Eurovision 2020: Who are the possible presenters of the show?

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Although we are still eight months away from the next Eurovision event, more and more information is coming to light about our favorite institution.

This time, the news is about Eurovision’s keynote presenters in Rotterdam, Netherlands, in May.

So, according to the Dutch songfestivalweblog website, the names of the presenters will be officially announced between late November and early December, with discussions expected to start and contract signings slipping within days.

Three people in the presentation?

According to the same website, although it has not been finalized, the number of presenters at the upcoming event will not exceed three, while there are currently 4 names that are the most prominent for the presentation, of which 3 will be selected.

The first name is Dionne Stax, who has just joined the potential of the Dutch channel AVROTROS and seems to have a significant lead in presenting the contest. Another hotly-debated name is Jan Smit, who has been a Eurovision commentator for the Netherlands in 2011, who said he would be honored to present the event. Also, the names of Herman van der Zandt and Winfried Baijens appear to have been put on the wish list, which are part of the NOS potential, one of the three channels that have taken over Eurovision in the Netherlands.

Other names that are rumored but less likely to present the competition and which belong to the country’s public broadcaster staff  are Amber Brantsen and Annechien Steenhuizen (NOS), Rik van de Westelaken, Tim Douwsma, Buddy Vedder and Romy Monteiro (AVRO) Witzier and Lucille Werner (KRO-NCRV), Nadia Moussaïd (VPRO) and Astrid Joosten and Emma Wortelboer (BNNVARA).

At the same time, Tooske Ragas and Nance Coolen do not belong to any television station, but have expressed their desire to present Eurovision 2020.

 Roos Moggré Press Conference Presenter?

Along with the names of the main presenters, the site also mentions the name of Roos Moggré as the presenter of the press conferences after each rehearsal of the missions, after the end of the semifinals and the grand final, and so on, as well has also presented other press conferences on Eurovision. Another name for the presentation of the press conferences is Koos van Plateringen.

Source: songfestivalweblog

Eurovision in Concert 2020: Tickets go on sale on October 11

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It was announced today that on Friday, October 11, 2019 at 10:00 am (CET time) tickets for the Eurovision in Concert 2020 will be launched.

The upcoming Eurovision in Concert 2020 event will take place on 4 April 2020 at 20:00 (local time) on AFAS Live. Tickets cost 45 euros (excluding 4.50 euros for services). For purchase of ticket, you can contact here.

Cornald Maas, Eurovision’s commentator on Dutch television for years, will be presenting the event.

What is Eurovision In Concert?

Eurovision in Concert is the largest music event for Eurovision, featuring artists who will be participating in the Eurovision event of the year. The contest’s journalists and friends travel from all over Europe to the Dutch capital, Amsterdam, every year to live the biggest pre-Eurovision party.

There, artists are required to sing live, and so we have the opportunity to listen for the first time – if not elsewhere – to the artists’ vocal abilities. Every year, several countries declare their presence at the event. For example, in 2019 28 of the 41 participating countries participated!

Junior Eurovision 2019: Listen to Melani García’s “Marte” for Spain

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Recently, Spanish television, RTVE, released the song that will represent the country at the upcoming Junior Eurovision event in the city of Glivice, Poland, this November.

The song is called Morte, which in English is the planet Mars, and refers to climate change and global warming, a key issue for the entire humanity.

You can listen to the song by clicking here.

Melani herself and Pablo Mora also contributed to the song, while Manu Chalud took over the production.

