GET WELL, BONNIE!
LEGEND IN INDUCED COMA
One of Bonnie Tyler’s biggest hits was her 70s classic, ‘It’s A Heartache’, and that’s how it feels for all of us who have grown up with her music!
After being taken ill, Bonnie was rushed to a hospital in Faro, Portugal, to receive emergency intestinal surgery (reported in some sources as related to a perforated intestine or burst appendix). The initial statement on May 6 said the surgery went well and she was recuperating.
However, on May 7–8, her condition worsened. A spokesman confirmed she was placed in an induced coma to aid recovery, and she is on a ventilator. Her condition has been described as “very guarded” in some reports, meaning doctors are worried and the outcome is uncertain. The team has requested privacy and said they will issue further updates when possible.
Bonnie had been preparing for a busy 2026 schedule, including European dates and a UK leg of her Jubilee Tour (e.g., shows in Malta, Germany, Austria, and later Cardiff in December). Those plans are obviously on hold.
She has also been releasing new music too, and her current song was due for a review by me in a future publication.
One World One Home – Bonnie Tyler (UK 13)
This is a beauty! Bonnie Tyler, the legendary Welsh singer with that unmistakable raspy voice, continues to deliver powerful music at 74 years old. Her latest single, “One World One Home,” dropped on April 24, 2026, and it’s a beautiful, heartfelt ballad that catches you from the first listen. Lyrically profound and emotionally resonant, the song carries a strong message of unity, home, and humanity in a divided world.
The track was written specifically for the upcoming documentary film HOMELESS, directed by Valerio Zanoli. Bonnie has described it as a “gorgeous song” for a “very powerful” film. Lyrically, it reflects on what we’ve become as a society and calls for empathy and togetherness. Key lines include:
“One world, one home… And somehow the meaning of love and home… I look around and ask, ‘What have we done?’ Now just look at us; what have we become?”
It’s a plea to open our eyes, recognise our shared humanity, and remember that we all belong to the same world, our one home. The production is elegant and restrained, allowing Bonnie’s iconic voice to take centre stage.
I grew up with an appreciation for Bonnie Tyler. Her voice and look had me thinking she was Rod Stewart’s sister when I was small. She hit number one with ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’, which my mum adored, and then came ‘Holding Out For A Hero’, which I loved.
Well, Bonnie, we’re holding out for you to pull through this. Get well!
ALL KINDS OF EVERYTHING
CROATIA
Just as Croatia’s group LELEK (Cro 26) prepares in Vienna, an unexpected setback has emerged. With the band scheduled to perform third in the first semi‑final, singer Judita Štorga has revealed on TikTok that she’s come down with laryngitis and currently has no voice!
In the clip, she silently mouths the words to Andromeda, the group’s song, while holding several boxes of medication, joking in the caption that Eurovision is only a week away and she “has no voice”.
TURKEY
Sertab Erener, the Turkish singer who brought Turkey its first and only Eurovision victory in 2003 with the hit “Everyway That I Can,” has turned down an invitation to perform at this year’s contest.
According to statements shared on her Instagram story and widely reported by Eurovision media, Erener was invited to appear during the Grand Final at Vienna’s Wiener Stadthalle but chose not to participate. She cited the “current political climate in the world” as her primary reason.
“I was invited to take the stage at the Eurovision final, but due to the existing political situation in the world, I did not want to be there,” Erener is reported to have said.
UNITED KINGDOM
Tickets are on sale now for Michael Ball’s (UK 92) tour. It’s called Glow, which is the name of his forthcoming new album. Click below for access:
Boy George (SM 26) & Culture Club, a new 96-minute documentary directed by Alison Ellwood, is set for wide release on June 9, 2026. After a successful Tribeca premiere in 2025, the film will hit select U.S. theatres and streaming platforms simultaneously. It features candid interviews with all original members and explores the band’s meteoric 1980s rise, cultural impact as queer icons, internal dramas (including Boy George and Jon Moss’s relationship), addiction struggles, and eventual reinvention.
SPAIN
Las Ketchup (Spain 06) have several confirmed 2026 appearances, primarily in Spain:
May 22, 2026: Duna Dorada 2026, Oliva, Spain.
June 20, 2026: Verbeneo de Museo 2026, Valencia, Spain.
July 31, 2026: Santander Music Festival 2026, Santander, Spain.
