Sopot International Song Festival

The Sopot International Song Festival (later called Sopot Music Festival Grand Prix, Sopot Top of the Top Festival from 2012–13 and Polsat Sopot Festival since 2014) is an annual international song contest held in Sopot, Poland. It was the biggest Polish music festival altogether with the National Festival of Polish Song in Opole, and one of the biggest song contests in Europe.

The contest was organised and transmitted live by the Polish state television broadcaster, Telewizja Polska (TVP) between 1994 and 2004. The following year, the concert was broadcast by the private media station TVN for the first time and remained on TVN until 2009. Since 2012, the concert is broadcast and organised by Polsat.

History

The first Sopot festival was initiated and organised in 1961 by Władysław Szpilman, assisted by Szymon Zakrzewski from Polish Artists Management (PAGART). The first three editions were held in the Gdansk Shipyard hall (1961–1963), after which the festival moved to the Forest Opera. The main prize has been Amber Nightingale through most of its history.

Lemar

Lemar Obika (born 4 April 1978), professionally known simply as Lemar, is an English R&B singer–songwriter and record producer. Lemar has had a run of chart success in the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia. He rose to fame after finishing in third place on the first series of British talent show Fame Academy, which was won by songwriter David Sneddon.

Since then, Lemar has had seven top ten UK singles and sold over two million albums. He is seen as one of the most successful artists to come out of a reality TV show. Lemar has also won two Brit Awards and three MOBO Awards to date and released his fifth studio album in 2012.

Early life

Lemar Obika was born in Tottenham,North London, England to Nigerian parents of Enugu State, South Eastern Nigeria. He grew up listening to R&B and soul music. He used to sing at home with his brothers and sister, pretending to be The Jacksons.

He was 17 when he had his first concert at the Junior Jam at 'The Temple' in Tottenham supporting Usher. Later on he gave up an opportunity to study pharmacy at Cardiff University to pursue a musical career. Lemar had some success supporting various artists such as Destiny's Child, Total, Uncle Sam and Usher Raymond on their UK club tours and after some years, managed to secure a recording contract with BMG. Following this, he released his debut single "Got Me Saying Ooh". His record deal with BMG fell through in less than a year due to restructuring at the record label. He had to eventually take a job working as an accounts manager at NatWest in Enfield, North London.

Lemar (given name)

Lemar is a given name. Notable people with the name include:

See also

Sopot

Sopot [ˈsɔpɔt] (Kashubian: Sopòt; German: Zoppot ( listen)) is a seaside resort town in Eastern Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000.

Sopot is a town with powiat (county) status, in Pomeranian Voivodeship. Until 1999 it was part of the Gdańsk Voivodeship. It lies between the larger cities of Gdańsk to the southeast and Gdynia to the northwest. The three cities together make up the metropolitan area of Tri-City.

Sopot is a major health-spa and tourist resort destination. It has the longest wooden pier in Europe, at 515.5 metres, stretching out into the Bay of Gdańsk. The city is also famous for its Sopot International Song Festival, the largest such event in Europe after the Eurovision Song Contest. Among its other attractions is a fountain of bromide spring water, known as the "inhalation mushroom".

Etymology

The name is thought to derive from an old Slavic word sopot meaning "stream" or "spring". The same root occurs in a number of other Slavic toponyms; it is probably onomatopeic, imitating the sound of running water - murmur (Šepot). (Today several streams run into the sea in the area of the town.)

Sopot, Pirot

Sopot is a village in the municipality of Pirot, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the village has a population of 367 people.

References

Coordinates: 43°13′45″N 22°33′58″E / 43.22917°N 22.56611°E / 43.22917; 22.56611

Sopot railway station

Sopot is the main passenger railway station in Sopot, Poland.

General information

The station features two platforms, of which one functions as the regional commuter SKM stop. The platforms are accessible through two underpasses, one of which connects both tracks. The ticket offices are open all day long.

Station building

Most of the pre-war station and buildings no longer exist, except for the original platform roofs. The functionalist 1970s ticket building was torn down in 2013 to make way for a complete redevelopment of the entire station and its surrounding area. This development project is currently underway.

Lines crossing the station

Train services

The station is served by the following services:

External links

References

Coordinates: 54°26′24″N 18°33′45″E / 54.4400°N 18.5625°E / 54.4400; 18.5625