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Spain: How are the songs of Benidorm Fest doing on Spotify?

Two weeks after the release of the 14 competing song in Spain’s national selection, some front runners have already emerged. According to Spotify Streams, this is their current placing:

Ay Mama by Rigoberta Bandini, with its feminist message, seems to have won over fans in Spain. The European fan favorites, Tanxugueiras, are at the second place in this listing, with a big differene in streams, and at the third place comes Rayden. The veterans Azucar Moreno are only at the ninth place and most of their streams come from european listeners.

Why do we look on streams though? Well streams correctly predicted the winner of the Czech televoting in the Czech national selection! Will the same happen this time around with Spain?

Benidorm Fest: How will it work?

Benidorm Fest will take place somewhere within January (the exact date is yet to be released) and it will consist of two semi finals, each including seven performances, four of which will eventually advance to the Grand Final!

The winner will be chosen by a 50% public vote and a 50% jury vote. Two sets of juries will vote, both consisting of music professionals. However, one jury team will be Spanish (30& of the jury voting) and the other one will be of international descent (20% of the jury voting). On the contrary, as far as the public vote in concerned, 25% of it will come from televoting and 25% will come from a sample of spanish population, chosen by demographics and statistics, a criterfia used in both Sanremo and Melodifestivalen.

RTVE has chosen this process wanting to ensure that the final result will showcase in the best way the likings of the Spanish majority.

Stay tuned in Eurovision Fun for the latest news and updates on Spain’s participation in Eurovision 2022!

Image Source: Martin Fjellanger

 

Montenegro: Vladana’s song ‘Breathe’ is expected to premiere at the end of February!

As it was announced yesterday by the Montenegrin public television, RTCG, Vladana Vučinić will represent Montenegro at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. She revealed in an Instagram story that the famous Balkan songwriter Darko Dimitrov is the composer of her entry.

Darko Dimitrov

This morning it was also publicly announced during the press conference held by RTCG that the song’s title isBreathe. The entry is entirely in English and is a dynamic ballad with a clear message, dedicated to Vladana’s mother, who passed away a few months ago. Her song will also have a ‘cinematic piano moment’.

The song is expected to premiere at the end of February and there is also an intention to release the Italian version of the song. She also described her song as emotional, strong and melancholy, while revealing that she will be alone on the Eurovision stage in Turin.

The budget for the participation in Turin will be relatively smaller than in previous years. She also announced at the RTCG conference that the country paid 28.000 euros for its participation, the lowest of all participating countries.

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Lithuania: The running order of the first heat

The running order for the first quorter final of Pabandom iš naujo! (Let’s Try Again!) was announced today by Lithuania’s public broadcaster (LRT)!

Here are the 11 artists who will compete in this quorter final:

  1. Elonas Pokanevič – “Someday”
  2. Joseph June – “Deadly”
  3. Urtė Šilagalytė – “Running Chords”
  4. Gabrielė Goštautaitė – “Over”
  5. Mary Mo – “Get Up”
  6. Augustė Vedrickaitė ft. Under – “Before You’re 6”
  7. Sun Francisco – “Dream Again”
  8. Voldemars Petersons & the Break Hearters – “Up”
  9. Aldegunda – “Holiday”
  10. Viktorija Faith – “Walk Through the Water”
  11. Erica Jennings – “Back To Myself” 

The first quarter final will take place on Saturday, January 8th (20.00 CET)!

Pabandom iš naujo 2022 will consist of six shows. Three quarter finals, two semi finals and eventually the big final! The winner will be decided by a 50% jury vote and a 50% public vote. For the first time the jury members will not be revealed and their results will be shown at the end of the show, so that the audience won’t be influenced in any way!

Last year Lithuania chose for the second consecutive time the pop-rock group, The Roop as their representative in the 2021 contest, which got them the 8th place in the Grand Final!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNweec5olYw

Stay tuned in Eurovision Fun for all the latest news and information about Lithuania in Eurovision 2022!

Source: LRT

 

Latvia: Listen to the 16 songs competing in Supernova 2022

Latvia proceeds with the selection process to pick its representative for 2022, and presented the songs that are going to compete at Supernova 2022!

As said before, at the 7th of December the deadline for submissions for the Latvian national final TV  “Supernova 2022” expired. Breaking every previous record of participations, this time no less than 130 songs, that are competing to be Latvia’s next representative at the Eurovision Song Contest, which will take place in May 2022 in Turin, Italy.

From the 130, 16 songs and 16 artists managed to qualify, among them some very well known names.

Specifically, the 16 songs are as follows:

  • Bermudu Divstūris – “Triangle Bad
  • Markus Riva – “If You’re Gonna Love Me
  • Aminata – “I’m Letting You Go
  • BUJĀNS – “He, She, You & Me
  • Citi Zēni – “Eat Your Salad
  • Inspo – “A Happy Place
  • Miks Dukurs – “First Love
  • Beatrise Heislere – “On the way home
  • the COCO’NUTS – “In and out of the dark
  • KATŌ – “Promises
  • Elīna Gluzunova – “Es pabiju tur
  • Mēs Jūs Mīlam – “Rich Itch
  • Linda Rušeniece – “Pay My Own Bills
  • RAUM – “Plans
  • Zelma – “How
  • Patriks Peterson – “Can’t Get You Outta My Head

You can listen to the songs here!

