Portugal- Grand Finale - Moises Fernandez Carrasco

FESTIVAL DA CANÇAO 2020 GRAND FINALE

The grand finale of the Festival da Cançao 2020 has taken place in the Coliseu Comendador Rondao Almeida de Elvas also known how Elvas Arena, a bullring converted into a multi-use pavilion.
Taking advantage of the celebration of the event, RTP has also celebrated the 53rd anniversary of the beginning of its broadcasts, the presenters of the gala, Inés Lopes Gonçalves, Filomena Cautela and Vasco Palmeirim, have remembered many of the most outstanding programs and series during the life of this channel at the beginning of the broadcast and as an introduction to the performances of the 8 finalists.
Each song has had a presentation postcard recorded in the city of Elvas, whether in museums, fortresses near its historic center or other attractions that the city has.

~ Song 1 ~
Filipe Sambado - Gerbera amarelha do sul
The Elvas artist performs a song with touches of typical Portuguese folklore. A rather gloomy style, similar to that of a burial introduces the singer who defends the song quite well. Although the whole set is somewhat strange. Much applauded inside the arena, although it must also be said that he plays at home.

~ Song 2 ~
Jimmy P - Abensonhado
A spotlight in the dark illuminates the rapper to begin to perform a theme that talks about the addictions of a young man who, as an adult, wants to apologize to his mother. A gospel chorus is added as the song progresses to complete a quite remarkable performance. Huge cheers inside the arena, the audience highlights the wonderful lyrics of the song.

~ Song 3 ~
Tomás Luzia - Mais real que o amor
The young singer originating from Amadora performs a mid-tempo theme solo. The nervousness of the boy with respect to the semifinals is notorious, although it must be said in his favor that he manages to fill the stage by himself. Perhaps too new for Eurovision, if the directors of RTP are intelligent, they will send it in a few years with a theme made for him, he has charisma to spare.

~ Song 4 ~
Elisa Rodrigues - Não voltes mais
Great performance by Elisa, correcting some mistakes she had during the semifinal and that made the song lose a bit of meaning. The singer is presented in a silver sequin dress and is surrounded by four backvocals dressed in black. A rather outstanding aesthetic and performance improvement over its semifinal.

~ Song 5 ~
Throes + The Shine - Movimento
Song with Kuduro rhythms, very popular among young Portuguese. Without a doubt song that lifts you from the seat and as its title indicates, it makes you move to the rhythm of the music. Actually, the performance could be improved vocally, but they supply it perfectly with a staging that does not bore you.

~ Song 6 ~
Kady - Diz só
The elegant singer brings us a r'n'b song with touches of bossanova and simple choreography that makes her, on the whole, really attractive. Kady is accompanied by three female showgirls who perform the steps correctly giving it a sensual touch. Much applauded by the attendees to the grand final, showing that it is the great competition of the two great favorites that come next.

~ Song 7 ~
Elisa - Medo de sentir
Elisa comes out accompanied by Marta Carvalho, author of the song, on the piano, to sing this ballad that reminds us of other great songs that have worked so well in Portugal in the last years of the festival. Beautiful voice of the singer who has complicit gestures with the composer, just like Claudia Pascoal and Isaura did in her day.

~ Song 8 ~
Barbara Tinoco - Passe-Partout
Presentation very different from the rest of the songs for this up-tempo song with French touch composed by Tiago Nacarato, which comes out at the beginning of the song accompanying the singer on a bench. After a slow start to the beat of the chords, a change of rhythm makes four dancers enter the scene, who together with Barbara make this a very remarkable performance and probably the most applauded inside the arena.

After completing the eight songs that sought the place in Eurovision 2020, the presenters recall once again that the voting lines have been open for several days and begin to interview the candidates one by one to later give way to a tribute to Portuguese rock in which Surma, one of the great favorites at last year's Festival da Cançao, participates.

Then all the finalists come together to perform an acoustic medley and then give way to the winner of the previous edition, Conan Osiris, who plays a version of "Telemóveis" accompanied by violins and cello, once again demonstrating its great versatility.

If there is a big problem in the RTP shows it is the long period of time between the last performance and the announcement of the results, almost an hour later. Voting begins with the votes of the juries from the 7 regions of the country, which give Filipe Sambado a momentary victory.
And finally, the votes of the public are announced, which give the highest score to Bárbara Tinoco, but which fails to reach Elisa, who after finishing second in jury and public is finally the winner of the Festival da Cançao 2020 with the song “Medo de sentir".

San Marino - Jack Lawson

Always one of the most quirky and unpredictable of the modern Eurovision countries, San Marino kept us on the edge of our seats for a vast majority of the Eurovision 2020 selection season. It wasn’t until the beginning of March that SMRTV revealed their artist for Rotterdam, Senhit.

Senhit is no stranger to the contest, having already represented San Marino once before in 2011 when she failed to qualify for the Grand Final in Dusseldorf with the ballad “Stand By”. Now, nine years after her last attempt, Senhit has returned to the contest to see if she can once more bring glory to herself and the country of San Marino.

But Senhit has big shoes to fill. San Marino achieved their best ever Eurovision result last year in Tel Aviv. Serhat soared through to the Grand Final with his fun and lighthearted track “Say Na Na Na”, which placed eighth in its semi final and nineteenth in the Grand Final – both all-time records for the microstate.

But perhaps history is on Senhit’s side in 2020. Both times that San Marino qualified to the Grand Final, they did so with returning artists (Valentina Monetta on her third attempt in 2014 and Serhat on his second attempt in 2019). Now Senhit will be the third person to return to the contest for San Marino, which will hopefully bring her luck in Rotterdam.

Regarding Senhit’s song for San Marino, SMRTV revealed on Friday 6 March that they would be holding a small online selection between two potential entries for Senhit. The two songs would be available to stream on Senhit’s website for two days during which time the public can listen to each song and vote for the one which they would like Senhit to sing for San Marino in Rotterdam. This last-minute online selection sets two Eurovision records. Senhit’s 2020 Digital Battle, with just two audio-only entries announced a mere two days before the EBU’s deadline for each country to submit their Eurovision entry, is both the smallest ever Eurovision public national selection and the latest one ever to be announced.

Voting began on Saturday 7 March and voters from anywhere in the world were invited to listen to Senhit’s two potential entries, “Freaky!” and “Obsessed” and vote for their favorite before the poll closed 48 hours later. “Freaky” is, much like San Marino’s last Eurovision entry, an up-tempo, disco track which is at its worst delightfully dated and at its best infectiously fun. Obsessed on the other hand is a more subdued, mid- tempo pop entry. Originally released in Italian back in early September under the name “Un Bel Niente”, one has to wonder if “Obsessed” really had the same backing by Senhit’s team as her new single “Freaky!” did.

Ultimately, it was the song composed especially for Eurovision, “Freaky”, which won out in the end. But it was a hard-fought battle as Senhit later revealed that “Freaky!” just barely came out on top receiving only 51.6% of the total votes cast.

Sweden - Fred Medeiros

Melodifestivalen 2020 Finalen Sweden’s Eurovision Selection By Fred Medeiros This is the 60th edition of one the most popular national finals again taking place in Friends Arena, Stockholm. After several surprise results this year, within the semi-finals, the final is bound to be a very close contest indeed. The bookies, the Swedish charts, Spotify, YouTube and press all have different favourites.

THE SHOW

The show starts off with our three hosts introducing the twelve finalists via an elaborate song and dance number.

Melodi 1 - Victor Crone “Troubled Waters” Last year’s Estonian representative delivers a singer/songwriter-style song whilst spending a great deal of time lying on the stage while interacting with the floor graphics. Although he is very handsome there isn’t much else to distinguish his performance against the other finalists. The song isn’t bad actually but I question his vocal ability without the pre- recorded/backing singers, he doesn’t portray the presence this song needs to truly shine.

Melodi 2 - Paul Rey “Talking in My Sleep” The first of the Andra Chansen qualifiers, Talking in My Sleep is an emotional ballad sung by a street rough vocalist. The song works well in delivering its message of longing for a failed love enhanced with holographic shadows during the chorus. Paul Rey lacks the raw emotion and stage presence that a song like this needs to buy into its narrative.

Melodi 3 - The Mamas “Move” Last year’s backing group of the winning Melfest song Too Late For Love with John Lundvik are back this year to take the lead on Move. Not vastly different in style to Too Late For Love but with a more of Supremes/Dreamgirls style performance without losing its gospel roots. The Mamas really deliver the song well and I feel this may be the dark horse of the evening.

Melodi 4 - Mohambi “Winners” Another finalist from last year, Mohambi finished fifth overall with Hello. Winners is another great song for Mohambi but it lacks the killer hook that Hello had. The only act to have a change to their staging from the semis, I’m not convinced will be enough to secure extra attention that Winners needs to make an impact even with Mohambi being the most successful artist outside the contest.

Melodi 5 - Hanna Ferm “Brave” Yet another finalist from last year, Hold You performed as a duet with LIAMOO finished in a very respectable third place. Brave is a female empowerment song performed alone in front of two slanted light boxes. It just feels it lacks the braveness she claims to have. Hanna doesn’t have the stage presence to command the very large arena ends up coming across a bit mousey rather than the lion she claims to be.

Melodi 6 - Mendez feat Alvaro Estrella “Vamos Amigos” Neither Mendez or Alvaro are strangers to the Melfest competition. This Latin novelty song comes across like a recycled forgotten album or Side B track rather than the hit single it is aiming for. This evening’s second qualifier from Andra Chansen is unlikely to make much of an impact with the juries or the public televote as it didn’t the first time around and this time around its competition is simply stronger.

Melodi 7 - Dotter “Bulletproof” Tonight’s most talked about song is Dotter’s second attempt to represent Sweden. Not only is Dotter’s entry the most commercial/radio-friendly song of the evening but its presentation is the most memorable and potentially at an overall Eurovision winner level. The simple but effective disco ball style outfit reflecting the spotlights towards the audience is one of the strongest I’ve seen in years. Definitely one to watch.

Melodi 8 - Robin Bengtsson “Take a Chance” The 2017 Melfest winner is back with an Abba style number. If even shares a title with an Abba hit but certainly lacks the quality. This comes across to me as a cheap inferior imitation with cheesy angelic-style lighting. I don’t see this standing at all and honestly I’m surprised it qualified for the final anyway.

Melodi 9 - Mariette “Shout it Out” One of the most successful artists in Melodifestivalen history, Mariette has reached the final in each of her four appearances. Unfortunately, Shout it Out is Mariette’s weakest song as it comes across as very safe and vanilla in style. There’s nothing here to make it stand out and it could end up in last place.

Melodi 10 - Felix Sandman “Boys With Emotions” After his runner-up position in 2018 with Every Single Day, Felix was the odds on favourite before the songs were even heard for the first time. Boys With Emotions is actually a well written modern message song dealing with a very topical mental health focus. Felix was the third qualifier from Andra Chansen and arguably the coolest song in the contest will be popular with the younger audience but I think it will alienate the older audience.

Melodi 11 - Anna Bergendahl “Kingdom Come” The 2010 Melfest winner and the infamous non-qualifying song This is My Life is still the only Swedish entry not to qualify for the Eurovision final. After Anna’s reinvention of her style into Country Schlager she finished in tenth place last year with Ashes to Ashes. Kingdom Come is not hugely different in style to Ashes to Ashes but the staging and presentation is vastly differently. With an mini army of hand naked male dancers, Anna delivers her entry with true diva presence even with her 80’s style Dynasty-like outfit. This is a true fan favourite but will the juries agree?

Melodi 12 - Anis Dom Demina “Vem E Som Oss” The last of the Andra Chansen qualifiers has actually won the hearts of Sweden being the most listened to song on Spotify and the highest charting song before the final. There is a lot of speculation that Vem E Som Oss could win overall but I don’t think the song will resonate with the international juries. The Swedish rapper delivers a slick animated “magazine cover”-style presentation with its rotund performer jumping about in a velour tracksuit. This song could face issues of copyright infringement as its melody does replicate a current dance hit.

VOTING RESULTS

After the international juries points were totaled up there is a tie between Move and Bulletproof. The scores couldn’t be any closer with any of the finalists being able to win after the televote. After one of the closest fought battles in Melfest history, Move wins the finalen by just one point over Bulletproof.

Georgia – Alex White

There are certain elements of the Eurovision Song Contest that every ESC fan can come to expect every year. Over recent years, one of those is that Georgia will send a song that will fall everywhere but inside the box. This year is no exception as Georgia has internally selected Tornike Kipani to sing “Take me as I am.”

Kipani wrote his entry on his own with Aleko Berdzenishvilli arranging the song. The song is multi-genre mixing elements of rock, electronica and orchestral instruments to create a unique song for the 2020 Eurovision program. The message of the song is a positive one about individuality and uniqueness despite the aggressive and in-your-face presentation of the song.

Kipani is no stranger to the spotlight. He’s conquered almost every singing show on Georgian tv by winning the 2014 edition of X Factor Georgia and winning the 2019 edition of Georgian Idol which secured him his place at Eurovision 2021. Unlike recent years, the show didn’t choose both the artist and the song. This year, the song was worked on and ultimately choses by the Georgian broadcaster.

Despite being a less familiar face, this isn’t the first time Kipani has thrown his hat into the Eurovision ring. In 2017, Kipani and Giorgi Bolotashvii entered the Georgian national final with the ironically titled “You are my sunshine” which was anything but sunshine and rainbows like the title suggested. Unfortunately for Kipani and his partner, the song failed to advance out of the national final.

Tornike Kipani will sing “Take me as I am” in the second half of the second semifinal which is scheduled for May 14 th in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Austria - Michaela Sowden

Vincent Bueno - Alive

Austria decided to once again go down the internal selection route and announced early on that Vincent Bueno would go to Rotterdam. The song Alive, however , was not released until early March. Vincent wrote the lyrics himself , whilst the music was composed in collaboration with David Yang, Felix von Göns, and Artur von Aigner. It is R&B and funk combined , with shades of Bruno Mars, Justin Bieber thrown in.

