Martijn

Tonight, the festival of San Remo starts. The winner of the contest can be the Italian representant in the Eurovision Song Contest. That means, if he, she or they want it. All the participants had to inform Italian television (RAI) already about their wish to participate…. or not. The show starts at 20.40 CET and you can watch it here. This first night, 13 songs will be presented: Achille Lauro, “Domenica” Ana Mena, “Duecentomila ore” Dargen d’Amico, “Dove si balla” Gianni Morandi, “Apri tutte le porte” Giusy Ferreri, “Miele” La rappresentante di Lista, “Ciao ciao” Mahmood & Blanco, “Brividi” Massimo Ranieri, “Lettera al di là del mare” Michele Bravi, “Inferno dei fiori” Noemi, “Ti amo, non lo so dire” Rkomi, “Insuperabile” Yuman, “Ora e qui” Achille Lauro took part in San Remo 2019 and 2020.Gianni Morandi won Canzonissima 1970 and thus represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest. He also took part in Canzonissima 1971 and 1973 and won San Remo 1988 but did not represent Italy in that year.Giusy Ferreri took part in San Remo 2011 and 2017.La rappresentante di Lista took part in San Remo 2021.Mahmood won San Remo 2019 and represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest.Michele Bravi participated in San Remo 2017.Noemi took part in San Remo 2012, 2016, 2018 and 2021. Note that we only listed participations in San Remo in years that the Eurovision entrant was chosen from the contest.

It’s Chanel who won the Spanish final Benidorm Fest this evening with the song “SloMo”. Three juries (experts, televotes and the audience in the hall) voted. The song is written and composed by Leroy Sanchez, Keith Harris, Ibere Fortes, Maggie Szabo and Arjen Thonen. The full results are: Chanel, “SloMo”, 96 pts. Rigoberta Bandini, “Ay mamá”, 91 pts. Tanxuguieras, “Terra”, 90 pts. Rayden, “Calle de la lloreria”, 67 pts. Blanca Paloma, “Secreto de agua”, 61 pts. Varry Brava, “Raffaella”, 55 pts. Xeinn, “Eco”, 40 pts. Gonzalo Hermida, “Quién lo diría”, 35 pts. Spain will not perform in a semifinal but goes directly to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Today should have been the day for the Moldovan auditions. Later on, we could have enjoyed a semifinal and a final. But then there was COVID19 again, so the semifinal and the final were cancelled. A jury decided the winner out of the 28 auditioners of today. Zdob și Zdub & Frații Advahov are the winner! They will represent Moldova in the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest in Turin with the song “Trenulețul”. The song is written and composed by Andrei Cebotari, Victor Dandeș, Mihai Gîncu, Roman Iagupov, Valeriu Mazîlu, Sveatoslav Staruș, Vasile Advahov and Vitalie Advahov. Moldova will perform in the first half of the first semifinal. Zdob și Zdub participated twice before in the Eurovision Song Contest: in 2005 with the song “Bunika bate toba” and in 2011 with “So lucky”.

And suddenly there was another national selection today… due to increasing COVID19 infections in Moldova, the national final there has been cancelled. Today, 29 songs will go through auditions. One of them will be the Moldovan entrant. You can watch the auditions here from 13.00 CET time. These are the participants: Annet Smirnova, “Toxic eyes” Denis Midone, “Run Away” Dianna Rotaru, “My time is now” Katy Rain, “Lele” Sasha Bognibov, “(I Just Had) Sex with Your Ex” Naminal, “Stop tonight” Ricky Ardezianu, “Cherchez la femme” Y-Limit, “Nothing more” The Tramps, “Sky Blues” Trio Eva, “Get a kiss” Carolina Gorun & Danieli Shvets, “Take me anywhere” Maxim Zavidia, “Ready” Lemonique, “Boys” Marcela Scripcaru, “Starlight” Zdob și Zdub & Frații Advahov, “Trenulețul“ Mihaela Andrei, “Libre” Sasha Bognibov, “My friend is gay” Ana Cernicova, “Silent battlefield” Lanjeron, “Magic carpet” Pelageya Stefoglo, “I’m the only one” Ferum, “Love is” Angel Kiss, “The sunshine in me” Diana Elmas, “Spirit high” Viola Julea, “Before (Twin Flame)” Sendrei, “Beginners’ luck” Valeria Barbas, “My tree” Viorela Moraru, “Tell me that you love me” Zdob și Zdub represented Moldova before in 2005 with “Bunica bate toba” and in 2011 with “So lucky”.

Tonight is the night for Spain! The final of Benidorm Fest is there. Spain will decide which song will represent the country in the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest in Turin. Eight finalists will compete for the ticket. You can watch the show here at 22:15 CET. These are the contestants: no. Artist Title   1 Rayden Calle de la lloreria 2 Tanxugueiras Terra 3 Varry Brava Raffaella 4 Chanel SloMo 5 Rigoberta Bandini Ay mamá 6 Xeinn Eco 7 Gonzalo Hermida Quién lo diría 8 Blanca Paloma Secreto de agua None of the artists, singing in this final, took part in any national preselection before. 

Tonight we will see the first semifinal of the Lithuanian national final “Pabandom iš Naujo!”. You can watch it here and here at 20.00 CET. 9 songs will compete; four out of them will go to the final. The songs are: Queens of Roses, “Washing machine” 11 pts, 4th Elonas Pokanevič, “Someday” 5 pts, 9th Emilijana, “Illuminate” 9 pts, 8th Joseph June, “Deadly” 10 pts, 5th Erica Jennings, “Back to myself” 10 pts, 6th Justė Kraujelytė, “How to get my life back” 22 pts, 1st Gebrasy, “Into your arms” 18 pts, 3rd Gintarė Korsakaitė, “Fantasy eyes” 10 pts, 7th Lolita Zero, “Not your mother” 20 pts, 2nd The winners are in bold letters. Gebrasy took part in the 2019 semifinal. In 2021 he became 2nd in the final.Lolita Zero was 4th in 2017.Gintarė Korsakaitė took part in 2011 and 2013 (semifinal).Queens of Roses reached the quarterfinal in 2017 and the 4th heat in 2019.Erica Jennings became 13th in the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest. As a member of the group Skamp she sang “You got style”. She did further attempts to go to Eurovision in 2016 (2nd) and 2019 (in dueth with Jurgis Did, 4th)

Tonight is the night of 3rd semifinal of the Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix. You can follow the show here. It starts at 19.50 CET. Two times two songs will have a duel; both the winning songs will compete for 1 ticket to the final. One other song, that goes directly to the final, will be presented too. This week it will be Northkid singing “Someone”. First heat: Mari Bølla, “Your loss” vs Oda Gondrosen, “Hammer of Thor” Second heat: Sturla, “Skår i hjertet” vs Vide, “Titans” Final: Oda Gondrosen, “Hammer of Thor” vs Vide, “Titans” Winners are in bold letters. None of the artists participated in Melodi Grand Prix before.

Finally the moment has come: the pretentious Spanish National Final Benidorm-Fest will have continue. The show starts at 22.40 CET and you can watch it here. Seven songs were supposed to be performed in both semifinals. Note that From both semifinals the top-4 will go through to the final upcoming saturday. Note that Gonzalo Hermida will not perform live tonight, due to a positive COVID19 test. The plan was to show the video of the rehearsals, just like in Eurovision 2021; however, Gonzalo tested positive before the first rehearsal. Tonight we will see the video. The songs of tonight’s semifinal are: Xeinn, “Eco” (81 pts, 3rd) Marta Sango, “Sigues en mi mente” (63 pts, 5th) Javiera Mena, “Culpa” (50 pts, 6th) Gonzalo Hermida, “Quién lo diría” (76 pts, 4th) Rigoberta Bandini, “Ay mamá” (111 pts, 1st) Rayden, “Calle de la llorería” (90 pts, 2nd) Sara Deop, “Make you say” (49 pts, 7th) The songs, going to the final, are in bold letters. None of tonight’s artists ever took part in a Spanish national selection before.

Finally the moment has come: the pretentious Spanish National Final Benidorm-Fest will have it’s start. The show starts at 22.40 CET and you can watch it here. Seven songs were supposed to be performed in both semifinals. However, Luna Ki decided to withdraw as Spanish tv, RTVE, didn’t allow her to use autotune in the contest. From both semifinals the top-4 will go through to the final upcoming saturday. The songs of tonight’s semifinal are: Varry Brava, “Raffaella” (74 pts, 4th) Azúcar Moreno, “Postureo” (69 pts. 5th) Blanca Paloma, “Secreto de agua” (79 pts., 3rd) Unique, “Mejores” (55 pts., 6th) Tanxugueirras, “Terra” (93 pts., 2nd) Chanel, “SloMo” (110 pts., 1st) The finalists are in bold letters. Azücar Moreno represented Spain in the 1990 Eurovision Song Contest and became 5th with “Bandido”. They got stuck in every Eurofan’s memory as they walked off the stage; the backing tape didn’t match with the orchestra. They were allowed to start anew.