Samantha Janus - UK 1991- Sascha Stolp

Samantha Janus (now known as Samantha Womack) first became known to the Eurovision community when she represented the UK in the 1991 Eurovision Song Contest with her song “A Message To Your Heart”. Samantha was 18 years old at the time and a recent graduate of the prestigious Sylvia Young Theatre School. She finished joint 10th in Eurovision and her single peaked at number 30 in the UK Singles Chart.

After Eurovision, her career soon pivoted to acting, and she began appearing in numerous popular UK shows during the 1990’s such as The Bill, Game On, and Babes In The Wood as well as starting a theatre career starring in Grease on the West End.

In the 2000’s Samantha returned to television with a few BBC shows, Strange, and Home Again as well as appearing in a number of films and even directing an anti-bullying music video. In 2006, she returned to the West End production of Guys and Dolls at the Piccadilly Theatre, initially starring opposite Patrick Swayze and later Don Johnson.

The role which she is probably best known for came in 2007 when she joined the popular soap EastEnders where she played Ronnie Mitchell until her exit in 2011.

Since leaving EastEnders, Samantha has been very busy. She’s been in starring theatre roles, such as South Pacific, Hope, and Addams Family, as well as TV shows Mount Pleasant and Silent Witness.

Despite never finding success as a recording artist following Eurovision, Samantha has certainly had a very successful career in the Entertainment industry.

George Nußbaumer - Austria 1996 - Michaela Sowden

George Nußbaumer represented Austria in 1996 with a song called Weil's Dr guat got ( Weil's Dir gut geht), sung in Vorarbergisch or in dialekt. The song itself was about the enjoyment to be had in the world when everything is going well. Unusually, it was performed in an up-tempo gospel -influenced style. Nussbaumer led the song on a piano, with a series of backing singers providing appropriate response. He placed 10th with 68 points in a field of 23. Looking back, it was a really good song even more so when you realise that it was not sung in English. He also was the first blind performer to participate at Eurovision

So where is he now? 1n 1996 and 1999 he put out two albums : Crazy but I Do and The Love Within. At the same time he not only conducted his own solo concerts but also opened for the likes of Joe Cocker, B.B. King, Willy DeVille and Dr John.

He was also a producer and moderator at a private radio station , Antenne Vorarlberg.

In 2005 he formed a trio with Bernie Weber and Markus Kreil. The last few years he formed the George Nussbaumer Band with Walter Schuler on guitar, Markus Kreil on Bass and Lukas Bildstein on drums and percussion. On the 23rd of January gave a concert on Vorarlberg ORF introducing his new album.

https://youtu.be/d5xt0eMjvpo

https://youtu.be/Jmql5pfAXQ8

Chiara - Malta 1998 - David Lee Rogers

Chiara Siracusa was born on 25 September 1976 in Senglea Malta.

Chiara competed for Malta three times, in 1998 finishing a close third with her song "The One That I Love" behind Dana International. She was neck and neck in voting with Dana International until the final country, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia now North Macedonia, gave her zero points, sealing the win for Israel and leaving her quite upset about the narrow loss.

Subsequently, she competed in 2005 in Kyiv with a song she composed herself called "Angel" finishing a strong second behind Greece, and with a higher point total than the other Maltese 2nd place Ira Losco, "Angel" is the highest finisher of all Maltese Eurovision entries. Then, in 2009 with her song "What If We", Chiara fared not nearly as well, finishing 22nd in the Grand Final in Moscow. She was also the presenter of the Maltese vote for Eurovision 2010 as well as for Sweden's Melodifestivalen 2013.

Since then, Chiara offers the occasional performance, her favorite place being Michelangelo in Valletta, Malta's only gay club. She offers performances in other locales such as Greece and Cyprus, and she still has an active agent for future performances. She also sang 2010's Malta Official Gay Pride Anthem "Believe (We Are One)", and she hosted in 2008 the national qualifier show Malta Song for Europe.

Currently, she has been in a relationship with a Maltese gentleman Matthew Pace since September 2018, and she is also an active real estate agent in Malta since March 2019 working at Excel Homes in Valletta. She loves cooking and would love to have dinner with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. She loves traditional Maltese food especially her mother's Brodu, a Maltese broth. She listens to 80s icon singers such as Elton John, Whitney Houston, Madonna and Michael Jackson, as well as icons Beyonce and Celine Dion. She also loves the humor of British comedian Arron Crascall.

