News - Bulgaria: DJ Balthazar exclusive interview | Eurovision Song Contest News - 2010 Oslo, Norway 

member login (forgot password?) subscribe (free!)

Become Esctoday fan on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Visit our Youtube Official channel Check our Myspace!


Credits

Written by

Stella Floras

Published

18/Mar 2008 at 01:12

Source(s)

esctoday.com

News

DJ Balthazar, Bulgaria 2008 - © DJ Balthazar
© DJ Balthazar

DJ take me away!

Bulgaria: DJ Balthazar exclusive interview

Three DJs, a guitar player and a lady vocalist will be flying the Bulgarian flag in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. DJ Balthazar and Deep Zone, that is DJ Dian, DJ Rossko, Lyubomir Savov and Joanna Dragneva, teamed up for the second time with a song that is already a huge hit in Bulgaria and which is about to be heavily promoted around Europe as well.

Bulgaria takes part in the Eurovision Song Contest for the fourth time this year with an entirely different entry by DJ Balthazar and Deep Zone. DJ take me away was penned by Dian Savov and arranged by the performers especially for the contest. We caught up with DJ Balthazar for a chat about their way from the Bulgarian final to Belgrade, about his career and his cooperation with Deep Zone.


Bulgaria just keeps surprising us. After a very successful "non-Eurovision" song last year with Elitsa and Stoyan, one more original entry from you this year which already rates high with fans. You must have known all along that DJ take me away was not what you'd call a typical Eurovision entry, what made you enter EuroBGvision in the first place?

First of all I would like to say, that we did DJ, Take Me Away specially for Eurovision. Of course, we knew that it was not a typical Eurovision song. Actually, this was the main reason why we choose to produce such a different track - we were sure it will stand out and people would notice it. We wanted to try our luck when we entered EuroBGvision, we didn't have any expectations in the beginning.

Did you expect to win your national final? You won by a tiny margin of 0,10% over the runner-up. This must have been nerve wrecking, how did that make you feel?

To be honest - it was quite a surprise for all of us when we won the national final. We knew we had an interesting track and a decent chance, but still, most of the other participants in the final were also very good. When we heard our names we couldn't believe our ears in the first few seconds, but then it felt really nice. It's always good to be a winner :)

Our Eurovision experts have noticed that your entry will be the song with the longest intro ever in the contest and the entry with the third longest instrumental part, are you aware of that fact and do you think it could be a disadvantage (as it takes long until the chorus starts) or even an advantage (as it stands out)?

That's some interesting information and we weren't aware of that fact. I believe it's an advantage, because we have more time to do a great stage show, until the vocalist starts to sing.

Ira Losco, the 2002 Eurovision runner-up and a very successful artist in Malta, advised her country in an interview with us last year to "Listen to MTV if they want to win", meaning choose a song that people want to listen to on channels such as MTV. DJ Take me away entered the MTV World Chart Express at #2 back in February. That in itself is a great achievement. Do you think it will help you with your placing in Belgrade?

One of the main reasons why we won the national final in Bulgaria is because we made the track a huge hit in our country. It was heavily rotated on all local TV & radio stations, also many DJs played it in the biggest clubs (we have a few club remixes as well). We used a good marketing strategy and it worked fine for us. So yes, I think if we manage to make the track popular all over Europe this will definitely help us with our placing in Belgrade.

You have been Dj'ing for ten years now and you are considered to be one of the most respected professionals in your field in Bulgaria. What would you say is your greatest achievement so far?

During the years as a professional I earned the acknowledgement of the fans, and a huge respect from club owners, promoters, and even the competition. That's really important to me. If some of the readers would like to find out more about me, they can visit my website www.djbalthazar.com.

Your career has seen you perform in clubs in over 20 countries all over Europe and further away which is something not many participants can claim. Although in a much smaller scale, do you think this experience will prove to be valuable when the time comes to face the multinational audience of Eurovision?

This international experience will help me a lot for sure. I'm used to playing often in front of large crowds and I don't have  "stage fright" for years now. Of course, Eurovision is something much much bigger, but I think the principles are more or less the same.

At what stage are your preparations for May? Will the song be choreographed differently to what we saw in the Bulgarian final? What can we expect?

We're in the final stage of clearing all the details for May. The choreography will be slightly different, but there will be no general changes. However, we plan to add some really cool new elements on stage and make the performance much more exciting.

Has a promo tour been scheduled, which countries will you be visiting?

We are waiting for a final confirmation for the tour next week, but it looks like that we'll most probably visit Hungary, Czech Republic, Malta, Portugal, Croatia and FYR Macedonia. Our promo tour will start in April.

How is your cooperation with Deep Zone working out? You are all successful DJ's in your country. Is that a problem when there are decisions to be made?

The cooperation between me & Deep Zone is working out just great. Our first joint project was in June 2007, when we produced together the track Welcome To The Loop which became a big hit in Bulgaria. After that we did a big national club tour, which gathered more than 20.000 people. DJ, Take Me Away is our second joint project for now. So far there was never a problem when we had to make any decisions, we all follow the same path.

And the final question, would you have a message for the Eurovision fans, readers of esctoday.com?

I hope this year they will vote for something fresh and different.


Related polls




Go directly to the reactions

Reactions

When reacting to a news item, please stick to the topic. Inappropriate messages (swearing, racism, hate, etc.), messages in other languages than English and spam (which includes URL advertising) will be deleted and you risk your account being removed. Reacting on newsitems is only possible when logged in as a member. Still don't have member account?

Click here to react  Click here to become a member (free!)


Paulo Corte Real [32131]
Sat 22 Mar 2008 23:43:32

Bulgaria f ever: stop with all this propaganda, you're making people not vote for your song, starting with your name!


Paulo Corte Real [32131]
Sat 22 Mar 2008 23:41:28

Don't like this song. It's repetitive, no lyrics. Strange song.

Portugal's Senhora do Mar is a masterpiece.


Anna Gianno [39886]
Sat 22 Mar 2008 08:00:09

Love it :D
One of my favourites this year!
I like the idea of a modern electro/club song in eurovision,
I believe it would do well across europe even if it wasn't for eurovison...
im looking forward to the live performance


Tommy w [18164]
Wed 19 Mar 2008 22:49:17

this is just noise......what's going on????


Gold Fish [34210]
Wed 19 Mar 2008 16:22:25

Bulgaria4Ever www.djbalthazar.com [43571]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 21:27:20

See,buddy, I do not want to insult any of them, nor to express any doubt in their performance or something like that.BRAVO to Ruslana for her stunning performance and total unawareness of English.

But (!) when being interviewed you must not just talk in general. You are expected to show an ability to express yourself, not to be 'just someone', but an intelligent person with eccentric way of thinking, to be different from all other singers or musicians, but POSSITIVELY different.I doubt whether you have watched Elitsa&Stoyan's interview last year - it was a piece of crap!They are obviously imaginative people, they had lots to say, to tell the public, but their English was really, really bad and despite perfect singing/dancing/playing, they could not manage to show theirselves in their best light - all the time they had difficulties in understanding what they WERE asked.

I'll give another example - Sopho Khalvashi, the representative of Georgia last year.She had worked on her pronounciation, at least, because she had no problems while singing.But the interview she gave was with the support of an interpreter.Apart from being able to grab everyone's attention with FINALLY-SAYING-SOMETHING-MORE, she gives the impression of a proud young woman...proud of her national identity, of her home country - the best advertisement not just for the song, but for Georgia itself.


Tomek Nowak [25068]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 21:24:17

The song definitely stands out. That is a good thing. To be honest, I think it can win the 2nd semifinal. To my mind, 1st semi it better. Bulgaria had a pretty cool draw: they perform in the 2nd hafl, right after totally different Croatia. People will remember it, that is for sure.


Gold Fish [34210]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 20:44:23

Bulgaria4Ever www.djbalthazar.com [43571]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 18:10:26

Honey,stop,please!I am fed up of all your posts.If I hadn't been a compatriot of yours, I would definitely hate the song till now.Leave ESC fans made their decision all by theirselves.