Morte Mars
Ahora

que-es cuando estamos a solas

soy aquello que llamasteis el mar

en el fondo del baúl

 

Perdona

tengo plástico en las olas

y secretos que no puedo contar

ya no tengo el agua azul

Si no quieres ver

que el mundo acabe así

debes defender la vida que hay en mí

 

Tu voz hoy puede volar

Llegar hasta marte

Llevarme al camino de la luz

Lo puedes cambiar

Llegar hasta marte

Llevarme a la luz

Todo puede ser

Como quieras tú

 

Ahora

Cada resto que abandonas

Es un arma que bien puede quitar

Una vida a cara o cruz

 

Funciona

con las mentes que razonan

con la gente que algo quiere cambiar

con la gente como tú

que no quieres ver

que el mundo acabe así

y vas a defender

la vida que hay en mí

 

Tu voz hoy puede volar

Llegar hasta marte

Llevarme a la luz

Lo puedes cambiar

Llegar hasta marte

Llevarme a la luz

 

 

Tu voz hoy puede volar

Llegar hasta marte

Llevarme al camino de la luz

Todo puede ser

Como quieras tú

 Now

what-is when we are alone

I am what you called the sea

at the bottom of the trunk

 

Forgives

I have plastic in the waves

and secrets that I can’t tell

I don’t have blue water anymore

If you don’t want to see

the world ends like this

you must defend the life in me

 

Your voice today can fly

Get to mars

Take me to the path of light

You can change it

Get to mars

Take me to the light

All can be

As you want

 

Now

Every rest you leave

It is a weapon that you can well remove

A life to face or cross

 

Works

with the minds that reason

with people that something wants to change

with people like you

you don’t want to see

the world ends like this

and you will defend

the life in me

 

Your voice today can fly

Get to mars

Take me to the light

You can change it

Get to mars

Take me to the light

 

 

Your voice today can fly

Get to mars

Take me to the path of light

All can be

As you want

Spain in Junior Eurovision

Spain was one of the 16 countries participating in the first Junior Eurovision competition in 2003.

In her short stint in the contest, it won one first, two second and a fourth place. 2006 was her last participation. Nevertheless, the interest of the people in the competition was high despite the absence of the country. In 2019, after 13 whole years, Spanish public television decided to return to the competition.

Antes muerta que sencilla, the song that Maria Isabel won for Spain in 2004, is still considered the most commercial winning song in the history of children’s Eurovision.

https://youtu.be/rY5B5BX5A1g

San Marino: Aly Ryan submitted 7 songs for Eurovision 2020

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The candidate for the German national final in 2019, Aly Ryan, after announcing that she had sent a bid to represent Switzerland at Eurovision 2020, also expressed her interest in another country.

Yesterday through her Twitter account, she revealed that she had sent 7 songs to San Marino public television, SMRTV. However, SMRTV has not yet responded to her emails.

The 23-year-old singer, who is ready to compete at Eurovision, has already submitted 5 songs to claim the Swiss representation in Rotterdam, while she, along with two others, has filed them on San Marino television.

Aly Ryan was a contender in the 2019 German national final Unser Lied für Israel, which, though one of the big favorites to represent the country, was limited to 4th place and missed the opportunity to represent her country in Israel.

 

Estonia: On December 1st the 24 songs of Eesti Laul 2020 to be revealed

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Estonian Public Television,EER, has announced more details about the national final of Eesti Laul, to be held on February 29, 2020. The most important piece of information is that on December 1 we will be able to listen to  all 24 songs that will be claimed the representation of Estonia at Eurovision 2020.

As in 2019, in 2020 twenty-four songs divided into two semifinals out of which only twelve will qualify for the Final.

Submissions have already started (on September 1st) and will end on November 6th. Selected songs and therefore nominees at Eesti Laul 2020 will be announced no later than November 22, and on December 1st we will be able to enjoy them!

All entries must be filed in their final form and not as a demo. The entry fee, if we could allow it, is 50 Euros for each song written in Estonian and 150 Euros when it is written in any other language.

The stage presence that will be used in the Eesti Laul final should be the same as that used on the Eurovision stage, just like Melodifestivalen.

Although not mandatory under the regulations, Estonian Public Television reserves the right to use online voting to select the winner, in addition to sms, telephone voting and, of course, jury voting.