So who is Vincent? He was born in Vienna to Filipino parents, is multi talented , mastering piano, guitar, drums and bass guitar by age 11. In 2008, he featured in a musical theatre competition Musical- Die Show beating 10 contestants to become the winner. He was lauded by veterans of the original West End cast of Miss Saigon.

2 Years later he performed for Filipino television and signed a contract with Star Records, now Star Music. Vincent has also released two records, Wieder leben (Being alive again) in 2016 and Invincible in 2018. He competed in Austria's 2016 National selection. That is where our connection, albeit a distant one to him began. One of his dancers happened to a family member of mine. So there was a lot of excitement min our family. However, he missed out. In 2017 he provided backing vocals to Nathan Trent.

Now to the song itself. The video is very slick and shows off Vincent's ability to dance. His voice is good. The music starts gently building up slowly, but it doesn’t seem to go anywhere., ends with Alive. Not quite sure how alive I feel after listening to it. I like it but am disappointed by it. It is middle of the road for me, definitely not a winning song, but, who knows , he might be able to pull it off on the stage.

Latvia - Luc Spencer-Gardner

This year, Latvia decided to drop the three-round selection format for Supernova, and have 1 Televised Final to decide their 2020 Eurovision representative. 

Having received a record 126 submissions, an international 18-member jury panel evaluated the entries and shortlisted to 28 for a “Live Audition”.  For the live auditions, 26 of the 28 shortlisted performed for an international jury, and 9 were sent through to the National final.

And here is what transpired at Supernova:

First cab off the rank was Seleste with “Like Me”.  Alternative chick brings banjo, a crop top and a pride of herself to open the show.  But kinda failed to “sing”.  The pacy lyrics and intensity helped.

5/10

Next, Driksna with “Stay”.  Now that is a big head!  He believes in the song at least.  While pleasant enough, it lacks production value of any kind.

5/10

Katrina Bindere brought us “I will Break Your Heart”.  The use of black and while works throughout, but that outfit is a crime!!!  The serial killer lyrics are glorious!  And stunning as she is, there is a severe lack of vocal talent dragging this down.

6/10

Edgars Kreilis returns with “Tridymite”.  This gorgeous man does the camera smoulder so well!  The song has a nice ambience, but the vocal disappears to leave the backing singers to attempt to salvage a VERY weak performance.

3/10

Katrina Dimanta, a demented Bride with duelling hot guitarists stomps and growls in with “Heart Beats”.  Add a bonkers chorus, some high camp energy and an ear worm of a song, and what’s not to LOVE!  Endearingly weird in true Latvian style!

8/10

Miks Dukurs may look a little creepy in that hat, but he is at least a vocalist!  “Im Falling for You” is performed with great passion and sincerity, just seems to miss a truly finished product somehow… Don’t watch, just listen… and it is

7/10

“Polyester” by ANNA (known as “T-Shirts” in this house) is next.  Kirsten Dunst circa 1999 gives us comedic lyrics, white girl dancing, a little of a “lena” vibe… and T-shirts… I LOVE IT!

8/10

Penultimately, Bad Habits perform “Sail with You”.  Mumford and Sons hipsters give it a red hot go… while the music is great, it is not altogether engaging enough lyrically or vocally.

6/10

Sans the giant hat, Samanta Tina takes the stage for “Still Breathing” to round out the show.  Swimsuits and visors abound, before Sam and her lips burst onto stage!  Production, vocal, visual and lyric all come together for a well-rounded, slightly deranged product that is strong!  The dub step break works with the live shenanigans, and that rap is… bizarrely fitting.

8/10

Public voting took over (Internet and Tele-voting) to crown Samanta Tina the winner with a solid 35.42% of the voting.  Second was the bonkers bride Katrina Dimanta with 28.12%, and third was T-shirts with 16.83%.

After many attempts, “Still Breathing”, written with Aminata, finally gets Samanta Tina to represent Latvia at the Eurovision Song Contest!  Congrats to both her and her lips.  

Lithuania #5 - William Freitas

With “Run With The Lions” by Jurijus being one of my favorites from ESC 2019, I had high expectations of this year’s Lithuanian national selection (Pabandom iš naujo!). The first heat had 12 contestants, with half moving on to the semi-finals – as judged by a 50/50 split between a professional jury and public vote. Notably, many of the contestants shared a similar style of music and it seemed almost mandatory to feature TikTok dancing in the stage performances. One thing also became clear – those who sang in Lithuanian appeared to connect more, emotionally, with the lyrics than those who sang in English.

1.     “Game Over” by Glossarium – With a lead singer inspired by legendary Kurt Cobain, Nirvana it was not. Mostly underwhelming performance missing an audience connection. (eliminated in this heat)

2.     “Namų dvasia” by Baltos Varnos – This duo sang an impressive ethereal piece with great harmonies and stage performance. It was clear quickly that Baltos Varnos deserved to move to the grand finale. Very contemporary piece that could be produced easily for radio play. (moved on to the semi-finals)

3.     “Highway Story” by Justinas Lapatinskas – The show took a turn after Justinas started his performance. While the song, itself, was just okay, the Karaoke-style performance just didn’t sell it. Justinas just needs a little polish to bring it up a level. (eliminated in this heat)

4.     “Dangus man tu” by Aistay – This contemporary piece included ethereal elements and mostly on trend. However, nothing really stood out as new and different. There was no hook in the song and almost forgotten as soon as it finished. (eliminated in this heat)

5.     “Show Ya” by Petunija – Best described as experimental with a groovy lounge feel, Petunija’s performance was okay, although she had some shaky vocals. Yet, quickly went to our second-place favorite in the performances so far, “making Lithuania famous.” (moved on to the semi-finals)

6.     “Atsiprašyk” by Lukas Norkūnas – With a performance as rich and colorful as his guyliner, he was like a drunk sailor at a Karaoke bar. Very hard to follow and not my cup of tea. (eliminated in this heat)

7.     “Made of Wax” by Donata Virbilaitė – Donata sold the performance, but in the end, the song couldn’t be saved. (eliminated in this heat)

8.     “Why Why Why” by Andy Vaic – This Oxford professor really put himself out there. The style of music and performance were like a street performer during tourist season, and left me wondering why, why, why, did he make the choices he did?  (moved on to the semi-finals – didn’t see that coming!)

