The Netherlands: New creative team for Turin and S10!

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The Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS have just announced a new creative team for the performance of dutch representative S10 in Turin.

This new team consists of Wouter van Ransbeek, Marnix Kaart and Henk Jan van de Beek. All three have a big experience in their respective fields, as well as in the Eurovision Song Contest itself.

In particular, Wouter will be the artistic director and has worked at the National Theater in Amsterdam. Marnix, director of Eurovision 2021, will be the stage director of the team. Finally, Henk will be in charge of the lighting. Henk was also part of the team of Eurovision 2021 in Rotterdam, again in charge of the lighting, as well as part of the dutch team for Eurovision 2017.

With this new team, S10 aims to continue the country’s qualification streak since 2016.

After the semifinals allocation draw, which was completed a couple of hours ago, we remind you that the Netherlands will appear in the first half of the first semifinal with S10. You can get a glimpse of the singer’s other work below:

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all news regarding the dutch participation in Eurovision 2022!

Source: AVROTROS

Eurovision 2022: Here are the results of the allocation draw!

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The Semi-Final Allocation Draw for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 took place in Palazzo Madama in Turin. Find out below in which of the 2 Semi-Finals your country will perform and vote in. The annual event was hosted by Carolina di Domenico and Mario Acampa.

The Semi-Final Allocation Draw and Host City Insignia Exchange are key milestones on the path to the Eurovision Song Contest each year.

During the ceremony, Ahmed Aboutaleb, Mayor of Rotterdam, passed on the Host City Insignia to Stefano Lo Russo, Mayor of Turin. The insignia key chain, weighing over 30 kilograms with the new addition of Rotterdam’s insignia, was handed over to Turin. The Italian city is now officially the Host City of the Eurovision Song Contest 2022.

Draw Procedure

The 36 countries competing in the semifinals were divided into six pots, based on the points they have exchanged in recent years. This is done in order to avoid, as much as possible, the alliances and bloc voting that appear every year in the voting.

Allocation Pots

Big 5

With the host Italy, directly in the final, along with the rest of the Big 5 (UK, France, Germany, Spain), the first part of the draw determined the semifinal that the direct finalists will vote.

Will vote in the 1st Semi-Final:

  • France
  • Italy

Will vote in the 2nd Semi-Final:

  • Spain
  • Germany
  • United Kingdom

Their performance in the dress rehearsal will be shown in the semifinals where the six aforementioned countries were drawn to broadcast and vote. This was done at Eurovision 2016 for the first time, for reasons of equal visibility of the countries that are directly in the final and the countries that compete in the semifinals. Essentially, viewers watch each entry twice during the shows.

Allocation Draw

The draw of the countries for the two semifinals had two parts. In the first part, the 36 countries that participate in the semifinals, were drawn in which of the two will compete. 18 countries will compete in both the first and the second semifinal.

In the second part each country found out if it will appear in the first or in the second half of the semifinal that will compete. The exact order of appearance will be determined by the EBU and the producers of the show at a later time.

First Semi-Final (10 May):

1st Half

  • Albania
  • Switzerland
  • Latvia
  • Slovenia
  • Moldova
  • Bulgaria
  • Ukraine
  • Lithuania
  • Netherlands

2nd Half

  • Norway
  • Russia
  • Portugal
  • Denmark
  • Armenia
  • Austria
  • Croatia
  • Iceland
  • Greece

Second Semi-Final (12 May):

1st Half

  • Australia
  • Georgia
  • Cyprus
  • Serbia
  • Finland
  • Azerbaijan
  • San Marino
  • Israel
  • Malta

2nd Half

  • Montenegro
  • Romania
  • Czech Republic
  • Poland
  • Belgium
  • North Macedonia
  • Sweden
  • Estonia
  • Ireland

Turin will host the 66th Eurovision Song Contest from May 10th to 14th at the Pala Alpitour. The motto of this year’s event, as chosen by the organizers, is “The Sound of Beauty”.

