Special - Congratulations: Katrina Leskanich interview | Eurovision Song Contest News - 2010 Oslo, Norway 

In co-operation with the website Gylleneskor.se esctoday.com can now proudly presents an interview with Katrina Leskanich. This interview was performed by gylleneskor editor Diana Falheim and edited by esctoday.com’s Alexander Borodin. Katrina Leskanich is back in a double sense, On the 22nd October she will turn up in Forum, Copenhagen as a host for the Congratulations show. This week she also released her new and very first album as a solo artist. The album is called Katrina Leskanich. In the interview she talks about her artistic career, about the preparations for Congratulations and also about how it felt to win the Eurovision Song Contest back in 1997.

When did music come into your life?
I come from a very musical family. I have four sisters and a brother and we all learned musical instruments and sang in various church choirs and bands.

In the beginning, what kick started your interest in music?
I loved listening to music and when I was 14 I asked my parents for a guitar and as soon as I had it, I played from morning ‘til night. I carried my guitar around with me at school and sang during every break, lunchtime and after school.

When did you start to write your own material?
I started writing my own songs right away as a form of self- expression. I was listening to Cat Stevens, Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles. They wrote all their own material so I thought I’d better learn how.

What are your musical influences?
Ellie Greenwich, (she wrote Be My Baby, River Deep Mountain High, I Can Hear Music, Da Doo Ron Ron and many more) Mama Cass Eliot and Emmylou Harris. I love the sound of the girl groups like the Shangri-Las, Shirelles and the Supremes and I love Edie Gourmet and Trios Los Panchos.

What will you do in the future with your music?
I have finally recorded my first solo CD after spending four years working on BBC Radio 2 as a presenter and playing the lead role of Ellie Greenwich in the musical ‘Leader of the Pack’. I have a tour planned for the UK in November and am touring with Tony Hadley and Martin Fry in Europe. I love performing in many different capacities and am open to new opportunities, which will broaden my scope and help me learn more about music and myself as an artist.

How would you describe your music style?
Coming from traditional roots of American melodic pop music I would say that is basically my style, but it is not easy to define your own music. I think if people know Walking On Sunshine or Love Shine A Light they will recognise my voice on the new CD.

How do you like being on tour?
Touring is one of my favourite things. As a child in a military family, we moved every two years through America, Germany and Holland. We often stayed in hotels before moving into permanent accommodation and I still love checking into hotels. When I was a kid it was very exciting for me to order room service – it still is, and so is having drinks with friends in the hotel bar and chilling out in the sauna. Though not necessarily in that order.

Tell us about your life today?
I live very happily in London with my partner of three years and our animals - Ruby the cat, a white toy poodle called Peggy Lee and Bobby our talking bird. I am fortunate to have a career I love and each day is an exciting adventure - the latest being Congratulations

What do you expect of Congratulations
Congratulations is shaping up to be an extraordinary event with a multitude of star guests and presenters. This type of show has never been attempted and I think it will be a memorable and special evening full of wonderful Eurovision classics and some wild surprises, which I’m not allowed to mention.

You'll be a host at the Congratulations. Do you feel very nervous?
I have hosted many events and presented shows with Anne Robinson, now THAT was nerve wracking! Things may go wrong on the night as they often do but I think that is part of the excitement of live television. DR have done a brilliant job so far and I am delighted to be asked to participate both as a singer and as a host.

How will you and Renars prepare yourselves?
We have had several meetings already and will have a few more rehearsals before the event. My usual preparation for an event of this kind is to lie in a darkened room, sipping green tea and watching old movies.

Do you have to study hard now to learn all about the history of ESC?
Since winning the competition in 1997 I have performed at many ESC related shows and met dozens of the stars and heard them perform their songs. People often give me Eurovision books as gifts so I have brushed up a bit on my ESC knowledge.

Have you and Renars met each other before?
We never had the pleasure to meet in the past but when we met two weeks ago we clicked immediately and I think we make a good, confident and fun team.

