Balearica Island is a psycho (NSC 234)

[Morty]

Re: Balearica Island, NSC 145 - 100th NSC entry!

I haven't had much success with my rock/metal entries, and especially not in Norwegian, so qualifying for the final with Autokarma was a big surprise. 19th in the final with more than 100 points was nice, so thanks again for the points everyone, and especially those high points! And thanks to everyone who voted for it in the semi too, this wouldn't be possible without you.

And now...

Since the debut in NSC 42, the time has now come for the 100th NSC entry for , and I spent some time thinking about the perfect entry, and it suddenly hit me. A lot of football clubs around the world have anthems, songs that has to be played before the home matches, and the most famous of those has to be You'll Never Walk Alone. But it's not my anthem. Since NSC 129, you probably all know that I'm a Manchester United fan, but I also follow Norwegian football, and I've been a Vålerenga fan since 1997 (because of a song made for the cup final that year, but I need another Covers & Remixes spinoff to send that one). And Vålerenga's anthem is a song called Vålerenga Kjerke (Vålerenga Church, Vålerenga is also a neighbourhood in Oslo). The song is about the church burning to the ground in 1979 (true story). Originally made by the band Bjølsen Valsemølle, but the version played before the matches is a cover version made by Ragnar og Øsekara. And that cover is the 100th entry for . The timing is pretty nice too, the 2017 season starts in less than a month, and it'll be a historic season, as Vålerenga finally gets their own stadium, and won't need to rent Ullevaal from the Norwegian FA anymore.

So, this is the 100th NSC entry for , Ragnar og Øsekara - Vålerenga Kjerke:

 

[Simon87]

Re: Balearica Island, NSC 145 - 100th NSC entry!

Celebrating together ours 100

 

[Morty]

Re: Balearica Island, NSC 145 - 100th NSC entry!

Celebrating together ours 100

Yay!

 

[Salmon]

Re: Balearica Island, NSC 145 - 100th NSC entry!

Happy anniversary to the nation with the single most distinctive style in here! Your victory with Genre Police is still among my top five favourite moments in NSC history.

 

[Morty]

Re: Balearica Island, NSC 145 - 100th NSC entry!

Happy anniversary to the nation with the single most distinctive style in here! Your victory with Genre Police is still among my top five favourite moments in NSC history.

Aww, thanks!

 

[Luki]

Re: Balearica Island, NSC 145 - 100th NSC entry!

CONGRATS MORTY! Balearica has a special place in my tiny NSC heart. ^^

 

[Morty]

Re: Balearica Island, NSC 145 - 100th NSC entry!

CONGRATS MORTY! Balearica has a special place in my tiny NSC heart. ^^

Thanks!

 

[Morty]

Re: Balearica Island - Statistics from 100 editions

NSC 145 has finally coming to an end, and I can post some statistics from the first 100 editions of NSC participation.
And I have a lot prepared, look behind the Spoilers.

Starting off with some stats first posted by [MENTION=7308]Paper7[/MENTION] (from this post):

Actual Name: Balearica Island
Former Name(s): N/A

Participation:
First voting in (WL): NSC 39 (June 2009)
Joined the roster: NSC 42 (August 2009)
Skipped Editions: NSC 49, NSC 59, NSC 64 and NSC 85
DQ/Deductions: None

General stats:
Number of entries: 100
Editions won: 2
--- Winning rate: 2%
Top 6 in the final: 8
--- PQ rate: 8%
Made it to the final: 20 (PQ's not included)
--- Qualification rate: 20%
Didn't make it to the final: 72
--- DNQ rate 72%
Returning artists: "Weird Al" Yankovic, Armin van Buuren, AutoLaser, Da Tweekaz, Eiffel 65, Endymion, Hollywood Undead, Paul van Dyk, Rob Halford, Sunlounger, Tarja Turunen, The Blizzard
Last in final: 1
Last in semis: 4
Highest winning margin: 26 points
Highest amount of points: 206 (NSC 130 Final: Giorgio Moroder feat. Britney Spears - Tom's Diner)
Lowest amount of points: 5 (NSC 96 Semi Final: Basshunter - Sverige)

Longest rows (not counting skipped editions):
in the Final: 5 (NSC 100-104) (2 PQs)
of non-qualification: 15 (NSC 84-99)
of PQing: None
of Top15 in final: None
out of Top20 in final (qualified): None
out of Top20 in semis: 4 (NSC 73-76; NSC 135-138)

Winning Songs:
127: S3RL feat. Lexi - Genre Police
130: Giorgio Moroder feat. Britney Spears - Tom's Diner

Other Top10 Songs:
66: Engine-Earz Experiment - Kaliyuga #9
70: Technoboy - Catfight #2
80: Lindsey Stirling - Crystallize #2
101: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds & Kylie Minogue - Where The Wild Roses Grow #5
103: Within Temptation feat. Tarja - Paradise (What About Us?) #4
112: Anders Nilsen - Salsa Tequila #8
115: The Green Children - Norwegian Dream #6
142: Little Big - Polyushko Polye #5

#25 and lower in the final:
43: Ayla - Ayla Part II #26
81: Noisecontrollers - Unite #27 (PQ-entry)
102: The Prodigy - Voodoo People (Pendulum Remix) #27 (PQ-entry)
104: 2Pac feat. Dr. Dre - California Love (Isaac Remix) #27 (PQ-entry)
116: Ylvis - I Will Never Be A Star #27 (PQ-entry)
128: Sunlounger - Aguas Blancas (Chillout Mix) #26 (PQ-entry)
131: DopeMonkeys - The Power Of The Dark Side (The Imperial March) #28 (PQ-entry)
143: Andy Duguid feat. Julie Thompson - Falling #26 (PQ-entry)

Last Place in the final:
131: DopeMonkeys - The Power Of The Dark Side (The Imperial March) #28 (PQ-entry)

#11 in semis:
107: Babymetal - ギミチョコ！！ (Gimme Chocolate!!)
134: Dune - Million Miles From Home (Reju-qualified)

Bottom 5 in semis:
Too many to list (34), so instead:
Last place in semis:
58: Sunlounger feat. Inger Hansen - Breaking Waves
73: Starchild - Starchild
89: AutoLaser - Magenta
96: Basshunter - Sverige

And from that, moving on to the awards [MENTION=4372]takeru[/MENTION] made (from this post):

Gold Medal (Victory): 2 (127, 130)
Silver Medal: 2 (70, 80)
Bronze Medal: 0
Pre-Qualification: 4 (101, 103, 115, 142)
Top Ten: 2 (66, 112)
Top Half: 3 (50, 83, 117)
Bottom Half: 2 (109, 134)
Bottom Ten: 4 (54, 77, 100, 144)
Bottom Five: 8 (43, 71, 81, 102, 104, 116, 128, 143)
Final Last: 1 (131)
Semi Final Victory: 3 (70, 80, 130)
QualiFication: 14 (54, 66, 77, 83, 100, 101, 103, 109, 112, 115, 117, 127, 142, 144)
Rest Jury qualification: 3 (43, 50, 134)
Just Missed: 12 (42, 47, 52, 60, 62, 67, 78, 84, 88, 106, 107, 125)
No Award: 22 (46, 51, 55, 57, 63, 65, 74, 82, 87, 90, 94, 95, 99, 113, 119, 120, 124, 132, 133, 138, 139, 145)
Bottom 5: 34 (44, 45, 48, 53, 56, 61, 68, 69, 72*, 75, 76, 79, 86, 91, 92, 93, 97, 98, 105, 108, 110, 111, 114, 118, 121, 122, 123, 126, 129, 135, 136, 137, 140, 141)
Semifinal Last: 4 (58, 73, 89, 96)
Prequalified: 8 (71, 81, 102, 104, 116, 128, 131, 143)
*72: Tied 17th (of 22 entries), 18th when the tie was broken

Results chart, made on ChartGo:

I've been keeping track of all points I've ever given and received in this contest. But unfortunately, and this annoys me quite a bit, only for the finals. By the time I decided to keep track of this, some of the old spreadsheets had been lost, after a forum change and image hosting sites going down, and I didn't want to have incomplete stats. But, finals are fun too, so here are all the points has ever given and received in the finals since NSC 42:

Given points:

Received points:

Thanks

And finally, the list of where in the real world my artists have come from:

21 (+2) ("Weird Al" Yankovic x2, 2Pac, Britney Spears, BT, Charlie Puth, Chris DiAngelo, Combichrist*, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Five Finger Death Punch, Hollywood Undead x2, Inger Hansen, Lil' Jon, Lindsey Stirling, Ludacris, Rob GEE, Sam Martin, The Bad Seeds*, Usher, Wiz Khalifa, Your Favorite Martian)
18 (+6) (Chris Jennings, Clare Stagg, Digital Boy, DJ's United*, Engine-Earz Experiment, Errol Reid, FERAL Is KINKY, Judas Priest, Julie Thompson, Katy B, Kirsty Hawkshaw, Les Hemstock, Mums Of Death*, Organ Donors, Rob Halford, Sarah Russell, Sheryl Deane, Solarstone, The 1996 Manchester United F.A. Cup Squad*, The Bad Seeds*, The Green Children*, The Prodigy, The Thrillseekers, VNV Nation*)
18 (+3) (Anders Nilsen, Areia*, Autokarma, AutoLaser x2, Combichrist*, Da Tweekaz x3, DJ Solli, Karpe Diem, Mr. Lemon, Ragnar og Øsekara, Sandberg, Staal, The Blizzard x2, The Green Children*, The Hate Colony, Ylvis, Ørjan Nilsen)
18 (+1) (2 Unlimited, Armin van Buuren, DJ's United*, E-Life, Endymion x2, Evil Activities, Isaac, Li-Ann, Neophyte, Noisecontrollers, Roland & Sherman, Stay-C, The Doppler Effect, The Viper, Tieum, Twenty 4 Seven, Winter Kills, Within Temptation)
15 (+1) (Ayla, CJ Stone, DJ's United*, DopeMonkeys, Dune, Energy 52, Jason Parker, Kay D. Smith, Lexi, Marc Tall, Paul van Dyk, Rammstein, Speedbreaker, Sunlounger x2, Talla 2XLC)
8 (DJ Activator, Eiffel 65 x2, Francesco Zeta, Gigi D'Agostino, Giorgio Moroder, Karol, Technoboy)
5 (+1) (Kylie Minogue, Nick Cave, Pendulum, Puretone, S3RL, The Bad Seeds*)
5 (Little Big, Matisse, PPK, Propaganda, Sadko)
4 (Arch Enemy, Basshunter, Starchild, Opeth)
3 (DJ Yan, Eyal Barkan, Yahel Sherman)
2 (+2) (Andy Duguid, Mark Sherry, Mums Of Death*, The 1996 Manchester United F.A. Cup Squad*)
2 (+1) (Aligator, Daniel Kandi, The 1996 Manchester United F.A. Cup Squad*)
2 (+1) (David Guetta, Space, The 1996 Manchester United F.A. Cup Squad*)
2 (Nightwish, Tarja Turunen)
2 (Sapna Awasthi, Sukhwinder Singh)
2 (Babymetal, Dazzle Vision)
2 (Barak, Shove)
2 (Frissco, Resident Deejays)
2 (Albert Kick, Juan Alcaraz)
1 (+1) (Areia*, EXID)
1 (Sylver)
1 (Ewan Dobson)
::na 1 (Spencer Tarring)
1 (Philippe El Sisi)
1 (Ethnic Zorigoo)
1 (Beattraax)
1 (Tina Maze)
1 (Juicy M)
0 (+2) (The 1996 Manchester United F.A. Cup Squad*, VNV Nation*)
0 (+1) (The Bad Seeds*)
0 (+1) (The 1996 Manchester United F.A. Cup Squad*)

Multinational artists:
Areia ( / )
Combichrist ( / )
DJ's United ( / / )
Mums Of Death ( / )
The 1996 Manchester United F.A. Cup Squad ( / / / / / )
The Bad Seeds ( / / / )
The Green Children ( / )
VNV Nation ( / )

For more, go to the wiki page:
http://nsc.wikia.com/wiki/Balearica_Island

Anything I'm missing? Apart from semi final points...