9.     "Paradas" by Aika – One of the best performances of the night with strong vocals but we were distracted by TikTok Frankenstein choreography. Perhaps too Avant guard? (eliminated in this heat)

10.  "DRIP" by Meandi – Another experimental song that was similar to the others. Although the sampling of Rob Base added to the cheekiness, the TikTok dancing was distracting. I will never forget “blue ass pants.” (moved on to the semi-finals)

11.  "If I Leave" by Monika Marija – Hands down the best performance of the night. Eurovision-ready, contemporary, and with attitude. Her vocals were spot on and she knows how to work a crowd. Highest scorer of the night by the jury and public. (moved on to the semi-finals)

12.  "Tave čia randu" by Gabrielius Vagelis – Finishing strong, Gabrielius is a strong vocalist and the song won hearts. Again, though, really unusual TikTok dancing served as a major distraction. (moved on to the semi-finals)

In the end, the right six songs moved on to the semi-finals, but it was clear that just one had a fighting chance in this heat, and that was “If I Leave” by Monika Marija. I haven’t seen a semi-final this painful since Romania 2018 and think they could have shortened this process just a bit. Nevertheless, they kept the show moving and there weren’t any exceedingly boring parts. Because I’m writing this after the grand finale, I have a better framework in which to view Roop’s win – TikTok dancing is clearly a trend for Eurovision this year and he did it best for Lithuania.

 

 

Cyprus - Darren George

On the 29th November 2019, Cypriot broadcaster CyBC announced that Sandro was revealed as the artist to represent Cyprus at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2020.

Alesssandro Rütten was born in Germany in 1996 to a Greek mother and an American father.
Alessandro is better known as Sandro and started his music career in Germany.

In 2018 Sandro participated in Germany’s eighth season of The Voice of Germany where he made it to the sing off round.

In 2019 Sandro represented the United States in the New Wave contest. For those of you that don’t know New Wave is an international contest for young performers which started in 2002. Sandro finished in sixth place with 243 points.

On the 6th March, Sandro’s Eurovision entry “Running” was released via music video which was shown on the CyBC channel. Sandro has been heavily involved in the track as one of the songwriters and composers. Running is an electric pop song where Sandro sings “I’m tired of running away from these demons”. It’s clear to see by the lyrics that Sandro is singing about a struggle and that they need to keep running away through the difficulties they are facing but also staying strong and not falling. I’m sure his performance will tell the story.

Sandro will sing “Running” for Cyprus in the first semi final and depending on his performance we could see him qualify.


Cyprus have done well in the contest in the last few years, so if they deliver an outstanding performance like Tamta and Eleni did we could be seeing them in this years final in Rotterdam. Good Luck to Sandro and Cyprus.

Switzerland - James Lindley

After achieving their best result since 1993 last year in Tel Aviv, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation decided, once again, to select their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest through an internal selection.

From September 2nd 2019 until September 16th 2019, SRG SSR opened a period for singers and songwriters to submit possible entries. 515 entries were received and it was up to a group of 120 people (*) to decide who would represent the Confoederatio Helvetica in Rotterdam this May 2020.

On March 4th 2020 we came to know that Switzerland will start another decade of Eurovision singing in French. “Répondez-moi” is their first entry totally sung in French since 2010 and to defend it, we have the Gjon’s Tears.

Gjon’s Tears is the artistic name of Swiss singer and songwriter Gjon Muharremaj, of Kosovar-Albanian descent. He has been in different singing talent shows since the age of 12. This 21 year old singer has not yet a vast discography but worth mention is his non-album single, released in 2018, “Babi”.

“Répondez-moi” (answer me) is a ballad. The lyrics touch on the universal search for answers to questions about life, the World, and ourselves. As the singer explained, it is about a very personal subject for him, having a migrant background. It has a quiet start, where we immediately feel Gajon’s unique voice and it builds up in a sort of anthem form, powerful and clear to the end.

As it was mentioned already…

1956 – Switzerland’s first victory, singing in French

32 years after… 

1988 – Switzerland’s second victory, singing in French

32 years after…

2020 – Third victory for Switzerland, singing in French?

Time will tell. For now, in an edition that appears to be one of the more unpredictable ones of the last years, Switzerland is gaining recognition at the top of many preference polls.

(*) 50% of the decision came from a panel of 20 international juries and 50% of the decision came from a 100-member public panel

Azerbaijan - Sevket Yigit

This year Azerbaijan's public broadcaster İctimai TV internally selected Samira Efendi to represent Azerbaijan at Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam. Her name was shortened to Efendi when her song “Cleopatra” was revealed on 3/10/2020. Efendi means “Lord or Master” which goes with the song title if we consider Cleopatra as a female master. This also goes beyond gender boundaries as Efendi is always a male master in Eastern cultures. A nod to girl power?

Samira Efendi (Efendiyeva) is a 29- year- old young artist from Baku who attended several music schools since 2001. She competed at different competitions nationally including Yeni Ulduz (New Star) 2009, Buyuk Sahne (Big Stage) 2014 and the Voice of Azerbaijan (2015-2016- third place).

Internationally, in 2017 she competed in Silk way Star in Almaty, Kazakhstan and finished third. She was again in Kazakhstan in 2019 for Voice of Nur Sultan.

Eurovision Song Contest is her first big international challenge.

She has three singles so far: Yarimin yari, Sen gelende and Yol ayrici.

The song “Cleopatra “was written by Luuk van Beers, Alan Roy Scott and Sarah Lake and was produced together with Tony Cornelissen. There is not much of an information about the producers. I had to do some facebook research to get as much information as I could. It is a collaboration of Dutch, Spanish and Azeri (?) musicians. The song was presented by the producers as a project of many months of passion and hard work which came to life at Las Negras songwriting camp, Spain.

The song features three traditional Azerbaijani instruments which gives the song the local ethnic flavor.

Samira Efendi described the theme of the song quite eloquently and said:

“Cleopatra is a song about trusting your gut instinct, standing up for yourself and being a “queen” - even when things get tough and especially if someone betrays or hurts you. It is truly a song about freedom, a celebration of all cultures and all sexualities and it's a song that is meant to inspire people to be who they are and to be proud of themselves - just as Cleopatra was. She was a queen who went through love, heartbreak, and betrayal, but she stood up for herself and is now remembered as an icon of strength and femininity.”

The promo video is quite a production and words are not enough to describe this masterpiece. In my opinion though, it clearly was made with the idea of ”sex sells” .

In the middle of the song, there is an abrupt pause with a creepy male vocal (not sure if this is Samira herself) saying: Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō. This translates to Devotion to the Mystic Law of the Lotus Sutra” / “Glory to the Dharma of the Lotus Sutra. These are apparently religious words chanted in Buddhism. The purpose of chanting is to reduce sufferings by eradicating negative karma along with reducing karmic punishments both from previous and present lifetimes with the goal to attain perfect and complete awakening (Source; Wikipedia).

The relationship between ancient Egyptian history and Buddhism needs to be determined.

In summary, Azerbaijan entry is very campy and sexy but also a total mess. It is a combination of traditional Azeri instruments, hip hop, booty twerk, dramatic Bollywood dance moves and so on. While trying to be multi-cultural, multi-sexual or multi-something, it feels like it is also becoming a mish mash, a hodgepodge. On the other hand, among many boring ballads this year, it is refreshing and fun, surely elevating my mood in the days of corona. I was in Baku last October just for 24 hours and loved every moment of it. I really would be happy to go back in 2021. Thank you and good luck Azerbaijan.

