Disappear (No Angels song)

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“Disappear”
“Disappear” cover
Single by No Angels
from the album Destiny Reloaded
Released February 29, 2008
Format CD single, ring tone,
digital download
Recorded December 22, 2007;[1]
Gutleutstudios,
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Genre Pop, dance-pop
Length 3:19 (single version)
3:00 (ESC edit)
Label Polydor/Universal
Writer(s) Remee, Hanne Sørvaag, Thomas Troelsen
Producer Remee, Thomas Troelsen
No Angels singles chronology
"Amaze Me"/
"Teardrops"
(2007)		 "Disappear"
(2008)		 . . .
Eurovision Song Contest 2008 entry
Country Germany
Artist(s) No Angels
Language English
Composer(s) Remee, Hanne Sørvaag, Thomas Troelsen
Lyricist(s) Remee, Hanne Sørvaag, Thomas Troelsen
Place 23rd
Points 14
Lyrics Lyrics

◄ Frauen regier'n die Welt (2007)   

"Disappear" is a pop song recorded by German pop band No Angels. It was written by Scandinavian songwriters Remee, Hanne Sørvaag, and Thomas Troelsen and served as Germany's entry for the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, having earned tight 50,5% of the audience vote at the pre-selection Grand Prix Vorentscheid. In the final show of the ESC on May 24, 2008, the song finished 23rd (out of 25) in the final voting, having earned a total of fourteen points.[2]

The single was released on February 29, 2008 (see 2008 in music) in German-speaking Europe,[3][4] and reached number 4 on the German Singles Chart, and number 21 on the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles.[5]

Contents

[edit] Writing and recording

First drafts of a melody for "Disappear" were already in existence in 2005, with Troelsen, who also wrote the vocal melody, intensifying work on the track in January 2006;[6] however, it took until November 5, 2007, the song was fully produced and provided with its final lyrics, whose content chronicle the aftermathes of an unforgettable love.[7] The demo version of the song was recorded at the Delta Lab Recording Studios in Copenhagen by co-writer Hanne Sørvaag, who leaked her recording of "Disappear" on her MySpace on March 10, 2008.[6]

The demo recording was eventually presented to A&R manager Niklas Hafemann and the No Angels, who accepted "Disappear" as their competition song for Deutschen Vorentscheid.[6] The vocals for their version were eventually recorded at the Gutleutstudios in Frankfurt am Main, Germany on December 22, 2007.[1] Nadja Benaissa has described the song as an earworm with international ambition: "An emotional, very sentimental [song]. With music, that's raising your spirits and carries away."[8] The song premiered during an official press conference on January 29, 2008; the same day a thirty-seconds clip of the song was previewed on the band's official fansite. A day later the song was officially serviced to European radio.[7] On February 21, 2008 an edited version of "Disappear" premiered on the website of daily newspaper Bild-Zeitung, which was shortened to meet the three-minutes or less ESC conditions in length.[3]

Both the official CD Single and the digital download single include three remixes by the Mozart & Friends team of music producers.[9] The atmospheric Yin Yang remix is based on a piano performance by Australian producer Alf Tuohey and was refined by Marc Mozart with "trip-hop-esque" drumloops.[9] Alexander Hahn has contributed a trancy housemix of "Disappear," which was performed at his Chartlab Studio based in the center of Hamburg, Germany.[9] The Soundbomb House remix has been declared "the heavier of the two house-mixes with plenty of traditional German techno elements;" the basic tracks were programmed by Manuel Loyo and Alexander Gernert, while Mozart added synthesizers.[9]

[edit] Music video

Lucy Diakovska on the Potsdam set of "Disappear" (Germany; January 2008).
Lucy Diakovska on the Potsdam set of "Disappear" (Germany; January 2008).

A music video for the single, directed and produced by Daniel Lwowski for Katapult Film, was filmed on January 23, 2008 inside a castle in Potsdam, near Berlin, Germany.[10][11] Shooting lasted until 2.00 AM of the 24th due to operating delays.[4] The clip world premiered on February 5, 2008 on German music network VIVA's show VIVA Live.[4] German actor Oliver Mommsen was approached to play a supporting role in the clip immediately after meeting band members Lucy Diakovska and Jessica Wahls at German talk show Die Tietjen und Dibaba.[10]

The video opens with a scene of a Mommsen discovering a remoted mansion in a seemlingly deserted rural region, following the breakdown of his car, a BMW 2000.[12] Deciding to search for help, he enters the empty antiquated building, which is occupied by four ghost-like entities (played by the No Angels), whose interest he awakes. Throughout the video, each of them tries to approach him in different ways, willed to either sight or touch him. However, everytime he feels their presence and is tempted to catch a view of the beings, they disappear.

On February 21, 2008, bild.de, the official website of the daily Bild-Zeitung, released a shortend version of video, which has served as the official version for the ESC version of "Disappear."[13] The fully animated clip features previously unreleased pictures and short videos of the band.[13] A making-of-clip of the video was released on the digital video disc of the album's re-release edition, Destiny Reloaded (2008).

