Paul Oscar - Icelandic Gay Star - The Videos

Today I got a question of Charlotte from Ghent, Belgium, about Páll Óskar. He is Iceland's Number 1 Gay Pop Star.
10 years ago she saw him performing @ the the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC). Does anyone knows Páll Óskar's address these days? Please let me know, so I can let know Charlotte! Thx in advance.

Danish Website (up-to-date until 1997 !!) dedicated to

Páll Óskar THE PHENOMENON
Who would have thought that one small island could foster so much talent in less than a decade? Björk is well-known to people all over the globe, but her popularity and ingenuity is soon to be forgotten as Iceland has produced the megastar of the millennium. The phenomenon is known as Paul Oscar and although only few of you know him, you will experience his presence world wide - very soon. This homepage is a fan's devoted declaration of loyalty and love for his idol and furthermore an attempt to show the rest of the world that this is a man one should look out for. His reign has just begun...
I admit it, I had never heard about Paul Oscar when I watched the Eurovision entries on TV in April 1997. Very few had really, but I immediately knew that this guy had caught my attention for more than just a second. A certain tension built up inside my soul and suddenly, the yearly orgy of screaming Greek ladies and tacky outfits known as the Eurovision Song Contest seemed awfully far away. However, I managed to survive those long days and as we gathered in front of the TV screen, song number 25 representing Iceland was what I was waiting for. If the appearance in Dublin was as fab as in the video, a part of my heart would forever belong to Iceland. The music started, the beat of the drum machine showed everyone that this was no ordinary Eurosong and he started to sing while the female dancers, all dressed in black latex outfits, were casually lying around him. The song reached its first climax, the chorus, and it was obvious that Paul Oscar was conquering my heart by the beat. Then the dancers woke up, like machines they moved to the music, Paul Oscar changing into a robot-like creature and as the last chorus ended and the music was about to fade into the final metallic sound, he gave me the kiss I had been waiting for........ in that moment, I was his property.
Since then, I have been e-mailing, surfing and phoning to obtain as much information about this Northern star as I possibly could and with the kind assistance of his Office, it has all climaxed in these pages. I welcome you to enter the world of Paul Oscar.............
Paul Oscar was born on March 16th 1970 in Reykjavik, the capital city of Iceland. His real name is Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson and he grew up in a musical family of 7 children. Already as a young child he showed signs of his future stardom by drawing, singing and writing fairytales - no pun intended. At 7, he recorded his first album which was to be the first in a series of records featuring his clear voice. According to himself, he was never pressured by his parents to do any of the albums and it seems as if he already then enjoyed the attention he experienced. He knew he would make it big time and although his class mates teased and annoyed him, he never lost faith in himself. However, it wasn't easy and he is said to have felt like Gummi Tarzan, the character Paul Oscar played in the musical by Danish author Ole Lund Kirkegaard when he was 12. The story is one of almost cruelty to the nerd of the school who eventually bumps into a witch who lets him get back at his enemies - although only for a day.
Páll Óskar THE FACTS
Paul Oscar met his own witch after years of puberty in which his voice and his so-called friends weren't really there for him. He started singing in a choir, won a singing contest and starred in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He saw the light. He saw the lights of the stage and while doing vocal works for others, he probed himself to find out what he wanted to do with his life. He started doing dragshows of a rather daring nature, so I have been told, and was soon known as a very provocative artist in Iceland. Of course it doesn't take much to startle a society of less than 300,000 inhabitants, but Paul Oscar had the guts and soon moved on to become one the country's most popular DJs on a radio station called FM 90,9. After having worked his behind off, Paul Oscar decided to take a break and went to New York where he met lots of men - among the decent encounters were Jóhann Jóhannsson and Sigurjon Kjartansson - members of the Icelandic band Ham. Those three started talking and soon, the first plans for Paul Oscar's solo career were made. The door to megastardom had been opened..... and the world stood still for a moment.
If anything, Paul Oscar is a versatile artist. On his first solo album, "Stuð", his fascination by the disco music of the 1970's is worshipped, but at the same time mixed with the techno music of the 1990's. An extraordinary combination. On the 1994 album "Milljón Á Mann" recorded with the Icelandic band Milljónamæringarnir, he sings Latin American songs in the original languages spiced with Icelandic lyrics and even turned the song 'Negro José' into a hit in Iceland. On the same album, he salutes his idol Burt Bacharach and thus combines the two musical styles, the Latin American and at times jazz-inspired tunes with the easy listening sounds of Mr Bacharach, rather beautifully on one album. The classic 'The Look of Love' becomes a hit in Iceland and Paul Oscar is already a star in the country.
In 1995, he releases the first album produced and arranged almost solely by himself. It is called "Palli", which is his nickname, and is a collection of ballads ranging from jazzy tunes such as 'Lush Life' and the old Bacharach song 'The Look of Love' to the hymn-like 'Sjáumst Aftur'. On "Palli", Paul Oscar really proves that his voice is indeed able to cover a whole variety of styles - and at the same time, he manages to gather orchestral arrangements as the one on 'Anyone Who Had a Heart', my personal favourite on the album, with slow, almost a cappella-like songs. Somehow, leaving the drama of Bacharach just to enter Jobim's 'Corcovado' doesn't seem inappropriate at all.
Change of style when one listens to "Seif", the 1996 album. The soft sounds of "Palli" have been changed into hard core Icelandic techno - sounds like a joke, but it really isn't. It's well-produced and although I tend to find techno tedious after having listened to it a few times, "Seif" is not at all bad. To pick out a few songs, 'Hvítt Drasl' still puzzles me as I can find traces of common dance music, easy listening, pop music and what I'd describe as television space series from the 1960's - all in one song. Furthermore, it's in Icelandic which adds to the mystery! 'Jafnvel Þo Við Þekkjumst Ekki Neitt' reminds me of my teenage Erasure years and is really a walk down the memory lane of machine music. And then suddenly comes 'Ræ Ég Við Roður Minn' along. A sweet little tune that reminds me of Danish schlager singer Gitte Henning breaks the hard core surface just as the lullaby 'Góða Nótt' finishes off the album. At first, it seems strange, but on the other hand serves as a mental break in between the upbeat songs. Speaking of which, "Seif" includes the, at least to me, fantastic hit songs 'Stanslaust Stuð' with its aggressive strings, and particularly the superb 'Ég er Bundinn Fastur Við Þig'. The latter would sure make me wanna dance anytime!
Páll Óskar THE MUSIC
Although famous in Iceland, the breakthrough will come this year. The 300 million viewers of the Eurovision song contest saw Paul Oscar perform 'Minn Hinsti Dans' and that appearance has opened the eyes of thousands of new fans. Most people have told me that they liked the music a lot, others that they hated the song but loved the female dancers, a lot of gay guys have commented on the whole performance and Paul Oscar in particular (I wonder why?!) - and a few have felt sick by it all. The song is about a has-been Primadonna who looks back at his/her life and discovers that the sweet days were also the days of treason - or maybe it's about the gay man who looks back at his past on Fire Island? Who knows? In any case, unlike most other entries, Paul Oscar's has managed to draw attention to himself and 'Minn Hinsti Dans'.....
Source:
www.larsbrandstrup.dk/palli.htm

