Eurovision

Fans all over Europe were delighted when MARUV overcame a jury scare earlier tonight in Ukraine’s national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. However, soon afterwards, controversy arose on social media about the singer. UA:PBC have now revealed a statement which suggests MARUV’s trip to Tel Aviv is not secured yet. Participation agreement Vidbir as a national final is organised by another channel in Ukraine, STB. Eurovision broadcaster UA:PBC have asked them to do so. After the reveal of the winner of Vidbir, UA:PBC need to officially confirm the act. In a statement to Eurovision.tv, they have now stated that that has not been done yet. They say: UA:PBC provides MARUV as the winner of the national selection with an agreement for consideration, specifying the terms of participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. The official announcement of the representative of Ukraine at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest will take place after signing the participation agreement. UA:PBC to Eurovision.tv In other words, MARUV will now receive a set of conditions set by UA:PBC. Those can be formal, simple requirements most countries would usa, such as booking time off to prepare for the contest, possible fees et cetera. The singer needs …

And then there were four! With the elimination of Nini Tsnobiladze, the Georgian Idol Show narrowed down the competition for Tel Aviv to only four acts. How were they determined? The five remaining acts performed two songs each and Nini Tsnobiladze was the contestant that got eliminated right before the final gala of the show next Saturday. The four remaining acts will battle it out for the chance of representing their country at the Eurovision Song Contest in May. Georgian Idol final line-up Liza Kalandadze – First in the public voteGiorgi NakashidzeOto NemsadzeGiorgi Pruidze Each of the four acts will perform one of the three songs composed by Levan Basharuli, Roma Giorgadze and Tamar Babilua. Interestingly enough Georgia has opted for shaking things up and the winning song will remain in their native language for Eurovision. The winner of Georgian Idol will be determined by the public. Viewers at home can vote for their favorite act via SMS or Facebook Messenger. Was Nini your favorite? Who would you like to see representing Georgia in Israel? Do you like the idea of Georgia sending a song in their native language? Let us know in the comments section below and on all …

Lithuania started their search for their Eurovision 2019 entry back in January. Tonight the lengthy national selection came to it’s conclusion. Jurijus with “Run with the Lions” won the grand final and will represent Lithuania at Eurovision 2019 in Tel Aviv! As before a 50/50 split between jury and televoting determined the winner of the contest. Jurijus won with 12 points from both the televote and jury. Early favourite Monika Marija placed second with 10 points from the televote and jury. DrawArtistSongJuryPublicTelevoteTotalPlace1Alen Chicco“Your Cure”6298061252Justina Budaitė-Junà“Strength of a Woman”36913683Henry & Tommy Modric“Neverpart”5118651064Jurgis Brūzga“CTRL ALT DELETE”49364875Jurgis DID & Erica Jennings“Sing!”71491271446Monika Marija“Light On”1020977102027Antikvariniai Kašpirovskio Dantys“Mažulė”81569981638Jurijus“Run with the Lions”122469412241 Did Lithuania make the right decision? What are Jurijus‘ chances at Eurovision? Let us know your reaction @ESCXTRA!

Just a few years ago, Denmark won the Eurovision Song Contest with Emmelie de Forest’s Only Teardrops. Tonight, they have chosen their next hopeful to bring the contest back to Denmark: Leonora will represent Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv with Love is Forever. If you loved the cutesy vibe of Lena in 2010, and though that Anne Gadegaard was robbed in Denmark’s 2015 selection, you are bound to adore this! Leonora – Love is Forever Leonora Colmor Jepsen is only 20 years old but has already won a number of awards, not just for her music but her ice skating too (2008’s Dima Bilan is shook)! For many years now, Leonora has wrote her own songs, which she performs at cafés, libraries and at intimate concerts. Now, she is recording a number of songs with other songwriters (such as Love is Forever) which she hopes will end up in an album. Love is Forever is co-written by none other than Lise Cabble, one of the songwriters for Emmelie de Forest’s Only Teardrops that won the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö! Lise is joined by Melanie Wehbe and Emil Lei. For many, this song will …

Ukraine have chosen their act for Tel Aviv. In a dramatic national final, filled with outrage, upsets and drama, Maruv emerged victorious from the pack. She will now sing “Siren Song” at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. Not the jury favourite Maruv (Anna Korsun) won the televoting in tonight’s Vidbir, picking up the maximum six points from them. She needed those as the juries only placed her second, behind Freedom Jazz. The third place Freedom Jazz achieved in televoting wasn’t enough to hold on to the lead. Maruv’s eleven points were enough to win Vidbir 2019. Originally, the singer wasn’t even part of the line up for the Ukrainian national final. The organisers only decided to add her once Tayanna decided to withdraw. Soon after announcing her song for Vidbir, Maruv turned into a favourite. She was also the one you all predicted as the winner in Eurovision Prediction. Nearly 60% of the participants thought the 26 year old would win and represent Ukraine at Eurovision. Maruv is a director of her own show, author, sound producer, and she already released two music albums. Her and Boosin’s single «Drunk Groove» is already in the top of some European and American …

