Serbia: Interview with Boris Subotić from Pesma Za Evroviziju 2022!

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After the announcement of his participation in this year’s Serbian national final, Pesma Za Evroviziju 2022, Boris Subotić talks exclusively to EurovisionFun and Konstantinos Thermos.

Boris Subotić is participating in the national final with the song “Vrati mi” (Give me back) and is one of the 36 nominated artists who will compete on 3, 4 and 5 March for the ticket to represent Serbia in Turin in May.

– Boris, it is a great pleasure for us that you accepted our proposal and we thank you for that! First of all we would like to ask you, why Pesma Za Evroviziju? Why Eurovision? And why now? What made you take this decision and is it, perhaps, something you have wanted for a long time?

– Eurovision has been my biggest wish for a long time, so I knew that sooner or later I would apply for the selection of the representative. I waited a long time for this, because I thought I had to grow up enough to be able to take on this project. My main partner, Miloš Marković, suggested that we apply, I agreed and here I am!

– You have participated in several music competitions, including the national final to represent Serbia in Junior Eurovision. Would you say that your previous experience will help you have less stress during the competition?

– Since I was exposed to similar competitions as a child, I think I am ready to meet the pace such a competition requires. As for the stress, I think this time I will have the most!

– We know that you have written “Vrati Mi” yourself. What is the message of your song and what inspired you to write it?

– I want to let the audience find their own meaning and message in the song. The song is a reflection of myself from the first verse to the last. For the first time I am totally presenting myself the way I want to and the way I think I should!

 

Δείτε αυτή τη δημοσίευση στο Instagram.

 

Η δημοσίευση κοινοποιήθηκε από το χρήστη Boris Subotić (@borisubotic)

– Since your candidacy was officially announced, what was the best comment you have heard about yourself? And correspondingly, has there been anything you’ve heard that you think is wrong or unfair towards you?

– Being a used to exposure, because of my past experiences, I try not to dwell too much on people’s comments. However, I have to admit that I have received a lot of positive feedback, which makes me incredibly happy!

– Do you have any thoughts about your stage presentation in the national final, and if so, could you share something with us?

– I can’t reveal anything at the moment, but the stage presence will definitely follow the song and me as a performer closely!

– Were you a fan of the contest from before? What’s your favorite entry?

– Considering that I am someone who is not overly involved in sports and competitions, I can say that Eurovision is the only contest that I follow closely every year! My favourite song, apart from my country’s entries, is definitely “Don’t come easy” sung by Isaiah in 2017.

 

Δείτε αυτή τη δημοσίευση στο Instagram.

 

Η δημοσίευση κοινοποιήθηκε από το χρήστη Boris Subotić (@borisubotic)

– Have you listened to any of this year’s already selected songs or any of the songs from the other national finals, and if so, which ones did you like the most?

– Honestly, right now my life is just focused on my performance and song, so I can’t say I’ve listened to or watched anything this year, but as soon as I get some free time I’ll definitely listen to everything!

– Is there anything you would like to share with those who read this interview?

– I would like to invite people to listen to ¨Vrati mi¨ and if they like it, even half as much as I do, to be by my side on this journey!

At this point we would like to thank Boris Subotić once again for the interview and wish him all the best!

 

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the latest news regarding Serbia’s participation in Eurovision 2022!

 

Mahmood & Blanco will represent Italy at Eurovision 2022!

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After the end of the Sanremo 2022 in which were crowned winners, Mahmood & Blanco officially said yes to the representation of Italy at Eurovision 2022 in Turin!

During the press conference after the victory of the duo, the official announcement was made by Mahmood:

I am happy that Eurovision will take place in Turin, we will see you in Turin!

Asked if the song would remain in Italian or if it would be sung in English, Blanco initially said it would remain in Italian, but later said:

We want to bring Italian music abroad, we still do not know, we will see…

https://twitter.com/EurovisionRai/status/1490143884944543751?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1490143884944543751%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Feurovisionfun.com%2F2022%2F02%2FCEB9CF84CEB1CEBBCEAFCEB1-CEBCCEB5-CF84CEBFCF85CF82-mahmood-blanco-CF83CF84CEB7-eurovision-2022%2F

Mahmood said he did not dedicate much of the song to somewhere, while Blanco said they worked hard to get this track out, as it should be for all beautiful things.

Italy as the host country and member of the Big 5 competes directly in the final of Eurovision 2022. We will have the opportunity to see the song live for the first time during the first semifinal of Eurovision on May 10!

