Belgium: Luka Gruysberghs left The Hooverphonic. Geike Arnaert returns!!

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Unexpected breaking news received a few moments ago.  The Hooverphonic replaced their current lead singer Luka Gruysberghs with their former one Geike Arnaert, with whom they achieved most of their success.

The Hooverphonic in the simple press release they issued a while ago express their grief for the replacement of Luka, but also their enthusiasm for the return of Geike, with whom they have preserved excellent relations,  through all these years since she left the band.

We met. We started talking. All three of us were willing to work together again, so we felt we had to do it. She is still the core of Hooverphonic.

The seed was planted a long time ago. Geike called me for something practical. The conversation was very pleasant. I told her we were preparing for the 20th anniversary of “The Magnificent Tree” and it suddenly turned out that we were looking forward to working together again. The split in 2008 was certainly not hostile, as many have said and written.

Alex Callier 

 

Geike Arnaert, who works solo since 2008, is very excited for her coming back and says:

We wanted to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the album together. It’s a weird feeling. I return to this with great pleasure. I do not know how the fans will react. But it looks very good to me. I will fit my own story in the songs again.

Geike Arnaert

 

For the forced leaving of Luka, Alex Callier, the leader of the band, states that it is a bittersweet decision, but she will remain the composer, if she wants to.

Of course it’s a little bittersweet for Luka. She is an excellent singer, no doubt on that. We had three wonderful years with her. But our collaboration ends here. We have traveled all over Europe and the United States and had many unforgettable moments together. We continue to support her with all of our heart. She will release a solo single from Universal and if Luka wants, of course I will continue to accompany her.

Alex Callier

 

The Hooverphonic with Geike Arnaert as lead singer released probably their biggest success, Mad About You .

Given the aforementioned developments it is self-evident that Geike will also be on the stage of the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest 2021 for Belgium.

Source: hln.be

 

 

 

USA: Kaiti Garbi and SuRie comment on Trump’s madness about the election result!

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They are two favorite eurostars, who from time to time do not hesitate through social media to comment on various issues, even politics. With very caustic humor, Kaiti Garbi and SuRie scold the fact that Donald Trump says nothing to digest that he lost the election.

SuRie, who in 2018 represented the United Kingdom in the contest, singing Storm and occupying the 24th place, refers to the tweet of the outgoing US President, that he is the winner of the recent elections and in fact by far.

On the other hand, the unique Kaiti Garbi with her boundless talent and humor, uses one of her great successes, commenting on the same (You’ve lost your mind).

Of course, many more eurostars are reporting in the last few hours with relief at the change of White House tenant, as thousands of Americans take to the streets to celebrate Joe Biden’s victory.

Albania: FiK 59 will be held outdoors!

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The Albanian Public Television (RTSH) presented more details to the press today for FiK 59. What is most interesting is that due to the pandemic, it was decided that Festivali i Këngës 59 should not take place traditionally at the Congress Palace, but in the Square of Italy inTirana, outdoors.

Presenters of FiK 59 will be Jonida Vokshi and Blendi Salaj. As in previous years, the festival will last for three days, just with a slightly different structure this time. On the first night we will listen to all the candidate songs. On the second night, all the candidate songs will be presented again, but in their unplugged version. On the third night, all the songs that receive the green light from the jury, which this year will be composed only of Albanians, will compete for the victory.

In case the presence of the musicians of the orchestra is not possible, the performers will sing with the music of the orchestra pre-recorded. By November 10, all contestants, whose names have been announced, must submit the final versions of their songs. RTSH will then publish the candidate songs of FiK 59 on YouTube. That is, much earlier than in other years.

FiK 59 is expected to take place at the end of December, as usual. Until then, let us remember once again Arilena Ara and the song that gave her last year’s victory at FiK and with which she would represent Albania in Eurovision 2021:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-E-kIFPrsY

Source: RTSH

Sweden: Jessica Andersson ready for Melodifestivalen 2021. Klara Hammarström and Alvaro Estrella are in too.

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According to the always valid newspaper Aftonbladet, 3 more artists are ready to compete in the next Melodifestivalen.

The 3 new candidates

The first name is the 2003 winner Jessica Andersson, who is ready to take part for the eighth time in the Swedish process for Eurovision. Jessica Andersson made her Melodifestivalen debut in 2003 with the duet Fame and the song “Give Me Your Love”, and represented Sweden at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest, finishing in 5th place. Her last participation in the Swedish selection was in 2018 with the song “Party Voice”. The song with which she is expected to participate is in the same style as the last one, modern uptempo schlagerpop.