Here is a link to Voice of Nur Sultan 2019 -Samira Efendi- Yol ayrici

Serbia - Steve Stigwood

The search for Serbia’s entry for Eurovision was finally decided at “Beovizija 2020” a star studded elaborate Serbian National competition broadcast by Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) and held in Belgrade. There were a total of 12 competing acts, and interludes that included the show hosts performing a long 1990 song medley and interval guest appearances by previous Eurovision performers Marija Serifovic (winner 2007) and Hari Mata Hari (3rd place 2006).


The winner for 2020 by a massive margin was the pop R&B Serbian girl band  “Hurricane” . The trio is made up of  Sanja Vuсic, IvanaNickolic and Ksenija Knezevic, and their winning song was “Hasta la Vista”.  Don’t get me wrong, but have a quick look at it and tell me what it reminds you of...yes “Fuego” or maybe even a little of “Siren” with its opening horns- and all their reincarnations perhaps? It is an energetic, dance beat pop with all the sexiness that can be squeezed into 3 silver leotards


While the trio’s costumes and choreography was dazzling...perhaps even sizzling, Hurricane’s vocal consistency is concerning as I feel only Sanja has a voice that can remain solid while dancing and gyrating at the pace that this performance demands. Sanja previously represented Serbia in 2016 with her song  “Goodbye/Shelter” and she performed well under pressure then and hopefully can do the same in Rotterdam.  Ksenija, ( another member of the trio)  is the daughter of famous Serbian ESC performer Knez and she was one of his background singers in his 2015 Eurovision performance. Hurricane is a big step up for her. But the trio has enjoyed much success in Serbia and they did win both the jury and public vote in the final so there is plenty of support for this dance number. It is reported that the entire audience and studio were up dancing by the end of Hurricane’s performance in the final so if that carries thru to Rotterdam, then Serbia may have a winner!

Beovizija 2020 did have some interesting original songs in the list tho and I feel with some support they could have achieved a final’s berth for Serbia at Eurovision too. These songs included LIFT (a young rock band with an energetic song) and also Milan Bujakovic and Oliveira Popovic with their song “Niti”, a slow burning number with powerful vocals from Milan.

Also worthy of winning were performances that were professional and polished on the night. This included runner up  Naiva (Ivana Jajcanin), a polical science student who is an emerging singer from West Serbia. Her song was “Bas bas”.  This was a catchy song, smooth dancing, with good rhythm and certainly a bit of fun for me in the long slog of the final. It exuded happy vibes and I enjoyed her easy performance and with the brassy backup and traditional accordion music it was something a bit different for me. Naiva was 2nd in the public vote and third in the jury vote. I hope to see more of her in the future.

Third placed was Igor Simic. This was an out of the box performance with a song called “ Ples za Rästanak” . Wow...now this held my interest from start to finish. Pop dance number ( the song style a bit outdated) but with excellent choreography and an original feel to the performance, Igor and his 4 back up dancers were iridescent and dazzling. Igor said he was aiming for a “fairytale”  feel with his costume and staging, but i felt it was more tribal and ritualistic but perhaps Serbian fairytales are dark and more interesting than what I am used to!

All in all there were enough acts to entertain and certainly enough talent to keep Serbia humming along into the Eurovision future. I just felt a little disappointed that Hurricane‘s performance  and staging seems so familiar.

Slovenia - Jorge Scvet

After a relatively successful 2019 with Zala & Gašper and Sebi being 5th in their semifinal and 15th in general classification, Slovenia prepared a renewed national final for this Eurovision 2020. Thus, to its traditional EMA they added the EMA FREŠ, a previous qualification round in which 18 songs  by young artists were selected online, of which 2 were chosen in a televised final on  January 18th. These two songs - Šaska with Še kar lovim tvoj nasmeh (I'm still chasing your smile) and Parvani Violet with Cupid were then added to the 10 finalists already chosen by a panel of experts (singer and former EMA host and participant Raiven; Mojca Menart and Jernej Vene) among the 74 songs presented to the RTVSLO to complete a total of 12 songs that would compete to win the final and achieve the right to represent Slovenia in Rotterdam. 

The final of the 24th edition of the EMA - Evrovizijska Melodija took place on February 22 in Ljubljana. Klemen Slakonja, actor, comedian, singer and TV host was chosen to drive the EMA again. He had already done it brilliantly another 3 times before.

Among the 12 proposals that participated in the Slovenian final there were some familiar faces for the Eurofans, including Tinkara Kovač (Slovenia 2014) and Lina Kuduzović (JESC 2015)

The Winner would result from a mix between the votes of a jury (Maja Keuc, Darja Švajger and Nuša Derenda) that would choose 2 superfinalists and a second round of voting in which only the public through the televote would have the last word.

The show, of remarkable technical quality, began with Klemen singing "Arcade", the winning song of the last Eurovision. His piano version, copying Duncan Laurence's staging ended dramatically, with an "accident" that caused the host to follow the show with his "injured" face.

The 12 candidates who competed in the EMA were, in the following running order

Simon Vadnjal, Nisi Sam (You are not alone)

Šaska, Še kar lovim tvoj nasmeh (I´m still chasing your smile)

Gaja Prestor, Verjamen Vase (Believe in yourself)

Ana Soklič, Voda (Water)

INMATE, The Salt

Manca Berlec, Večnost (Eternity)

Tinkara Kovač, Forever

Božidar Wolfand Wolf, Maybe Someday

Parvani Violet, Kupid

Klara Jazbec, Stop the World

Imset, Femme Fatale

Lina Kuduzović, Man Like U

After the 12 performances the panel of experts decided that the 2 songs that would pass to the Superfinal were Voda by Ana Soklič and Man Like U by Lina Kuduzović.

The two artists sang their songs again and finally the public decided through televoting, with 54.5% of the votes that Voda would be the song that would represent Slovenia in Rotterdam.

EMA 2020: ANA SOKLIČ – VODA

ANA SOKLIČ – VODA (BOJAN SIMONČIČ, ANA SOKLIČ/ ANA SOKLIČ/ ŽIGA PIRNAT) https://www.instagram.com/EMAEvrovizija/...

In "Voda" (written by Ana herself, Bojan Simončič and Žiga Pirnat ) Ana begins by saying "Greva naprej v novi čas. Zbeživa od tu daleč stran", let's both flee to a new time that begins, let's get out of here, let's go away.

This is pure beauty. In Slovenian (and fortunately it will stay that way), she is trying to tell her story, maybe about love, but the background causes her to be singing on the water. In her words she sends us a message of liberation in the face of the limitations we have today but with the hope of a new dawn. "Voda. Med nevihto obležim v tebi do konca", water, during the storm I stay with you until the end. "Voda drvi", the water burns, or also the water falls. The beautiful instrumental introduction supports this fact as well. When Ana enters the atmosphere with her unique and low voice, she feels magical. Some say it takes too long to go somewhere, but I totally disagree with that opinion. Because as soon as she enters the chorus that magic begins to bloom. Her voice is outstanding and pure, her connection with the public is total. The chorus is simply magnificent and her voice really moves. I think that the song is a work of art and that unfortunately it is very little valued. In an interview at the end of the EMA she said that the message of her song is that sometimes it is necessary to withdraw from excessive thinking and let things happen naturally.