Listen to the song that will represent Italy at Eurovision 2022:

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news about Italy’s participation in the Contest!

Italy: Mahmood & Blanco are the winners of Sanremo 2022!

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The 72nd Sanremo Festival has just come to an end. After five very successful nights in terms of viewership and more, the Festival concluded tonight with its grand final, crowning Mahmood & Blanco winners with the song “Brividi”.

The show

On the Ariston scene, Amadeus wasn’t alone. Each night, as we know, he had different co-hosts by his side. Sabrina Ferilli, one of the most famous actresses of Italian television and Italian cinema, was next to him on the night of the final.

The Campioni

We remind you that the 25 artists competing in this year’s Sanremo were the following (in order in which they performed tonight):

The voting

There were two rounds of voting tonight. In the first round, only the television audience had the right to vote. The ranking of the audience was taken into account and was combined with the scores of the previous nights.

Then, positions 25 -4 were unveiled. Positions 25-4 were as follows:

4. Irama

5. Sangiovanni

6. Emma

7. La rappresentante di Lista

8. Massimo Ranieri

9. Dargen D’Amico

10. Michele Bravi

11. Matteo Romano

12. Fabrizio Moro

13. Aka 7even

14. Achille Lauro feat. Harlem Gospel Choir

15. Noemi

16. Ditonellapiaga & Rettore

17. Rkomi

18. Iva Zanicchi

19. Giovanni Truppi

20. Highsnob & Hu

21. Yuman

22. Le Vibrazioni

23. Giusy Ferreri

24. Ana Mena

25. Tananai

The top three in the ranking, without their exact placing being revealed, advanced to the second round of voting. The artists that made it into the top 3, in no particular order, were the following:

  • Mahmood & Blanco
  • Gianni Morandi
  • Elisa

In the second round, all previous voting for the top 3 artists from the previous nights and rankings were canceled. The televote (34%), the journalists (33%) and the demoscopic jury (33%) voted among the top 3 from scratch, in order to determine the winner. The results after the second round, the final ones, were the following:

  1. Mahmood & Blanco – WINNERS
  2. Elisa
  3. Gianni Morandi

Mahmood & Blanco were, therefore, crowned winners of the 72nd Sanremo edition! In the winner’s press conference that followed, they confirmed they’ve accepted to represent Italy in Eurovision on home soil in Turin this May!

The awards

In addition to the grand prize of the winner of Sanremo, additional awards are given every year. This year’s winners are the following:

Mia Martini Award (jury): Massimo Ranieri
Sergio Bardotti Award (best lyrics): Fabrizio Moro
Lucio Dalla Award (journalist jury): Gianni Morandi
Giancarlo Bigazzi Award (best composition, voted by the orchestra): Elisa

What do you think of the results? Do you agree with the final ranking? Tell us in the comments!

Israel: Michael Ben David is representing Israel to Eurovision 2022!

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It’s time for Israel to choose their representative for Eurovision 2022 tonight, as the grand final of the X Factor Israel is taking place.

Inbal Bibi, Michael Ben David, Eli Huli and Sapir Saban fought to represent Israel at the 66th Eurovision Song Contest this May in Turin. The big winner was Michael Ben David!

In the show the day before yesterday, the four finalists performed two songs each, with the voting determining the song with which each of them will claim the ticket for the 66th Eurovision Song Contest.

The songs

We listened to four songs in tonight’s grand final. These songs were the following:

  • Inbal Bibi – Marionette
  • Michael Ben David – I.M 
  • Eli Huli – Blinded Dreamers
  • Sapir Saban – Breaking My Own Walls

Method of selection

Tonight’s grand final of X Factor Israel will be held in two rounds. In the first round, the four finalists will perform a cover. The artist who receives the lowest score was excluded from the continuation of the final. In the second round, the three remaining artists perofrmed their entries.

The final result was determined 25% by the jury of the show (Netta Barzilai, Aviv Geffen, Margalit Tzan’ani, Ran Danker, Miri Mesika), 25% by an international jury and 50% by the Israeli viewers.

The results

In the first round, the artist who receives the lowest score was Sapir Saban.

The winner of X factor and the next artist to represent Israel in Eurovision Song Contest in Italy is Michael Ben David, with the song “I.M”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqu3-CHeOWM

Stay tuned in Eurovisionfun for all news regarding Israel at Eurovision 2022.

