Nòs Ùr

Public award goes to Dr. Drer & CRC Posse from Sardinia

 

The young Sámi rockband SomBy from the north of Finland has won the sixth
edition of European minority song contest Liet International in the Frisian
capital of Ljouwert / Leeuwarden. The average age of the five members of
SomBy is eightteen. Lead singer Miira Suomi is the elder of the band with
her 20 years. SomBy qualified for Liet International by winning the Sámi
Grand Prix in Kautokeino, Norway, during the Easterweekend. In Friesland
they managed to impress both the jury and the audience with the strong and
powerfull live performance of their rock song Ii idit vel.

The big price of Liet International consists of three elements. The silver
Liet-trophy was presented by Jannewietske de Vries, the delegate for culture
of the Provinsje Fryslân. SomBy also received a cheque of 1.000 euros from
the Council of Europe and an invitation for next years edition of the
Frisian Befrijdingsfestival (Liberation Festival) on the fifth of May.
During the voting procedure SomBy had heavy competition of the runners up
Dr. Drer & CRC Posse from Sardegna (second), singer songwriter Lino
Straulino from Friulia in Italy (third), the Irish rocker Fiach (fourth) and
the Frisian contestant it Langstme en de Dea. According to the jury the
quality of the contestants was 'very high' this year. The musical variety
was also impressive, ranging from Sámi and Scottish rock, to hiphop in Low
German and Sardinian.

The victory of SomBy is already the fourth Sámi victory at Liet
Ynternasjonaal. Earlier Sámi winners of Liet Ynternasjonaal were Transjoik
(2003), Niko Valkeapää (2004) and Johann Kitti & Elin Sara Bähr (2006). At
the editions were the Sámi did not win their contestants ended at the second
place.

The complete result of Liet International 2009

1. SomBy, Sami, Finland;
2. Dr. Drer & CRC Posse, Sardegna, Italy 3. Lino Straulino, Friûl, Italy 4.
Fiach, Irish Gaelic, Ireland 5. It Langstme & de Dea, Frisian, Fryslân; 6.
Sattuma, Karelian, Russian Federation 7. Sunrise Not Secular, Scottish
Gaelic, Scotland; 8. De fofftig Penns, Low German, Germany; 9. Alfredo
Gonzalez, Asturian, Spain; 10. Zine, Occitan, France; 11. Sovvalniks,
Latgalian, Latvia.

The public award of Liet International 2009 went to the Sardinian rap group
Dr. Drer & CRC Posse from Cagliari. His song Apu Biu received massive
support from both the audience in city theatre De Harmonie and voters on the
internet. Dr. Drer received a cheque of 1.000 euros from Alexey Kozhemyakov
of the Council of Europe. It was the first time that Sardegna was present at
minority languages song contest Liet International. Dr. Drer & CRC Posse
have also been invited to play at next years Befrijdingsfestival in
Ljouwert/Leeuwarden.

The sixth edition of Liet International managed to attract massive attention
from the international media. Both contestants and organizers were
repeatedly interviewed by media such as the BBC, CNN International, Swedish
radio and television, Frisian broadcaster Omrop Fryslân, the Dutch
Wereldomroep and the Asturian radio. Articles about the festival have been
published news agencies and newspapers all over Europe, ranging from the
Russian press agency Nowosti to Agence France Press and many newspapers in
France, Spain and Switzerland. Liet International has been registered for
both radio and television broadcasts by Omrop Fryslân, the Frisian public
broadcaster. The songcontest was also present on the internet with a live
audiostream and broadcast live by two Asturian radiostations.

On the eve of Liet International five of the contestants paid a visit to a
trilingual primary school at the Frisian countryside. The visits were a
source of great enthusiasm for both the musicians and the children. Sámi
band SomBy made all the children of primary school De Frissel in Feanwâlden
(Veenwouden) jump and dance and Occitan singer Zine managed to teach the
children of Brantgum an Occitan song and dance. There were also succesfull
school visits in Holwert (Sunrise not Secular), Ferwert (Sattuma) and
Bûtenpost (Sovvalniks).

During the Liet International weekend the Foundation Liet International held
a short meeting with its partners from Asturias, Friûl in Italy, Scotland
and Sweden. At this meeting it was confirmed that the next edition of Liet
International will take place in Inverness, Scotland in November 2010. Friûl
reaffirmed its intentions to host the European minority language song
contest in 2012 in the city of Udine.

More information can be found on www.liet.nl Press photos can be downloaded
from photoblog http://www.flickr.com/photos/42823111@N07/

Or call Onno Falkena +31.6.51496594