Alla Pugacheva - Russia 1997 - William Fedor

In 1997, Alla Pugacheva was Russia’s 3rd representative to the Eurovision Song Contest, performing the song “Primadonna” that she originally had written for her not to sing as she wrote it for a male vocalist to perform, but subsequently sung it herself when they were not available. She would end up placing 15th in the contest.

Prior to Eurovision, Alla had a successful career in Russia and the former Soviet Union and continued after her performance in Dublin. At the time Alla was married to a young Philipp Kirkorov who would go on to represent Russia in Eurovision himself. This marriage would continue until their divorce in 2005. Alla would then continue her tradition of being in the company of younger men and would marry comedian, television presenter and singer, Maxim Gulkin in 2011. Her marriage to Maxim would be fruitful as they also had twins, Liza and Harry by a surrogate mother.

Since Eurovision, Alla has produced five solo albums with the most recent in 2008, four other albums as collaborations and four known singles with many others published around the world. This continued devotion to her career as also allowed her to receive the various classes of the Russian Order of Merit of the Fatherland on three occasions, firstly from Boris Yeltsin, Dmitry Medvedev and finally from Vladimir Putin as well as awards from Belarus, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

In March 2014, Alla signed a petition against the persecution of Andrei Makarevich who protested against annexation of Crimea and war in Donbass, Ukraine.

Baby Doll - YUGOSLAVIA 1991 - Ronny Addamo

Dragana Todorovic (then Saric) (now 58) better known as Baby Doll finally got her chance at representing Yugoslavia at Eurovision in 1991 after many attempts. Sadly, she came second last on the night only scoring one point with her song “Brazil”. The poppy little number has since become somewhat of a cult classic in the Eurovision sphere for its campy fun, colourful feels. The song, despite its low scoring earned Baby Doll an invite to perform at Italy’s San Remo festival but due to the conflict in the Yugoslavian region at that time, she had to decline the event.

Since 1991 Baby Doll has released a further 4 albums, two in her native Serbian tongue, one English covers album, and a live album in 2007. Baby Doll then toured through her home region singing her previous songs, as well as covers by Lenny Kravitz, Simon & Garfunkel, Pink Floyd, Louis Armstrong and Michael Jackson, to name a few. After the success of her concert, she released a compilation album and turned her focus towards Television.

In more recent times Baby Doll has found herself back in the spotlight due to numerous slots on reality television shows. Baby Doll appeared in three seasons of “farma” a Big brother style show, but set on a farm type series (yes, really).

In 2015 Baby Doll married a Serbian professor of philology and Russian language named Aleks Todorovic, to whom she remains married to today.

In 2017 another reality television series called, this time the Serbian version of Your face sounds familiar, and finally in 2018 an extension of the ‘’farma’ franchise, known as ‘Zadraga’ a similar concept, but this time, the contestants are building a community in an isolated location.

Baby Doll was last seen on the small screen in 2020 with a small role on a television show called ‘Tajkun’’ as a nightclub singer, much closer to what we all know her for.

Frances Ruffelle - UK 1994 - Cindy Zhang

Frances Ruffelle (born 29 August 1965 in London) is a Tony Award-winning musical theater actress who represented her country in Eurovision in 1994. Before Eurovision, she was already known for originating the roles of Dinah in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Starlight Express and more famously, that of Éponine in the musical version of Les Misérables on West End. Her performance as Éponine won her multiple awards and accolades, including the Tony Award in 1987 (for recreating the role for the Original Broadway Cast). 

After finishing 10th in 1994’s Eurovision with the song "Lonely Symphony (We Will Be Free)", a UK Top 30 hit, she returned to her career on West End. Some of her stage roles include Roxie Hart in Chicago (2003–04, 2007), the title role in Piaf (2013), Bella in The A to Z of Mrs. P (2014), and Queenie in The Wild Party. She has also released solo albums, beginning with her debut album Fragile in 1994 and followed by Frances Ruffelle (1998), Showgirl (2004), Imperfectly Me (2010), and I Say Yeh-Yeh (2015). 

Ruffelle was married to award-winning theater director John Caird (whom she worked with on  Les Misérables) between 1990 and 1993 and had two children with him: the singer-songwriter Eliza Doolittle, and a son. 

