Eurovision

Recently it was revealed that only 28 artists were interested to take part in Moldova’s national selection for Eurovision Song Contest 2019. Now the names of the songs were announced by Moldova’s broadcaster TRM. Ala Zasmenco – Emergency Anna Odobescu – Stay Tinna Gi – Virus Siaj – Olimp Gheorghe Feghiu – Laura Iana Ghurba – What if we were Irina Tarasiuc & Lume – Ca Adriano Celentano Chirill Palic – I want you to know Pelageya Stefoglo – Mi amor Vera Turcanu – Cold Iurie Sadovnic & Legenda – Robin Hood Viorela – Light up the night Viorela – Beggin Alex Bognibov – Love me like my daughter Diana Brescan – Lies Sasha Letty – Bananas Iulia Cazaceno – Soulmates Elena Croitor – Te voi canta mereu Che MD – Sub Pămînt Che MD – Yarmarokul Bufonilor Alister Mars – High Aurel Chirtoaca – La cinema Maxim Zavidia – I will not surrender Limonique – Gravity Coral Reef – Self-destruction Marcela Scripcaru – Meteor Anna Cucerenco – Do you see me? Marina Cudalb – Insieme Returning from last year’s national selection are Che MD, who finished last. Anna Odobescu, who finished fifth and Viorela, who finished second-to-last. Also returning …

28 songs have been submitted to the national final of Moldova. Artists for O Melodie Pentru Europa 2019 After announcing that Moldova will choose it’s Eurovision entry via O Melodie Pentru Europa 2019, TRM have stated that the selection of artists will include both experienced and young performers. The national broadcaster also stated that were 28 songs submitted to the process. The show’s format Today (Monday 21st), the show’s organising committee will review the song selections in line with O Melodie Pentru Europa competition rules. We will then see a Semi-Final on the 2nd March. A day later, on the 3rd March, the Grand Final will take place and Moldova will choose it’s entry to the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv. Moldova at Eurovision Moldova’s first appearance at the Eurovision Song Contest was in 2005 when the contest was held in Kyiv. The Ukrainian capital is a happy place for the Moldovan’s as the nation’s best ever result was again in Kyiv 2017. Sunstroke Project sang “Hey, Mamma!“, finishing on 374 points and an excellent 3rd place in the Grand Final.

Singer-songwriter Duncan Laurence will represent the Netherlands at the 64th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv. Who is Duncan Laurence? 24-year-old singer-songwriter Duncan Laurence graduated from the Fontys Rock Academy in Tilburg last year. He developed there as a singer, songwriter and producer and during his studies he also gained experience in London and Stockholm. He has also taken part in The Voice of Holland in 2014. He was in Ilse DeLange’s team and was eliminated just before the final. Ilse was also the one who told AVROTROS about the song they have chosen to represent the country in 2019. In recent years The Netherlands have sent well-known artists to Eurovision. Duncan Laurence hasn’t release any music yet, making Eurovision his big break-through. The past few years, the Netherlands have sent A-listed artists, those with big names. I’m not a big name, but that’s a good thing. There are many young musical talents here. My participation proves that you could get the chance to perform on such a big stage to show what you’re worth. I’m very proud that I’m going to represent The Netherlands and will give it my all. Duncan Laurence The Netherlands in Eurovision …

Ahead of the first semi-final on the 16th of February, Portuguese broadcaster RTP have released the 16 entries competing for the Portuguese ticket to Lisbon. As promised, the selection is one of the more stylistically-diverse in recent years! Back in November, RTP revealed that they received 200 songs for this year’s selection. The following month, they revealed the names of the 16 composers for the entries, along with confirming the dates. Although FdC usually takes place on Sundays, RTP have decided to move to Saturdays for this year’s edition. The dates are as follows: 16/02/2019 – Festival da Cançao Semi-final 1 23/02/2019 – Festival da Cançao Semi-final 2 02/03/2019 – Festival da Cançao Grand Final The running orders and semi final allocation are yet to be announced. The 16 FdC entries Ana Cláudia – InérciaCalema – A DoisConan Osíris – TelemóveisDan Riverman – LavaEla Limão – Mais Brilhante Que Mil SóisFilipe Keil – HojeJoão Campos – É o Que ÉLara Iaquiz – O LugarMadrepaz – Mundo a MudarMariana Bragada – Mar DoceNBC – Igual a TiMarlon – O JantarMatay – PerfeitoMila Dores – Debaixo do LuarSoraia Tavares – O Meu SonhoSurma – Pugna The 16 entries are also available in a YouTube playlist. The hosts This year’s Festival da Cançao hosts! Also revealed at the press conference today were the six hosts, two per show. Among them was Filomena Cautela, …

San Marino have chosen! The smallest country currently taking part at the Eurovision Song Contest this year in Tel Aviv will send Serhat into the ring. The song will be released in the end of February. San Marino is taking part in the contest for the tenth time and are celebrating it in Tel Aviv. Serhat was working on his new album when he got the call from San Marino RTV. San Marino is always in my heart, our friendship lasts forever and ESC 2016 was probably one of the best memories of my career. Despite my tight schedule, it didn’t take me long to decide. I am very proud to represent San Marino for the second time.Serhat The broadcaster says, that the tenth anniversary is very important for them and that’s why they decided to invite Serhat back. We were always in touch with Serhat during the last two years and now after 2016, we are fully empowered and believe that Serhat being full of interesting ideas, is the right choice in the right moment San Marino RTV Who is Serhat? Serhat is returning to the contest after representing San Marino in 2016 with “I Didn’t Know”. 54-year-old Serhat …

