The 13 acts competing in the New Wave contest, a competition for young singers, have been released. The contest will be held from August 24th-29th in the New Wave Concert Hall in Sochi, Russia, where the contest has been held since 2015.
New Wave has produced many acts for Eurovision and Junior Eurovision since its introduction in 2002. Winners of New Wave that would also compete at Eurovision include Sergey Lazarev (as a member of Smash!!!) for Russia, Cosmos and Intars Busulis for Latvia, Natalia Gordienko and DoReDos for Moldova, and Jamala for Ukraine.
The most notable name on the list of contestants this year is Aisel, representing Azerbaijan. She represented Azerbaijan at Eurovision in 2018 with the song “X My Heart,” finishing 11th in semifinal one and giving the land of fire their only non-qualification to date.
Another familiar face is Inis Neziri, who competed in Festivali i Këngës 56 in December 2017 to represent Albania in 2018. She placed third with the song “Piedestal.” She would go on in 2018 to win the “Cerbul de Aur” competition in Romania.
Other Eurovision affiliated acts competing this year include ANNA MARIA from Ukraine, who competed in Vidbir this year, placing 6th in the final with the song “My Road.” Depi Evratesil contestant Tyom will compete for Ukraine after failing to qualify for the final of Armenia’s national final in 2018 with the song “Follow the Ocean.” Italian singer Thomas Grazioso was a backing singer in 2008 for Swiss Eurovision act Paolo Meneguzzi and the song “Era Stupendo.”
Are you excited for New Wave 2019? Who do you want to win? Let us know in the comments!
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