HUNGARY
Hungarian folk-pop-rock band NOX (Hun 05), fronted by dynamic vocalist Szilvia Péter Szabó, has renewed energy in 2026.
Key dates include a major appearance at the Campus Festival in Debrecen from July 22–26, 2026. Additional spring concerts already announced are:
May 16, 2026 – Forráskút
May 29, 2026 – Mátrai Bornapok in Gyöngyös
More tour stops across Hungary are expected to be confirmed soon through the band’s official channels.
Read below an article about Szilvia Péter Szabó.
MIKI GETS EMOTIONAL ON TV
In mid-April 2026, Catalan singers Miki Núñez and Sara Roy made headlines by giving their very first joint interview as a couple on the 3Cat programme L’eclipsi, hosted by Roger Escapa. The pair, who have been together for more than six years, have always kept their relationship relatively private — until now.
During the candid 24-minute conversation, they shared how they first met, the moment they said “I love you” (“T’estimo”), how they handle fame and rumours, the role of therapy in their relationship, and even why they’re in no rush to get married.
Sara recalled spotting Miki at a local festival in the Pallars region:
“My family is from the Pallars and we always go to the village festivals. I went with my friends to a concert by a band that had a singer who sang really well and was very handsome — Miki. Suddenly I realised he was looking at me from the stage.”
Miki offered a playful, slightly different take on the same night, sparking laughter between the couple.
They directly tackled past speculation linking Miki to influencer Laura Escanes. Miki admitted that he and Laura intentionally fuelled gossip for fun and to create buzz, even though there was never anything romantic between them — they were just good friends. He admitted:
“We played along and fed it all.”
Sara appeared comfortable with the topic, and the pair laughed it off as something that belonged firmly in the past. She mentioned receiving lots of worried messages from fans asking if she was okay, because the internet was heavily focusing on Miki and Laura. Sara emphasised that she was “zero jealous” and was fully aware of what was really going on with Miki.
The couple were refreshingly honest about the realities of their relationship. Miki became visibly emotional while talking about Sara. On the challenges they’ve faced, they said:
“There have been many ups and downs, but we have very good communication.”
They also revealed they regularly attend couples’ therapy and stressed the importance of open dialogue. On marriage, they were blunt and light-hearted:
“It bores us a lot to get married”
They also spoke affectionately about their two dogs, Blu and Babel, and shared joyful memories from trips and events on the Costa Brava.
The interview has been widely praised for its sincerity and humour, with fans calling it long overdue and heartwarming. The full episode is available to watch here on YouTube, but be warned – it's in Spanish.
THEY SAID SHE’D BE ‘DRUGGED’ AND ‘RESTRAINED’
Behind the resurgence: Szilvia Péter Szabó speaks honestly about the pressures she once faced
As NOX enjoy a new wave of creativity and touring energy, Szilvia Péter Szabó has begun opening up about what life was really like during the band’s mid‑2000s peak. In a late‑November 2025 interview on Sláger FM, she spoke candidly for the first time about the intense control and personal pressure she lived under at the height of their fame.
She recalled how others treated her image as something to be moulded. She said, “Back in the day, showbiz had some pretty serious things. For example, the management stood in front of me and said they wanted me to go bald. To change things up a bit, to make me a little wilder… they said it would suit me because I have such a round head.”
The pressure didn’t stop after one conversation. “They really pushed it hard,” she explained. At one point, she was even warned that refusing could lead to her being “drugged up and restrained in a psychiatric institution.”
In the end, Szilvia agreed to cut her long hair short, but not to shave her head completely. It was one of many decisions, she said, that were made “over my head”, leaving her feeling manipulated even as she kept smiling for the public.
The atmosphere eventually became too much. She stepped away, moved first to Australia and later to England, and slowly rebuilt her sense of self. Maintaining a flawless image while feeling broken inside became a burden she no longer wanted to bear.
Today, she describes this new chapter as the freest she has ever felt. “I will never again let others dictate my identity, appearance, or autonomy, including decisions about my hair,” she said.
She sees the past as a set of hard‑earned lessons, especially for her daughter Emma, and she has channelled that experience into a renewed love for performing and creating alongside her husband, György Völgyesi.
TURKISH EUROVISION LEGEND BACK IN SPOTLIGHT
He represented Turkey in Harrogate in 1982, but it’s a song from 1977 that has catapulted Eurovision legend Neco back into the spotlight!