The presenters of the Eesti Laul 2020 will be Karl-Erik Taukar and Tõnis Niinemets, the first being one of the presenters and last year’s Eesti Laul, while the second will be in this position for the first time.

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 took place. Tickets are already on sale.

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.

Source: EER

Cyprus: Two men and one woman candidates for Eurovision 2020 | Exclusive

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We are already in October, we know the first artist participating in Eurovision 2020, and the Cypriot Broadcaster (CYBC), which is used to us in early announcements, is working feverishly for Cyprus’s next entry in the contest. Two men and one woman, unlike what has been writen in media of CYBC’s exclusive interest in male artists, are under the microscope of Cypriot public broadcaster in order to take on the heavy burden of representing the country in Rotterdam. Read more

Editorial: “Eurovision Executive Supervisor”; a role for the Northern Europeans only | Is it time for the south?

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Jon Ola Sand’s earlier announcement that he is stepping down the role of the Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest in May 2020 after the contest in the Netherlands ends, has prematurely started the debate about who is going to replace him.

A quick glance at his predecessors, it is more than enough for someone to realize that, out of the 65 years of existence of the contest, 63 of them were under the leadership of northern Europeans only.

Is it time for the south to take control? And if so, is there any public broadcaster from the countries of the south that can claim this position?

A privilege for the few

Observing the list of the Executive Supervisors of the competition since 1956, as published on the official website, we can see that the only time, in which one of the countries of the South was in this position, was back in 1964-1965 with Miroslav Vilček, from Tito’s powerful then-united Yugoslavia. Let’s see the list in detail:

1956-1957: Rolf Liebermann (2 contests) – Swiss
1958-1963: Unknown (6 contests)
1964-1965: Miroslav Vilček (2 contests) – Yugoslavia (Croatian)
1966-1977: Clifford Brown (12 contests) – British
1978-1992: Frank Naef (15 contests) – Swiss
1993-1995: Christian Clausen (3 contests) – Danish
1996 and 1998-2002: Christine Marchal-Ortiz (6 contests) – French
1997: Marie-Claire Vionnet (1 competition) – French
2003: Sarah Yuen (1 contest) – British
2004-2010: Svante Stockselius (7 contests) – Swedish
2011-2020: Jon Ola Sand (10 competitions) – Norwegian
2021: ?

In the 65 years of the Eurovision Song Contest, ten different EBU executives have been assigned as Executive Supervisors of the contest. Their countries of origin were seven (Switzerland, United Kingdom, France, Yugoslavia, Sweden, Denmark and Norway) and out of these – as we have mentioned above – only one country was part of the south, with a term of office of only two years.

Is the role of the Executive Supervisor an exclusive right of the countries of the North? Shouldn’t there be a provision for a proportional and rotational system in senior positions of the EBU  which will cover all of Europe’s geographical corners? This need is now more urgent than ever, since we can clearly say that the EBU is run exclusively by Northern Europeans! Current EBU’s president is Irish, president of the Reference Group is German and Executive Supervisor is Norwegian.

Besides, EBU members and subscriptions cover the whole spectrum of the European continent.

Is the South capable?

Here comes the question, of course, whether the public broadcasters of the countries of the South have an executive who could take on this neuralgic position? Is there anyone with the knowledge, experience, but also the disposition to do so?

Personally I think yes there are! Besides, in the south there are some colossi in the field of television such as RAI and TVE, in Italy and Spain respectively. Two very big TV stations, with great productions, executives with know-how, and history in the competition.

Now we go to our own neighborhood. ERT may not have been willing to claim this role as shown in recent years, but CyBC does!

Cyprus public television competes equally local private television stations, often ending first on the daily television chart. It has a very commercial program and can boast of having a strong presence in social media, successfully making the transition to the new era.

Share of all the above, except of course its worthy staff, is credited to Michalis Maratheftis, who is the general manager of CyBC since 2017.