Friderika Bayer - Hungary 1994 - Matt MacDonald

Friderika Bayer and her song, "Kinek mondjam el vétkeimet?"* finished fourth at Eurovision 1994 as Hungary's debut entry in the contest. What happened to her life in the years that followed?

Initially, she received tremendous accolades within her home country, including being awarded the eMeRTon-díj prize for Az év felfedezettje (Newcomer of the Year) and being named Pop Singer of the Year by Ifjúsági Magazin, a youth magazine based in her country.

The following year, she claimed second place at Poland's Sopoti Fesztiválon, a music festival, while, in 1998, she saw her single, "Feltárcsáztad a szívemet"**, receive notable exposure and success in Hungary. She describes it as "my biggest hit so far."

After joining the Faith Church in 1996, Friderika also started performing with them on a regular basis, including being shown on the "Vidám Vasárnap" television program on Sunday mornings throughout the next several years.   

She has released nine additional albums since "Friderika" came out in 1994, including "Friderika II" (1996), "Boldog vagyok" (1998), "Kincs, ami van" (1999), "Szép álmokat" (1999), "Hazatalálsz" (2001), "Gospel" (2003), "Az álmok tengerén" (2003), "Sáron rózsája" (2006) and "Tente dalok" (2016). 

She describes "Gospel" as the "first solo gospel album in Hungary."

https://www.friderika.com/language/en/autobiography

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEYt1kd1K1g

**https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9nkbJIjJrg

Edyta Gorniak - Poland 1994 - Edward Till

In 1996, I met an Englishman in Warsaw who was coaching a promising star for EMI International.  That artist’s first—perfectly enunciated—eponymous English language album, Edyta Górniak, was released in 1997 by the team responsible for Céline Dion’s international career.

This attention seemed natural, following the stunning second place for Poland’s debut entry at Eurovision in 1994.  To Nie Ja! showcased Górniak’s four octave range and quirky looks.  Her grandmother had named her after Édith Piaf, and this Polish-Romany songbird was surely taking flight.

Her Polish career accelerated with big ballads and anthems for sporting teams, but international success was ultimately muted.  Her album suffered when two of the songs were released by others.  The late Robert Miles released his Eurodance version of One & One a year before her, and Martine McCutcheon took Perfect Moment to a UK number one.  She nonetheless became the first Polish artist to break into the Euro Top 50 charts.

After being dropped by record labels, Górniak developed independent music with her erstwhile husband enjoying some local and enduring chart success.  She also became a judge on several talent shows.  Most recently, she has courted controversy by making conspiracy claims about COVID.

Her attempt at a Eurovision comeback failed in 2016 when she made third place at the national final with the song Grateful… but this is not the end of the story.  In the first season of The Voice Kids, she mentored Roksana Węgiel, who went on to win Junior Eurovision 2018.

Just 4 Fun - Norway 1991 - Michelle Stigwood

Just 4 Fun were the Norwegian entry that placed 17th in Eurovision 1991. The group disbanded after releasing 2 singles in 1991, however the four members went on to forge successful and life long careers in music. Below is a summary of their achievements.

Hanne Krogh-Sundbo represented Norway in 1971 in the winning Group “Bobbysocks”, and then in 1985 and finally in 1991. She is a singer, songwriter and actress. She has recorded 13 albums, won numerous Norwegian Grammy awards, and the prestigious Peer Gynt Prize that is awarded annually to a prominent Norwegian who has distinguished themselves in the public realm. She was a performer and a presenter in the 2005 TV spectacle “50 years of Eurovision” and in 2015 her “World of Music” show toured Norway to sold out venues. She now directs her energy and financial resources to improving Women's Rights and is an campaigner for raising awareness of Domestic Violence in Norway. As an aside- her son was the European Poker Champion!

Eirikur Hawksson ( aka Eric Hawk) is an Icelandic heavy metal artist who was co-opted to represent Norway “Just 4 Fun” in 1991. He has been involved in ESC participation for Iceland in 1986, Norway 1991, and finally Iceland in 2007 (Valentine Lost) He achieved much success with the heavy metal group “Artch” and produced 3 albums with them, then went on to be a backing vocalist for Wig Wam. Later he became the lead vocalist for Ken Hensley ( of Uriah Heep fame) in the band “Live Fire”. In 2001 he performed in the Queen Tribute show ( Freddy Mercury fame) and now he does vocals, electric and acoustic guitars for the 5 member Progressive Rock band “Magic Pie”. This band tours extensively at Festivals and concerts in Europe, UK, US, Canada and Mexico. He is a member of the Board of Eurovision Nordic Nations where he consults and advises on artist and song selection.