YouTube Movies

"International"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d12YLAS444

The second single from Paul Oscar's dance project "Allt fyrir ástina" to be released in Iceland october 2007. This song is also used as an anthem for the Reykjavik Gay Pride Festival 2007. Written by Örlygur Smári, Niclas Kings, Daniela Vecchia and Páll Óskar.
Video for the song "Allt fyrir ástina"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqNJ8usO06k

"Hold U" Live with GusGus @ NASA (Reykjavik, 2007)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACcC1F7RaT0

"A spaceman came travelling" (2003)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX4pp8ifXjU

Páll Óskar (Paul Oscar) recorded this with harpist Monika Abendroth for their Christmas Album "Ljósin Heima" 2003. This beloved Christmas song was written by Chris DeBurgh (The lady in red). The video was directed by Raggi Hansson, a brilliant re-tale of the Night before Christmas, the virgin Mary et al...
"No one to love" Video (1999)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLI7N8U2NnA

"Min hinsti dans" Video for song of the European Song Contest (ESC) 1997
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oecd6PcbotA

"Standlaust stud" Video (1996) a hit in Iceland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52mbxdReJ5k

Stanslaust stuð" was the second single from icelandic popstar Paul Oscar's album "SEIF" in 1996. Released in icelandic of course, the word "stuð" does not mean STUD - but high energy, usually created at dance parties or clubs. This song has gained cult status in Iceland, where everybody knows the lyrics to the chorus, because it's still played at icelandic clubs today. A few months after this song was released, RUV chose Paul Oscar to represent Iceland in the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Minn Hinsti Dans". Written by Johann Johannsson, Páll Óskar, Sigurjón Kjartansson.
"The look of love" Live @ Borgarleikhusid (Reykjavik, 1995)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUX8HwOyNxw

"Ljúfa Líf"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcxOvD9gGEI

This was Paul Oscar's first single from his first solo album "STUÐ" 1993. No, the icelandic word "stuð" does NOT mean STUD. It means "high energy" usually created at parties and dance clubs. Páll Óskar (Paul Oscar) still performs the song as a closing number to this day. He even uses the same choreography.
More Páll Óskar:
www.myspace.com/palloskar
www.youtube.com/thisispauloscar
"I love Techno" Paul Oscar as/is a DJ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W44biSmNHFk