Apart from that, I am disappointed (again). We,Bulgarians, send (again!!!) people, who do think speak fluent English.Oh, dear, give it up!Just hire interpreters!Behave yourselves!

All in all, good luck, my sweet homecountry.I love your music, I love your Elitsa&Stoyan, I've always loved Mariana and Kaffe, and I would prefer DeepZone&Aya.But this is not a bad choice,either.Love YA :P (the contest itself, the fans ourselves, and the songs theirselves ;D)


Candyman 12 points [14078]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 19:26:09

GOOD LUCK BULGARIA
i won't be surprised to see this in top 3!


ivica petrusevski [44328]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 19:23:52

very original and brave entry from our neighbours bulgaria,and i really love it from the first time i heard it.


Robert Andresen [29473]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 15:32:36

yeah DJ why don`t you take her away? FAR AWAY FROM THIS CONTEST!! Awful entry.Not a winning song at all.




Muki Meric [25729]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 15:31:57

love this song one of the best....top 10 for sure....good luck Bulgaria!

Love
Sweden&Turkey


Ulrik Raben [37553]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 14:10:45

Good, but not as good as 2007.

10 points.


Mi reina [45031]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 13:39:44

Help! I want to use King Juan Carlos words and tell these folks to shut up.


Mishan Shidagche [45844]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 12:39:27

I like Bulgarian entry! It's fun! Go Bulgaria! ;)


Thomas R [30577]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 12:37:48

With a perfect vocal performance, this song could be the future winner !
It's original, funny, exciting and very well produced !
Come on Bulgaria, greets from Belgium !


cst 003 [29480]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 11:54:53

Good luck Bulgaria, such a pity we are not in the same semi final...


Milan S. [19572]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 11:42:46

Not my favourite. DJ, take them away!


Sanna ~ [45911]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 11:22:31

Bulgaria rocked last year with "Water". It looked so fantastic at the stage. This year´s entry is not so good..good luck anyway.


Florian Grillhofer [esctoday.com editor]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 10:44:40

Hmm, it's a good track but I am not fond of the long instrumental intro and the fact that the lyrics only consist of one verse. Still, it will do well.


Mazarra Mazerati [44529]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 10:41:13

"It's always good to be a winner :)"

It sure is! Pleaseee eweryone vote for us! (=
To song makes me proud to be Bulgarian girl.. we always have something different to share with Europe!


george georgiou [40175]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 10:38:03

i love that song..


chi chi larue [38506]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 10:31:37

absolutely annoying, this is not a dj-scratch contest...


lucio f [15211]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 10:01:58

Bulgaria is always a surprise: 2005 had a decent pop song, 2006 a great ballad with great vocals, 2007 an explosion of good music, 2008 an excellent dancefloor track that could be a hit in UK. Good luck in Belgrade!


lina esc [38561]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 09:45:24

i like bulgaria song!! good luck Bulgaria!!


Alexander Kokov [41668]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 08:34:31

Great! ;)Good luck in Serbia!


ProjectZero00 [45374]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 08:25:01

How can sb call this trashy? This is one of the best, original and fresh songs this year! What r u 50?


Darko S. [38353]
Tue 18 Mar 2008 08:16:37

It ain't over til the fat DJ spins. ;)

Well done Bulgaria yet again - after the meak first and the dismal second entry, two gems in a row, quickly picking up pace and developing into an ESC country to reckon with. I'm very, very pleased, nice one neighbours, keep them coming.


The list of 38 reactions is divided into 2 pages. Choose a page:
1 | 2

React yourself

Closed for reactions
This news article is older than one week. Reacting to articles is only possible in the first week after publication.

































click here for flight deals

21/Mar/2010

436 visitors online

56 members online

39205 members

665 reactions today

Become a fan

Set as home page!

Search news

Tools


More news

Country pages

Share!

Do you have news for esctoday.com? Please let us know! You can submit your newsitem in our contact centre!


Tip!