From The Vault: Elnur and Samir

In 2008, Azerbaijan participated in Eurovision for the very first time. For their debut, they sent Elnur and Samir (Elnur Hüseynov and Samir Javadzadeh), a pop-opera duo influenced by mugham, a genre of traditional Azerbaijani folk music. Their song, "Day After Day" describes an epic battle between good and evil. 

Elnur, dressed as an angel, and Samir, dressed as the Devil, were joined onstage by angel babes and devil sluts. And a costume change! They knew what they were doing. Perhaps it is a bit excessive, but nuance is hard when you're trying to appeal to viewers in 40 different countries. And you know what will never get docked points at Eurovision? Enthusiasm. Voters felt the same: they awarded this entry 132 points, and it finished in eighth place. Not bad for first timers.

Eurovision has always been very popular in Azerbaijan. Participation is taken very seriously and is viewed as a great source of national pride. They are a favorite country in the Contest, and 2011 brought the first Azerbaijani victory with "Running Scared," a sweet, bubbly duet between Ell and Nikki (Eldar Gasimov and Nigar Jamal). They have toned it down a little bit since their debut.

From The Vault: SunStroke Project and Olia Tira

In 2010, Moldova sent a jazz-influenced electronic group called SunStroke Project to Eurovision. The band was composed of Sergei Yalovitsky (vocals), Sergey Stepanov (saxophone), and Anton Ragoza (composer and violinist). The trio named themselves after an episode of heat stroke that Stepanov suffered while serving in the army. Fun! The group added Olia Tira, a German-born Moldovan musician, for their Eurovision performance.

Wowee! They put on a great show, but it wasn't enough, sadly. SunStroke Project came in 22nd place that year with a mere 27 votes.

Their greatest achievement, however, might be that Stepanov's enthusiastic performance at the Contest spawned an internet meme, "Epic Sax Guy." If you really want to, you can watch him play saxophone for 10 hours.

Since their appearance at Eurovision, SunStroke Project attempted to represent Moldova again in 2012, but they lost out to Pasha Parfeny (who, coincidentally, was an early member of SunStroke Project). Olia Tira still performs with the group, but has also embarked on her own solo career, going by the name FLUX LIGHT. She competed for a chance to represent Moldova earlier this year, performing a song called "Never Stop No." 

Moldova has only been in the Contest since 2005, and their best showing was their first year. A band called Zdob si Zdub came in sixth place with "Bunica bate toba" (translation: "Grandmamma Beats the Drum"). The lead singer's actual grandmother was onstage with the group for the performance, and she got up from her rocking chair and literally beat on a large drum. And for that, they received 148 points!

Moldova has unique point of view when it comes to their Eurovision representatives, which is why they are so fun to watch. They always have something interesting to say with their entry.  This year, they are sending a singer named Cristina Scarlat with the song, "Wild Soul." Good luck to Moldova!

From The Vault: Ich Troje

In honor of Poland's return to Eurovision later this year (after a two year absence), let's talk about one of my favorite performances, Ich Troje.

Ich Troje is one of Poland's most popular bands. The group was formed in 1996 by Michal Wisniewski, who acts as the primary songwriter and lead singer, and composer, Jacek Lagwa. The members of the group have fluctuated; the female vocalist usually changes depending on who Wisniewski is married to at the time. In 2003, after Poland's public selection process for Eurovision, they were voted to represent their country, and they did pretty well. After receiving 90 votes, they finished seventh in the final.

In 2006, they were back! And they were ready to give Poland its first ever Eurovision victory!

This performance has everything. Vocal grates! Green hair! Sign language! Demure and definitely-not-over-the-top costumes! Enlisting the rapping styles of "O-Jay" Jeglitza from 90s German Euroband, Real McCoy! Scream-singing into the belly of your pregnant wife!!!

Tragically, Ich Troje finished eleventh in the semi-final, so they were not passed onto the final. (They missed it by six points.)

Ich Troje is an entry that sticks with me because they were just so genuine. Yes, the performance is completely overdone, but they were so pumped to be at Eurovision, representing their country again. They didn't know they were being ridiculous, they were just being themselves. 2006 was my first Eurovision, and it was an amazing year. Nearly every act was either genuinely talented, or a big, silly mess.

Welcome back, Poland!

From the Vault: Tajci

Before its dissolution in 1992, Yugoslavia had a long career at Eurovision. They debuted in 1961, only five years after the first Eurovision was held. Yugoslavia won the Contest for the first and only time in 1989, with a song called "Rock Me" by Riva.

The following year, they hosted the competition in Zagreb (now the capital of present-day Croatia). Their representative was Tajci, an adorable, bouncy, 19 year-old Croatian singer, and her song, "Hajde da ludujemo" (translation: "Let's Go Crazy!").

