piano

Robert Wells

About Quick Facts NameRobert Henry Arthur Wells Born07 April 1962 Nationality🇸🇪 Swedish National SelectionInternal selection 2010Eirodziesma 2007Melodifestivalen 2003Melodifestivalen 1987 In Eurovision2010 Oslo SongButterflies (with 3+2, 2010) Biography Robert Wells, born in Stockholm on April 7 1962, is a Swedish composer, arranger and musician. Wells was educated at Adolf Fredrik’s Music Classes and the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. Throughout the 1980s, he played alongside numerous Swedish artists, such as Lill-Babs, Gösta Linderholm, Eva Bysing, and Jerry Williams. He later embarked on a solo career, achieving success with the hit “Upp på berget,” which reached Svensktoppen in 1986. In the Melodifestivalen of 1987, he participated with the song “Sommarnatt,” and he returned to the Melodifestivalen stage in 2003, performing in a duet with Sofia Källgren the song “My Love.” Wells gained significant popularity as a pianist on the TV game show “Så ska det låta,” where he showcased his extensive musical talent. His “Rhapsody in Rock” annual concert tours have been audience favorites in Sweden and internationally, drawing over 1.9 million spectators in Sweden since 1998. In addition to his Melodifestivalen appearances, Wells also competed in the Latvian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest, Eirodziesma, in 2007 with the song “The Legends of Rock and Roll.” as a member of the group Johnny & Meldra featuring The Rockettes. In 2007, Wells contributed his piano skills to “A Song For You,” featuring vocals by Céline Dion, and also co-wrote the song. His music was selected as the official TV music for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. During the winter of 2008/2009, he was part of TV4’s “Körslaget,” leading his own choir. He wrote “7 Days & 7 Nights” for the Swedish hard rock band The Poodles for their 2009 album “Clash of the Elements,” and also played piano on the album. Additionally, he performed on the piano for Belarus’ entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. In 2021, Wells appeared on TV4’s “Masked Singer” disguised as a raven. Entries Butterflies (& 3+2) Country🇧🇾 Country Year2010 LanguageEnglish LyricsMalka Chaplin MusicMaxim Fadeev Backings– Results Semi Points: 59Position: 9Running order: 16 Results Finals Points: 18Position: 24Running order: 9 https://youtu.be/MvK2KU2zfzA?si=KFhGTi9aHc9hlIw4

Alika

© EBU/Sarah Louise Bennett About Quick Facts NameAlika Milova Born05 September 2002 Nationality🇪🇪 Estonian National SelectionEesti Laul 2023 In Eurovision2023 Liverpool SongBridges (2023) Biography Alika is an Estonian singer. She was born in Narva, a city in the North East of Estonia. Milova participated in The Baltic Voice, New Wave Junior, Kaunas Talent, Bravo Song Contest and Berlin Perle. In 2021 she participated in Eesti Ootsib Superstaari, the Estonian version of Idols. She managed to win the contest. She signed a record deal with Universal Music, and right after winning Eesti Ootsib Superstaari, she released her debut single “Önnenumber”. The song topped the Estonian charts rightaway. In June 2022, Alika started performing with a band she formed, called Käsmus. A new record, “Bon apètit” was released. On 6 October of the same year it was followed by a new track, “C’est la vie”. 2023 had a good start for Alika. In January, she won the Female Artist Of The Year Award, chosen by the audience during the Eesti Music Awards. One month later, on 11 February, she won Eesti Laul, the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest, with the song “Bridges”. When she represented Estonia with the song, she reached the final and became 8th there. Entries Bridges Country🇪🇪 Estonia Year2023 LanguageEnglish LyricsAlika MilovaWouter HardyNina Sampermans MusicAlika MilovaWouter Hardy BackingsSofia-Liis LiivGrettel Killing Results Semi Points: 74Position: 10Running order: 4 Results Finals Points: 168Position: 8Running order: 12 https://youtu.be/HsbC-OYMA3s