[edit] Chart performance

First released on February 29, 2008 in German-speaking Europe, "Disappear" debuted at number 12 on the German Singles Chart based on composite digital singles and CD singles sales. Following the band's participation and subsequent winning of the Grand Prix Vorentscheid it rose eight places to number 4 in its second week, making it both the biggest-moving single of the week and the No Angels's first top 10 entry (twelfth in total) since their 2007 comeback single "Goodbye to Yesterday" which peaked at the same position. The single has since spent 13 weeks on that particular chart, also making it their longest-charting single since 2002's "Still in Love with You."[14] On Media Control's component charts "Disappear" reached number 2 on the German download chart as well as number 29 on the official airplay charts, according to Nielsen Music Control.[15]

In Austria, the single opened at number 63 on the Ö3 Austria Top 40 chart.[14] As on the German Singles Chart, sales were pushed by the Grand Prix Vorentscheid results and thus, it rose twenty-six places to number 37 in its second week of release, the group's highest peak since "Goodbye to Yesterday." The song remained another two weeks on the chart, but re-entered the top 100 at number 74 two weeks after the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.[16] In Bulgaria, "Disappear" became the No Angels' first single to ever enter the Bulgarian National Top 40 at number 40, while in Switzerland, the track became the group's first top 100 entry since "Goodbye to Yesterday" after the commercial failure of "Maybe" and "Amaze Me"/"Teardrops" the previous year, debuting and peaking at number 96.[14]

On a composite Eurochart Hot 100 Singles the song debuted at number 46 in the week of March 22, 2008, before jumping to number 21 the following week.[5] In addition, "Disappear" entered the independent Euro 200 chart at number 26 as well as the Euro Digital Singles at number 23.[17][18] Benefiting from strong airplay on foreign music markets, the single also peaked at number 23 on the Lithuanian Aiplay Chart and number 22 on the Hungarian Mahasz Radio Chart, the band's first entry since "Still in Love With You" (2002).[19]

[edit] Eurovision Song Contest

[edit] National final

Wahls, Diakovska, Benaissa and Mölling during their performance at the national final on March 6, 2008 in Hamburg.
Wahls, Diakovska, Benaissa and Mölling during their performance at the national final on March 6, 2008 in Hamburg.

In January 2008, it was announced that the group and "Disappear" had qualified for the Grand Prix Vorentscheid, the German national pre-selection of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, organized and broadcasted by Das Erste and the NDR.[3] Having refused previous offers to participate in the pre-selection, it was the second time the band was asked to submit a song for the contest since their reunion in early 2007.[3] Following several weeks of promotional appearances, the No Angels entered the competition on March 6, 2008 at the Deutsche Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, competing against all-male groups Marquess ("La histeria") and Cinema Bizarre ("Forever or Never"), and solo singers Tommy Reeve ("Just One Woman") and Carolin Fortenbacher ("Hinterm Ozean"). Dressed in white color, the No Angels hit the stage as the fifth entry of the evening, opening via lifting platform. During their performance however, their outfits transformed, with silken capes in orange, pink, purple, and blue coming from their dresses. Four wind machine were specially-installed on-stage for their performance.[2]

After the five songs had been performed, televoters decided about the top two songs in the superfinal which were then voted on again. Widely considered as early favourites by the media[3] the band eventually finished first, having earned tight 50,5% of the audience vote over Fortenbacher in the second and final election round, while the other three participants were ranked joint third.[2]

Following the win of the pre-selection, controversy ocurred when several news sources reported that the writers of the track were alleged to have plagiarized several elements (both motifs and melodies) from SSDSDSSWEMUGABRTLAD contestant Steffi List's recording "Breaking the Silence" without giving credit or compensation.[6] However, while investigators verified similarities in rhythm and phrasing, the NDR eventually denied any existing evidence proving this argument as "Disappear" was written and recorded prior to List's song.[20][6]

[edit] ESC final

The No Angels during their performance at the Eurovision Song Contest finals on May 24, 2008 in Belgrad, Serbia.
The No Angels during their performance at the Eurovision Song Contest finals on May 24, 2008 in Belgrad, Serbia.

With Germany being one the biggest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union, the No Angels - alongside their competing entries from France, Spain, the United Kingdom and hosting country Serbia - were allowed to skip the contest's semi-finals and automatically qualified for competition with 24 other countries in the finals of the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. Thus, on Saturday, May 24, 2008, the band started at number four during the show, following Albania's entry Olta Boka with her ballad "Zemrën E Lamë Peng" and preceding Armenia's Sirusho with "Qele Qele." Having decided to rework parts of their show for the final, the group performance differed from the Grand Prix Vorentscheid: While their stage clothes had been changed into two blue and two purple dresses with two capes each, a new choreography was added; the LED projections in the back of the stage showed flying feathers on a blue ground and moreover, pyrotechnics were included.[21]

An estimated 100 million fans watched the final contest, and viewers from all 43 participating nations voted for their favourite performers via text message and telephone.[22] While generally never considered a pre-contest favourite (online betting firms such as Paddy Power previously put Germany's chances of winning at 100 to 1, in the lowest third of competitors),[23] the No Angels eventually ranked 23rd place out of the 25 countries that participated with a total of 14 points – taking 12 points from Bulgaria, band member Lucy Diakovska's native country, and 2 points from Switzerland only. Only Poland and Great Britain placed below the four-member female band. [23][22]

[edit] Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single-releases of "Disappear."

