The second episode of San Marino’s 1in360 is now available. During episode, the contestants took the stage once more to present an acoustic version of their second song. At the end, it was up to the judges to decide which song would they take to the final round in the beginning of March.

Last week, San Marino’s 1in360 finally begun its official journey to select the entry for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest. 11 acts went on stage to perform a song composed for them. Amongst the performances, Sara de Blue and Irol received the biggest acclaim from the judges.

Tonight, the second episode of the competition was made available on its YouTube channel. The 11 acts took the stage once more to perform their second song in its acoustic version – many were re-arrangements of last week’s songs. In the end, the judges got together and decided which of the two songs each act will sing during the show’s final to be held in a couple of weeks.

The Show

The format was exactly the same as last week’s as each song was performed followed by the feedback of each judge and a backstage moment, where the participants reflected on their performances and reviews.

Nick Earles – the show’s main host – was once again joined by Kristin Stein who was in charge of the backstage moments. Austria’s Zoë Straub, English songwriter Neon Hitch, the entrepeneur Ladislav Kossár and San Marino’s Head of Delegation Alessandro Capicchioni built the judging panel.

At the end, the four judges decided which of the two songs performed by each act would continue to the final.

The Songs

1. Emma Sandström – Hold On

Once again, Emma was in charge of opening the show. Stepping up from last week, Emma performed Hold On, a ballad that was surely capable of showcasing her best side and vocals. She seemed more confident and way more comfortable. Zoë agreed as she believes that the song really fits Emma’s voice.

2. Irol – Sorry (feat. Basti)

Taking on Jenifer’s song last week, Irol teamed up with Sebastian Schmidt for this more upbeat version of the song that obviously featured Irol’s Italian rap. The judges seemed to like this version better.

3. Giovanni Montalbano – Immenso Blu

The only act that doesn’t sing, or even speaks, English, took on an Italian version of Sebastian Schmidt’s song last week, Moonlight. The arrangement was quite similar and the main difference was the language the song was presented in. According to Neon Hitch, there was not a single thing to critique about his performance.

4. Sebastian Schmidt – Stay

Swapping places with Judah Gavra, Sebastian performed Stay and was able to give it a boost in terms of emotion and meaning. Zoë, for instance, was only able to thank him for the performance as she was left speechless.

5. Judah Gavra – Moonlight

The Israeli singer did swap places with Sebastian as well. Judah sang Moonlight and added a couple of different things to it. According to Alessandro Capicchioni, Judah has “all the cards” necessary to represent San Marino at the Eurovision Song Contest.

6. Tinashe Makura – Free Yourself

Tinashe brought his African roots to the 1in360 stage with a performance of Free Yourself that left part of the groove Camilla brought next week and delivered a bigger essence of reggae. Nonetheless for Ladislav Kossár, last week’s performance was much better.

7. Jessika Muscat – Out Of The Twilight

Jessika returned to the 1in360 stage with an original song. Out Of The Twilight is a big change from her Pop side last week and brought a powerful ballad filled with drama and attitude. Just like what happened with Tinashe, the judges weren’t impressed and preferred Jessika’s performance last week.

8. Sara De Blue – Out Of The Twilight

It’s not a mistake. Sara did perform the same song as Jessika just did, but with a different arrangement. After impressing the jury last week, Sara did it again and it was unanimous. Out of The Twilight fits Sara better.

9. Jenifer Besky – Until The Morning Light

Jenifer took on Sara De Blue’s last week song, Until The Morning Light but with an arrangement that could easily fit among Adele’s repertoire. Neon Hitch expressed how impressed she was with Jenifer’s vocals.

10. Franklin Calleja – Stay

With a very similar approach, Franklin presented yet another emotional performance by taking on the same song Sebastian did. The comments focused on Franklin’s great voice.

11. Camilla North – Yo No Soy Tu Chika

Taking on an original song, Camilla brought in a bit of latin vibes to the stage and didn’t forget all the drama attached to it. According to Alessandro, Yo No Soy Tu Chika has all the ingredients to become a summer hit.

Results

Find below which song was chosen for each act. The choices seemed, nonetheless, a bit inconsistent taking in consideration the words of the judges.

Act	Song
Emma Sandström	Diamonds
Irol	Sorry (feat. Basti)
Giovanni Montalbano	Per quello che me dai
Sebastian Schmidt	Stay
Judah Gavr	Stay
Tinashe Makura	Free Yourself
Jessika Muscat	Who We Are (feat. Irol)
Sara De Blue	Out Of The Twilight
Jenifer Besky	Until The Morning Light
Franklin Calleja	Stay
Camilla North	Yo No Soy Tu Chika

Coming Next

On the 3rd of March San Marino will meet its representative and the respective song he or she will take to the Eurovision stage in Lisbon. In a few days, the 1in360 production is expected to upload the song’s final version so fans can start getting their favorites ready. There will be an online voting that has been prepared to avoid fraud. Read more about it, in our previous article.

If you haven’t watched the show yet, go ahead and do so in the video below.

One final in 8 years

This year, San Marino is really making an effort to try to improve their past results. So far they have only reached the final once in eight attempts. From these attempts, it was one of four Valentina Monetta entries, which saw them into the final in 2014.

The country was really unsure if they would take part in the competition this year as they feared there’s no space for small countries in the show. With this unexpected national selection, they certainly hope things will change.