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© Bearforce 1 (myspace)
Flying their flag to Belgrade for you?
Dutch Bearforce1 interested for 2008
The editors at esctoday.com have certainly seen the Bear quartet from the Netherlands popping up on the internet ever since they released their first single last month in conjunction with Amersterdam's Gay Pride festivities, and it couldn't escape the editors' notice that the group's management has told songfestival.web-log.nl it is interested in serving the Netherlands in Belgrade next May.
For those not already in the know, many gay men who are heavy-set or hairy or bearded call themselves "Bears", and they have built up an entire Bear sub-culture within the gay communities in recent years. As the group says on their homepage, "No smooth-looking boy band, we're four furry friends whose passion for singing and performing brought us together." Thanks to news of the Dutch group's first video spread by pop culture bloggers like Perez Hilton more then 777,000 YouTube visitors have seen these Bears. The group has even spawned it's own share of straight YouTube lip-synchers (and their girlfriends) eager to show how Bear-y they can be.
Are the Bearforce1 guys perfect Eurovision Song Contest material? Watch the YouTube video (if you're not one of the 777,000+ people who have already seen it) and let esctoday.com know in the reactions section below.
According to songfestival.web-log.nl Gerard Joling (1988), Mich Harren and Spinvis have also expressed interest to represent The Netherlands.
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@davidperham listen david when i read a comment such as yours i WILL react in the manner i choose . after all im not the one spouting homphobic comments like yours , i expect if a heterosexual had posted a message like yours you would be up in arms about homophobia . remember david being gay does not give you the right to mock or criticise others gays for how they behave or not . but i realise you are still a young boy and do need time to grow up and see the world in a less cynical way . by the way its bare not bear in the context you used
BTW we are out of topic here, the topic is about this group...
Well, they are very cheesy, but not the kind of cheese that does well in ESC.
Also thanx for the joke that kate ryan is an international star, my friends laughed a lot after hearing it
OK, native speaker, thanx for making it clear 
yay! great fun hehe
@ Khalid,
Kate is not well known here (in the USA) by a lot of the general population, but I'm sure club-goers know who she is. 
Kate has received significant airplay in nightclubs and on dance radio stations. Her songs Only If I, The Promise You Made, Alive have all charted of the Billboard Hot Dance Chart. If Only I came in at #13 in 2005, which isn't a bad position on the charts for an "import" track.
t.A.T.u. are pretty much over here. They only made a flash in the pan in 2002 and 2003 because they were considered scandalous. Their debut album peaked at #13 on our charts, which means it is certified Gold. Not bad for a debut album. But their last English album peaked only at #131. 
The singles off of that album barely received any airplay and I have yet to see a music video from that album on MTV or VH1.
I hear they are still popular in Russia, though. Their latest CD was one of the best selling CDs in Russia last year.
Apart from the "Bear" thing...(which I am and rather proud of being one)it still dosn't alter the fact that this is cliched camp hackneyed pop which should have died a death with Village People.
Mr Wood ,please do not tell me what to think ,I would not presume to enter into conversation with you if i bumped into you at a bear event ,i have never subscribed to thinking that poof s are all one big happy family ,and therefore am entitled to bear (excuse the pun),on twinks ,queens ,or men who are as camp as a row of tents, and as i am sure you must be aware I am not alone in feeling like this .
@Keith Timmons
Kate Ryan's being known in Western Europe doesn't make her an international star (rather a star in a 'regional level' 
.
World is much more than Western Europe.
Sorry, but most people worldwide have never heard of Kate Ryan. In Eastern Europe we know Kate Ryan only for the ESC. If she was a global star like t.A.T.u. we would have known her. But this is not a topic.
I hope The Netherlands send this group, cause it's really something different, they can do extremely well, or extremely bad. Take a risk. If they make a good catchy song and improve their singing, blah blah blah...they can probably do well. Being gay bears is also fine.
right guys lets get a grip on what homphobia is . these guys are being tongue in cheek about sexuality because lets face it to actual talk about the reality of gay sex would not be accepted in mainstream europe but nevertheless it still seems to be an issue with people on here . if four straight guys did the same thing ie older and bearded and being suggestive about the fact that they are still sexually active it would be ok . or am i reading too much into alot of comments on here .
@david perham im presuming you are a hairy bear and by the sounds of it the very sort that give the bear scene its clic image . i have been on the bear scene for years i am neither hairy nor have a beard but i bet i understand it better than you . you and yours are the very same people who mock the twink scene for all being the same etc and yet you want to pigeon hole the bear scene . get real and stop supposing this or that person qualifys as a bear , you are rediculous in the extreme
International stars have a career in US too...
And t.A.T.u. have one
Does Kate have one?
God I hope this is a joke..or I'm shaving my beard and hair off and going straight.....Time to call a halt to hackneyed camp songs methinks......
David Perham, my countries name isn't Holland, and we don't want to follow the 'English'. This article is based on nothing. The Netherlands doesn't want to send this group. Their interest to compete for the Netherlands doesn't mean that will actually happen.
Real bears are hairy all over ,not just a beard like these idiots ,and we tend not to be as camp as a row of tents like these idiots are ,I mean ffs scooch was chosen for the uk by a bunch of poofy girls ,and now holland seem to want to follow that up with these camp hairy men
Real bears wouldn't stoop to this camp twaddle.....
Yes, but the west gave Serbia many pts too (it was logical that they got 12 pts from their neighbors, their song was great)
Yes, Russia maybe recieved more points from Western Europe, but who can say their song was a classical Slavic entry? And Serbia-I don't think so, [b]every[/b] former yugo country gave them 12 points.
@ keith
We dont have different taste either, Serbia and Russia received more points from western Europe than their neighbors. And if you decide to send a good song you will get pts from the east (Malta 2005 got 12 pts from Russia and 10 from Ukraine)
@ keith
Yeah whatever you say, you are right
Kate Ryan isnt an international star, no matter what you say
P.S. My nickname was invented by another ESCToday member, just because I know nothing of ESC before the 90s, so I dont claim I am a specialist
given the right song, they could be a hit. the problem is that camp songs don't do very well in eurovision, but are smash hits. Remeber gina g 1996? only came 7th, but was a eurohit, no1 in the uk. this year we sent scooch, finished nearly last, but it was a top 5 hit in uk. if they do represent netherlands, good luck to them, at least they will be fun to watch!!
Lena Philipson is a big creepy joke!
Peter, do you refer to Lena Philipson and her poledance? (She was my favourite that year btw.)
Only pathetic desperate "singers" use there sexuality to get attention!
I'd love to see Bearforce1 at Eurovision!!!
I thought the Netherlands was one of the most prestiged countries of the world talking about music...
This is worst than the summer Spanish hits!!!
Eurovision 2008 is totally right, that's exactly what I meant!
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