Eurovision 2021

Tonight, the popular Melodifestivalen will start! Different from other years is that all the semifinals and the final will be in one place, due to the corona virus. The contest starts at 20.00 CET and you can watch it here. The contestants are: Kadiatou, “One touch” Lillasyster, “Pretender” Jessica Andersson, “Horizon” Paul rey, “The missing piece” Arvingarna, “Tänker inter alls gå hem” Nathalie Brydolf, “Fingerprints” Danny Saucedo, “Dandi dansa” Two of them already have Eurovision Experience. Arvingarna represented Sweden in the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Eloïse”. Jessica Andersson was a member of Fame, who came out for their country in 2003 with “Give me your love”.Besides, Arvingarna could be found in Melodifestivalen 1994, 2002 and 2019. Jessica Andersson was involved in the 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2015 and 2018 contest.Paul Rey became 6th in last year’s Melodifestivalen final. Danny Saucedo became 3rd in 2009 as a member of the group E.M.D. As a solosinger he became 2nd in 2011 and 2012. In 2011 he rose to fame by being the favorite and kissing the other favorite Eric Saade.

Today, the fourth semifinal of Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix will start. It can be seen at 19.50 CET, and you can watch it here. Last year, Ulrikke won the Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix. Norwegian broadcaster NRK however decided that they want a national final with more than one artist and with semifinals.  Tonight, these are the participants: Kiim, “My lonely voice” Landeveiens Helter, “Alt det der” Marianne Petha & Mikkel Gaup, “Pages” Royane, “Circus” Rune Rudberg of Landeveiens Helter has been in Melodi Grand Prix in 1989, 1990, 1992, 2001 and 2017. However, he never made it further than a 5th place. Group member Lars Erik Blokkhus was a member of the group Plumbo who took part in 2012. He also was a member of Staysman & Lazz who were 3rd in 2015. 

He was chosen out of 100 candidates in an internal selection: Jendrik Sigwart. Today it was announced that he’s the one, representing Germany in the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest. photo: NDR On february 25 the german broadcaster will announce the song Jendrik is going to sing. Jendrik is not a wellknown name yet to the German audience, although he played in several musicals during his study. He plays the ukulele, which he will do in Eurovision too, and he made some music videos on Instagram and Tik Tok.

Go_A won last years Ukrainian national final. The Ukrainian broadcaster has chosen them to represent their country this year too. Out of 3 songs, this “shum”, which means noise, is chosen. At this moment, the song is longer than three minutes. That means, it has to be made shorter.

The Eurovision Song Contest continues and the organization strives, determined and realistic, for the highest possible edition. “Our ambition is scenario B: a Eurovision Song Contest edition at one and a half meters, with sharp corona measures whereby all 41 artists can perform in Rotterdam Ahoy. Whether the public can attend the shows and activities in the host city of Rotterdam will be decided at a later time, ” Sietse Bakker, executive producer of the Dutch Eurovision organization, stated. After consultation of the organizing broadcasters NPO, NOS and AVROTROS and host city Rotterdam, the European Broadcasting Union has decided that organizing a “normal” Song Contest (scenario A) is not realistic under the current circumstances. “Our ambitions remain high. We will do everything we can to make it the best possible edition. The health and safety of all those involved are of course leading” Bakker says. The show will take place The Eurovision Song Contest will take place anyway. The semi-finals and the final will take place from Rotterdam Ahoy on 18, 20 and 22 May. Since the end of March last year, we have been working on four scenarios and an agile organization to fulfill that promise. By now we will focus all energy on scenario B, the organizers remain optimistic and flexible and emphasize that further downscaling to scenario C and D is still possible. There are also, albeit limited, possibilities to scale up again in a number of areas, if this is possible in May. “The Eurovision Song Contest returns in May, despite the pandemic. Unfortunately, given the persistent circumstances, it is impossible to hold the event as we are used to” Martin Österdahl, Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest, said. “We are grateful for the renewed commitment and support of the City of Rotterdam and the continued support of all participating broadcasters. We sincerely hope that we can come together in Rotterdam in May and will do everything we can to achieve this” Martin Österdahl stated. In the upcoming time, the Dutch Eurovision organization hopes for the positive impact of an ever-increasing group of vaccinees, more and more options for quick and reliable testing and the spring weather. In addition, the organization is also cautiously optimistic thanks to various international pilots that show that events can also take place safely and responsibly during corona time. The Dutch FieldLab pilots, which will take place in February, will also contribute to this. Eurovision councilor Said Kasmi, Municipality of Rotterdam: “The Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam, live from Ahoy, is a ray of hope to look forward to together. As a host city, we are optimistic, enthusiastic and realistic. Within the possibilities that are available, we will make the best of it together with partners! Let’s hope that this Eurovision Song Contest, which will be different from all 64 previous festivals, offers great new opportunities for partners and entrepreneurs in the city. Anyway: Rotterdam will open up again! ” Safety and Health An extensive safety and health plan has been developed to guarantee the maximum safety and health of everyone present at the Eurovision Song Contest. A special corona protocol has also been drawn up that can compete with the protocols of, for example, Formula 1 and UEFA. Artists and delegations In this scenario, all participants and their supporting delegations can still travel to Rotterdam. The maximum number of delegation members per participating country has been scaled down by the EBU. Persons from a country that may be subject to a travel restriction can enter on the basis of the Exception entry ban for professionals from the cultural and creative sector of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. Tickets All available tickets for the 3 live shows and 6 dress rehearsals were sold out last year. In order to guarantee the 1.5 meters in the hall, the space for the public in Rotterdam Ahoy will be reduced. Because pitches are not possible, it was decided to set up the floor completely as a green room, so that the artists in the green room can also keep their distance from each other. Because the capacity is decreasing sharply and there is no prospect of expansion, the organization will start with a full refund of all ticket holders in February. These ticket holders will then receive a unique code with which they can later gain exclusive access to ticket sales for the 2021 shows, if the audience is allowed in the hall. It is therefore not possible to get tickets for the shows for people who do not already have a ticket for the canceled shows of 2020. Press on the ESF In scenario B, 500 journalists are present instead of 1,550. A virtual press center will be set up for press who cannot travel to Rotterdam as a result, where rehearsals and press conferences can be followed live. Journalistssts can participate as if they were physically present. Jolanda Jansen, director of Rotterdam Ahoy: “We are pleased that all parties are jointly expressing the ambition to go for the most maximum scenario for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, while at the same time all have the full awareness and realism that we are in a challenging time. . We feel the resilience and agility that characterizes our event sector and Rotterdam. We do everything we can to help the team in Hilversum to warmly and cordially welcome the delegations to Rotterdam Ahoy. ” Photo: Mijn reiskennis Jeroen Eurovision Village In scenario B, Rotterdam has developed an alternative concept for the Eurovision Village, on the Binnenrotte. The amended plan takes into account, among other things, seated audience (at one and a half meters) and a scalable number of visitors per time block. The city is also investigating the other scenarios, should the audience not be able to be present or be very limited. Within all scenarios, the city strives to let fans and enthusiasts experience the unique Eurovision feeling as much as possible. More will be announced in the coming

Tonight, France decided. The winner is Barbara Pravi with the song “Voila”. That’s not a surprise, as she was already the hot favorite to win the contest. Barbara Pravi took part as a composer before, and won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest as a composer last year. Eight songs were chosen for a superfinal, seven by televoting, one by the expert jury: 21 Juin Le Duo, “Peux-tu me dire?” Ali, “Paris me dit (yala ya helo)” Amui, “Maeva” Andriamad, “Alleluia” Barbara Pravi, “Voilà” Casanova, “Tutti” Céphaz, “On a mangé le soleil” Juliette Moraine, “Pourvu qu’on m’aime” LMK, “Magique” (jury) Philippine, “Bah non” PONY X, “Amour fou” Terence James,  “Je t’emmènerai danse” Barbara Pravi, “Voilà”, 204 pt. Juliette Moraine, “Pourvu qu’on m’aime”, 136 pt PONY X, “Amour fou”, 124 pt Casanova, “Tutti”, 102 pt. Céphaz, “On a mangé le soleil”, 82 pt Amui, “Maeva”, 78 pt LMK, “Magique”, 76 pt 21 Juin Le Duo, “Peux-tu me dire?”, 38 pt

The Lithuanian results are known. Now we know which songs (in bold) are competing in next week’s final, but note that there is one other song in the final: “Discotheque” by The Roop. They received a wildcard for the final because they should represent Lithuania in the 2020 contest. Be U, “Love yourself” Aistė Brokenleg, “Home” Gabrielus Vagelis, “My guy” Voldemars Petersons, “Never fall for you again” Norbertas, “Man in need” Evita Cololo, “Be paslapčių” Titas & Benas, “No” Martyna Jezepčikaitė, “Thank you very much” Milita Daikerytė, “Shadows” Gebrasy, “Where’d you wanna go”

And we have a winner again for Norway! The duels today were: Dinaye, “Own yourself” vs Big Daddy Karsten, “Smile”Emmy, “Witch woods” vs Ole Karsten, “Vi er Norge” Big Daddy Karsten, “Smile” vs Emmy “Witch woods”

Last year, Tom Leeb was chosen by French tv to represent his country in the Eurovision Song Contest. However, he decided not to take part in the 2021 contest. French tv will select it’s new entrant through a national final, which will be held tonight. It will start at 21:05 CET, and you can watch it here. Tonight’s participants are: 21 Juin Le Duo, “Peux-tu me dire?” Ali, “Paris me dit (yala ya helo)” Amui, “Maeva” Andriamad, “Alleluia” Barbara Pravi, “Voilà” Casanova, “Tutti” Céphaz, “On a mangé le soleil” Juliette Moraine, “Pourvu qu’on m’aime” LMK, “Magique” Philippine, “Bah non” PONY X, “Amour fou” Terence James,  “Je t’emmènerai danse” Barbara Pravi wrote a song for the 2018 national final. It was sung by Noée. Tonight, she will sing a song herself. All the others are Eurovision newcomers.

Tonight, at 20.00 CET, the Lithuanian semifinals will start. After two quarter finals, we will see a semifinal. Tonight, it will be decided who is going to join The Roop in the Lithuanian final. You can watch it here and here. Last year, The Roop was chosen to represent Lithuania. However, Lithuanian tv LRT did not want to give up their national final this year. The Roop has a wildcard for the final. Tonight’s contestants are: Be U, “Love yourself” Aistė Brokenleg, “Home” Gabrielus Vagelis, “My guy” Voldemars Petersons, “Never fall for you again” Norbertas, “Man in need” Evita Cololo, “Be paslapčių” Titas & Benas, “No” Martyna Jezepčikaitė, “Thank you very much” Milita Daikerytė, “Shadows” Gebrasy, “Where’d you wanna go” Aiste Brokenleg also took part last year, but did not survive the first round. Same goes for Gebrasy, but one year earlier. Gabrielus Vagelis was more succesful: in 2013 and 2020 he reached the semifinals; in 2017 he reached the final and became 5th.  Voldemars Petersons was a member of the band Kupido. They took part in 2007. As a soloist, Voldemars was involved in the 2019 and 2020 contests. However, he never made it to a 2nd round.  Milita Daikerytė was more successful in 2015, but she had to quit due to health problems. Maybe she has more luck this time. We saw Benas Malakauskas (Titas & Benas) doing attempts in 2017 and 2018.