Ishtar (Belgian band)
Encyclopedia
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
band who represented Belgium at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 2008
The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Contest. It was hosted in Belgrade, Serbia after Marija Šerifović won the 2007 Contest in Helsinki, Finland. This year was the first contest to have two semi-finals which were held on 20 and 22 May, and the final held on 24 May 2008...
with the song O Julissi
O Julissi
"O Julissi" also known as "O Julissi Na Jalini" is a song with lyrics in a constructed language by the Belgian six-piece band Ishtar. The swing influenced song represented Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 first semi-final in Belgrade, but failed to make it to the grand final.This was the...
, sung in an imaginary language. They competed in the first semi-final on 20 May 2008.
O Julissi
"O JulissiO Julissi
"O Julissi" also known as "O Julissi Na Jalini" is a song with lyrics in a constructed language by the Belgian six-piece band Ishtar. The swing influenced song represented Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 first semi-final in Belgrade, but failed to make it to the grand final.This was the...
" is a song by Ishtar. The band's site http://www.ishtar.be/functions/content.asp?Pag=11&pnav=;24; claims that the song is in an imaginary language. There is, however, a certain similarity to Ukrainian
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
; in particular, the first line is fully understandable (Ukrainian "Ой у лісі на ялині", meaning "Oh, in the forest on a spruce
Spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical...
"). The folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
song represented Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
at the semi-finals of Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Eurovision Song Contest 2008
The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Contest. It was hosted in Belgrade, Serbia after Marija Šerifović won the 2007 Contest in Helsinki, Finland. This year was the first contest to have two semi-finals which were held on 20 and 22 May, and the final held on 24 May 2008...
, at 20 May 2008, in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, but did not proceed to the finals. The single was released 14 March 2008. The song entered the Belgian Ultratop
Ultratop
Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts...
at #7. In its second week, O Julissi topped the list.
Ishtar's song was elected after they won the final of Eurosong 2008
Eurosong (Belgium)
Eurosong was the Flemish selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. It selected the Belgian entry to the Contest every second year. The last Eurosong was in 2008. Due the good result of Tom Dice in 2010, who was chosen internally, the VRT decided to cancel Eurosong....
. Ishtar, until then an unknown band, defeated better known artists, like pop singers Sandrine and Brahim. The other contestants in the final were rock group Paranoiacs and Nelson, who had written a modern ballad.
Band members
- Soetkin Baptist
- Michel Vangheluwe
- Ann Vandaele
- Marleen Vandaele
- Els Vandaele
- Hans Vandaele
- Lode Cartrysse
- Frank Markey
- Korneel Taeckens
- Karel Vercruysse