Cosmos - Emerging Latvian a Cappella Sextet in Eurovision Finals

For those unfamiliar with the term a cappella, it means without instruments, just voices (and bodies). In the United States in the 1950's many a cappella groups were formed creating an entire genre of Rock n Roll called Doo Wop. Well known a cappella styles are performed by The Temptations, The Fleetwoods, The Platters and Bobby McFarren (Don't Worry, Be Happy). For those of you who are American Idol fans, you have heard a cappella from a variety of contestants.

For those unfamiliar with Latvia (Republic of Latvia), it is a Baltic state country in northeastern Europe. It shares borders with Estonia, Lithuania, Russia and Belarus. Latvia was under Russian rule until its return to independence in 1991 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The country is slightly larger than West Virginia, U.S., with a population of a little over 2 million, 6 of whom are members of Cosmos.

The group, Cosmos, is comprised of: Reinis Sejans (rhythm), Juris Lisenko (tenor), Janis Strazdins (bass), Janis Sipkevics (contertenor), Janis Ozols (baritone) and Andris Sejans (contertenor). Each man good looking in his own unique way, they are all professional musicians. Their range in material goes from classical, to hip hop, to jazz to hard rock and everything in between.

Cosmos' multilingual CD was released on International Cosmonaut Day, April 12, 2006, containing the Eurovision song "I Hear Your Heart." The full CD content is listed as:

· Hear Your Heart
· Billie Jean
· Ticu un viss
· Tahzo nemheso cada (with Laima Vaikule)
· I Hear Your Heart - remix (DJ Masulis)

What brought this group to worldwide attention? The Eurovision Song Contest. Never heard of it? This competition is in its 51st year. It began in 1956 and is considered one of the few pan-European television programs. (And you thought American Idol was something new-and uniquely American.) The Eurovision Song Contest has at its core the idea to bring talent from many countries to the foreground, much like the American Idol show, but more global and fraught with more intrigue. The 2006 competition had 38 countries competing. The finals are down to 14 countries: Croatia (HRT); Denmark (DR); France (France 3); Germany (ARD); Greece (ERT); Israel (IBA); Latvia (LT); Malta (PBS); Moldova (TRM); Norway (NRK); Romania (TVR); Spain (TVE); Switzerland (SRG SSR idée suisse); United Kingdom (BBC). There are rumors of one or two potential dropouts due to disagreements about the judging.

Cosmos has made it to the final competition of the Eurovision Song Contest. The final competition is taking place in Greece today, as this article is being written. Cosmos has a good shot musically, but not necessarily politically. Their range is far reaching and they tackle many music genre. Their presentation and performance skills are pretty darn cool. Watching them perform together is a true experience. This author will be awaiting the outcome. Whether or not Cosmos wins the prize, they are still a gifted young group with a wide open future. In the links below there is a link to their video performance of Billie Jean, with a surprise toward the end. (WARNING: The site where this video clip was found also contains adult content. So, if you are easily offended, don't look at the other vid choices, while you're waiting for the video to download.)

UPDATE: Well Cosmos didn't win, but they did finish in the mid range. Interestingly enough, a hard rock group from Finland called Lordi (with really out of this world costumes) won this pop song contest. Who'd a thunk it?

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