Turkey chooses an MTV award-winning rock band for this year's Eurovision contest.
By Erol Izmirli for Southeast European Times in Istanbul – 24/03/10
The award-winning band maNga will represent Turkey at Eurovision. [Getty Images]
The Turkish group maNga will compete in the May 29th Eurovision contest in Oslo with its new song "We Could Be The Same". The group hopes to follow in the footsteps of Sertab Erener, who won the contest in 2003 with her song "Everyway That I Can".
"We will go there to win the contest," lead singer Ferman Akgul said. "Our goal is to represent our band, our music and our country in the most proper way."
Drummer Ozgur Can Oney said the contest inspired the group to write new songs -- songs, he said, they are eager to share with the world.
The band is no stranger to victory. Last year, maNga won the Best Turkish Act award on the MTV Turkey network and went on to win the Best European Act award from MTV Networks Europe at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2009.
The group first performed "Everyway That I Can" at a Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) studio in Istanbul on March 3rd. The song was well received by critics, who noted the traditional Turkish motifs.
About the band: maNga was formed in 2001 and named after the word for Japanese comic books; maNga's music has brought together rock, rap, electronic, sufi and traditional Turkish music; maNga uses instruments such as reed flute, piano, tambour and a traditional stringed instrument called the bağlama to create a beautiful blend of Western and Eastern sounds, bringing out minor-key melodies that portray love, existential loneliness, death and melancholy; maNga's self-titled debut album went gold and their second album, "Şehr-i Huzun," released in April 2009.
"We chose maNga because it received the most votes in a nationwide poll," TRT General-Director Ibrahim Sahin said. "I hope maNga will be the winner with this song."
The choice was widely welcomed by the band's fans. The win sparked the launch of a new Facebook page for maNga-eurovision, along with fan pages on other social networking sites. The fans are believers, cultivating something close to maNga-mania.
"We are surely going to win the competition. I love you very much maNga," Hazal Demirtas, 20, wrote on the group's Facebook page.
The band does face a bit of a language hurdle. The group will sing in English for the contest because they "want everyone to understand our message", Akgul said. "The same motif, the same instrument, the same maNga -- only the language is different," he said.
Turkish citizens abroad have already started organising for the tele-voting system.
Wrote Yesim Gul: "… maNga, come to Canada please!"
Source: SETimes.com
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