Latvia: The 10 qualifiers for the Grand Final!

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Tonight the semi-final of Latvia’s national final, Supernova 2022, was completed successfully and the finalists for the grand finale broadcasted by LTV1 were decided.

A total of seventeen candidates competed in the semi-final, claiming ten or eleven places for Saturday’s grand final. Presenters of the evening were Ketija Šēnberga and Lauris Reiniks.

The candidates

The seven candidates of the night were the following:

  1. Citi Zēni – “Eat Your Salad“
  2. Miks Dukurs – “First Love“
  3. Linda Rušeniece – “Pay My Own Bills“
  4. Elīna Gluzunova – “Es pabiju tur“
  5. Raum – “Plans“
  6. Patriks Peterson – “Can’t Get You Outta My Head“
  7. Mēs Jūs Mīlam – “Rich Itch“
  8. Katō – “Promises“
  9. Miks Galvanovskis – “I’m Just a Sinner“
  10. Markus Riva – “If You’re Gonna Love Me“
  11. The Coco’nuts – “In and Out of the Dark“
  12. Aminata* – “I’m Letting You Go“
  13. Bermudu Divstūris – “Bad“
  14. Beatrise Heislere – “On the Way Home“
  15. Zelma – “How“
  16. Bujāns – “He, She, You & Me“
  17. Inspo – “A Happy Place“

*Aminata didn’t get to perform her song live on stage as she tested positive for COVID-19. Instead, the singer performed “I’m Letting You Go” remotely.

50% of the results in the two shows (semifinals and a final) comes from the jury, while the other 50% from the audience.

The results

The 10 qualifiers for the Grand Final of Supernova 2022 are:

  • Inspo – “A Happy Place”
  • Aminata – “I’m Letting You Go”
  • Linda Rušeniece – “Pay My Own Bills”
  • Mēs Jūs Mīlam – “Rich Itch”
  • Citi Zēni – “Eat Your Salad”
  • Bermudu Divstūris – “Bad”
  • Elīna Gluzunova – “Es pabiju tur”
  • Bujāns – “He, She, You & Me”
  • Miks Galvanovskis – “I’m Just A Sinner”
  • Raum – “Plans”

What are your thoughts on today’s results? Tell us in the comments!

Iceland: Listen to the entries of Söngvakeppnin 2022!

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After a short break in 2021, when Dadi Freyr was internally selected to represent Iceland, Söngvakeppnin returns to select the country’s entry for Eurovision 2022.

Iceland’s broadcaster, RUV, officially announced the 10 entries selected to compete in the semifinals of Söngvakeppnin 2022 tomorrow.

The competing artists and entries in Söngvakeppnin 2022 are :

1st Semi Final :

  1. Amarosis – “Don’t you know”
  2. Stefán Óli – “Ljósið” (The light)/ “All I know”
  3. Haffi Haff – “Gía” / “Volcano”
  4. Stefanía Svavarsdóttir – “Hjartað mitt” (My heart) / “Heart of mine”
  5. Sigga, Beta & Elín – “Með hækkandi sól” (With the rising sun)

2nd Semi Final :

  1. Hanna Mia and the Astrotourists – “Séns með þér” (See you soon) / “Gemini”
  2. Katla – “Þaðan af” (From there) / “Then again”
  3. Markéta Irglová – “Mögulegt” (Possible) / “Possible”
  4. Reykjavikurdaetur – “Tökum af stað” (Let’s get started) / “Turn this around”
  5. Suncity and Sanna – “Hækkum í botn” (Let’s go to the bottom) / “Keep it cool”

You can listen to all of the songs here

As usual, all the candidates will sing their songs in Icelandic in the semifinals, while in the final they have the option to perform the English versions.

The 2 semifinals will be held on February 26 and March 5. From each semifinal 2 out of 5 contestants will qualify for the final, which will take place on March 12. The jury can choose one of the 6 artists who were eliminated to compete in the final as a wildcard.

The final will consist of 2 rounds. In the first round, the audience and the jury will choose which 2 acts will advance to the Super Final, where the winner will be determined exclusively by the televoters.

Söngvakeppnin 2022 will be presented by Björg Magnúsdóttir, Jón Jónsson and Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir.

In 2021 Iceland was represented by Dadi Freyr with his band and the song “10 years” and finished 4th with 378 points, the best result of the country since 2009.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSMhu-PrLME

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news concerning Iceland in the competition!

