What a weekend we’ve had! Since Friday, we’ve had 5 Eurovision national finals, 4 semi-finals and 2 heats. Oh, and don’t forget a song presentation too! Before we get into the details though, we must talk about some news regarding song presentation dates. Israel will present Imri Ziv’s entry I Feel Alive on March 9th. A day after, Montenegro will present Slavko Kalezić’s entry Space on March 10th.
For everything else you need to know regarding internal selection presentation dates, read our round-up article that was published a few days ago.
Now we’ve had a chance to take a breath, let’s round-up all of the results of the 2017 pre-season’s busiest weekend.
Finals
Denmark: Second time lucky for Anja
On Saturday, a mix of televoting and fan jury voting selected Sydney-born Anja Nissen as their representative for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. The 21-year-old’s entry Where I Am was joined by Ida Una’s One and Johanna Beijbom’s A.S.A.P. in the superfinal. The public and fan jury overwhelmingly chose Anja as the winner with 64% of the superfinal vote. Of course, many fans know Anja after finishing second in last year’s Dansk Melodi Grand Prix with Never Alone. She deservedly went one better this year and will be heading to Kyiv!
Latvia: Sixth time lucky for Triana Park
Following a theme of national final losers-turned-winners, Latvian televoters, Spotify listeners and international online voters selected Triana Park as the winner of Supernova 2017. The electronic band had previously entered Latvia’s Eurovision selection on five consecutive occasions between 2008 and 2012. Five years later they returned for a sixth attempt, and they finally took victory! Their entry Line was accompanied by a visually striking neon-themed performance. My Radiant You finished second, improving on their third place finish last year. Santa Daņeļeviča was third and The Ludvig finished fourth.
Moldova: SunStroke Project head to Eurovision for the second time
Moldova had a particularly busy weekend, hosting their semi-final and final a day apart. In Saturday’s final, Ethno Republic & Surorile Osoianu and SunStroke Project found themselves tied for first place once jury votes and televotes had been combined. Nevertheless, televoting took precedence. With nearly three times as many votes as second place, SunStroke Project were victorious with Hey Mamma. This will be the band’s second time at Eurovision after Run Away featuring Olia Tira reached the final in 2010. Epic Sax Guy is sure to get you dancing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20D9fwQpvzs
Slovenia: Omar Naber returns to Kyiv for the second time
As we previously reported, Omar Naber won EMA 2017 and will represent Slovenia in Kyiv for the second time with On My Way. Today, RTVSLO revealed the full voting breakdowns for the contest. It was revealed that BQL won the final televote in a landslide, receiving almost triple the number of votes compared to second-placed Omar. Nevertheless, Omar’s jury support was enough to give him victory once the points were combined. This was the eighth time RTVSLO used a combined televote/jury points system in EMA and on each occasion they have done so, the televoting favourite has never won.
Ukraine: O.Torvald will bring rock to their home contest
As we previously reported, O.Torvald will represent Ukraine on home ground with their entry Time. The jury vote and televote both placed the rock band second which was enough to give them victory overall. Second placed Tayanna was tied on points, however she received less televotes than O.Torvald.
Heats and semi-finals
Iceland: First three qualifiers revealed
The first semi-final of Söngvakeppnin took place on Saturday. In the semi-finals, entries must be performed in Icelandic. However, acts have the option of performing the English versions of their songs in the final. Televoting alone determined which three of the six entries would progress to the final on March 11th. The lucky songs were:
- Arnar Jónsson & Rakel Pálsdótir – Til mín
- Aron Hannes Emilsson – Nótt
- Rúnar Eff Rúnarsson – Mér við hlið
Six more songs will battle it out in the second semi-final next Saturday. In the meantime, remember to check out all of escXtra’s interviews with the Söngvakeppnin participants here on the website and via our YouTube channel.
Lithuania: Eight semi-finalists now chosen
After several heats, we finally have just eight acts remaining in the race to represent Lithuania at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. All of these acts will participate in the semi-final next weekend, with six progressing to the final on March 11th. The semi-finalists are as follows:
- Aistė Pilvelytė – I’m Like A Wolf
- Fusedmarc – Rain Of Revolution
- Gabrielius Vagelis – Feel Myself Free
- Greta Zazza – Like I Love You
- Ieva Zasimauskaitė – You Saved Me
- Kotryna Juodzevičiūtė – Love Shadow
- Paula – Let U Go
- Sasha Song – Never Felt Like This Before
Portugal: All finalists now selected
After two semi-finals, we now know the eight acts that will contest next Sunday’s final of Festival da Canção. The winner will be selected via a combination of a public televote and regional juries. The draw for the final is as follows:
- Jorge Benvinda – Gente bestial
- Pedro Gonçalves – Don’t Walk Away
- Lena d’Água – Nunca me fui embora
- Salvador Sobral – Amar pelos dois
- Fernando Daniel – Poema a dois
- Celina da Piedade – Primavera
- Deolinda Kinzimba – O que eu vi nos meus sonhos
- Viva La Diva – Nova glória
Romania: Yodel It! dominates semi-final
On Sunday, TVR hosted the semi-final of Selecţia Naţională. Five jurors alone determined which 10 of the 15 entries would progress to next Sunday’s final. Fan favourite Yodel It! gained a maximum 60 points from a possible 60 after each juror ranked Ilinca and Alex Florea in first place. Nevertheless, televoting alone decides the winner next weekend and amongst the finalists are Instinct and Maxim whose songs have already been major hits in Romania and will no doubt be favourites with televoters. The ten qualifiers in the order they finished in the semi-final are as follows:
- Ilinca ft. Alex Florea – Yodel It!
- Xandra – Walk On By
- MIHAI – I Won’t Surrender
- Cristina Vasiu – Set The Skies On Fire
- Instinct – Petale
- Ramona Nerra – Save Me
- Eduard Santha – Wild Child
- Maxim – Adu-ți aminte
- Tavi Colen & Emma – We Own The Night
- Ana-Maria Mirică – Spune-mi tu
Sweden: Wiktoria and Jon Henrik Fjällgren qualify for the final
In the final heat of Melodifestivalen 2017, Wiktoria and Jon Henrik Fjällgren featuring Aninia qualified directly to the final taking place in Stockholm on March 11th. Perhaps surprisingly, Loreen only managed to progress to next week’s second chance round alongside Axel Schylström. Shortly after the conclusion of heat 4, the duels for the second chance round were revealed. These are as follows:
- Duel 1: FO&O (Gotta Thing About You) vs. De Vet Du (Road Trip)
- Duel 2: Axel Schylström (När ingen ser) vs. Lisa Ajax (I Don’t Give A)
- Duel 3: Boris René (Her Kiss) vs. Dismissed (Hearts Align)
- Duel 4: Anton Hagman (Kiss You Goodbye) vs. Loreen (Statements)
Song presentation
Austria: Nathan Trent is ‘Running On Air’
Last night, Nathan Trent presented his entry Running On Air. He was internally selected as Austria’s 2017 Eurovision Song Contest entry and will perform his song in the first half of the second semi-final. For more, read our article about the song reveal here.
It was such a busy week! Let us know all of your thoughts in the comments section below and via our social media pages @escXtra!
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