Eurovision Song Contest 2019

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Germany: S!sters - Sister

Germany's national selection 'Unser Lied für Israel' took place in Berlin on Friday night. The German audiences and juries decided that they would like to be represented in Tel Aviv by the duo S!sters.

During the voting window, five acts took to the stage: 2018 Eurovision Song Contest participant Michael Schulte performed his new single Back to the Start and 2010 Eurovision Song Contest winner Lena sang her song Thank You. Known German stars Revolverheld, Udo Lindenberg and Andreas Bourani also shined on stage in Berlin.

S!sters are made up of non-sisters, Carlotta Truman and Laurita Spinelli. Their song was co-written by Laurell Barker, who is also part of the writing team behind the UK’s “Bigger Than Us”.

 

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Belgium: Eliot - Wake Up

Broadcaster RTBF has released Eliot's song for the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest along with the accompanying music video. Eliot will perform 'Wake Up' for Belgium in the second half of the first Semi-Final on the 14th of May.

The 18-year-old Eliot Vassamillet from Mons rose to national fame during The Voice Belgique last year. His journey started in early 2018 during his first blind audition at The Voice Belgique, where coach Slimane was impressed by the power, ease and sensitivity of Eliot’s performance. At one point he got noticed by Pierre Dumoulin: "The moment I saw Eliot’s blind audition, I felt he had that little something extra that I look for in an artist, the sensitivity and fragility which are so necessary to convey emotion."

Wake Up is composed by Pierre Dumoulin. Pierre is the composer and leader of the Belgian group Roscoe and is one of the composers of Belgium’s 2017 Eurovision Song Contest entry City Lights, the song with which Blanche reached fourth place in the Grand Final in Kyiv.

 

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Serbia: Nevena Božović - Kruna

After a strong final of Beovizija 2019, Nevena Božović overcame 11 other competitors to win the show, and along with it, the right to represent Serbia at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv with the song 'Kruna' (Eng: Crown).

Nevena becomes the country’s first solo artist to represent the country at both Junior Eurovision and now the Eurovision Song Contest. She finished in third place with 'Piši Mi' (Eng: Write to me) in Rotterdam in 2007. She rose to prominence as the runner-up on the televised singing competition ''Prvi glas Srbije'' (First voice of Serbia) in 2013.

Nevena Božović (born 15 June 1994 in Kosovska Mitrovica) graduated music high school where she studied the piano before enrolling at the Music Academy at the age of 16. This year she specialised in solfeggio at the Faculty of Music of the University of Belgrade.

 

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Georgia: Oto Nemsadze - Sul tsin iare

This year, Georgia picked its Eurovision representative via the Idol tv format. Ten singers were able to qualify for the final, and battled for weeks to represent Georgia at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Israel in May.

Oto won 44.13% of the 234,383 votes cast by the audience in the final of Georgian Idol, making him and his song 'Sul tsin iare' (Go Ahead)' the clear winner on the night. Oto will perform for Georgia in the first Semi-Final of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest on the 14th of May.

Oto Nemsadze (born 19 June 1989) is a household name in Georgia after winning Idol in 2011. He was a finalist of The Voice of Ukraine in 2013 and in 2017 he took part in the Georgian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest as part of the group Limbo, where he finished eleventh among 25 contestants.

 

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Iceland: Hatari - Hatrið mun sigra

Iceland just held the final of their national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, 'Söngvakeppnin', in Reykjavik where Hatari won enough votes to beat the competition and will now represent the country in Tel Aviv with the song 'Hatrið Mun Sigra' (Hate will prevail).

They will perform their song in Icelandic as the rules of Söngvakeppnin state that the winning song must be performed at Eurovision in the same language in which it was performed in the final in Iceland.

Hatari are describes as an 'industrial bdsm band' consisting of three art school friends: Klemens Hannigan, Matthías Tryggvi Haraldson, and Einar Stéfansson. They started playing live in 2017 and have been chosen the Best Live Band on Icelandic Airwaves.

 

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Finland: Darude feat. Sebastian Rejman - Look Away

The Finnish national selection for the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest ''Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2019'' was held at Logomo in Turku. The show was hosted by Krista Siegfrids, Mikko Silvennoinen and Christoffer Strandberg. Finland has decided that Darude will perform 'Look Away' with singer Sebastian Rejman, known from the band The Giant Leap, in Tel Aviv.

Ville Virtanen, better known by his stage name Darude, is one of the most successful Finnish artists of the modern era. He started making music in 1995 and released his most iconic hit single Sandstorm in 1999. The music video for the instrumental dance track, uploaded to YouTube in 2009, has reached more than 143 million views at the time of writing.

Darude about participating in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest: "This is a huge challenge for me in many ways. When I was asked to represent Finland I felt a bit scared at first, but there was no way I could say no to my country! It is an honour to be part of this incredible experience and I only have positive expectations!"

 

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Norway: KEiiNO - Spirit in the Sky

The 57th edition of the Norwegian national selection, Melodi Grand Prix, was broadcast from Oslo on Saturday, the 2nd of March. Using a combination of public and jury votes, KEiiNO was crowned this year's winner and Norway's representative for Tel Aviv with the song 'Spirit In The Sky'.