The process

The decision for the artists that are going to participate at “Supernova 2022” will be taken by juries who are chosen by LTV and the selection process will be finished until the end of 2021.

The juries are going to decide based on the structure of the song based on its originality, adaptation, message, compliance with the recent trends in international music, the vocal ability of the contestants, their personality, their history in the music industry, as well as their ability for new music awards

The songs will be available to the public in January, while the tv shows for the “Supernova” competition are expected from the Latvian TV in February 2022.

LTV has yet to confirm publicly the format of Supernova 2022, having stated that there will be a relevant announcement in January.

The schedule for Supernova 2022 is as follows:

  • Semi-Final – 5 February
  • Final – 12 February

 

In 2021 at Rotterdam, Latvia Participated with Samanta Tīna and the song The Moon is Rising, getting 14 points in the second Semi-Final

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

 

Stay tuned in Eurovisionfun for all the latest news and information about the Song Contest.

Montenegro: Darko Dimitrov as co-writer and producer of the country’s entry!

Some hours ago, Montenegro’s public broadcaster (RTCG) announced Vladana Vučinić as the coyntry’s representaive, in their return in the 2022 Contest. Vladana herself revealed on Instagram that the famous producer Darko Dimitrov is involed in the making of the song.

 

I can officially announce that this year I will have the honour to represent my country- Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest, which will take place in Turin (Italy)

The recent tragedy in my family crashed me… The song is about an undescribible miracle that just ”flew” from within me and I can freely say that it is nothing but my broken heart in bits and peices, transformed into music and lyrics.

This is everything I can reveal for now… and one thing I know for sure is that this song will live in peoples’ hearts, and I hope it has a significantg influence on them, all over the world, in those difficult times for everyone.

Special thanks to the co-writer and producer, Darko Dimitrov, who made the song sound dynamic, like he only can.

Some information on Darko Dimitrov:

Darko Dimitrov is a producer and a composer from North Macedonia, born in the 21st of January in 1973. He is well-known for his Yugoslavic pop music all over the Balkans and the world. Some of his Eurovision entries include:

  • Ninanajna by Elena Risteska (North Macedonia 2006, 12th position)
  • Kruna by Nevena Božović (Serbia 2019, 18th position)
  • Proud by Tamara Todevska (North Macedonia 2019, 7th position)
  • Fall from the Sky by Arilena Ara (Albania 2020, contest cancelled)
  • You by Vasil Garvanliev (North Macedonia 2020, contest cancelled)
  • LOCO LOCO by Hurricane (Serbia 2021, 15th position)

Montenegro is the thrird ex-yugoslav country that Darko Dimitrov represents, and the fourth overall (counting Albania’s entry in the 2020 cancelled edition of the contest).

We are yet to know of the exact release date of Vladana’s song for Eurovision 2022.

Stay tuned in EurovisionFun for all the latest new and information regarding Montenegro’s participation in Eurovision 2022

Norway: Amanda Tenfjord on the Headline of the Norwegian media!!

Since 15:00 CET, Amanda Georgiadis Tenfjord has been announced as the Greek representative at Eurovision Song Contest 2022, the upcoming May, at Turin Italy.

The big news had an imminent impact that reached media abroad, including Norway, the country where Amanda lives in and pursues her carrer.

In particular, the news made headlines on Norway’s largest news sites, from NRK‘s public broadcaster to Dagbladet, one of Norway’s largest tabloids, with 1,400,000 daily mobile readers.

  • Norway’s public broadcaster NRK

  • Trodheim biggest news site, where Amanda attends Medical School

  • Norway’s biggest Eurovision site

  • The biggest newspaper of Norway, based in Oslo

  • One of Norway’s biggest tabloids with over 1,4 million readers

  • The biggest newspaper and site of Norway

  • Ålesund local newspaper

 

The aforementioned headlines show that the interest of the Norwegian media about Amanda is already significant, making us already hoping for a high point from the public televoting of Norway, at least.

Stay focused on  Eurovisionfun.com for the latest news regarding Greece and the rest of the 40 nations competing at the upcoming contest in Turin Italy 2022.

Albania: Listen live to the two favourites of Fik 2021!

Live snippets from the rehearsals of the two favorites of Festivali i Këngës 2021 have been available since yesterday and earlier today.

   Yesterday, on December 13th, a snippet from the rehearsal of Alban Ramosaj was posted, one of the candidates for the representation of Albania with the song “Theje”.

Later today, a snippet from the rehearsal of Ronela Hajati was uploaded today performing her entry “Sekret” which you can watch below:


   The 60th Festivali i Këngës is going to take place on 27, 28 and 29 December 2021 while the presentation will be undertaken by Ardit Gjebrea, Jonida Maliqi, Xhemi Shehu, Klevi Kadilli and Isli Islami

  Last year, Albania was represented by Anxhela Peristeri and the song “Karma”, which qualified last as it finished 10th in the 2nd Semifinal, while in the final it ended up in 21st place with 57 points.

https://youtu.be/OxniMKVXjqM

In case one of the two aforementioned candidates wins the upcoming Albanian national selection, is it possible for Albania to achieve a better placing at Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy? Let us know in the comments.

