General

Eurovision 2025 stage & theme reveal

It’s only five more months untill the Eurovision Song Contest is in it’s full swing again! And what’s a Eurovision without some popping colours? Today the Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR and the EBU have revealed the theme art and stage design for next year’s competition! Theme art: The theme art which will be visual throughout the show and the city of Basel was created by art director Artur Deyneuve. The project began all the way back in July. It’s inspired by how the Swiss people really tend to listen to each other, and when you listen to each other you will find love. Thus the name of theme art branding being: “Unity Shapes Love”. We can see the heart of Eurovision being the main inspiration, as Artur saw a meme which stated when the ears blend in together, it creates a heart. The Eurovision heart was a perfect fit for this art design. Stage Design: Next year’s Eurovision will have really unique and memorable stage. It’s created, once again, by Florian Wieder who has designed eight Eurovision stages in the past. Florian’s inspiration for the stage was Swiss identity, with the obvious being the mountains. He also took in part to showcase the four languages of Switzerland, as we have four individual parts to the stage. We can see a big frame that’s in the middle of the St. Jakobshalle Arena, combined with a catwalk, an LED screen, and grid lights. One thing we know for sure: there are lots of possibilities with the Basel stage.

They will rock you!

It is often said: Rock music… that doesn’t belong in the Eurovision Song Contest. But why not? And who decides? That is the counter-question. The answer is simple; If we look at the rules of the EBU, there are rules about length, publication, originality, but not about the genre.So…. Rock music at Eurovision: Sure thing! The early years For the very first Rock entry, we’re going all the way back to…..1956! An entry in the very first year of Eurovision, which would not be out of place for Elvis (regardless of the language). The Austrian Freddy Quin was one of the German representatives; his song was called was “So geht das jede Nacht”. As with every entry in the Eurovision Song Contest of 1956, apart from the winner, the placement is unknown. Varying degrees of success and the lowest ranking Rock songs were submitted with varying degrees of success in the years that followed. In 1982 a Rock-bottom was reached: Finland’s Kojo with “Nuku pommiin”, took the very last place with 0 points. Was it really that bad, or was Europe not ready for it? Judge for yourself: Rock Win It took quite some time before Rock really made a difference at Eurovision, but in 2006 the time had come: Lordi for Finland with “Hardrock Hallelujah” won the contest with 292 points. Rock is part of it After that, Rock as a type of music at Eurovision was taken a lot more seriously. Bigger successes were achieved, and in 2018 even a Hungarian hard metal band managed to reach the finals. That AWS with “Viszlát Nyár” finished last in the grand final, doesn’t matter… They made it to the finals. The icing on the Rockcake was, of course, Måneskin in 2021. France was the big favorite (Barbara Pravi), but with 524 points, Italy left France behind. The conclusion may be that Rock definitely belongs at Eurovision, although opinions will always be divided on this. 2024 was a year without Rock. We are curious to see what 2025 will bring.

Class of 2024: where are they now? Semi Final 1

It’s been five months since the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 In Malmö has come to an end. In this new series we’re having a look at the participants, and what they have been up to. Today we’re starting with the acts who performed in the First Semi Final. Silia Kapsis She opened this year’s Eurovision, and secured the 15th place in the Grand Final. We’re talking about Silia Kapsis. During the summer the 17 year old singer released her new song “Red Flag”. Silia performed at multiple big events throughout Greece and Cyprus, and is performing all over Europe with Eurovision On Tour starting next month. Silvester Belt After representing Lithuania with “Luktelk”, Silvester has been traveling all over Europe, and even performing at arenas with a 30 thousand capacity. After scoring a number one hit with his Eurovision song, he followed it up with “Tyliai Tyliai” late July. Alyona Alyona & Jerry Heil Alyona & Jerry, the powerful duo from Ukraine secured third place in this year’s contest. Next month Jerry is starting her tour throughout Ukraine, but that is not all she’s been doing. All throughout the summer she’s been hard at work in the studio. Not only did she release new music, Jerry is now also a member of the Grammy Academy. That means “Teresa & Maria” might end up scoring a Grammy. Alyona has released a new song as well, and is going on tour. Next month she’s not only performing her songs all over Europe, but she’s also touring in Canada and the U.S. in November! Luna She didn’t make the Grand Final, but that didn’t stop her from getting creative. Luna has been spending her time in London, and has been seen making lots of new music. She released “Alive” back in July, and will release her new single “Wild West” tomorrow (at the time of writing). On August 30th Luna celebrated her birthday together with the Eurovision winner Nemo. Baby Lasagna After Marko won the televote with his “Rim Tim Tagi Dim”, he’s become one of the biggest stars in the Balkan. He knows how to keep the hype going, as he’s been performing at festivals and organized gigs all over Europe. He also signed with Universal Music and he released two new songs and video clips! Raiven She kept the Slovenian qualification streak going with “Veronika. Raiven has been traveling all over the world, as she’s seen the streets from London to Tokyo, and she is not stopping there. Tomorrow (as time of writing) Raiven will release the dates of her European tour, as well as her newest single “Mama”. Windows95man After winning UMK, Windows95man has been performing at lots of European festivals. In August the DJ even performed and met up at the same festival with Darude (Finland 2019), Kaleen, and Joost Klein. Fun fact, Windows95man plays “Europapa” at every gig he plays. He’s also announced his USA tour for early 2025. You’re now all caught up with all the info regarding the Semi Final 1 acts. Stay tuned as for next week we’re catching you up with everything you need to know about the semi 2 acts. See you there! 📸: EBU/Sarah Louise Bennett/Corinne Cumming/

