By Will Cade

On the bus ride out to the Ciudad de Rock, the other journalists and I were shown a video with a virtual tour of what the festival site for Rock in Rio Madrid should look like. As I saw an animated crowd rocking out in front of digital architecture, I thought I was watching a trailer for a new video game - some type of mix between The Sims and Guitar Hero. When we arrived and I saw the unfinished construction and patches of Spanish desert, I doubted this digital vision could be made into real life. But when the organizers began explaining what Rock in Rio will offer and how it will function, I began to change my mind.

First and foremost, it’s a music festival. The diverse line-up balances popular music with world famous DJs, upcoming talent, and veterans from the Woodstock era, even if it lacks proper rock groups. At 7:30 every night, the biggest names will start to play on the World Stage - a 100 m long and 28 m tall monument to modernist architecture. The artists will have 2,100 m2 at their disposal, and the audience will have 200 photovoltaic panels spread throughout the 2,500 m2 façade, creating a light extravaganza and intensifying the live performances during the last weekend in June and first in July.

June 27^th

The first night on the World Stage will be a relaxed but fulfilling start to the festival. With Neil Young headlining, you can expect to see lighters in the air and hear smooth, classic rock favorites like “Heart of Gold,” “Southern Man” and “Keep on Rocking in the Free World.” He may be more from our parents generation, but don’t forget that Pearl Jam and Nirvana labeled him as the godfather of grunge. Jack Johnson will also play beforehand, filling the air with head-nodding beach music just outside of landlocked Madrid.

June 28^th

The Madrid based El Canto del Loco will headline the second night. The group won best Spanish Artist in the 2005 MTV European Music Awards and will give a night of Spanish guitar infused alternative music. Tokio Hotel, the German youth sensation, will play beforehand. Their teenage appeal may have been their first claim to fame, but their melodic rock style is catchy, even if you don’t want to admit it in public.

July 4^th

Shakira will headline the third, dance-filled night. This will be the Queen of Latin Pop’s second time shaking across a Rock in Rio stage and her only concert in Spain during the summer. “Underneath Your Clothes,” will surely echo out into the crowd, with even guys shamefully getting into it. Jamiroquai will play beforehand, gracing our presence with his quirky hats and eclectic dance music. Before the dancing begins, Amy Winehouse will get us in the mood with her jazzy, soul-filled voice.

July 5^th

The fourth night will be perfect for eclectic music lovers. The Police will headline with their satisfying mix of punk and reggae, for sure blessing us with a rendition of “Every Breath you Take.” Alejandro Sanz will play beforehand and show us why his romantic voice woven between Cuban beats, hip-hop, and flamenco won him a Grammy for Best Latin Album in 1991. And for you die-hard flamencophiles, a once in a lifetime collaboration of the biggest names in flamenco called Flamenco All-Stars will hit the stage to start things off.

July 6^th

The fifth and final night will bring the perfect close to the World Stage. Bob Dylan will set the scene with his quintessential music festival aura, before Franz Ferdinand comes on and lets us jump around. Lenny Kravitz will then headline, with his smooth guitar riffs and melodic voice, but the true closer is DJ Tiesto, coming on at 2:00 a.m. The highlight of his career is when he mixed the opening ceremonies for the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece, so it is only fitting that he will begin the end of the World Stage.

If your tastes aren’t geared towards more established groups, the Hot Stage will give you a dose of experimental and upcoming artists. Starting every afternoon at 5:30 and playing until 7:50, groups from Spain and abroad will mount the 22m long and 14 m tall cubic stage. Three groups will play every night, with bands like Zucchero, Draco, The Right Ons, Mando Diao and Standard balancing out the festival with blues, latin rock, funk-soul rock, indie rock and electro rock, respectively.

If the other stages don’t do much for you, the Electronic area will get your heart pounding, even without the use of chemicals. The architecture alone could make it the 8^th Wonder of the Modern World. Based on Stonehenge, the design takes six massive gramophone speakers with projection screens and laser lights and arches them back in on the 900 m2 circular dance floor. The party starts every night at 3:00 a.m. and goes until sunrise, with world famous DJs like Carl Cox, Satoshi Tomiie, DJ Vibe and Cristian Varela brining us the best dance music from England, Japan, Portugal, and Spain, respectively. The line-up doesn’t actually have a set time for the DJs playing each night, so expect everyone to be mixing until the sun comes.

After staying the whole night, you will probably start to wonder how you’re going to get home. Alsa has arranged for a fleet of 340 buses to take ticket holders to and from the festival sight. The buses will depart every 15 minutes outside of the metro station Santiago Bernabeau, beginning at 3:30 p.m. and running until midnight. Buses returning from the festival will start at 7:00 p.m. and run every 15 minutes until 7:00 a.m.

Driving there yourself will be tricky, being that the festival site itself only has 6,000 parking spaces, which have to be purchased beforehand. Free parking is available near the Hospital del Sureste in the closest town of Arganda del Rey, but even then you would have to take a quick bus to the festival site. Especially if you’re up all night partying, your best bet will be to take the bus.

http://www.rockinriomadrid.terra.es

by Maja Gojkovic

The Eurovision song contest 2008 kicks off this evening with the first leg of the competition, the semi final. For the first time in the history in the competition there will be two Semi Finals held to decide which 25 countries will be represented in the Final.
The first Semi Final takes place today, Tuesday, 20th of May.
The countries participating in the first Semi Final will be Montenegro, Israel, Estonia, Moldova, San Marino, Belgium, Azerbaijan, Slovenia, Norway, Poland, Ireland, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Armenia, The Netherlands, Finland, Romania, Russia and Greece.
The 19 participants are getting more and more nervous and tension is rising as they all are hoping to qualify for the Grand Final that will be held on Saturday.
The Semi Final competition will be aired live and will be shown live in all the 19 participating countries and also live on German NDR and Spanish TVE.
Other countries may also broadcast the competition as well, so check the timetables of your local broadcasters to see if the Semi Final will be shown in your country.
If you miss the Semi Final you will have the opportunity to watch it again as it will be available for 7 days on Eurovision TV.
The Semi Final televoters from the 19 participating countries will be able to vote for their favourite songs as well as the TV audience in Germany and Spain. The local televoting numbers will be displayed on screen during the show and will also be available on your national broadcaster’s website.
We at European Vibe will be following the competition, so if you’re a Eurovision Song Contest fan like me, I will be covering the highlights and lowlights of the show. So stay tuned for all the latest Info.
The second Semi Final will take place on Thursday 22nd May.

by Maja Gojkovic

The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 is the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest, and this years competition will be hosted by Serbia. The semi-finals will be held on 20 and 22 May respectively and the final on 24 May 2008 in the capital, Belgrade.
The contest wll be held in Belgrade Arena. The arena is among the largest indoor arenas in Europe, with a total capacity of more than 20,000 seats.
Serbia will be hosting the Contest for 2008 after Marija Šerifović won the Contest in 2007 in Helsinki, Finland.
The contest will be hosted by Jovana Janković, a daily morning show host and Željko Joksimović one of the most successful musicians in the Balkan region. In 2004, he represented Serbia & Montenegro at the Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul, Turkey, with Lane Moje, and finished second.
For this years’ competition Serbia will be represented by Jelena Tomašević feat. Bora Dugic with a song entitled Oro. Let’s hope it is as good as last year’s winning song by Marija Serifovic- Moltiva.

Belgrade is known as Beograd by the locals, is the largest and capital city of Serbia. The city has almost 1,6 million citizens. Belgrade is located confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers. It is the cultural and political heart of the country; it hosts several music- and cultural festivals across the city throughout the year.
The city is slowly becoming the new trendy place to be, it is still undiscovered by many people. The City offers various styles of beautiful architecture that dominate the city. Trendy hot-spots such as Knez Mihajlova is one of the most popular pedestrian only streets in Belgrade and offers a wide variety of quaint cafés and restaurants and is definitely a popular place to be seen.
With the help of hosting the Eurovision Song Contest, Belgrade have finally be given the chance to show off the amazing sights and exactly what the city has to offer.

