry Wogan.
Axel Ehnström is a Finnish songwriter and musician. He is known for writing songs for artists such as Phoebe Ryan, Lost Frequencies and Alle Farben. He participated as Paradise Oskar in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011.
"Euphoria" is a song performed by Swedish singer Loreen. It was released on 26 February 2012 as the third single –first single internationally– from her debut studio album, Heal (2012). The song was written by Thomas G:son, Peter Boström and produced by Boström and SeventyEight. It represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 held in Baku, Azerbaijan. It won the contest with a total of 372 points, at the time the second-highest point total in the contest's history. It received the highest number of maximum (12) points until then, with eighteen countries giving the song their top marks.
"Rise Like a Phoenix" is a song recorded by Austrian singer Conchita Wurst, written by Joey Patulka, Alexander Zuckowski, Julian Maas, and Charlie Mason. It represented Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 held in Copenhagen, resulting in the country's second win in the contest.
Maraaya are a Slovenian duo founded by Marjetka Vovk and Aleš Vovk (Raay) in 2014. The group's name is a combination of its members' names, while its pronunciation means "She has Raay" in Slovene.
Zoë Straub, known professionally as Zoë, is an Austrian singer, songwriter and actress. She represented Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "Loin d'ici", placing thirteenth in the grand final.
Cesár Sampson is an Austrian singer, songwriter, producer, dancer and model. He was also a social worker and fitness coach. He represented Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Nobody but You", winning the jury vote, coming in 13th place in the televote and finishing in third place overall.