2019

Sebastian Rejman

© EBU/Thomas Hanses About Quick Facts NameSebastian Rejman Born13 January 1978 Nationality???????? Finnish National SelectionUuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2019 In Eurovision2019 Tel Aviv SongLook away (2019, with Darude) Biography Sebastian Rejman (born 13 January 1978 [1]) is a Finnish musician, actor and presenter. He was the lead singer of the Giant Leap, a melodic rock band formed in 2005 in Helsinki. The band includes, beside Sebastian Petri Somer and Sami Lehto. The Giant Leap changed to its current form when founding members Sebastian and Petri became acquainted with Sami Lehto in the summer of 2005. Sebastian and Petri are responsible for writing the songs and arranging and producing the songs for Sami. All members of the band have years of musical background. The songs on the band’s debut album, released in the fall of 2007, have been released over the years. The band’s first single, “All In My Head,” was distributed to radio stations in late May, and in the summer of 2007, it became one of the radio’s most played songs. The second single “Somebody Else” was broadcast on radio on September 17, 2007, and a music video was also made for the song. The band’s first two singles can be found on the October 31, 2007 album “Another Day Rising”. On December 7, 2007, the band acted as warmer for Bryan Adams at his Finnish gig. The band’s second album, The Giant Leap, was released in 2010. After Giant Leap froze for a while, Sebastian formed a new band called Sebastian & The 4th Line Band. Rejman is from a bilingual working-class family in eastern Helsinki and has lived in Kallio, Helsinki. He started playing guitar and singing at the age of 14. He cites Elvis Presley and Bruce Springsteen as his musical role models. Rejman participated in Nelonen’s Choir War , where he conducted the Helsinki Choir. The Helsinki Choir dropped out of the race first. In addition to the songs from The Giant Leap, Rejman and Somer did a song “Hauraalla jäällä” with Lasse Wikman and Samppa Komokallio. Rejman also composed the song “Hetki me vaan lennettiin” for Riku Torkkel with Esa Nieminen. Since 2012, Rejman has also been a TV presenter as he co-hosted Talentin with Lorenz Backman. Since then, he has hosted Splash and worked as a backstage reporter for The Voice of Finland. In 2014, he hosted the tv-show Jukebox and also co-hosted the final concert of the show We Want More program with Kristiina Komulainen. In 2017, he starred in the film “Kuudes kerta”. Since 2018, Sebastian has a role in the hospital series Syke. Rejman represented Finland at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv, Israel, together with Darude. Entries Look Away (with Darude) Country???????? Finland Year2019 LanguageEnglish LyricsSebastian RejmanVille Virtanen MusicSebastian RejmanVille Virtanen BackingsPetri SomerMatti LeinoHeini IkonenEtel Röhr Results Semi Points: 23Position: 17Running order: 3 Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://youtu.be/VSPhIwOJfRs

Darude

© EBU/Thomas Hanses About Quick Facts NameTone-Ville Henrik Virtanen Born17 July 1975 Nationality???????? Finnish National SelectionUuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2019 In Eurovision2019 Tel Aviv SongLook away (2019, with Sebastian Rejman) Biography Darude (real name Toni-Ville Henrik Virtanen is a Finnish DJ and composer. He was born in Eura, in the Southwestern part of Finland. Virtanen started his career when attending highschoo. He was enthusiastic about making music at the computer at the time. He played the song “Rude Boy” by Swedish eurodance artist Leila K four times at a school party. He then began to be playfully called Rude Boy. Rude Boy later changed to Da Rude, who eventually became Darude. Darude eagerly pursued his career and in 1997 his demos were played on some radio stations. His songs were also available for download on MP3.com. In 1999, he made a demo of “Sandstorm” for his producer Jaakko Salovaara (JS16). Darude signed a record deal with Salovaara’s 16 Inch Records and “Sandstorm” was released as a single shortly thereafter. The track proved to be a big hit around the world. In addition to Finland, the song did particularly well in the United Kingdom. In Finland, the single sold platinum and remained on Finland’s official singles chart for 42 (!!) weeks. “Sandstorm” sold 2 million units worldwide. By March 2015, more than three million units had been sold. Darude’s debut album “Before the Storm” sold 800,000 copies worldwide. The album’s second single, “Feel the Beat”, was a great success. In 2001 Darude had a tour, the “Before the Storm: Australian Tour Edition”. “Before the Storm Special Edition” was released in 2002, which included remixes of the original songs as well. In 2003, Darude’s second studio album, “Rush”, was released. The album contained the singles “Music” and “Next to You”. Darude’s third studio album “Label This!” was released in October 2007. It contained the hit singles “Tell Me” as well as “My Game”.Darude co-founded the record label EnMass Music in 2011. With that label, he released a DJ Mix compilation called “Salmiakki Seasons Vol. 1”. Darude kept on touring and playing in clubs. On August 14, 2015, Darude released a new studio album, Moments, from which the single “Beautiful Alien” was released on March 20. Together with singer-actor Sebastian Rejman, Darude represented Finland at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv, Israel with the song “Look away”. The song became last in the first semifinal. Darude reported on the TV show Villa Hintikka in January 2020 that one of his ears has become deaf due to illness. Entries Look Away (with Sebastian Rejman) Country???????? Finland Year2019 LanguageEnglish LyricsSebastian RejmanVille Virtanen MusicSebastian RejmanVille Virtanen BackingsPetri SomerMatti LeinoHeini IkonenEtel Röhr Results Semi Points: 23Position: 17Running order: 3 Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://youtu.be/VSPhIwOJfRs

Esther Hart

Name : Esther Katinka Hartkamp Born : 3-6-1970 Nationality : Dutch National Finals : Nationaal Songfestival 2003 ESC Entries : One more night Website : Facebook/Esther Biography When she was about 10 years old she sang in the children’s choir “De Lenteklokjes” in Alphen aan den Rijn. She was fourteen when she first started singing with the band “Release”. At the age of 18 Hart was admitted to the conservatory in Rotterdam. At the conservatory she followed a “light music” vocal training. She graduated cum laude in 1994 as a teaching and performing musician. During that time, Hart regularly performed in all sorts of venues and it was also during this time that she self-released a CD, “Love this Life” of “Fruit at the Bottom”. Hart was also part of “D-Wys and the Voices of Soul” performing at the North Sea Jazz Festival and on Sesjun TV. In addition, Hart has done a lot of studio work, sang jingles and sang in choirs for various Disney films. She did about 120 live performances a year. Singing has always been very important in Hart’s life. She teaches at various music schools and now at the Fontys Rock Academy in Tilburg. She teaches singing there that are mainly focused on singing technique. Esther Hart had an English hit success with ‘Ain’t no Lies’, which ended up at number eight on the dance charts. Then participation in the National Song Contest came on her path. She won with “One more night”, which was the Dutch entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2003 and with which she came 13th and won the Artistic Award that was introduced a year earlier. Originally she was also going to participate in the British final for the festival, but when she made it to the Dutch final, she withdrew. Her debut album was called “Straight from the Hart”. In January 2008, she stayed in jail for one night to gain publicity and money for charity. During that time she gave a concert with the Dutch broadcaster NCRV and the Exodus Foundation, which provides assistance for former prisoners to adapt to normal life. In addition, a poetry contest was held by the prisoners with the theme of “dare to believe in change”, with the winning poem to be read by Hart. Since 2017, she is involved in the organization of J’aime la Vlie, a Eurovision-related festival at the Dutch island of Vlieland. She currently is a singing teacher at the ArtEZ Pop Academy in Enschede. Entries Country : The Netherlands Year : 2003 Language : English Artist : Esther Hart Song : One more night Lyrics : Tjeerd van Zanen Alan Michael Composer(s) : Tjeerd van Zanen Alan Michael Backings : Linda Bloemhard Roger Happel Vera van der Poel Dedre Twiss Results Points : 45 Position : 13 Running order : 14 https://youtu.be/D6Z_UJrMqVY

Jurij Veklenko

© EBU/Thomas Hanses About Quick Facts NameJurijus Veklenko Born06 July 1990 Nationality???????? Lithuanian National SelectionEurovizijos Atranka 2012Eurovizijos Atranka 2014Eurovizijos Atranka 2019 In Eurovision2019 Tel Aviv SongRun with the lions (2019) Biography Jurijus Veklenko, also known as Jurij Veklenko or Jurijus, is a Lithuanian singer, born in Klaipėda. He’s got a bachelor’s degree in Recreation and Tourism. He currently lives in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. Jurijus initially worked as a call center operator and now as an IT specialist. Music is his hobby. He participated in Lithuanian national music projects such as Dainuoju Lietuvą, and Lietuvos talentai. Both in 2013 and 2015 he was a backing vocal for Lithuania at the Eurovision Song Contest. He participated in the national selection of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012 and 2014. In 2019 he represented his country in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Run with the lions”. In May 2019 he released a new single, “Mintys”. In the same year he released his debut album “Mano Sapnuose”, followed by the single and video “Bright lights”. In October and November of the same year he made his first entire tour throughout Lithuania. In June 2020, the single “Apie ją” was released, followed by “Randai” in November. In January 2021, the song “Geltoni krantai” came out. All of the songs could be found on Veklenko’s new CD, “Randai”, which was released in April of the same year. Entries Run With The Lions Country???????? Lithuania Year2019 LanguageEnglish LyricsAshley HicklinEric LumierePele Loriano MusicAshley HicklinEric LumierePele Loriano BackingsSilvija PankėnaitėAlgė MatekėnaitėEglė GadeikytėBerta TiminskaitėJustina Budaitė Results Semi Points: 93Position: 11Running order: 12 Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://youtu.be/5Nb3HMzsfZY

Roko Blažević

© EBU/Thomas Hanses About Quick Facts NameRoko Blažević Born10 March 2000 Nationality???????? Croatian National SelectionDora 2019 In Eurovision2019 Tel Aviv SongThe Dream (2019) Biography Roko Blažević is a Croatian singer, born in Split. He showed his singing talent as an 11-year-old in the 2011 Supertalent competition, where he impressed the audience by singing and playing the piano. In July 2017, Blažević won the Serbian reality show Pinkove Zvezdice, One year later he took part in Pinkove Zvezdice again, but now he took the second place. In 2019 he won Dora, the Croatian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. Therefore, he represented Croatia in the 2019 contest with his song “The dream”. The song was written by Blažević’s mentor Jacques Houdek, who also once represented Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest. With this song, Roko reached the first place in the Croatian charts. The follow up for his Eurovision song was the song “Krila”. In 2020, the song “Božić nam dolazi” became a hit for Roko. Entries The Dream Country???????? Croatia Year2019 LanguageEnglishCroatian LyricsJacques HoudekAndrea ČubrićCharlie Mason MusicJacques Houdek BackingsJacques HoudekEndi SchrötterDiego Siqueira Results Semi Points: 64Position: 14Running order: 10 Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://youtu.be/gXT5E8kUgfs

PÆNDA

© EBU/Andres Putting About Quick Facts NameGabriela Horn Born25 January 1988 Nationality???????? Austrian National SelectionInternal selection 2019 In Eurovision2019 Tel Aviv SongLimits (2019) Biography Pænda, officially known as Gabriela Horn, is an Austrian singer. She was born in Deutschlandberg, Styria. Gabriela started singing in a choir in her home town at the age of six. At fourteen, she began songwriting and singing in various pop rock bands. She took guitar and piano lessons at age 20 and studied pop and jazz music at the Vienna Music Institute, where she graduated with honors in 2013. Her first single “Waves”, released in late 2016, attracted some attention and was played on several Austrian radio stations. A year later, in January 2018, the second single “Good Girl “was released, soon followed by her debut album “Evolution I”. The album was received positively by the Austrian media. Her third single “Paper-thin” was released in early May 2018. In 2019, she represented Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Limits”. However, she did not reach the final. In April 2019 she released her second album Evolution II. The single releases “Like a Domino”, “So Loud” and “Filler” followed later that year. She also went on a club tour in Europe. In April 2020, the single “Best of It” was released in collaboration with G X G. Two more singles followed in July and September. The Single “Friend Zone was” released in October, “My Heart” in November. In the same month she released her first EP “My Heart”. At the beginning of February 2021 she released the single “Lovers we know”, which is the first single from her second EP “My Issues”. That EP was released later in 2021. In 2022 she also released several singles, among others “Your song”, a collaboration with N-Chased and Tony Vida. Entries Song Title Country???????? Austria Year2019 LanguageEnglish LyricsGabriela Horn MusicGabriela Horn BackingsChristina HornNoy Ben ShabatOr Ilan Results Semi Points: 21Position: 17Running order: 9 Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://youtu.be/FVSZDF9O-bA

Ester Peony

© EBU/Thomas Hanses About Quick Facts NameEster Alexandra Crețu Born21 July 1993 Nationality???????? Romanian National SelectionSelecţia Naţională 2019 In Eurovision2019 Tel Aviv SongOn A Sunday (2019) Biography Ester Peony is a singer and songwriter. She was born in Câmpulung, Romania, but grew up in Montreal, Canada. At the age of twelve she returned to Romania and went to the Dinu Lipatti High School of Art in Pitești. At 13 she transferred started studying classical guitar. In 2013 she was accepted to the Faculty of Musical Interpretation at the conservatory in Bucharest, where she studied jazz. A year later, Ester Peony started composing for several Romanian artists. In 2015, she started posting cover versions of songs on Youtube. Later that year, she attained commercial success in Romania with her single “Sub aripa ta”. The song ranked at the top of the Romanian charts for several consecutive weeks. At the same time, Esther began to perform both solo and in a country-wide tour with Puya, Vescan, Doddy and Anastasia. In 2018 they released the first EP, “Dig It”, with songs mainly composed by Ester. In 2019, she won the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest and represented her country with the song “On a Sunday”. In november of the same year, she released the follow up “7 roses”. She also featured at the HIDDN and RudeLies song “Dernière danse”. In 2020 she came up with a new song, “Me pone loca”, and in 2022 she teamed up with Sasha Lopez for the song “Tatoué”. Entries On A Sunday Country???????? Romanian Year2019 LanguageEnglish LyricsIoana Victoria Badea MusicEster Alexandra CrețuAlexandru Șerbu BackingsAntonia Elena LiţăAdela-Daniela BaranciAlexandru ŞerbuVlad MirceaValentin Cristian Chiş Results Semi Points: 71Position: 13Running order: 6 Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://youtu.be/cZC9o_Z90yo