 

 

The second name revealed by the newspaper is Klara Hammarström, who took part in this year’s Melodifestivalen with the song “Nobody” but without success. During the summer she took part in various songwriting camps for the Swedish selection process. According to a source of the newspaper, the people in charge of Melodifestivalen have asked for songs about this particular artist.

 

 

The third name revealed by Aftonbladet is that of Alvaro Estrella from Chile. Alvaro’s first appearance at the Melodifestivalen was in 2014 with the song “Bedroom” without success. His last attempt was in this year’s competition with the song “Vamos Amigos” with which he reached the final through the second chance round.

The artists who have confirmed for Melodifestivalen 2021 until now are:

  1. Julia Alfrida  (από τον ραδιοφωνικό διαγωνισμό P4 nästa)
  2. Tusse Chiza
  3. Sannex 
  4. Sami Rekik och Wahl
  5. The Mamas
  6. Dotter
  7. Jessica Andersson
  8. Klara Hammarström
  9. Alvaro Estrella

 

The full list of participants for Melodifestivalen 2021 is expected to be revealed by the end of November.

At this point, let us remind you that up to 2747 songs have been submitted for the upcoming Melodifestivalen.

Stay tuned on Eurovision Fun far all the developments as far as the participation of Sweden is concerned.

Sources: Aftonbladet ESCPanelen 

Sweden: Dotter and Mamas are added to the possible names for Melodifestivalen 2021!

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Aftonbladet gives us two more names that will likely participate in Melodifestivalen 2021. For Melodifestivalen 2020 Aftonbladed achieved to predict 23 of the 24 names that was mentioned in its articles. The next two artists we will see at Melodifestivalen 2021 are The Mamas and Dotter.

The Mamas

The Mamas, were to represent Sweden at Eurovision 2020 with the song “Move”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EpSBDPlZn4

Dotter

Dotter, one of the favorites in the final of the Melodifestivalen 2020, finally finished second after The Mamas.

The artists who have so far confirmed for Melodifestivalen 2021:

  • Julia Alfrida (from the P4 nästa radio contest)
  • Tusse Chiza
  • Sannex
  • Sami Rekik and Wahl
  • The Mamas
  • Dotter

The full list of candidates for Melodifestivalen 2021 is expected to be announced at the end of November.

The program of Melodifestivalen 2021 is as follows:

  • The 1st semifinal on February 6
  • The 2nd semifinal on February 13
  • The 3rd semifinal on February 20
  • The 4th semifinal on February 27
  • The second chance round on March 6
  • The final on March 13

We remind you that the Melodifestivalen 2021 due to the pandemic will take place only in Stockholm, in a place that will be announced at a later time.

Stay tuned to Eurovision Fun for all the developments regarding Sweden’s participation in Eurovision 2021!

Source: Aftonbladet

 

Hungary: The former head of delegation explains the reasons of absence from ESC 2021

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Lőrinc Bubnó, the former head of delegation of Hungary gave an interview to Jan Bors, the former head of delegation of Czech Republic at the contest. In the third episode of “Humans of Eurovision” Lőrinc Bubnó explained the reasons why his country chose to be absent once again.

We must clarify that Lőrinc Bubnó expresses his own opinion and that he has not come in contact with the public broadcaster MTVA. So, according to his own point of view, there are two reasons that led to the withdrawal.

One being money, participating in Eurovision costs a lot of money, we are not a very rich country, if we have to cut something and it’s not good for the country’s image, then it was pretty sure they would cut this.

On the other hand, Hungarians still need some time to be prepared for “Western Europe” and the LGBTQ+ community and how to accept people.

An additional reason for the withdrawal of Hungary is the great success of A Dal, the show through which the nation used to select its Eurovision representative. The aforementioned success continues despite the non-participation at the song contest.

You can watch the entire interview below.

 

Russia: With Little Big in Eurovision 2021?

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A very important speculation is circulating internet the last hour. According to the Russian Eurovision fan club VK, the CEO of the public broadcaster Channel1, Konstantin Ernst, has confirmed that Little Big will have a second chance to get on the Eurovision stage.

On 28th of September Channel 1 confirmed that it is going to be the responsible broadcaster for the selection of the representative of Russia at Eurovision 2021, since the 2020 was canceled. In Russia, there are two broadcasters that are members of the EBU, Channel 1 and RTR. Therefore the project is undertaken alternately by each channel.

If the speculation of the fan club VK is true, then Little Big will raise the number of the returning artists from 2020 to 23.