Tajci, born Tatjana Matejas, finished in seventh place. Her musical career, unfortunately, was shortened by the breakup of Yugoslavia and the resulting Yugoslav Wars. She left her home in 1992 for the United States, where she worked as an actress and singer. Tajci now lives in Cinncinati, Ohio with her husband, and focuses on spiritual music and church performances. She has written a semi-autobiographical musical, "My Perfectly Beautiful Life." 

From The Vault: DJ BoBo

Peter René Cipiriano Baumann, better known as DJ BoBo, is a legendary Swiss singer, rapper, and music producer. He is one of the most well-known and popular musicians in Switzerland. He tours internationally and has received ten World Music Awards for being Switzerland's best-selling musical artist. He first achieved success in 1992, with the Euro-techno-dance song, "Somebody Dance With Me." Fifteen years later, in 2007, Swiss judges selected DJ BoBo to represent their country at Eurovision.

DJ BoBo was definitely onto something here. The vampire craze was about to hit hard in the United States. Stephanie Meyer's Twilight novels were the biggest selling books in 2008. That same year, the film adaptations of her novels, starring sexy teen vampire, Robert Pattinson, and the object of his sexy vampire desire, Kristen Stewart, were also released. They grossed $392 million (US) worldwide. The first episode of HBO's True Blood debuted in 2008. And a year later, another television show about sexy teen vampires, The Vampire Diaries, premiered. In America, vampires were really, really cool. You couldn't go into a Borders without seeing a dozen displays of sexy vampire spin-off books and keychains and coffee cups and other useless things.

But in Europe, DJ BoBo's "Vampires Are Alive" did not make it to the finals. Despite DJ BoBo's international fame, he received only forty points and placed twentieth in the semi-finals. The song was not without controversy: a group of conservative Swiss Christians drew up a petition to get the song disqualified, as they felt it celebrated Satanism and encouraged teen suicide. Additionally, many Europeans felt that DJ BoBo was too famous to participate in Eurovision. Perhaps that's why the song did so poorly.

From the Vault: Silvía Night

In 2006, Silvía Night was sent to the ESC to represent Iceland. She sang a song proclaiming she was the best candidate to ever participate in Eurovision and, additionally, "God's favorite person in the world." In the song, she declared that she was the winner, and congratulated Europe for making the right choice and voting for her, thereby "saving the world."

This upset some people.

From the Vault: Guildo Horn

In 1998, Germany sent Guildo Horn and his backing band, Die Orthopädischen Strümphe (translation: The Orthopedic Stockings) to Eurovision. Guildo's song was called "Guildo hat euch lieb!" which means "Guildo Loves You!" in German.

Oh, boy. It's all very, very interesting. The lyrics are sugary-sweet, about how Guildo wants to come to your house and cheer you up when you are sad. But they are being sung by a giant, stomping, wild-eyed man, and that can seem like a disturbing sentiment. Still, Guildo and The Orthopedic Stockings finished in seventh place that year.

Alright, I know you're thinking that I messed up the dates, and this is actually a performance from the 1970s. But it's really 1998. In America, The Backstreet Boys and Destiny's Child were making their way up the music charts. In Germany, Guildo wore velvet bell-bottoms and platform boots and sang about "nut bars and raspberry ice cream." That's just some classic German humor for you.

Guildo, unfortunately, hasn't been back to Eurovision, but the composer of this song, Stefan Raab, has. Raab, a German television host, comedian, and musician, is responsible for several more Eurovision entries. He performed a terrible nonsense-rap in 2000 (Germans are just the goofiest!), and mentored the 2010 winner of Eurovision, Lena Meyer-Landrut.

Guildo marked a turn in German entries at Eurovision. For years leading up to this, Germany didn't put much effort into the Contest. Guildo's erratic, enthusiastic performance in 1998 is credited for bringing German attention back to Eurovision and paving a way for their win in 2010.

From the Vault: Gina G

Australian DJ and pop singer, Gina G, represented the UK in 1996. Her song, "Ooh Ahh... Just a Little Bit," only finished in eighth place at the competition, but it went on to be a number-one hit in many countries. In America, the song was nominated for a Grammy for Best Dance Recording.

Those back-up dancers are just perfect. Everything about this performance is so fun and wonderful and 90s, but Europe wasn't quite ready for this kind of high-energy pop. Audiences wanted ballads in the 1990s, and Gina G was just a little before her time. But she did help start a trend that would bring Eurovision into the new millennium with a techno-dance beat.

Gina G attempted a return to Eurovision in 2005, but she did not make the final selection. She continues to produce music under her own record label and lives in the UK.