Eurovision

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

We saw the Australian entry!

So far we had not been able to admire an entire performance from Australia. The story is known: Montaigne could not leave the country to be present in Rotterdam itself. Therefore the live recording was used that each country has made just in case … Dark is the magic word in Montaigne’s performance. She wears black clothes and performs against a black background. The only thing that is brightly colored is Montaigne’s hair. Where there had been quite a few doubts about Montaigne’s vocal performance, she takes those doubts away completely.

Svante Thuresson passed away

The sad news came to us that Svante Thuresson passed away on May 10th. The news was announced yesterday. Thuresson, together with Lill Lindfors, represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest of 1966 with the song “Nygammal vals eller hip man svinaherde”. They achieved second place, until ABBA’s victory the best score for Sweden. Svante Thuresson started his career in the early 1960s in the group Gals & Pals. After the Eurovision Song Contest he started a solo career. He released no less than 22 albums, mainly with jazz repertoire. Twice later he took part in Melodifestivalen, the Swedish national final for the Eurovision song contest: in 1977 and in 2007. Thuresson died after a long illness at the age of 84. photo credtis: Frankie Fouganthin, Wikimedia Commons

Rehearsal Georgia: a double surprise!

Tornike starts out in the dark with only a spotlight on him. During the song there is more color in the graphics: initially clouds and stars, then also beautiful orange sunlight. Tornike does not move throughout the song. Vocally he presented the ballad perfectly. The Georgian entry, which has gone quite unnoticed so far, surprises with the second run. With the third, however, it seemed as if he was going to experiment and sang both an octave lower and higher. It is not clear what the purpose of this experiment was. in cooperation with Eurovision Artists

Australia: Montaigne releases new video

So far, the official video of the Australian entry, supported by eurovision.tv, is a performance of Montaigne at Mardi Grass. However, today Montaigne released a new video of “Technicolour”. Montaigne will not be able to attend the Eurovision Song Contest in person as she can not travel to Rotterdam. Therefore, the prerecorded performance Australia submitted to the EBU will be used.

Eurovision with audience? We will know more tomorrow!

According to the website of entertainment show RTL Boulevard, the decision whether the Eurovision Song Contest will take place with an audience is postponed until Thursday. Ministers Slob and Van Engelshoven (Education, Culture & Science), De Jonge (Public Health), Grapperhaus (Justice and Security) may discuss this tomorrow.The Eurovision Song Contest with an audience would be an experiment by the Fieldlab organization, which investigates how events can still take place despite COVID19. However, the government has decided that when the number of IC beds in uses in the Netherlands exceeds 900, the Fieldlab events will be canceled. Currently 812 IC beds are in use.In an interview with RTL Boulevard, presenter Chantal Janzen says that safety and health comes first as far as she is concerned. “For those 3500 people, for the fans, I hope it continues. But not for us, the presenters. We will make a great show anyway.” source: RTL Boulevard

Road to Rotterdam: Germany

The Eurovision Song Contest is coming up. That is why we take a closer look at an entry every day. We will start with the entries that have been directly placed for the final.Jendrik Sigwart is participating for Germany: an unknown singer, who is especially notable for his ukulele and blond hair. He was making a video clip with a group of friends, posted fragments of it on Instagram and said that it could be something for the Eurovision Song Contest. He caught the attention of the German broadcaster NDR with those messages. In the end he was chosen to represent Germany with “I don’t feel hate”.

Norway, Lithuania and Israel continue

Three countries continue their national selection: Norway, Lithuania and Israel. You can choose one to watch…. or watch all of them! The first one is Norway on 19:50 CET. You can watch the 3rd semifinal here. Again, duels will decide which song will enter the final. The contestants tonight are: Alexandru Kristin Husøy Sie Gubba Thomas Løseth & Erika Norwich Lithuania starts at 20:00 CET and you can watch it here and here. The contestants are: The Backs, “Fully” Bernardas, “Dad, don’t be mad at me” Justina Žukauskaitė, “Breathe in” Rokas Povilius, “Vilnius calling” KaYra, “Alligator” Lukas Bartaška, “Where is that change?” Evgenya Redko, “What about us” Ruslanas Kirilkinas, “Soldier’s heart” Nombeko Augustė, “Reikia man” Vitalijus Špokaitis, “Nemušk savęs” Aistė Pilvelytė, “Everlastingly” The roop, “On fire” We saw Justina Žukauskaitė and Lukas Bartaška before in 2019, Ruslanas Kirilkinas in 2010 and 2016, and The Roop in 2018. Oh and let’s definitely not forget Aistė Pilvelytė. It’s her 11th attempt to represent Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest!! 3rd and last for tonight is Israel. The show is a little bit more complicated. It starts at 20:15 CET and you can watch it here. In this round every contestant will perform with the Idan Raichel Project. And yes, they can be familiar to you as they performed in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest as an interval act. Thursday, we saw the first round, but that one is not finished yet. So far, it looks like Ohad Shragai, who composed last year’s entry “Home” for Kobi Marimi, is out of the race. But Dorel Saadon still has to perform in the 1st round: if he gets less than 58% of the votes, he is out and Ohad is saved.For the 2nd show, the contestants are: Eden Zohar Sivan Ella-Lee Lahav Gaya Shaki Moran Aharoni Raviv Kaner The person with the lowest percentage, has to leave the show.

Georgian Idol finalists known!

Tonight the four finalist of Georgian Idol were chosen. One of these four will, on december 31, be chosen as the winner of Georgian Idol 2019 and….. represent Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest. There is, however, a difference compared to this year’s national selection. During the final of last year’s Georgian Idol, Oto Nemsadze already presented his Eurovision Song “Sul tsin iare”. For 2020, the song will be chosen internally. So the 31st of december, we know the singer, not the song. The participants in the Georgian Idol final will be: Barbara Samkharadze Tornike Kipiani Mariam Gogiberidze Tamar Kakalashvili Tornike Kipiani is the favourite to win this competition. He became first in almost all the shows so far. Tornike is also the only experienced one on the task. In 2017, he also took part in the national selection. However, he was less successful in that year with a 23rd place.