Marianne Antonsen is a well known R&B, Soul and Rock artist living in Norway. She has released 4 solo albums and 2 singles from 1992-2000 and is a contributor to numerous compilations including some for Walt Disney Productions, including “The Lion King”. In 2005 she became a member of the rock group “Queen Bees” and had success with the album “From the Fountain”. She continues to be a guest artist at festivals and concerts including the popular “Sommersjel” and does her annual A Soulful Christmas Concert in Fredrikstad Church since 1997. In 2017 she married Henning Friise ( soccer player) and she was soon after diagnosed with a brain tumor and faced surgery and a slow recovery to full health and singing. She is an Animal Rights campaigner.

Jan Groth followed his ESC career into the Christian Rock scene ( he was raised in a Pentecostal family) and performed in Churches and conventions in Norway. In 2007 he made an album to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Pentecostal Church in Norway. Sadly, he died in 2014 from throat cancer. Hanne Krogh described Jan as ”totally honest ... and had his ambition been ruled by desire for fame and position, he would have achieved it, but he always burned for a very different message”.

Mike Spiteri - Malta 1995 - Steve Stigwood

Mike Spiteri represented Malta at Eurovision in 1995 in Dublin. He placed 10th with his song “Keep Me In Mind”.

After this in 1996 Mike was voted the Best Vocalist at the Malta Music Awards and the Best Singer at the Sixteen Thirty Music Awards. For several years he was a member of the Malta Song Board and was a mentor to each entrant going to Eurovision to represent Malta. In 2010 he teied unsuccessfully to represent Malta again at Eurovsion. In 2011 his Song “ B’Rieda tal-Azzar” was voted and judged the all time popular winner of The Maltese Song Contest. He has released 3 albums.

In 2015 he was selected to perform at The Five Maltese Celebrities Concert and this was a great honour for him.

in 2019 he celebrated 50 years as a professional singer with a sell out concert and TV broadcast where he sang his 2 most famous songs “Flower in the Vault” and “ Wherever the Heart Loves”.

Mike has made a fulltime career as a professional singer and performer and is the father of 3 children. He says “ the life of a performer and entertainer is not easy, but I managed to stay because I was willing and determined to make many sacrifices”.

He has a passion for singing in his own language and he is also a famous cartoonist.

Mike has been quoted as saying that his the most cherished moment in his career is the moment he sang in Eurovision in 1995. He still lives in Malta.

Serafin Zubiri - Spain 1992 - Enrique Lopez de Vallejo

Serafín Zubiri's life has always characterized by his constant eargerness to improve himself. His blindness from birth has not prevented him from developing his career as a singer - he has released eight albums -, an actor and forging a great sports curriculum. 

It’s not common for Spain, but Serafín is one of the three artists that defended Spanish broadcaster in Eurovision twice (Conchita Bautista and Raphael did it in the 60’s). He had released three albums before his first appearance in Eurovision in 1992 with a song from his fourth álbum: ‘Todo esto es la música’. That very year, at Christmas, he performed the main theme of Spanish version of 'Beauty and the Beast', a duet with the singer Michelle and great success.

In 1995 he climbed the Aconcagua peak and depicted this experience, which was a challenge for him, releasing a new album entitled ‘Un hombre nuevo' –‘A new man’-, whose main song is dedicated to this personal achievement. 

In 1996 he made his debut as an actor in the TV series "Todos los hombres sois iguales" on the Telecinco network. Between 1996 and 1999, he also made his debut as a host of musical magazines in local TV stations. 

In 1999 he took part in the musical show "La magia de Broadway" and the following year, 2000, he launched his sixth album "Colgado de un sueño" and represented Spain for the second time at the ESC, being selected by popular vote. 

Between 2002 and 2003 Serafín Zubiri directed and conducted an interview program, “Vamos a ver”, on a local TV station, in Navarra, his birth place. In February 2003, he premiered in Madrid the play ‘Las mariposas son libres’. 

