As the deadline for the submission of songs for the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest draws near, San Marino became the latest participant to reveal it’s song. In a special programme broadcast tonight on SMRTV, Senit, who was chosen internally to represent the smallest nation in the contest, will sing Stand By, in Düsseldorf. The short… Read more
It seems the Ukrainians don’t like to do things the easy way. After taking three attempts to find a song for the contest in Oslo last year, the one time winner is now seeking a second attempt just two days after Mika Newton won the Ukrainian final with Angel. Reacting to public unease about the… Read more
Macedonia became the latest country to choose its song for Dusseldorf after a marathon weekend of finals. Vlatko Ilievski beat nineteen other songs to become Macedonia’s 11th Eurovision Song Contest entry. He will sing a song called Rusinka The show itself was a bit of an all-nighter, lasting four hours. It was hosted by Elena… Read more
Ukraine’s selection process for the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest started in October 2010. This evening, it finally came to an end. It proved worth it for Mika Newton, who emerged from the pack as the winner. To remind everyone watching of past glories, the membeAni Lorak and Alyoshars of the jury which helped pick the… Read more
Moldova was one of six countries which selected it’s entry for the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest tonight. It featured a couple of artists with previous experience of the Eurovision Song Contest. The show was a bit of a marathon by national final standards, featuring 25 songs. Proceedings were held together by Gabriel Coveșeanu and Dianna… Read more
Tonight was the night many Eurovision Song Contest fans had been waiting for for a long time, a song to represent Italy on its return to the contest. Roberto Vecchioni was the overall winner of the festival, while Raphael Gualazzi was the choice of a specially commissioned jury to go to Germany in May. The… Read more
An announcement has just been made by Sanremo presenter, Ginnai Morandi, that Raphael Gualazzi will represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest in Dusseldorf with the song, Follia d’Amore (The Madness of Love). Yesterday, Raphael was an overwhelming winner of the Giovanni section of the festival and it was no surprise when he was announced… Read more
Tonight is one of the most important in the Italian calendar, the final evening of the Sanremo festival. The winner will have their name etched into Italian musical history forever with such greats as Domenico Modugno, Giorgia and Eros Ramazzotti. Their song will be remembered forever alongside Grazie dei Fiori, Zingara and Uomini Soli. There… Read more
The fourth and penultimate evening of the Sanremo festival brought success for Raphael Gualazzi when he won the Giovanni section for new singers with his jazz song, Follia d’amore (The Madness of Love). He was the overwhelming favourite, winning the top score from all the voting groups. Before all the Giovanni contenders sang, it was… Read more
It was an evening heavy with drama and patriotism in San Remo’s Teatro Ariston, as the Sanremo festival saw two of the singers rejected on previous evenings voted back into the event amid celebrations of the republic’s 150th anniversary. To commemorate this milestone, all the singers in the Artisti category sung famous Italian songs. The… Read more
Among the singers in the Artisti section of the 2011 Sanremo Festival is Roberto Vecchioni with his song, Chiamami Ancora Amore (Love Still Calls To Me). It is one of the most popular songs among the audience in the Teatro Ariston. It is also the only political song in the festival. Yesterday, La Repubblica nespaper… Read more
The first evening of the Sanremo Festival saws all the singers in the Artisti category perform. Of the ten acts on show, two, Anna Oxa and Anna Tatangelo, were eliminated from the festival….for now. Hosting the festival this year is Gianni Morandi, who has himself won the festival, in 1987 with Umberto Tozzi and Enrico… Read more
Italy is about to end its 14 year sabbatical from the Eurovision Song Contest. The Sanremo Festival, which is considered to be the inspiration for the contest and the reason for its existence, will provide the Italian song. EuroVisionary takes a look at the history of the festival. It all began on the Italian Riviera… Read more
This evening, Finland chose its representative for Dusseldorf in May. Three semi-finals and tonight’s final culminated in Paradise Oskar being chosen to carry the hopes of his nation with an environmentally friendly song. Ten songs had qualified for the final in the Caribia Hall in Turku. They were at the mercy of the Finnish public,… Read more
Tonight saw the first of two semi-finals in Estonia. Ten songs were competing for the votes of the juries and the public. The top five songs qualified for the Eesti Laul final on 26th February. Hosts Piret Järvis and Lenna Kuurmaa (of Vanilla Ninja Fame)made their introductions and, somewhat against the grain for these shows,… Read more
Former Eurovision Song Contest winner, Dana International, is attempting a comeback by entering the Israeli national selection. Dana is one of ten candidates putting themselves forward to be selected. In a move that wasn’t predicted, Israeli broadcaster, IBA, today confirmed that the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest winner will compete in the Israeli final. This will… Read more
Italian broadcaster, RAI, has revealed how it will choose Italy’s first Eurovision Song Contest entry since 1997. As expected, the Sanremo festival will be used to find the song and singer, although the winner won’t necessarily be the choice. The festival is not just about the winner as other prizes are also awarded, such as… Read more
RTP has announced the results of the online voting and the 12 acts who will compete for the right to represent Portugal in Dusseldorf. The lucky acts will participate in the 47th Festival da Canção on March 5th. The winner will be chosen by televoting and an ‘expert’ jury. The finalists are: Homens da Luta… Read more
This evening saw the first semi-final in Croatia. Twelve acts competed for the six places available for the Dora final, to be held in March. The show was hosted by Leona Paraminski and Aleksandar Kostadinov. Although the six acts would be chosen by the viewers, three ‘experts’, Milna Vlaovic, a songwriter, Dino Jelusic, 2006 JESC… Read more
Portuguese broadcaster, RTP, has announced the 24 acts who have a chance of participating in the 2011 Festival da Canção. They have been chosen after an internal jury selected them from all the submitted songs. Homens da Luta – Luta é Alegria (Jel/Vasco Duarte) Alma Real – Não Quero Falar (Sérgio de Oliveira/Thosten Rath) Miguel… Read more
As Eurovision fans everywhere start anticipating the 2011national finals season, Israel’s national broadcaster, IBA has announced that its entry will be chosen on Tuesday 8th March. Recent years have seen Israel chose the singer via an internal selection process and the song through the Kdam contest. However, 2011 will see a return to the popular… Read more
Today, the EBU announced the probable return of Italy to the Eurovision Song Contest. National broadcaster RAI has not entered the contest since 1997, 13 years ago. Last Friday was deadline day for broadcasters to make their intentions known, and, with no prior rumours of an imminent return, RAI submitted its application. However, this does… Read more
Portugal, the country who has been competing in the contest for the longest time without a win, has announced details of its selection process for 2011. The long established Festival da Canção will once again be used to find the Portuguese entry. However, broadcaster RTP is embracing contemporary methods of selecting the 12 participants. Hopefuls… Read more
Israeli broadcaster, IBA, has now released details of its selection process for the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest. It sees a longer, more prominent series of shows. Due mainly to lack of finance, Harel Skaat’s song was chosen in one show on IBA’s second channel. For 2011, the Kdam Eurovision show returns to the main, more… Read more
Today, Sir Cliff Richard enters his seventh decade. The twice Eurovision singer celebrates his 70th birthday today. Most 70 years olds have retired by now, but Sir Cliff has other plans. It is 42 years since Sir Cliff finished second in the contest with the evergreen Congratulations, a song that is still sung around the… Read more
So, the United Kingdom finished last. Again! Whose fault was it? Where do we go from here? Will the BBC change the selection process for the umpteenth time in a decade? No doubt the BBC will be blamed by most for the failure last Saturday. I think this would be unfair and simply wrong. The… Read more