His nearly half-century-old Turkish pop gem has found new life in 2026, thanks to Netflix’s hit adaptation of Orhan Pamuk’s Masumiyet Müzesi (The Museum of Innocence).
Neco’s 1977 track “Seni Bana Katsam” – an emotional adaptation of Joe Dassin’s French classic “À Toi” with Turkish lyrics by Fikret Şeneş – is now dominating social media, streaming charts, and Instagram Reels, with millions of views and covers flooding TikTok.
The song, which had little impact upon its original release, features prominently in the series, most memorably during tender walking scenes between protagonists Füsun and Kemal. Its wistful melody and romantic lyrics have turned it into the unofficial soundtrack of the show, sparking a massive nostalgia wave.
In a candid April 2026 interview on Bloomberg HT’s Aslı Şafak’la İşin Aslı, the 78-year-old singer reflected on the song’s belated success. He told host Aslı Şafak. “Its value wasn’t recognised back then.” He noted that his daughter Zeynep was actually the first person in Turkey to truly appreciate the track’s quality decades ago.
Neco, who has lived a reclusive life in Turkey’s Kaz Dağları region for about 25 years, opened up about his long-standing estrangement from his daughters Ayşe and Zeynep Özyılmazel, born during his 1975–2007 marriage to Oya Germen. He revealed he has not seen or spoken to them in roughly 10 years.
“Didn’t I raise them with love?” Neco asked emotionally. He added that reaching out was now up to them:
“It’s up to them to call and ask. If they want to celebrate Bayram, that’s their decision. I raised them; they have their own lives now. I’m a realist.”
The family rift dates back to Neco’s divorce from Oya Germen in 2007 after 32 years of marriage. In past interviews, Neco has cited “cultural differences” and asserted his authority as a father, once describing his daughters as “cezalı” (in need of punishment) for not showing him sufficient respect.
He has four children in total but maintains no contact with three of his daughters. The singer has largely stayed out of the spotlight since moving away from Istanbul, focusing on a quieter existence.
Zeynep Özyılmazel, a singer and pianist in her own right, responded directly on the same Bloomberg HT programme just one week later, on April 13, 2026. Her words painted a different picture of their relationship.
“My father left in pieces, without once looking back. There was no love in his eyes, no trace of affection. I just wanted him to call me — in sickness or in health, in good times or in bad.”
Despite the pain, Zeynep extended forgiveness. “As his daughter, I did everything I was meant to do. And now, I release him from anything he ever owed me.”
She also recalled her father once discouraging her musical ambitions, telling her, “You won’t become a singer."
Neco himself has not publicly commented on his daughter’s response as of this writing. The public family exchange has dominated Turkish tabloids and social media, with many viewers moved by the raw honesty on both sides.
Meanwhile, “Seni Bana Katsam” continues its remarkable second act. The original recording has racked up millions of streams, and fan covers, including modern interpretations, are everywhere.
We will see whether the renewed spotlight leads to any family reconciliation. For now, a 49-year-old love song has reminded Turkey of Neco’s enduring talent – and the enduring complexities of family ties.
THAT’S LIFE WITH ESTHER
Esther Ofarim, one of Israel’s legendary singers, is returning to the spotlight thanks to a new documentary premiering this month at the Docaviv International Documentary Film Festival in Tel Aviv. The 60‑minute film, simply titled Esther, follows intimate phone conversations between Ofarim in Hamburg and director Shaked Goren in Tel Aviv, slowly piecing together the life of a woman who has long been both present and elusive.
Produced by Amir Harel and Ayelet Kait for Lama Productions and set to air on yesDocu, the film portrays Ofarim as “an artist caught between clashing identities" and explores how she quietly withdrew from public life.
It premieres on Saturday, May 30, 2026, at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque as part of Docaviv’s Israeli Competition (May 28–June 6).
Now 84, Ofarim (born Esther Zaied in Safed in 1941 to a Syrian‑Jewish family) rose to international prominence in the 1960s as half of the duo Esther & Abi Ofarim. Together they became stars across Europe. They enjoyed huge hits like “Cinderella Rockefella”, and “One More Dance”.
Esther came second in the 1963 Eurovision Song Contest in London, representing Switzerland.
If you’ve found this work enjoyable and want to support my writing, you can help fuel future publications by buying me a coffee. Every contribution is genuinely appreciated. Alternatively, please consider becoming a paid subscriber here on Substack.
© Copyright 2026 Thomas Ferguson (for Eurovishzone)