Sasha Son

About Quick Facts NameDmitrij Šavrov Born18 September 1983 Nationality🇱🇹 Lithuanian National Selection“Eurovizijos” dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka 2017“Eurovizijos” dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka 2011“Eurovizijos” dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka 2010Lietuvos Dainų Daina 2009“Eurovizijos” dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka 2008 In Eurovision2009 Moscow SongLove (2009) Biography Sasha Song (real name Dmitrijus Šavrovas, born September 18, 1983, in Vilnius) is a prominent Lithuanian singer and songwriter. Sasha Song’s musical journey began at the tender age of 10 when he gained national fame in Lithuania with the song “Mamai,” composed by Ovidijus Vyšniauskas and Gintaras Zdebskis. His early success was marked by winning the “Bravo” award and releasing his debut album “Svajonių Laivas.” At 15, Sasha moved to Great Britain with his father. Although his father left after a year, he remained in the UK for nine years, studying music in a London college. In 2005, he returned to Lithuania with his musical partner, Hywel Sam, and won the Grand Prix at the Palanga 2005 international contest. In 2008, he re-emerged on the Lithuanian music scene under the stage name Sasha Son. He participated in the reality show Muzikos akademija, finishing in third place, and collaborated with producer Egidijus Dragūnas. Later, he modified his stage name to Sasha Song. His international success continued as he secured second place in both the Malta Euro Song contest and the Laagna Laul pop song competition in Tallinn. Sasha Song’s persistence in the Eurovision national selections paid off in 2009 when he won with the song “Pasiklydęs žmogus.” This victory granted him the opportunity to represent Lithuania at Eurovision in Moscow. The song, released in English (“Love”) and Russian (“Odinoky Geroj”), saw him reach the Grand Final and finish 23rd in the final, marking one of Lithuania’s best results in Eurovision history. Following Eurovision, Sasha collaborated with producer Martynas Tyla and performed as George Michael in the Tamabi goes… concert series. He also performed with the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra and the gospel choir Sounds in G. In 2010, Sasha joined Evelina Anusauskaitė and the Šiauliai choir in the TV3 project Chorų karai, securing sixth place. In 2011, he and beauty contest laureate Viktorija Sutkutė participated in the LNK musical project Žvaigždžių duetai 5, but were eliminated before the semifinals. In the same year, he participated in the Lithuanian finals for the Eurovision Song Contest with two songs; “The slogan of our nation” reached a 7th place, “Best friends” along with Donny Montel was 4th. In the same year, he opened for Seal on one of his concerts. In Vilnius, Sasha opened Sasha Song’s Jazz Club, a restaurant. In May 2012 Sasha released the song “Himnas herojams” for the Olympic Games. He also took part at the festival Slavianskij bazar and reached a 9th place. Also, his song “Ir tai irgi praeis” reached the #1 spot in the Lithuanian charts. Sasha Song wrote a song for Monika Linkytė for the national Eurovision selection in 2013. The song was called “Baby boy”. Unfortunately it did not make it to the final. His own new song was called “Naujas Gyvenimas”. He teamed up with Echoes for the song “Sex & City Life”. Again, the #1 spot was reached. In February 2014 Sasha released a new single, Siela, Zodziai ir Muzika”, which became a hit. The singer moved to Sint Petersburg. There he recorded his new single “Outside” and, for the Lithuanian market, “Kūnas, alkis ir kvapas” . He teamed up with Lina Žilinskaite for the song “Kvėpuot lengvai”. In October, the song “Niekada, niekada” reached the top-10. As a duet with Evelina Sašenko the song “Aš lauksiu” won the competition Dainų daina in May 2015. It was three months later that his song “Tu mano mintyse” reached the #1 spot in the Lithuanian charts. “Žodis Myliu” entered the charts at no. 2 in February 2016, followed in May by “Lyja”. Besides, he teamed up with the Dutch producer Jumé for the song “I just wanna see you move”. There was also a jubilee show, “Dima Šavrovas po 20metų”. Many Lithuanian stars joined in to support Sasha. The show should have taken place in September, but was postponed due to voice problems for Sasha. In December, the show could take place. In November 2016, he released a new album: “XX”. In 2017, he did a new attempt to go to the Eurovision Song Contest; this time with the song “Never felt like this before”. The song reached the wildcard round but not the final. In February of that year, he also tributed for the late George Michael. In 2018, he teamed up with Emeth Paul for the Christmas song “Kalėdos”. Sasha Song teamed up with Vidas Bareikis for the project “Plikių daina”. The song and video were released in February 2019. In January 2020 Sasha was one of the judges at Pabandom iš naujo, the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest. In January 2022 he released a new song, “Bad Boy”. In December of the same year, the song “Ten aukštai” came out. In July 2023, his album “Genai” was released. It was followed in December by the single “Šią Naktį Per Kalėdas”. Besides, Sasha Song is also a vocal teacher who offers lessons. Entries Love Country🇱🇹 Lithuania Year2009 LanguageEnglishRussian LyricsSasha SonViktorija MatulevicienėDina Grigonytė MusicSasha Son Backings– Results Semi Points: 66Position: 9Running order: 14 Results Finals Points: 23Position: 23Running order: 1 https://youtu.be/ukSmGIp_xVk?si=y929vgHb_gFgZKhS

