Bananarama is a British-Irish girl group formed in London in 1980. The group, originally a trio, consisted of friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when the trio became a duo. Their success on both pop and dance charts saw them listed in the Guinness World Records for achieving the world's highest number of chart entries by an all-female group. Between 1982 and 2009, they had 32 singles reach the Top 50 of the UK Singles Chart.
"Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a non-album single in August 1968. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The single was the Beatles' first release on their Apple record label and one of the "First Four" singles by Apple's roster of artists, marking the label's public launch. "Hey Jude" was a number-one hit in many countries around the world and became the year's top-selling single in the UK, the US, Australia and Canada. Its nine-week run at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 tied the all-time record in 1968 for the longest run at the top of the US charts, a record it held for nine years. It has sold approximately eight million copies and is frequently included on music critics' lists of the greatest songs of all time.
ONE is a boy band that first appeared in 1999, recognized as both Greece and Cyprus's first boy band. The band was formed by leading Cypriot-Greek composer Giorgos Theofanous and Minos EMI A&R Manager Vangelis Yannopoulos. Constantinos Christophorou and Philippos-Constantinos Philippou were on board quite early, chosen by Giorgos Theofanous. The next three members were picked up after a selective audition that took place in legendary Athenian Sierra Studio. The selecting committee consisted of Natalia Germanou, Posidonas Yannopoulos, Andreas Kouris, Themis Georgandas, Theofanous and Yannopoulos. Demetres Koutsavlakis, Argyris Nastopoulos and Panos Tserpes were retained among 179 candidates. Christoforou followed a solo career in 2003, and was replaced by another Cypriot singer, Demos Beke. In their 6-year existence they enjoyed much commercial success and earned platinum certifications, as well as having staged memorable performances with successful Greek singers at music halls and in concerts. In 2005 the band formally disbanded and reunited in 2019.
Katrina Elizabeth Leskanich is an American musician and the former lead singer of the pop rock band Katrina and the Waves. Their song "Walking on Sunshine" was an international hit in 1985. In 1997, the band won the Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom with the song "Love Shine a Light". Both songs were written by her long-term bandmate Kimberley Rew.
Constantinos Christophorou is a Greek-Cypriot singer. He represented Cyprus in Eurovision Song Contest as a solo singer with "Mono Yia Mas" (1996) and "Ela Ela " (2005) and as part of the boy band formation One with "Gimme" (2002).
Blue are a British boy band consisting of members Simon Webbe, Duncan James, Antony Costa, and Lee Ryan. The group formed in 2000 and released three studio albums before announcing a hiatus in late 2004. In January 2011, the group reformed and represented the United Kingdom at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest in Düsseldorf with the song "I Can", coming in 11th place with 100 points. In 2013, it was confirmed that the group would be joining The Big Reunion, in which six groups from the past reform for a one-off gig. On 27 March 2013, the group announced they would embark on their first headlining tour later on in the year, their first tour in nearly ten years.
Vanilla Ninja is an Estonian all-female rock band which enjoyed chart success in a number of countries across Europe, especially in Estonia, Germany and Austria.
Dragana Todorović, better known under the stage name Bebi Dol, is a Serbian and Yugoslav singer and songwriter. Born in Belgrade, she made her solo debut in 1981 with the single "Mustafa". Bebi Dol rose to further prominence and nationwide popularity with her debut album Ruže i krv. She represented Yugoslavia at the Eurovision Song Contest 1991 with "Brazil". She has released four studio albums to date and had a number of hit songs in Serbia and former Yugoslavia.
"My Number One" is a song recorded by Greek-Swedish singer Helena Paparizou with music composed by Manolis Psaltakis and Christos Dantis, lyrics written by Dantis and Natalia Germanou, and produced by Dantis. It represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, held in Kyiv, resulting in the country's only ever victory in the contest.
"Land of a Thousand Dances" is a song written and first recorded by American rhythm and blues singer Chris Kenner in 1962. It later became a bigger hit in versions by Cannibal & the Headhunters and Wilson Pickett. A version by Thee Midniters reached number 27 in Canada on March 22, 1965.
Infinity is a Eurodance band from Norway that formed in the late 1990s. Its current members are Kjell Gabriel Hendrichs from Asker and Birgitte Moe from Bærum.
Kaliopi Bukle, known professionally as Kaliopi, is a Macedonian singer-songwriter. In her career, Kaliopi has progressed from singing lead vocal with her eponymous band in 1980s Yugoslavia to being an established vocalist and composer working in North Macedonia and across former Yugoslavia. She represented Macedonia twice in the Eurovision Song Contest, first in 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan with "Crno i belo" and a second time in 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden with the song "Dona".
Evridiki Theokleous, known mononymously as Evridiki, is a Greek Cypriot singer. She is best known in Europe for representing her home country, Cyprus, in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1992, 1994 and 2007 with the songs Teriazoume, Eimai Anthropos Ki Ego and Comme Ci, Comme Ça, respectively.
The Lovebugs are a Swiss rock band from Basel, Switzerland founded in 1992. They are one of Switzerland's most successful bands with three number one albums in the Swiss charts.
Dervish is an Irish traditional music group from County Sligo, Ireland which has been described by BBC Radio 3 as "an icon of Irish music". They were formed in 1989 by Liam Kelly, Shane Mitchell, Martin McGinley, Brian McDonagh, and Michael Holmes and have been fronted by singer Cathy Jordan since 1991. They represented Ireland in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, singing a song written by John Waters and Tommy Moran. In 2019 they released an album on the US Rounder Records label called The Great Irish Song Book featuring a selection of classic Irish songs sung by a number of well known singers including Steve Earle, Andrea Corr, Vince Gill, Kate Rusby, Imelda May, Rhiannon Giddens, The Steel Drivers, Brendan Gleeson, Abigail Washburn, and Jamey Johnson. In 2019 they received a lifetime achievement award from the BBC.
Cyndi Louise Almouzni, best known at the beginning of her music career in the United States as Cherie, is a French pop and dance music singer coming from Marseille. Her 2004 hit "I'm Ready" hit number one on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.
Alan Sorrenti is an Italian singer and composer.
Slovenia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song "Nanana" written by Martin Štibernik and Karmen Stavec. The song was performed by Karmen, which is the artistic name of singer Karmen Stavec. Slovenian broadcaster Radiotelevizija Slovenija organised the national final EMA 2003 in order to select the Slovenian entry for the 2003 contest in Riga, Latvia. Sixteen entries competed in the national final where the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the top three entries were selected following the combination of votes from a five-member jury panel and a public televote. In the second round, "Lep poletni dan" performed by Karmen Stavec was selected as the winner entirely by a public televote. The song was later translated from Slovene to English for the Eurovision Song Contest and was titled "Nanana".
SunStroke Project is a Moldovan musical group composed of Sergei Yalovitsky, Sergey Stepanov (saxophonist), and previously Anton Ragoza until his departure in 2019. They achieved recognition after representing Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 alongside Olia Tira with the song "Run Away", and again in the 2017 contest with "Hey Mamma", finishing in third place in the latter. The name of the group was chosen by Ragoza whilst working in the army with Stepanov, after he had an incident in which he was affected by heat stroke whilst on a field exercise.
A Friend in London was a Danish pop rock and rock band that represented Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Düsseldorf, Germany, with the song "New Tomorrow" and took fifth place in the final with 134 points. The group announced their split in 2014.