Lithuania: Results of the second semifinal of Pabandom iš naujo

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The second semifinal of  Pabandom iš naujo 2022 took place today, which saw the last 9 semifinalists compete for the right to represent Lithuania at Eurovision 2022. 

In each semifinal 4 songs will qualify for the final. The 4 finalists were determined by 50% jury voting and 50% public voting.

The presenters of tonights show were Giedrius Masalskis, Ieva Stasiulevičiūtė and Richardas Jonaitis.

Tonights running order was:

• Mary Mo – “Get Up”

Second semi-final of the national "Eurovision" selection "Let's try again!", Mary Mo.

• Vilija – “101”

The second semi-final of the national "Eurovision" selection "Let's try again!", Vilija

• Urtė Šilagalytė – “Running Chords”

Second semi-final of the national "Eurovision" selection "Let's try again!", Urtė Šilagalytė

• Ieva Zasimauskaitė – “I’ll Be There”

Second semi-final of the national "Eurovision" selection "Let's try again!", Ieva Zasimauskaitė

• Augustė Vedrickaitė – “Before You’re 6ft Under”

Second semi-final of the national "Eurovision" selection "Let's try again!", Augustė Vedrickaitė

• Rūta Loop – “Call Me from the Cold”

Second semi-final of the national "Eurovision" selection "Let's try again!", Rūta Loop

• Titas and Benas – “Getting Through This”

Second semi-final of the national "Eurovision" selection "Let's try again!", Titus and Ben

• Monika Liu – “Sentimentai”

Second semi-final of the national "Eurovision" selection "Let's try again!", Monika Liu

• Moosu X – “Love That Hurts”

Second semi-final of the national "Eurovision" selection "Let's try again!", "Moosu X"

The jurors who make up 50% of the result. These were revealed during the show are:

• Ramūnas Zilnys
• Gerūta Griniūtė
• Vytautas Bikus
• Ieva Narkutė
• Stanislavas Stavickis-Stano

Tonights 4 finalists are:

1st – Monika Liu – “Sentimentai” (24 points)

2nd – Augustė Vedrickaitė – “Before You’re 6ft Under” (18 points)

3rd – Rūta Loop – “Call Me from the Cold” (14 points)

4th – Ieva Zasimauskaitė – “I’ll Be There” (13 points)

Monika Liu with the song “Sentimentai” was the winner of the second semifinal, placing 1st with both the jury and the televote.

Jury Result:

Televote Result:

Overall result:

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding Lithuania’s participation in Eurovision 2022!

Slovenia: Results of the first semi-final of EMA 2022!

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Slovenia continues searching for a representative for Eurovision 2022! The first semi-final of EMA 2022 was completed a few minutes ago, with six contestants advancing to the next stage of the grand final.

The presenters of the evening were Melani Mekicar and Bojan Cvjetićanin.

The artists who competed on the first semi-final were:

  1. July Jones – “Girls Can Do Anything“
  2. David Amaro – “Še vedno si lepa“
  3. Le Serpentine – “Tud teb se lahk zgodi“
  4. Bowrain and Brina – “Čas je“
  5. Luma – “All In“
  6. Stela Sofia – “Tu in zdaj“
  7. Jonatan Haller – “Obzorje“
  8. Batista Cadillac – “Mim pravil“
  9. Zala Smolnikar – “V ogledalu“
  10. Manouche – “Si sama?“

The results:

Three qualifiers were selected by a special jury and three were chosen by the audience through a telephone vote.

The artists that made it to the final are:
  • Batista Cadillac
  • July Jones
  • Manouche
  • David Amaro
  • Stela Sofia
  • Luma

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding Slovenia’s participation in Eurovision 2022!

Sweden: Cornelia Jakobs and Robin Bengtsson are the two direct finalists of the first semi-final of Melodifestivalen 2022!

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A while ago, Melodifestivalen 2022, probably your favourite national selection process of the entire list of participating countries in the Eurovision Song Contest, started off with its first semi-final show.

The show

Oscar Zia was the host of the night and as we already know, all the shows for the national selection procedure of the Swedish representative for this year’s contest in Turin will take place exclusively in Stockholm. The first semi-final took place at The Avicii Arena, one of Stockholm’s most iconic buildings which is also the largest spherical building in the world.