 

[Morty]

Re: Balearica Island jumps for joy

Ok, back to normal. Our 100th entry followed in the footsteps of most of my entries, by failing to qualify to the final. But as it's a very special song to me, I'm very happy that it didn't end all the way at the bottom.

For the next edition, hosted in a nation that also sends their 101st entry this time, we're going a bit back in time. held a secret NF for last edition, and I was the one who was going to pick the entry. That proved to be very difficult, because there were so many great songs in that NF, and we eventually agreed that would send Zhi-Vago, and then I would send 2 Unlimited - Jump For Joy. I've sent 2 Unlimited before, No Limit back in NSC 54 (the first entry to get a top 10 result in a semi final), but I find it hard to choose a favorite of these two songs. So now it's time to Jump For Joy!

 

[theditz83]

Re: Balearica Island jumps for joy



Amazing, that is all

 

[Paper7]

Re: Balearica Island jumps for joy

Good luck with Jump for Joy, i'm happy to see you sending it now

 

[Morty]

Re: Balearica Island jumps for joy

Thanks.

 

[Morty]

Re: Balearica Island needs some 147 help - German or English?

In NSC 54, which is like ancient history, qualified to the final with 2 Unlimited - No Limit, and got a decent result. But I didn't think Jump For Joy would do as good now, because I didn't think it would still appeal to the people in NSC. But I was very wrong, Jump For Joy got a better result than No Limit, and I'm really happy about that. Thanks to everyone for the points, both in the semi and in the final.

But now it's time to move on to the next edition, and as I'm going to Iceland in a couple of weeks, I had decided on the entry a long time ago. However, there are two versions of it, one in German, and one in English. I'm leaning towards the German version, but I want some input, because it's hard to decide. So the next entry will be Radspitz, but will it be "Der Isländer" or "Iceland Call"?

Der Isländer:

Iceland Call:

 

[ShoeFlo]

Re: Balearica Island needs some 147 help - German or English?

wonderful song title and lovely lyrics

I'd prefer the German version

 

[Morty]

Re: Balearica Island needs some 147 help - German or English?

A German preferring the German version doesn't really surprise me tbh. But I agree with you, I think I prefer the German version too. So unless someone very strongly prefer the English version within a day or two (and can convince me that the English version is better), I'll send "Der Isländer" to Lacrea.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Morty]

Re: Balearica Island - An Icelandic Dance (NSC 148)

We will never know if the English version would have done better, but sticking to the one I prefer is probably the way to go anyway. Thanks for the 55 points to Der Isländer in the semi, unfortunately not enough to qualify, but at least some of you liked it.

Staying with an Icelandic theme tho. After a few days of driving in Iceland with no music, I eventually found a radio channel, and they played a rather new Icelandic dance song that I really liked, and I managed to find it afterwards, despite not knowing the artist or song title. And there's a Eurovision link too, it's Iceland's ESC 1997 artist Páll Óskar, with the song "Einn Dans" (meaning "One Dance"). No idea how many times I've played this song since I first heard it, but it's really stuck with me, and I need to send it to the NSC. So, the entry for NSC 148 is going to be Páll Óskar - Einn Dans:

 

[Morty]

Re: Balearica Island murders mermaids (NSC 149)

What ended up being a joint effort with Balearica Island and Azurion from Alternatia, didn't do too well in the contest(s). I still like it tho, and Einn Dans will always be Iceland 2017 for me.

The world moves on tho, and NSC 149 is upon us, and our next entry has a similarity with our NSC 75 entry (Albuquerque), as it's a fan made video for an older song. But where the Albuquerque video was true to the original song, this next one takes a bit of a different turn. The music is from a fictional band from the Adult Swim TV show "Metalocalypse" (which was cancelled in 2013), Dethklok's song "Murmaider". The original video is pretty brutal, and mermaids were murdered during the making of that video. But I'm not sending that video.

