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Cyprus: RIK “steals” Germany’s favorite to represent it at Eurovision 2020!EXCLUSIVE

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It’s November, a month that RIK traditionally completes the selection of the artist for the Eurovision contest, at least in recent years. EurovisionFun reports that RIK is very close to a great success. To literally “steal” at the last minute the favorite artist to represent Germany, homogenous singer Sandro Nicolas.

Who is Sandro Nicolas?

You have also read about Sandro Nicolas (Alessandro Ruetten) in our previous articles. He is 23 years old and quite popular in Germany, having participated in “The Voice of Germany “in 2018, even reaching the semifinals. In the summer he competed at the New Wave Festival, the largest music festival of the Eastern countries!

He grew up with Greek education, since his mother is Greek. He speaks fluent Greek, and often visits Greece, either for vacations or for business reasons, such as recently, recording in the studio of Dimitris Kontopoulos.

RIK’s “colpo grosso”!

Germany does not host a national final this year, but preferred a concept very close to what Switzerland did this year. Digame, a production company responsible for selecting the leading candidates, is in charge of the entire event. The selected artists participated in various songwriting camps in order to write new songs for the national final. After completing this process, Digame selected the finalists and matched them with the songs to be competed. Sandro would be in the final selection stage with more than two songs, indicative of how much Digame people believe in him. This closed national final is scheduled to take place in December and the final decision will be made by a panel of about 100 people (musicians and fans).

At this critical juncture, RIK intervened, proposing Nicolas to lift the responsibility of representing Cyprus at Eurovision 2020 in Rotterdam! Although some agreement has not yet been set, the discussions appear to be moving in a very positive direction. If RIK finally succeeds in booking this talented performer for the next Eurovision Song Contest, then we will be talking about a very big success for the people of Cypriot public broadcaster, proving once again that they are planning a very attentive and methodical entry for Cyprus, always aiming at the best possible representation.

Germany: Thoughts on internal selection after ten years?

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For the first time in ten years, it looks like Germany will not air a national final in choosing its participation in the Eurovision Contest, but there will be an internal selection, reminiscent of the process Switzerland has carried out in this year’s contest.

While in previous years such a time there was information such as the date of the national final or even candidates, this year the information we have from Germany is scarce.

What is certain is that the final decision will be made by a panel of fans, as well as an international panel, but without the public verdict, as there will probably be no national television final but only one internal choice.

Already the two committees have heard different songs, performed by different artists and have come up with the best combinations. This year, the focus was on finding the right songs and then pairing them with the best performers. In this way, they avoided the various songwriting camps that took place in previous years.

If the choice is finally made internally this will be the first time since 2009 that Germany will choose to participate in Eurovision without a national television final.

The new approach came after disappointing results for another year in this year’s contest, where the S! Sters took 25th place in the Grand Final, receiving 0 points from the television audience!

Source: esc-kompakt

Australia: Two more candidates for “Eurovision: Australia Decides”

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Australia’s public broadcaster, SBS, earlier announced two more nominees for Eurovision: Australia Decides, its national final for Eurovision 2020. These are Mitch Tambo and iOTA.

Ten candidates will compete at Gold Coast on February 8 to represent Australia at Eurovision 2020. Following this year’s success of Eurovision: Australia Decides, SBS has decided to launch the same concept for 2020.

After Casey Donovan and Vanessa Amorosi it’s time for two men:

Mitch Tambo

Mitch Tambo, 29, from Melbourne, is a representative for Gamilaraay, an indigenous Australian race, hence his strange outfit. His song as he states himself will have many elements of the traditional music of his tribe.

“I am excited to be part of Eurovision: Australia Decides and to be able to find myself on the biggest stage in the world. Eurovision songs often combine elements of traditional and contemporary sounds, something that I do with my own music. Most importantly it brings different cultures all under the banner of music, which is a beautiful thing”

Mitch Tambo’s participation did not surprise anyone because, through the “Australian’s Got Talent” that participated in the previous months, reaching the final, there were few who urged him to compete in the country’s national Eurovision final.

iOTA

IOTA is a multi-talented artist, as he is both an actor, a singer and a composer! He has participated in many films and series, and has been nominated for various acting and music awards.

“I’m not the typical type of contestant, but I’m interested in the Eurovision Song Contest on color and motion, music and performance, light and shadow, creativity and self-expression, singing and performing in front of so many big audience”

Six more candidates for Eurovision: Australia Decides!

