Around The Continent #11

Belarus

BTRC (The Belarussian Broadcaster) decided to choose an artist and a song via national selection. The broadcaster will use a similar format this year, but public votes will also be considered. The national selection will include auditions level. Like in previous years, the auditions will be live-streamed. However, the number of auditions will be reduced, since the broadcaster will invite specific artist to participate.

Czech Republic

The 7 competing artists in the online national selection will be revealed in a special press conference that will be held on Monday the 6th of January 2020.
The songs will be released on Monday the 13th of January 2020.

Finland

The 6 finalists of UMK 2020 (The Finnish national selection for Eurovision 2020) will be revealed in a special press conference on the 21st of January 2020.

Georgia

Last Tuesday, the final show of “Georgian Idol” has occurred. 4 candidates faced each other and the announced winner was Tornike Kipiani.

The singer won the voting through the majority of the live shows (except the first one). In 2014, he won the first season of “X-Factor Georgia“. Tornike was mentored by Tamta (that represented Cyprus in Eurovision 2019).
Here you can watch one of his performances in “X-Factor Georgia” 2014:

A recap of Tornike‘s performances alongside his final performance in “Georgian Idol”:

In 2017, he attempted to represent Georgia in Eurovision 2017 but hasn’t been chosen by the broadcaster.

Tornike’s song for Eurovision 2020 will be selected internally.

Greece

According to OGAE Greece, Stefania will represent Greece in Eurovision 2020.

Stefania Liberakakis was born in 2002 in Utrecht (The Netherlands) to Greek parents.
Stefania isn’t stranger to the Eurovision world: In 2016 she took part in the Junior Eurovision Competition as a member of the Kisses group that represented the Netherlands, finishing in 8th place with 174 points.

Right now, there are 3 songs in the focus of ERT (The Greek Broadcaster).
Two songs were written by Dimitris Kontopoulou, while the third was written by Dutch artists. The lyrics of all of them are in English only.
Considering the Genres, One of the songs is a midtempo pop song, the second is a Dance Reggae song, and the third is an Ethnic Pop song.

Iceland

On the 18th of January 2020, the 10 competing artists and songs in “Söngvakeppnin 2020“, (the Icelandic national selection for Eurovision 2020) will be published.
The format will be identical to the one used for “Söngvakeppnin 2019“.

The selection will consist of 2 semi-finals and final.
Semi-final 1 will be held on the 8th of February 2020.
Semi-final 2 will be held on the 15th of February 2020
The final will be held on the 29th of February 2020.
5 artists will compete in each semi-final. 2 artists will qualify from each semi-final. The results will be decided by 50% jury and 50% public voting. The jury will have the option to give a wildcard for the final to one of the 6 candidates that wouldn’t qualify for the final.
The final will include 5 acts. In the first round, the decision will be made again by 50% jury and 50% public voting. The top 2 acts will qualify for the “Super-final” where the public will choose their favorite entry to represent Iceland in Eurovision 2020.

Israel

The auditions of “The Rising Star” (“Hakochav Habe La’Euroivision”) round has come to an end. 20 lucky candidates made it to the live shows.
Among these 20 acts succeded to qualify for the live shows, only one will be crowned as the new rising star of Israel in a few weeks.
In this season we have 20 participants: 10 women, 8 men, and 2 groups:

Avihu Pinchasov And The Rhythm Club – 100%
Dana Lapidot – 100%
Dorel Saadon – 100%
Eden Alena – 100%
Eden Zohar Sivan – 60%
Ela Lee Lahav – 100%
Gaya Shaki – 80%
Hatavlinim – 80%
Lali Kolishkin – 100%
Linoy Akela – 100%
Luai Ali – 80%
Moran Aharoni – 100%
Nathan Katorza – 100%
Niki Goldshtein – 60%
Ohad Shragai – 60%
Omer Eliyahu – 80%
Oneg Israel – 60%
Or Adi – 60%
Or Amrami-Brokman – 100%
Raviv Kaner – 100%

Afterward, the winner will participate in a national final with 3-5 songs intended for Eurovision 2020. All of these songs will be performed by the winner of “The Rising Star“. One of them will be Israel entry for Eurovision 2020.

