World Song Contest

74 countries took part in the 44th edition of the World Song Contest, among them, Malaysia which made a come back, but didn't manage to qualify. Worse, the country took the last position in the semi finals. Russia, Liechtenstein and Estonia were the winners of their respective heat during these semi's, but if Russia and Liechtenstein confirmed they were hot favorites in the final, Estonia failed to impress again.

Once again, two of the songs chosen by the jury to qualify reached the top 10. France came 7th and Lebanon 9th. Some other songs simply crashed or couldn't resist to the fact that some people voted for the same songs again... which may explain why we have 4 Brazilian players in the top 5. 

In an attempt to win a sixth crown, Russia decided to give Regina Spektor a new try in the contest. Spektor is the last Russian winner to date. She wasn't the only previous winner to make a come back this time, as Tiziano Ferro represented San Marino with Laura Pausini, but this duo failed to qualify for the final. Other singers which reached a good, if not a great, result in one of the previous edition also came back, such as Christine Guldbrandsen for Norway or Annett Louisan for Liechtenstein. But one of the best come back was probably for Belgian representatives, Soldout, which in WSC .02, scored one of Belgium's worst results. This time they were good for a top 10 position.

Less impressive could be the third try of Annett Louisan as she already reached the 4th position for Germany back in WSC .13. It was her second appearance in the contest, both for Germany. This time she represented Liechtenstein with the song "Drück Die 1", and the only way to impress was with a first victory for the tiny country. And Annett Louisan was a third time lucky as she finished first, with a comfortable margin over Russia and F.Y.R. of Macedonia which reached the top 5 for the first time.

>> Your Comments

Annett Louisan is the stage name of Annett Päge, a German pop musician with cabaret flair and the whimsical aesthetic of female-fronted groups like Sixpence None the Richer and the Cardigans. Her debut album, 2004's Bohème, peaked on the German charts at number three and yielded a wistful jangle pop single called "Das Spiel." Louisan released another album the following year, Unausgesprochen, which was accompanied by a couple more singles, "Das Gefuhl" and "Das Grosse Erwachen (...Und Jetzt...)." The album won several awards for Louisan, including an ECHO for Best Female Artist of the Year and a Goldene Stimmgabel for Best Female Solo Artist. Her second album Unausgesprochen, released in 2005, focused on more French-German traditional songs, with Musette waltzs, tango and bossa nova rhythms. In 2007, Louisan performed the title song for the German movie "Warum Männer nicht zuhören und Frauen schlecht einparken". The song appeared on her third album, Das optimale Leben. In October 2008, Louisan released her fourth album, Teilzeithippie.