You can see the draw again through the following link:

 

 

 

Eurovision 2022: Pots and Participants of Semifinals Allocation Draw revealed!

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The semi-finals draw will take place on Tuesday 25 January at 12:00 CET, from the Palazzo Madama e Casaforte degli Acaja in Turin. At the same time there will be a ceremony of handing over the keys of the contest or as it is widely known, the Host City Insignia from the previous hosts Rotterdam to the Italian organizers.

The allocation draw will determine whether the countries will participate in the First Semifinal (Tuesday, May 10) or the Second Semifinal (Thursday, May 12). Also, again based on the draw it will be determined if they appear in the first or second half of the semifinal. We remind you that the exact order of appearance is announced later by the organizers and after it has first been approved by the EBU.

The draw will be presented by TV presenters Carolina di Domenico and Gabriele Corsi. Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb and Turin Mayor Stefano Lo Russo will be present.

Friends of the contest will be able to watch the draw on Eurovision’s YouTube channel or on Rai’s streaming service.

Semi-final draw: How does it work?

Italy, as the host country, together with the other 4 members of the so-called “Big 5” (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) do not compete in the Semifinals, but vote in one of them… so before the competing countries in Semifinals, it will be determined at random which of the Semifinals the Big 5 will be allowed to vote for.

The next part of the draw will determine in which Semifinal and in which half of the respective Semifinal the remaining 36 participating countries will appear.

The 36 countries of the semifinals are selected from 6 different pots:

Pot 1

  • Albania
  • Croatia
  • Montenegro
  • North Macedonia
  • Serbia
  • Slovenia

Pot 2

  • Denmark
  • Australia
  • Finland
  • Iceland
  • Norway
  • Sweden

Pot 3

  • Armenia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Georgia
  • Israel
  • Russia
  • Ukraine

Pot 4

  • Cyprus
  • Greece
  • Malta
  • Bulgaria
  • Portugal
  • San Marino

Pot 5

  • Estonia
  • Lithuania
  • Latvia
  • Moldova
  • Poland
  • Romania

Pot 6

  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Switzerland
  • Czech Republic
  • Ireland
  • Netherlands

Drawing countries from different pots helps to reduce the chance of so-called neighbourly voting and increases suspense in the Semi-Finals.

Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the 66th Eurovision Song Contest!

Eurovision 2022: Semi Final Allocation Draw to take place on January 25!

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One of the most important dates of the 66th Eurovision Song Contest was revealed a few hours ago, as the draw for the Eurovision 2022 semi-finals will take place on January 25th.

As revealed by the Montenegrin state radio, RTCG, in the context of the announcement of Vladana Vučinić as the representative of the Balkan country in Turin, the draw of the semi-finals will take place in exactly three weeks from today.

During the ceremony, the emblem of the event will be handed over from the city of Rotterdam to the Mayor of Turin. The draw will take place either at the Mole Antonelliana, the tallest building in Turin, or at the Palazzo Madama, which housed the first Senate of the Italian Kingdom.

The draw

The first part of the draw will determine the semi-final that will be broadcasted and voted by each of the five countries that are directly in the final (Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom).

The second part of the draw will determine in which semi-final and in which half the other 36 participating countries will compete. As in recent years, the exact order of appearance will be determined by the producers of the event at a later time.

The 36 countries will be distributed in five or six pots, based on historical voting patterns as calculated by the official television partner Digame. This separation is done in order to avoid the gathering of many neighboring countries in a semifinal that would significantly affect the final result.

We remind you that Eurovision 2022 will be held on May 10, 12 and 14 at the PalaOlimpico in the capital of Piedmont. Thus, Turin will become the third city in Italy where the Eurovision Song Contest will be held. The previous two were Naples in 1965 and Rome in 1991.

We remind you that the 66th Eurovision Song Contest will take place at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, on 10, 12 and 14 May 2022, with 41 participating countries.Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news related to the 66th Eurovision Song Contest!

The Netherlands: AVROTROS announced participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, with alt-pop artist S10!

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A few minutes ago, the Dutch national broadcaster AVROTROS announced that Stien den Hollander, known by the stage name S10, will represent The Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, with a Dutch song.

S10 appeared at a YouTube video, practically announcing her participation at the contest representing The Netherlands, to the masses of eurofans:

It gives me courage.
Music is for me the most important thing there is.
For anyone who’s experienced the lows,
or the highs.
For those who dance in front of the mirror,
or prefer to stay out of the light.
I am S10.
And I am performing on behalf of the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest.

You can watch the video below:

Who is S10?

S10, 21 years old, is currently one of the leading alt-pop and rap artists in The Netherlands. She signed her first record deal with Noah’s Ark label at the age of 17. Subsequently, she released her debut album named “Snowsniper” in 2019, leading her to winning an “Edison Award”, the most prestigious Dutch award.

A second album release named “Vlinders” followed, the year after, in 2020 and also a sold-out tour and multiple chart-topping singles.

S10 shares with her fans her most personal stories by spoken word, rapping and singing. For her, it is important that personal feelings and stories are conveyed to the public in her mother tongue. That means that she will sing in Dutch, as also announced by the Dutch broadcaster.

She has collaborations with some of the biggest names in The Netherlands, reaching millions of streams on all major music streaming platforms and earning fabulous reviews, from music critics.

S10 said of her selection:

Music is everything to me. I hope my music can bring something to other people’s lives, simply because it has done so much for me. Which is why I could almost explode with joy at the idea that I’ll be taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest this year. In front of such a massive audience, being able to do something that’s such an honour while representing the Netherlands… I think it’s absolutely wonderful.

Eric van Stade, general manager of AVROTROS, added on behalf of the selection comeetee:

S10’s song displays guts and authenticity. While normally we don’t reveal anything at this stage beyond the artist’s name, this time I dare to make an exception. S10 remains true to herself and her unique style. This means that, having selected English-language entries for the last 11 years, we’re now sending a Dutch song to the Eurovision Song Contest. We’re sticking our necks out with this choice, which the selection committee is behind unanimously. It promises to be another very special edition for the Netherlands.

More details will be revealed soon.

Below, you can find some of her already released songs:

What do you think of S10, as the Dutch selection? Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments related to the Dutch entry for Eurovision 2022!

Source/Photo: eurovision.tv

Eurovision 2022: 41 countries joining the 66th contest in Turin!

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Public broadcasters from 41 countries will take part in the Eurovision Song Contest when it returns to our screens next May.

Fans of the Contest will welcome back ARMTV from Armenia and RTCG from Montenegro, both taking to the stage for the first time since Tel Aviv in 2019.

It’s also a special year for Norwegian broadcaster NRK as they will be celebrating the selection of their 60th Eurovision entry during the Melodi Grand Prix grand final on Saturday 19 February.

We will also witness the 300th ‘Big Five’ performance – that’s a song from one of either France, Germany, Italy, Spain or United Kingdom.

Martin Österdahl, Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest, shared his thoughts on the line-up:

‘We are so excited that we once again have over 40 broadcasters competing to win the iconic Eurovision trophy in Turin next May.

The team from Rai are working hard on preparations to welcome all the delegations to a new Host City and ensuring the Eurovision Song Contest will provide the excitement and state-of-the-art spectacle expected by nearly 200 million viewers.’

On the announcement of the 41 participants, Simona Martorelli and Claudio Fasulo from Italian broadcaster Rai added:

‘After 31 years, Italy is proud to host the Eurovision Song Contest again! As Executive Producers, we are incredibly excited to set up this amazing event and welcome delegations from 41 nations to Turin next year.

Above all, we strongly believe the Eurovision Song Contest will allow us to showcase and share the beauty of Italy with a global audience via the elements that unite us all: music and harmony.’

The Italian city of Turin won the race to become the Host City of the 66th Eurovision Song Contest, setting Saturday 14 May as the date of the Grand Final, which will be held in PalaOlimpico along with two Semi-Finals on 10 and 12 May.