The other six candidates will be announced in the near future with Paul Clarke, executive producer Eurovision: Australia Decides promising us more surprises:

“We are thrilled to welcome Mitch and iOTA to this truly exciting line-up. Together with Casey Donovan and Vanessa Amorosi, these four artists are beginning to give fans an indication of the scale, diversity and raw creativity that will be at the heart of Eurovision – Australia Decides 2020. With six remaining contestants left, we are sure it will be an amazing show!”

This year’s Australian National Final will also be hosted by radio producer and presenter Myf Warhurst and comedian Joel Creasey, who will also be airing the contest in May 2020 on behalf of SBS.

This year, Eurovision: Australia Decides winner Kate Miller-Heidke represented Australia in Tel Aviv, finishing ninth with 285 points.

Italy: Francesco Gabbani back to Sanremo 2020

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A few days ago, an interview that was discussed was given by Francesco Gabbani on fanpage, one of the largest artistic portals in the country. The Italian superstar has revealed that his new song could do well at the Sanremo Festival, and has also postponed its release for the beginning of next year after the 70th Sanremo Festival, which he said would not exclude his participation!

Who is Francesco Gabbani?

Surely most of you still remember Francesco Gabbani from his win at Sanremo three years ago and his subsequent participation in Eurovision 2017 in Kiev with “Occidentali’s Karma”. There, while he was one of the biggest betting favorites to have ever gone through the history of the contest, with odds ranging from 1 to 1.3, he was eventually limited to sixth place in the standings.

Nevertheless, he remains one of the most popular Italian singers, with countless sold out appearances, platinum records and millions of streams on Spotify and views on YouTube. He also holds the record with the most millions of views on YouTube for participating in the Eurovision Song Contest.More than 228 million at the time of writing this article.

With Duemeladiciannove at Sanremo 2020?

His new song is called “Duemeladiciannove” and he dedicates it to his fans, who have been supporting him for so many years. It has  social content like “Occidentai’s Karma” and Gabbani’s original intention was to release it in the days ahead.

But eventually, and apparently because of his desire to re-attend the Sanremo Festival, he moved his release date for the first months of 2020. He also admits that he would be very positive about such a possibility and that “Duemeladiciannove” could have a very good run at the Festival.

Of course, in order to see Francesco Gabbani among the Sanremo 2020 contestants, Amadeus has to choose him. This, of course, is not unlikely, since artists such as Francesco Gabbani will raise the interest of the public and the media. The 20 artists of the Campioni category will be announced in a special show by Amadeus on January 6th, so we’ll know if Francesco Gabbani is among them.

We remind you that the 70th Sanremo Festival will take place from 4 to 8 February 2020 at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo. The winner of the Festival will be given the opportunity to represent Italy at Eurovision 2020 next May in Rotterdam. You can refer to our previous article on the detailed rules and how the winner of the Sanremo 2020 will emerge.

Source: fanpage.it

 

Sweden: Three more names for Melodifestivalen 2020

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Aftonbladet continues to reveal the participants in Melodifestivalen 2020. Shortly before, it added three more artists to 15 added so far , raising the number to 18 confirmed contestants.

Renaida returns and celebrates

Renaida has every reason to celebrate after she had a serious health issue last year. She was diagnosed with cancer, but eventually managed to overcome it without even having to undergo chemotherapy. The 22-year-old singer also participated in Melodifestivalen 2018 with “All The Feels”. Through the second chance round she reached the final, finishing ninth there! The song she will be attending is expected to be in the style of her previous engagement.

Ellen Benediktson is back too but in duet

Another return was revealed by Aftonbladet, that of Ellen Benediktson. The 24-year-old singer also participated in Melodifestivalen 2014, in the same semifinal with Elena Paparizou. She had then qualified with “Songbird” in the final and finished ninth there. She participated in the following year, but this time without going to the next round. In Melodifestivalen 2020 is expected to duet with Simon Peyron.

 

Featuring rap at Melodifestivalen 2020

Given the ever-increasing dynamics of rap music, Melodifestivalen producers eagerly wanted its representatives in its next release. The band OVÖ which became known in 2018 performing a song dedicated to Zara Larsson has already secured a place in the Melodifestivalen 2020 semifinals.

The artists who have so far confirmed for Melodifestivalen 2020

Thirteen contestants have so far secured a place in the Melodifestivalen 2020 semifinals:

-Amanda Aasa (from the P4 radio competition)
-Victor Crone
-Hanna Ferm
-Jakob Karlberg
-The Mamas
-Albin Johnsén
-Suzi P.
-Linda Bengtzing
-Frida Öhrn
-Paul Rey
-Drängarna
-Robin Bengtsson
-Anna Bergendahl
-Anis don Demina
-Thorsten Flinck
-Renaida
-Ellen Benediktson & Simon Peyron
-OVÖ (Finess & Ivory)

Two names have been targeted by SVT, but have not yet confirmed their involvement:

-Carola
-Eric Saade

Recall that 14 of the 28 participants of the Melodifestivalen result from the open invitation of  SVT to creators, 13 are selected through an invitation of  SVT and 1 is from the P4 Nästa radio competition.

In detail the program of Melodifestivalen 2020 is as follows:

Linkoping – First Semifinal – 1 February
Gothenburg – Second Semifinal – 8 February
Lulea – Third Semifinal – February 15
Malmo – Fourth Semifinal – February 22
Eskilestone – Second Opportunity – February 29
Stockholm – Final – 7 March

David Sundin, Linnea Henriksson and Lina Hedlund will all be presenting the six nights of the show. Aftonbladet correctly predicted 26 of the 28 Melodifestivalen 2019 names.

Source: Aftonbladet

Georgia: Results of the first live show of Georgian Idol

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Last night (16/11), the first live show of Georgian Idol, the talent show used by Georgia’s public broadcaster for the second consecutive year, to select the country’s representative at Eurovision 2020.

The ten contestants who managed to qualify for the Live Shows performed live for the first time in front of a television audience who voted via phonecalls and Facebook messenger.

The two lowest-ranked candidates were Merab Amzoevi and Nika Kalandadze, with Tamar Kakalashvili in first place with 16.53%. A total of 19,790 votes were counted.

At the first Live Show, the candidates were asked to perform well-known hits in English. Below you can see their performances:

Merab Amzoevi

Mariam Gogiberidze

Anri Guchmanidze

Tamar Kakalashvili

Nika Kalandadze

Davit Rusadze

Barbara Samkharadze

Mariam Shengelia

Liza Shengelia

Tornike Kipiani

The detailed results of the first Live Show as announced by Georgian Public broadcaster were:

Unlike this year when 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’s 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.

Source: GPB, Georgian Idol, Wiwibloggs

Montenegro: Purchase five new cars instead of participating in Eurovision 2020

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Montenegro’s Public Television (RTCG) following the announcement of the list by the EBU of countries to take part in the 65th Eurovision Song Contest and the official withdrawal from the contest, which you first read at Eurovisionfun, explains the reasons for this decision.

According to the RTCG announcement, the reasons for the withdrawal are economic, but also because of Montenegro’s low qualification rates in the Eurovision Final.

“Participating in the Eurovision song contest costs about 130,000 euros a year. Our representatives have usually achieved moderate results, making it difficult to qualify for the Grand Final. So this year we decided to invest this money in refurbishing the RTCG fleet. The plan is to buy five new cars, which will greatly improve the safety of our staff, who do more than 1,000 kilometers a day”

(RTCG on the withdrawal of Montenegro from Eurovision 2020)

According to the announcement the withdrawal seems to be only for the next event and not general. This is the second time Montenegro has withdrawn from the competition. The first was the two-year 2010 – 2011, when again due to poor results and the financial crisis that had just made its appearance, they were absent for two years.

In Tel Aviv, Montenegro were represented by D Mol with “Heaven”, who finished 16th in the first semifinal.

Source: RTCG

Estonia: The remaining 12 candidates for Eesti Laul 2020

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Estonia’s public broadcaster has also announced the remaining 12 candidates for the Eesti Laul 2020, who will compete in the second semifinal. Unlike the names of the first semifinal, there are no audible appearances here, making this semifinal theoretically easier than the first.

During the ETV program, “Ringvaates”, the remaining 12 names, titles and composers / lyrics from the 24 total Eesti Laul 2020 entries are as follows:

-“Sorry Sorry. I Messed Up ”Uudo Sepp (Andrei Zevakin)
-“Georgia (On My Mind)” Egert Milder (Kaspar Kalluste, Matteo Capreoli, Egert Milder)
-“Heart Winder” German & Violina (Timo Vendt, Ebbe Ravn, Carine-Jessica Kostla, Liis-Marii Vendt)
-Janet “Hingelind” (Marek Rosenberg, Lauri Lembinen, Kadri Lepik and Janet Vavilov)
-“Kapa Kohi-LA” Wieners (Peter Põder, Hardo Hansar, Martti Kask)
-“Kirjutan Romaani” Revals (Jaanus Saago)
-Synne Valtri feat. Outdoor harp (Synne Valtri, Jaanus Viskar, Toomas Laur, Gert Gregor Källo, Aapo Ilves)
-“Miljon sammu” by Merilin Malik (Jonas Olsson, Teemu Jokinen, Jana Hallas, Merilin Malik)
-“Only Dream” INGER (Inger Fridolin, Karl-Ander Reismann)
-Jennifer Cohen’s “Ping Pong” (Jennifer Cohen, Luisa Lõhmus)
-“Right Time” INGA (Peter Põder, Allan Kasuk, Raul Krebs, Inga Tislar)
-“Write About Me” Anett x Fredi (Frederik Küüts, Anett Kulbin)

The first semifinalists are:

-Jaagup Tuisk “Beautiful Lie” (Jaagup Tuisk)
-“Break Me” by Laura, (Janne Hyöty, Jessica Hyöty, Laura Põldvere)
-“By My Side” STEFAN (Karl-Ander Reismann, Stefan Airapetjan)
-Ziggy Wild’s “Lean On Me” (Laura Prits, Valdur Viiklepp, Sander Nõmmistu, Henri-Hannes Sell)
-“Leelo” Kruuv (Allan Kasuk)
-“Out In Space” SHIRA (SHIRA and Karl-Ander Reismann)
-“Unistustes” Mariliis Jõgeva (Mariliis Jõgeva, Oliver Mazurtšak)
-“Videomäng” Renate (Renate Saluste)
-“What Love Is” Uku Suviste (Uku Suviste, Sharon Vaugh)
-“Without a Reason” Little Mess (Ebbe Ravn, Timo Vendt, Mihkel Mattisen, Tanja Mihhailova-Saar)
-“Üks cord veel” Traffic (Victor Crone, Fred Krieger, Vallo Kikas, Stig Rästa)
-“Young” Rasmus Rändvee (Karl-Ander Reismann, Rasmus Rändvee)

Although in the second semifinal we will see returns of some previous Eesti Laul finalists, such as INGER, Synne Valtri and Jennifer Cohen, the names of this semifinal are by no means comparable to those of the former. All this, of course, on a theoretical level, since we haven’t heard the songs yet, since we’ll have to wait until 30/11 and 1/12 to get publicity.

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 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’s  stage and took 20th place.

Eurovision 2020: 750 sq.m. LED on stage at Ahoy Arena!

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It looks like we are making progress on the issue of the Eurovision 2020 Song Contest in Rotterdam, as a Dutch company announced that it will participate in the preparation of the event, even revealing that it will be responsible for the creation of a 750-square-foot LED wall.

HD Rent, an Amsterdam-based lighting, audio and events company, posted on its Instagram page that it has won a Eurovision 2020 contest and will work with another Dutch company, LED Screen Solutions, to build a wall 750m2 LED for the stage of next year’s competition, at the Ahoy Arena.

The company stated it was “honored to conclude this agreement with Dutch Public Television and look forward to the next steps in the process”. This post was subsequently deleted, apparently because the organizers did not want to provide any details about the stage now.

The Netherlands looks like it is getting ready for Eurovision 2020, which will take place on May 12, 14 and 16 in Rotterdam, with a wish to present something spectacular!

Source: escunited.com

Estonia: These are the first 12 participants of the Eesti Laul 2020

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During the ETV’s program, Ringvaates, the first 12 names and titles  from the 24 total Eesti Laul 2020 entries were announced.

Estonian radio and television, ERR, also released the names of the 14-member panel that selected the finalists, among the 178 entries filed, comprising people from the country’s music industry and the entertainment industry in general.

In the list below you will find the top 12 artists and candidate songs for Eesti Laul 2020:

  • STEFAN – By My Side
  • Kruuv – Leelo
  • SHIRA – Out In Space
  • Jaagup Tuisk – Beautiful Lie
  • Little Mess – Without A Reason
  • Ziggy Wild – Lean On Me
  • Uku Suviste – What Love Is
  • Traffic – Üks kord veel
  • Rasmus Rändvee – Young
  • Mariliis Jõgeva – Unistustes
  • Renate – Videomäng
  • Laura – Break Me

Tomorrow, November 14th, we will meet the other 12 entries. The songs will be heard for the first time on November 30 and December 1 respectively.

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 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.