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

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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!

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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!! 

Belarus: Lukashenko goes after Eurovision/Junior Eurovision stars

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The Lukashenko regime has been in the news recently for its rapid drift towards authoritarianism.  Belarusian athlete, Kristina Tsimanuskaya was the center of an international scandal during the Tokyo summer Olympics.  The Belarus delegation tried to deport her by force to her country after she criticized the Belarus coaching staff.  Furthermore, Tsimanuskaya stated that she was in danger if she returned to Belarus.

Sadly, the ongoing political situation in Belarus is also affecting musicians in this country.  There is a “blacklist” of athletes, artists and personalities who are labeled as ‘enemies’ of the Lukashenko regime.  This blacklist includes former Eurovision and Junior Eurovision representatives.  In addition, Evgeniy Perlin who host the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Minsk is targeted in this list.

The disturbing list of public enemies of the regime include among others:

Volha Satsiuk (4th place JESC 2003)

Ksenia Sitnik (1st place JESC 2005)

Alexey Zhigalkovich (1st place JESC 2007)

Angelica Agurbash (13th place in the ESC 2005 Semifinals)

Polina Smolova (22nd place in the ESC Semifinals 2006)

Dmitriy Koldun (6th place ESC 2007)

Litesound (16th place in the 2nd Semifinal ESC 2012)

Uzari (12th place in the 1st Semifinal ESC 2015)

Naviband (17th place ESC 2017)

VAL (selected representatives in the canceled ESC 2020)

We will continue reporting about any updates on these concerning news developments.

 

Portugal: Salvador Sobral’s New Album and Long-waited Apology.

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It was May of 2017 when Salvador Sobral won the Eurovision Song Contest for Portugal. The jazz artist managed to collect 758 points, achieving the record the highest score ever, until this point.  Now Sobral has released his brand new album with the title “BPM” (Beats per minute) and gave a heartfelt interview on his musical journey.

The singer confessed that during the Eurovision period he was in really bad health conditions and needed an immediate heart transplant. Throughout his time in Ukraine, he was constantly under close observation by doctors and was on a waiting list for a possible donor. “During rehearsals, my sister was on stage while I stayed in the dressing room”.

Sharing more about his ESC experience he says he was never expecting to participate or even win the contest. He decided to sing “amar pelos dois” to support his sister, ended up winning Festival Eurovisão da Canção and representing Portugal in Eurovision. As a memory of his winning moment, Sobral reflects: “I just thought to myself: Now you must not have a heart attack, that would be humiliating. It’s crazy: I didn’t think about dying, but that it would be a humiliation to die when I just won something.”

After winning, he gave some interviews saying that ESC was his “personal prostitution”. Then he made a few uncomfortable comments for participants of the 2018 edition of the show, including the winner of the 2018 “Toy”. In his latest interview with Reinhard Köchl, Salvador said that he shouldn’t have said those things. “I shouldn’t have done it. I wanted to be funny and come across a little rebellious.” His idea of Eurovision is changed now, he understands the importance of it and the people-connecting idea of it. He closes his interview by saying that he is very grateful for participating and winning the contest.

You can listen to Salvador’s new album BPM and share your opinions with us!

source: Augsburger Allgemeinen

United Kingdom: Eurofans calling for the Steps!

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And may the Steps answer!

It is true that if you are a Eurovision fan and you have heard at least one song from the Steps you must have thought “They would do great in Eurovision”.

The Steps is a UK dance-pop group, consisting of five members, that was formed in 1997. The group has been around for 25 years (though between 2001 and 2011 when they were on a break). They have six studio albums and 23 singles! Trust me, you need to give a good listen to Steps.

Eurovision 2021 was a shock for the UK and the BBC. The county received a set of zero points (both from the audience and the international juries) and was placed last on the contest’s scoreboard for the second consecutive year.

But, we, Eurofans never give up (!) and this time we want Steps to represent the UK in Eurovision! (Is there a petition? where do I sign for this?)

According to one of the vocalists, Claire Richards, The pop group has already given a thought to Eurovision, but the singer didn’t give us more hints on whether they think about participating next year or not.