The Eurovison Contest has been broadcast every year since its inauguration in 1956 and is one of the longest-running television programmes in the world. It is one of the most-watched non-sporting events in the world with audience figures reaching to anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally in recent years.
Eurovision has also been broadcast outside Europe to such places as Australia, Canada, Mexico, Egypt, United States, Hong Kong, India, despite the fact the countires do not participate. Since 2000, the Contest has also been broadcast over the Internet with more than 74,000 people in almost 140 countries having watched the contest in 2006 online.

The artists who achieved most success after thier Eurovision win that led them to a career and launched them into the spotlight were ABBA, ABBA won the Contest for Sweden in 1974 with their song “Waterloo” after this they went on to be one of the most successful bands of their time.

Other winners who have also achieved international fame due to a successful win at Eurovison include Céline Dion, who won the Contest for Switzerland in 1988 with the song “Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi”.

With regard to winners the country that had achieved most success has been Ireland. Ireland holds the record for the most number of wins, having won the Contest seven times which includes wins three times in a row in the mid 1990s.
In joint second place with five wins each are France, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom holds the best record at the Contest in terms of average scoreboard position; having finished in the top two in 20 out of 52 Contests from1956–2007.

The first few years of the 21st century produced a variety of first-time winners, from both “new” Eurovision countries, and old-timers who had entered for many years without a win. Every year from 2001 to 2007 resulted in a country winning for the first time. The 2006 winner was Finland, who had finally won after having entered the Contest for 45 years. Ukraine on the other hand did not have to wait so long, winning with their second entry in 2004. Serbia won the very first year it entered as an independent state in 2007. As of 2008, the country which has entered the longest with no wins to their name is Portugal. They started entering in 1964, and are still awaiting their first win.

For the first time in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, two Semi-Finals will be held to decide which 25 countries will be represented in the Final. The first Semi-Final will take place on Tuesday, 20th of May.
Citizens of each participating country vote by telephone and SMS. Two of the so-called ‘Big Four’ (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) will also vote in this Semi-Final (to be decided by draw), and possibly the Host Country (also to be decided by draw). Each country’s 10 favourites are awarded 1 to 8, 10 and 12 points based on the number of votes. The top-9 of the tele-voting qualifies for the Final. The highest ranked entry of the back-up jury that has not qualified for the Final in the tele-voting also qualifies for the Final. The 10 qualified countries will be presented in randomly drawn order at the end of the show. The complete results of the tele-voting will not be announced until after the Final, to keep the tension high.

The favourites to win this years’ 2008 Eurovision Song Contest are Russia who will be represented by Dima Bilan with the song Believe. According to bookies PaddyPower the odds on favourites Russia are 10/3. Spain and Ireland stand at 25/1 with the UK in shocking position with odds of 300/1. Spain will be represented by Rodolfo Chikilicuatre with the song Baila El Chiki Chiki. Ireland will be represented by Dustin the Turkey with song Irelande Douze Pointe and the UK by Andy Abraham (Runner up of X-Factor) with song Even If.

Don’t forget it is now possible to listen to all new European Vibe Magazine articles and download them for FREE to your computer and MP3 player.

The recordings are for everybody, but they are especially useful for learning English.
If you read European Vibe Magazine to improve or maintain your level of English, you can hear native speaker pronunciation and learn how to say all the new words you see.
There are many different accents to listen to. We record all the articles at least once, but we also try to have multiple recordings of the same article with different voices and accents.
To see the written articles the audio relates to, visit the main European Vibe site: http://www.europeanvibe.com or click the magazine links on this page.

¡Mejora tu inglés con los “listening” del podcast y lee los artículos de la revista!
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This month, our Vibe Box comes from Alan Shelly - licensee of rock and blues bar Echegarito.

In the May issue of European Vibe Magazine, Echegarito was the venue for our monthly bar chat - where we talked about the pickly subject of infidelity. Check out the magazine to see what our bar chatters had to say about cheating.

These are Alan’s choices:

7. The Trooper - Iron Maiden.
because: Not alot to say about this. It’s Iron Maiden!!

8. Plush - Stone Temple Pilots.
because: A great single release from a debut album from a band that was highly under-rated.

9. Rocket Queen - Guns n’ Roses.
because: I chose this not only because it’s a great song but it’s probably the only song with a real screaming orgasm stuck in the middle (i think they call it “taking it to the bridge”!!).

10. Rearview Mirror - Pearl Jam.
because: A very powerful number from one of the best alternative rock bands of the 90’s.

This month, our Vibe Box comes from Alan Shelly - licensee of rock and blues bar Echegarito.

In the May issue of European Vibe Magazine, Echegarito was the venue for our monthly bar chat - where we talked about the pickly subject of infidelity. Check out the magazine to see what our bar chatters had to say about cheating.

These are Alan’s choices:

4. Won’t get fooled again - The Who.
because: Probably one of the longest songs ever released by a rock band but you never get bored half way through like with most lengthy numbers.

5. Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones.
because: One of the more diverse songs from stones and not too commercial.

6. Radar Love - Golden Earring.
because: A great one hit wonder from one of Hollands greatest exports!

By Will Cade

The start of Madrid’s Rock in Rio music festival is still over a month away, but I’m more excited about how it’s going to end. The festivities during the last weekend in June and first in July have an amazing line-up, with such big name artists as Franz Ferdinand, Tokio Hotel, and Bob Dylan, but the closing act can still top them all - and it’s only one man with two turntables.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce you to DJ Tiesto, the Dutch phenom voted best DJ on the planet. The number of people in the 200,000 cubic meter festival site just outside Madrid should be astronomical, but this won’t be the first time Tiesto has played for a grand audience. He mixed the Parade of Athletes at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens (the first ever DJ to do so) not to mention he was the first solo DJ to ever sell out a stadium of over 25,000.

In the electronic music world, Tiesto has remixed the rules. He started mixing in Holland during the mid-nineties, working his way up from club to club and harnessing his skills. When his popularity sky-rocked, he traveled the world over one party at a time and molded his music into a mix of trance, house, and techno. He even pulled off mixing classical in his “Adaggio for Strings,” one of his most famous tracks. This eclectic style has allowed him to move beyond the club and rave scene to compete with major acts on the big stage, a feat previously unheard of in the business.

Even with his irrefutable success, Tiesto is still staying true to what brought him here - a love for making music. Bathed in laser-lights, Tiesto takes his music to a new level during live performances, even mixing for up to 9 hours straight. He has spent the last few months mixing the night away in Thailand and working on his long anticipated live album, “In Search of Sunrise 7.”

You may not be able to pick up a copy of “In Search of Sunrise 7″ just yet, but you can see him live July 6^th right here in Madrid. Judging by his track record, you might even watch him finally find what he has been searching for, as the sun rises up over the crowd and signals the perfect end to both the festival and the night.

by Martin Brown

Tim Booth appeared on stage on crutches for this show. There was a muffled explanation in Spanish from one of his bandmates, but I didn’t catch it. So he sat for most of the show. This must have been very, very difficult for one normally so active! Known for his spasmodic whirling and spinning, he cut a different figure here. He has also shaved his head since I last saw him play.

I really like James, so this is not really a very objective review. I had not seen them play live for more than 10 years. Of course, they were inactive during most of that time, with all kinds of reported bust ups. Let’s just all be grateful that the issues have now been resolved. With a new album out last month, and based on the fanatical crowd at this show, the future looks good again!

I could feel Booth’s pain as he sang Born of Frustration, he wanted to be on his feet, not in a chair! The voice is the same, pure, unique sound as ever and the band seemed very happy to be there. Andy Diagram, resplendent in a spotted dress, blew his trumpet and compensated for Booth’s immobility by running all over the place throughout the show. There is not just one front man in this band, that’s for sure. Maybe that was the problem before?

Running through material from their 20+ year career, each song was greeted with screams for the 1500 or so people in attendance. It’s always amazing to me that, whilst most Spanish people seem reluctant to learn English, they are happy, and very able to sing the words to every song of their favorite performers!

Towards the end of the almost two hour set, Booth said, “We said we were not going to play this song for a year, but we are going to sing it for you tonight, because I am sitting down!” The crowd went nuts and sang along with the band.

The band looked genuinely surprised by the length and passion of the responses to the songs, especially after Sometimes, when the crowd continued, a capella, long after the band had stopped playing.
This was a lot of fun, for the crowd and the band, the perfect scenario for any concert.

By Will Cade

I never know if I should give money to panhandlers or not. Reading their signs about having children and no job, I do feel for these people, but I never know if my money is going towards a hot meal for the family or a fresh bottle for mom or dad.

Street performers, however, fit into a different category. They’re providing me with entertainment, which, if I like, I’ll gladly pay for. What they do with the money is their own business: they worked for it.

My favorite street performers in Madrid have to be in the Metro, because they give me a much needed break from a busy day running around the city. We have some talented metro musicians here - and some not so talented - but there’s nothing like hearing African bongo drums or an acoustic version of Ave Maria echoing through the underground.

Even with these daily pick me ups in Madrid, I have to be the most impressed with the metro performers in Berlin, although at first I didn’t realize they were performing. Out of the blue, a homeless or otherwise scrappy looking individual would step onto the metro. But before asking anyone for money, this person would proudly lift a newspaper - one specifically written for the homeless to sell - and commence to give a speech.

Now, I don’t know a lick of German (aside from a few curse words) but still these speeches were magnificent. Sometimes they sounded like the diatribe of a madman, but they were given with enough vigor to inspire me to do whatever it was I couldn’t understand them saying. And other times they were given with such a smooth delivery that I felt like I was sitting in the Globe Theatre listening to Shakespeare, or, in this case, Goethe.

Not until these performances were finished would anyone even start to rummage through their pockets, and sometimes not until after the applause erupted into the metro with more intensity than the speech just given. It’s times like this when I’m not only happy to emtpy out my pockets, but I would gladly sit with these people over a coffee and listen to their stories - even if I don’t understand German.

by Helen Macrae

This month’s magazine cover star is none other than Queen of Pop herself, Madonna. To coincide with the release of her eleventh studio album “Hard Candy”, European Vibe has bagged an interview with Madge, in which she expounds on work, creativity and life in general. As you’re probably all aware, Madonna hits the big 50 this year. But did you know the following fantastic facts? 

Her full name is Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone.

Contrary to the material-girl image she’s cultivated over the years, Madonna was an avid cheerleader who got straight A’s and helped found her high school drama club.

According to the BBC, in the film “Evita” Madonna donned “39 hats, 45 pairs of shoes and 56 pairs of earrings.” She was recognized by Guinness Book of World Records in 2000 for having the most costume changes.

Madonna is good friends with Sting, the lead singer of The Police, and his wife Trudie Styler. She was introduced to her husband, director Guy Ritchie, by Sting and his wife. Sting is currently a godfather to Madonna’s son Rocco.

Madonna owns a chihuahua named Chiquita.

Madonna was listed at #3 in Forbes magazine’s “Celebrity 100 of 2007,” with $72 million in earnings.

In January 2008 it was revealed that Madonna only drinks specially blessed Kabbalah water, and spends $10,000 a month on it, having it shipped to her wherever she is at the time.

At the end of Madonna’s wedding ceremony, she and her new husband Guy Ritchie were given two rolls of toilet paper by Susan Brown, the minister, as it is one of the minister’s traditions. Susan says of her tradition, “Two rolls together reminding them that their marriage should be strong and long.”

Madonna has brontophobia - a fear of thunder.

Madonna has insisted that British tour organizers put a bottle of vodka in her dressing room. The alcohol isn’t to drink, it is used to wash her clothes. She sprays it over perspiration marks and the alcohol apparently kills the bacteria and keeps the stage clothes fresher. She picked up the tip after hearing it was often used by opera singers.

Madonna was paid $5 million by Pepsi to film a commercial that never even aired.

Madonna gave her 8-year old daughter a credit card, to “teach her financial responsibility.” The card has a $10,000 credit line.

Madonna is the only artist who performed at the benefit concerts Live Aid (1985), Live 8 (2005), AND Live Earth (2007).

For more Madonna info check out our interview on page 8 of this month’s magazine!