Maria Rita Epik

Maria Rita Epik (born 1 January 1958 in İzmir) is a Turkish musician of Italian Levantine descent,^[1]^[2] who won the Turkish pre-Elimination of the Eurovision Song Contest 1979. In 1990 she opened the Epik Music School in her native Izmir. She attended Virginia Tech in the United States.^[1]

ESC 1979 controversy[]

Epik had won the internal Turkish pre-Elimination in 1979 to sing for Turkey at the first ever Eurovision Song Contest hosted by Israel. However, due to a political decision by Eurovision Turkey to boycott Israel, she had to withdraw and stay at home.^[3]^[1]

Sources[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c "A musician in Izmir". Turkish Daily News. 13 July 2007. ProQuest 328668696.
^ "'Some call them Levantine' sheds light on Izmir's cultural wealth". Turkish Daily News. 11 August 2007. ProQuest 328660004.
^ cohen, San (20 March 1979). "Turkey decides to cast its lot with Arab world". Christian Science Monitor. ProQuest 512073700.

External links[]

Epik's song at the Pre-Elimination on YouTube

[MusicianIzmir-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c "A musician in Izmir". Turkish Daily News. 13 July 2007. ProQuest 328668696.

[Levantine-2] "'Some call them Levantine' sheds light on Izmir's cultural wealth". Turkish Daily News. 11 August 2007. ProQuest 328660004.

[TurkeyEurovision-3] , San (20 March 1979). "Turkey decides to cast its lot with Arab world". Christian Science Monitor. ProQuest 512073700.

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