The singer said that we will not be able to know whether the UK will win the Eurovision for sure unless someone like Ed Sheeran or Adele enters. At the same time, the group is collaborating with international stars, like Michelle Visage, getting prepared for a massive UK tour and the release of their next album this September. Why wait for anyone else to snatch the trophy? Aren’t the Steps a good chance for the UK to get back in the competition and “Bring it home” for the first time since 1997?

Even though the Steps have been considered cheesy and bubblegum pop in the past, their 25-year-presence has proven their worth. The audience loves them, and we can’t wait for more of their music.

As Claire says, “I think Steps are timeless”.

C’mon BBC, make the right ‘Steps’.

Source: Dailyrecord

United Kingdom: London Eurovision Party 2021 is canceled

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The 2021 London Eurovision Party is canceled. This years London ESC party will not take place because of the CVID-19 pandemic. The event’s cancelation, which takes place annually for a decade, was confirmed today by the organisers.

Below you can read the cancelation announcement from the official facebook page of the London Eurovision Party

Sweden: Official Video Clip of Saade’s Every Minute is out!!

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The official video clip of Eric Saade’s Every Minute was released earlier today. This is the 4th time Eric Saade takes part in Melodifestivalen, the process through which Sweden choose its representative at Eurovision Song Contest.

Eric Saade with Every Minute is already in the Final of Melodifestivalen 2021 on 13th of March, after his qualification from the 4th Semi-Final.

Below you can watch the official video clip of Every Minute. Will it be uploaded at the official YouTube channel of Eurovision as the 60th Swedish entry? Let us know in the comments below!!

Ireland: With the creative director of Heroes in Eurovision 2021.

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Ok, now her chances of reaching the final have increased. Ireland’s stage director this year is Benke Rydman.

In her interview on Wiwibloggs, the 2021 representative of Ireland, Lesley Roy, revealed that the creative director for her entry Maps on the stage of Rotterdam is going to be  Fredrik “Benke” Rydman, the man behind the staging of Måns Zelmerlöw’s Heroes in Vienna in 2015.

 

“I’m very excited about our Rotterdam performance. Our creative director this year is Fredrik Rydman — Benke — who did the staging and the creative directing for Mans Zelmerlow “Heroes”. So, we have a winner on our team. We’ve been working together on this concept since December. I really just hope we get to go there”

 

All the same, given the situation in Ireland and globally, Lesley is also ready for the possibility that she might not be able to travel to Rotterdam, the Netherlands in May.

 

“Anyone going through any version of life this year has to know if you’re getting into something you have to be very aware that it could just be gone the next day. So, I did get into it knowing that and that was another reason that I wanted to push really hard and make a very epic music video. And we’ll do our best with the backup tape. Obviously, I wish we had more time and more similarities to what Benke and I would like to do for Rotterdam. But at the same time what Alan Byrne the director is doing in RTÉ, as far as the backup tape and what we can do there, I think it will be what it is if it gets cancelled”

 

During this week, Lesley finished the recording of her Eurovision backup tape, which will be used should the Irish team don’t travel to Rotterdam.

Apart from Heroes (Sweden ESC2015), Fredrik “Benke” Rydman has directed the following Melodifestivalen entries:

ISA – I Will Wait (MF 2016)

Mohombi – Hello (MF 2019)

Danny – Dandi Dansa (MF 2021)

 

Eric Saade – Every Minute (MF 2021)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbQZ-GwovBo

Source: Wiwibloggs

Czech Republic: Listen to the 2021 entry!

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The song which is going to be the 9th entry of the Czech Republic at Eurovision was released today. After the cancelation of the 2020 edition, the representation of the central European nation was tasked once again to Benny Cristo.

The title of the song is Omaga written in English including one line in the Czech language.

Below you can listen to the 2021 entry of Czechia!! Will they have a better chance for a high place this year? Let us know in the comments!!

 

Croatia: No final decision yet regarding the language of Tick Tock

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After the national final of Dora through which Croatia chose its representative for the upcoming contest in Rotterdam, the winner Albina and her team made their first statements regarding their next steps.

One of those statements  had to do with the language of Tick Tock. In particular, it was mentioned that a final decision has yet to been made; whether Albina will perform in English or in Croatian. During the national final performance Albina sang a bilingual version of her entry.

Croatia is about to perform in the 2nd half of the 1st Semi Final, for a ticket that  leads to the Grand Final of May 22nd.

Source: Eurovoix