Around The Continent #16

ALBANIA

Albanian media reports that the chosen song for Eurovision 2020 “Shaj” is being revamped. Arilena Ara is working on her song “Shaj” in the United States with 2 Grammy-winning producers. The song will be revamped into English and the genre will be a radio-friendly pop ballad.
The English lyrics will probably include the phrase “Broken, broken with love”

Arilena Ara – Shaj (Eurovision Albania)

 

 

ARMENIAB

Last Wednesday, Armenian broadcaster released the 12 competing songs of “Depi Evratesil 2020“. The national final will be held next Saturday the 15th of February 2020.
The competing acts are:

Agop – Butterflies
Arthur Aleq – Heaven
Athena Manoukian – Chains On You
EVA Rida – No Love
ERNA Tamazyan – Life Faces
Gabriel Jeeg – It’s Your Turn
Sergey and Nickolay Arutyunov – Ha, Take a Step
TOKIONINE – Save Me
Karina EVN – Why?
Vladimir Arzumanyan – What’s Going On Mama
Miriam Baghdassarian – Run Away
Music Hayk – What It Is To Be In Love

Armenian “Depi Evratesil 2020” Songs Eurovision

The playlist is available in YouTube

 

AUSTRALIA

The national selection for Eurovision 2020, “Australia Decides 2020” will be held on Saturday, the 8th of February 2020 at 9:30 CET.
The running order of the performance will be as follows:

#1. iOTA – “Life”
#2. Jordan-Ravi – “Pushing Stars”
#3. Jaguar Jonze – “Rabbit Hole”
#4. Jack Vidgen – “I Am King I Am Queen”
#5. Vanessa Amorosi – “Lessons of Love”
#6. Diana Rouvas – “Can We Make Heaven”
#7. Mitch Tambo – “Together”
#8. Casey Donovan – “Proud”
#9. Montaigne – “Don’t Break Me”
#10. Didirri – “Raw Stuff”

My review of the songs is available here

The playlist is available in different digital platforms:

Youtube

AppleMusic

Spotify

 

A recap of the rehearsals show (jury show) can be seen here:

 

CZECH_REPUBLICB

Last Monday, The Czech Republic revealed the results of the national final.

Czech Republic 2020 final results

Benny Cristo will represent the country in Eurovision 2020 with the song “Kemama”

Benny Cristo - Kemama - Eurovision 2020 Czech

 

 

ESTONIA

“Eesti Laul 2020” semi-finals will be held next week.
Each semi-final will include 12 acts. The results will be determined as follows:
In the first round, the 12 acts will be ranked by a system of 50% jury voting and 50% public voting. In the second round, the top 8 from the first round will compete but only the public voting will determine the 6 qualifiers for the final.

The first semi-final will be held on Thursday the 13th of February 2020. The 12 competing acts will be:

01 – Rasmus Rändvee – Young
02 – Kruuv – Leelo
03 – Stefan – By My Side
04 – INGA – Right Time
05 – Anett & Fredi – Write About Me
06 – Revals – Kirjutan Romaani
07 – Renate – Videomäng
08 – Laura Põldvere – Break Me
09 – Little Mess – Without a Reason
10 – Egert Milder – Georgia (On My Mind)
11 – Jennifer Cohen – Ping Pong
12 – Synne Valtri feat. Väliharf – Majakad

My review of “Eesti Laul 2020” Semi-final 1 songs is available here

The second semi-final will be held on Saturday the 15th of February 2020. The 12 competing acts will be:

01 – Viinerid – Kapa-Kohi LA
02 – Janet – Hingelind
03 – Uku Suviste – What Love Is
04 – INGER – Only Dream
05 – Merilin Mälk – Miljon Sammu
06 – German & Violina – Heart Winder
07 – Jaagup Tuisk – Beautiful Lie
08 – Ziggy Wild – Lean On Me
09 – Uudo Sepp – I’m Sorry. I Messed Up
10 – Traffic – Üks Kord Veel
11 – Shira – Out In Space
12 – Mariliis Jõgeva – Unistustes

My review of “Eesti Laul 2020” Semi-final 2 songs is available here

 

FRANCEB

Tom Leeb will release his song for Eurovision 2020 on Sunday the 16th of February 2020.

