All songs for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 have been selected. During the weeks between the national final season and the actual Eurovision Song Contest, we will introduce all 43 entries in random order. We are half way through and part thirty-four of the series is dedicated to the Turkish entry.
Basic information
| Performers: | Yüksek Sadakat |
| Song: | Live it up |
| Language: | English |
| Music: | Kutlu Özmakinacı |
| Lyrics: | Ergün Arsal |
| Draw: |
5th in the first semi final |
The song
Live it up is an up-tempo pop rock song. The lyrics are kept simple as they basically tell the listeners to have a good time:
If you’re feeling the world has kicked you down
All you need is just to have a little fun
Hey, it’s time to live it up my friend
Put the record on
Sing it loud and let it out
Life is beautiful
The performers and songwriters
Yüksek Sedakat was founded by music journalist Kutlu Özmakinacı, the bassist of the band, in 1997. However, it took until 2006 that their eponymous debut album was released. Over the years, they panned out as one of the most popular rock bands in Turkey. Their second album Katil & Maktûl followed in 2008. It included the three hit singles Ben seni arayamam, AÅ�k durdukça and Haydi gel ıçelim. AÅ�k durdukç was their first top five hit in the Turkish single charts.
The band was chosen internally to represent Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. Kutlu Özmakinacı is the composer of the song Live it up and the lyrics were written by Ergün Asal.
The national selection
For the sixth year in a row, the Turkish singer and song were chosen internally by the broadcaster.
Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest
Turkey entered the Eurovision Song Contest in 1975 and finished last on its debut. Also, over the following years the country was not very succesful and it was not before 1986 that the first top ten placing was achieved. However, it turned in 1997 when Turkey finished third. A victory in 2003 followed as well as a second place in 2010 and fourth places in 2004, 2007 and 2009. Turkey also won the second semi final in 2010.
Statistics
This will be Turkey's 33rd participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. For the 18th time the country is represented by a duo or group. Live it up will be the sixth Turkish entry in total and the third entry in a row out of 13 since the abolishment of the language rule to be performed entirely in English (apart from the word Shekerim in 2007 and Düm tek tek in 2009). Another four entries were partly performed in Turkish.
Live it up is the fifth song to be performed in the first semi final. It is preceeded by the dance pop song from Armenia and it is followed by the up-tempo retro style pop song from Serbia. A disadvantage might be the fact that the Turkish entry is performed in the middle of a streak of no less than seven more energetic songs at the beginning of the first semi final. In 2008, Turkey was represented by another rock band and they were also drawn at a rather early position (third) within a streak of up-tempo songs. They still managed to finish seventh – Turkey's second worst placing in a semi final ever.
Türkiye ve Yüksek Sadakat'e Düsseldorf'ta iyi Å�anslar ve iyi bir sonuç dileriz.
Videos
Song presentation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7-giAIKAJw
The preview video:
AÅ�k durdukça:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX9fp8HxNyc
Haydi gel ıçelim (live):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTCtJr0yVv0
Tomorrow, we will take a look at the Dutch entry.
Previous parts of the series:
