He is the lead singer of the Latvian pop/rock band Brainstorm, which came third at the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 with their song "My Star". He hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 in Riga, Latvia, with co-host Marija Naumova (stage name Marie N), and also hosted Congratulations, the Eurovision 50th anniversary concert in Copenhagen, Denmark, with Katrina Leskanich.
Kaupers graduated from University of Latvia in 1996 with a degree in journalism.
Kaupers' ancestors were probably Baron Friedrich von Stuart from Courland (1761–1842) and Immanuel Kant's niece Henrietta Kant.[1] He has a wife, Agnese, and twin sons Edgars and Emīls.
In 2001 Renārs received Latvian Film Prize as the best actor for his role in Vecās pagastmājas mistērija.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C4%81rs_Kaupers
Singing for Latvia in 2000. |
As a host in 2003 with Marie N. |
During the 50 years celebration in 2005 with Katrina and Sertab. |
Marija Naumova (born 23 June 1973 in Latvia) is a Latvian singer. Under the stage name Marie N, she sings a broad range of music ranging from pop to musical theatre and jazz, and has recorded several albums, with songs in Latvian, French, English, Russian and Portuguese. In 2002 she won the Eurovision Song Contest for Latvia with her song "I Wanna".
Naumova was discovered by famous Latvian musician Raimonds Pauls in 1994 and after a year she performed on TV in searches for talent. She never won, but was noticed by the audience.
In 1998, she performed in a concert celebrating the 100 years jubilee of George Gershwin. In March 1998 she performed on stage in concerts with famous Latvian musicians, and one of those concerts was recorded on CD. That gave her career a boost and she began to participate in several music events, television and radio shows, and give interviews for Latvian newspapers.
Naumova's first solo album, which was completely in Russian, was released in 1999. In 2000 Latvia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time. Naumova was in the national finals but she became second behind Brainstorm. In 2001 she participated in the Latvian preselection again, singing "Hey Boy Follow Me", which was voted public favourite but wasn't chosen by the expert jury. Naumova had to wait another year before she finally was chosen to represent Latvia with "I Wanna", for which she also wrote the music and co-wrote the lyrics.
In the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest, her performance of "I Wanna" wowed the voters at the contest, not only with a boppy tune but with Naumova gradually stripping down from a gender-bending white suit and hat through several configurations into a long red dress, and indulging in flirtatious dancing with her dancers of both sexes.
According to author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor in his book The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History, despite its success at the contest, "I Wanna" gained the dubious distinction of being the first Eurovision winner that was not released outside of its own territory. Even in Latvia the single never reached the top 30.[1]
In November of her victory year she recorded two new solo albums: one in English, and one in Latvian. She presented the albums to the audience by a tour throughout Latvia.
Naumova co-hosted the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest along with Renars Kaupers of the Latvian band Brainstorm, who came 3rd in the contest in 2000.
In 2004 Marie N successfully combined her singer's and actress' talent, in the lead role of the musical The Sound of Music.
In December Marie N's latest album "On My Own" was released, with songs in Latvian, French, English and Portuguese language. New compositions for Marie N are composed by Sergey Manoukyan, Ivar Must and Andrejs Jevsjukovs. Marie N has written several songs herself, as well. There are cover versions of several world-famous songs in the album – for example, two compositions which were originally written in French, but became very popular in English language.
Marija Naumova has a law degree from the University of Latvia. In 2005 she was chosen as the UNICEF goodwill envoy to Latvia.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_N
As the winner of the ESC 2002. |
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