Sunday, May 15, 2011

10 Germany - Taken By A Stranger - Lena

10 - 107 pts / not in semi
The German viewers have decided on Taken By A Stranger as the home entry for Eurovision 2011. (more on the national final below)
The song is written by Gus Seyffert, Nicole Morier and Monica Birkenes.
You can watch the winning performance through Lena's website.

Last year it was Lena Meyer-Landrut, but in the meantime she has become a household name in Germany, so just Lena is enough now.

A 2 track cdsingle is out now in Germany (pic right) it has the Eurovision entry and semi-final song That Again. (Universal 7 646 244).
The inside of the picture sleeve comes in at least two variations. One has a pic of Lena shaking her hair, the other also has a tourdate list.
Both the album and single are now available at BeaRecords.

versions:
Taken By A Stranger - Eurovision version
on the official Düsseldorf album
Taken By A Stranger - original version
on cdsingle and CD Good News
Taken By A Stranger (live)
on CD Good News The Platinum Edition

Charts:
German top 100: 2, 7, 8, 15, 23, 27, 32, 44, 42, 48, 50, 33, 16, 44, 61, 84, -
Austria top 75: 32, 52, 64, 74, -, 72, -, 18, 51, 59
Switzerland top 75:  (March) 45, - (May) 29, -
Netherlands top 100: 92, -
Ireland top 50: 50, -


Lena Live DVD
May 9 saw the release of the DVD Good News Lena Live (Universal). It features 21 tracks filmed at her recent concert tour including 10 from the album Good News plus Satellite and Love Me from the 2010 German National Final.
As extra there are three videoclips: Satellite, Touch A New Day and Taken By A Stranger.

Lena's National Final
It was announced almost right after Lena's 2010 victory that she would again represent Germany in the 2011 contest.
There was an open selection for the 12 songs which Lena performed in three shows: two semi's and one final.
All the songs, including winner Taken By A Stranger are out now Lena's new album Good News which was released on Februari 8 on USFO/Universal. (60252 7626390)

Good News enters the German album charts at #1. It went platinum in may, shipping over 200.000 copies in 12 weeks.
Good News Tracklist:
01. Good News
02. What Happened To Me *
03. A Million And One *
04. Maybe *
05. I Like You
06. Mama Told Me *
07. Push Forward *
08. A Good Day
09. Taken By A Stranger */winner
10. Teenage Girls
11. That Again
12. At All

* songs proceeding to the final

Good News Platinum Edition
Update: September 16 sees a new edition of the Good News album. It includes two new songs and five live tracks:
What A Man **
Who’d Want To Find Love
I Like To Bang My Head (live)
Good News (live)
Taken By A Stranger (live)
Satellite (live)
New Shoes (live)
** What A Man is a coverversion of the 1994 hit by Salt 'n' Pepa and En Vogue. It features in the the german film What A Man (and on the soundtrack) which is in the German kino's now. It's also Lena's new single.

Read all about Lena's 2010 Satellite releases, covers and chart adventures here at the The Oslo Collection.

Lena's Website

Germany in 2009 (Alex Swings, Oscar Sings)

Defending The Title
It's not the first time a Eurovision winner defends the title the following year, but it's way way back.
1956 winner Lys Assia ended 8th (of 10) in 1957 and 1957 winner Corry Brokken ended 9th (and shared last) in 1958. Lena ended at a respectable 10th place.

Coverversions (and some crap)
A few overversions have already popped up, some a bit more official than others.

Update: A kiddy coverversion Hey Ich Seh' Gespenster (Hey, I see Ghosts) is released on the CD Mission Keksplanet: Pop-Songs in neuer Umlaufbahn (Mission Cookieplanet: Pop songs in new orbit). Kids sing new, German language version of popular (mostly 2011) hits. TBAS is done by Jenny Nowack.
CD is out on Misarmusic.

Ann-Madeleine is a German schlager singer and the inclusion of a copy of Taken By A Stranger on her Best OF CD is a bit strange.
Ann-Madeleine website

A punkish version by Sven Dorau is available through Amazon downloads, that one is a good effort in an original style.
Another cover available at various digital shops is an decent acoustic version by Michael Schulte. (listen here at We7)

Avoid: The same kind of lame names that 'covered' Lena's winner last year got their hands on TBAS too. All are digital releases to avoid: The True Star, Mirabelle, Favorite Star, Daisy Duffy (what a waste of a fab name), Star From Germany, Leila, Ann-Madeleine and a useless piano instrumental by Pianomusic.
The True Star even calls their version a Lena Tribute.

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