[edit] CD/digitial single
  1. "Disappear" (single version) - 3:19
  2. "Disappear" (Yin Yang remix) - 4:13
  3. "Disappear" (Chartlab house remix) - 5:22
  4. "Disappear" (Soundbomb house remix) - 5:01
  5. "Disappear" (music video) - 3:35

[edit] Credits and personnel

  • Vocal recording: Trevor U. Hurst, Marho Dolic
  • Mixing: Will Simms
    • Mixing engineer: Sawas Iossifidis
  • Mastering: Götz-Michael Rieth

[edit] Music charts

[edit] Worldwide

Chart (2008) Peak
position
Austrian Singles Chart [14] 37
Bulgarian Singles Chart [14] 40
Euro 200 Chart [17] 26
Euro Digital Singles [18] 23
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles [5] 21
German Airplay Chart [15] 29
German Download Chart [14] 2
German Singles Chart [14] 4
Lithuanian Airplay Chart [24] 23
Hungarian Aiplay Chart [19] 22
Swiss Singles Chart [14] 96

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b "Weihnachtszeit (Blog)." Official Nadja Benaissa MySpace. Retrieved on 2007-12-27
  2. ^ a b c "No Angels singen für Deutschland". FOCUS Online.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Grand-Prix-Kandidaten 2008". BILD. Retrieved on 2008-01-10.
  4. ^ a b c "No Angels für Deutschland?". Official website. Retrieved on 2008-01-10.
  5. ^ a b c Hot 100 Singles&model.chartId=3092943 European Hot 100. Billboard.biz. Retrieved on 2008-03-13.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Keine Engel – aber auch keine Plagiatoren". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Retrieved on 2008-03-15.
  7. ^ a b "Vier Engel für Deutschland". Official Fansite. Retrieved on 2008-01-10.
  8. ^ "No Angels peilen Grand-Prix-Sieg an". Welt.de. Retrieved on 2008-03-03.
  9. ^ a b c d "No Angels single 'Disappear' features three remixes by Mozart & Friends". Mozart & Friends Website. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
  10. ^ a b News. Katapult-Film.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
  11. ^ "Zum Feiern ist es jetzt noch zu früh". Ad-Hoc-News. Retrieved on 2008-01-10.
  12. ^ "Disappear". Crew-United. Retrieved on 2008-06-01.
  13. ^ a b "'Grand-Prix-Version' von 'Disappear'". Bild.de. Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h "No Angels - 'Disappear'". A-Charts. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  15. ^ a b Airplay Charts Deutschland. Surfmusik. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  16. ^ "NO ANGELS - DISAPPEAR (SONG)". Austriancharts.at. Retrieved on 2008-06-06.
  17. ^ a b EURO 200 - March 16, 2008 - week 12. Apcchart.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-15.
  18. ^ a b "European Top 100 - Download". Official fansite. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
  19. ^ a b Hungarian Radio Chart. Mahasz.hu. Retrieved on 2008-04-28.
  20. ^ "Eurovision contestants No Angels accused of plagiarism". The Local. Retrieved on 2008-05-24.
  21. ^ "Germany's No Angels on the way to heaven?". Eurvision.tv. Retrieved on 2008-05-25.
  22. ^ a b "Germany's No Angels tank at Eurovision". The Local. Retrieved on 2008-05-25.
  23. ^ a b "Germans fret no one likes them after Eurovision dud". Reuters. Retrieved on 2008-05-25.
  24. ^ Lithuania Airplay Chart. Blogas.lt. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
No Angels
Nadja Benaissa · Lucy Diakovska · Sandy Mölling · Jessica Wahls
Vanessa Petruo
Studio albums
Elle'ments (2001) · Now... Us! (2002) · Pure (2003) · Destiny (2007)
Other albums
Singles
Tours
Related articles
v • d • e
Eurovision Song Contest 2008 Songs
Final
(by final results)
1. "Believe"  · 2. "Shady Lady"  · 3. "Secret Combination"  · 4. "Qele Qele"  · 5. "Hold On Be Strong"  · 6. "Oro"  · 7. "Deli"  · 8. "Day After Day"  · 9. "The Fire in Your Eyes"  · 10. "Pokušaj"  · 11. "Peace Will Come"  · 12. "Wolves of the Sea"  · 13. "Senhora do Mar (Negras Águas)"  · 14. "This Is My Life"  · 15. "All Night Long"  · 16. "Baila el Chiki Chiki"  · 17. "Zemrën E Lamë Peng"  · 18. "Hero"  · 19. "Divine"  · 20. "Pe-o margine de lume"  · 21. "Romanca"  · 22. "Missä miehet ratsastaa"  · 23. "Disappear"  · 24. "For Life"  · 25. "Even If"
Semi-final only
(did not qualify
for the final)
Languages