It is unknown yet when the speculations will be confirmed from Channel 1, since we are used to get the news from Russia at the very last moment.

Let’s remember the entry that was meant to compete at the 2020 contest, and was one of the hot favourites.

https://youtu.be/L_dWvTCdDQ4

 

Denmark: DMGP 2021 final on 6th of March | The winner will sing with live backing vocals at Eurovision!

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Another country that had not announced the details of its national final, did so a while ago. Danish Public Broadcaster will host DMGP 2021 on March 6, at a television studio in Copenhagen, with 8 finalists. Unlike what happens in the national finals of most countries, both the contestants in DMGP 2021 and the representative of Denmark on the stage of Eurovision afterwards, will compete with live backing vocals.

The submission of entries for DMGP 2021 has started and the deadline will last until November 20. Foreign creators are allowed as long as the performer is Danish or has a close relationship with the country (permanent resident, active discography, etc.). 8 songs will compete in the final of DMGP 2021. The main difference between DMGP and the rest of the national finals in Europe is that the contestants must have live backing vocals. In fact, the winner of the national final, who will then represent Denmark in Eurovision 2021, will not make use of the regulation that allows for the next Eurovision Song Contest the pre-recorded vocals, since they will be live on the stage of Ahoy.

We remind you that this year’s DMGP winners, Ben & Tan, have already stated in the spring that they will not reclaim Denmark’s representation at Eurovision 2021.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ5tMhQIp1E

Source: DR

Italy: COVID-19 threatens Sanremo 2021 | RAI final decisions in January!

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At the presentation of AmaSanremo, the competition through which 6 finalists for the Giovani category of Sanremo 2021 will emerge, the artistic director and presenter of the Festival, Amadeus, revealed that the final decisions of RAI will be announced in January, since no one can already knows what will happen with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amadeus said that both he and the RAI people are working to have a safe Sanremo from March 2 to 6, with the audience in the stands of the Teatro Ariston. Unfortunately, the evolution with the pandemic is such that nothing can be ruled out. Any decisions, however, will be made in January.

However, regardless of what will eventually happen and what RAI will decide, all the procedures related to Sanremo 2021 continue normally. Amadeus has already revealed that the interest in the Big category is twice as high as last year, from all record companies and independent musicians. He characteristically stated that among the candidates we will see well-known names, but also contemporary artists who are now making a success.

The director of RAI1, Stefano Coletta confirmed what Amadeus said, adding that nothing is a given at the moment and especially for the presence or not of the public, they will decide at the last minute, taking into account the epidemiological situation that will prevail.

We remind you that according to the recently announced Sanremo 2021 regulations, the winner of the big category will have the opportunity if he/she wishes to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest. In case of refusal then RAI will select another contestant of the big category, most likely following the final ranking of the festival. The artists of the big category of Sanremo 2021 will be announced on the night of the selection of the 8 finalists of the Giovani category, in the Casino of the City of Sanremo, on the 17th of December.

The winner of Sanremo 2020 and the representative of Italy in Eurovision 2020 that was finally canceled, was Diodato with Fai Rumore:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ogyi0GPR_Ik

Source: radioitalia

Albania: Festivali i Këngës 59 participants revealed!

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Recently, Eurovision Albania published exclusively the list of artists that will compete in the Festivali i Këngës 59, the national final of Albania for Eurovision 2021!

The deadline for submission of entries expired on October 2 and based on what the local media reported, on Friday, October 29, we expected the announcement of the finalists. Eurovision Albania, one day earlier, betrayed the surprise! Among the names we have almost all the rumored artists of the previous period, but also several who participated in previous FiK.

 

Δείτε αυτή τη δημοσίευση στο Instagram.

 

EKSKLUZIVE / EXCLUSIVE PJESËMARRËSIT NË FEST 59 / PARTICIPANTS AT FIK 59

Η δημοσίευση κοινοποιήθηκε από το χρήστη Eurovision Albania (@eurovisionalbania) στις

Updated: 18.00

Shortly after Eurovision Abania revealed the list, the country’s public television (RTSG) confirmed the news, giving us the titles of the songs. The jury that selected the 26 songs consisted of: Alma Bektashi, Jonida Maliqi, Agim Doçi, Klodian Qafoku and Eugent Bushpepa. With enough dose of eurostars as you can see.

FiK 59 is expected to take place at the end of December, as usual. The winner is selected by a jury, without the participation of the audience. Arilena Ara who was the winner of last year’s FiK is not participating again, so now we can officially say that we will not see her in the next Eurovision song contest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-E-kIFPrsY