KEiiNO is the name of a Norwegian-Sami collaboration between artists Fred-René Buljo, Alexandra Rotan and Tom Hugo. The group was created in late 2018 in preparation for the participation in Melodi Grand Prix 2019.

The collaboration began with Tom Hugo and his husband Alex Olsson composing the outline of a song inspired by struggles for equal rights regardless of ethnicity, gender identity and sexuality. Given their long struggle in pursuit of equal rights, including a Sami songwriter in this emerging project made eminent sense. Buljo jumped at the opportunity and Spirit in the Sky was the result.

 

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Portugal: Conan Osíris - Telemóveis

Last year's home nation of the Eurovision Song Contest, Portugal, just chose their entry for Tel Aviv. This was the 51st edition of the Portuguese national selection, Festival da Canção, which came to an end last Saturday with an amazing show at the Portimão Arena, hosted by Eurovision 2018 co-presenter Filomena Cautela and Vasco Palmeirim.

After the voting sequence took place the song that got the maximum number of points was Telemóveis (Mobile phones) performed by Conan Osíris who will represent Portugal at the first Semi-Final of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest on Tuesday the 14th of May in Tel Aviv.

Conan Osíris, stage name of Tiago Miranda (born 5 January 1989 in Lisbon), is a Portuguese singer-songwriter. He released his debut album, Música Normal in 2016 and in 2018 Conan released a second album which he called Adoro bolos (I Love Cakes). Conan is the author, composer as well as producer of his songs. He studied art and design and, above all, he studied life and people. Oh! ...and he worked in the oldest sex shop in Portugal!

 

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Moldova: Anna Odobescu - Stay

With the song 'Stay', Anna will be taking to the stage in Tel Aviv for Moldova. She left the other nine finalists behind her by receiving the most points during the country's national selection 'O Melodie Pentru Europa'.

Anna Odobescu (born 3 December 1991) is from Dubasari, on the left bank of the Nistru River in Moldova. Anna graduated from the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts in Chisinau and says that she finds peace and inner silence in music.

Moldova debuted in 2005, placing sixth with its first-ever entry, Bunica Bate Toba performed by Zdob și Zdub. Later, in 2010, they sent Sunstroke Project & Olia Tira with the song Run Away. This went viral a few years later, when Epic Sax Guy became an internet phenomenon (62 million YouTube views).

 

[gorgik9]

Sweden: John Lundvik - Too Late For Love

I've just watched the Swedish song contest Melodifestivalen, the competition deciding about Sweden's representative to the ESC in May 2019, aaaaaaaannnddd we're sending "To Late For Love" performed by John Lundvik!!!



Personally I'm happy about the result: It's a good song, John is a good singer with a powerful soul voice and he's a very good stage performer.

And he's a ridiculously handsome guy - I'm fuckin' drooling :blushing:

 

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Belarus: ZENA - Like It

ZENA has won the Belarus' national selection and will represent Belarus at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest with her song 'Like It'. She took first place with 69 points, four points ahead of second placed BLGN & Mirex.

ZENA, real name Zinaida Kupriyanovich, is a Belarusian singer, actress, and television presenter. Besides ZENA, other notable contestants on the list are the group NAPOLI which took part in the Belarusian national selection every year since 2014!

Belarus joined the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004 but has yet to win the Eurovision Song Contest. While Belarus has never won the Eurovision Song Contest, Alexander Rybak, the winner of the 2009 contest for Norway, is from Belarusian origin.

 

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Russia: Sergey Lazarev - Scream

Together with his own dream team, Sergey has revealed 'Scream' as Russia's entry for the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. The track is produced by Philipp Kirkorov, composed by Dimitris Kontopoulos, written by Sharon Vaughn and accompanied by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra.

This will be the second time Sergey performs a Dimitris Kontopoulos track after he composed You Are The Only One in 2016. Sharon Vaughn wrote the lyrics for Scream and is a songwriter of global fame. She has worked with some of the world's greatest country music stars including Reba McEntire, Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers, Trisha Yearwood, Randy Travis and Patty Loveless.

Sergey is no stranger to television competitions or the Eurovision Song Contest as he returns for a second attempt to capture the Eurovision crown. He came close in 2016 when he topped the public vote and finished third overall with You Are The Only One.

 

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Ireland: Sarah McTernan - 22

Irish broadcaster RTÉ has revealed that Sarah McTernan will represent Ireland at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv. She will perform the song '22' which was written by Janieck, Marcia “Misha” Sondeijker and Roulsen.

Sarah McTernan (born 1994) is an Irish singer-songwriter from Scarriff, County Clare. She is known for taking third place in the fourth season of The Voice of Ireland in April 2015.

Speaking about being selected to represent Ireland, Sarah said, “It’s like an early birthday present! My 25th birthday is next Monday and if you’d told me last year that I’d be chosen to represent my country at Eurovision, performing the song for the first time on Dancing with the Stars this Sunday, and then flying to Tel Aviv on my birthday to record a postcard, I would have told you - you were crazy!”

