New Contenders Announced!
Bosnia & Herzegovina ( BiH) have now officially selected a representative, Vukašin Brajić (X-Factor/Fame Academy count is now three) and his song Munja I Grom (Lightning and Thunder), written by famed songwriter Dino Šaren. Almost as if to say, “Take that Croatia!,” BiH selected the man who beat out Igor Cukrov (CRO2009) on the Yugoslav edition of Fame Academy last year. He didn’t just beat out Cukrov, but Brajić also achieved second place on the show. But I am not sure why. Oh, wait, yes I am. He is more gimmick than voice (which is a good thing because his voice isn’t that good). Of the known acts this will probably be in the top three, but this position will slip downward as better acts are announced. His biggest saving graces are the large extent of the Bosnian diaspora throughout Western Europe and the fact that poprock tends to do well at ESC (think TUR2008, BLR2007, SUI2005, etc…).
And because it is hard to think about BiH without also thinking of Ottomans…
Turkey seems to have settled on an act after much controversy. After various artists were leaked to the international media as the 2010 representative for the Turks, the Turkish broadcaster TRT became angry and sped up 
the process of searching for an act. After silence for all of December, TRT released the names of its three leading candidates: Sebnem Ferah, Emre Aydin, maNga. All three are slightly edgy, music heavy acts, with Ferah and MaNga being more rock and Aydin being more pop. Ferah seemed to be the leader, however, she was the first to announce that she had zero intentions of competing in the ESC, saying that “Eurovision is no longer a music contest.” Apparently, acts like Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber (UK2009 composer/lyricst), Diane Warren (UK2009 composer/lyricist), Patricia Kaas (FRA2009), Noa (ISR2009), Malena Ernman (SWE2009), and Željko Joksimović (S&M2005; BiH2006 composer) (among many other big name musicians) don’t make the contest legitimate. That’s okay, people who don’t think that Contest is good enough for them often aren’t wanted! That left the rock band and the pop singer. Unfortunately, it took Aydin’s bowing out of the running for maNga to be selected (no one likes to be the last choice!). However, fortunately for Turkey, they are an awesome band. They’re infusion of Turkish sound with rock style creates a textured musical experience for the listener, and the lead is a decent singer. As long as they write a catchy song, they should dominate in Norway come May.
For those of you not paying attention, I have now selected two favorites for the Contest (and only 9 artists and/or songs are known!), Israel and Turkey. I’m sure my list will expand to at least five legitimate chances at victory and five more dark horse candidates. But why not take a guess now?
@escobsession 