Ishtar is a Belgian (
Flemish)
folk band who represented Belgium at the
2008 Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Belgrade, Serbia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Molitva" by Marija Šerifović. Organised by the European Broadcastin ...
with the song "
O Julissi", sung in an
imaginary language
A constructed language (sometimes called a conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, instead of having developed naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devised for a work of fiction. ...
. They competed in the first semi-final on 20 May 2008.
O Julissi
"
O Julissi" is a song by Ishtar. The band's sit
claims that the song is in an imaginary language. There is, however, a certain similarity to
Ukrainian language, Ukrainian; in particular, the first line is fully understandable (Ukrainian "Ой у лісі на ялині", meaning "Oh, in the forest on a
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 (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...
"). The
folk song represented Belgium at the semi-finals of
Eurovision Song Contest 2008 on 20 May 2008 in
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
, but did not proceed to the finals. The single was released 14 March 2008. The song entered the Belgian
Ultratop at #7. In its second week, O Julissi topped the list.
Ishtar's song was elected after they won the final of
Eurosong 2008
Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Irelande Douze Pointe" written by Darren Smith, Simon Fine and Dustin the Turkey. The song was performed by children's show puppet Dustin the Turkey. The Irish broadcaster ...
. Ishtar, until then an unknown band, defeated better known artists, like pop singers Sandrine and
Brahim Brahim is a shorter form of Ibrahim, the Arabic name for Abraham. It may refer to:
*Brahim (given name)
*Brahim (surname)
*Brahim (Pashtun tribe), a tribe in Afghanistan
*Stage name of Brahim Attaeb, Belgian-Moroccan singer
*Stage name of Brahim M ...
. 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
External links
*
Incomplete list of songs
Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Belgium
Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2008
Belgian folk music groups
{{Belgium-band-stub