Investigation Joost Klein closed

Back on May 10th, the Dutch artist Joost Klein was disqualified from the Eurovision Song Contest. Following the disqualification, Joost was being investigated by Swedish authorities following the accusations of making serious threats towards a female employee, hitting her camera, and making an unsafe working environment. Today the investigation has been closed because of a lack of evidence. This was the official statement: At the time of disqualification, the Dutch broadcaster AvroTros also released a statement: AvroTros has made clear that they will soon have talks with the EBU following their disqualification, and the closing of the investigation. It is still unclear if the Netherlands will participate in Eurovision 2025.

🇮🇸 Hera Björk has won Söngvakeppnin 2024

It was a tough superfinal, but Hera Björk has won Söngvakeppnin 2024 with “Scared Of Heights”. She advanced to the superfinal together with Bashar Murad and his song “Wild West”. In the end Hera won, and will represent Iceland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. She has also represented Iceland back in 2010 with “Je Ne Sais Quoi” where she ended up 19th.

🇸🇪 We have the full line up for the Melodifestivalen final

Tonight was the fifth, and last semi-final of Melodifestivalen 2024! Last years runner ups Marcus & Martinus and Medina have qualified themselves for the Final of Melodifestivalen 2024! These are the full results: Jay Smith, and Annika Wickhalder have also qualified for the final, as they won the Final Qual. It was a tough race as Jay and Fröken Snusk had the same amount of points, but Jay had the benefit with having more televotes in the second round. These are the full results:

🇸🇪 Danny Saucedo and Dotter go on to the Meldodifestivalen final!

Danny Saucedo and Dotter have qualified for the final of Melodifestivalen 2024. Danny won the first round with his song “Happy That You Found Me”. It’s 2nd in the odds to win the whole show at the moment of writing. Dotter, who came 2nd in 2020, qualified in the final round of votes with “It’s Not Easy To Write a Love Song”. The ones who go on to the second chance round are Albin Tingwall with “Done Getting Over You” and Scarlet with “Circus X” These are the full results:

🇮🇸 Væb & Anita are qualified for the Söngvakeppnin final!

The first night of Söngvakeppnin is over and Anita & Væb have qulified themselves for the big final in march! Væb closed the night with their song: “Bíómynd”, and in the middle was Anita with “Stingum af”. She is one of the favorites to win the whole show and go to Eurovision for Iceland

🇪🇪 5miinust & Puuluup have won Eesti Laul 2024!

The bands both formed with eachother especially for their Eurovision entry. Their song won the superfinal with the help of the televoters! They will represent Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest in malmö with ” “(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi”. They will compete in the second semi final on may 9th.

🇸🇪 Jacqline & Cazzi Opeia dirctly to Melodifestivalen final!

Tonight Sweden has had it’s third Melodifestivalen heat! The results are in, and Jacqline won the first round of votes, and Cazzi Opeia is the winner of the second round. Klaudy & Gunilla Persson are trough to the last chance round, and will get the chance to go to the final one last time.