I'm sending a video from the animation Youtube channel of ArhyBES. They made an animation for a different Dethklok song some years ago, called "Batmetal". Batman makes metal with his band called "Children of Batman". And it got popular, so about a year later, ArhyBES made a follow up, called "Batmetal Returns". And this is our entry for NSC 149, because this is genius. The Little Mermaid (Ariel) and her friends seem to have a problem with Aquaman, and he needs to be rescued.

So while all Batmetal fans are waiting for the next video (called Batmetal Forever, because as the trailer said, it's taking forever), NSC can join in on the fun too. Here it is:

 

[Morty]

Re: Balearica Island - NSC 150 / AATW Azerbaijan

You shouldn't mess with mermaids around here, apparently. I think it's safe to say that Murmaider was in the wrong semi, since it got a lot more points in the reju. I don't think it would have qualified anyway, but finishing last was disappointing. But on the other hand, despite my long list of entries that failed to qualify, this was only the 5th time a entry has finished last in the semi, and the last time it happened was in NSC 96, so it was probably long overdue. But I gotta admit, I had higher hopes...

NSC moves on tho, and with AATW Azerbaijan also coming up, I've had a lot of deciding to do.

For NSC 150, I've had a plan since Moisantia joined the Waiting List. When they joined the roster again, I would send an italodance song, a very popular genre in both nations. A long time ago, I sent Gary a list of great italodance songs, and he sent his favorites among them back to me. And the entry dedicated to his return was going to be one of those songs. There were still 19 songs to choose from tho, but eventually, a decision was made, altho I did need some additional Moisantian input for the final 4. A song both of us have listened to a lot, and we both think it's great. Gabry Ponte (one third of Eiffel 65), and his 2002 song "Geordie".

Check it out here:

Welcome back, Moisantia!


But wait, there's more. AATW Azerbaijan, and you know I can't let an AATW escape. But my knowledge of Azeri music was VERY limited, and I had to do a lot of searching, to find some really good songs. I could have gone for an easy solution, and send some Azeri made trance, but I've done that a bit too much in the AATWs, and felt I needed to try something different. Besides, you can't really tell where a good trance tune comes from, so it wouldn't really feel like it was from Azerbaijan. So in the end, after listening to 100s of Azeri songs, I had 40 potential entries listed, and narrowing down wasn't any easier than for the NSC 150 entry tbh. Finally narrowed down to 8, put them on repeat, and one of them started to stand out for me, and I knew that would have to be the entry. A pretty new one actually, from May this year; Rilaya - Telefon.

And you can check it out here:

I'll post a list of the songs that didn't quite make it in about a week or so, if you like the electronic entries, you'll probably like most of them too.

 

[Morty]

Re: Balearica Island - NSC 150 / AATW Azerbaijan - The songs that didn't make it

The plan was to post when the AATW spinoff was over, and Geordie had been knocked out of the semi finals, but Geordie qualified, and AATW Azerbaijan took a while. Great result in NSC 150, I really didn't expect to qualify to the final, so anything there was a bonus. And 17th is a nice result in a final. And I'm also fairly happy with the spinoff result. 10th out of 17 entries might not sound that good, but considering the quality of the entries, it's not too bad tbh. So overall, pretty pleased with the results in these two competitions.

As previously mentioned, picking Geordie and Telefon wasn't easy. I had loads of songs to choose from, and as promised, I'm posting them here. I'm not ruling out future participation for some of them tho, so you might see some future NSC entries here. Check Spoiler for the songs, click songs for videos:

NSC 150 - italodance

Final 4:
Datura - Will Be One
Eddy Wata - La Bomba
Floorfilla - Anthem #3

Other:
Brothers - The Moon
DJ Lhasa vs Gabry Ponte - Giulia
Floorfilla - Anthem #4
Gigi D'Agostino - Another Way
Gigi D'Agostino - La Passion
Paps'n'Skar - Turn Around
Provenzano DJ feat. Lizzy B - Funny Day

Brothers - Dieci Cento Mille
DJ Ross - Emotion (Lonely)
Eiffel 65 - Too Much Of Heaven
Erika - I Don't Know
Gitta - No More Turning Back
Hard In Tango - This Is My DJ
Kim Lukas - All I Really Want
Kim Lukas - Let It Be The Night