Carousel

© EBU/Andres Putting About Quick Facts MembersSabīne ŽugaMārcis VasiļevskisMareks LoginsStaņislavs Judins Active2015 – 2022 Nationality???????? Latvian National SelectionSupernova 2019 In Eurovision2019 Tel Aviv SongThat Night (2019) Biography Carousel is a Latvian duo consisting of founding members Sabīne Žuga and Mārcis Vasiļevskis. They began their collaboration in 2015 under the name Žu Duo. Under their new name Carousel they participated in the 2018 concert show Pasaka ziemā. In 2019, Carousel participated in the Eurovision Song Contest for Latvia with the song “That night”. Staņislavs Judins (double bass) and Mareks Logins (drums) joined Carousel for the occasion. On June 15 of the same year, the group released their first mini album “Sketches of sleepless nights”. The group was nominated to win a Zelta mikrofonā (Golden Microphone) in the same year. Carousel stopped performing in 2022; Sabīne Žuga released a single in April 2022 under the name Muuna: “Dark valley”. Entries That Night Country???????? Latvian Year2019 LanguageEnglish LyricsSabīne Žuga MusicMārcis VasiļevskisAleksandrs Volks BackingsZane Biķe-SlišāneAnnemarija Moiseja Results Semi Points: 50Position: 15Running order: 5 Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://youtu.be/NCtKU3m3R-8

Anna Odobescu

© EBU/Andres Putting About Quick Facts NameAnna Odobescu Born03 December 1991 Nationality???????? Moldavian National SelectionO Melodie Pentru Europa 2019 In Eurovision2019 Tel Aviv SongStay (2019) Biography Anna Odobescu is a Moldovan singer, born in Dubăsari. She graduated from the faculty of jazz and pop in Tiraspol and the Academy of music and fine art in Chisinau. Anna won several musical awards and won the Martisoare Dorohian Festival in 2012. She also took part in the Slavic Bazaar festival in 2015, as well as in the Russian version of The Voice. In 2018, she participated in the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Agony” and reached the 5th place. Reason enough to participate again in 2019. In that year she won and represented Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Stay”. On stage, she was accompanied by sand artist Kseniya Simonova. In 2020, she appeared in the Netflix movie Eurovision Song Contest: the story of fire saga. She also released two singles: “Dreaming” and “My oh my”. Entries Stay Country???????? Moldova Year2019 LanguageEnglish LyricsGeorgios KalpakidisThomas ReilJeppe ReilMaria Broberg MusicGeorgios KalpakidisThomas ReilJeppe ReilMaria Broberg BackingsMihaela AndreiAndrei ŞtefăneţAndreea PortarescuKseniya Simonova (sand artist) Results Semi Points: 85Position: 12Running order: 3 Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mo207V5Z2o

Sarah McTernan

© EBU/Thomas Hanses About Quick Facts NameSarah McTernan Born11 March 1994 Nationality???????? Irish National SelectionInternal selection 2019 In Eurovision2019 Tel Aviv Song22 (2019) Biography Sarah McTernan is an Irish singer-songwriter. She was born in Scarriff, County Clare, Ireland. She started her music career by studying music thechnology in Limerick. She also worked as a make up artist in the same city. Her career really began after taking third place in the fourth season of The Voice of Ireland in 2015. In 2016, she released a single, “Eye of the sotrm”. In 2018, she submitted songs to the Irish and San Marinese national selections for the Eurovision Song Contest, but was not chosen. In 2019, it was a different situation: she wás chosen to represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest with her song “22”. The song unfortunately did not reach the final. In 2021, Sarah released a single in collaboration with HalfTraxx. The song became a hit and even reached the #2 spot in the iTunes list. The song was followed by another three singles: “Close my eyes” and “Heavy on my heart” in 2021, “Gotta get out” in 2022. Entries 22 Country???????? Ireland Year2019 LanguageEnglish LyricsJanieck van de PolderMarcia SondeijkerRoel Rats MusicJanieck van de PolderMarcia SondeijkerRoel Rats BackingsCiara O’ConnorFiona HarteMichael HopkinsAdele DempseyRhianna Binns Results Semi Points:Position:Running order: Results Finals Points:Position:Running order: https://youtu.be/lX7DT9GMHQM