Eurovision2020 Tom Leeb Will Represent France In Rotterdam!

Tom Leeb

 

GERMANY

The German broadcaster NRD will reveal details about their selection process on Monday, the 10th of February 2020.
There are high chances of canceling national selection. We are probably going through an internal selection of an artist.
The news comes following this Tweeter post:

At the moment, NDR is planning to broadcast the show “Unser Lied für Rotterdam” on Thursday the  27th of February 2020 However, the show will last only 45 minutes which hints that we won’t have a national selection of the familiar format.

 

GREECEB

Last Monday, Greece revealed what we have speculated before:  Stefania will Represent Greece with the song “Super Girl”.

(Stefania Liberakakis

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.

Stefania shared the exciting news on her Instagram account:

View this post on Instagram

OMG FINALLY I can confirm the rumours that have been going around for a while now: YESSS I will proudly represent my country GREECE in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam!! It's so crazy to realize that this dream has actually come true!! Many thanks to ERT for giving me this opportunity! I hope to make my fellow Έλληνες and also all Nederlanders so proud! I will go for it 100% and I will not let you down!! 🧡 ••• Η αλήθεια είναι ότι δυσκολεύομαι κι εγώ να το πιστέψω, αλλά μπορώ επιτέλους να επιβεβαιώσω τις φήμες που κυκλοφορούν εδώ και αρκετές εβδομάδες! Ναι, θα είμαι η εκπρόσωπος της χώρας μου στη φετινή Γιουροβίζιον στο Ρότερνταμ και ευχαριστώ πάρα πολύ την ΕΡΤ που έκανε το πιο τρελό μου όνειρο πραγματικότητα!! Αν και γεννήθηκα στην Ολλανδία, έρχομαι κάθε χρόνο στην Ελλάδα και τη λατρεύω όσο θυμάμαι τον εαυτό μου. Υπόσχομαι να κάνω ό,τι καλύτερο μπορώ και να σας κάνω υπερήφανους!! 💙 ••• #ESC2020 #Eurovision #Greece #ERT #SUPERG!RL

A post shared by Stefania (@stefania_) on

The song “Super Girl” was composed by Dimitris Kontopoulos and was written by Sharon Vaughn.

The song “Supergirl” will be released during February 2020.

 

ICELAND

The first semi-final of “Söngvakeppnin 2020″ will be held on Saturday the 8th of February 2020. 5 artists will compete in the first semi-final. The results will be determined by a combination of 50% jury voting and 50% public voting.
The top 2 acts will qualify for the final.
The competing acts in the first semi-final of “Söngvakeppnin 2020″ are:

Söngvakeppnin 2020 semi final 1 participants

#1. Kid Isak – Ævintýri
#2. Brynja Mary – Augun þín / In Your Eyes
#3. DIMMA – Almyrkvi
#4. Elísabet Ormslev– Elta þig / Haunting
#5. Ísold & Helga – Klukkan tifar / Meet Me Halfway

The playlist (including the second semi final’s songs) is available in different digital platforms:

AppleMusic

Spotify

YouTube

Youtube English Versions

My review of Söngvakeppnin 2020 songs is available here

 

ISRAELB

Last Tuesday, Israel held the grand final of “Hakochav Haba Le’Eurovision 2020″ (Eng: “The Rising Star).

The winner of “Hakochav Haba Le’Eurovision” (“The Rising Star”) is Eden Alena and she will represent Israel in Eurovision 2020!

Eden Alenaa

Eden Alenaa2

Here are some of her performances:

On Tuesday the 3rd of March 2020, Israel Broadcaster Kan will hold a special national selection, where the winner of “Hakochav Haba Le’Eurovision” will be performing 4 songs. One of them will be the act of Israel for Eurovision 2020.

The decision will be made as a combination of 3 components:
professional jury =50%
public voting = 40%
local areas jury = 10%

 

ITALY

 

Italy Sanremo 2020 participants

Here are the main rules of the format in each show:

First Show – 4th of February 2020

16 songs were included in the first show. 12 of them are 12 of the big artists in which the voting was based on a demographically selected people’s jury, however, none of them will be eliminated.  Another 4 songs will be among the “Sanremo Giovani” (Newcomers artists). A demographically selected people’s jury voted for those 4 songs and only the top two of them qualified to the Newcomers semi-final.

The competing acts in the first show were:

01 – Irene Grandi – Finalmente Io
02 – Marco Masini – Il Confronto
03 – Rita Pavone – Niente (Resilienza 74)
04 – Achille Lauro – Me Ne Frego
05 – Diodato – Fai Rumore
06 – Le Vibrazioni and Francesco Sàrcina – Dov’è
07 – Anastasio – Rosso Di Rabbia
08 – Elodie – Andromeda
09 – BUGO and Morgan – Sincero
10 – Alberto Urso – Il Sole A Est
11 – Riki – Lo Sappiamo Entrambi
12 – Raphael Gualazzi – Carioca

 

Second Show – 5th of February 2020

16 songs were included in the first show. 12 of them are another 12 big artists in which the voting was based on a demographically selected people’s jury, however, none of them was eliminated.  Another 4 songs will be among the “Sanremo Giovani” (Newcomers artists). A demographically selected people’s jury will also vote for those 4 songs and only and only the top two of them qualified to the Newcomers semi-fina

The competing acts in the second show were:

01 – Piero Pelù – Gigante
02 – Elettra Lamborghini – Musica (E Il Resto Scompare)
03 – Enrico Nigiotti – Baciami Adesso
04 – Levante – Tikibombom
05 – Pinguini Tattici Nucleari – Ringo Starr
06 – Tosca – Ho Amato Tutto
07 – Francesco Gabbani – Viceversa
08 – Paolo Jannacci – Voglio Parlarti Adesso
09 – Rancore – Eden
10 – Junior Cally – No Grazie
11 – Giordana Angi – Come Mia Madre
12 – Michele Zarrillo – Nell’estasi O Nel Fango

Third Show – 6th of February 2020

All of the 24 artists competed and performed a classic song from previous editions of the “Sanremo Festival“. The artists performed together with guest artists, not necessarily Italian. The voting was based on the Sanremo orchestra’s musicians and the backing vocalists. None of the 20 artists was eliminated. The 4 Newcomers qualifiers from the two previous shows performed their songs. The voting for them was based on 34% televoting, 33% press jury and 33% demographically selected people’s jury. Only 2 of them qualified for the Newcomers Final.

Forth Show – 7th of February 2020

All of the 24 artists will compete and perform their entries. The voting for them will be based on 100% jury press however, none of them will be eliminated. The two Newcomers finalists will compete and perform their songs again. The voting for them will be baes on 34% televoting, 33% press jury and 33% demographically selected people’s jury. At the end of the show, the winner of the “Newcomers” category will be decided.

Fifth show – 8th of February 2020

The 24 big artists will participate and perform their songs. Only 3 of them will advance to the super final level. The top three will be determined by accumulated voting from the previous shows and voting on that show which will be determined by 34% televoting, 33% press jury and 33% demographically selected people’s jury. In the super final level, the voting will be again based on 34% televoting, 33% press jury and 33% demographically selected people’s jury.

The competing acts  are:

Enrico Nigiotti – Baciami adesso
Irene Grandi – Finalmente io
Pinguini Tattici Nucleari – Ringo Starr
Francesco Gabbani – Viceversa
Junior Cally – No grazie
Michele Zarrillo – Nell’estasi o nel fango
Raphael Gualazzi – Carioca
Giordana Angi – Come mia madre
Diodato – Fai rumore
Anastasio – Rosso di rabbia
Elettra Miura Lamborghini – Musica (E il resto scompare)
Marco Masini – Il confronto
Levante – Tikibombom
Achille Lauro – Me ne frego
Paolo Jannacci – Voglio parlarti adesso
Piero Pelù – Gigante
Elodie – Andromeda
Francesco Sàrcina e Le Vibrazioni – Dov’è
Riki – Lo sappiamo entrambi
Rancore – Eden
Morgan e BUGO – Sincero
Alberto Urso – Il sole a est
Tiziana Tosca Donati – Ho amato tutto
Rita Pavone – Niente (Resilienza 74)

The playlist is available in different digital platforms:

YouTube

AppleMusic

Spotify

 

LATVIA

Latvia will hold the national selection “Supernova 2020” on Saturday the 8th of February 2020.
The competing acts are:

Supernova 2020 finalists

The voting system is different, compering last year. “Supernova 2020” results will be determined only by public voting.

01 – Seleste – Like Me

 

02 – DRIKSNA – Stay

 

03 – Katrīna Bindere – I Will Break Your Heart

 

04 – Edgars Kreilis – Tridymite

 

05 – Katrīna Dimanta – Heart Beats

 

06 – Miks Dukurs – I’m Falling For You

07 – ANNNA – Polyester

08 – Bad Habits – Sail With You

09 – Samanta Tīna – Still Breathing

LITHUANIAB

 

Last Saturday, Lithuania held the first-semi final of the national selection. The 4 qualifiers were:

#1.  Aistė Pilvelytė – Unbreakable

 

#2. THE ROOP – On Fire

#3. KaYra – Alligator

 

#4. Rūta Loop – We Came From The Sun

On Saturday,  the 8th of February 2020, Lithuania will broadcast (not live) the second semi-final of the national selection.
8 artists will compete for 4 spots in the final:

#1. Meandie – “Drip”

#2.  Petunija – Show Ya

#3.Germantas Skoris – Chemistry/ Breaking Free

#4.  Moniqué – Make Me Human

#5.  Rokas Povilius – Vilnius Calling

 

#6. Monika Marija – If I Leave

#7.Andy Vaic – Why why why

 

#8.  The Backs – Fully

My review of the second semi-final is available here

 

MALTA

Last Sunday, the 4 finalists of “X-Factor Malta” Season 2 were announced.

Malta X-Factor Season 2 Finalists Revealed

The final will be broadcasted on Saturday, the 8th of February 2020.
The finalists will perform original songs that were written for them especially for Eurovision 2020.
Therefore, at the end of the night, we all will know the artist and the singer of Malta for Eurovision 2020.

 

MOLDOVAB

Last Saturday, Moldova picked the 20 finalists of the national selection. The national final will be held on Saturday, the 29th of February 2020.
The 20 chosen songs can be heard right here

Moldova 2020 participants 1Moldova 2020 participants 2

 

NORWAY

Last Saturday, the 4th semi-final of “Melodi Grand Prix 2020” was held.
The winner of the 4th semi-final was Magnus Bokn and he qualified for the final.
He performed the song “Over The Sea

The 4th automatic qualifier was introduced:

Ulrikke Brandstorp – “Attention”

On Saturday, the 8th of February 2020, the 5th and last semi-final of “Melodi Grand Prix 2020 will be broadcasted.
4 artists will compete with each other in 3 duels until a winner will be be announced.
The 4 competing acts will be:

Elin & The Woods- We Are As One

 Jenny Jenssen – Mr. Hello

Kevin Boine – Stem på mæ

Liza Vassilieva – I Am Gay

The 5th (and last) automatic qualifier is Tone Damli -Hurts Sometimes

 

POLANDB

Last Sunday, Poland held the first semi-final of  “Szansa Na Sukces 2020″.
7 artists performed covers of ABBA band’s song.
The winner of the professional jury voting was the only one to qualify for the final.
You can watch the winner’s performance:

Kasia Dereń – Mamma Mia

The second semi-final will be broadcasted (not live) on the 9th of February 2020.
The 7 candidates will perform Eurovision songs. The candidates are:

Poland 2020 (Szansa Na Sukces - Eurowizja 2020, Eurovision) #Playlist300x300

Damian Kulej
Paulina Czapla
Weronika Curyło
Stashka
Saszan
Alicja Szemplińska
Aleksandra Nykiel

 

ROMANIA

Romania will reveal additional details about the selection process on Monday the 10th of February 2020. The country will probably hold a national selection with 11-3 artists on Sunday the 1st of March 2020.

 

RUSSIAB

Aleksandr Panayotov will probably represent the country in Eurovision 2020.

Aleksandr Panayotov

 

 

SERBIA

The songs of “Beovizija 2020” were revealed yesterday.
The format consists of 2 semi-finals and final. 12 acts will compete in each semi-final.
6 acts among them, will qualify for the final from each semi-final.
The decision will be made by a combination of 50% jury voting and 50% public voting.

The first semi-final will be held on Friday the 28th of February 2020. The competing acts will be:

  • EJO -Trag
  • Milica Mišić – Kiša
  • Ivan Kurtić feat. Mistik Cello – Sabajle
  • Thea Devy – Sudnji Dan
  • Karizma – Ona Me Zna
  • Andrija Jo – Oči Meduze
  • Sanja Bogosavljević – Ne Puštam
  • Marko Marković – Kolači
  • Srđan Lazić – Duša i Telo
  • Neda Ukraden – Bomba
  • Amvon Duo i Bilja – Raj
  • Igor Simić – Ples Za Rastanak

The second semi-final will be held on Saturday the 29th of February 2020. The competing acts will be:

  • LIFT – Samo Mi Kaži
  • Bane Mojićević – Cvet Sa Prokletija
  • Bora Dugić i Balkubano – Svadba Velika
  • Bojana Mašković – Kao Muzika
  • Naiva – Baš, Baš
  • Rocher Etno Bend – Samo Ti Umeš To
  • Lazar Živanović – Puklo je nebo
  • Ivana Jordan – Vila
  • Nenad Ćeranić – Veruj U Sebe
  • Hurricane – Hasta La Vista
  • Ana Milenković – Tajna
  • Milan Bujaković feat. Olivera Popović – Niti

 

The full playlist is available here:

 

SLOVENIAB

RTV SLO (The Slovenian broadcaster) has published snippets of the 12 competing acts:

The 12 competing acts (including running order) are:

01 – Simon Vadnjal – Nisi Sam
02 – Saška – Še Kar Lovim Tvoj Nasmeh
03 – Gaja Prestor – Verjamem Vase
04 – Ana Soklič – Voda
05 – Inmate – The Salt
06 – Manca Berlec – Večnost
07 – Tinkara Kovač – Forever
08 – Božidar Wolfand Wolf – Maybe Someday
09 – Parvani Violet – Cupid
10 – Klara Jazbec – Stop The World
11 – Imset – Femme Fatale
12 – Lina Kuduzović – Man Like U

 

SWEDEN

Last Saturday,  the first semi-final of “Melodifestivalen 2020” was held.
Two acts qualified for the final:

The mamas – “Move”
The Mamas – Move

Robin Bengtsson – Take a Chance

Song #3 - Robin Bengtsson – Take a Chance

Two acts will compete in the “Second Chance” round where 8 acts will compete for 4 spots in the final.

Malou Prytz – Ballerina

Felix Sandman – Boys With Emotions

Tomorrow, Saturday the 8th of February 2020, another 7 acts will compete in the second semi-final of  “Melodifestivalen 2020”:

01 – Klara Hammarström – Nobody
02 – Jan Johansen – Miraklernas Tid
03 – Dotter – Bulletproof
04 – Mendez feat. Alvaro Estrella – Vamos amigos
05 – Linda Bengtzing – Alla mina sorger
06 – Paul Rey – Talking in My Sleep
07 – Anna Bergendahl – Kingdom Come

Listen to the songs snippets HERE

 

UKRAINEB

The first semi-final of “Vidbir 2020” will be broadcasted tomorrow, at 17:30 CET.
8 acts will compete in the first semi-final. 3 among them will qualify for the final. The decision will be made by 50% pubic voting and 50% jury voting.

The 8 competing acts will be:

Vidbir 2020 semi1

01 – [О] – Там, Куди Я Йду
02 – Jerry Heil – Vegan
03 – Katya Chilly – Pich
04 – Krutь – 99
05 – Go_A – Соловей
06 – Cloudless – Drown Me Down
07 – Gio – Feeling So Lost
08 – Assol – Save It

My review of Semi-final 1 songs is available here

The playlist is available in different digital platforms:

YouTube

AppleMusic

Spotify

 

Doron Lahav is 30-year-old, who lives in Israel. Doron has been watching the Eurovision Song Contest since early 2000s. Doron works as a Data Scientist and shows interest in singing and writing.

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