- Merzedes Club
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Merzedes Club Origin Reykjavík, Iceland Genres Pop, Dance, Club, House Years active 2007 – 2008 Labels Cod Music Associated acts GusGus Members Rebekka, Ceres 4, Gillz, Gaz-man and Party-Hanz Notable instruments Synth Merzedes Club (commonly misspelled Mercedes Club) is a band created by prolific music composer and producer Barði Jóhannson. The group was formed to perform Barði's song Ho, Ho, Ho, We say Hey, Hey, Hey at the national selection for Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.[1] The band gained extreme notoriety for their unusual stage performances.[2] As of October 2008 the band is mostly defunct, and Rebekka has left the band.
Contents
Eurovision Song Contest
Barði Jóhannsson introduced 3 new songs to compete in the contest. Ho, Ho, Ho, We say Hey, Hey, Hey was his only song to make it to the national selection for Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest finals.[3] They took the second place, although media-hype had claimed that it would win and that the contest was already over. The song became a hit and got to nr. 1 on the charts and stayed there for weeks and is the biggest hit 2008 so far this year in Bulgaria.
Controversy
Fellow contestant in the Eurovision Song Contest, frontman of Eurobandið Friðrik Ómar, verbally attacked the Merzedes Club members, but later acclaimed that he was ambushed by Merzedes Club contestants in the backroom after the finals, and did this out of rage. He then later dismissed this.[4]
Collaboration with Síminn
In April 2008, Merzedes Club announced the release of their first video for the song Meira frelsi. Síminn paid them 10 million ISK to create the video, and used it as part of their advertising campaign. This led to some controversy because by Icelandic law it is illegal to advertise if it is not obvious that it is an advertisement.[5]
Controversy
The music video for Meira Frelsi [1] created some controversy because of its similarities with Basshunters video for Now You're Gone. Both videos are about a boy and a girl, that are talking to each other via cellphones before then later going to clubs. Both videos then end with a kiss. The video got 55.000 hits the first 24 hours and got to nr. 5 on www.youtube.com for most popular music videos that day. The song got to nr. 43 on Youtube that week.[6]
Discography
Albums
"I Wanna Touch You (Merzedes Club album)" (2008)
Singles
Song Year Chart(tonlist.is)[7] Ho, Ho, Ho, We say Hey, Hey, Hey 2008 1. place for 8 weeks Meira Frelsi 2008 2. place week 15 I Wanna Touch You 2008 6. place week 23 See Me Now 2008 6. place week 27 Basscop 2008 19. place week 29 Criticism
Appearance
The band has taken some criticism for over the top vanity and ego, especially from the bands frontman Egill "Gillzenegger" Einarsson. The manager, Valli Sport, has gotten his spotlight for managing this band. Valli Sport is known as a TV talk show host from the past and the manager for Pipar ad agency [8]
Music
They have taken some heat for lip-syncing and outrageous stage performances, as well as the simplicity of the songs and lyrics, even Barði Jóhannson has stated that the first hit "Ho, Ho, Ho, We say Hey, Hey, Hey" took only 3 hours to write.
References
- ^ Eurovision Song Contest : National Final : Iceland 2008
- ^ Digg - Sexiest music video in the world
- ^ IcelandReview - Online
- ^ Ummæli Friðriks Ómars víða enn til umræðu - mbl.is
- ^ Forsíða | Vefur Símans
- ^ Monitor
- ^ Tónlist.is - Öll Íslensk tónlist á einum stað
- ^ Pipar auglýsingastofa
External links
Categories:- Icelandic pop music groups
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