Iveta Mukuchyan: “I was invited to represent Germany in Eurovision 2021, but got rejected because I raised the flag of Nagorno Karabakh

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One of the events that stigmatised the Eurovision 2016 was the flag of the Republic of Artsakh ( formerly known as the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh), raised by the Armenian representative Iveta Mukuchyan, while in the green room during the 1st Semi Final. Through a post on her social media, Iveta reminded us the incident, and revealed that, due to this, she was rejected by the German national broadcaster for the representation of Germany in Eurovision 2021, despite the fact that she received invitation by the panel of 200 individuals who will choose the next German representative.

There were not a few those who believe that Iveta’s stance in the semi final cost her several points in the Grand Final, since she ended up in 7th place even though her entry, LoveWave, was one of the hot favourites to win the contest. In fact, the public broadcaster of Armenia was fined by the EBU for their representative’s action in Eurovision 2016.

 

Iveta, who lives in Germany, made a reference to the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan for the quarrelsome region of Nagorno Karabakh, citing that the war has nothing to do with these two peoples, since both Armenians and Azeris have a lot in common, but instead this was is triggered by Erdogan and Aliyev against Armenians and Armenia.

I know how unpleasant it is to read about a war that is happening far away from where you are right now.I knew how unpleasant it was for millions of viewers at the Eurovision back in 2016 to engage a few minutes into the discussion about why I put up the Kharabagh flag in a contest that doesn’t want to be involved in politics. What many people don’t know is that this year I got an excited call from Germany that 200 experts voted, without me knowing about it, to discuss me representing Germany at the Eurovision 2021. Everybody was excited, me as well. Then I got a call that the press-department said unfortunately they decided last minute that they couldn’t take me, explaining that I already participated and that wouldn’t make sense for Germany. I knew from the first second that this explanation was nonsense but the real reason could only be, that I put up the Kharabagh flag up and Germany does not appreciate political involvement in the Eurovision and would get a shitstorm if they would choose me representing them since there are many Muslims living in Germany. Which I completely understand. I want to make everyone understand that this is not a war between Azerbaijan/Turkey and Armenia but a war against Alliyev and Erdogan. When Artsakh shoots back they warn the population of Azerbaijan to evacuate, while Azerbaijan is targeting peaceful civilians, not even telling their own people to hide in bunkers. After they told me kindly that even though they would like me to participate they decided not to, I was mad at myself…regretting that my past act of patriotism would influence my career once again…

Source: Iveta Mukuchyan 

 

 

Germany: New Head of Delegation

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A series of changes to the country chiefs of Delegations in the Eurovision Song Contest, with Germany taking the lead. The country’s public broadcaster journalist Alexandra Wolfslast has been in charge of the German delegation since December 1st.

Alexandra Wolfslast will succeed Christoph Pellander, who has quit his job on German public television. Pellander was Germany’s head of delegation in the last two contests, leading his country to a fourth and one penultimate position.

For 2020,Germany trusted the production company Digame to find the right song, but also the performer who will feel the competition and be higher on the scoreboard than  S! Sters in Tel Aviv.

So far there has been no public announcement on the evolution of the option, although a concept similar to the one used by Switzerland this year is expected to be used. A closed choice, that is, with the only announcement of the winner.

Source: esc-kompakt

Germany: Thoughts on internal selection after ten years?

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For the first time in ten years, it looks like Germany will not air a national final in choosing its participation in the Eurovision Contest, but there will be an internal selection, reminiscent of the process Switzerland has carried out in this year’s contest.

While in previous years such a time there was information such as the date of the national final or even candidates, this year the information we have from Germany is scarce.

What is certain is that the final decision will be made by a panel of fans, as well as an international panel, but without the public verdict, as there will probably be no national television final but only one internal choice.

Already the two committees have heard different songs, performed by different artists and have come up with the best combinations. This year, the focus was on finding the right songs and then pairing them with the best performers. In this way, they avoided the various songwriting camps that took place in previous years.

If the choice is finally made internally this will be the first time since 2009 that Germany will choose to participate in Eurovision without a national television final.

The new approach came after disappointing results for another year in this year’s contest, where the S! Sters took 25th place in the Grand Final, receiving 0 points from the television audience!

Source: esc-kompakt

Sandro Nicolas: In the studio with Dimitris Kontopoulos and Elias Kokotos

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We had informed you in our previous article about the greek-origin rising artist, Sandro Nicolas, who is making a career in Germany, and also about  being a finalist in the German national final. These days, the young performer is in Athens recording with Dimitris Kontopoulos and Elias Kokotos in Kontopoulos’s  studio.

Through social media, and in particular through an Instagram story Sandro posted on his profile , we saw him in Athens, continuing a series of recordings in the UK, US and Germany. Recently we even saw him in the studio with Linnea Debb.

Last night (21/10), Sandro Nicolas was recording in the studio of Dimitris Kontopoulos, with the supervision of the successful artist as you can see below:

Elias Kokotos, Dream Team’s project manager and a close friend of Dimitris Kontopoulos, also added to their group afterwards, further intensifying the rumors that they want Sandro Nicolas to be involved in Eurovision 2020.

If you want to remember who Sandro Nicolas is, you can refer to our previous article. We remind you that he participated in the New Wave Festival in Sochi last August.

Sandro Nicolas (Alessandro Ruetten) has an American father and a Greek mother. He was born and raised in Germany and is now 23 years old. In 2018 he participated in the German version of “The Voice”, reaching the semi-finals.

Germany: Greek-origin Sandro Nicolas in the national final?

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Sandro Nicolas is a rising greek-origin artist, making a career in Germany. An Instagram Story by Linnea Deb, which Sandro shared himself from the recording studio, makes us suspect that the greek-german performer will try at the German national final for the Eurovision Song Contest.

You have read about Sandro Nicolas again in a previous article about his participation in the New Wave Festival last August in Sochi.

Sandro Nicolas (Alessandro Ruetten) has an American father and a Greek mother. He was born and raised in Germany and is now 23 years old. In 2018 he participated in the German version of “The Voice”, reaching the semi-finals.

He has grown up with Greek education, speaks fluent Greek and a glance at his Instagram profile is enough to discover the undisclosed relationship he has with Greece, which he frequently visits.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3KzxxYIX2Z/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Linnea Deb has over 15 entries in the Melodifestivalen, which has won twice (You – 2012 and Heroes – 2015), representing Sweden in the Eurovision contest and giving her a trophy (2015). Other highlights included Loreen’s “Statements”, Ace Wilder’s “Busy Doing Nothing” and Mohombi and Wiktoria’s songs for this year’s release. In 2018,she represented Finland with “Monsters” which she wrote for Saara Aalto. She has competed in national finals in other countries as well (Norway, Poland etc.). We already know that she has submitted for Melodifestivalen 2020.

 

How likely is it to see Sandro Nicolas in the German national final?

Of course, in order to see Sandro Nicolas competing in the German national final with a song by Linnea Deb or someone else, he has to be chosen among the finalists.

In the German National Final both songs and performers can be submitted.The production company Digame, after selecting the leading candidates, will allow them to participate in various songwriting camps in order to write new songs for the national final. After completing this process, Digame will select the finalists and match them with the songs they will compete with.

The final selection of German participation in Eurovision 2020 will take place in a live, triple voting show: the television audience, the jury of experts and the 100-member fan committee.

Watch one of Sandro’s  live performances at New Wave Festival 2019: