Eurovision 2020: The whole creative team of the contest just announced|No Swedish after years

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Dutch Public Broadcaster, which has taken over Eurovision 2020, has announced the entire creative team for the contest. For the first time in many years there is no Swedish man, most notably the absence of Christer Bjorkman, who will next year be in the role of head of the Swedish delegation.

The only non-Dutch person on the creative team is set designer Florian Wieder, but he was selected by competition. The other members of the creative team are:

Sietse Bakker – Head of the show

As the show’s leader, Sietse Bakker is essentially and creatively responsible for the three live shows to be broadcasted from Rotterdam Ahoy. Together with the creative team, he is responsible for the content of all broadcasts. In addition, Bakker manages the presenters and writes the script and full execution instructions for the three shows. Previously, Bakker has led countless creative television shows.

Image result for Sietse Bakker

Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen – Head of Contest

As the Head of Contest, Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen is ultimately responsible for the competition between the 41 participating countries, which is being held in two semifinals and one final. Together with the directors and the contest team, it is his duty to present all entries in the best possible way on the big Eurovision stage in Ahoy. Since the beginning of the selection season, he has kept in touch with the various agencies and will process their creative wishes in live performances.

Image result for Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen

Eric van Tijn – Music Director

Eric van Tijn has been recruited to compose the music for three live performances. It will not only make the single sound for the Eurovision 2020 song contest release, it will also give musical direction to the special actions created for the shows. Eric van Tijn is no stranger to the Eurovision song contest as he was the composer of the Dutch entry in 2007 with Edsilia Rombley.

Image result for Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen eurovision

Gerald van Windt and Natasja Lammers – Choreographers

Gerald van Windt and Natasja Lammers have been hired as choreographers for the Eurovision 2020 song contest. They are both familiar with the Eurovision contest. Van Windt, for example, collaborated with Edsilia Rombley on the Eurovision stage and Lammers choreographed O’G3NE.

Image result for Gerald van Windt andImage result for Natasja Lammers

So,the whole creative team For Eurovision 2020 is formed as follows:

  • Eric van Tijn– Musical Director 
  • Gerald van Windt – Choreographer
  • Natasja Lammers–  Choreographer
  • Gerben Bakker-Head of Show 
  • Twan van Nieuwenhuijzen–Head of Contest
  • Marnix Kaart–  Show Director
  • Marc Pos– Show Director

The Eurovision 2020 song contest is taking place in Rotterdam. The semifinals will take place on Tuesday, May 12 and Thursday, May 14, with the final taking place on Saturday, May 16, live in Ahoy. Ticket sales are expected to start before the Christmas holidays. The organization of the Eurovision 2020 Song Contest in the Netherlands is a collaboration between NPO, NOS and AVROTROS, in co-production with EBU.

Πηγή: NPO

Austria: With Vincent Bueno at Eurovision 2020?

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The rumor in recent days for the Austrian representative at Eurovision 2020 is intensifying. The name that ultimately seems to be chosen is that of Vincent Bueno, 34, originally from the Philippines. The announcement, according to the latest reports, will take place on Thursday 5 December.

Vincent started his music career very early. At the age of 4 he began vocal and piano lessons. He has participated in various competitions and talent shows. Apart from his country of residence, Austria is well known and loved and in his country of origin, the Philippines.

In 2016,he participated in the Austrian national final with the song you can see in the video below. In recent years he has been musically supporting R’n’B. His favorite artists are Justin Timberlake and Bruno Mars.

France: Direct assignment should not be considered as given

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Last week, French media reported that the country would choose its next representative in the Eurovision song contest. This meant that Destination Eurovision was not going to take place a third time. Ultimately, this seems to be a misunderstanding of the term “direct assignment”, since France 2 has not yet decided on Bilal’s successor, not even ruling out a national final with 3 or 4 candidates.

French television already receives songs for Eurovision 2020 but with the significant difference that for the first time since 2004 it has received entries from foreign composers as well. What is expected is that they will either become a national final with 3 or 4 candidates or will be selected by direct assignment, as was the case in 2016 and 2017 with positive results.

Bilal Hassani was the winner of the last Destination Eurovision and France’s representative at Eurovision 2019. He performed “Roi” on the stage of Tel Aviv and took 16th place with 105 points.

 

Cyprus: Sandro Nicolas’ first TV interview

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Cyprus’s representative for the upcoming Eurovision 2020 song contest, Sandro Nicolas, has been in Cyprus since Saturday, and this afternoon he made his first tv appearance, after his official announcement, at the Happy Hour show with central presenter Andreas Yortzi.

Η εικόνα ίσως περιέχει: 2 άτομα, , τα οποία χαμογελούν, άτομα κάθονται, οθόνη, πίνακας και εσωτερικός χώρος

“It is my honor to represent Cyprus… It is fantastic, it is a dream for me. […] After The Voice (Germany) I had dreams of going to Eurovision, I didn’t know, but I said that was the next step”

Asked by the presenter if he worries that the Eurovision stage is bigger than the stages shown so far, he replied that:

“Yes it makes me anxious. (laughs) Yes but for me it will be fun, it will be a great experience, and it is my honor to represent Cyprus. It’s a dream to sing to so many millions. It’s a great time for me”

But what was his reaction when he was offered to represent Cyprus?

“I was very happy that… I think Elias (Kokotos) told me that Cyprus wants me. I didn’t believe it at all. I was speechless. […] I am very happy to represent Cyprus, people have loved me since the first time I set foot here”

Η εικόνα ίσως περιέχει: 1 άτομο, χαμογελάει, κάθεται και εσωτερικός χώρος

About IEurovision and whether he likes it or not, Sandro replied:

“I’m not a big Eurovision fan, but I watch it. I really liked Eleni Foureira and Tamta. I was a big fan of “Fuego”, because it was very much played on German radios. […] Eleni did a great job, and Tamta as well. But I wasn’t so much into things about Eurovision, I loved it, but I wasn’t so much into things.

As for the song, he is not so interested in the genre of the song, but in how much it touches the audience and wants always his music to be true and sincere.

Η εικόνα ίσως περιέχει: ένα ή περισσότερα άτομα, άτομα κάθονται και εσωτερικός χώρος

What is the message which gives to Cypriot friends of the contest?

“I promise to give my all. It is my honor to represent the Cyprus flag, and I want to do my best. The most important thing is to stay true to myself and to the world, to be authentic on stage. I’m not good at pretending otherwise. I will definitely sing a song that is sincere and will touch the heart of the world. This is the music at the end of the day. But I promise we will break!

I promise to be myself and show the world my music and give everything. I will try to sing as if this is my last day on this planet. My appearance will definitely be the most important interpretation of my life. At the end of the day, what matters is to have fun and enjoy it. It is my honor to represent this country and this world”

You can watch the entire interview below:

Source / Images: Happy Hour With Andrea Giorgios / CYBC: Eurovision Cyprus

Czech Republic: Candidate songs for Eurovision 2020 fell off

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In a recent statement, Czech Public Television (ČT) announced once again changes to its selection for Eurovision 2020.

Specifically, the number of artists, for the online form of the competition that will bring the Czech representative to Rotterdam, has been reduced from eight to seven.

ČT has not announced the reason for the withdrawal of the eighth entry, but it is suspected that it is due to the fact that the live national final has been converted to an internet one, as in the last two years.

The dates for the Eurovision Song CZ 2020 online national final are:

-06.01.2020 Press conference and announcement of the eight finalists
-13.01.2020 Release songs and start voting
-26.01.2020 End of voting and announcement of winner within a week

In Tel Aviv the Czech Republic was represented by Lake Malawi with the song “A Friend Of A Friend”, which took the eleventh position with 157 points. It was the second best place in the Czech Republic after Mikolas Josef’s sixth place in 2018.

Belgium: Hooverphonic to Thessaloniki,Greece for a unique night

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Hooverphonic, the band that will represent Belgium at Eurovision 2020, are returning to Thessaloniki after many years for a unique night full of successes loved by the Greek public on Friday 13 December at Fix Factory Of Sound.

The Belgian band has had a special place in our hearts ever since it first appeared on European music, with more recent proof of their excellent appearance at Release Athens festival last June.

Responsible for some of the most wonderful tunes we’ve heard in the last 25 years, Alex Callier and Raymond Geerts have managed to combine elements of alternative rock, electro-pop, trip-hop, dream-pop with a romantic cinema aesthetics.

At the same time, their big gun is a young singer, 18-year-old Luka Cruysberghs. With tremendous vocal abilities, she managed to color their sound instantly, ideally rendering both new and old band material, which we saw in the summer.

Who are the Hooverphonic?

Hooverphonic is a Belgian band formed in October 1995. The band was originally called Hoover, but later changed its name to Hooverphonic after discovering that other bands were already using the Hoover name.

On October 10, 2008, Geike Arnaert, the band’s lead singer, announced that she would leave the band by the end of the year to pursue her solo career. Hooverphonic’s last concert with Geike took place on December 13, 2008 at Tele-Club in Russia.

On October 29, 2010, Hooverphonic announced the release of their new single, as well as their new lead singer, Noemie Wolfs. On March 26, 2015, Hooverphonic announced that Noémie Wolfs would leave the band “by mutual agreement”. In April 2018, Hooverphonic introduced their new singer, Luka Cruysberghs.

Source: viva.gr

Eurovision 2020: The spectacular stage to be revealed

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The organizers of Eurovision 2020, through the official website of the competition, have revealed the first images of the stage and are truly impressive.

The stage is quite minimal and is inspired by the competition’s slogan, “Open Up”, as well as the typical level Dutch landscape. One major difference from last year is that the green room comes back in the arena.

The stage designer Florian Wieder won the stage’s creative competition, which featured both Dutch and foreign designers.

“The design shows the relationship between the sky, the sea and the earth. The skyline connects these elements and the skyline will act as a window to open the world of Eurovision 2020. The bottom of the stage is inspired by the canals and bridges connecting land and water in the Netherlands. With this design, we want to bring the artists as close as possible to the audience”

This will be the fourth stage planned by Florian Wieder, since he was responsible for the set design in all three previous contests. Earlier in his career, the German designer designed the stage for several editions of the MTV awards, the Emmy awards and various major international television shows. The stage for the upcoming Eurovision song contest will begin to be built at the Ahoy Arena of Rotterdam in the first weeks of April 2020.

Source: eurovision.tv

 

Georgia: Results of Georgian Idol’s third Live Show | Tornike Kipiani again first

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We had another exclusion at “Georgian Idol”‘s third Live Show, where there are now seven contenders claiming victory and at the same time Georgia’s representation at Eurovision 2020. For the second consecutive week, Tornike Kipiani, who seem to be the favourite for victory, was on top.

The eight contestants who continue on Georgian Idol after last week’s Second Live, performed live once again in front of a television audience voting for the candidate they like, via telephone and facebook messenger.

The two contestants who got the lowest percentage of the vote were Nika Kalandadze and Mariam Gogiberidze, with the first finally leaving.

At the third Georgian Idol Live Show, the candidates were asked to perform well-known Georgian songs. Below you can watch their performances:

1.) Tornike Kipiani – “Artificial Love” – 21.17%

2.) Barbara Samkharadze – “Lale” – 14.75%

3.) Tamar Kakalashvili – “Once in the street” – 14.64%

4.) Anri Guchmanidze – “Will Come Out Tomorrow” – 10.01%

5.) Davit Rusadze – “I don’t sleep” (10.01%)

6.) Mariam Shengelia – “Only for You” – 9.98%

7.) Mariam Gogiberidze – “Fall Asleep in the Sunlight” – 9.91%

8.) Nika Kalandadze – “The wind blows again” – 9.53%

Unlike this year where Georgian Idol selected both the artist and the song that represented Georgia at the Eurovision Contest, for 2020 only the artist will be selected through the popular talent show, since the song will be followed by internal selection.

We remind you that the four jury members who oversaw the three-episode phase of the auditions and will guide the ten finalists in their lives are:

–Natia Todua, a singer who has made a significant career in Germany after her win at The Voice of Germany in 2016.
–Tinatin Berdzenishvili, GPB Deputy General Manager and Head of Delegation of Georgia to the Eurovision Contest.
–David Evgenidze, composer. He was the head of the jury for the country’s participation in Junior Eurovision 2019. He will oversee the selection of the song for Eurovision 2020.
–David Aladashvili, pianist.

This year, Oto Nemsadze won the Georgian Idol and with “Keep on Going” represented Georgia in Tel Aviv, taking 14th place in the first semifinal. As he said, shortly after the end of the contest, his song had a political message and was directed against Russia and its politics in his country.

France: Good bye “Eurovision destination”

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The French public broadcaster, France Televisions, confirmed recently before its intention not to host the “Destination Eurovision” show in 2020, which has been used for the last two years to mark the French representative at Eurovision. Instead, France’s choice of Rotterdam will be directly assigned this year.

According to information and sources from Le Parisien, including Alexandra Redde-Amiel, head of entertainment at France Télévisions, France 2 will not renew the Eurovision Destination format. At least two reasons seem to have led to this choice.

The reasons

First, Destination Eurovision had very low viewing rates compared to contest. Both in the process of appointing the French representative and especially in comparison to Eurovision itself, the TV shares were in the dark. In particular, the televised final of its national selection was three times smaller than the May 18 final in Tel Aviv.

The second reason is, according to Alexandra Redde-Amiel, the desire of French television to have complete control over the choice of artist to compete in Rotterdam in May.

“We want to control the process more, through direct outsourcing. That is what Spain and England will do this year. We will develop our strengths differently. We are thinking about several options. By changing our process, we hope to reach the Top 5 in 2020”

The process

The French public broadcaster has asked several French composers, as well as foreign producers for the first time, to submit their proposals on the song and artist that may represent France in the 65th edition of Eurovision.

Finally, according to the article, the representative of France and the song contesting will be formally presented in a special TV show broadcast in France 2. Although no details have been provided, it is very likely that such a presentation will held before the meeting of the Heads of Missions in mid-March 2020.

Bilal Hassani was the winner of the last Destination Eurovision and France’s representative at Eurovision 2019. He performed “Roi” on the stage of Tel Aviv and took 16th place with 105 points.

Estonia: Listen to the songs of Eesti Laul 2020

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Estonia’s public broadcaster has just released the 24 songs of Eesti Laul 2020. The final of Eesti Laul 2020, which will mark Estonia’s participation in Eurovision 2020, will take place on 29 February.

During the ETV program, “Ringvaates”, we had the opportunity to hear the 24 Eesti Laul 2020 entries for the first time.

You can listen to the songs HERE.

First Semifinal, February 13:

-Anett x Fredi – Write About Me
-Egert Milder – Georgia (On My Mind)
-INGA – Right Time
-Jennifer Cohen – Ping Pong
-Kruuv – Leelo
-Laura – Break Me
-Little Mess – Without a Reason
-Rasmus Rändvee – Young
-Renate – Videomäng
-Revals – Kirjutan romaani
-STEFAN – By My Side
-Synne feat. Väliharf – Majakad

Second Semifinal, February 15:

-German & Violina – Heart Winder
-INGER – Only Dream
-Jaagup Tuisk – Beautiful Lie
-Janet – Hingelind
-Mariliis Jõgeva – Unistustes
-Merilin Mälk – Miljon sammu
-SHIRA – Out In Space
-Traffic – Üks cord veel
-Uku Suviste – What Love Is
-Uudo Sepp – Sorry Sorry. I Messed Up
-Viinerid – Kapa Kohi-LA
-Ziggy Wild – Lean On Me

We remind you that the semifinals will take place on February 13 and 15 in Tartu, while the grand final will be traditionally held at Saku Suurhall in Tallinn, where Eurovision 2002 also took place. Six participants will qualify for each semifinal. Tickets are already on sale. Eesti Laul 2020 will be presented by Karl-Erik Taukar and Tõnis Niinemets.

Eesti Laul, the Estonian selection method, has been in use since 2009. The winners of this institution have awarded some of its most successful entries in the country – including: Urban Symphony (2009), Kuula (2012), La Forza (2018).

Victor Crone was the winner of Eesti Laul 2019 and Estonia’s representative at Eurovision 2019. He performed “Storm” on Tel Aviv stage and took 20th place.