Talking about the Eurovision history - How did it feel to win the contest?
When they announced Katrina and the Waves the winners of the Eurovision song Contest, Ronan Keating immediately took me by the hand and led me to the stage to reprise Love Shine A Light. I think if he had not been there to anchor me down I might have flown away. I felt very high and very happy. The celebrations went on until 5:00 am and we shared a few cigars and Black Velvets (Guinness and Champagne) with Terry Wogan back at the hotel. I had to get up at 6:30 the next day for Breakfast television but I couldn’t have slept anyway.

What was the atmosphere like in the Green Room?
Although I was confident Love Shine A Light had a good chance of winning you never know how people will vote on the night. I started to lose confidence when I heard some strong performances by the other artists. When I could see our song was so far in the lead that it could not be beat I relaxed a little and started to enjoy some Champagne.

Gylleneskor.se and esctoday.com kindly thanks Katrina Leskanich for taking her most precious time for doing this interview with us. We also wish her a good luck on Saturday with the hosting of the Congratulations show as well as good luck with her future career!

Interview made by Diana Falheim, Gylleneskor.se

10th April, 1960 Katrina Leskanich was born in Topeka, Kansas USA. Katrina grow up in a military family with four sisters and a brother. Her family moved around in many states in the USA and then moved to Europe and stayed in Germany, Holland, and ultimately to the United Kingdom in 1976, nowadays she is resident in that country.

In 1979 Katrina created the group Mama’s Cookin’ with Vince de la Cruze and played around on American army bases. During that time Katrina was also manager and agent for the band. The group made covers of songs by the Eagles, 60’s bands, girl groups, Motown etc.

In 1983 the group Katrina and The Waves was created. The group made a contract with the small label Attic Records from Toronto, Canada and a contract with the major label Capital- EMI when the Bangles made an cover of Katrina and The Waves song Going Down To Liverpool.

In 1985 Katrina and The Waves gained worldwide fame with the song Walking On Sunshine, the song become a smash hit and it become nominated for the Grammy Awards as Best new artist. The country queen Dolly Parton made an cover of the song and Walking On Sunshine was played in many movies and in commercial television. It came many hits after, just like Sun Street, Tears For Me and Honey Lamb and many others, the hits reached the Top 10 list in the USA.

Katrina was a background singer in Nathalie Imbruglias smash hit Torn and as a main singer in Rick Wakeman’s Return to the Centre of Earth and had many other projects.

In 1997 Katrina and The Waves won the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Love Shine A Light for the United Kingdom, with a major margin. The song reached the second spot 2 at the British charts, the band performed and was matchless in four weeks at the Tops of the Pops. 1998 the band split after a tour through Europe, Scandinavia and the Baltic’s countries.

After the split, Katrina has been a presenter at the BBC Radio 2, where she managed to double the audience. She continued in two years as a host in her regular night show.
Katrina got an offer to play the main character in the musical Leader of The Pack as Ellie Greenwich, a role she then played during a year.

Katrina begun to co-operate with Phil Thornalley and to co-write and co-produce Katrina’s first commercial solo album since the split with The Waves. The result is the new album also called Katrina Leskanich that was released 17th October.

Besides releasing a new album the year of 2005 is also the year when Katrina participated in the Swedish preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest, Melodifestivalen but failed to qualify for the final. In the end Swedish television viewers probably preferred a native Swede to represent the country. But her attempt got a lot of media attention and it was considered a great and sincere attempt to once again reach the Eurovision final through a competition.

But a successful and intensive year in Katrinas career is not over yet. On the 22nd October she will have the great honour to host one of the greatest jubilee-shows that has ever been produced in European television-history. That is Congratulations the 50th anniversary show for the Eurovision Song Contest. The contest that Katrina Leskanich loves and that has played such an importance for her late career.

By: Diana Falheim