This week in review: Internal selections revealed, Eurovision 2017 revamps coming, one final big weekend

Ahead of the final national final showcase this weekend, we have had a busy week with many internal selections for Eurovision 2017 – and more still to come – as well as some news about some songs being reworked. Catch up with what you may have missed here.

Internal Selections

(In alphabetical order)

We now know that the Armenian entry which Artsvik will sing in Kyiv, Ukraine is entitled “Fly with Me”. It will be revealed on Saturday 18th March.

For the third consecutive time, Australia have selected a reality singing competition champion. This time, it’s Isaiah Firebrace, the winner of The X Factor Australia 2016, who will represent the three-time participant.
We reported this earlier in the week, so you can read more here.


“City Lights” will be Blanche’s song for Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. Within hours of the entry being released, Belgium’s odds shortened to just 5/1 making them the current second favourite for the title this May in Kyiv.
The song was immediately likened by many to Lorde and Lana del Rey in its style and delivery.


After last year’s first appearance in the Final of the Eurovision Song Contest, the Czech Republic will be aiming to at least match their result from 2016 in Kyiv. Martina Bárta was selected internally and her entry “My Turn” was released earlier this week.
We are still awaiting an official video clip of the entry but this is expected in the coming days. You can read more about the Czech reveal, from earlier this week, here.


We have known for weeks now that Brendan Murray will be the soloist representing the Emerald Isle of Ireland in Kyiv, Ukraine. We also knew that Louis Walsh was the man in charge of selecting the entry that would go forwards to the Eurovision Song Contest 2017.
To find out more about the Irish entry, which was co-written by Jörgen Elofsson, you can read the full article here.


Whilst we know that Imri Ziv was selected through the reality singing competition HaKokhav HaBa L’Eurovizion, the entry that he will perform in Kyiv was selected internally by a panel of experts.
The song, “I Feel Alive”, is one of the few upbeat entries this year and could stand out in May.


Ahead of a planned release tonight, Macedonia have teased the Eurovision fanbase with a little snippet of their entry “Dance Alone” today. Jana Burčeska has been working hard in the studio on this entry and we will get to hear the full song from roughly 21:00 CET tonight.


Another entry being released today is Montenegro’s “Space” which will be performed by Slavko Kalezić in Kyiv, Ukraine, this May.
The song will be revealed at 18:00 CET and is written by Momčilo Zeković with the arrangement having been finished in Sweden. The outfit that will be worn in the Ukrainian capital is being designed by famous fashion designer Marina Banović–Džuver.
Here is the full version of “Space”.


The 2007 champion, Serbia, have revealed this week that Tijana Bogićević’s song for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 is entitled “In Too Deep” and to tease us, ahead of its anticipated release, the delegation have released a snippet.
The song embraces ethnic and electronic elements to deliver a dramatic instrumental track. “In Too Deep” will be released in full on Saturday 11 March.

New versions

Not all songs, once selected to represent their nations, reach Eurovision without receiving a final tweaking or two. This week, we’ve got two more songs that have nearly finished applying a final few touches.

We are anticipating an official release this week of the new, and finalised, version of the entry which Lindita will sing to represent Albania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 this May in Kyiv, Ukraine.
The song, now entitled “World”, has had its instrumental re-recorded and English lyrics written.

Ooh, la, la… France have, very much like last year, applied some English lyrics to their entry and slightly tweaked the instrumentation.
There is no official date as to when we expect to hear the finalised version of “Requiem” by Alma but you can hear a snippet of the new bilingual version, featuring the English lyrics, below.

The BBC have just snuck out the news we were expecting, that the United Kingdom has a revamp ahead of the submission deadline next week.
The final version of “Never Give Up on You” by Lucie Jones will be released on Saturday at 7pm GMT on BBC iPlayer.
You can see a teaser clip from the BBC Eurovision Twitter account below:

Watch 'Never Give Up On You' by @luciejones1. The official UK #Eurovision video for 2017. Tomorrow 7pm @BBCiPlayer, 8pm @Eurovision @YouTube pic.twitter.com/QTY4qIKsw8

— BBC Eurovision🇬🇧 (@bbceurovision) March 10, 2017

The final weekend of national selection processes

The long, winding road to Kyiv has nearly completed this stage of its journey. This weekend marks the final days in which countries will make their decision using their relevant national selections. Here, we give you just a little more about this week’s final four selections.

