Gina G, the United Kingdom representative in Eurovision 1996 with the song Ooh Aah… just a little bit, will appear on the Stockholm Pride on August 1st. Esctoday.com got the chance to have a very long interview indeed with Gina G where she revealed many aspects of her life, Eurovision and of course the Stockholm Pride 2013.

The interview is split in two parts. You can read the first part here and the second part below.

Your Eurovision entry was a massive hit in many countries after the Eurovision Song Contest, throughout Europe, in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia etc. How did you live this experience?

It’s more like – “How did I live through this experience?” It was insane. I didn’t see my apartment for 2 years. I think I went to every country to sing that song and 5 other singles. Six singles were released from my first album!! 6!!! Unless you’re Cher J, Celine Dion or Shania Twain, who has 6 singles released from one album? I’m like “enough already”. But they just kept on releasing them. Luckily, 5 out of 6 singles were Top 20 in the UK, charteding high throughout Europe and worldwide.
Warners milked that album and we went everywhere. When I say “we”, I was fortunate enough to be able to bring my 2 crazy dancers for the hundreds of performances we did in countries, some of which I can’t even pronounce. I also got to bring my wardrobe stylist (a new one), who not only sorted our costumes but organized the entire show. And boy, did we put on a show. We had to carry a ridiculous amount of huge luggage, one which looked and felt as if we were carrying a dead body. Actually they all did.
THEN…there was the orange cylinder shaped pipe. A long pipe. I’m talking 7-8 foot long. We were always at the airport bored out of our minds waiting for that monstrosity to finally appear at the Oversized Baggage Department.
But it was the main prop for our show. A tent. No, not what you’re thinking. This was no tent. It was a beautiful work of art…and a genius way of doing 3 costume changes in a 30 minute show! The show was a Middle Eastern theme and we took that show around the world (and the long orange pipe). The idea for the theme was taken from the video to 2^nd single – “I Belong To You”. We wore harem costumes and I was a genie, but no ordinary genie, I was Barbara Eden’s love child. Tried to be anyway. The rest is a blur.
I remember the dancers and my stylist kept us all entertained, even all the heads of Warner in Japan. English? Not so good. But at dinner we managed to have them cracking up within a few minutes. A lot of it was very inappropriate. That’s when the “not so good English” was so very good….for us. They’d send us packing otherwise.
So those were our crazy days, but I was never the ringleader. We’ll blame the dancers.

Which is your favourite ESC winning entry?


Ummm….? Probably Dana International. Or Abba. Yes I do remember ABBA, even at my young age.

How has your music been received in the USA? Where do you perform in the USA?


“Ooh Aah” had climbed up and up the US charts to reach No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, and stayed in the Top 20 for over 3 months….Crazy!! But what’s more crazy is that I received a Grammy Nomination.
WT?? Now that really blew me away. I performed a lot in ’97 and ’98 all over the 50 states, but my fan base is mainly Europe, Asia, Canada & Australia. I’m happy with that. The US never “got” dance music…until now. Thank God for that!! Finally.  Famous, awesome rappers doing progressive house?…Couldn’t ask for more.

You asked your fans to help choose an outfit for the Stockholm Pride. Which were the best suggestions and ideas you received. What will you wear at the Pride?


I wouldn’t say they were the best suggestions, but they were funny. Here are some –

• Wear what you wore on the cover of your album! Just Chocolate!!
• Wear a live rooster for a hat.
• “It’s gotta have rainbows involved. Maybe a rainbow dress with a sun & cloud on your head!”    Huh?
• “Dress as a vagina! With a (beep) headdress?   WT?

What am I wearing? Definitely not the above… And I’m not telling!

The Eurovision Song Contest has changed a lot since 1996. What changes do you feel have been positive and negative for the contest?

Unfortunately, I don’t get to see it over here, it doesn’t air. But I did catch the news once and there was this really crazy German band, (I think), and they made headlines over here. The Americans were like – “They’re all nuts in Europe”. Haha!! Takes one to know one.
The only negative I’ve noticed from the minimal times I’ve seen Eurovision over the years is that too many songs sounded the same. So much so that would never know which country was performing if they sang in English! This was a while ago, it maybe different now.
My opinion only, but I think they should go back a little more to how it used to be. Not too much now…whoah, steady on! But I’d definitely like to see country performing more of songs that represent their culture. That’s what the competition is all about right? And who is that person to blame for Eurovision changing so dramatically in 2007?

Do you a message for your fans and followers at esctoday.com?

Of course! On August 1^st at 9pm please scream as loud as you possibly can and get ready to dance your butts off. I wanna see 10,000 people jumping up and down!! And most importantly, thank you SO much to all my loyal Eurovision fans and my extremely loyal gay fans, who have stayed so supportive of me throughout the years. I am so grateful you all have no idea. I am still doing music because of you guys!!!
I’m so excited to be performing at this great charity event and hope to do many more. And one last thing, If I have any Eurovision fans left after this interview, Please download my new single from iTunes released either by the end of this month or by August 1^st. I’ll remind all 10,000 of you when I see you. Can’t wait!!! And you all have to forgive me because I’m flying 5531 miles to be specific, to perform for YOU!!  And for Pride

And finally…
BE PROUD!!
Love Gina G XXX

Stay tuned at esctoday for all the news about United Kingdom, Gina G and of course the Stockholm Pride!