What to say about the other songs?

Unlike the previous year there were few really interesting options that were presented this year in the EMA. 

Lina´s Man Like U was undoubtedly much more "friendly" to the Eurofan ear and for many it would have been a more appropriate choice for a festival like Eurovision. In it she sings to a finished love, to a love she misses and wants to recover."Because of u i can't sleep at nightYou're constantly on my mindI wish that u were holding me tightAnd I've been looking for something newBut I'll never find a man like u"  she sings and cries ...

EMA 2020: LINA KUDUZOVIĆ – MAN LIKE U

LINA KUDUZOVIĆ – MAN LIKE U (LINA KUDUZOVIĆ/ LINA KUDUZOVIĆ/ FLORIAN KRAHE) http://www.instagram.com/EMAEvrovizi...

In addition to the 2 superfinalists, which were really the 2 best songs of the night, I would highlight the proposals of Gaja Prestor, modern and very interesting and that of Manca Berlec,a beautiful love song that sings to her ... girlfriend? (When I breathe with you, time stops. Every minute is lost quickly). Really enjoyable.

EMA 2020: GAJA PRESTOR - VERJAMEM VASE

EMA: GAJA PRESTOR – VERJAMEM VASE GAJA PRESTOR – VERJAMEM VASE (ŽAN SERČIČ/ ŽAN SERČIČ, GAJA PRESTOR/ ŽAN SERČIČ...

EMA 2020: MANCA BERLEC – VEČNOST

MANCA BERLEC – VEČNOST (MANCA BERLEC, PATRIK ŠIMENC/ MANCA BERLEC/ MANCA BERLEC, PATRIK ŠIMENC) http://www.insta...

Before closing the telephone lines, Zala & Gašper who represented the country last year (now Zalagasper) sang their latest single Me & My Boi, very much like Sebi.

EMA 2020: ZALAGASPER - ME & MY BOI

ZALAGASPER - ME & MY BOI (LIVE AT EMA 2020) (Zala Kralj, Gašper Šantl) http://www.instagram.com/EMAEvrovizija ht...

And before announcing the winner of the night, the host Klemen Slakonja recreates all of Slovenia’s entries in the Eurovision Song contest from 1993 to 2019 in less than 6 minutes. Wonderful moment, perhaps the most commented of the night.

Klemen Slakonja recreates Slovenia’s 25 years in the Eurovision Song Contest (Ema 2020 Interval Act)

#eurovison #slovenia The host Klemen Slakonja recreates all of Slovenia’s entries in the Eurovision Song contest...

Hvala lepa Slovenija!!! 

Thank you very much Slovenia!

P.D.

I invite you to enjoy these other two beautiful songs by Ana Soklič.

Oče (Father) was the song she presented at the EMA 2007 as part of the Diona Dimm group. Her powerful voice was already remarkable. The song is wonderful, far from what you can expect from Eurovision and unfortunately it did not happen to the final.

The other is her song by Popevka 2019, Temni svet (Dark World). The interpretation of her in this song is simply amazing.

Malta - Keshav Tyagi

Malta is determined to perform well at Eurovision this year! Following the success of last year, this micronation elected to use the same protocol - the winner of X-Factor Malta would be invited to represent the country in Eurovision. The song would be chosen at a later date. 


Enter the winner of X-Factor Malta - Destiny Chukunyere. This powerhouse singer is already a Eurovision household name, having won Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with “Not My Soul”. She’s only 17 years old, but she also placed 6th in X-Factor UK 2017. She’s even been praised by Simon Cowell for her talent at such a young age. Most recently she was a backing vocalist for Michela Pace’s “Chameleon”, which represented Malta For ESC 2019 in Tel Aviv. A veteran performer, Destiny was perhaps “destined” to perform once again on the Eurovision stage.


Destiny will represent Malta with the song “All Of My Love”. This song, composed by a team of songwriters including Cesar Sampson (ESC 2018 for Austria), is an upbeat pop/gospel tune that is sure to get the ESC crowd clapping and singing. The music video for the song opens with the following line - ““Free spirit. Live like there’s no tomorrow. Run wild. Fulfill your destiny.” Perhaps it’s presumptuous to say that it is her “Destiny” to win ESC, but this song is definitely a front runner. The rhythm is infectious, and there is ample opportunity for her to showcase her powerhouse vocals throughout the song. At minimum, this song and performance will be one of the memorable ones that should secure Malta a spot on the left side of the screen for the Grand Final.

Good luck, and may she achieve her "Destiny" in Rotterdam.

Bulgaria - Alan Wilson

After a year’s hiatus Bulgaria are back for Eurovision 2020.

Their artist, Victoria, was announced in November 2019 and her song, “Tears Getting Sober” was finally released in March 2020.

Victoria was an internal selection by the Bulgarian broadcaster, BNT, after having made her name through X Factor Bulgaria, although not by winning.  After X Factor she has released four singles and her debut album will be released in 2020.

There has been the typical build up for Bulgaria with them featuring high in the bookmakers odds prior to song release.  Does the song live up to the expectations?

Firstly the song was co-written by Victoria and the very familiar Symphonix International.  Think  "If Love was a Crime" by Poli Genova, "Beautiful Mess" by Kristian Kostov, “Nobody But You" by Cesár Sampson, "Bones" by Equinox and “Chameleon” by Michela Pace. In fact Boris Milanov will have a hand in Malta and Germany in 2020 as well as Bulgaria.

The song is a brooding and haunting number that reflects on healing and moving on.  Overall, it’s a slow burn but quite beautiful with very poignant lyrics.  Sure, think Billie Eilish, but it is certainly a style that sits well with Victoria’s vocal abilities.

The official film clip is quite dark and mysterious which is a mood that Bulgaria has already reflected well on stage with the likes of “Bones” and “Beautiful Mess”.  Hopefully they have the money to put on a show for Victoria.      

 

North Macedonia - Matt MacDonald

A few minutes before 8 p.m. CET on March 8, the evening before the Heads of Delegation meeting, North Macedonia’s Eurovision entry was released on YouTube.

“YOU,” which is North Macedonia’s fourth consecutive English-language entry, is an engaging number, both musically and staging-wise within the video. You can sense the sexual tension between Vasil and Sara Cvetkoska, his dance partner, as he sings. The lyrics fit that tension, starting out, “Hand on my hand, fingers trembling.” Musically, it grabs your attention from the opening notes. It’s addictive. This is definitely a song that I could see myself having on repeat.

The message behind the song is that people should connect, dance and celebrate and how one unexpected moment, a connection with someone, can have such a profound impact on us, even if it’s just for that moment. “We may only have tonight, hold me tight, and let’s ignite.”