AATW Azerbaijan

Final 8:
Babaeff Dark feat. Leyla Kafari - Baku I Love You
Farid Aslanov - Intergalactic
Hafex & Sahil Umud - Timelapse
Leyla Kafari & Babaeff Dark - Sən Hamı Kimi Deyilsən
Murad Arif - Canavar
Rauf - Nərgiz Gülü
Sahil Umud feat. Diana Miro - Would You Be Mine

Other:
Airzoom - Keep Love Alive (Paul Hided feat. Andi Vax Live Guitar Remix)
Akif Islamzade - Sari Gelin (DJA4MUZIC Trap Remix)
BakuBoy & Austin Blake & Terrazak - Bombai
CJ SN presents Unbelievable Man - Baku
Dima Bilan feat. Nikki Jamal - Obnimi Menya (Emin K. & Ansarov Remix)
DJ Matuya & Nura Suri - Şans Ver
Elnur - Damla-Damla
Ilgar Khaligov - Hysterical (Nidjat Remix)
KIWI Project - Happy New Year, Azerbaijan!
Lans Beatz - Without You (Sənsiz) (Elmira Rehimova - Intizar)
Lazarev & Tsurkov - Insert Coin
Mechanic Fist - Alien Nazi Invasion
Net Son - End Of Story
Nigar Camal (Nikki Jamal) - Çağıran Da Ürəkdi
Nuri (Serinlendirici) & Jane (Shirokikh) - Həyatıma Xoş Gəldin
Rauf - -40°
Rauf - Gec-Tez
Ruslan Alişan - Çətirlər
Sahil Umud & Nərmin Kərimbəyova - Zirvə
Samir Kuliev - Want Your Back (Deeper Underground)
Tommy Walker, BakuBoy & Austin Blake - Osiris

Enjoy.

Did I make the right decisions?

As for NSC 151, I'm actually not posting my entry here yet. Want to try the element of surprise for once.

 

[Morty]

Re: Balearica Island - Follow Me into NSC 152

Ok, so time for another update from

As you all know by now, my entry for NSC 151 was a song performed mainly by robots, which I found on Facebook, shared by both Jean-Michel Jarre (Pangora 23 and 29) and Dune (INK 103 and Balearica Island 134). Which reminds me, I need to send Jarre to this contest... Anyway, I was blown away by the video for New Zealander Nigel Stanford's "Automatica", and that was also the reason I decided not to share it with you before the edition, because it started to wear off me faster than I expected, and I figured my best chance at a possible final was to surprise people a bit. And it might have worked. Very good result in the semi, and also a decent result in the final, so I'm very happy about that. And this also means that 6 out of my last 10 entries have qualified to the finals. I know I won't be able to keep that streak going, but it's been a good year for Balearica Island.

But now, we look forward to the next edition. You all know that I'm a big fan of hardstyle, and I've sent Norwegian hardstyle three times already, and all have been by Da Tweekaz. And when I sent DopeMonkeys, I also explained that there are subgenres in hardstyle. That entry was "raw", a very popular subgenre in hardstyle (which I'm not a big fan of tbh). But there's another subgenre that's gained a lot of popularity as well, known as "euphoric hardstyle", which quite often includes featured vocalists. I'm personally not a big fan of that type either, because I feel that type of vocal fit better in trance music, but when everyone in a hardstyle club sings along to the same song, it's definitely a good feeling. But because I prefer other types of hardstyle, I've never sent "proper" euphoric to the NSC before, until now. Because, Da Tweekaz aren't the only Norwegians making chart topping hardstyle, there's also a guy from Trondheim that does it, Refuzion. And earlier this year, a music video was released for his song "Follow Me" (which features Canadian vocalist Christian Carlucci from the band Trash Pandas), and from what I can tell, it's all shot in Norway. Some of it even in Trondheim, which I think is very cool, as the record label releasing the video is based in Belgium.

So to sum this all up: Norwegian/Canadian euphoric hardstyle, the entry for NSC 152 is Refuzion feat. Christian Carlucci - Follow Me: