Eurovision 2023

Road to Liverpool: Azerbaijan

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Azerbaijan. TuralTuranX For the first time since 2008, Azerbaijan chose for a song that was written and composed by an Azerbaijani team. The lyrics of “Tell me more” are from the singing duo TuralTuranX themselves, they wrote the music together with Nihad Aliyev and Tunar Taghiyev. TuralTuranX are twins. Their names are Tural and Turan Bağmanov and they were born on 30 October 2000. They are from Zaqatala, in the northwest of Azerbaijan. At a young age, they started playing the piano, soon followed by the synthesizer and the guitar. However, when their father passed away it made them stop making music for a while. Tural moved to Baku and played in a band called TheRedJungle. He was later joined by his brother. Their Eurovision Song, “Tell me more”, is their debut as a duo. Twins in Eurovision TuralTuranX are twins. They are, however, not the first twins in Eurovision. In 1959, the sisters Alice and Ellen Kessler were the first ever twins in Eurovision history. They sang “Heute Abend woll’n wir tanzen geh’n” for Germany. But don’t forget Sophie & Magaly, who made “Le papa pinqouin” Eurovision history in 1980. Unfortunately, both girls passed away already. In 2010, we saw Twiins…. true, Daniela and Veronika Nízlová, representing Slovakia, are also twins. They didn’t reach the final. But who forgot Edward and John Grimes, aka Jedward. They were on Eurovision stage twice: in 2011 and 2012. And it looks like this was the decennium of the twins. In 2013, we saw Anastasiya and Maria Tolmachevy for Russia on stage. And what to think of OG3NE? In 2017 the three sisters represented the Netherlands. Two of the three, Amy and Shelley, are twins. In 2021 we saw twins again on stage. And again it was for The Netherlands. Jeangu Macrooy performed as a soloist, but his twin brother Xilan was in the backings. And now we have TuralTuranX! Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest Azerbaijan was quite a successful country in Eurovision so far. They took part for the first time in 2008. In all those years, they only missed the final on one occasion. The country won in 2011 with Ell & Nikki and their “Running scared”. But the top-5 was reached more often: already at their 2nd participation in 2009, AySel & Arash reached a 3rd place with their “Always”. Being the favourite at the betting odds, Safura became 5th with her song “Drip drop” in 2010. As a host country contribution in 2012, Sabina Babayeva‘s “When the music dies” became 4th. And in 2013 they almost won it again: Farid Mammadov ended up in 2nd place with his “Hold me”. Bookmakers It currently doesn’t look good for Azerbaijan in the betting odds. They have a 30th place, which is not enough to reach the final. That would be the 2nd time in Eurovision history for Azerbaijan. Let’s hope for the country that the bookmakers are wrong. The song: And of course, this is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Sweden

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Sweden. Loreen Loreen won the Swedish Melodifestivalen with a landslide. Her song “Tattoo” is written and composed by Thomas G:son, Jimmy ‘Joker’ Thörnfeldt, Jimmy Jansson, Moa Carlebecker, Peter Boström and Loreen herself.  Loreen’s real name is Lorine Talhaoui. She rose to fame when she took part in Idol 2004. She reached the live shows with her performances. After that she featured in a song of Rob ‘n’ Raz, “The snake” and hosted a tv show. In 2011 we saw her back as a singer, in Melodifestivalen. She sang “My heart is refusing me“. The song did not reach the final of Melodifestivalen. A year later she was the favourite from the first moment on. She won Melodifestivalen and went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest with “Euphoria“. The song became one of the most successful Eurovision winners ever. After this, she released two albums and a lot of singles, some of which became hits in Sweden. “We got the power“, which she sang in the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest, was also a success abroad.In 2017, Loreen did a new attempt to represent Sweden in Eurovision, but she failed. “Statements” did not reach the final of Melodifestivalen. It took Loreen six more years to be the Swedish representant again. “Euphoria”, performed during the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö. Melodifestivalen Melodifestivalen is the Swedish national final for the Eurovision Song Contest. It is internationally recognized as the biggest and most viewed national final of all. Eurovision fans all over the world follow this final as if it is the one of their own country. Since 2002, Melodifestivalen expanded from a one evening event to an event with four semifinals, a 2nd chance round and a final. In recent years Eric Saade (“Every minute“) and Dotter (“Bulletproof“) were non-winners with a lot of success. Longer ago it was a group called Agnetha, Frida, Björn and Benny (Yes, Abba!), who got an international hit with “Ring ring“. Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest Sweden first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1958 with Alice Babs. She took the 4th place with her “Lilla stjärna”. The first victory is Eurovision history: ABBA won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with “Waterloo”. Not only because of conductor Sven-Olof Walldoff who was dressed like Napoleon. Also because no other Eurovision winner rose to fame like ABBA. Not immediately after Eurovision, but two years later.In 1984 Herreys won the contest with “Diggy-loo diggy-ley”, to be followed in 1991 by mrs. Eurovision, Carola. She sang “Fångad av en stormvind”. In 1999 it was Charlotte Nilsson who sang “Take me to your heaven”. Loreen herself won in 2012 with “Euphoria”, and Måns Zelmerlöw was the last one with “Heroes” in 2015. Will Loreen bring the 7th victory? In that case, Sweden will hold the record of most victories, shared with Ireland. Bookmakers The betting odds say Sweden ís going to win. And we all know that, since 2017, the winners all had been no. 1 in the betting odds at least at some point. A Swedish victory is of course not sure, but at least very likely. The song And of course this is the song:  

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Road to Liverpool: Moldova

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Moldova. Pasha Parfeny After a very exciting national final, it was Pasha Parfeny who won the contest. His song “Soarele și luna”, which translates as “The sun and the moon”, was composed by the singer himself and Andrei Vulpe. For the lyrics, Pasha’s wife Iuliana Parfeny is responsible.  Pasha Parfeny, officially named Pavel Parfeni, studied music in the beginning of this century. He took part in several contests. He won two contests in Bulgaria in 2007. After this, he joined the group Sunstroke Project. In 2009, the group took part in the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “No crime“. Parfeny left the group in 2010 for a solo career. Eurovision became a part of his life when he represented Moldova in 2012 with the song “Lăutar”. He became 11th in the final. A year later, he wrote the song “A million” for Aliona Moon. Fun fact: Pasha, Sunstroke Project and Aliona formed the top-3 in this year’s national final. In 2020, Pasha returned to the national selection for Eurovision. His song was called “My wine” and became 2nd. Three years later Pasha won the contest again. Ma-i-a hi, ma-i-a hu… We can talk about Pasha, Sunstroke Project and Zdob şi Zdub, but the most famous band from Moldova ever is another one: O-Zone. They rose to fame in the beginning of the century. In 2003 they released their single “Dragostea din tei“, which became a hit in Romania. But after Italian duo Haiducii covered the song, the original one became a huge hit all over the world. It reached the number 1 spot in the charts in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland. And be honest…. who doesnt remember “Ma-i-a hi, ma-i-a hu, ma-i-a ho, ma-i-a haha”. The song was followed by another hit, “Destre tine“, but in 2005 the band split up. Isn’t there any Eurovision connection? Yes there is! Band member Arsenium took part in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, along with Natalia Gordienko en Connect-R. Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest Moldova first took part in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, and it was an instant success. Zdob şi Zdub became 6th! Moldova kept on being succesful. The country reached the final on many occasions, and in 2017 they ended up in the top-3. Sunstroke Project managed to do that with their song “Hey mama”. Bookmakers The betting odds currently predict a 17th place for Moldova. That is not as good as Pasha did 11 years ago. Let’s hope for him that the bookmakers are wrong and he’ll do better. The song And of course, this is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Israel

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Israel. Noa Kirel As early as 11 July last year, Israeli broadcaster Kan announced Noa Kirel to be the Israeli representative. However, Noa first said that it was just a ‘maybe’, and nothing was sure yet. One month later, an official confirmation came, and the song “Unicorn” was presented in March. The song is written by Doron Medalie, Yinon Yahel and May Sfadia. Medalie wrote “Golden boy” (2015), “Made of stars” (2016) and the winning song “Toy” (2018) for Israel. He also wrote “Feker libi”, the song for the cancelled contest in 2020. “Toy” and “Feker libi” were co-arranged by Yinon Yahel. Noa Kirel is not quite a nobody in Israel. In 2015 she rose to fame when she published a song called “Medabrim” and gained many views. She also starred in a docu-reality series and hosted a show on the Israeli Kidz Channel. She also played in a movie and in a musical show. As a singer, she reached the no. #1 spot in the Israeli charts several times. “Meusharim” (with Liran Danino), “Million dollar” (with Shahar Saul), “Trilili tralala” (with Ilan Peled) and “Reashim” (with Osher Cohen) were her most succesful songs. She was a judge in several talent shows. From Kdam to X-Factor Noa Kirel was internally chosen. Last year, X-Factor Israel was the preselection. The years before, Hakokhav Haba L’Eurovizion, a talent show, was the preselection. Longer ago, Kdam Eurovizion was the national final.Very remarkable in those years were the many attempts by Yardena Arazi, “Layla tov Europa” by Dana International and in recent years Mergui (who became a star after the preselection) and Shefita were remarkable contestants. Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest Israel started participating in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973. With a 4th place, the country was succesful rightaway. Four times Israel won: in 1978 with Izhar Cohen and The Alpha Beta and “A-ba-ni-bi”, a year later with Gali Atari & Milk and Honey with Hallelujah”. We saw Dana International winning the contest with “Diva” in 1998, while Netta was the most recent winner in 2018 with “Toy”. Beside, three other entries made it to the top-10. Bookmakers Currently, Israel is doing very well in the betting odds with a 6th place. It is a sign that “Unicorn” might do very well in the contest in Liverpool. The song And of course, this is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Switzerland

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Switzerland. Remo Forrer On 20 February of this year, it was announced that Remo Forrer is going to represent Switzerland. Two weeks later, it was announced that “Watergun”, written by Ashley Hicklin, Argyle Singh and Mikolaj Trybulec, was going to be his song. Remo Forrer rose to fame in 2020, when he won The Voice Switzerland. Born in Hemberg, Forrer was already interested in music at a young age. He learned to play the flute, the accordion and the piano. After winning The Voice, Remo released 5 singles. He was part of the show “Zeig uns dein Stimme” (I can see your voice) in 2022. Four languages Switzerland is a country with four languages. This year, the country will sing in English. Switzerland often chose to sing their Eurovision songs in French. Both the Swiss victories were in that language. Sometimes the songs were in German and Italian. Only one time in Eurovision history they sang in the 4th language, Romansh: in 1989 the group Furbaz sang “Viver senza tei”. Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest Switzerland was the first ever country to win the Eurovision Song Contest, back in 1956. Lys Assia won the trophy in her homecountry, in the city of Lugano. It took a long time before the Swiss won again, but in 1988 Canadian singer Celine Dion did it again. She won the trophy with “Ne partez pas sans moi” and became one of the biggest Eurovision stars ever. Switzerland often had national finals, but the last few years they select their songs internally. That lead to success in the last few years. Especially in 2019, when Luca Haenni became 4th.  Bookmakers The Swiss entry currently has a 13th place in the betting odds. That means Switzerland will reach the final this year and do better than the country did last year. Marius Bear ended up in the bottom of the semifinal in the festival in Turin. The song And of course, this is the song:  

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Road to Liverpool: Croatia

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Croatia. Let 3 With a landslide, Croatian band Let 3 won the ticket to represent their country in the Eurovision Song Contest. Their song, “Mama ŠČ” was written and composed by Damir Martinović and co-composed by Zoran Prodanović. The song is an anti war song, containing lines like ‘mama buys a tractor’. This refers to Vladimir Putin getting a tractor for his 70th birthday from the Belarusian president Lukashenko. Damir and Zoran both are members of Let 3, along with Ivan Bojčić, Dražen Baljak and Matej Zec. The band was formed in former Yugoslavia in 1987. The band is quite controversial and known for their obscene live performances. According to their Wikipedia page, they often have provocative and vulgar lyrics. The band released a total of 10 studio albums, the most recent one called “Angela Merkel sere“, which means ‘Angela Merkel shits’.  DORA Croatia selects their entry through a contest called DORA. That is already the name of the contest since 1993. The way the winner is chosen is different every year. This year, there was a final with a total of 18 songs. It was a 50/50 jury and televoting show. The jury was build up in an oldfashioned way. Regional juries in 10 cities decided the jury vote. Someone who took part in DORA in the past very often was Jacques Houdek. However, he never won. He went to Eurovision in 2017 when he was internally selected.   Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest Croatia was very succesful in the Eurovision Song Contest as a state in former Yugoslavia. Especially when the duo Rajko Dujmic and Stevo Cvikić started writing the entries. They were 4th in 1987 with Novi Fosili and got the only victory for Yugoslavia in 1989 with Riva and the song Rock me. In 1993 Croatia started participating as an independent country. The best scores were 4th places for Maja Blagdan in 1996 and for Doris Dragović in 1999. Bookmakers Croatia is currently 18th in the betting odds, which means they will reach the final. That would be the first time this happens since 2017, when Jacques Houdek reached the final. The song And of course, this is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Ireland

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Ireland. Wild Youth The national final in Ireland was won by Wild Youth. They sang the song “We are one”, which is written and composed by Conor O’Donohoe, Ed Porter and Jörgen Elofsson.  Wild Youth was formed in Dublin in 2016. The band exists of David Whelan, Conor O’Donohoe, Ed Porter and Callum McAdam. In 2017 they released their first single “All or nothing“. In 2019 they released their first album “The last goodbye”. The band toured through Ireland and the United Kingdom. Last year, they opened for Lewis Capaldi on his concerts. At the same time their song “Live without you” was a hit. In 2023 they won, as said, the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest. Public Image Ltd. Ireland has chosen the song through a national final called Eurosong 2023. The competition was part of the show the Late Late Show. A total of six artists and songs participated. One of the participants was a very remarkable one: the band PIL. They sang the song “Hawaii“. They became 4th. PIL (Public Image Limited) is not new to the audience. The band already had a big hit in 1983, “This is not a love song“, and “Rise” in 1984. Singer John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, also was the singer of punk band The Sex Pistols. Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest In 1965 Ireland debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest. They only had to wait until 1970 before Dana took the prize for the green island. The 2nd, 3rd ánd 4th victory were for mr. Eurovision himself, Johnny Logan. He sang the songs in 1980 and 1987 himself, while he composed the song for Linda Martin in 1992. That was the start of a long row of Irish victories: Niamh Kavanagh in 1993, Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan in 1994 and Eimear Quinn in 1996. Oh, and let’s not forget 1995: Norway won, but the group Secret Garden was led by the Irish violinist Fionualla Sherry. Anyway, Ireland holds the record of 7 (!!!) victories. The last few years were not so succesful for Ireland. Since 2014, only one contestant (Ryan O’Shaugnessy in 2018) reached the final. Bookmakers Currently, Ireland is number 23 in the betting odds. That would mean a place in the final this year. The Irish will probably be happy with a result like that. The song And of course, here is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Portugal

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Portugal. Mimicat Festival RTP da Canção, the Portuguese national selection, has been won by Mimicat with het song “Ai coração”. Mimicat wrote and composed the song herself. Co-composer is Luís Pereira. Mimicat’s real name is Marisa Mena. When she was 9 years old she recorded her first album. She was only 15 years old when she first participated in Festival RTP da Canção, back in 2001. She sang the song “Mundo colorido” but did not make it to the final. She took part in Idolos 2004, the Portuguese version of Idol. Here she entered the last 50. The name Mimicat exists since 2014. In that year she recorded her first single “Tell me why” and her debut album. Mimicat released two albums and a lot of singles in English. She performed in Brazil and worked together with Selah Sue. Since 2019 she sings in Portuguese. That is what lead to her victory in Festival da Canção. Festival RTP da Canção Festival RTP da Canção is a contest with a lot of history. It is held since Portugal started participating in the Eurovision Song Contest. Even in 1970, when Portugal did not participate in Eurovision, there was a Festival da Canção. The winner, Sérgio Borges, never made it to Eurovision. In recent years, Festival da Canção contains two semifinals and a final. This year, former Eurovision participant Cláudia Pascoal was one of the contenders. Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest As said, Portugal participates in the Eurovision Song Contest since 1964. Portugal often sings in Portuguese, with only a few exceptions. The country hardly ever makes it to the top. No top-5 position was there for Portugal. Lúcia Moniz did best in 1996 with “O meu coração não tem cor”: 6th. Until 2017: Salvador Sobral represented Portugal in those days. His “Amar pelos dos” became the first and, so far, only winning Portuguese entry so far. The bookmakers Portugal is currently 27th at the bookmakers. That would mean that Portugal would not reach the final. However, they are close to making it. Let’s hope for the final for Mimicat. The song And of course, this is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Latvia

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Latvia. Sudden Lights Sudden Lights won Supernova, the Latvian selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. They sang the selfwritten song “Aijā”, which is sung in both English and Latvian. Sudden Lights exists of Andrejs Reinis Zitmanis, Kārlis Matīss Zitmanis, Mārtiņš Matīss Zemītis and Kārlis Vārtiņš. They started the band in 2012, but got their first chances to record songs in 2015. After they won a music competition they released their debut single “Tik Savādi”. One of their biggest hits in 2016 was “Priekšpilsētas valsis“. In 2018, Sudden Lights already took part in Supernova with their song “Just fine“. They became 2nd. In 2020 they teamed up with the band Astro’n’out for the song “Haosā“. In total, Sudden Lights released three albums. Supernova The national final for the Eurovision Song Contest in Latvia is named Supernova. The contest was held first in 2015, when Aminata won the contest with “Love injected”. Every year, one or two semifinals are held before the final. This year, it was only one semifinal. Aminata often took part, not only as a singer but also as a composer. One of her songs, sung by Justs, won in 2016. Another singer who attempted to win the ticket to Eurovision many times was Markus Riva. He never made it to the Eurovision stage so far. Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest Latvia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2000, and immediately with success. Brainstorm reached a third place with “My star”. Two years later, Marie N led the country to a victory with her song “I wanna”. That brought the contest to the capital Riga in 2003. After this, only one top-5 position was there for Latvia. In 2005 Walters and Kazha sang “The war is not over”. It was in two languages: English and sign language. The bookmakers Latvia is in 35th place at the bookmakers at this moment. That would be a big disappointment for the country that never made it to the final after 2016. Let’s hope for them the bookmakers are wrong. The song And of course, this is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Serbia

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Serbia. Luke Black Luke Black won the Serbian national final with the song “Samo mi se spava”. The song is written and composed by Luke Black himself. It is sung in both Serbian and English. Luke Black’s real name is Luka Ivanović. He was born in Čačak, Serbia, in 1992. His career started in 2014, when he performed at the Groveland Festival. His first hit single “D-generation” was released in 2015. In 2016, Luke Black was one of the contenders to represent Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest. The song “Demons” was not selected but became a success for Luke. In total, Luke Black released 3 EP’s. The most recent one was “F23.8” this year. It included his 2021 hit “Amsterdam“. Pesma Za Evroviziju This year’s national final was called Pesma Za Evroviziju 2023. After two semifinals, a final with 16 songs was held on 4 March. Remarkable participant was the group Hurricane. They won the national selection in 2020. Due to the cancellation of the contest, the group was invited for the 2021 edition. In the end both jury and televoters had different opinions. Nađa won the jury vote, while Princ was the favourite of the televoters. Both jury’s had Luke Black in 2nd place. Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest When Yugoslavia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest, Serbia provided the entry on 6 occasions but never ended up higher than the 12th place. How different it was when Serbia and Montenegro started to participate. Željko Joksimović reached a 2nd place. In 2006, the country withdrew. Serbian TV and the audience in the national final did not agree with the Montenegrin winner. Shortly after the contest, Montenegro voted for independence in a referendum. That was when Serbia started to participate…. and won rightaway! Marija Šerifović reached the first place with “Molitva”.  Željko Joksimović participated again in 2012 and became 3rd. Last year, Serbia was also succesful with a 5th place for Konstrakta’s “In corpore sano”. The bookmakers Serbia is currently 15th according to the bookmakers. That would not be as high as Konstrakta last year. But at least Serbia would reach the final in this case. However, Konstrakta was a big surprise. So who knows… The song This is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Azerbaijan

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Azerbaijan. TuralTuranX For the first time since 2008, Azerbaijan chose for a song that was written and composed by an Azerbaijani team. The lyrics of “Tell me more” are from the singing duo TuralTuranX themselves, they wrote the music together with Nihad Aliyev and Tunar Taghiyev. TuralTuranX are twins. Their names are Tural and Turan Bağmanov and they were born on 30 October 2000. They are from Zaqatala, in the northwest of Azerbaijan. At a young age, they started playing the piano, soon followed by the synthesizer and the guitar. However, when their father passed away it made them stop making music for a while. Tural moved to Baku and played in a band called TheRedJungle. He was later joined by his brother. Their Eurovision Song, “Tell me more”, is their debut as a duo. Twins in Eurovision TuralTuranX are twins. They are, however, not the first twins in Eurovision. In 1959, the sisters Alice and Ellen Kessler were the first ever twins in Eurovision history. They sang “Heute Abend woll’n wir tanzen geh’n” for Germany. But don’t forget Sophie & Magaly, who made “Le papa pinqouin” Eurovision history in 1980. Unfortunately, both girls passed away already. In 2010, we saw Twiins…. true, Daniela and Veronika Nízlová, representing Slovakia, are also twins. They didn’t reach the final. But who forgot Edward and John Grimes, aka Jedward. They were on Eurovision stage twice: in 2011 and 2012. And it looks like this was the decennium of the twins. In 2013, we saw Anastasiya and Maria Tolmachevy for Russia on stage. And what to think of OG3NE? In 2017 the three sisters represented the Netherlands. Two of the three, Amy and Shelley, are twins. In 2021 we saw twins again on stage. And again it was for The Netherlands. Jeangu Macrooy performed as a soloist, but his twin brother Xilan was in the backings. And now we have TuralTuranX! Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest Azerbaijan was quite a successful country in Eurovision so far. They took part for the first time in 2008. In all those years, they only missed the final on one occasion. The country won in 2011 with Ell & Nikki and their “Running scared”. But the top-5 was reached more often: already at their 2nd participation in 2009, AySel & Arash reached a 3rd place with their “Always”. Being the favourite at the betting odds, Safura became 5th with her song “Drip drop” in 2010. As a host country contribution in 2012, Sabina Babayeva‘s “When the music dies” became 4th. And in 2013 they almost won it again: Farid Mammadov ended up in 2nd place with his “Hold me”. Bookmakers It currently doesn’t look good for Azerbaijan in the betting odds. They have a 30th place, which is not enough to reach the final. That would be the 2nd time in Eurovision history for Azerbaijan. Let’s hope for the country that the bookmakers are wrong. The song: And of course, this is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Sweden

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Sweden. Loreen Loreen won the Swedish Melodifestivalen with a landslide. Her song “Tattoo” is written and composed by Thomas G:son, Jimmy ‘Joker’ Thörnfeldt, Jimmy Jansson, Moa Carlebecker, Peter Boström and Loreen herself.  Loreen’s real name is Lorine Talhaoui. She rose to fame when she took part in Idol 2004. She reached the live shows with her performances. After that she featured in a song of Rob ‘n’ Raz, “The snake” and hosted a tv show. In 2011 we saw her back as a singer, in Melodifestivalen. She sang “My heart is refusing me“. The song did not reach the final of Melodifestivalen. A year later she was the favourite from the first moment on. She won Melodifestivalen and went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest with “Euphoria“. The song became one of the most successful Eurovision winners ever. After this, she released two albums and a lot of singles, some of which became hits in Sweden. “We got the power“, which she sang in the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest, was also a success abroad.In 2017, Loreen did a new attempt to represent Sweden in Eurovision, but she failed. “Statements” did not reach the final of Melodifestivalen. It took Loreen six more years to be the Swedish representant again. “Euphoria”, performed during the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö. Melodifestivalen Melodifestivalen is the Swedish national final for the Eurovision Song Contest. It is internationally recognized as the biggest and most viewed national final of all. Eurovision fans all over the world follow this final as if it is the one of their own country. Since 2002, Melodifestivalen expanded from a one evening event to an event with four semifinals, a 2nd chance round and a final. In recent years Eric Saade (“Every minute“) and Dotter (“Bulletproof“) were non-winners with a lot of success. Longer ago it was a group called Agnetha, Frida, Björn and Benny (Yes, Abba!), who got an international hit with “Ring ring“. Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest Sweden first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1958 with Alice Babs. She took the 4th place with her “Lilla stjärna”. The first victory is Eurovision history: ABBA won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with “Waterloo”. Not only because of conductor Sven-Olof Walldoff who was dressed like Napoleon. Also because no other Eurovision winner rose to fame like ABBA. Not immediately after Eurovision, but two years later.In 1984 Herreys won the contest with “Diggy-loo diggy-ley”, to be followed in 1991 by mrs. Eurovision, Carola. She sang “Fångad av en stormvind”. In 1999 it was Charlotte Nilsson who sang “Take me to your heaven”. Loreen herself won in 2012 with “Euphoria”, and Måns Zelmerlöw was the last one with “Heroes” in 2015. Will Loreen bring the 7th victory? In that case, Sweden will hold the record of most victories, shared with Ireland. Bookmakers The betting odds say Sweden ís going to win. And we all know that, since 2017, the winners all had been no. 1 in the betting odds at least at some point. A Swedish victory is of course not sure, but at least very likely. The song And of course this is the song:  

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Road to Liverpool: Moldova

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Moldova. Pasha Parfeny After a very exciting national final, it was Pasha Parfeny who won the contest. His song “Soarele și luna”, which translates as “The sun and the moon”, was composed by the singer himself and Andrei Vulpe. For the lyrics, Pasha’s wife Iuliana Parfeny is responsible.  Pasha Parfeny, officially named Pavel Parfeni, studied music in the beginning of this century. He took part in several contests. He won two contests in Bulgaria in 2007. After this, he joined the group Sunstroke Project. In 2009, the group took part in the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “No crime“. Parfeny left the group in 2010 for a solo career. Eurovision became a part of his life when he represented Moldova in 2012 with the song “Lăutar”. He became 11th in the final. A year later, he wrote the song “A million” for Aliona Moon. Fun fact: Pasha, Sunstroke Project and Aliona formed the top-3 in this year’s national final. In 2020, Pasha returned to the national selection for Eurovision. His song was called “My wine” and became 2nd. Three years later Pasha won the contest again. Ma-i-a hi, ma-i-a hu… We can talk about Pasha, Sunstroke Project and Zdob şi Zdub, but the most famous band from Moldova ever is another one: O-Zone. They rose to fame in the beginning of the century. In 2003 they released their single “Dragostea din tei“, which became a hit in Romania. But after Italian duo Haiducii covered the song, the original one became a huge hit all over the world. It reached the number 1 spot in the charts in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland. And be honest…. who doesnt remember “Ma-i-a hi, ma-i-a hu, ma-i-a ho, ma-i-a haha”. The song was followed by another hit, “Destre tine“, but in 2005 the band split up. Isn’t there any Eurovision connection? Yes there is! Band member Arsenium took part in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, along with Natalia Gordienko en Connect-R. Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest Moldova first took part in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, and it was an instant success. Zdob şi Zdub became 6th! Moldova kept on being succesful. The country reached the final on many occasions, and in 2017 they ended up in the top-3. Sunstroke Project managed to do that with their song “Hey mama”. Bookmakers The betting odds currently predict a 17th place for Moldova. That is not as good as Pasha did 11 years ago. Let’s hope for him that the bookmakers are wrong and he’ll do better. The song And of course, this is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Israel

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Israel. Noa Kirel As early as 11 July last year, Israeli broadcaster Kan announced Noa Kirel to be the Israeli representative. However, Noa first said that it was just a ‘maybe’, and nothing was sure yet. One month later, an official confirmation came, and the song “Unicorn” was presented in March. The song is written by Doron Medalie, Yinon Yahel and May Sfadia. Medalie wrote “Golden boy” (2015), “Made of stars” (2016) and the winning song “Toy” (2018) for Israel. He also wrote “Feker libi”, the song for the cancelled contest in 2020. “Toy” and “Feker libi” were co-arranged by Yinon Yahel. Noa Kirel is not quite a nobody in Israel. In 2015 she rose to fame when she published a song called “Medabrim” and gained many views. She also starred in a docu-reality series and hosted a show on the Israeli Kidz Channel. She also played in a movie and in a musical show. As a singer, she reached the no. #1 spot in the Israeli charts several times. “Meusharim” (with Liran Danino), “Million dollar” (with Shahar Saul), “Trilili tralala” (with Ilan Peled) and “Reashim” (with Osher Cohen) were her most succesful songs. She was a judge in several talent shows. From Kdam to X-Factor Noa Kirel was internally chosen. Last year, X-Factor Israel was the preselection. The years before, Hakokhav Haba L’Eurovizion, a talent show, was the preselection. Longer ago, Kdam Eurovizion was the national final.Very remarkable in those years were the many attempts by Yardena Arazi, “Layla tov Europa” by Dana International and in recent years Mergui (who became a star after the preselection) and Shefita were remarkable contestants. Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest Israel started participating in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973. With a 4th place, the country was succesful rightaway. Four times Israel won: in 1978 with Izhar Cohen and The Alpha Beta and “A-ba-ni-bi”, a year later with Gali Atari & Milk and Honey with Hallelujah”. We saw Dana International winning the contest with “Diva” in 1998, while Netta was the most recent winner in 2018 with “Toy”. Beside, three other entries made it to the top-10. Bookmakers Currently, Israel is doing very well in the betting odds with a 6th place. It is a sign that “Unicorn” might do very well in the contest in Liverpool. The song And of course, this is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Switzerland

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Switzerland. Remo Forrer On 20 February of this year, it was announced that Remo Forrer is going to represent Switzerland. Two weeks later, it was announced that “Watergun”, written by Ashley Hicklin, Argyle Singh and Mikolaj Trybulec, was going to be his song. Remo Forrer rose to fame in 2020, when he won The Voice Switzerland. Born in Hemberg, Forrer was already interested in music at a young age. He learned to play the flute, the accordion and the piano. After winning The Voice, Remo released 5 singles. He was part of the show “Zeig uns dein Stimme” (I can see your voice) in 2022. Four languages Switzerland is a country with four languages. This year, the country will sing in English. Switzerland often chose to sing their Eurovision songs in French. Both the Swiss victories were in that language. Sometimes the songs were in German and Italian. Only one time in Eurovision history they sang in the 4th language, Romansh: in 1989 the group Furbaz sang “Viver senza tei”. Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest Switzerland was the first ever country to win the Eurovision Song Contest, back in 1956. Lys Assia won the trophy in her homecountry, in the city of Lugano. It took a long time before the Swiss won again, but in 1988 Canadian singer Celine Dion did it again. She won the trophy with “Ne partez pas sans moi” and became one of the biggest Eurovision stars ever. Switzerland often had national finals, but the last few years they select their songs internally. That lead to success in the last few years. Especially in 2019, when Luca Haenni became 4th.  Bookmakers The Swiss entry currently has a 13th place in the betting odds. That means Switzerland will reach the final this year and do better than the country did last year. Marius Bear ended up in the bottom of the semifinal in the festival in Turin. The song And of course, this is the song:  

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Road to Liverpool: Croatia

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Croatia. Let 3 With a landslide, Croatian band Let 3 won the ticket to represent their country in the Eurovision Song Contest. Their song, “Mama ŠČ” was written and composed by Damir Martinović and co-composed by Zoran Prodanović. The song is an anti war song, containing lines like ‘mama buys a tractor’. This refers to Vladimir Putin getting a tractor for his 70th birthday from the Belarusian president Lukashenko. Damir and Zoran both are members of Let 3, along with Ivan Bojčić, Dražen Baljak and Matej Zec. The band was formed in former Yugoslavia in 1987. The band is quite controversial and known for their obscene live performances. According to their Wikipedia page, they often have provocative and vulgar lyrics. The band released a total of 10 studio albums, the most recent one called “Angela Merkel sere“, which means ‘Angela Merkel shits’.  DORA Croatia selects their entry through a contest called DORA. That is already the name of the contest since 1993. The way the winner is chosen is different every year. This year, there was a final with a total of 18 songs. It was a 50/50 jury and televoting show. The jury was build up in an oldfashioned way. Regional juries in 10 cities decided the jury vote. Someone who took part in DORA in the past very often was Jacques Houdek. However, he never won. He went to Eurovision in 2017 when he was internally selected.   Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest Croatia was very succesful in the Eurovision Song Contest as a state in former Yugoslavia. Especially when the duo Rajko Dujmic and Stevo Cvikić started writing the entries. They were 4th in 1987 with Novi Fosili and got the only victory for Yugoslavia in 1989 with Riva and the song Rock me. In 1993 Croatia started participating as an independent country. The best scores were 4th places for Maja Blagdan in 1996 and for Doris Dragović in 1999. Bookmakers Croatia is currently 18th in the betting odds, which means they will reach the final. That would be the first time this happens since 2017, when Jacques Houdek reached the final. The song And of course, this is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Ireland

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Ireland. Wild Youth The national final in Ireland was won by Wild Youth. They sang the song “We are one”, which is written and composed by Conor O’Donohoe, Ed Porter and Jörgen Elofsson.  Wild Youth was formed in Dublin in 2016. The band exists of David Whelan, Conor O’Donohoe, Ed Porter and Callum McAdam. In 2017 they released their first single “All or nothing“. In 2019 they released their first album “The last goodbye”. The band toured through Ireland and the United Kingdom. Last year, they opened for Lewis Capaldi on his concerts. At the same time their song “Live without you” was a hit. In 2023 they won, as said, the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest. Public Image Ltd. Ireland has chosen the song through a national final called Eurosong 2023. The competition was part of the show the Late Late Show. A total of six artists and songs participated. One of the participants was a very remarkable one: the band PIL. They sang the song “Hawaii“. They became 4th. PIL (Public Image Limited) is not new to the audience. The band already had a big hit in 1983, “This is not a love song“, and “Rise” in 1984. Singer John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, also was the singer of punk band The Sex Pistols. Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest In 1965 Ireland debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest. They only had to wait until 1970 before Dana took the prize for the green island. The 2nd, 3rd ánd 4th victory were for mr. Eurovision himself, Johnny Logan. He sang the songs in 1980 and 1987 himself, while he composed the song for Linda Martin in 1992. That was the start of a long row of Irish victories: Niamh Kavanagh in 1993, Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan in 1994 and Eimear Quinn in 1996. Oh, and let’s not forget 1995: Norway won, but the group Secret Garden was led by the Irish violinist Fionualla Sherry. Anyway, Ireland holds the record of 7 (!!!) victories. The last few years were not so succesful for Ireland. Since 2014, only one contestant (Ryan O’Shaugnessy in 2018) reached the final. Bookmakers Currently, Ireland is number 23 in the betting odds. That would mean a place in the final this year. The Irish will probably be happy with a result like that. The song And of course, here is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Portugal

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Portugal. Mimicat Festival RTP da Canção, the Portuguese national selection, has been won by Mimicat with het song “Ai coração”. Mimicat wrote and composed the song herself. Co-composer is Luís Pereira. Mimicat’s real name is Marisa Mena. When she was 9 years old she recorded her first album. She was only 15 years old when she first participated in Festival RTP da Canção, back in 2001. She sang the song “Mundo colorido” but did not make it to the final. She took part in Idolos 2004, the Portuguese version of Idol. Here she entered the last 50. The name Mimicat exists since 2014. In that year she recorded her first single “Tell me why” and her debut album. Mimicat released two albums and a lot of singles in English. She performed in Brazil and worked together with Selah Sue. Since 2019 she sings in Portuguese. That is what lead to her victory in Festival da Canção. Festival RTP da Canção Festival RTP da Canção is a contest with a lot of history. It is held since Portugal started participating in the Eurovision Song Contest. Even in 1970, when Portugal did not participate in Eurovision, there was a Festival da Canção. The winner, Sérgio Borges, never made it to Eurovision. In recent years, Festival da Canção contains two semifinals and a final. This year, former Eurovision participant Cláudia Pascoal was one of the contenders. Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest As said, Portugal participates in the Eurovision Song Contest since 1964. Portugal often sings in Portuguese, with only a few exceptions. The country hardly ever makes it to the top. No top-5 position was there for Portugal. Lúcia Moniz did best in 1996 with “O meu coração não tem cor”: 6th. Until 2017: Salvador Sobral represented Portugal in those days. His “Amar pelos dos” became the first and, so far, only winning Portuguese entry so far. The bookmakers Portugal is currently 27th at the bookmakers. That would mean that Portugal would not reach the final. However, they are close to making it. Let’s hope for the final for Mimicat. The song And of course, this is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Latvia

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Latvia. Sudden Lights Sudden Lights won Supernova, the Latvian selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. They sang the selfwritten song “Aijā”, which is sung in both English and Latvian. Sudden Lights exists of Andrejs Reinis Zitmanis, Kārlis Matīss Zitmanis, Mārtiņš Matīss Zemītis and Kārlis Vārtiņš. They started the band in 2012, but got their first chances to record songs in 2015. After they won a music competition they released their debut single “Tik Savādi”. One of their biggest hits in 2016 was “Priekšpilsētas valsis“. In 2018, Sudden Lights already took part in Supernova with their song “Just fine“. They became 2nd. In 2020 they teamed up with the band Astro’n’out for the song “Haosā“. In total, Sudden Lights released three albums. Supernova The national final for the Eurovision Song Contest in Latvia is named Supernova. The contest was held first in 2015, when Aminata won the contest with “Love injected”. Every year, one or two semifinals are held before the final. This year, it was only one semifinal. Aminata often took part, not only as a singer but also as a composer. One of her songs, sung by Justs, won in 2016. Another singer who attempted to win the ticket to Eurovision many times was Markus Riva. He never made it to the Eurovision stage so far. Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest Latvia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2000, and immediately with success. Brainstorm reached a third place with “My star”. Two years later, Marie N led the country to a victory with her song “I wanna”. That brought the contest to the capital Riga in 2003. After this, only one top-5 position was there for Latvia. In 2005 Walters and Kazha sang “The war is not over”. It was in two languages: English and sign language. The bookmakers Latvia is in 35th place at the bookmakers at this moment. That would be a big disappointment for the country that never made it to the final after 2016. Let’s hope for them the bookmakers are wrong. The song And of course, this is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Serbia

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Serbia. Luke Black Luke Black won the Serbian national final with the song “Samo mi se spava”. The song is written and composed by Luke Black himself. It is sung in both Serbian and English. Luke Black’s real name is Luka Ivanović. He was born in Čačak, Serbia, in 1992. His career started in 2014, when he performed at the Groveland Festival. His first hit single “D-generation” was released in 2015. In 2016, Luke Black was one of the contenders to represent Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest. The song “Demons” was not selected but became a success for Luke. In total, Luke Black released 3 EP’s. The most recent one was “F23.8” this year. It included his 2021 hit “Amsterdam“. Pesma Za Evroviziju This year’s national final was called Pesma Za Evroviziju 2023. After two semifinals, a final with 16 songs was held on 4 March. Remarkable participant was the group Hurricane. They won the national selection in 2020. Due to the cancellation of the contest, the group was invited for the 2021 edition. In the end both jury and televoters had different opinions. Nađa won the jury vote, while Princ was the favourite of the televoters. Both jury’s had Luke Black in 2nd place. Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest When Yugoslavia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest, Serbia provided the entry on 6 occasions but never ended up higher than the 12th place. How different it was when Serbia and Montenegro started to participate. Željko Joksimović reached a 2nd place. In 2006, the country withdrew. Serbian TV and the audience in the national final did not agree with the Montenegrin winner. Shortly after the contest, Montenegro voted for independence in a referendum. That was when Serbia started to participate…. and won rightaway! Marija Šerifović reached the first place with “Molitva”.  Željko Joksimović participated again in 2012 and became 3rd. Last year, Serbia was also succesful with a 5th place for Konstrakta’s “In corpore sano”. The bookmakers Serbia is currently 15th according to the bookmakers. That would not be as high as Konstrakta last year. But at least Serbia would reach the final in this case. However, Konstrakta was a big surprise. So who knows… The song This is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Azerbaijan

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Azerbaijan. TuralTuranX For the first time since 2008, Azerbaijan chose for a song that was written and composed by an Azerbaijani team. The lyrics of “Tell me more” are from the singing duo TuralTuranX themselves, they wrote the music together with Nihad Aliyev and Tunar Taghiyev. TuralTuranX are twins. Their names are Tural and Turan Bağmanov and they were born on 30 October 2000. They are from Zaqatala, in the northwest of Azerbaijan. At a young age, they started playing the piano, soon followed by the synthesizer and the guitar. However, when their father passed away it made them stop making music for a while. Tural moved to Baku and played in a band called TheRedJungle. He was later joined by his brother. Their Eurovision Song, “Tell me more”, is their debut as a duo. Twins in Eurovision TuralTuranX are twins. They are, however, not the first twins in Eurovision. In 1959, the sisters Alice and Ellen Kessler were the first ever twins in Eurovision history. They sang “Heute Abend woll’n wir tanzen geh’n” for Germany. But don’t forget Sophie & Magaly, who made “Le papa pinqouin” Eurovision history in 1980. Unfortunately, both girls passed away already. In 2010, we saw Twiins…. true, Daniela and Veronika Nízlová, representing Slovakia, are also twins. They didn’t reach the final. But who forgot Edward and John Grimes, aka Jedward. They were on Eurovision stage twice: in 2011 and 2012. And it looks like this was the decennium of the twins. In 2013, we saw Anastasiya and Maria Tolmachevy for Russia on stage. And what to think of OG3NE? In 2017 the three sisters represented the Netherlands. Two of the three, Amy and Shelley, are twins. In 2021 we saw twins again on stage. And again it was for The Netherlands. Jeangu Macrooy performed as a soloist, but his twin brother Xilan was in the backings. And now we have TuralTuranX! Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest Azerbaijan was quite a successful country in Eurovision so far. They took part for the first time in 2008. In all those years, they only missed the final on one occasion. The country won in 2011 with Ell & Nikki and their “Running scared”. But the top-5 was reached more often: already at their 2nd participation in 2009, AySel & Arash reached a 3rd place with their “Always”. Being the favourite at the betting odds, Safura became 5th with her song “Drip drop” in 2010. As a host country contribution in 2012, Sabina Babayeva‘s “When the music dies” became 4th. And in 2013 they almost won it again: Farid Mammadov ended up in 2nd place with his “Hold me”. Bookmakers It currently doesn’t look good for Azerbaijan in the betting odds. They have a 30th place, which is not enough to reach the final. That would be the 2nd time in Eurovision history for Azerbaijan. Let’s hope for the country that the bookmakers are wrong. The song: And of course, this is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Sweden

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Sweden. Loreen Loreen won the Swedish Melodifestivalen with a landslide. Her song “Tattoo” is written and composed by Thomas G:son, Jimmy ‘Joker’ Thörnfeldt, Jimmy Jansson, Moa Carlebecker, Peter Boström and Loreen herself.  Loreen’s real name is Lorine Talhaoui. She rose to fame when she took part in Idol 2004. She reached the live shows with her performances. After that she featured in a song of Rob ‘n’ Raz, “The snake” and hosted a tv show. In 2011 we saw her back as a singer, in Melodifestivalen. She sang “My heart is refusing me“. The song did not reach the final of Melodifestivalen. A year later she was the favourite from the first moment on. She won Melodifestivalen and went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest with “Euphoria“. The song became one of the most successful Eurovision winners ever. After this, she released two albums and a lot of singles, some of which became hits in Sweden. “We got the power“, which she sang in the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest, was also a success abroad.In 2017, Loreen did a new attempt to represent Sweden in Eurovision, but she failed. “Statements” did not reach the final of Melodifestivalen. It took Loreen six more years to be the Swedish representant again. “Euphoria”, performed during the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö. Melodifestivalen Melodifestivalen is the Swedish national final for the Eurovision Song Contest. It is internationally recognized as the biggest and most viewed national final of all. Eurovision fans all over the world follow this final as if it is the one of their own country. Since 2002, Melodifestivalen expanded from a one evening event to an event with four semifinals, a 2nd chance round and a final. In recent years Eric Saade (“Every minute“) and Dotter (“Bulletproof“) were non-winners with a lot of success. Longer ago it was a group called Agnetha, Frida, Björn and Benny (Yes, Abba!), who got an international hit with “Ring ring“. Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest Sweden first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1958 with Alice Babs. She took the 4th place with her “Lilla stjärna”. The first victory is Eurovision history: ABBA won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with “Waterloo”. Not only because of conductor Sven-Olof Walldoff who was dressed like Napoleon. Also because no other Eurovision winner rose to fame like ABBA. Not immediately after Eurovision, but two years later.In 1984 Herreys won the contest with “Diggy-loo diggy-ley”, to be followed in 1991 by mrs. Eurovision, Carola. She sang “Fångad av en stormvind”. In 1999 it was Charlotte Nilsson who sang “Take me to your heaven”. Loreen herself won in 2012 with “Euphoria”, and Måns Zelmerlöw was the last one with “Heroes” in 2015. Will Loreen bring the 7th victory? In that case, Sweden will hold the record of most victories, shared with Ireland. Bookmakers The betting odds say Sweden ís going to win. And we all know that, since 2017, the winners all had been no. 1 in the betting odds at least at some point. A Swedish victory is of course not sure, but at least very likely. The song And of course this is the song:  

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Road to Liverpool: Moldova

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Moldova. Pasha Parfeny After a very exciting national final, it was Pasha Parfeny who won the contest. His song “Soarele și luna”, which translates as “The sun and the moon”, was composed by the singer himself and Andrei Vulpe. For the lyrics, Pasha’s wife Iuliana Parfeny is responsible.  Pasha Parfeny, officially named Pavel Parfeni, studied music in the beginning of this century. He took part in several contests. He won two contests in Bulgaria in 2007. After this, he joined the group Sunstroke Project. In 2009, the group took part in the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “No crime“. Parfeny left the group in 2010 for a solo career. Eurovision became a part of his life when he represented Moldova in 2012 with the song “Lăutar”. He became 11th in the final. A year later, he wrote the song “A million” for Aliona Moon. Fun fact: Pasha, Sunstroke Project and Aliona formed the top-3 in this year’s national final. In 2020, Pasha returned to the national selection for Eurovision. His song was called “My wine” and became 2nd. Three years later Pasha won the contest again. Ma-i-a hi, ma-i-a hu… We can talk about Pasha, Sunstroke Project and Zdob şi Zdub, but the most famous band from Moldova ever is another one: O-Zone. They rose to fame in the beginning of the century. In 2003 they released their single “Dragostea din tei“, which became a hit in Romania. But after Italian duo Haiducii covered the song, the original one became a huge hit all over the world. It reached the number 1 spot in the charts in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland. And be honest…. who doesnt remember “Ma-i-a hi, ma-i-a hu, ma-i-a ho, ma-i-a haha”. The song was followed by another hit, “Destre tine“, but in 2005 the band split up. Isn’t there any Eurovision connection? Yes there is! Band member Arsenium took part in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, along with Natalia Gordienko en Connect-R. Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest Moldova first took part in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, and it was an instant success. Zdob şi Zdub became 6th! Moldova kept on being succesful. The country reached the final on many occasions, and in 2017 they ended up in the top-3. Sunstroke Project managed to do that with their song “Hey mama”. Bookmakers The betting odds currently predict a 17th place for Moldova. That is not as good as Pasha did 11 years ago. Let’s hope for him that the bookmakers are wrong and he’ll do better. The song And of course, this is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Israel

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Israel. Noa Kirel As early as 11 July last year, Israeli broadcaster Kan announced Noa Kirel to be the Israeli representative. However, Noa first said that it was just a ‘maybe’, and nothing was sure yet. One month later, an official confirmation came, and the song “Unicorn” was presented in March. The song is written by Doron Medalie, Yinon Yahel and May Sfadia. Medalie wrote “Golden boy” (2015), “Made of stars” (2016) and the winning song “Toy” (2018) for Israel. He also wrote “Feker libi”, the song for the cancelled contest in 2020. “Toy” and “Feker libi” were co-arranged by Yinon Yahel. Noa Kirel is not quite a nobody in Israel. In 2015 she rose to fame when she published a song called “Medabrim” and gained many views. She also starred in a docu-reality series and hosted a show on the Israeli Kidz Channel. She also played in a movie and in a musical show. As a singer, she reached the no. #1 spot in the Israeli charts several times. “Meusharim” (with Liran Danino), “Million dollar” (with Shahar Saul), “Trilili tralala” (with Ilan Peled) and “Reashim” (with Osher Cohen) were her most succesful songs. She was a judge in several talent shows. From Kdam to X-Factor Noa Kirel was internally chosen. Last year, X-Factor Israel was the preselection. The years before, Hakokhav Haba L’Eurovizion, a talent show, was the preselection. Longer ago, Kdam Eurovizion was the national final.Very remarkable in those years were the many attempts by Yardena Arazi, “Layla tov Europa” by Dana International and in recent years Mergui (who became a star after the preselection) and Shefita were remarkable contestants. Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest Israel started participating in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973. With a 4th place, the country was succesful rightaway. Four times Israel won: in 1978 with Izhar Cohen and The Alpha Beta and “A-ba-ni-bi”, a year later with Gali Atari & Milk and Honey with Hallelujah”. We saw Dana International winning the contest with “Diva” in 1998, while Netta was the most recent winner in 2018 with “Toy”. Beside, three other entries made it to the top-10. Bookmakers Currently, Israel is doing very well in the betting odds with a 6th place. It is a sign that “Unicorn” might do very well in the contest in Liverpool. The song And of course, this is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Switzerland