Source: Eurovision.tv

Eurovision 2021: No COVID-19 infection was detected in the first mass event tests in the Netherlands!

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Pilot mass tests in the Netherlands began a few weeks ago, of course under strict health protocols and safety measures. In this first test that involved a theatrical performance, with 500 spectators present, as announced today, there was no case of COVID-19 detected.

The news was happily published on social media by the executive producer of this year’s Eurovision song contest, Sietse Bakker. Of course, as he says, this means absolutely nothing, but it is a first optimistic step for the whole field of mass events and of course Eurovision 2021 itself.

The Dutch Ministry of Health, since last year, had announced the holding of a series of pilot mass events, in order to investigate whether there is a spread of coronavirus in these events, when they take place under specific safety measures of the attendees.

The first pilot test took place in a theatrical performance, which was attended by 500 spectators. Of course as you will see in the photos that follow, everyone wore masks etc.

Of course, as Sietse Bakker rightly states in his post, although the above is a very positive development, it is the first step for holding mass events during the pandemic, and of course this also concerns the Eurovision song contest.

The Dutch will continue the pilot events until mid-March and any conclusions will be used and evaluated, in the decision of the government and the organizers, in the presence or absence of the public in May, at the Ahoy Arena.

The Test Schedule:

February 28: football match (1500 spectators)
March 6: dance event at Ziggo Dome (1300 attendees)
March 7: concert at the Ziggo Dome (1300 spectators)
March 13: dance festival (1500 attendees)
March 14: pop festival (1500 attendees)

In early March, the EBU and the Dutch organizers will announce the scenario according to which the 65th Eurovision Song Contest will be held. In other words, we will know if the artists will compete live on stage or through the recorded live on tape videos. Any decisions regarding the presence of the public will be taken later, specifically until April 15.

The course of the pandemic in the Netherlands, but also the latest news from these pilot trials at mass events, leave many smiles of optimism, for a contest, which at least in terms of artists, it will be with them competing and singing on stage and not through videos.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news related to the Eurovision 2021 song contest!

Eurovision 2021: Tomorrow the announcement of the scenario according to which the contest will take place!

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In the news program of the Dutch public television, Niewsuur, it was recently announced that tomorrow, Wednesday, February 3, the scenario will be announced, according to which the 65th Eurovision Song Contest will take place, on May 18, 20 and 22! Read more

Eurovision 2021: Sietse Bakker “reveals” how the contest will be held | Will there be any audience?

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A literally last minute news. In a recent TV interview in the Netherlands, the executive producer of Eurovision 2021, Sietse Bakker, essentially reveals how the contest will take place.

According to Sietse Bakker, the primary concern of the organizers is to bring all the artists and delegations to Rotterdam in May.

Our priority is to bring all artists and expeditions to the Netherlands. If there is no other option, then the contest should be held without an audience.

Sietse Bakker, however, did not rule out the possibility of seeing the audience on the stands of the Ahoy Arena, he simply shifted the decisions for the presence or not of the audience in the arena for April!

Let’s postpone the decisions for the audience for later. Until mid-April.

Once again, the executive producer of Eurovision 2021 stated that the announcement of the scenario based on which the 65th Eurovision Song Contest will take place, will take place by mid-February.

The above means that the worst case scenario currently being considered is C, with the live presence of all the artists who can travel to Rotterdam and the absence of the audience. Apparently we will be late to find out if we finally see the colorful mosaic of fans in May at the Ahoy Arena.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments related to our favorite contest!

Edsilia Rombley: “The Eurovision Song Contest will not take place in its original form”!

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Edsilia Rombley, who has represented the Netherlands twice in the contest (1998, 2007) and is one of the hosts of Eurovision 2021, said a little earlier in a radio interview on NPO Radio 1 that the upcoming event will not take place in its traditional form, thus confirming that a full Ahoy is no longer among the options being considered by the organizers. Read more