MOSCOW, May 10th – Today the news was spread that one of the Toppers members, singer Gordon, said that he would withdraw from the Eurovision Song Contest if the Russian government would decide to disrupt the Gaypride in Moscow, which will be held May the 16th. Gordon’s statement was, that if ‘violence’ was used by the government and if people would get hurt, he would withdraw from the Toppers himself. He offered his fellow Toppers the choice to continue with their act if something like that should happen. Gordon is actually convinced that the Russian government is by far not that naive to make such a statement against gay rights on the final day of the Eurovision Song Contest. It was never Gordon’s intention to withdraw from the Song Contest or either make a political statement about this issue. His quotes are based on pure personal feelings. Some of the international media used the quotes Gordon made, in the wrong context.

The Toppers

Gordon’s general opinion about Russia is, what he experienced until now, a country with a liberal state of mind and a country that is open to people from all sorts of backgrounds.

“After being one week in Moscow and experiencing the wonderful hospitality of the Russian people we all cannot believe that anything bad will happen during Gaypride. The Eurovision Song Contest is known to be an international event of love and happiness. We all have to cherish this message the next couple of days”.

Moscow gay parade

Holland is known as a breeding ground for world famous DJ’s in the international club scene. The Toppers commissioned a world famous Dutch DJ to produce two versions of their Eurovision Song contest entry ‘Shine’.

Right after the Dutch audience choose the song ‘Shine’ to become the Dutch entry for Moscow, The Toppers and their staff had a brainstorm session about the final production of the winning song and about their act in general. They stumbled upon a special dance club remix of the song ‘Shine’ which was made by one of the most renowned DJ’s in the international club scene. This DJ is responsible for numerous number 1 dance-hits and world famous ‘floor fillers’.

The Toppers Eurovision 2009

The Toppers and their staff were thrilled by this remix and they invited him to produce the definite Eurovision Songcontest entry of ‘Shine’. The ‘Shine New Wave Eurovision 2009 Mix’ will be produced as a radio edit, which The Toppers will perform during the semi-finals and hopefully during the finals in Moscow. And a special extended version will be made especially for the danceclub scene throughout Europe. This new and final version brings in the musical taste of today!

‘Shine’ tells the story about people who can solve nearly every problem only by positive thinking. You have to be a source of love, support and relieve in times of concern and despair. If we tackle the problems in this world together in a positive way and with an open vision, we can achieve and resolve nearly everything.

The combination of a happy and catchy melody, a beautiful message to the world and a modern party groove, will hopefully bring success for The Toppers in Moscow.

The European release of the remixes and the video are planned 13 March next.  This is also the day that the new Toppers site will be launched: www.topperseurovision.com.

Europe; Let your light Shine!

After a sensational National Song Contest, the Dutch audience Sunday night in large numbers choose the song ‘Shine’ out of 6 songs. The song is written by singer Gordon and is produced by Bas van den Heuvel. Gordon had send his song under a pseudonym and got very emotional when ‘Shine’ turned out to be the winning song. After the final results came in he declared that he wrote the song ‘Shine’. ‘To me this is my biggest dream come true’ says Gordon. Gordon has been a true fan of the Song Contest for years.

The Toppers Eurovision 2009

With their song ‘Shine’ The Toppers believe that The Netherlands can finally break through to the finals. It is a lovely up-tempo feel-good Song Contest song. The message of the song ‘Shine’ is that if you have a positive attitude we can all together solve nearly any problem. ‘You should be a source of love, support and relieve in times of concern and despair.’ If we tackle the problems in this world together in a positive manner and with an open vision we can achieve en resolve nearly everything. Let your light Shine!

One day after the finales a certain woman named Daniëlle Smit stated to the Dutch press that Gordon had plagiarized. The message and the refrain of the song sounded very familiar to her. ‘My song is about having respect for one another and enjoying live. That is also what Gordon’s song is about. My song is also called ‘Shine’.’

The Tros, the organisation of the National Song Contest stated the following. ‘Everyone in Holland could send their song to the Tros until the 23rd of November. During the normal entry the song of Gordon, as well as the lyrics of this woman, were received by us. On the 24th of November we handed the 350 songs and the 200 lyrics to the Toppers. Therefore it is not even possible that Gordon was notified about this.’

Manager of The Toppers, Benno de Leeuw says that this Daniëlle had called him after the announcement of the 6 final songs via a press release. ‘She said that she had also send in a song called ‘Shine’ and asked me if I could read out loud the lyrics of Gordon’s song. That is what I did and she immediately said ‘That’s a shame, these are not my lyrics, just the same title’. Besides that, it is a little weird that someone claims something based on the fact that it is about having respect and enjoying live, thousands of songs have been written about this.’ After a disturbance of a day, which was enlarged in the Dutch press, it became clear via different statements. Singer Gordon of The Toppers wrote ‘Shine’ and no one else.