Raphael Gualazzi

About Quick Facts NameRaffaele Gualazzi Born11 November 1981 Nationality🇮🇹 Italian National SelectionFestival di SanRemo 2020Festival di SanRemo 2013Festival di SanRemo 2011 In Eurovision2011 Düsseldorf SongMadness Of Love (2011) Biography Raphael Gualazzi is an Italian musician, born in Urbino. In 2005 his debut album Love Outside the Window was released. In the same year he participated in festivals such as Fano Jazz, Trasimeno Blues, the Java Festival of Jakarta and the Argo Jazz, Ravello International Festival. Gualazzi was invited to perform in Vermont and New Hampshire as part of the The History & Mystery of Jazz project, alongside musicians such as Michael Ray (Sun Ra Arkestra, Kool & the Gang), Steve Ferraris (Sun Ra Arkestra, Charlie Haden), Jamie Mc Donald, Nick Cassarino, Bob Gullotti and John McKenna. He caught the attention of the general public thanks to the cover of the Fleetwood Mac-song “Don’t Stop”. In summer 2010 Raphael Gualazzi performed at the Heineken Jammin Festival, at Pistoia Blues and at the Giffoni Film Festival. In september he debuted at the Blue Notte in Milan and released his first EP. Raphael Gualazzi took part in the 2011 Sanremo Festival with his song “Follia d’amore”. He was chosen to represent Italy in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Madness of love”. In 2013, he participated in the Festival of Sanremo again. In January 2013 his third album, “Happy Mistake”, was released. In 2014, he was present at the Festival of SanRemo again. In2016, after two years of absence from the scenes, he released a new album, “Love, life and peace”. In 2020, he participated in the festival of SanRemo again.In June 2022 a new album, “Bar del sole”, was released. A Bar del Sole Tour was added. In October of the same year, Gualazzi toured through South Africa. In May 2023 he performed in Greece. Also in 2023, Gualazzi made the theme song for the Gioro d’Italia. In October 2023, Gualazzi released a new album, called “Dreams”. Entries Madness Of Love Country🇮🇹 Italy Year2011 LanguageItalianEnglish LyricsRaphael Gualazzi MusicRaphael Gualazzi BackingsChristian Chicco MariniLuigi Faggi GrigioniManuele MontanariGiuseppe ConteMassimo Valentini Results Semi Points: –Position: –Running order: – Results Finals Points: 189Position: 2Running order: 12 https://youtu.be/vimdImSZYOI?si=HxlgZdPYMOKVV2KO

Molly Sterling

© EBU/Andres Putting About Quick Facts NameMolly Jane Sterling Born08 March 1998 Nationality🇮🇪 Irish National SelectionEurosong 2015 In Eurovision2015 Vienna SongPlaying With Numbers (2015) Biography Molly Jane Sterling is an Irish singer and songwriter. Her upbringing took place in Puckane, County Tipperary. She received her education at Kilkenny College and later attended St. Andrew’s College in Dublin. In terms of her career, Sterling gained initial recognition by winning the Teen Idol contest in November 2011, which earned her a recording prize from Popstar Studios. She also achieved a second-place award for Girl’s Vocal Solo at the 2012 Kilkenny Music Festival. Furthermore, she supported Runaway GO during a performance at Nenagh Arts Centre on June 9, 2012. In May 2014, Sterling finished as the runner-up in TV3’s All Ireland Schools’ Talent Search. Later that year, she released her debut EP, titled “Strands of Heart,” in November 2014. Moving on to her involvement in the Eurovision Song Contest, on February 27, 2015, Sterling was chosen to represent Ireland in the 2015 edition of the competition with her song “Playing with Numbers.” Despite her participation in the second semi-final, she did not qualify for the final round. In January 2016 Molly released a new single, “Hands off”. In July of the same year she did a summer tour on Majorca. On 25 October of the same year, her solo single and video “Plain static” came out. It was on 1 August 2018 that the follow up, “Stripped down”, was released. On 22 March 2019 Molly Sterling gave a solo concert in a sold out Whelan’s in Dublin, a month after her new video “Feeble” was released. In 2020, during the COVID19 lockdowns, Molly came out as having a mental illness. She confesses she already suffered from it when she was at the Eurovision Song Contest. She also came out having been abused by someone in the music industry. Molly Sterling started the Reclaim Project in 2022, a community space for gender minorities and women who are challenging power abuse in the arts through creative collaboration. Entries Playing With Numbers Country🇮🇪 Ireland Year2015 LanguageEnglish LyricsGreg FrenchMolly Sterling MusicGreg FrenchMolly Sterling Backings Jimmy RainsfordDarren SweeneyNaomi ClarkePóilín LyncJessica Supple Results Semi Points: 35Position: 12Running order: 2 Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://youtu.be/3B5sdNJF0lk