One of his achievements is the impressive track record of Cyprus in recent years in the Eurovision Song Contest, with entries that stand out and are still being discussed today. His greater goal is to win, which will not be long if he and his team continue with the same stubbornness and enthusiasm.

The time until May 2020 is long enough and the candidates to appear are many, but the case of Michalis Marathethis seems to be worth a look at the EBU headquarters in Geneva!

We Greeks have proven that we can handle whatever role we are assigned to, so why not to this as well?

Malta: The X Factor launches on October 6th

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The country’s public broadcaster, TVM, has announced that the second season of “The X-Factor” will launch on October 6, but it has not been clarified if Malta will choose its representative for the Eurovision 2020 Music Contest through this show.

The game’s auditions have already been completed, with the Six-Chair Challenge taking place on September 20 and 21.

The panel of judges will be the same as last year. Ira Losco will once again be one of the 4 judges to take part in the talent show. The well-known singer has already participated twice in the Eurovision contest. It was the first time in 2002 in Tallinn, Estonia, with the song “7th Wonder” and took the 2nd place with 164 points. The second time was in Stockholm in 2016, when she reached the final with ‘Walk on Water’ and finished 12th with 153 points.

While the other three chairs belong to: Howard Keith Debono, manager of the most prominent Maltese artists, Ray Mercieca, composer and producer, having worked mainly with bands, and Alexandra Alden, who lives in the Netherlands, although Maltese in origin, having her assets. already two very successful albums, to complete the jury’s four.

X Factor Malta’s presenter will be Ben Camille, well-known in Eurofans, having presented both the MESC and the last Junior Eurovision in Malta in 2016.

This year, 18-year-old Michela emerged victorious and traveled to Tel Aviv with the song “Chameleon”, ranking 14th with 107 points.

Eurovision 2020: It’s official: Rotterdam will host the 65th Eurovision Song Contest

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Although rumors about the next Eurovision host city had been circulated since two days ago,actually today the official announcement from Dutch public broadcaster has come out.

The official announcement by the organizing committee

The announcement was made through the contest’s  official website, EBU social networks, and the Dutch public broadcaster .

When Duncan Laurence won the Eurovision Song Contest for the Netherlands earlier this year, a total of nine cities initially applied in the hope of hosting the contest.  But the battle proved difficult for many of them, after one withdrew its candidacy, starting with Leobarden, since the arena it had did not meet the height requirements set by the EBU.

Then Amsterdam, The Hague and Breda left the race on a variety of issues, with only five cities officially submitting their candidacy.  Eventually Rotterdam and Maastricht were left to arrive at today’s announcement that Rotterdam will be the city that will host the next Eurovision.

A city in the center of Europe

Rotterdam was the favorite to win the event and eventually it did it. It has easy accessibility and a wonderful arena, the Ahoy, where big music events take place every year, and it also hosted Junior Eurovision in 2007.

Rotterdam has Europe’s largest port and is well connected by ferry to the United Kingdom and France.  Travelers wishing to travel to Rotterdam from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport can be reached in about 20 minutes by train.  The city is 23 km from The Hague and 61 km from Utrecht.  In addition to trains, Rotterdam has various modes of transport, such as trams, subways and buses as well as water buses.

This will be the fifth time the Netherlands hosts the Eurovision contest on its territory (1958, 1970, 1976 and 1980), but the first in Rotterdam!

The dates of the three shows

At the same time, the announcement of the hosting city came the dates of the three shows also locked.  Specifically, the two semifinals will take place on Tuesday May 12 and Thursday May 14, respectively, with the Grand Final scheduled for Saturday May 16, 2020.

 

 

 

Sweden: Greta Thunberg’s mother is a Eurovision star!

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Greta Thunberg is becoming an icon in the fight against climate change. At the age of just 16, the activist has spearheaded a global school strike movement, been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and speaking to governments worldwide to tackle climate change. Her mother is a famous singer who represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest! Read more