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Switzerland. Remo Forrer On 20 February of this year, it was announced that Remo Forrer is going to represent Switzerland. Two weeks later, it was announced that “Watergun”, written by Ashley Hicklin, Argyle Singh and Mikolaj Trybulec, was going to be his song. Remo Forrer rose to fame in 2020, when he won The Voice Switzerland. Born in Hemberg, Forrer was already interested in music at a young age. He learned to play the flute, the accordion and the piano. After winning The Voice, Remo released 5 singles. He was part of the show “Zeig uns dein Stimme” (I can see your voice) in 2022. Four languages Switzerland is a country with four languages. This year, the country will sing in English. Switzerland often chose to sing their Eurovision songs in French. Both the Swiss victories were in that language. Sometimes the songs were in German and Italian. Only one time in Eurovision history they sang in the 4th language, Romansh: in 1989 the group Furbaz sang “Viver senza tei”. Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest Switzerland was the first ever country to win the Eurovision Song Contest, back in 1956. Lys Assia won the trophy in her homecountry, in the city of Lugano. It took a long time before the Swiss won again, but in 1988 Canadian singer Celine Dion did it again. She won the trophy with “Ne partez pas sans moi” and became one of the biggest Eurovision stars ever. Switzerland often had national finals, but the last few years they select their songs internally. That lead to success in the last few years. Especially in 2019, when Luca Haenni became 4th.  Bookmakers The Swiss entry currently has a 13th place in the betting odds. That means Switzerland will reach the final this year and do better than the country did last year. Marius Bear ended up in the bottom of the semifinal in the festival in Turin. The song And of course, this is the song:  

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Road to Liverpool: Croatia

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Croatia. Let 3 With a landslide, Croatian band Let 3 won the ticket to represent their country in the Eurovision Song Contest. Their song, “Mama ŠČ” was written and composed by Damir Martinović and co-composed by Zoran Prodanović. The song is an anti war song, containing lines like ‘mama buys a tractor’. This refers to Vladimir Putin getting a tractor for his 70th birthday from the Belarusian president Lukashenko. Damir and Zoran both are members of Let 3, along with Ivan Bojčić, Dražen Baljak and Matej Zec. The band was formed in former Yugoslavia in 1987. The band is quite controversial and known for their obscene live performances. According to their Wikipedia page, they often have provocative and vulgar lyrics. The band released a total of 10 studio albums, the most recent one called “Angela Merkel sere“, which means ‘Angela Merkel shits’.  DORA Croatia selects their entry through a contest called DORA. That is already the name of the contest since 1993. The way the winner is chosen is different every year. This year, there was a final with a total of 18 songs. It was a 50/50 jury and televoting show. The jury was build up in an oldfashioned way. Regional juries in 10 cities decided the jury vote. Someone who took part in DORA in the past very often was Jacques Houdek. However, he never won. He went to Eurovision in 2017 when he was internally selected.   Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest Croatia was very succesful in the Eurovision Song Contest as a state in former Yugoslavia. Especially when the duo Rajko Dujmic and Stevo Cvikić started writing the entries. They were 4th in 1987 with Novi Fosili and got the only victory for Yugoslavia in 1989 with Riva and the song Rock me. In 1993 Croatia started participating as an independent country. The best scores were 4th places for Maja Blagdan in 1996 and for Doris Dragović in 1999. Bookmakers Croatia is currently 18th in the betting odds, which means they will reach the final. That would be the first time this happens since 2017, when Jacques Houdek reached the final. The song And of course, this is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Ireland

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Ireland. Wild Youth The national final in Ireland was won by Wild Youth. They sang the song “We are one”, which is written and composed by Conor O’Donohoe, Ed Porter and Jörgen Elofsson.  Wild Youth was formed in Dublin in 2016. The band exists of David Whelan, Conor O’Donohoe, Ed Porter and Callum McAdam. In 2017 they released their first single “All or nothing“. In 2019 they released their first album “The last goodbye”. The band toured through Ireland and the United Kingdom. Last year, they opened for Lewis Capaldi on his concerts. At the same time their song “Live without you” was a hit. In 2023 they won, as said, the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest. Public Image Ltd. Ireland has chosen the song through a national final called Eurosong 2023. The competition was part of the show the Late Late Show. A total of six artists and songs participated. One of the participants was a very remarkable one: the band PIL. They sang the song “Hawaii“. They became 4th. PIL (Public Image Limited) is not new to the audience. The band already had a big hit in 1983, “This is not a love song“, and “Rise” in 1984. Singer John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, also was the singer of punk band The Sex Pistols. Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest In 1965 Ireland debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest. They only had to wait until 1970 before Dana took the prize for the green island. The 2nd, 3rd ánd 4th victory were for mr. Eurovision himself, Johnny Logan. He sang the songs in 1980 and 1987 himself, while he composed the song for Linda Martin in 1992. That was the start of a long row of Irish victories: Niamh Kavanagh in 1993, Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan in 1994 and Eimear Quinn in 1996. Oh, and let’s not forget 1995: Norway won, but the group Secret Garden was led by the Irish violinist Fionualla Sherry. Anyway, Ireland holds the record of 7 (!!!) victories. The last few years were not so succesful for Ireland. Since 2014, only one contestant (Ryan O’Shaugnessy in 2018) reached the final. Bookmakers Currently, Ireland is number 23 in the betting odds. That would mean a place in the final this year. The Irish will probably be happy with a result like that. The song And of course, here is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Portugal

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Portugal. Mimicat Festival RTP da Canção, the Portuguese national selection, has been won by Mimicat with het song “Ai coração”. Mimicat wrote and composed the song herself. Co-composer is Luís Pereira. Mimicat’s real name is Marisa Mena. When she was 9 years old she recorded her first album. She was only 15 years old when she first participated in Festival RTP da Canção, back in 2001. She sang the song “Mundo colorido” but did not make it to the final. She took part in Idolos 2004, the Portuguese version of Idol. Here she entered the last 50. The name Mimicat exists since 2014. In that year she recorded her first single “Tell me why” and her debut album. Mimicat released two albums and a lot of singles in English. She performed in Brazil and worked together with Selah Sue. Since 2019 she sings in Portuguese. That is what lead to her victory in Festival da Canção. Festival RTP da Canção Festival RTP da Canção is a contest with a lot of history. It is held since Portugal started participating in the Eurovision Song Contest. Even in 1970, when Portugal did not participate in Eurovision, there was a Festival da Canção. The winner, Sérgio Borges, never made it to Eurovision. In recent years, Festival da Canção contains two semifinals and a final. This year, former Eurovision participant Cláudia Pascoal was one of the contenders. Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest As said, Portugal participates in the Eurovision Song Contest since 1964. Portugal often sings in Portuguese, with only a few exceptions. The country hardly ever makes it to the top. No top-5 position was there for Portugal. Lúcia Moniz did best in 1996 with “O meu coração não tem cor”: 6th. Until 2017: Salvador Sobral represented Portugal in those days. His “Amar pelos dos” became the first and, so far, only winning Portuguese entry so far. The bookmakers Portugal is currently 27th at the bookmakers. That would mean that Portugal would not reach the final. However, they are close to making it. Let’s hope for the final for Mimicat. The song And of course, this is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Latvia

