Another season of national finals and internal selections has just finished and we see that none less than 18 of the 43 Eurovision participants this year comes with a background from various TV talent shows. In particular The Voice seems to serve as a popular platform before heading to Eurovision.
A lot of the acts chosen via internal selections are winners or past contestants of The Voice these days and rarely is there a National Final without one or two singers from The Voice, X-Factor or similar TV talent shows. These shows gives the participants a good foundation for their future career, and importantly they give the artists a fan base which might be an advantage over less familiar faces in a later national selection.
The Voice
The Voice, first held in The Netherlands has become the biggest TV Talent Shows across Europe in our days and over the past few years we have seen plenty of artists in the Eurovision Song Contest coming from past editions of the Voice. Thirty countries in Europe are currently broadcasting their own versions of the popular TV show. This year we have a record of Eurovision participants coming from The Voice.
Samra who will represent Azerbaijan in Stockholm took part in two editions of The Voice. First in The Voice of Turkey last year and recently in The Voice of Azerbaijan where she reached the final. Laura Tesoro who represents Belgium, placed second in the Flandern version of The Voice in 2014. The German representative Jamie-Lee Kriewitz won The Voice of Germany in 2015 and Croatia’s Nina Kraljić won The Voice of Croatia the same year.
Iveta Mukuchyan who represents Armenia took part in the Voice of Germany in 2012. Joe and Jake from the United Kingdom met when they both competed separately in the Voice last year. In 2013, Amir from France was a finalist in French competition of The Voice: La Plus Belle Voix finishing third in the competition.
X – Factor
The X Factor started in 2003 in United Kingdom replacing Pop Idol. Since then the show, where already established singers and producers mentor a group of singers in the aim of winning the overall series, has been shown in twenty-four European Countries.
Dami Im from Australia won the 2013 series of X-Factor. The Polish representative Michal Szpak came 2nd in 2011 while Highway who will represent Montenegro came in 4th place in 2015 on The X Factor Adria. Lastly but not least, Francesca Michielin from Italy won the 2011 series of The X Factor over in her native country.
Rising Star
Rising Star originated from Israel where it is known as HaKokhav HaBa. The shows concept has been bought by various TV broadcasters in Europe but it is yet to reach the success levels of The Voice and X Factor. It has been shown in various countries such as France, Germany, Hungary, Portugal, Turkey, Italy and Russia. However only Turkey and Israel broadcasts it now.
Freddie who represents Hungary came fourth in the first and only series of Rising Star in his country. After the success of last years winner Nudav Guedj in Eurovision Song Contest, the Israeli Broadcaster has gone with Rising Star again as their national selection. Hovi Star won the 2016 edition of the show so he won the right to represent his country in Stockholm.
Other TV talent shows
Gabriela Gunčíková who was internally chosen to represent Czech Republic was a finalist in the second season of SuperStar in 2011, while Douwe Bob from the Netherlands was the winner of the Best singer-songwriter talent show in 2012. Jüri Pootsmann from Estonia, after singing solo for three years, won the Estonian edition of Idol in 2015 which landed him a record deal with Universal Music.
Ovidiu Anton won one of the greatest music TV shows of all times in Romania, Stars’ School. ManuElla comes from Slovenia, however she tried her luck in a German music talent show Das Supertalent, where she ranked amongst the first one hundred best performers at the age of 16.
Below you see the complete list of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest participants and the TV talent show they came from:
| Artist | TV Talent Show |
|---|---|
| Samra Rahimli | The Voice of Azerbaijan and Turkey |
| Laura Tesoro | Flanders version of The Voice |
| Jamie-Lee Kriewitz | The Voice of Germany |
| Nina Kraljić | The Voice of Croatia |
| Iveta Mukuchyan | The Voice of Germany |
| Amir Haddad | The Voice of France |
| Joe and Jake | The Voice of UK |
| Dami Im | The X Factor Australia |
| Michal Szpak | The X Factor Poland |
| Highway | The X Factor Adria |
| Francesca Michielin | The X Factor Italy |
| Freddie | Rising Star Hungary |
| Hovi Star | Rising Star Israel |
| Gabriela Gunčíková | SuperStar-Czech Republic |
| Douwe Bob | Best singer-songwriter Netherlands |
| Jüri Pootsmann | Idol Estonia |
| Ovidiu Anton | Stars’ School Romania |
| ManuElla | Das Supertalent |
Below you can watch Francesca Michielin in one of her live appearances in The X Factor of Italy in 2011:
Do you think it is good or bad that so many participants comes to Eurovision with a background from one of these TV talent shows? Tell us your opinion in the comments below.
