Belgium

UEFA 2020: DAY 7

We already face the 7th day of UEFA 2020. Again, three matches will be played. The first one will be Ukraine against North Macedonia. Both countries have had a contestant who faced troubles because of his or her identity. Gaitana sang “Be my guest” in 2012. The song is a soccer anthem, with the music being based on the vuvuzela. Yuriy Syrotyuk, politician of a nationalist political party, said that with this contestant people might think Ukraine is an African country. Gaitana is half Congolese. 2021 North Macedonian contestant Vasil faced a petition because in the video, something that looked like the Bulgarian flag was shown. Vasil also has the Bulgarian nationality. The second match is Denmark vs Belgium. We all know that the only Belgian winner, Sandra Kim, was a 13 year old child. But it was also a child star who participated in the 1985 contest for Denmark. It was Leah Bundgård, the 8 year old daughter of Søren Bundgård. Søren was the male half of the duo Kirsten & Søren. The third and last match will be between The Netherlands and Austria. That reminds us of 2014, when it was either one of them to get the win. It was the duo Common Linnets for the Netherlands coming second with “Calm after the storm”. It was Conchita Wurst for Austria winning with “Rise like a Phoenix”. But hey, you published “Rise like a Phoenix” before? Touché, but who minds watching Conchita’s performance twice?

UEFA Euro 2020 started!

With a year of delay, Euro 2020, the European soccer chiampionship, has started. The fun thing for a Eurovision fan is that a lot of matches remind us of Eurovision Songs, because it’s with (partly) the same countries. Yesterday, Italy won the match from Turkey. Many people on the internet mentioned Måneskin (of course) and Sertab (of course). But the match reminded us of another performance. You see Italian host Toto Cutugno (1991) learning Turkish. The Turkish contestants are Can Uğurluer, İzel Çeliköz & Reyhan Karaca singing “Iki dakika”. That is a hard one to pronounce for Toto. Today, Wales meets Switzerland. Wales is a part of the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest. But did you know that a Welsh woman almost won Eurovision? She became 2nd in 1970 and her name was Mary Hopkin. Also for Switzerland we chose someone who became 2nd: Daniela Simons in 1986. Both ladies have in common that in their years, one contestant could impossibly be defeated. In 1970 it was Dana and in 1986 Sandra Kim. Denmark meets Finland this year. Opposites attract, that’s what people say. We have a Eurovision winner from both countries. A ballad, sung by two man in their 40s from Denmark: “Fly on the wings of love” by the Olson Brothers. And a rock song from Finland, sung by Lordi, dressed as monsters: “Hard rock hallelujah”. And last but not least, Belgium meets Russia. They did so too in 2003. Turkey (as mentioned), Belgium and Russia struggled for the first place. Belgium became 2nd with Urban Trad, with a song in a non-existing language. Russia became third with the famous duo t.A.T.u. and their “Ne ver’ ne boysia”. Who is going to win? We put our money on Måneskin. Or were you talking about soccer?

How a British rejected song became a hit

It was 1980. The United Kingdom had a national selection for Eurovision with no less than 12 songs. It was a close call: in the end, there was a tie between two songs, only a revote could bring a decision.But in this field of participants there was also a lady with the name of Sonja Jones. She sang the Tony Colton/Jean Roussell song “Here we’ll stay”. She ended up quite anonymous at the 11th place. The song would have been long forgotten. However, things went different. Abba’s Frida released a solo album, “Something goin’ on”, produced by Phil Collins. And of course it was inevitable: a duet between the two stars. And guess what! They chose the flopped Eurosong “Here we’ll stay”! However, Collins wasn’t credited on the song. So when Frida’s record company decided to release “Here we’ll stay” as the next single, he didn’t want to be associated with it at all. A solo version of “Here we’ll stay”, by Frida only, was made for the occasion. The success of the song was not as big as the first singles from the album, “I know there’s something goin’ on” and “To turn the stone”. It reached the charts in The Netherlands and Belgium. Okay, and in the United Kingdom: 1 week, on the number 100 spot. But many people know the song, either from the album or from the single version. And who could have said thát when Frida had never added it to her album……

Awards to be given: you decide!

Eurovision is over, but Eurovision season is definitely not. There are some awards to be given after the contest. We would like to recommend you to vote for the Barbara Dex Award. The annual award is given to the artist or group wearing the most remarkable clothes. Our friends of songfestival.be are the organizers of the prize. Two years ago, Portuguese Conan Osiris won the prize. You can find an overview of all the winners, including their videos, here. You can vote for this year’s award here. Barbara Dex, the namegiver of the award. Another Award is especially interesting for our Dutch and Belgian visitors: the Eurovision Artists Award. Our friends of Eurovision Artists award the prize to a person, persons, an organization or initiative from the Netherlands or Belgium who has or has promoted the Eurovision Song Contest in the media in a special way. It is an annual prize. Due to COVID19 it was not awarded last year. Two years ago it was won by the website Eurostory, a literary-journalistic site about the Eurovision song contest. For this years award you can vote here.