Italy

Festival “Sanremo 2020” is a traditional music festival that is held every year since 1950.
For years, the festival is the mechanism for selecting an artist and a song for Italy in Eurovision.
22 established artists will compete this year in “Sanremo 2020” to represent Italy in Eurovision 2020. The festival will be held 5 nights in a row, begging on the 4th of February 2020 and ending on the 8th of February 2020.
The competing artists will be:

#1. Achille Lauro – 29 years old Hip-Hop singer and rapper who has participated in “Sanremo 2019” and ended in 9th place.

#2. Alberto Urso – 22 yeard old singer, tenor, and multi-instrumentalist, winner of the eighteenth edition of “Amici di Maria De Filippi”. It will be his first time in “Sanremo”.

#3. Anastasio – Marco Anastasio is 22 years old singer-songwriter and rapper. He is well known for winning the 12th season of “X -Factor Italy“.

#4. Bugo and Morgan –
Bugo is Cristian Bugatti, a 46 yeard old singer, songwriter, and actor. His main genres are Rock, Folk, Blues, and Garage Rock.

Morgan is Marco Castoldi, a 47 years old singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, writer, and TV personality. He competed in “Sanremo 2016”, together with the group Bluvertigo and didn’t qualify for the final.

#5. Diodato is Antonio Diodato, a 38 years old Pop Rock singer who has participated in “Sanremo 2018” (together with Roy Paci) and ended in 8th place.

#6. Elettra Lamborghini – a 26 years old Pop and Reggaeton singer and TV personality. In 2019, she was one of the coaches in “The Voice of Italy“.

#7. Elodie – Elodie Di Patrizi is 29 years old Pop singer. She has participated in “Sanremo 2017“ and ended in 8th place.

#8. Enrico Nigiotti – a 32 years old singer who participated in “Sanremo 2019” and ended in 10th place.

#9. Francesco Gabbani – 37 years old who had won “Sanremo 2017” and represented Italy in Eurovision 2017. He ended in 6th place in the final.

#10. Giordana Angi – a 26 years old singer-songwriter. She finished second in the 18th edition of the talent show “Amici di Maria De Filippi”

#11. Irene Grandi – 50 years old Pop and Rock singer who participated in “Sanremo 2015” and ended in 12th place.

#12. Junior Cally – Antonio Signore is a 29 years old rapper.

#13. The vibrations are a pop-rock band that was formed in 1999. The group is composed of the singer and guitarist Francesco Sarcina , main composer, guitarist and keyboardist Stefano Verderi , the bassist Marco Castellani and the drummer Alessandro Deidda. The formation included Emanuele Gardossi for a period, that replaced Castellani from February 2008 until the break declared by the band in 2012.
The band participated in “Sanremo 2018” and ended in 11th place.

#14. Levante is Claudia Lagona, a 32 years old singer and writer.

#15. Marco Masini – 55 years old singer-songwriter, and pianist. He won in “Sanremo 2004”. In 2017, he participated in “Sanremo 2017” and ended in 17th place.

#16. Michele Zarrillo – 62 years old Rock Pop singer. He participated in “Sanremo 2017” and ended in 11th place.

#17. Paolo Jannacci – 47 years old musician, composer, and arranger. His main Genres are Jazz and Pop.

#18. Piero Pelù – Pietro Pelù is 58 years old singer song-writer and a co-founder of the Rock group Litfiba.

#19. Nuclear Tactical Penguins – an indie rock group that was formed in 2010.

#20. Rancore – Tarek Iurcich is a 30 years old rapper

#21. Raphael Gualazzi – 39 years old pianist, singer, and songwriter. His main Genres are Soul and Jazz. The singer won in “Sanremo Giovani 2011“.He represented Italy in Eurovision 2011 with “Madness of Love” and ended as the runner-up in the grand final. In 2014, he came back to “Sanremo” and ended in the 2nd place.

#22. Riki – Riccardo Marcuzzo is Pop and Dance singer that’s active since 2017.

