April 10, 2024

🇸🇲 Road To Malmö: San Marino

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: San Marino Megara Megara is an alternative metal band from Madrid, Spain, that started making music together in 2015. The group has four members: Kenzy sings, Rober plays guitar, Vitti rocks the bass, and Ra Tache keeps the beat on drums. They’re known for playing a unique kind of music they call “fucksia rock” or “fucksia metal,” which is all about mixing different musical styles into their own special blend. They kicked off with their first EP, Muérase quien pueda, in 2015, and kept the hits coming with albums like Siete in 2016 and Aquí estamos todos locos in 2018. They even played at the big Resurrection Fest in 2019! Their latest album, Truco o trato, came out in 2022. In 2023, they tried to represent Spain at Eurovision with their song “Arcadia” but didn’t make it, even though they got to the final of Benidorm Fest. They also got to open for Babymetal in Spain, which is pretty awesome. The band did not give up. They tried for Eurovision again in 2024 with “11:11” and, after not making it in Spain, got picked to represent San Marino! Una Voce Per San Marino A total of 126 (!!!) songs competed in the San Marinese national final Una Voce Per San Marino. In 5 long semifinals, half of the 16 finalists were chosen. In another competition, the San Marino Sessions, an extra song was chosen. The songs in this competition were al written by AI. The winner, Dana Gillespie with her song “The last polar bear”, reached a 7th place in the final. Eight established artists also competed in the final. Among them Jalisse, who represented Italy in the 1997 contest, and Loredana Berté. The latter was the favourite to win the competition. However, she did not. She ended up in 2nd place behind Megara. San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest The country debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008 with the Italian group Miodio. San Marino often (not always!) selects artists from other countries. Even American rapper Flo Rida represented the country. There are also many artists who take part for the country more than once, like Senhit, Valentina Monetta and Serhat. With a 19th place in the final, Serhat was the best scoring artist for San Marino so far with his song “Say Na Na Na”. Serhat, photo: EBU/Thomas Hanses The Bookmakers The odds for winning the Eurovision Song Contest are currently not too positive about Megara: they give them a last place. In the odds to make it to the final, the country has a 13th place. A job has to be done by Megara to convince the jury and televoter and prove the odds to be wrong. The Song And this is the song:

🇪🇸 Road To Malmö: Spain

photo: EBU We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Spain. Nebulossa Nebulossa is a lively electropop duo from Ondara, Spain, made up of singer María “Mery” Bas and keyboardist Mark Dasousa. They started making music together in 2018 after bumping into each other in an elevator, which shows sometimes amazing things happen by chance! Their name, Nebulossa, comes from their fascination with nebulae and also nods to the Valencian language with its unique spelling. They first caught everyone’s attention with their EP “Ufo” in 2019 and have been dazzling us with hit songs like “La Colmena” and “Océano de Palabras” since then. By 2021, they were really making waves with their album “Poliédrica de mí.” They even grew to a trio when Ophelia Alibrando joined in 2022, and tried to represent San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest. Although they didn’t make it that year, their spirit never faded. In 2024, they took Benidorm Fest by storm with their song “Zorra,” winning their way to represent Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. Benidorm Fest Since 2022, the Spanish entry is chosen via Benidorm Fest. There has been a contest in Benidorm in the past, from 1958 to 2007, but it has never been the national final for Eurovision. How different that was with the return of Benidorm Fest in 2022!Two semifinals with eight songs each and a final, also with eight songs, made up the contest. The songs were chosen by an expert jury, a demoscopic jury and televoters. While the expert jury prefered St. Pedro, the other two chose Nebulossa. In the end, the latter won the contest. Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest It was Conchita Bautista who brought Spain to Eurovision in 1961 with her song “Estando contigo”. The song “Zorra” is the 63rd Spanish entry. Two times in a row a victory was there: in 1968 Massiel got the trophy with her song “La la la” and a year later, Salomé did the job with her “Vivo cantando”. In the years, Spain didn’t win anymore but came close to it. “Eres tu” by Mocedades was 2nd in 1973 and became a Eurovision classic. It was until the very last moment in 1979 that Betty Missiego could be the winner with her “Su canción”. In recent years, Spain was 3rd in the contest with Chanel’s “SloMo”. Salomé wearing a porcelain dress The Bookmakers Spain is placed directly in the final. That means there are no betting odds for any semifinal. Currently, Spain is 23rd in the odds to win the contest. However, that might change completely when the rehearsals start. The song And this is the song: