Duos

Waylon

© EBU/Andres Putting About Quick Facts NameWillem Bijkerk Born20 April 1980 Nationality???????? Dutch National SelectionInternal selection 2018Internal selection 2014Nationaal Songfestival 2005 In Eurovision2018 Lisbon2014 Copenhagen SongOutlaw in ’em (2018)Calm after the storm (The Common Linnets, 2014) Biography Waylon is a Dutch singer, songwriter and musicion. He was born in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. He chose his stage name as he was a fan of Waylon Jennings. In 1995 he started singing in the tv show Telekids. He signed a record contract in 1997 and was allowed to record an album in Nashville. However, it was never released. In 2001 he lived and worked in the United States for a year . He appeared in the show of his idol Waylon Jennings with whom he also worked. Jennings passed away and Bijkerk returned to the Netherlands. After his return, he sang in the bands Santa Rosa and Millstreet. Waylon joined Rachel Kramer in 2005 as the duo ‘Rachel & Waylon’ in Het Nationaal Songfestival, the Dutch national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2008 he reached the final of Holland’s Got Talent. Despite the fact he did not win, this marked his breakthrough. His first record, “Wicked way”, became a huge hit in the Netherlands. It was followed by a debut album, “Wicked ways”, in 2009. In april 2010, he won a 3FM Award as ‘best newcomer’ and a TMF Award as ‘new talent’. In october 2011, his second album “After all” followed and he won another 3FM Award, now for ‘best singer’.Together with Ilse Delange, Waylon formed The Common Linnets. They represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Calm after the storm” and became 2nd. After Eurovision, the only performance of the two together was at the Tuckerville concert in Enschede, organized by The Common Linnets. After this concert, Waylon left the band.Two solo albums followed: “Heaven after midnight” (2014) and “Seeds” (2016). Meanwhile, Waylon was a coach in The Voice of Holland. In 2018, Waylon took part in the Eurovision Song Contest again, now as a solo singer with the song “Outlaw in ’em’. He reached the final again. The song was also released on his new album, “World can wait”. A tour with the subject ‘outlaws in country music’ followed: My heroes have always been cowboys. In december 2019, Waylon released a 6th album, “Human”. During the first lockdown of COVID19, he sang a version of Willeke Alberti’s song “Samen zijn”, together with the original singer and Wibi Soerjadi.In 2022, Waylon started singing in Dutch. His duet with former Eurovision-host Jan Smit (as Willem & Jan), “Tussen jou en mij” was released on single. Entries Outlaw In ‘Em Country???????? The Netherlands Year2018 LanguageEnglish LyricsJim BeaversWaylonIlya Toshinskiy MusicJim BeaversWaylonIlya Toshinskiy BackingsJustin PieplenboschPierre AngandaRoger MakadiPieter LikiyoBrandon Likiyo Results Semi Points: 174Position: 7Running order: 8 Results Finals Points: 121Position: 18Running order: 23 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7jHz5asMs8 Calm After Storm (The Common Linnets) Country???????? Country Year2014 LanguageEnglish LyricsIlse De LangeJB MeijersRob CrosbyMatthew CrosbyJake Etheridge MusicIlse De LangeJB MeijersRob CrosbyMatthew CrosbyJake Etheridge BackingsJB MeijersBart VergoossenMartijn Van Agt Results Semi Points: 150Position: 1Running order: 14 Results Finals Points: 238Position: 2Running order: 24 https://youtu.be/4ggBPAm5XLA