The music video was filmed at Skopje’s Churchill Pub, which is just 2-1/2 miles from where I am right now, typing this. Churchill Pub is also where the song was initially revealed to the press during a press conference that took place there earlier that day.

Vasil was born in Strumica, North Macedonia, on Nov, 2, 1984, and spent ages 10-17 in the United States. After subsequently living in Italy and Canada, Vasil returned to his home city a couple of years ago. In 2007, he attempted to represent Macedonia at Eurovision; his song, “Pomorgni mi,” placed 13th in that year’s national final. However, he did get his feet wet at Eurovision a year ago, performing as a backing vocalist for Tamara Todevska. 

“YOU” will be performed on the Rotterdam Ahoy stage at some point in the first half of the first semifinal.

Ireland - Niall Drennan

It could be said that Ireland is one of the most contrasting countries that participates in Eurovision.  It holds the record for having the most wins but has also been one of the least successful countries over the past few years with only one qualification to the Grand Final in the last six attempts. 

Following another disappointing result in 2019, the Irish broadcaster, RTE, took a slightly different approach with the 2020 selection process.  They confirmed that it would still be an internal selection however they would partner with national radio station, 2FM, and put in place a 3-year strategy aimed at encouraging contemporary and emerging Irish artists to participate in the selection process.  The aim was for RTE and 2FM to work together to promote the selected entry through its various platforms and develop a promotional schedule for the artist prior to Eurovision 2020.

The submission period to enter songs was opened at the end of September 2019 and ran until 25th October 2019.  Following the submission period, the usual rumours started on who could potentially represent Ireland in Rotterdam.  The rumours ranged from the winner of Celebrity Big Brother in Italy to Ireland’s first Eurovision winner, Dana, when it was reported that her nephew and nieces’ band, The Rua, had submitted a song. 

The first hint of the song and artist was in late January 2020.  Paul McMahon from the contemporary production company, ThisIsPopBaby announced that he “had answered the call” and would be the Creative Producer of Ireland’s “kick ass act”.  Paul said that when RTE played the song, he said yes on the spot and was very excited about the act.

After a long wait, it was finally revealed on 5th March 2020 that Lesley Roy will represent Ireland with the song Story of My Life.  Lesley is a singer/songwriter from Dublin and is currently based in New York. She has had some previous success with her debut album, Unbeautiful, which contained a song co-written with Katy Perry and she also co-wrote a song called Pop That Lock that featured on Adam Lambert’s second studio album.

Story of My Life is a catchy uplifting electro-pop song about owning who you are and not caring about what other people think. There is a clever Eurovision reference in the first verse when Lesley sings that she is “not a puppet on a string”.  The song was written in Nashville with Robert Marvin, Catt Gravitt and Tom Shapiro who have written songs for Kelly Clarkson and another Eurovision star, Ilse de Lange from the Common Linnets.  Hopefully the collaboration with ThisIsPopBaby will result in a creative staging of the song that will help its chances in the more difficult first semi final in May. 

NDI.png

Denmark - Chris Zeiher

Say YES to Denmark’s Ben & Tan          

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix the national final moved back to Copenhagen for the first time since 2008 in, what was planned to be, one almighty celebration.  But sadly, in what may prove to be some ominous foreshadowing, the Danish Eurovision selection took place in an empty arena. 

Two days prior to the event it was announced that, due to the continued spread of the Coronavirus COVID-19, the arena would remain empty of joyous fans.    Broadcaster DR is on record as being “annoyed” that the event could not have taken place with a smaller audience (of less than 1000) forcing the team to rejig all of the camera work to remove any audience or crowd shots.

So, 10 songs went to battle in an empty arena on Saturday March 7, 2020. 

But for 5 artists their path to the final was not so straightforward with a pre-qualification element introduced into the mix this year.   It was announced that, during the month of January, 9 songs would be divided into 3 territories where one song from each group would advance to the final.  The songs were then released exclusively on Danish radio with the Danish general public asked to select their favourites.  Artists Kenny Duerlund, Ben & Tan and Sander Sanchez were elevated to the final by the public vote with Jamie Talbot and Emil being awarded wildcards into the main event.

District Group South

·       Jamie Talbot – “Bye Bye Heaven (wildcard)

·       Kenny Duerlund – “Forget It All” (winner)

·       Nick Jones – “2AM”

District Group East

·       SamSara – “For You”

·       BEN & TAN – “YES” (winner)

·       Søren Okholm – “Impossible Dreamers”

District Group North

·       Emil – “Ville ønske jeg havde kendt dig” (wildcard)

·       Mielou – “We Could Be So Beautiful”

·       Sander Sanchez – “SCREENS” (winner)

Once the final line-up was announced the chatter amongst “those in the know” was that the final would most likely be a two-horse race between the upbeat folksie love ditty from Ben & Tan and the ethno-ethereal bop of “Human” by Jasmin Rose featuring RoxorLoops.   And with Ben & Tan performing early and Jasmine Rose to sing last it appeared that the script was written.

But, as we all know, things rarely play to script.        

Final Line-up

1.     Isam B – “Bølger”

2.     Ben & Tan – “Yes”

3.     Maja & De Sarte Sjæle – “Den eneste goth i Vejle”

4.     Benjamin Kissi – “Faith”

5.     Emil – “Ville ønske jeg havde kendt dig”

6.     Sys Bjerre – “Honestly”

7.     Jamie Talbot – “Bye Bye Heaven”

8.     Sander Sanchez – “Screens”

9.     Kenny Duerlund – “Forget It All”

10.  Jasmin Rose feat. RoxorLoops – “Human”

After the 10 songs performed 3 songs would advance to the “super final” where the general public would ultimately decide which song they wanted to send to Rotterdam in May.  And sadly, for Jasmin Rose featuring RoxorLoops their effort fell at the first hurdle and failed to make the super final.  And most interestingly, all 3 songs that progressed came from the pre-selection competition.

The Super-Finalists

  • Sander Sanchez – “Screens”

  • Ben & Tan – “Yes”

  • Emil – “Ville ønske jeg havde kendt dig”

Thankfully, the final 3 songs differed wildly in styles making the final choice by the Danish general public an interesting one.  Arguably Sander Sanchez’s “Screens” was the most accessible, radio-friendly and contemporary effort with the folksie, undeniably ear-worming “Yes” from Ben & Tan being the most crowd pleasing.  But without a crowd would this work against the cute duo?  And finally, Emil’s place in the super final was the most surprising as he’d required a wildcard from the pre-selection competition but his gentle ballad worked a little magic and he slipped through to the last stage of the competition.

Check out the super-finalists here…

Sander Sanchez – Screens

Ben & Tan – Yes

Emil - “Ville ønske jeg havde kendt dig”

In the end Denmark said YES to Ben & Tan who scored a whopping 61% of the vote from the super final and won the chance to represent Denmark at Eurovision in Rotterdam in May.  The race for second and third was a lot tighter with Sander Sanchez scoring 20% of the vote and Emil 19%.

