Martijn

Albania to decide tonight

Tonight is the night for Albania to decide. After a semifinal and an evening of special presentations, the 17 remaining songs will compete in Festival i Këngës. That is how the national song contest of Albania is called. Festival i Këngës has a long history. Even way before Albania started competing in the Eurovision Song Contest, Albania had it’s Festival i Këngës in the last week of december. Since 2003, the winner will compete in Eurovision the upcoming year. Tonight, 17 songs and singers will compete. Although all the songs are in Albanian, that does not mean the winner will automatically sing the song in Albanian in Turin. You can watch it at 21.00 CET, here and here, but also on Facebook. The contestants are (in alfabetic order): Alban Ramosaj, “Theje” Denis Skura, “Pse nuk flet, mama?” Eldis Armjeti, “Refuzoj” Endri & Stefi, “Triumfi i jetës” Ester Zahiri, “Hiena” Gjergj Kaçinari, “Në ëndërr mbete ti” Janex, “Deluzional” Kastro Zizo, “Kujë” Kelly, “Meteor” Mirud, “Për dreq” Olimpia Smajlaj, “Dua” Rezarta Smaja, “E jemja nuse” Ronela Hajati, “Sekret” Sajmir Çili, “Nën maskë” Shega, “Një” Urban Band, “Padrejtësi” Endri & Stefi took part in 2009 (8th), 2010 (16th), 2012 (6th) and 2018 (semifinal).Gjergj Kaçinari was present in 2021 (final).Kastro Zizo was there in 2020 (semifinal) and 2021 (final).Kelly participated in 2010 (semifinal), 2013 (12th), 2015 (semifinal) and 2019 (semifinal).Mirud was there in 2020 (semifinal) and 2021 (final).Rezarta Smaja could be seen in 2013 (7th), 2014 (7th), 2015 (7th), 2016 (4th, in duet with Klodian Kaçani), 2017 (7th) and 2018 (final, in duet with Luiz Ejlli).Sajmir Çili was present in 2008 (semifinal).

Emil Ramsauer (103) passed away

At the age of 103, Swiss Eurovision participant Emil Ramsauer passed away. Already at a very young age, Emil joined the musical department of the Salvation Army. He always remained doing so. Emil played the flute horn, baritone and percussion. When he was 95, Emil Ramsauer joined the Swiss national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, together with 5 other Salvationists. The group won. However, they were not allowed to participate as the Salvation Army, and so they changed their name into Takasa. They were not allowed to wear the Salvation Army uniforms as well. Being 95, Emil Ramsauer holds the record of being the oldest ever Eurovision participant. Ramsauer passed away a few days ago at the age of 103.

Czech Republic: It’s We Are Domi

After a week of voting, in the end the band We Are Domi won the Czech national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. They will sing the song “Lights off”. Czech TV announced the winner tonight! The full results are: We Are Domi with “Lights off”, 21 pts. Elis Mraz with “Imma be”, 17 pts. Giudy with “Jezinky”, 15 pts. Jordan Haj & Emma Smetana with “By now”, 12 pts. Skywalker with “Way down”, 12 pts. Annabelle with “Running out of F* time”, 11 pts. The Valentines with “Stay or go”, 6 pts.

S10 to represent the Netherlands

S10 (pronounced S team) to is going to represent the Netherlands in the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest in Turin. She announced the news today via Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS. You can watch the video below: Stien den Hollander, known as S10 in the Netherlands, had her breakthrough in 2018. She is known for singing songs and being very open about her psychological problems. After releasing the EP’s “Antipsychoticha”, “Lithium” and “Diamonds”, she released three singles. “Adem je in” became a hit single.

This is the Bulgarian entry: intention

photo: BNT On november 25, it was announced that Intelligent Music Project was going to represent Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest. Today, the song “Intention” has been presented. Listen to this rock song and let us know what you think:

Laila Halme passed away

Today, the sad news came to us that Finnish singer Laila Halme passed away. Laila Halme, born Laila Soppi in the Finnish town of Jääski, was a Finnish singer and actress. She began her career in the 1950, singing in several orchestras. Her first single “Kaunis rakkaus” was released in 1959. In 1960, she released several singles and EP’s at the Philips label. In 1961 she debuted as an actress in two films: “Penkki” and “Tähtisumua”.In 1963, she participated in Euroviisut, the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest, with the song “Olen mikä olen”. She became 3rd, while the song “Muistojeni laulu” won and Irmeli Mäkelä was chosen to sing it in the Eurovision Song Contest. However, Finnish broadcaster YLE decided to let Laila Halme sing it in the international final. She did not receive any point at all. A year later, Laila Halme represented Finland in the festival of Sopot in Poland. She released a couple of singles but left showbusiness in 1967. We only saw her back in 1987, when she hosted Euroviisut. Her son Jussi Halme is also a singer, he took part in Euroviisut in 1990.Laila Halme was 87 years old.

