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Darren "Daz" Sampson (born 1974 in Stockport, Greater Manchester) is a British dance music producer and vocalist.
Up until 2006, when he represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest, Sampson was best known for his commercial dance music, often reworking older songs. His credits include songs such as Out of Touch (as a member of Uniting Nations), Rhinestone Cowboy (as a member of Rikki & Daz) and Kung Fu Fighting (as a member of Bus Stop).
He has been described as "a reformed semi-criminal, who one day hopes to afford teeth (he lost some in a fight over a girl)".
Eurovision Song Contest 2006
On 4 March 2006, Sampson won the BBC show Making Your Mind Up with the song Teenage Life, which was written and produced with John Matthews (aka Ricardo Autobahn) from the Cuban Boys, who were responsible for the Hampster Dance hit Cognoscenti Vs. Intelligentsia in 1999. The song entered the UK Singles Chart on 14 May 2006.
The accompanying dance routine involved young women dressed as schoolgirls, dubbed The Sampsonites, which led to criticism from some sections of the media due to some apparent inappropriate sexuality of his performance of his Eurovision entry, but in his defence, he was quoted as saying "the teenage girl dancers were fully clothed there was no sexual innuendo".
As a result of winning Making Your Mind Up, he represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest on 20 May 2006 in Athens, but only 10 of the 39 countries eligible voted for Sampson and his total score was 25 points, placing him 19th out of the 24 acts (winning act Lordi, from Finland, amassed 292 points). Ironically, when asked before the event whether Finland could win, he replied "No way. They're way too scary." Sampson professed to have great confidence that he would win the Eurovision, dismissing previous contestants for not having enough respect for the competition and having poor quality songs.
Despite saying that previous contestants' songs failed simply because they were not good enough, and not because of political voting, following the contest he claimed to be "the victim of a touch of neighbourly voting". Sampson has promised to return to try again for Eurovision victory in 2007.
Although he finished low down the rankings in the Eurovision Song Contest, he enjoyed success in the British charts, reaching the highest chart position of any Eurovision song since Katrina and the Waves peaked at number 3 with "Love Shine a Light". Daz Sampson claims that his performance may have raised the popularity of Eurovision in the UK - certainly the 2006 contrast attracted half the UK TV audience, although no other source than his own website gives him credit for this feat. The viewing figures had been declining since 1999.
Although he finished low down the rankings in the Eurovision Song Contest, he enjoyed moderate success in the British charts, the #12 placing was the highest chart position of any Eurovision song since Katrina and the Waves peaked at number 3 with "Love Shine a Light".
References
- "Death metal, Dana?". The Observer. 2006-05-07. Retrieved 2006-05-18.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Dance track wins Eurovision vote". BBC News. 2006-03-04. Retrieved 2006-05-18.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Underdog Daz enjoying the limelight". Manchester Evening News. 2006-04-26. Retrieved 2006-05-18.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "60 Seconds Daz Sampson". Metro.co.uk. 2006-19-05. Retrieved 2006-22-05.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - "Daz takes on Eurovision Mission". BBC.co.uk. 2006-16-05. Retrieved 2006-22-05.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help)
External link
| Preceded byJavine | UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 |
Succeeded byN/A: Most recent |