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Latvia. Sudden Lights Sudden Lights won Supernova, the Latvian selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. They sang the selfwritten song “Aijā”, which is sung in both English and Latvian. Sudden Lights exists of Andrejs Reinis Zitmanis, Kārlis Matīss Zitmanis, Mārtiņš Matīss Zemītis and Kārlis Vārtiņš. They started the band in 2012, but got their first chances to record songs in 2015. After they won a music competition they released their debut single “Tik Savādi”. One of their biggest hits in 2016 was “Priekšpilsētas valsis“. In 2018, Sudden Lights already took part in Supernova with their song “Just fine“. They became 2nd. In 2020 they teamed up with the band Astro’n’out for the song “Haosā“. In total, Sudden Lights released three albums. Supernova The national final for the Eurovision Song Contest in Latvia is named Supernova. The contest was held first in 2015, when Aminata won the contest with “Love injected”. Every year, one or two semifinals are held before the final. This year, it was only one semifinal. Aminata often took part, not only as a singer but also as a composer. One of her songs, sung by Justs, won in 2016. Another singer who attempted to win the ticket to Eurovision many times was Markus Riva. He never made it to the Eurovision stage so far. Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest Latvia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2000, and immediately with success. Brainstorm reached a third place with “My star”. Two years later, Marie N led the country to a victory with her song “I wanna”. That brought the contest to the capital Riga in 2003. After this, only one top-5 position was there for Latvia. In 2005 Walters and Kazha sang “The war is not over”. It was in two languages: English and sign language. The bookmakers Latvia is in 35th place at the bookmakers at this moment. That would be a big disappointment for the country that never made it to the final after 2016. Let’s hope for them the bookmakers are wrong. The song And of course, this is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Serbia

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Serbia. Luke Black Luke Black won the Serbian national final with the song “Samo mi se spava”. The song is written and composed by Luke Black himself. It is sung in both Serbian and English. Luke Black’s real name is Luka Ivanović. He was born in Čačak, Serbia, in 1992. His career started in 2014, when he performed at the Groveland Festival. His first hit single “D-generation” was released in 2015. In 2016, Luke Black was one of the contenders to represent Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest. The song “Demons” was not selected but became a success for Luke. In total, Luke Black released 3 EP’s. The most recent one was “F23.8” this year. It included his 2021 hit “Amsterdam“. Pesma Za Evroviziju This year’s national final was called Pesma Za Evroviziju 2023. After two semifinals, a final with 16 songs was held on 4 March. Remarkable participant was the group Hurricane. They won the national selection in 2020. Due to the cancellation of the contest, the group was invited for the 2021 edition. In the end both jury and televoters had different opinions. Nađa won the jury vote, while Princ was the favourite of the televoters. Both jury’s had Luke Black in 2nd place. Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest When Yugoslavia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest, Serbia provided the entry on 6 occasions but never ended up higher than the 12th place. How different it was when Serbia and Montenegro started to participate. Željko Joksimović reached a 2nd place. In 2006, the country withdrew. Serbian TV and the audience in the national final did not agree with the Montenegrin winner. Shortly after the contest, Montenegro voted for independence in a referendum. That was when Serbia started to participate…. and won rightaway! Marija Šerifović reached the first place with “Molitva”.  Željko Joksimović participated again in 2012 and became 3rd. Last year, Serbia was also succesful with a 5th place for Konstrakta’s “In corpore sano”. The bookmakers Serbia is currently 15th according to the bookmakers. That would not be as high as Konstrakta last year. But at least Serbia would reach the final in this case. However, Konstrakta was a big surprise. So who knows… The song This is the song:

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Road to Liverpool: Azerbaijan

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Azerbaijan. TuralTuranX For the first time since 2008, Azerbaijan chose for a song that was written and composed by an Azerbaijani team. The lyrics of “Tell me more” are from the singing duo TuralTuranX themselves, they wrote the music together with Nihad Aliyev and Tunar Taghiyev. TuralTuranX are twins. Their names are Tural and Turan Bağmanov and they were born on 30 October 2000. They are from Zaqatala, in the northwest of Azerbaijan. At a young

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Road to Liverpool: Sweden

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Sweden. Loreen Loreen won the Swedish Melodifestivalen with a landslide. Her song “Tattoo” is written and composed by Thomas G:son, Jimmy ‘Joker’ Thörnfeldt, Jimmy Jansson, Moa Carlebecker, Peter Boström and Loreen herself.  Loreen’s real name is Lorine Talhaoui. She rose to fame when she took part in Idol 2004. She reached the live shows with her performances. After that she featured in a song of Rob ‘n’ Raz, “The snake” and hosted a tv show. In

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Road to Liverpool: Moldova

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Moldova. Pasha Parfeny After a very exciting national final, it was Pasha Parfeny who won the contest. His song “Soarele și luna”, which translates as “The sun and the moon”, was composed by the singer himself and Andrei Vulpe. For the lyrics, Pasha’s wife Iuliana Parfeny is responsible.  Pasha Parfeny, officially named Pavel Parfeni, studied music in the beginning of this century. He took part in several contests. He won two contests in Bulgaria in 2007.

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Road to Liverpool: Israel

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Israel. Noa Kirel As early as 11 July last year, Israeli broadcaster Kan announced Noa Kirel to be the Israeli representative. However, Noa first said that it was just a ‘maybe’, and nothing was sure yet. One month later, an official confirmation came, and the song “Unicorn” was presented in March. The song is written by Doron Medalie, Yinon Yahel and May Sfadia. Medalie wrote “Golden boy” (2015), “Made of stars” (2016) and the winning song

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Road to Liverpool: Switzerland

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Switzerland. Remo Forrer On 20 February of this year, it was announced that Remo Forrer is going to represent Switzerland. Two weeks later, it was announced that “Watergun”, written by Ashley Hicklin, Argyle Singh and Mikolaj Trybulec, was going to be his song. Remo Forrer rose to fame in 2020, when he won The Voice Switzerland. Born in Hemberg, Forrer was already interested in music at a young age. He learned to play the flute, the

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Road to Liverpool: Croatia

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Croatia. Let 3 With a landslide, Croatian band Let 3 won the ticket to represent their country in the Eurovision Song Contest. Their song, “Mama ŠČ” was written and composed by Damir Martinović and co-composed by Zoran Prodanović. The song is an anti war song, containing lines like ‘mama buys a tractor’. This refers to Vladimir Putin getting a tractor for his 70th birthday from the Belarusian president Lukashenko. Damir and Zoran both are members of

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Road to Liverpool: Ireland

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Ireland. Wild Youth The national final in Ireland was won by Wild Youth. They sang the song “We are one”, which is written and composed by Conor O’Donohoe, Ed Porter and Jörgen Elofsson.  Wild Youth was formed in Dublin in 2016. The band exists of David Whelan, Conor O’Donohoe, Ed Porter and Callum McAdam. In 2017 they released their first single “All or nothing“. In 2019 they released their first album “The last goodbye”. The band

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Road to Liverpool: Portugal

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Portugal. Mimicat Festival RTP da Canção, the Portuguese national selection, has been won by Mimicat with het song “Ai coração”. Mimicat wrote and composed the song herself. Co-composer is Luís Pereira. Mimicat’s real name is Marisa Mena. When she was 9 years old she recorded her first album. She was only 15 years old when she first participated in Festival RTP da Canção, back in 2001. She sang the song “Mundo colorido” but did not make

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Road to Liverpool: Latvia

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Latvia. Sudden Lights Sudden Lights won Supernova, the Latvian selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. They sang the selfwritten song “Aijā”, which is sung in both English and Latvian. Sudden Lights exists of Andrejs Reinis Zitmanis, Kārlis Matīss Zitmanis, Mārtiņš Matīss Zemītis and Kārlis Vārtiņš. They started the band in 2012, but got their first chances to record songs in 2015. After they won a music competition they released their debut single “Tik Savādi”. One of

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Road to Liverpool: Serbia

We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Serbia. Luke Black Luke Black won the Serbian national final with the song “Samo mi se spava”. The song is written and composed by Luke Black himself. It is sung in both Serbian and English. Luke Black’s real name is Luka Ivanović. He was born in Čačak, Serbia, in 1992. His career started in 2014, when he performed at the Groveland Festival. His first hit single “D-generation” was released in 2015. In 2016, Luke Black was

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