Lithuania

LRT (The Lithuanian Broadcaster) revealed the 36 competing artists and the names of the entries. Lile in previous years, Lithuania will choose an artist and a song via their traditional national selection – Eurovizijos Atranka 2020

Abrokenleg — “Electric boy”

Aika — “Paradas” (Parade)

Aistay — “Dangus man tu” (You are heaven to me)

Aiste Pilvelyte — “Everlastingly”

The Singer has participated in the national selection 11 times. In 2017, she ended as the runner-up with “I’m Like a Wolf“.

Alen Chicco — “Somewhere Out There”

Alen participated in last year national selection and ended in 5th place in the final with “Your Cure”:

Andy Vaic — “Why why why”

Antturi — “I gotta do”

“Baltos varnos” — “Namu dvasia” (Spirit of Home)

Bernardas — “Dad, don’t be mad at me”

Donata — “Made of wax”

Donata participated in last year’s national selection and performed “Doing The Loop” with the BingBang group. They were eliminated in the “Heat” round.

Evgenya Redko — “What about us”

Gabrielius Vagelis — “Tave cia randu” (I find you here)

Germantas Skoris — “Chemistry”

Glossarium — “Game over”

The band participated in last year’s national selection. They performed “Anyone” and were eliminated in the semi-final round.

Indraya — “You and I”

Justina Zukauskaite — “Breath in”

The singer participated in last year’s national selection and performed “Hit Me, Harder“. She was eliminated in the “Heat” round.

Justinas Lapatinskas — “High way story”

KaYra — “Alligator”

Kristina Jure — “My Sound of Silence”

Lukas Bartaska — “Where is that change?”

The singer participated in last year’s national selection. He performed “River of Hope” and was eliminated in the semi-final round.

Lukas Norkunas — “Atsiprasyk” (I’m sorry)

The singer participated in the 2018 national selection and was eliminated in the “Advanced Heat” round. He performed “Tegu”

Meandi — “DRIP”

Monika Marija — “If I leave”

The song “If I Leave” (that she would perform in the 2020 national selection) was released:

The singer participated in the two last years editions of the national selections.
In 2018, she ended in the 4th place

In 2019, she ended as the runner-up and actually qualified for the final with 2 entries, with one of them she withdrew.

Monique — “Make me human”

Nombeko Auguste — “Reikia man”

Petunija — “Show Ya”

The singer participated in the national selection in 2016 and was eliminated in the 6th show

Rokas Povilius — “Vilnius calling”

Ruslanas Kirilkinas — “Soldiers heart”

The singer participated in the national selection in 2016 and ended in the 3rd place in the final

Rūta Loop — “We came from sun”

The singer participated in the national selection in 2018. She performed “Positive Thoughts” and was eliminated in the 6th show.

Soliaris — “Breath”

The Backs — “Fully”

The Roop — “On fire”

The band participated in the national selection in 2018. They performed “Yes, I Do” and ended in the 3rd in the final

Twosome — “Playa”

The duo participated in the national selection in 2018 and was eliminated in the semi-finals.
They performed the song “Hello”

Viktorija Miskunaite — “The Ocean”

Vitalijus Spokaitis — “Nemusk saves”

Voldemars Petersons — “Wings of freedom”

The singer competed in last year’s national selection and performed “Dancing With The Stars”. He was eliminated in the “Heat” round.

The national selection will include 3 “Heat” rounds on the 11th, 18th and 25th of January 2020. In each “Heat” 12 artists will compete. 6 artists will qualify from each “Heat”.
Afterward, 2 semi-finals will occur on the 1st and the 8th of February 2020. Each semi-final will include 9 artists and only 4 will qualify for the final.
The final will be held on the 15th of February 2020 and will include 8 acts.
In every round, the decision will be made of 50% jury and 50% public voting.

Malta

Malta will choose an artist for Eurovision 2020 via “X-Factor Malta“. At the moment, 12 candidates are in the race.