The fourth Semi-Final of Melodifestivalen just took place, and SVT have confirmed the duels for Andra Chansen (Second Chance) which is due to take place in Nyköping next week. Eight acts will fight for the four remaining spots for the Grand Final due to take place on the 9th March You can find out who will be facing who below: Duel 1 Andreas Johnson – Army of UsAnna Bergendahl – Ashes to Ashes Duel 2 Vlad Reiser – Nakna i regnet Nano – Chasing Rivers Duel 3 Martin Stenmarck – Låt skiten brinna Lisa Ajax – Torn Duel 4 Rebecka Karlsson – Who I AmArvingarna – I Do Are you happy with the way the Andra Chansen duels have been arranged? Who would you like to advance to the Final in Stockholm? Let us know your opinions and thoughts below or at social media @ESCXTRA

Tonight the final of A Dal 2019 took place to decide the representive for Hungary in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. A total of eight acts made it to the final of this years A Dal. During the final there are two rounds. In the first round each jury member will rank each act and the Top 4 of their voting will move to round two. In the second round it’s up to only the public, who will represent Hungary this year! Joci Pápai won A Dal 2019 with “Az én apám” Voting result of round one (jury only): The Top 4 made it to the second round In the second round it was 100% televoting. The audience made the following decision: Joci Pápai – “Az én apám” – WINNERAcoustic Planet – “Nyári zápor”Bence Vavra – “Szótlanság”Bogi Nagy – “Holnap” 🇭🇺 #ADal2019 As always, A Dal hands out an award for the best Acoustic Version as well. And that award goes to… USNK. You know, the group that didn't make the final but scored a major hit.— ESCXTRA (@escxtra) February 23, 2019 Joci Pápai will sing “Az én apám” in Tel Aviv and will represent Hungary for the second time …

Four semi finals in Sweden later and we know eight of the twelve finalists in this year’s Melodifestivalen! Tonight saw the seven acts from the fourth semi final perform in Lidköping. Two of them qualified to the Grand Final, while another two will perform again next week in Andra Chansen (Second Chance). As for the remaining three, unfortunately it was an early departure for them. So what happened in the end? The Results The following acts performed tonight. Direct finalists are highlighted in bold and those in italic will be going on to the Second Chance round. The remaining three results are shown in brackets. Pagan Fury – Stormbringer (7th)Anton Hagman – Känner dig (6th)Lisa Ajax – TornArvingarna – I DoBishara – On My OwnAnn-Louise Hanson – Kärleken finns kvar (5th)John Lundvik – Too Late for Love No more semi finals! We’ve come to the end of the dreaded semi final stage in Sweden. All we need now is four more finalists to qualify from Andra Chansen, which will take place next week. Here’s an overview of the acts in the Grand Final and the acts who will perform at Andra Chansen: Finalists Wiktoria – Not With MeMohombi – Hello …

It is time for yet another act joining the London Eurovision Party line-up! And this time, we’re happy to welcome royalty to the party. We are delighted to announce that Bilal Hassani will travel to Café de Paris on Sunday 14th April to attend the party. Is London prepared to welcome the French king? On just the second outing of Destination Eurovision, France selected Bilal Hassani as their entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv. He received incredible support from the French televoters, scoring more than double the points from runner-up Seemone. His song “Roi” has been written by one of the most loved Eurovision acts of the contest in Lisbon. Madame Monsieur are making a quick return to the Eurovision Song Contest after representing their country with “Mercy” last year. Last few tickets available now! The last few tickets for the show are still available and can be purchased online here. As always, the event will be a sell out with any tickets currently held for production being released two weeks before the event. Bilal Hassani is the seventh artist confirmed to perform at the London Eurovision Party 2019 after Michael Rice from the United Kingdom – our headline …

RÚV just revealed the running order in next week’s final of Söngvakeppnin 2019. Friðrik Ómar, who already represented Iceland in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, will be first on stage in the final. Running order Friðrik Ómar – Hvað ef ér get ekki elskaðKristina Bærendsen – Mama SaidTara Mobee – Fighting for LoveHera Björk – Moving OnHatari – Hatrið mun sigra Two songs in Icelandic It came as a bit of a surprise to people when RÚV earlier in the week announced that two of the songs would be performed in Icelandic in the final; “Hvað ef ég get ekki elskað?” and “Hatrið mun sigra”. Since Hatari never even released an English version of their song, it was obvious that their song would be in Icelandic. Friðrik Ómar did however release his entry in both Icelandic and English, and most people assumed he would choose the English version for the final. This means that there is actually a 40% chance that we will finally hear the Icelandic language on the Eurovision stage again! The Söngvakeppnin final The final of Söngvakeppnin 2019 takes place on 2 March in Laugardalshöll; a sports and concert venue in Reykjavik. In addition to the five …