 

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Greece: Katerine Duska - Better Love

The Greek-Canadian has released the song with which she will participate at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. Katerine Duska wrote 'Better Love' together with the Scottish singer-songwriter David Sneddon.

Katerine Duska (born 1989) is a Greek-Canadian singer-songwriter currently based in Athens. Better Love is described by Greece's national broadcaster ERT as a song that refers to the eternal quest for a higher love, one that is deep, unconditional and unapologetic.

Katerine herself explains: “I wanted to write a song that would sound like an invitation, feel like an embrace. A tender song with a fighting spirit about a word we profusely use, but rarely actually mean. It really is the way to love, whomever you love.”

 

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North Macedonia: Tamara Todevska - Proud

Tamara Todevska will represent North Macedonia at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest with her song 'Proud'. The music video premiered on Friday, 8 March 2019 during MKRTV's evening news. The newly named nation will compete in the second Semi-Final on Thursday 16th of May in Tel Aviv.

Proud was composed by Robert Bilbilov, Lazar Cvetkovski and Darko Dimitrov, lyrics were written by Kosta Petrov and Sanja Popovska. The music video was directed by Chedo Popovski.

Tamara Todevska (born 1985 in Skopje), known as Tamara, is a Macedonian pop singer. "I dedicate 'Proud' to my daughter and to everyone out there fighting for their dreams and believing in their greatness", Tamara says.

 

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Poland: Tulia - Fire Of Love (Pali Się)

Polish group Tulia will perform a new version of their song 'Pali się: (Fire of Love)' especially prepared for the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. Tulia will sing in two languages: polish and english. 'Fire of Love (Pali się)' is a combination of a strong rock climate with elements of folk.

Tulia is a four-piece band made up of Tulia Biczak, Joanna Sinkiewicz, Patrycja Nowicka and Dominika Siepka. The band formed early in 2018 and already have a platinum album and several leading music awards to their name in Poland.

Fire of Love was composed by Nadia Dalin and words were written by Sonia Krasny (Polish text), Allan Rich and Jud Friedman (English text). Jud Friedman and Allan Rich are songwriting icons, twice nominated for an Oscar for Best Song, including Whitney Houston's Run To You, nominations for Grammy and Golden Globes. Among others, they wrote for any global superstars including Ray Charles, Chaka Kahn, *NSYNC, Kenny Loggins, James Ingram, Rod Stewart or Tina Turner.

 

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Azerbaijan: Chingiz - Truth

27-year-old singer-songwriter Chingiz will take to the Eurovision stage in Tel Aviv to represent Azerbaijan with the song 'Truth’. The song won the national song selection, organized internally by Azerbaijani Broadcaster Ictimai TV, in January, leaving more than 350 other entries behind.

Truth is about a dishonest, toxic relationship. The song explores the story of one partner who betrays the other, leaving them with a difficult choice: accept deceit or break free from false illusions.

Chingiz was born in Moscow and moved to Qazax in Azerbaijan at the age of six. He learned to play guitar and started composing his own songs while still a young boy. At age 13, his family moved to Baku, where eventually he was invited to audition for the Azerbaijani version of Pop Idol. Chingiz won the competition thanks to tremendous support from the jury and viewers of the show.

 

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Austria: PAENDA - Limits

Austrian singer-songwriter and producer Paenda has released her ballad 'Limits' today with an accompanying music video. The song is part of her new album 'Evolution II' that will be out on 26 April.

Limits tells the story of how Paenda pushed beyond all limits in her zeal and passion for music – to the point of full exhaustion. She explains: "Being aware of the moments where I needed a break was a process for me. It was a long and at times difficult road to learning my own limits."

Gabriela Horn (born 1989), known professionally as Paenda, is an Austrian singer, songwriter and music producer. Paenda's musical style is a mix of electronic, hip-hop, pop and techno that manages to never fall into pretentiousness or cliché.

 

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San Marino: Serhat - Say Na Na Na

San Marino celebrates its 10th entry at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest and that entry will be 'Say Na Na Na'. Returning San Marino representative Serhat will perform his song in the first Semi-Final on the 14th of May.

Ahmet Serhat Hacıpaşalıoğlu (born 1964), known as Serhat, is a Turkish singer, producer and television presenter.

This is Serhat's second time representing San Marino at Eurovision. He represented San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Stockholm singing "I Didn't Know" in the first semi final of Eurovision, but failed to qualify for the final.

 

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Netherlands: Duncan Laurence - Arcade

Duncan Laurence will represent The Netherlands at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv with 'Arcade'. The singer-songwriter wrote the song himself and the music video has just been released.

Duncan Laurence was born in 1994 in Spijkenisse, The Netherlands. He graduated this year from the Rock Academy in Tilburg where he developed himself as a singer, songwriter and music producer. Besides that, he spent a lot of time writing songs in London and Stockholm.

Duncan says: "I have written several songs since Arcade, but to me Arcade feels like the core and the start of my search for how I can do something meaningful for others with my songs...I want to touch people with my music, possibly help them and give them something. In the case of Arcade, I have created some advice for myself and hopefully for others as well. A lesson of life: you determine your own happiness."