#1. Kyle Cutajar (The Boys Category)

#2. Dav Jr. (The Boys Category)

#3. Karl Schembri (The Boys Category)

#4. Jasmine Abela (The Girls Category)

#5. Destiny Chukunyere (The Girls Category)

#6. Justine Shorfid (The Girls Category)

#7. Ed Abdilla (The Over Category)

#8. Celine (The Over Category)

#9. Paul Anthony (The Over Category)

#10. Bloodline (The Groups Category)

#11. F.A.I.T.H (The Groups Category)

#12. Yazmin and James (The Groups Category)

Norway

On Monday, the 6th of January 2020, NRK (The Norwegian Broadcaster) will reveal the 25 compting artists in “Melodi Grand Prix 2020” (The Norwegian National Selection For Eurovision 2020).
“Melodi Grand Prix 2020“ will consist of 5 semi-finals and final.
In each semi-final, 4 artists will face each other in duels, until one artist will be announced as the semi-final winner.
Semi-final 1 will be held on the 11th of January 2020. It will include 4 artists from Northen Norway.
Semi-final 2 will be held on the 18th of January 2020. It will include 4 artists from Central Norway.
Semi-final 3 will be held on the 25h of January 2020. It will include 4 artists from Western Norway.
Semi-final 4 will be held on the 1st of February 2020. It will include 4 artists from Eastern Norway.
Semi-final 5 will be held on the 8th of February 2020. It will include 4 artists from Southern Norway.
The final of “Melodi Grand Prix 2020” will be held on the 15th of February 2020. It will include 5 automatic qualifiers that have been chosen by NRK and the 5 qualifiers from the semi-finals. The voting in the final will be based only on the public vote.

Poland

TVP (The Polish Broadcaster) will choose an artists and a song for Eurovision 2020 via the talents show “Szansa na Sukces” (A Chance For Success).
Poland used the same format in 2019 to choose an artist for Junior Eurovision. Viki Gabor who was selected via “Szansa na Sukces” was the winner of Junior Eurovision 2019.
The national selection will include 3 semi-finals and final.
In each semi-final, 6-7 artists will compete and perform a cover of a special guest (a different one in each semi-final). 3 jury members will vote in the semi-finals. Only one artist will qualify from each semi-final. The final will include 3 artists where every candidate will sing a cover version and an original song (which intended for Eurovision 2020).
The decision in the final will be determined by 50% jury and 50% public vote.
The semi-finals will be held on the 2nd, 9th, and 16th of February 2020.

The Netherlands

The head of the Dutch Broadcaster AVARTORS reported that the country has already chosen an artist and a song for Eurovision 2020. He claimed that they have got a strong entry for Eurovision 2020 which can lead them to additional victory in the contest.

Romania

Unofficial resource claims that TVR (The Romanian Broadcaster) will hold Selecția Națională Selecția Națională in 2020. The format is still unknown. However, the competition will probably be in the city of Buzău. The final will be as always on Sunday, this time on the 1st of March 2020.

Russia

Dima Bilan applied the Russian Broadcaster in order to represent Russia in the third time in Eurovision. Dima represented the country in Eurovision 2006 and 2008.

In 2006, he ended as the runner-up with “Never Let You Go“

In 2008, he won with the song “Believe“

Serbia

An unofficial resource published this week a list of “Beovizija 2020” participants.
#1. Hurricane (Sanja Vučić, Ksenija Knežević, Ivana Nikolić)

Hurricane will probably perform their latest song “Brzi Prsti” (Eng: “Fast Fingers“)

#2. Neda Ukraden
The 69 years old singer will probably perform “Bomba”

#3. Jami feat Unkown Rapper
#4. Nedeljko Bajic
#5. Baja Baja
#6. Mali Knindza
#7. Maja Marijana
#8. Mitar Miric
#9. Mira Kosovka
#10. Dragana Mirkovic
#11. Lepi Mica
#12. Lepa Lukic
#13. Bane Mojićević
#14. Vesna Rivas
#15. Zorica Markovic
#16. Era Ojdanic
#17. Elma Sinanovic
#18. Saska Karan

Sweden

The Swedish twin duo Ylva Linda Persson show an interest in writing and composing songs for Belarus and Moldova in Eurovision 2020.

An unofficial resource claims one of the candidates to represent the UK in Eurovision 2020 is Ronan Parke who finished in the 2nd place in “Britain’s Got Talent 2011“.

Ukraine

The sky is full of rumors clouds regarding “Vidbir 2020” (The Ukrainian National Selection).

#1. Khayat who participated in “Vidbir 2019“, sent a song for “Vidbir 2020“. Last year, he finished in 5th place in semi-final 2 of the national selection.