Malta and Switzerland winners semifinals

The results of both the semifinals are known. Malta won the first one and Switzerland the 2nd one. Where the qualifiers of the 2nd semifinal were very clear (number 11, Denmark, follows with a distance), it was a close call at the first semifinal. Norway was 10th with 115 points while Croatia was 11th with 110 points. The full results are: 1st semifinal Malta, 325 pts. Ukraine, 267 pts. Russia, 225 pts. Lithuania, 203 pts. Israel, 192 pts. Cyprus, 170 pts. Sweden, 142 pts. Azerbaijan, 138 pts. Belgium, 117 pts. Norway, 115 pts. Croatia 110 pts. Romania, 85 pts. Slovenia, 44 pts. Australia, 28 pts. North Macedonia, 23 pts. Ireland, 20 pts. 2nd semifinal Switzerland, 291 pts. Iceland, 288 pts. Bulgaria, 250 pts. Portugal, 239 pts. Finland, 234 pts. Greece, 184 pts. Moldova, 179 pts. Serbia, 124 pts. San Marino, 118 pts. Albania, 112 pts. Denmark, 89 pts. Austria, 66 pts. Estonia, 58 pts. Poland, 35 pts. Czech Republic, 23 pts. Georgia, 16 pts. Latvia, 14 pts. photo credits: EBU

Italy wins the 65th Eurovision Song Contest

Italy has just won the 65th Eurovision Song Contest. Måneskin sang the song “Zitti e buoni”. It is the 3rd time that Italy won the Eurovision Song Contest. Italy was closely followed by France , with expert jury winner Switzerland in 3rd place. The full result is: Italy, 524 pts. France, 499 pts. Switzerland, 432 pts. Iceland, 378 pts. Ukraine, 364 pts. Finland, 301 pts. .Malta, 255 pts. Lithuania, 220 pts. Russia, 204 pts. Greece, 170 pts. Bulgaria, 170 pts. Portugal, 153 pts. Moldova, 115 pts. Sweden, 109 pts. Serbia, 102 pts. Cyprus, 94 pts. Israel, 93 pts. Norway, 75 pts. Belgium, 74 pts. Azerbaijan, 65 pts. Albania, 57 pts. San Marino, 50 pts. The Netherlands, 11 pts. Spain, 6 pts. Germany, 3 pts. United Kingdom, 0 pts. A shocking thing was that no less than 4 countries ended up with zero points at the televoting. All the countries who got no points (The Netherlands, Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom) were placed directly in the final. photo credits: EBU

What can we expect and who will win tomorrow?

After a film with, again, beautiful images of the Netherlands, and yes, a role for Duncan Laurence, we go to the flag parade. DJ Pieter Gabriel accompanies the artists musically with his own adaptation of the worldwide hit “Venus” by Shocking Blue, also a hit from Dutch soil. Presenters Edsilia Rombley, Jan Smit and Chantal Janzen sing the song. We open with Cyprus; often an uptempo pop song is chosen to open, this year too. Albania takes the cursed second place. However, Albania is not one of the potential winners anyway, so the second place remains where it is. Israel follows; she once bursted out in tears when the Eurovision song contest was canceled, but now Eden Alene is in the final, followed by Belgium. Hopefully Hooverphonic will remain in peoples memories in the beginning of the broadcast. The advantage is that the song may stand out even more after an uptempo song. However, Russia follows with a striking act and then Malta. What that does to Malta’s chances is a big question mark, but it is not favorable. Certainly not because Portugal will follow after Malta; they are the surprise of the contest. We wouldn’t even be surprised if Portugal ends up very high; The Black Mamba isn’t Salvador Sobral, but still. The end of the first block is formed by Serbia; The fact that the three ladies are through to the final was no surprise, but it will probably not be much more there. Or is Serbia lucky that all other countries of the former Yugoslavia are not there? While advertisements are watched in some countries, the rest of Europe sees Nikkie Tutorials showcasing three winners of the #Eurovisionchallenge. Valentina, who won the junior Eurovision this year, will also say something. Emmelie De Forrest, Jamala and Duncan Laurence talk about their trophy. After that, Chantal Janzen and Jan Smit will make an appeal to share your photo of how you watch the Eurovision song contest. The second block is opened by the United Kingdom. That is usually not something to be happy about. People are still refilling the glasses or sitting on the toilet. By the way, yesterday in the Dutch tv-show Op1 you could see how British journalists are already busy putting the blame for a low score apart from themselves, even before the contest is over. However, the UK entry is completely insignificant to Greece that performes next. Greenscreen is certainly not new, but it is smart to use it. In quality, however, the Greek entry is far surpassed by that of Switzerland. According to many, one of the strongest voices of the festival. Still, the song may soumd a little too much like “Arcade” to be a winner. Also a top song, possibly even a winner, is Iceland. Would it give Daði og Gagnamagnið sympathy votes that they are not allowed to be present live? The Icelandics are in any case followed by the not too strong entry from Spain, although, to be honest, it must be said that the singing of Blas Cantó improves with each rehearsal. Moldova will then take office. But it is still doubtful whether the name of Filipp Kirkorov (composer) will be good for a high score. Germany is a “love it or hate it” entry that can go in any direction. And after a song about a middle finger, the director has chosen to put the other middle finger song right after it. The song from Finland turned out to have a lot of fans yesterday. Whether it helps them on the scoreboard? We’ll know tomorrow night. And then we see Edsilia Rombley at the top of the comment booths to chitchat with various commentators. Chantal Janzen and Jan Smit refer to the time when there was still a live orchestra. They promise an orchestra with a top DJ. In the meantime, Bulgaria is ready with Victoria on her rock. Another strong entry. Then we see Lithuania again. At the bookies, the yellow-clad men have fallen somewhat; not because they are not good, perhaps because a large number of countries have an even stronger entry. And then Chantal Janzen announces Duncan Laurence, who speaks to the viewer in a video. Why so soon? Well, it gives the crew time to prepare the scenery of Ukraine. A trip, as Dutch commentator Sander Lantinga called the entry. of Ukraine We can imagine why. It would not surprise anyone if Ukraine ends up in the top of the rankings. Immediately after that, another top favorite follows: France. Take a good look, because this could well be the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. To be honest, the entry from Azerbaijan is fairly insignificant. Anyway, the King’s Commissioner in Friesland Arno Brok and Mayor of Leeuwarden Sybrand Buma give a voting advice: stim Azerbaijan (vote Azerbaijan, but in Frisian language). It doesn’t seem to be a coincidence, but after Azerbaijan, Norway will perform. All week, something seems to be going on between the Azerbaijani Efendi and the Norwegian TIX. It is very worthy to lsearch for #efentix. Then NikkieTutorials and Edsilia Rombley take the floor and announce some entre-acts and… the entry of the Netherlands. Jeangu Macrooy is praised for his cast-iron voice. He seems to slightly do better among bookmakers. But after the Netherlands, another top favorite (there are quite a lot this year) follows: Italy. Would the glam rock-leaning group win the Eurovision song contest? We do not consider it impossible. Sweden is not one of this year’s top favorites. The entry is just not strong enough for a top score. Finally we see San Marino. And then the rule of applies: world stars do NOT win the Eurovision song contest. Whether it’s Cliff Richard, t.A.T.u., DJ Bobo or Bonnie Tyler, it doesn’t work. A high position is definitely not impossible, San Marino will break its own record for sure. Then a spectacular entre act:follows: a classical orchestra of toung people and Afrojack accompany Wulf and Glennis Grace while

2nd semifinal overview

The 2nd semifinal also opens with beautiful images of the Netherlands. Eefje de Visser and the ballet with Redouan Ait Chitt can then be seen on stage in Ahoy. After that we see the presenters. Edsilia Rombley stands out most because of her bright green dress, and what you cannot see from afar: Nikkie de Jager’s dress has stitching in the colors of the trans flag. San Marino: Senhit wears one thing around her head at the start of her act. It most closely resembles an icon, and at the first rehearsal there were also images of Christ on it. They were later replaced by photos of Flo Rida, but they are now redundant because Flo Rida is on stage herself. We are absolutely sure of a place in the finale. Estonia: Uku Suviste had to fight for his place at the 2021 festival himself, even though he was already the candidate in 2020. Still, many feel that he got so many votes this year out of pity. He is a good singer, but with this song he really does not convince us. No Eurovision final for Estonia this year. Czech Republic: In recent days, Benny Cristo has been everywhere. Now that he is on stage, we still feel that he has forgotten to take that energy with him into Ahoy. We get a very strong feeling something is missing. His voice is not perfect either. We think it is not impossible for Benny to reach the final, but it will be hard. Greece: Stefania, who represents Greece, is secretly also a bit from the Netherlands, because she comes from Uitrecht. Greece has pulled out the technical gadgets of the greenscreen, which makes it seem as if the dancers are invisible. You only see their clothes. In addition, Stefania seems to float through the city. Greece, Stefania in the lead, makes something beautiful out of it. She will very likely reach the final. Austria: Another prayer, again “Amen”. David Bueno sings a ballad in which he can let us hear his strong voice. The staging has been kept simple. With the LED light around him, the whole thing is still spectacular. If Belgium succeeds on quality alone, you would say that Austria succeeds too. We think that’s what’s gonna happen. Poland: Hardly anyone believes in the Polish entry. The question that arises is whether Rafal does that himself. Rafal is on stage with four dancers and wears sunglasses. All fine, but with his song he doesn’t seem to impress for a single moment during the entire song. No final for Poland this year. Then Nikkie de Jager shows up. She gives the floor to Molly Sandén, who sang the soundtrack of “Eurovision Song Contest: the story of Fire Saga”. We also see Jeangu Macrooy pass by for a short while. Moldova: Natalia Gordienko once played a (scantily clad) supporting role, now she plays a leading role in the Moldovan entry about sugar, surrounded by dancers. Lots of pink on stage, but we still have the feeling that the Moldovan team has run out of sugar. Unfortunately, Moldova makes very little impression. However, it can still reach the final. Iceland: Do you see the Icelanders? In fact you don’t really see them, because they are not allowed to enter the stage stage. So you will see a recording of one of the rehearsals. The green sweater and the wicked dance: it has been thought through. Same goes for the instruments. We can reveal that they are not real. Still, it looks like a slick show. Nobody has any doubts about a place in the finale. Serbia: There is something weird about the Serbian entry: unlike you might expect, the ladies can sing quite good. Their dance is a bit stiff. Unlike the song, the Hurricane ladies themselves are not really rocking. Our entire team expects the girls to be in the final. Georgia: Before the festival, Tornike Kipriani grumbled that it was a shame you had to participate in such a shit show. Now he brings his ballad with verve with his Leonard Cohen-like voice. It is not such a shit show. Georgia is not going to reach the final. Albania: Just like two years ago, Albania has remained close to its own culture. The song is sung in Albanian. Lots of red and green smoke, especially in the second half a kind of golden glow like the setting sun. Does the Albanian trick work twice in a row? It’s not impossible, but it will be difficult. Portugal: Nobody gave a cent for the Portuguese entry beforehand. But with the right staging, people are no longer so sure that this will go wrong. Portugal starts in the time when the world was still in black and white, to bring some color to the stage halfway through the song. Portugal can be the big surprise in the final. Then Chantal Janzen will reveal that we are going to see former winners this Saturday. In the meantime she talks to Helena Paparizou (ESF05). Bulgaria: Victoria sits on a rock in the middle of a virtual sea. The picture is one of her and her father. That picture is dear to her because of her and her father. The father has ALS and therefore cannot be in Rotterdam. Viktoria’s vocals are fantastic as always. Bulgaria in the final? Was that a question? We know the answer: yes. Finland: You may not raise your middle finger in the family program that the Eurovision song contest is: then you paint it red. A number of metal fans were angry that the song is called metal. So, dear reader, this is not metal. It is enjoyable for those who like heavy rock. Or would people who enjoy enjoyment get angry now? Anyway, we will see Finland back in the final. Latvia: Samanta Tina brings a song that is extremely suitable for getting everything out of the closet in an act. We don’t understand why she doesn’t.

Qualifiers 1st Semi Final

After tonight’s show, the 10 qualifiers (in random order) are: Lithuania. The Roop – Discotheque Belgium. Hooverphonic – The wrong place Russia. Manizha – Russian Woman Sweden. Tusse – Voices Cyprus – Elena – El Diablo Azerbaijan – Efendi – Mata Hari Ukraine – Go_A – Shum Malta – Destiny – Je me casse Israel – Eden – Set me free Norway – TIX – Fallen Angel We will see them back in the grand Final on Saturday.

What is it the artists want to tell us?

The last few hours before the first semifinal…. some of the artists are still posting messages for us on social media. We collected some of the messages for you: The Roop (Lithuania): We have very good news for those who live in: Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Cyprus, Israel, Ireland, Italy, North Macedonia, Norway, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Sweden, The Netherlands, Ukraine. You will have an opportunity to support us TODAY Share the message. Montaigne (Australia): international followers! if you love technicolour as much as I do, you can vote for me during the eurovision semi-final 1 live broadcast. details on how you can vote below. my number is 05. Vasil (North Macedonia): One heart united in music. I invite you all to stand tall with me, send me your love, energy, and if I deserve it … your vote. * Thank you for you! Lesley Roy (Ireland): Today is Semi Final One 9pm CET! Vote Song 7 #Eurovision I’m so happy it’s finally here. Albina (Croatia): Wonder Woman don’t you ever forget, You’re divine. Eden Alene (Israel) does not text anything but shares a video. We see her walking through Ahoy. Go_A (Ukraine): Last night we had two performances at the dress rehearsal of Eurovision 2021 before the jury. Even technology could not withstand our crazy energy But technical problems with the sound did not prevent us from performing with dignity. It will start at 22:00 on UA Pershiy @ 1tv.ua and STB @stbua