One of the finalists of France’s Destination Eurovision has had to change the title of his song. Silvàn Areg will no longer sing “Le Petit Nicolas”. Instead, the title will now be “Allez Leur Dire”. Copyright issues The song Silvàn Areg performed was named after a series of French children’s books, also called “Le Petit Nicolas”. The first edition of it came out in the late 1950s with René Goscinny and Jean-Jacques Sempé as creative masterminds behind the books. Silvàn took to Facebook to explain why he had to change his title. It seems the owners of the rights to the name “Le Petit Nicolas” weren’t happy with his title. He states: The song is now called “Allez Leur Dire” after the rightful owners [heirs of] Mr. Goscinny and Mr. Sempé misinterpreted our little well meant and affectionate wink, which we tried to make.Silvàn Areg on Facebook Go tell them you’re in the final! Next Saturday France will be choosing their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv. Eights acts have qualified for the Grand Final, one of which is Silvàn Areg. He wasn’t exactly a frontrunner when the semifinal started last week, but with a cleverly …

Spain have made their choice! Miki will represent the nation at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with La Venda In a 2 hour special edition of TVE’s Operación Triunfo which has now wrapped its tenth series, this year’s Spanish entry was selected from a pool of ten songs. 19-year-old Famous Oberogo, who won the competition in December, joined nine other acts to compete for a chance to represent the country in Tel-Aviv. Following live performances of each song, voting lines opened for the public to have their say. In the 100% televote, Miki received the highest number of the vote with 34% and therefore won the ticket to Tel Aviv.

Malta have chosen their finalists of X Factor. During the third live show, the Maltese made their final cuts before going into next week’s finals. Six of the eight remaining acts got to perform twice on Movie Spectacular Week. Two eliminated first The first two acts to be eliminated during the show were Kelsey Bellante and Ben Purplle. Purplle, one of the two remaining singers in the Overs category chose to perform a true Roy Orbison classic: “Pretty Woman”. The performance wasn’t received that well, with Alexandra Alden stating it certainly wasn’t his best effort, despite praise from his own mentor Ray Mercieca. Alexandra Alden was certainly having a strict day as she also criticised Kelsey Bellante’s performance. In the Girls category, the young singer opted for “Pray For Me” by The Weekend and Kendrick Lamar. Alden did like her performing skills, but added that she wants more from the vocals. Second round causes further eliminations After the theme was ditched in the second round, Malta went on to choose who their finalists would be. Hot favourite Michela Pace made it through, together with fellow Girls category participant Nicole Frendo. The only remaining act in the Overs category, Petra, was …

The Festival di Sanremo is a feast of traditions. Sometimes, they however introduce a new one. One of those new traditions is that one of the nights consists of all entrants singing together with another well known artist. For this year, RAI have announced that both Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro will feature on that night. Ermal with Simone Cristicchi, Fabrizio with Ultimo During his comeback at the Festival di Sanremo, Ermal Meta will team up with Simone Cristicchi. The 41 year old singer has previously won Sanremo back in 2007 with “Ti Regalerò Una Rosa”. This year, he’ll be singing “Abbi Cura Di Me“. Interestingly, Simone Cristicchi was the duet partner chosen by Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro last year for their “Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente”. Fabrizio Moro is also going to come back to the show. He’ll support young talent Ultimo on his debut in the Campioni category of Sanremo. The 22 year old won the Nuove Proposte last year and is now giving it a shot in the big artists category. His song will be called “I Tuoi Particolari”. Next names soon RAI have decided to only reveal the duet partners for half their acts. The …

Tonight, Spain decides their entry for Tel-Aviv in a special Operación Triunfo gala consisting of ten songs. Meanwhile in Malta, X Factor reaches its penultimate round ahead of the artist selection next week. 22:05 🇪🇸 Spain | Operación Triunfo: Especial Eurovisión Tweets by escxtra Tonight’s acts Sabela“Hoy soñaré”Noelia“Hoy vuelvo a reír otra vez”Natalia“La clave”Miki“La venda”Maria“Muérdeme”Natalia y Miki“Nadie se salva”Famous“No puedo más”Julia“Qué quieres que haga”Carlos Right“Se te nota”Marilia“Todo bien” Format In a slight change of format for from last year’s special gala, the show will consist of one round only. This year, there is no super final, no jury vote, and the public will have 100% say in who represents Spain in Tel Aviv. Oh, and expect a live performance from Eleni Foureira. The show kicks off at 22:05 CET and can be seen on La 1, TVE Internacional and online through the above stream. 20:50 🇲🇹 Malta | X Factor Tweet #xfactormalta You can interact with us on Twitter @ESCXTRA and remember to use the hashtags #OTEurovision, #XFactorMalta and #Eurovision. Who’s gonna win? Let us know!