Eurovision 2021

Road to Rotterdam: France

Because the Eurovision Song Contest is approaching, we take a closer look at an entry every day. Today: France. Once Domenico Modugno sang it in Italian: “Volare”. Now there is Barbara Pravi who sings it in French: “Voila”. Barbara Pravi is actually called Barbara Pievic and has both Serbian and Iranian genes. She started her career with a record deal in 2014, but it wasn’t until 3 years later that it actually came to an album and a single. She now also writes for others. Last year her song, sung by Valentina, won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of France. The bookmakers are very positive about a high position for Barbara Pravi.

Road to Rotterdam: Germany

The Eurovision Song Contest is coming up. That is why we take a closer look at an entry every day. We will start with the entries that have been directly placed for the final.Jendrik Sigwart is participating for Germany: an unknown singer, who is especially notable for his ukulele and blond hair. He was making a video clip with a group of friends, posted fragments of it on Instagram and said that it could be something for the Eurovision Song Contest. He caught the attention of the German broadcaster NDR with those messages. In the end he was chosen to represent Germany with “I don’t feel hate”.

Belarus disqualified

There will be no Belarusian entry in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. After the EBU decided that the song “Ya nauchu tebya” by the band Galasy ZMesta did not comply with the rules, they got a new chance. The band submitted a new song. However, today the EBU came up with this statement: “On Wednesday 10 March we wrote to the broadcaster BTRC, which is responsible for Belarus’ entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, to request that they take all steps necessary to amend their entry to this year’s event to ensure it is compliant with the rules of the competition. Following this BTRC submitted a new song, by the same artists, within an agreed timeframe. The EBU and the Reference Group, the Contest’s governing board, carefully scrutinized the new entry to assess its eligibility to compete. It was concluded that the new submission was also in breach of the rules of the competition that ensure the Contest is not instrumentalized or brought into disrepute. As BTRC have failed to submit an eligible entry within the extended deadline, regrettably, Belarus will not be participating in the 65th Eurovision Song Contest in May.”

Former Eurovision winners in interval act

from left to right: Gerben Bakker, Getty Kaspers, Lenny Kuhr Six legendary former winners will be put in the spotlights again during the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. Lenny Kuhr (1969), Teach-In (with Getty Kaspers, 1975), Sandra Kim (1986), Helena Paparizou (2005), Lordi (2006) and Måns Zelmerlöw (2015) make their appearance during an interval act of the Grand Final on Saturday, May 22. The winners will perform their song from three unique locations in the Eurovision Song Contest host city Rotterdam. The roofs of the Maassilo, Hotel New York and the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen will be transformed into a stage, lifting the six former winners to new heights. Hence the name of the act: “Rock the Roof”. Head of Show Gerben Bakker: “The Eurovision Song Contest is back after a year of absence. Reason enough to treat the millions of viewers to unique performances from three locations in the middle of the city. The title of this great act is ‘Rock the Roof’ for a reason. By literally filming at great heights, we want to surprise Europe creatively and visually. In addition, I could not have wished for a better city than Rotterdam. Every shot in this city is a hit. Rotterdam will not soon be forgotten. ” Bakker is proud of the artists who immediately said “YES” to the request to perform one more time. “Because this is the 65th Eurovision Song Contest, we are taking a journey through time. Of course we give Dutch winners such as Lenny Kuhr and Getty Kaspers this unique podium with a lot of love. We are particularly proud that Teach-In reunites in the original line-up after a very long time. Every performance has its own unique atmosphere. ”

Eurovision with an audience still an option

“The Eurovision Song Contest will take place in the second half of May, with at least three TV shows and possibly adapted activities in the city of Rotterdam”, a spokesman of the organisation said today to news agency ANP. “The Eurovision song contest is a valuable opportunity for the event industry to gain even more insight into how to safely organize events in the coming months,” the spokesman continues, “That is also in line with the National Event Plan, in which Eurovision is an intermediate step on that route.” The announcement is made at the day that the Dutch will probably be told that the current, strict, lockdown will not be relaxed. The number of positive COVID19 tests is increasing. More about the lockdown will be made public tonight in a press conference by Prime Minister Rutte and Minister of Health De Jonge. Recently, the organization Fieldlab Evenementen did several tests with coronaproof events to see what is possible and what is not. Last weekend, a test with a festival in Biddinghuizen (where the annual pop festival of Lowlands is held) took place. It had 1500 visitors. Visitors could only enter the festival site with a negative COVID19 test. In the upcoming weeks, the organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest hope to be able to make a decision about audience in the contest.

Vasil’s response to North Macedonian people

As you all could read here there is a lot of opposition against Vasil’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. Vasil came up with his own statement today: “I am a music ambassador, and in music there is no religion, politics, orientation, race or color. I had absolutely no intentions to hurt anybody. Quite the opposite! I am so proud of this project which not only embodies me, but my country and culture – musicians and featured artists in the gallery. I do not apologise for being me. I never will – I didn’t have a choice in that. However, if I hurt ANYBODY in ANY WAY, from the bottom of my heart … I am sorry. Forgive me.”

North Macedonia to withdraw?

A storm came up when the video of the North Macedonian entry “Here I stand” appeared. In the video, the colors of the Bulgarian flag are shown. Vasil, the North Macedonian singer, is a member of the Bulgarian minority in North Macedonia. Many people in North Macedonia objected against Vasil as a participant. A petition was signed already 17.000 times.

Georgia: Tornike Kipiani to sing “You”

Also Georgia has presented its song. Tornike Kipiani will sing “You”. The song was published today. Tornike was chosen to represent Georgia in the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest and was supposed to sing “Take me as I am”. We all know that didn’t happen. This year, Tornike will perform in the 2nd semifinal.

Azerbaijan: Efendi to sing “Mata Hari”

photo: Instagram Today, Azerbaijan presented its entry “Mata Hari”. It will be sung by Efendi. It is the 2nd time a song with the title “Mata Hari” is presented at the Eurovision Song Contest. Funny coincidence: the other one, a Norwegian entry, also came on stage in The Netherlands, back in 1976. The singer in those days, Anne Karine Strøm, received a reward from the city of Leeuwarden, the hometown of the alleged spy Mata Hari. Maybe Efendi can await something similar… Efendi was supposed to represent Azerbaijan last year with a song about another strong woman, “Cleopatra”.

Malta: Destiny to sing “Je me casse”

photo: PBS/Destiny And finally, also Malta publised its entry. The song is called “Je me casse”and will be performed by Destiny. Despite the title, the song is not sung in French but in English. Destiny, who already knows what winning a song contest is as she won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, was chosen to represent Malta last year. The entry-to-be was “All of my love”. Due to the cancellation of the contest, it didn’t happen. Destiny will perform in the 1st semifinal.