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun.com for the latest news regarding Albania, and the rest of the 40 nations of Eurovision 2022. 

 

Sweden: Running order and semi-final allocation for Melodifestivalen 2022 revealed!

The the running order as well as contestant allocation for the semi-finals of Melodifestivalen 2022 was just revealed by SVT!

The running order is determined, each year, by the production team of Melodifestivalen, taking into consideration both the competing songs’ musical qualities as well as stage performance and other production considerations and can be read below:

1st Semi Final – 5th of February, in Malmö

  1. Malou Prytz – Bananas
  2. THEOZ – Som du vill
  3. Shirley Clamp – Let There Be Angels
  4. Omar Rudberg – Moving Like That
  5. Danne Stråhed – Hallaballoo
  6. Cornelia Jacobs – Hold Me Closer
  7. Robin Bengtsson – Innocent Love

2nd Semi Final – 12th of February, in Gothenburg

  1. LIAMOO – Bluffin
  2. Niello & Lisa Ajax – Tror du att jag bryr mig
  3. Samira Manners – I Want To Be Loved
  4. Alvaro Estrella – Suave
  5. Browsing Collection – Face In The Crowd
  6. John Lundvik – Änglavakt
  7. Tone Sekelius – My Way

3rd Semi Final – 19th of February, in Linköping

  1. Cazzi Opeia – I Can’t Get Enough
  2. Lancelot – Lyckligt slut
  3. Lisa Miskovsky – Best To come
  4. Tribe Friday – Shut Me Up
  5. Faith Kakembo – Freedom
  6. Linda Bengtzing – Fyrfaldigt hurra!
  7. Anders Bagge – Bigger Than The Universe

4th Semi Final – 26th of February, in Lidköping

  1. Anna Bergendahl – Higher Power
  2. Lillasyster – Till Our Days Are Over
  3. Malin Christin – Synd om dig
  4. Tenori – La Stella
  5. MEDINA – In i dimman
  6. Angelino – The End
  7. Klara Hammarström – Run To The Hills

The detailed schedule of Melodifestivalen 2022 is described below:

  • First Semi on the 5th of February
  • Second Semi on the 12th of February
  • Third Semi on the 19th of Februrary
  • Fourth Semi on the 26th of February
  • Fifth Semi on the 5th of March
  • The Finals on the 12th of March

Oscar Zia will present Melodifestivalen 2022. The Semi-Finals will follow the touring concept once more (after the coronavirus outbreak), as usual, with the finals being held at Friends Arena! With the opening of the contest in Malmö, Saturday February the 5th, Melodifestivalen will be held in Göteborg, Linköping, Lidköping, Örnsköldsvik and then in Stockholm.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments related to the Swedish national selection for Eurovision 2022!

Greece: Ilias Kozas submitted his proposals to ERT!

An other artist, who is feverishly working his own proposal, is Ilias Kozas. This time as a solo artist, he will try to get on the Eurovision stage for a second time after 2013 in Malmö Sweden, where he ended up in 6th place alongside with Koza Mostra and Agathonas Iakovidis.

It comes out as a surprise the fact that Ilias Kozas has submitted three songs, all of them with English lyrics and not with Greek. His proposed entries are of rock style, a genre he has served in his recent work both as solo artist and together with Koza Mostra band.

With an already good “previous service” at the contest, having been the last Greek entry that has finished in top 10 before Stefania brought the nation back to it this year, do you thing that ERT will give him the green light to represent the Greek colours once more in Turin in 2022?

Below you can watch his maiden participation in 2013 with Alcohol is Free!! 

Ireland 2022: RTÉ opens submissions for their national final

Ireland is the nation with the most number of victories in Eurovision.  However, its most recent results have been far from ideal.  Irish two most recent representatives both ended last in their semifinals.  The country has thus decided to change their selection method for Eurovision 2022.  RTÉ announced Ireland will select their representative through a national final.  This will be the first time since 2015 that Ireland has a national final for Eurovision.

The announcement took place in The Late Late Show.  RTÉ has opened a submission form inviting songwriters and performers to send their tracks.  The songs have to comply with the EBU rules for the Eurovision Song Contest.  After the submission phase ends, a committee of experts will chose the national finalists.  The national final will take place in The Late Late Show.

https://twitter.com/RTELateLateShow/status/1438975949777907716

Although the application phase is open to anyone RTÉ has made it clear it prefers to have “accomplished songwriters with a proven track record of success in the music industry” in their national selection.

“Although we wish to encourage and identify promising new talent for the future, this is probably not an opportunity for beginners or people with limited or no experience of performing in public to large crowds”. RTÉ

 

Lesley Roy represented Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 held in 2021 with the song Maps.  She failed to qualify to the Grand Final.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY2rxbZNvZ0&ab_channel=EurovisionSongContest

Do you think a national final will change Ireland’s fate in Eurovision?