1.
Pop music
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Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form in the United States and United Kingdom during the mid 1950s. The terms popular music and pop music are used interchangeably, although the former describes all music that is popular. Pop and rock were synonymous terms until the late 1960s, when they were used in opposition from each other. Although pop music is seen as just the singles charts, it is not the sum of all chart music. Pop music is eclectic, and often borrows elements from other such as urban, dance, rock, Latin. Identifying factors include generally short to medium-length songs written in a format, as well as the common use of repeated choruses, melodic tunes. David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop music as a body of music which is distinguishable from popular, jazz, according to Pete Seeger, pop music is professional music which draws upon both folk music and fine arts music. Although pop music is seen as just the singles charts, it is not the sum of all chart music, the music charts contain songs from a variety of sources, including classical, jazz, rock, and novelty songs. Pop music, as a genre, is seen as existing and developing separately, pop music continuously evolves along with the terms definition. The term pop song was first recorded as being used in 1926, Hatch and Millward indicate that many events in the history of recording in the 1920s can be seen as the birth of the modern pop music industry, including in country, blues and hillbilly music. The Oxford Dictionary of Music states that while pops earlier meaning meant concerts appealing to a wide audience. Since the late 1950s, however, pop has had the meaning of non-classical mus, usually in the form of songs, performed by such artists as the Beatles. Grove Music Online also states that, in the early 1960s pop music competed terminologically with beat music, while in the USA its coverage overlapped with that of rock and roll. From about 1967, the term was used in opposition to the term rock music. Whereas rock aspired to authenticity and an expansion of the possibilities of music, pop was more commercial, ephemeral. It is not driven by any significant ambition except profit and commercial reward, and, in musical terms, it is essentially conservative. It is, provided from on high rather than being made from below, pop is not a do-it-yourself music but is professionally produced and packaged. The beat and the melodies tend to be simple, with limited harmonic accompaniment, the lyrics of modern pop songs typically focus on simple themes – often love and romantic relationships – although there are notable exceptions
2.
Estonia
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Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia, across the Baltic Sea lies Sweden in the west and Finland in the north. The territory of Estonia consists of a mainland and 2,222 islands and islets in the Baltic Sea, covering 45,339 km2 of land and water, and is influenced by a humid continental climate. The territory of Estonia has been inhabited since at least 6500 BC, in 1988, during the Singing Revolution, the Estonian Supreme Soviet issued the Estonian Sovereignty Declaration in defiance of Soviet rule, and independence was restored on 20 August 1991. Estonia is a parliamentary republic divided into fifteen counties. Its capital and largest city is Tallinn, with a population of 1.3 million, it is one of the least-populous member states of the European Union, Eurozone, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, OECD and Schengen Area. Estonia is a country with an advanced, high-income economy that is among the fastest growing in the EU. Its Human Development Index ranks very highly, and it performs favourably in measurements of economic freedom, civil liberties, the 2015 PISA test places Estonian high school students 3rd in the world, behind Singapore and Japan. Citizens of Estonia are provided with health care, free education. Since independence the country has developed its IT sector, becoming one of the worlds most digitally advanced societies. In 2005 Estonia became the first nation to hold elections over the Internet, in the Estonian language, the oldest known endonym of the Estonians was maarahvas, meaning country people or people of the land. The land inhabited by Estonians was called Maavald meaning Country Parish or Land Parish, one hypothesis regarding the modern name of Estonia is that it originated from the Aesti, a people described by the Roman historian Tacitus in his Germania. The historic Aesti were allegedly Baltic people, whereas the modern Estonians are Finno-Ugric, the geographical areas between Aesti and Estonia do not match, with Aesti being further down south. Ancient Scandinavian sagas refer to a land called Eistland, as the country is called in Icelandic. Early Latin and other ancient versions of the name are Estia and Hestia, esthonia was a common alternative English spelling prior to 1921. Human settlement in Estonia became possible 13,000 to 11,000 years ago, the oldest known settlement in Estonia is the Pulli settlement, which was on the banks of the river Pärnu, near the town of Sindi, in south-western Estonia. According to radiocarbon dating it was settled around 11,000 years ago, the earliest human inhabitation during the Mesolithic period is connected to Kunda culture, which is named after the town of Kunda in northern Estonia. At that time the country was covered with forests, and people lived in communities near bodies of water
3.