After two semifinals and a wildcard choice, seven songs will compete in Iceland for this Saturday’s final of Söngvakeppnin 2017.
At this stage, all of the remaining entries will be performed in the version that they would take to Eurovision in Kyiv.
The seven contenders for the Icelandic selection are:

1. Aron Hannes Emilsson – “Tonight”
2. Arnar Jónsson & Rakel Pálsdóttir – “Again”
3. Aron Brink – “Hypnotised”
4. Hildur Kristin Stefánsdóttir – “Bammbaramm”
5. Rúnar Eff Rúnarsson – “Make Your Way Back Home”
6. Svala Björgvinsdóttir – “Paper”
7. Daði Freyr Pétursson – “Is This Love?”

Lithuania’s mammoth selection process finally comes to an end this weekend on Saturday night. Six songs made it through to the final via last week’s semifinal before an extra wildcard was added from an online vote… and interestingly enough, a song eliminated before the semifinals has been reinstated ahead of last week’s eliminated artists Ieva Zasimauskaitė and former Lithuanian Eurovision representative Sasha Son with fan favourite Gytis Ivanauskas coming back into the competition with “Get Frighten”.
The entries fighting for the Lithuanian ticket to Kyiv are:

1. Paula – “Let U Go”
2. Gabrielius Vagelis – “Feel Myself Free”
3. Greta Zazza – “Like I Love You”
4. Fusedmarc – “Rain of Revolution”
5. Aistė Pilvelytė – “I’m Like a Wolf”
6. Gytis Ivanauskas – “Get Frighten”
7. Kotryna Juodzevičiūtė – “Love Shadow”

The songs have been available now since 7 February and the time has come to put them into competition mode. Norway will decide from their 10 songs in the Melodi Grand Prix final on Saturday night.
For the first time, 10 international juries will give their points in the Norwegian final. With juries giving points 1-8, 10 and 12 to their favourites, 580 points in total will be divided up between the songs by the international jury vote. The public will then also give a total of 580 points out to their favourite songs, decided by televote during the show. The four entries with the most points at this stage will go to the superfinal.
The international juries taking part in Melodi Grand Prix are Armenia, Austria, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Malta, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
In the superfinal, only the public will decide their entry for Kyiv.
The competing entries are:

1. Ulrikke “Places”
2. Jenny Augusta “I Go Where You Go”
3. Rune Rudberg Band “Run Run Away”
4. Jowst feat. Aleksander Walmann “Grab the Moment”
5. Kristian Valen “You & I”
6. In Fusion “Nothing Ever Knocked Us Over”
7. Amina Sewali “Mesterverk”
8. Ammunition “Wrecking Crew”
9. Elin & The Woods “First Step in Faith (Oadjebasvuhtii)”
10. Ella “Mama’s Boy”

Arguably, saving the best for last. Sweden have completed their six week tour of the country with the Melodifestivalen heats and Andra chansen round. The stage is set at Friends Arena in Stockholm for the final of Melodifestivalen 2017.
The voting process is unchanged. The viewers and international juries will vote and the winner will be determined as the song with the most points. The international jury vote will be awarded first. These 11 juries will award points 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 to their favourite entries. A total of 473 points will be awarded by the juries.  The public vote is made up of several different methods; they can vote up to five times per song using the official Melodifestivalen app, or by the more traditional methods of telephone and SMS. This vote is then translated into a percentage of the available points, another 473, rounded to the nearest integer. This means that if a song receives 10% of the vote, it will receive 10% of 473 points rounded to the nearest number, 47.
This year’s international juries, helping to determine the winner of Melodifestivalen, are Armenia (represented by Iveta Mukuchyan), Australia (represented by Stephanie Werret), the United Kingdom (represented by Simon Proctor), France (represented by Edoardo Grassi), Israel (represented by Tali Eshkoli), Italy (represented by Nicola Caligiore), Malta (represented by Gordon Bonello), Norway (represented by Anette Lauenborg Waaler), Poland (represented by Mateusz Grzesinski), the Czech Republic (represented by Jan Bors) and Ukraine (represented by Victoria Romanova).
The twelve entries competing in the Melodifestivalen 2017 Final are:

1. Ace Wilder – “Wild Child”
2. Boris René – “Her Kiss”
3. Lisa Ajax – “I Don’t Give A”
4. Robin Bengtsson – “I Can’t Go On”
5. Jon Henrik Fjällgren feat. Aninia – “En värld full av strider (Eatneme gusnie jeenh dåaroeh)”
6. Anton Hagman – “Kiss You Goodbye”
7. Mariette – “A Million Years”
8. FO&O – “Gotta Thing About You”
9. Nano – “Hold On”
10. Wiktoria – “As I Lay Me Down”
11. Benjamin Ingrosso – “Good Lovin'”
12. Owe Thörnqvist – “Boogieman Blues”