Madame Monsieur

© EBU/Andres Putting About Quick Facts MembersÉmilie SattJean-Karl Lucas Founded2013 Nationality???????? French National SelectionDestination Eurovision 2018 In Eurovision2018 Lisbon SongMercy (2018) Biography Émilie Satt (real name Sattonnet, 23 october 1984) and Jean-Karl Lucas (22 june 1982) met in 2008. They collaborated for the first time on the first EP of Émilie Satt in which they co-wrote three songs. It was a promo single for the Fort Mondeo in 2009. In 2013, the two created the group Madame Monsieur. A first EP was released in June of that year, including the single “Malibu”. In 2015, they composed the song “Smile” for the rapper Youssoupha. The song was one of the biggest hits of the year.In February 2016, Madame Monsieur released a first single from their EP called “Tandem”. In March, the group released a second extract, “See Ya”, on which they invited rapper S. Pri Noir. In parallel, they continued collaborations with rap artists, including La Fouine, Kery James, Georgio.In 2016, the two singers got married in Saint-Maurice-Crillat in the Jura.In November 2016, Madame Monsieur released the EP “Tandem”. Their first album “Vu d’Ici” was released on April 20, 2018. One month later, they represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest with their song “Mercy”. After this, they released two singles, “Comme une reine” and “Les lois d’attraction”. In 2019, they wrote the French entry for the Eurovision Song Contest again, this time “Roi”, performed by Bilal Hassani. In 2020, they teamed up with Jérémy Frérot for the single “Comme un voleur”. Their second album “Tandem” came out in the same year. Also in 2020, In 2020, they published a children’s book called “Je m’appelle Mercy”, illustrated by Saskia Halfmouw, in reference to their Eurovision song “Mercy” and whose profits went to the young child named Mercy, as well as to her family. In April 2022, their song “Des nouvelles de Tania” was released, a song about the situation in Ukraine. Entries Mercy Country???????? France Year2018 LanguageFrench LyricsÉmilie SattJean-Karl Lukas MusicÉmilie SattJean-Karl Lukas BackingsAllyson EzellNoée Results Semi Points: –Position: –Running order: – Results Finals Points: 173Position: 13Running order: 13 https://youtu.be/vjLuTtUv0Ns

Elnur Hüseynov

© EBU/Elena Volotova About Quick Facts NameElnur Hüseynov Born03 March 1987 Nationality🇦🇿 Azerbaijani National SelectionInternal selection 2015Land of Fire 2008 In Eurovision2015 Vienna2008 Belgrade SongHour of the wolf (2015)Day after day (Elnur & Samir) Biography Elnur Hüseynov is an Azerbaijani singer. He was born on March 3, 1987, in Ashgabat. In 1992, he entered the ROXMIM for gifted children alongside the Turkmenistan Conservatory, where he received education in piano class. In 1999, Elnur Hüseynov came to Baku and was admitted to the Dental Technical Specialty of the Medical School in 2000. However, in 2001, he left the medical school and joined the Asaf Zeynalli Music School. Elnur worked at the Azerbaijan State Opera and Ballet Theater for a while. After graduating from the Music School in 2004, he learned the profession of stylist-barber. In the early years, in 2003, Elnur participated for the second time in the Sing Your Song project. He won the grand prize. This was his first success in his career. In 2005, he recorded the song “Besdir” with the group Prestij, written by Eldar Mansurov. Later, a music video was made for this song. In late 2007, Elnur performed at the Lighting Azerbaijan international concert program in the assembly hall of the Kiev President Hotel in Ukraine. In 2008, Elnur Hüseynov participated in the national selection to represent Azerbaijan for the first time at the Eurovision Song Contest. Elnur performed the song “If You Never Back,”. Later, he performed the song “Day After Day” in a duet with Samir Javadzadeh. After the jury’s voting, it was announced that they had won the duet category with Samir. At the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008, they were the first ever representants from Azerbaijan. In the final held on May 24, they placed 8th among the 25 countries competing in the final. Travel to Ukraine and subsequent years In December 2009, Elnur announced that he would continue his music career in Ukraine and would not return to Azerbaijan. However, he returned to his homeland a few months later. In April 2010, Elnur participated as a contestant in the reality show Maşın but was eliminated on the first day. In 2010, Elnur participated in a musical based on Victor Hugo’s novel “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame” at the Heydar Aliyev Palace, portraying the character of Phoebus de Châteaupers. This musical marked a first in Elnur’s career. On December 1, 2014, Elnur participated in the O Ses Türkiye (The Voice of Turkey) competition, which aired on Turkey’s TV8 channel. After winning the final stage, it was determined that Elnur received the highest number of votes ever recorded in the competition, reaching one million votes. Elnur was chosen internally to represent Azerbaijan again in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2015. He presented his song “Hour of the wolf”, reached the final and became 12th in the contest. In 2015, Elnur performed the song “Avropa Oyunları qədim Bakı torpağında” (European Games in Ancient Baku Land) dedicated to the inaugural European Games held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. He performed the song together with Samir Javadzadeh and Honored Artist Sevda Elekberzadeh. Although Samir and Sevda initially performed the duet, Elnur later joined them. They performed the song in both Azerbaijani and English languages. Elnur Hüseynov also performed live shows before the opening ceremony held at Baku Olympic Stadium on June 12. In 2017, Elnur released a music video for his new song “Vibration,” with lyrics by Diana Hajiyeva and music by Isfar Sarabski. In September 2018 he released a new single again, this time with the title “Dreamer”. Ali Nasib wrote another song for Elnur. “Try to be yourself” was released on 26 April 2019. In 2020, Elnur teamed up with Ilgara Kazimova for the song “Deniz ver”. In 2021, Elnur joined a new band, the Sonar House Collective. Their debut single “Since I know you” was released on the 1st of February of that year. In February 2023, Elnur had a concert together with the “Mavi Ürəklər” blue choir, consisting of members with autism syndrome. On 7 April of the same year, his new video and song “Monster pop” was released. He performed at a youth festival organized for the Heydar Aliyev Year. Entries Hour Of The Wolf Country🇦🇿 Azerbaijan Year2015 LanguageEnglish LyricsLina HanssonNicklas LifNicolas RebscherSandra Bjurman MusicLina HanssonNicklas LifNicolas Rebscher BackingsKrysten CummingsNicklas LifTamara Nivillac DancersJulia SpiesserLukas McFarlane Results Semi Points: 53Position: 10Running order: 11 Results Finals Points: 49Position: 12Running order: 24 https://youtu.be/IcVrAFtc5YI Day After Day (Elnur & Samir) Country Azerbaijan Year2008 LanguageEnglish LyricsZahra Bədəlbəyli MusicGovher Hasanzadə BackingsNames of the 2 dancers and 2 backing singers are unknown. Results Semi Points: 96Position: 6Running order: 7 Results Finals Points: 132Position: 8Running order: 20 https://youtu.be/6OGVL_9P5fw

Electro Velvet

© EBU/Andres Putting About Quick Facts MembersAlex LarkeBianca Nicholas Active2014-2015, 2018 Nationality🇬🇧 British National SelectionInternal selection 2015 In Eurovision2015 Vienna SongStill In Love With You Biography Electro Velvet were a British musical duo. The duo existed of Bianca Nicholas and Alex Larke. Bianca Nicholas has appeared on popular TV shows like The X Factor and The Voice UK. She has had notable performances, including singing a duet with Will Young and performing in front of Prince William, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince Harry. In 2011, Nicholas released a single called “Hold On To Your Dreams,” which made it onto the UK Top 100 singles chart. Additionally, she had a small role in the 1999 film Sleepy Hollow with Johnny Depp. It’s worth noting that Nicholas suffers from cystic fibrosis. Larke, on the other hand, was born in Welwyn Garden City. He currently serves as the lead singer for The Rolling Stones tribute group called The Rolling Clones and has toured extensively with the band in the UK and internationally. Larke has collaborated with notable artists like Cut La Roc and Donald D on their album Larger Than Life, which also features Gary Lightbody, the frontman of Snow Patrol. Apart from his music career, Larke works part-time in a primary school and teaches ukulele and recorder. In the past, he worked in a special needs school, focusing on children and young adults with profound to severe learning difficulties. Regarding their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2015, Electro Velvet was chosen by the BBC to represent the United Kingdom with their song “Still in Love with You.” The song received mixed to negative reviews upon its announcement. In the contest, they received 5 points and ranked 24th out of 27 participants. Following their Eurovision experience, Electro Velvet expressed gratitude to their fans on their official Facebook page and hinted at upcoming plans. However, their debut EP, which was scheduled for release and available for pre-order on PledgeMusic, was ultimately canceled due to Nicholas’ ongoing health issues. After a pause of three years, Electro Velvet went back to the studio in 2018 to record a new song, “Take me home”. However, the song did not know any follow up. Entries Still In Love With You Country🇬🇧 United Kingdom Year2015 LanguageEnglish LyricsDavid MindelAdrian Bax White MusicDavid MindelAdrian Bax White BackingsScarlette DouglasJoe HuntSophie Carmen JonesRyan Heseltine Results Semi Points: –Position: –Running order: – Results Finals Points: 5Position: 24Running order: 5 https://youtu.be/Ethyx4A5ajM

Maraaya

About Quick Facts MembersMarjetka VovkAleš Vovk (Raay) Founded2014 Nationality🇸🇮 Slovenian National SelectionEMA 2015 In Eurovision2015 Vienna SongHere For You (2015) Biography Maraaya is a Slovenian pop duo founded in 2014 by Marjetka Vovk and Raay. The name is a combination of their names. Before music author and producer Raay (real name: Aleš Vovk) and singer Marjetka Vovk (born Jurkovnik) started working as Maraaya, they were members of the bands Turbo Angels and Tangels. In 2014, they released their first single “Lovin’ Me” under the name Maraaya. The song experienced great success on the iTunes charts in Belgium, Germany, Italy and Slovenia. It was among the twenty best-selling singles in Italy. It was among the ten best-selling singles in Italy, and was also included on the Polish compilation “Bravo Hits Zima 2015”. It reached the German DJ’s Dance Top 100 singles chart. The highest rankings of the song “Lovin’ Me” on the most important official national single charts: on the Slovenian SloTop50, it ranked 13th. It also reached the charts in Italy and Belgium. They won the 2015 EMA, the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest with their second single “Here for You” and thus qualified for Eurovision, where they reached the final. The song reached the #1 spot in the Slovenian charts. It also became a hit in Austria, Slovakia, Belgium, Sweden and Germany. In September 2015, they premiered their third single “Living Again” at the Red Cross charity concert in Cankarjev dom. At EMA 2016, they presented their fourth single “Nothing Left for Me” as special guests. On May 26, 2017, Maraaya, in collaboration with BQL, performed live on Cankarjeva cesta in Ljubljana, where they premiered their fifth single “It’s Complicated” and at the same time the music video. On June 10, 2017, Maraaya performed at the Croatian festival CMC Vodice 2017, where they presented a Croatian version of the single “Sjaj”, which was officially released the day before. In fall, Maraaya signed a contract with Warner Music, one of the biggest labels in the world. On September 22, their sixth single “Diamond Duck” was released. In the official SloTop50 ranking, they took first place already in the first week of airing. So far, only BQL has managed to do this. In 2018, they performed again at the CMC Vodice festival, in a duet with Domestikus with the song “Noć (Mi corazón es tuyo)”. They recorded it in Croatian – “Noć (Mi corazón es tuyo)” – and English – “Mi corazón es tuyo” – version (both also have Spanish lyrics). The music video for the Croatian version was uploaded to YouTube on June 8, 2018. In fall, they started the Maraaya & Jazzilaz project, in which they perform world hits in a swing-jazz guise. In September 2020, they released their first song in Slovenian, “Obujem nove čevlje”. They shot a video, in which the Croatian dancer and tiktoker Luciano Plazibat performs. The ballad “Drevo” followed in November. In March 2021, their new single “Dobr’ gre” was released. The song reached the no.1 spot in the Slovenian charts. Marjetka became a judge in Slovenia Ima Talent in the 2021 season. Meanwhile, the duo teamed up with Jan Plestenjak for the song “V naju še verjamem”. It was followe in November by the song “Zdaj pa greš”. Both songs became no. 1 in the trending for music list. Maraaya teamed up with Kvatropirci for the song “Življenje”, which was released in September 2022. One month later, Maraaya’s own single “Le ob tebi” was released. On 6 June 2023, Maraaya released a brand new single, “Nebesa”. Entries Here For You Country🇸🇮 Slovenia Year2015 LanguageEnglish LyricsRaayCharlie Mason MusicRaayMarjetka Vovk BackingsManca ŠpikNika ZorjanKarin ZemljičLara Slekovec (Violin) Results Semi Points: 92Position: 5 Running order: 16 Results Finals Points: 39Position: 14Running order: 1 https://youtu.be/y1c7gDOaFY0

Naviband

© EBU/Andres Putting About Quick Facts MembersKsenia ZhukArtem Lukyanenko Founded2013 Nationality???????? Belarusian National SelectionBelarusian National Final 2017Belarusian National Final 2016 In Eurovision2017 Kyiv SongHistoryja majho žyccia (2017) Biography Naviband is a Belarusian duo, currently living in Poland. The band consists of vocalist and guitarist Artem Lukyanenko and vocalist and keyboardist Ksenia Zhuk. The duo also collaborates with bassist Uladzislaŭ Čaščavik, guitarist Aliaksandr Taboĺski and drummer Uladzimir Biehier. Lukyanenko was born in Glubokoye, graduated in journalism from the Belarusian State University and worked in the radio station Stalica. He was also the guitarist of the band Tim Erna. Zhuk was born in Minsk. She has been dealing with music since childhood, and her vocal talent was noticed when she was 11 years old. She herself teached children to sing in a music school. She was also the vocalist of the band Sonika. They both actively promote the Belarusian language. The two met in 2013 and married on September 5, 2014 in Minsk. In 2014, the Naviband released two studio albums: “Lovi” in January and “Soncam sahretyja in December”. Their song “Abdymi myane” received the Lira award for “the best Belarusian-language song of 2014”. In 2015, they won a competition for young Belarusian-speaking performers. In 2016, they took part in the national qualifiers for the 61st Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Heta ziamlya”. The duo took 4th place. In August of that year, they created the official song of the Belarusian football team. In 2017, they took part in the national Eurovision final again, this time with the song “Historyja majho žyccia”. They won and thus became the representatives of Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the first piece in the history of the competition performed in Belarusian. On the day of the Belarusian national final of the Belarusian qualifiers, i.e. January 20, 2017, they released another studio album, entitled “Illuminaciya”, which included, among others, the Eurovision song. At the Eurovision Song Contest, the duo reached the final and became 17th there. In June 2017, they became the ambassadors of the Coca-Cola advertising campaign in Belarus. They created the Belarusian-language text of the song “Taste the Feeling” (used in the company’s advertisements around the world) and their own arrangement of this song. In October 2017, they announced the release of another album by the end of the year, “Adnoj darohaj”, which was released on December 8, 2017. On December 4, they presented a music video for the song “A dzie žyvieš ty?”, in which they announced that they are expecting a child . Their son, Maciej, was born on May 1, 2018. In March 2018, they became ambassadors of the Easter advertising campaign of the Jewroopt chain of stores. In September 2018 they published a song in Ukrainian, “Sumne more” . On December 5, 2019, the band released their fifth album, “Naviband”. In 2020, during protests in Belarus, the duo released two songs to support the protesters, “Inshymi” and “Diewoczka w biełom”, which is dedicated to the protesting women. The first one was sung live during one of the protests. In November of that year, they released another song dedicated to the protesters, “Milyon smutku”. In 2021, on the occasion of Freedom Day, they released the song “Volnyja sny”.together with the band Val . Entries Historya majho žyccia Country???????? Belarus Year2017 LanguageBelarusian LyricsArtem Lukyanenko MusicArtem Lukyanenko BackingsOlga Rozaleon-SashalskayaAnna ChetAlena VerbitskayaMichael Soul Results Semi Points: 110Position: 9Running order: 14 Results Finals Points: 83Position: 17Running order: 3 https://youtu.be/coFfFZvPmRY

zalagasper

© EBU/Thomas Hanses About Quick Facts Members Zala Kralj Gašper Šantl Founded 2018 Nationality ???????? Slovenian National Selection EMA 2019 In Eurovision 2019 Tel Aviv Song Sebi (2019) Biography zalagasper (stylized with a small initial) is a Slovenian music duo from Maribor, composed by singer Zala Kralj and multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Gasper Šantl. They have been making music together since 2017. From April 2018 to June 2019, they were known as Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl . Together they released the singles “Valovi” in 2017 and “Baloni” in 2018. Initially, the performer on Youtube was Gasper Šantl, featured by Zala Kralj”, since Zala Kralj was then merely a guest vocalist. Until that time, Šantl worked with other guest vocalists as well. They met through a mutual friend. Since April 2018, they have been performing live as equal members of Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl. Under that name, they have signed a contract with Universal Music Slovenia.In October 2018, they released their third single, “S teboi”. In 2019, they contracted with EMI. They released an EP called “Štiri”. In the same year, Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl represented Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Sebi”. At the beginning of June 2019, they officially changed their name to “zalagasper”, without capital and diacritics, to make it easier for people to write the name. On June 7, their fifth officially released song and the first in English, “Come to Me,” was published. This was followed by “Signals” in October. As guest performers, together with Ezra, they collaborated on the song “Dream Killers” by the Dravle Records collectiv. In 2020, their first feature album 4 was released. It was followed in 2022 by a second album, “Love letters”. Entries Sebi Country ???????? Slovenia Year 2019 Language Slovenian Lyrics Zala Kralj Gasper Šantl Music Zala Kralj Gasper Šantl Backings – Results Semi Points: 167 Position: 6 Running order: 5 Results Finals Points: 105 Position: 15 Running order: 10

S!sters

© EBU/Thomas Hanses About Quick Facts MembersCharlotte TrumanLaura Kästel Active2019-2020 Nationality🇩🇪 German National SelectionUnser Lied für Israel 2019 In Eurovision2019 Tel Aviv SongSister (2019) Biography Sisters was an occasional duo, put together by NDR in 2019. They sang a song called “Sister”, which was rejected in the Swiss national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2018. The song won the German final and the duo represented Germany in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. In February 2020 the duo decided to quit. Carlotta Truman (19 october 1999) was born in Hannover. She participated in the talent show “Das Supertalent” when she was only 9 years old. She performed in several tv-shows, among others in “The voice Kids”, where she became the runner up. She performed in Alex Christensens show ‘Classical 90s dance’. In 2019, Truman made her debut as an actress in an episode leading role in the series “In aller Freundschaft – Die jungen Ärtzte”. About a year later she had another episode role in the RTL series Nachtschwestern. From season 6 in 2022 she will be part of the main cast of the youth series Spotlight. Laura Kästel, stage name Laurita Spinelli, (29 september 1992) was born in Königsau but currently lives in Wiesbaden. When she was 10 years old, she won a children’s song contest on ZDF tv, and a year later she participated in the casting show ‘Star reach’. She was a backing vocal for a.o. Sarah Connor and Stefanie Heinzmann, and currently for Lena. She is also the lead singer of a band called Waterproof. In October 2020 she released her first solo single “Stumm” under the pseudonym Laurita Spinelli. Entries Sister Country🇩🇪 Germany Year2019 LanguageEnglish LyricsLaurell BarkerMarine KaltenbacherTom OehlerThomas Stengaard MusicLaurell BarkerMarine KaltenbacherTom OehlerThomas Stengaard BackingsVerena HeinzSonja WiegandInga LühningRay Lozano Results Semi Points: –Position: –Running order: – Results Finals Points: 24Position: 25Running order: 4 https://youtu.be/yFbSj_yPCPM