Eurovision Song Contest
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The competition was based upon the existing Sanremo Music Festival held in Italy since 1951. The contest has been broadcast every year for sixty years, since its inauguration in 1956 and it is also one of the most watched non-sporting events in the world, with audience figures having been quoted in recent years as anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally. Eurovision has also been broadcast outside Europe to several countries that do not compete, such as the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and China. An exception was made in 2015, when Australia was allowed to compete as a guest entrant as part of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the event. In November 2015, the EBU announced that Australia was invited back as a participant in the 2016 contest after their success in 2015, following their success again in 2016, Australia will compete again in 2017. Since 2000, the contest has also been broadcast over the Internet via the Eurovision website, winning the Eurovision Song Contest provides a short-term boost to the winning artists career, but rarely results in long-term success. Notable exceptions are ABBA, Bucks Fizz and Céline Dion, all of whom launched successful careers after their wins. Ireland holds the record for the highest number of wins, having won the contest seven times—including four times in five years in 1992,1993,1994 and 1996. Under the current voting system, the highest scoring winner is Jamala of Ukraine who won the 2016 contest in Stockholm, under the previous system, in place from 1975 to 2015, the highest scoring winner is Alexander Rybak of Norway with 387 points in 2009. Satellite television did not exist, and the Eurovision Network comprised a terrestrial microwave network, the name Eurovision was first used in relation to the EBUs network by British journalist George Campey in the London Evening Standard in 1951. The first contest was held in the town of Lugano, Switzerland, seven countries participated—each submitting two songs, for a total of 14. This was the only contest in more than one song per country was performed, since 1957. The 1956 contest was won by the host nation, Switzerland, the programme was first known as the Eurovision Grand Prix. This Grand Prix name was adopted by Denmark, Norway and the Francophone countries, the Grand Prix has since been dropped and replaced with Concours in French, but not in Danish or Norwegian. The Eurovision network is used to carry news and sports programmes internationally. However, in the minds of the public, the name Eurovision is most closely associated with the Song Contest, a country as a participant is represented by one television broadcaster from that country, typically, but not always, that countrys national public broadcasting organisation. The programme is hosted by one of the participant countries, during this programme, after all the songs have been performed, the countries then proceed to cast votes for the other countries songs, nations are not allowed to vote for their own song. At the end of the programme, the song with the most points is declared as the winner, the programme is invariably opened by one or more presenters, welcoming viewers to the show
4.
Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009
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In August 2008 Estonian Minister of Culture Laine Jänes announced a possible boycott could be held between the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Latvia later rebuked the boycott and announced that they would be present at the 2009 contest, in September 2008 a public poll was held on whether Estonia should participate at the contest. 66% of the poll takers wished to see Estonia at the contest, ERR later submitted to public demand and announced that they would participate at the contest in May. The winner of the newly formed contest Eesti Laul, replacing the former Eurolaul, was Urban Symphony with the song Rändajad, written by Sven Lõhmus, which received 82% of the final vote. ERR announced that a new contest, completely different from the preceding Eurolaul, Eesti Laul 2009 will be held on 7 March 2009 and will include ten songs competing for the Estonian ticket to Moscow. An open call for songs for all Estonian residents was launched, the judging panel that selected the shortlist knew the names of the singers and composers of each song, unlike in the previous Eurolaul contest. ERR received 110 songs for the contest, a jury appointed by the broadcaster selected 10 songs to perform in the contest, with the finalists being known on Thursday,11 December, on Estonian television. The list of participants include former Eurolaul and Eurovision participants, laura Põldvere represented Estonia, as a member of Suntribe, at the Eurovision Song Contest 2005. During the contest, hosted by brothers Henry and Robert Kõrvits, after all the songs had performed, a 50/50 mix of jury and televote selected two song to progress to the Super Final. After the two songs performed again, televoting decided the winner of the contest. Traffic received 18% of the vote, while Urban Symphony received 82%. Since Estonia came 18th in the semi-final of the 2008 contest they had to compete in one of the two semi-finals in Moscow, at the second semi-final on 14 May Estonia and Urban Symphony performed 18th in the running order, following Ukraine and preceding the Netherlands. The group qualified Estonia to the finals for the first time in the history since the semi-finals were introduced in 2004. At the final on 16 May Urban Symphony performed 15th in the order, following Malta and preceding Denmark. Eesti Laul Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest Eurovision Song Contest 2008 Eurovision Song Contest 2009 Eurovision 2009 Official Site
5.