Estonia: 2nd quarter final Eesti Laul

Tonight, the second quarter final of Eesti Laul, the Estonian national selection, was held. These are the candidates, the finalists are in bold letters: Wiiralt sings “Kuradile” Desiree sings “Siiani” Silver Jusilo sings “Elu rüpes” Kaia-Liisa Kesler sings “Vaikus” Helen sings “Vaata minu poole” Jyrise sings “Plaksuta” An-Marlen sings “Lõpuks muutub” Andrei Zevakin feat. Grete Paia sing “Mis nüüd saab” Meisterjaan sing “Vahel lihtsalt” Triin Niitoja and Frants Tikerpuu sing “Laululind”

It’s Intelligent Music Project for Bulgaria

photo: BNT Today, Bulgarian broadcaster BNT announced their participant for the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest. It’s the Intelligent Music Project along with Ronnie Romero. Ronnie Romero, who is known as the singer of the band Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, is the lead singer. Furthermore, the band exists of Bisser Ivanov, Slavin Slavchev, Ivo Stefanov, Dimiter Sirakov and Stoyan Yankoulov. And yes, the last one took part in 2007 and 2013 for Bulgaria, together with Elitsa Todorova. “Water”, Stoyan’s 2007 Bulgarian entry. Intelligent Music Project is a project in which a lot of musicians took part, a.o. members of bands like Toto, Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep. The song the band presents at the Eurovision Song Contest is called “Intentions”. More details about the song will be revealed at the beginning of december. “Every time”, a song the band released five months ago.

Estonia: 1st quarter final Eesti Laul

Tonight, the first quarter final of Eesti Laul, the Estonian national selection, was held. These are the candidates, the finalists are in bold letters: Traffic sings “Kaua veel” Jaagup Tuisk sings “Kui vaid” Kéa sings “Every time” Fiona and Me sing “Feel like this” Peter Põder sings “Koos lõpuni” Stig Rästa sings “Interstellar” Maian sings “Meeletu” Little Mess sings “Hea päev” Boamadu sings “Mitte Kauaks” Evelin Samuel sings “Waterfall” Stig Rästa sang “Goodbye to yesterday” with Elina Born in 2015 and became 7th. He also wrote the 2016 and 2019 Estonian entries. Evelin Samuel sang for Estonia in 1999. “Diamond of nights” became 6th.

Blast from the past: Romania 2004

We know a lot about Eurovision; this is knowledge we want to share with you. Therefore we’d like to bring you a blast from the past. Back to 2004, when Sanda represented Romania with “I admit”. Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest In the Eurovision Song Contest, Romania did not do bad, but real top scores were yet to come. It was “Tell me why”, the song with which Monica Anghel and Marcel Pavel reached the 9th place, the best score so far. In 2003, Nicola became 10th. That was enough for Romania to be placed directly in the 2004 final. National selection The Romanian national selection contained two semifinals: one with 12 and one with 11 songs. On March 13, Dan Teodorescu and Nicola hosted the national final with, again, 12 songs. The contest was held in the TVR TV-Studios in Bucharest. Supermarket with “De 2 ore te astept“, 12th with 0 points Nico with “Feeling snow white“, 9th with 4 points Shake with “Music”, 11th with 1 point Andra with “Just a little love“, 2nd with 17 points Elena Cârstea with “Don’t be afraid“, 4th with 16 points Paula Seling with “Perfect“, 6th with 8 points Salamandra with “Într-o zi“, 6th with 8 points Maria Radu with “All this time“, 2nd with 17 points Sanda Ladoşi with “I admit“, 1st with 24 points Parlament with “Tot pe ea“, 5th with 9 points Alexandra Ungureanu with “Happy“, 9th with 4 points Hara with “Lovely“, 6th with 8 points Sanda Sanda Ladoși was born in Târgu Mures, Romania, on january 2nd 1970. She started making music at a very young age. It was in 1988 when she first won an award at the Mamaia festival. She won the contest again in 1994 in duet with Ștefan Iordache. Sanda released four albums in the nineties. In 1999 she took part in the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. Five years later she was a participant again, but this time she won. Her Eurovision song “I admit” was included in her fifth album “Khalinin”, which was released in 2006. After this album, she decided to withdraw from showbusiness and become a mother. She has 2 children now. A few years later, Sanda Ladoși came back with shows and concerts, but also developed a new passion. She became a circus acrobat. In addition, she appeared as a guest in many plays at the “Constantin Tanase” Magazine Theater. In 2017, Sanda Ladoși became deputy director of the Metropolitan Circus in Bucharest. I admit The Eurovision Song “I admit” was an uptempo song. “I admit I fell for you so badly and I admit you make my senses wild”, Sanda sang. You can find the full lyrics of the song here. During the performance at the Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul, Sanda was joined by to singers and 3 dancers. She was wearing a black romper suit. The act was more of a dance act than a singing act. Results The voting became a big disappointment for Romania. With 10 points, awarded by the Spanish jury but furthermore only a few points from Cyprus (3), Israel (1) and Portugal (4), Romania ended up with a total of 18 points and an 18th place.