The first semi-final performers

  • Malou Prytz – “Bananas”

  • Theoz – “Som du vill”

  • Shirley Clamp – “Let There Be Angels”

  • Omar Rudberg – “Moving Like That”

  • Danne Stråhed – “Hallabaloo”

  • Cornelia Jakobs – “Hold Me Closer”

Cornelia Jakobs

  • Robin Bengtsson – “Innocent Love”

The new voting system

There will be two voting rounds. In each round, each viewer gets to vote five times at the most (five hearts). From this year an on, after all seven performances in each semi-final, SVT will announce the artist that received the most overall votes, both through the app and by phone, irrespective of the viewer age-bands.

The remaining six contestants, move on to the second voting round. The voters can then give each of the remaining songs five hearts at the most, same way like the first voting round. At the second voting round, the votes received during the first voting round also count against the total of votes received.

The results of the second voting round are determined by the system of the eight age-bands: 3–9 years old, 10–15years old, 16–29 years old, 30–44 years old, 45–59 years old, 60–74 years old, over 75, as well as the televotes.

All in all, we will have two direct qualifiers, one determined from the first voting round and one from the second voting round and also two qualifiers for the fifth semi-final, also from the second voting round.

The results

First voting round

  • First voting round winner: Cornelia Jakobs with the song “Hold Me Closer“

Second voting round

Due to some technical issues, Oscar informed us that the viewers will not be able to vote from the Melodifestivalen dedicated smartphone app and the winners of both voting rounds will be determined by the televotes, solely.

  • The two qualifiers to the fifth semi-final are: Danne Stråhed with the song “Hallabaloo“ and THEOZ with the song “Som Du Vill“

The verdict

The two direct qualifiers are Cornelia Jakobs with the song “Hold Me Closer” and Robin Bengtsson with the song “Innocent Love” and we will get to see them perform their songs live, on the 12th of March, when the finals will take place at Friends Arena. Starting from 2022, there will not be a winning performance of the two finalists anymore, as the TV time now fills up with the announcement of the results.

Those that qualified to the fifth semi-final, that replaced the second chance show in the new format of Melodifestivalen, were Danne Stråhed with the song “Hallabaloo”  and THEOZ with the song “Som Du Vill“.

Sadly Malou Prytz, Omar Rudberg and Shirley Clamp didn’t manage to qualify to either the fifth semi-final or the finals of Melodifestivalen.

See you next Saturday, after the second-semi final, when you will have the chance to be informed in detail about the results, as soon as they are announced on TV!

Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun, for all the latest developments regarding Sweden’s entry for Eurovision 2022!

Norway: Results of MGP 2022 Fourth Semi-Final!!

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The fourth semi-final of  Melodi Grand Prix 2022 was broadcast tonight at 19:50 CET. Four artists competed for the one ticket that leads directly to the Grand Final of 19th of February 2022. We also had the chance to enjoy the performance of the pre-qualified entry “Give That Wolf a Banana”  by Subwoolfer. 

The hosts of the show were Kåre Magnus Bergh, Annika Momrak, Mikkel Niva.

The four artist competed in the fourth semi-final tonight were:

  1. Maria Mohn – “Fly”
  2. Alexandra Joner – “Hasta la vista”
  3. Kim Wigaard – “La Melodia”
  4. Sofie Fjellvang – “Made Of Glass”

Those aforementioned candidates have been divided into two duels, the winners of these will compete for the ticket to the final. The duels are:

  1. Maria Mohn – “Fly” VS Alexandra Joner – “Hasta la vista”
  2. Kim Wigaard – “La Melodia” VS Sofie Fjellvang – “Made Of Glass”

The betting odds before the show looked as follows:

The winner of the first duel (Maria Mohn – “Fly” VS Alexandra Joner – “Hasta la vista”) was:

Maria Mohn – “Fly”

The winner of the second duel (Kim Wigaard – “La Melodia” VS Sofie Fjellvang – “Made Of Glass”) was:

Sofie Fjellvang – “Made Of Glass”

Later on the show we had the chance to listen live to the automatic finalist Subwoolfer and their entry “Give That Wolf a Banana”

Maria Mohn and Sofie Fjellvang once again performed their entries in this final duel.

Maria Mohn – “Fly” vs Sofie Fjellvang – “Made Of Glass”

After this battle the fourth qualifier of MGP 2022 was Sofie Fjellvang with the song “Made of Glass.

 

The next show is going to be the 1st part of the Last Chance round which is scheduled to take place on 7th of February at 19:50 CET! You can watch MGP 2022 by clicking here.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun, for all the news regarding the Norway’s participation at Eurovision Song Contest 2022!