 

 

 

Finland - David Dewhurst

Having failed to qualify for the Grand Final in six out of the past ten years, will Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2020, the Finnish National Contest, produce a winner to repeat the success of Lordi in 2006?

From four hundred song submissions, six were selected for UMK20. The Contest was polished production, with strong visuals and a distinctly blue and magenta theme. Contest host Krista Siegrids, Mikael Gabriel and BEHM provided strong performances at the Opening and in the Intervals. The selected six artists consisted of five individual singers (four females, one male) and one female group. Four of the songs were ballads.

Voting was determined by an International Jury (Bulgaria, Estonia, Germany, The Netherlands. Russia, Spain Sweden and United Kingdom) and televotes from the Finnish public.

 

 

Jury points

Televote points

Total points

Place

Catharina Zühlke  – Eternity

42

24

66

5

Erika Vikman – Cicciolina (sung in Finnish)

58

99

157

2

Aksel Kankaanranta – Looking Back

76

94

170

1

F3M - Bananas

64

24

84

4

Sansa – Lover View

30

6

36

6

Tika – I Let You Break My Heart

50

77

127

3

 

So Aksel Kankaanranta (runner up in The Voice of Finland in 2017) will represent Finland and will perform Looking Back in the second half of the second semi-final in Rotterdam on 14 May. Best wishes to Aksel for a performance that takes Finland through to the Grand Final.

Moldova - Michelle Stigwood

The long and winding Moldovan Road to Rotterdam went something like this...

November 2019 - Song submissions open

17 January 2020 - submissions close

24 January 2020 - disqualification of 1 entrant due to previous publication of song

1 February 2020 - 36 songs and artists present for Live auditions with professional jury of 5 judges to consider songs originality, melodic line and artist vocal quality.

Shortlist of 20 songs and Moldovan broadcaster TRM instructed to host and broadcast the annual National selection show “O Melodie Pentru Europa” ( despite being told earlier that it was uncertain if a national broadcast show would be needed)

2 February 2020- 20 songs and artists announced for broadcast National Final

28 February 2020 - 1 late artist withdrawal from final- always helps ratings to have a bit of drama

29 February 2020- O Melodie pentru Europa Winner selected with an overwhelming vote in both the jury and public vote

1 March 2020 - Social media outrage, Favourites overlooked, Polls wrong, runner up Artist makes public announcement.


And now for the final wrap...

The winner of O Melodie pentru Europa for 2020 is Natalia Gordienko with “Prison”. A dark dramatic pop ballad composed and arranged by “The Dream Team” of  Kirkorov and Kontopoulos - remember “Scream”, “My Lucky Day”, “X my Heart”, and “ You are the Only One” - quite a back catalogue of success but no winners as yet. This new song describes how love can confuse and imprison its victims. The chorus tells us that Natalia can’t live with or without her lover.

Natalia is a Moldovan singer and dancer ( her bio says of Ukrainian descent) and she has previously represented Moldova at Eurovision in 2006. She has made a career of singing since she was 15 years old and has won many competitions including Miss Teenager in 2004, the Emeritus Artist of Moldova in 2008, and the Gold Medal for Voice in the 2008 World Championship of Performing Arts.

Her song “Prison” was eerily staged with numerous effects including fog engulfing the stage,  5 empty neon chairs ( are they supposed to be electric chairs?) laser light displays, ghostly backing dancers and ethnic moaning. Her voice faulted in the beginning but found its straps for the climax of the ballad where there was a change in tempo. Her performance was so well received, and she won both the jury and public vote, but I am taking my time warming to this song. The promotional video is polished perfect and Natalia is a seasoned professional, so she will give a stunning performance of this song in Rotterdam.

Runner - up was Pasha Parfeny with “My Wine”. Pasha is a versatile Moldovan singer songwriter who has also represented Moldova previously at Eurovision in 2012 and in his early career he was the lead singer of “Sunstroke Project”. So not a bad pedigree either. His song is a ditty extolling the virtues of the Moldovan wine cellars. It is traditional in style with a modern twist and the  National costumes and dancing and the familiar melody and rhythm ( sounds polkaish ) and reminds me of many past Moldovan entries. It was entertaining but predictable. I hope he returns next year with another composition. I liked his performance and I like his diverse talents.

Third place went to Maxim Zavidia with “Take Control”. Maxim is well known to Moldovans as he was the runner up in O Melodie pentru Europa in 2019. He returned more polished and snappier in 2020. His song is a call and response pop rock offering. Solid vocals, neat choreography - without being original- and immaculately manscaped for his performance he was always going to do well. And I’m sure he will return in 2021. 


I would like to complete my review with a vote for 4th placed Catarina Sandu and her song “Die for You”. And you guessed it, yes she too has previously represented Moldova at Eurovision, when she was one of the brides/ bridesmaids in Sunstroke Project’s third placing hit “ Hey Mamma!” in 2017. She has since forged a solo career and is an accomplished singer, dancer, violinist and pianist. “Die for you” is an electronic pop dance song and was artistically colourful and entertaining. She was stunning in the “ Day of the Dead” costuming and the backing dancers were entertaining. No groundbreaking song line here and not as polished as Natalia, but I felt the vocals here were superior to the winner. But that is just my opinion. What do you think?

I wish Natalia and her team the best of luck in Rotterdam. Of course if she wins, ROTW will be the host club for Eurovision in 2021, so won’t that be interesting!

 

Netherlands - Sascha Stolp

Netherlands at Eurovision 2020

“Grow”

  • Composer:  Jeangu Macrooy, Perquisite

  • Lyrics:  Jeangu Macrooy

The entry from the reigning Eurovision champions is now known, and following their recent string of some very successful years at Eurovision, The Netherlands have again used an internal selection for finding their Eurovision Song Contest participant.  AVROTROS, the national broadcaster previously announced the act to represent The Netherlands in 2020 as singer Jeangu Macrooy and on the 4th March released his song “Grow”.

Jeangu Macrooy was born in the Dutch speaking country Suriname.  He started playing the guitar at the age of thirteen along with his twin brother, and together they  formed the band “Between Towers”. In 2014 he moved to the Netherlands where he started singing professionally.

Jeangu has published two albums and has been touring clubs with several sold-out shows and said he is “indescribably honoured” to be representing his country in Rotterdam.

“Grow”, the entry The Netherlands will defend their Eurovision crown with, is a beautiful soul/gospel inspired ballad written by Jeangu Macrooy and Perquisite, a Dutch producer, and is a personal story about his getting older and his quest to find himself.  When talking about his song, Jeangu said “Emotions, good and bad, are a universal language. I hope this song makes people feel a little less lonely in their search for happiness. I think that openness and honesty about how we really feel will ultimately bring us closer. I believe in the power music has to bring people together. It’s the reason I do what I do."  Certainly the emotions in the song can truly be felt by the listener as you are taken on a journey from the darker beginning all the way through to the more uplifting climax.

Will The Netherlands be able to secure a second straight victory with “Grow”?