Melodifestivalen
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Melodifestivalen is an annual music competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television and Sveriges Radio. It determines the countrys representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1959, since 2000, the competition has been the most popular television programme in Sweden, it is also broadcast on radio and the Internet. In 2012, the semifinals averaged 3.3 million viewers, the festival has produced six Eurovision winners and eighteen top-five placings for Sweden at the contest. The winner of the Melodifestival has been chosen by panels of jurors since its inception, since 1999, the juries have been joined by a public telephone vote which has an equal influence over the final outcome. The competition makes an impact on music charts in Sweden. The introduction of semifinals in 2002 raised the number of contestants from around twelve to thirty-two. A childrens version of the competition, Lilla Melodifestivalen, also began that year, light orchestrated pop songs, known locally as schlager music, are so prevalent that the festival is sometimes referred to as Schlagerfestivalen by the Swedish media. However, other styles of such as rap, reggae. The introduction of a final in Stockholm has attracted substantial tourism to the city. The most recent Melodifestivalen winner is Robin Bengtsson who won on 11 March 2017 with the song I Cant Go On and he is set to represent Sweden at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev, Ukraine. With seven nations competing, the first Eurovision Song Contest took place in Lugano, Swedens first contest was the third, in 1958. Without broadcasting a selection, Sveriges Radio chose to send Alice Babs to the contest in Hilversum, the song selected was Samma stjärna lyser för oss två, later renamed Lilla stjärna. It finished fourth at Eurovision on 12 March 1958, the first Melodifestival, incorporated into the Säg det med musik radio series, took place on 29 January 1959 at Cirkus in Stockholm, eight songs participated. Four expert juries in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, and Luleå decided the winner, the competition was won by Siw Malmkvist performing Augustin, but SR decided that the winning song—regardless of its original performer—would be performed by Brita Borg at Eurovision. This policy, of selecting the artist for Eurovision internally and having other artists perform potential Swedish entries at Melodifestivalen, was stopped in 1961, the competition became a stand-alone television programme in 1960, known as the Eurovisionschlagern, svensk final. In the events early years, it was broadcast to Norway, the competition adopted its current name, Melodifestivalen, in 1967. The Melodifestival has failed to be staged on three occasions, in 1964, the competition was cancelled due to an artists strike, Sweden did not send a song to Eurovision that year. Sweden was absent at Eurovision for a time in 1970 because of a Nordic boycott of the voting system
6.
Saku Suurhall
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Saku Suurhall is the largest arena in Estonia. It was built in 2001 and holds up to 10,000 people and it is named after the Estonian brewery and soft drink company Saku. It generally hosts basketball games, as well as ice hockey and its located in Haabersti, a subdistrict of Haabersti District. Marilyn Manson, Massive Attack, Metallica, Muse, Kylie Minogue, Nazareth, OneRepublic, Ozzy Osbourne, Pet Shop Boys, Phil Collins, P. nk, Placebo, The Prodigy, Suzi Quatro, Rammstein, R. E. M. Chris Rea, REO Speedwagon, Demis Roussos, Roxette, Ruslana, Sade, Scorpions, Seal, Simple Minds, Simply Red, Ed Sheeran, Smokie, Sting, Styx, Sweet, t. A. T. u. Adam Tensta, Underworld, Vanilla Ninja, Vaya Con Dios, Whitesnake, Yes & Tiësto, theatre and shows, ABBA - The Show, Chicago, David Copperfield, Georgian National Ballet, Harlem Globetrotters, Riverdance, Wadaiko Yamato. Baltic Basketball League Final 6 event in 2006, europes biggest extreme sports festival, Simpel Session, is held here every year since 2004. Pirate Station Future & Immortal 2010 European Figure Skating Championships 2015 Toyota Four Nations Cup Eesti Laul 2016 Final Eesti Laul 2017 Final Official website
7.
Urban Symphony
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Urban Symphony is an Estonian music group. It represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song Rändajad and this is the best place for Estonia in the contest since 2002. In autumn 2007, Sandra Nurmsalu took part in the talent show called 2 takti ette, biennially held by the Eesti Televisioon. In a week of the contest, the contestants were tasked to form bands each on their own, Nurmsalu had studied the violin for two years in the Georg Ots Music School and had previously arranged the song Nothing Else Matters by Metallica for a string set of the school. Therefore, she decided to use one again, Nurmsalu turned to her former school, where she was introduced to Mann Helstein playing the viola, Johanna Mängel playing the cello, a female contrabass player and a male keyboardist. The band re-scored the song Hungry by Kosheen and were pleased with the resulting televised, at the end of the series, Nurmsalu, Helstein and Mängel agreed to continue their collaboration. Mängel brought the new cello player Mari Möldre to the band, in the same while, Sven Lõhmus, a music producer invited the group to work with him. The first track the team completed was Rändajad for the contest of Eesti Laul, the song went on to gain 6th place in the Eurovision final. For this project, Marilin Kongo and Mirjam Mesak joined the group to sing backing vocals and they sing Päikese poole, Skorpion and Crying in the Rain too. Marilin Kongo was 8th with her entry Be 1st in Eurolaul 2006, the backing singer Mirjam Mesak supported Gerli Padar with backing vocals on stage of Eurovision Song Contest 2007