In 2007 he joined the sixth edition of the Spanish version of “Strictly come Dancing!”, where he reached the second place. Due to this success, in 2008 he was requested from Argentina to take part in “Bailando por un sueño”, one of the programs with the highest audience in the country. In the fall of 2010 his seventh album, ‘Sigo Aquí’, was released. 

In February 2012, he competed on a television reality show, “El conquistador del Aconcagua”, which consists of passing a series of tests to gain the privilege of treading the summit of the mountain. Between September and October, he recorded a multi-adventure program for Spanish broadcaster, TVE, called ‘Sin barreras’. At the end of 2012, his eighth album, ‘X una causa justa’ was released. During the sprin of 2013, he took part in the program ‘Splash! Famosos al agua’ broadcast by Antena 3 network. Since then he has been combining all of disciplines, some with more successful than others.

Last but not least, one of his last projects has to do with ESC. The current circumstances have made many musical projects difficult to be carried out, including the one that Anabel Conde and Serafín Zubiri were carrying out for 2020: Festiband Eurovisión. Anabel Conde got the best result for Spain since the 70’s: second place in Dublin 1995.

In the show, Serafín and Anabel pay tribute to some songs (not only Spanish entries), that have passed through the European festival, specially those that have marked the audience throughout the last decades. The songs are arranged for an orchestra of more than 45 musicians. The FestiBand Eurovision begins with a medley of Spanish Eurovision songs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jYGYnIvTO4 

The unique concert was held on the 1st of March 2020 at the Euskalduna Auditorium in Bilbao, accompanied by the Band of the city, and finished with a very special version of ABBA’s ‘Waterloo’ 

Petra Frey - Austria 1994 - Roy Van de Merwe

Petra Frey (born 27 June 1978, in Wattens) is an Austrian singer. She has released twelve or more studio albums and five compilation albums and participated in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Frey released her debut album, Bloß Träume im Kopf in 1993. Petra represented Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994 with the song FUR DEN FRIEDEN DER WELT (For the peace of the world), which came 17th in the international final. I have the song in 3 language versions, all on CD single - German, English and Dutch. She also came second in the Austrian national final in 2003 with the song This Night Should Never End, which Ralph Siegel composed and was covered in South Africa. In 2007, after a few years break, Petra returned to the schlager scene with her new album Göttlich weiblich, her first on the DA Records label. Petra attempted to represent Austria at Eurovision again in 2011, with Send a Little Smile, but she failed to qualify from the Internet semi final stage.

Since September 2014 she became a jury member at the talent-show DIE GROSSE CHANCE. 

Petra has done duets with some singers, among others Andy Borg, and also Andreas. This kind of duets is something I love so much - male-female duo with the song being in two languages - in the case of Petra and Andreas it is in German and Italian. This would have made a perfect entry at Eurovision.

Recently (2019) Petra also covered the 2010 Danish Eurovision entry IN A MOMENT LIKE THIS in German, in duet with Tom Marks. It is called ICH GEB UNS NICHT AUF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcoANhet8i0

Petra keeps her private life quite private, but has been a couple with THOMAS KASERER and gave birth to a baby. But nobody is 100% sure if the relationship is still ongoing.

ROY

Bianca Shomburg - Germany 1997 - Kate Krause-Boger

Bianca Shomburg was the 1997 ESC entry for Germany. This however was also the hight of Shomburgs career. The EP "It's My Time" she released after the show was unsuccessful. She still performed in mediocre music shows for a little while before turning her back away from the spotlight. She became a vocal coach. In 2008 she formed a country-rock band called Nashfield with her musical partner Björn Diewald. 5 years later the band signed a record deal with AGR Television Records and released their debut EP “One”. The band is semi-successful: They are still performing in small venues but have not released anything new. Their youtube channel has been dormant for 5 years and their website remains incomplete, indicating that they will not release anything new soon if ever.

However, Shomburg is still close to the ESC community in Germany. She recorded her song “Zeit” in English on the EP “One” according to the website. She also performed on the Eurovision Weekend hosted by the German OGAE Fan Club in Berlin. During the weekend she stayed for the Breakfast Interviews to spend time with the fans, answering all sorts of questions, confirming that she still holds that memory dear.

Comparing her performance from 1997 to that from 2018 you can see how her voice has matured, which in my opinion adds to the song she performed for Eurovision.

Ultimately however, I do not expect to hear from her in any big news again.