Tel Aviv 2019

Though we are just on the cusp of Minsk for Junior Eurovision 2018, that hasn’t stopped updates for the adult contest next year. Israeli media have reported two new members have been added to the core team for Tel Aviv 2019. Both additions would be working under the vision of Ms. Zivit Davidovitch, who will be the Executive Producer for Eurovision 2019.  Who is Tal Barnea? Eagle-eyed fans may recognise Mr. Barnea by name or even recognise his face. In Lisbon Mr. Barnea was the head of delegation for Israel. During the 2016 and 2017 contests he was the deputy head of delegation for Israel. However, his interaction with Eurovision stretches all the way back to the last time the country hosted at the turn of the century in 1999! In 2005, Mr. Barnea started working at the EBU in Geneva as a project manager.  In Tel Aviv 2019, Mr. Barnea will be the Director of International Relations, acting as the coordinator of the EBU and Eurovision operations at KAN. As part of this role, he will be accountable for arranging activities with the many international partners who are involved in the production of the contest. Obviously, this will include …

The Eesti Laul 2019 semifinalists were revealed today. The line-up includes many familiar names, including Estonia’s Eurovision 2013 representative Birgit and 2014 representative Tanja as part of the group The Swingers. Stig returns as songwriter Stig Rästa, who has taken part in Estonia’s national selection every year since 2013 either as a singer or a songwriter, returns again as a songwriter. The song “Storm” is performed by Victor Crone, who has previously taken part in Melodifestivalen 2015. He performed the song “De rår vi inte för” with Behrang Miri but failed to reach the final. Estonia’s Eurovision 2013 representative Birgit and 2014 representative Tanja take part together with the group The Swingers. Tanja has written their song together with Timo Vendt and Mihkel Mattisen. Sandra Nurmsalu also returns after representing the country in Eurovision 2009 with the band Urban Symphony. She also took part in Eesti Laul 2014. Eesti Laul 2019 semifinalists Kerli Kivilaan – Cold Love, written by Kerli Kilivlaan, Egert Milder, Andres KöpperKadiah – Believe, written by Kadi PollSofia Rubina-Hunter – Deep Water, written by Sofia Rubina-Hunter, Jaanika Tenn, Oljana KalssonInger – Coming Home, written by Inger Fridolin, Karl-Ander ReismannThe Swingers – High Heels in the Neighbourhood, written …

With the Eurovision season having just started and the countries revealing their plans for next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, it seems that we might have the first artist for 2019, coming from Belgium! Valentine Brognion to represent Belgium? According to exclusive information from oikotimes.com, the Belgian Broadcaster responsible for their 2019 participation, RTBF, has opted once again for an internal selection. In particular, they are reportedly ready to announce Valentine Brognion as the Belgian representative! The broadcaster is currently silent whether Valentine will fly the Belgian flag in Tel Aviv. Who is Valentine Brognion? The 20-year old artist is the winner of The Voice Belgique 2018. If RTBF announces her as the Belgian representative, she will be following the footsteps of Roberto Bellarosa, Loïc Nottet and Blance, who were all selected by RTBF after having previously competed in The Voice. She has not released any recordings since her victory. Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest One of the founding countries in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956, Belgium has only missed three contests: 1994, 1997 and 2001. Despite this Belgium has only won the contest once, in 1986. Since the introduction of the semi-finals Belgium has struggled to qualify for …

Spanish broadcaster RTVE has announced that they have received 336 songs to date as they search for their potential entry for Eurovision 2019.  So many choices The majority of the songs submitted so far are either pop or a ballad. On the other hand, trap and heavy metal songs are less common in the bunch. Furthermore, RTVE reports that the songs they have received are in various official languages spoken in Spain. In that case, there’s a possibility that we will be hearing the likes of Catalan or Basque in these songs. Old and new faces Moreover, the songwriters of these 336 songs consist of young newcomers who are looking to enter the music industry for the first time. On the other hand, there are many familiar faces that have submitted a song, as these people have previously taken part in Eurovision. The chosen ones The deadline to submit an entry is this week, on November 15. Songwriters and producers can choose their preferred contestant from Operación Triunfo 2018. This also includes those that have already been eliminated. In addition, RTVE have reached out to professional artists and songwriters to submit their entries.  Twenty songs will be shortlisted. Once they …

As we reported back in late June, Italian broadcaster (RAI) eliminated the newcomers section of Sanremo and instead created a brand new show called Sanremo Giovani. You can now listen to the 69 potential entries!  From 69 to 24 You can now listen to the 69 potential entries from Sanremo Giovani! It may take a while to listen to all, but you can do so here! The show will take place between December 17 to 21 and will see 24 newcomers participating. The line-up will consist of 18 entrants selected through an audition round and 6 from local singers from the Sanremo Academy. They will compete for 2 places in the Sanremo Festival next February. Furthermore, the winners will also compete for victory at the Festival, something newcomers were not able to do until now. Thus, the winners may potentially be Italy’s Eurovision 2019 entrant(s)!  An effort to find new musical talents RAI says that the idea comes from the show’s Artistic Director and popular Italian singer Claudio Baglioni, who believes it is very important to strengthen RAI’s efforts to find new Italian musical talents. Before the shows, singers will have the opportunity to introduce their music and personal stories …

The submission window for Slovenia’s national final (EMA) is now officially opened and will close next December 14. RTVSLO also introduced some changes to the format compared to previous years.  No more semi-finals In 2019, there will no longer be semi-finals of EMA. Instead, the show will take place on a single night with up to 10 participants competing. During the final, a professional jury will select 2 acts that will then proceed to a superfinal. Eventually, televote will decide the winner of the duel, who will earn the right to be Slovenia’s 25th representative at Eurovision.  Only Slovenian citizenship holders may compete According to RTVSLO rules, only Slovene may compete at EMA. However, unlike last year, there are no requirements on the language of the songs as they may be performed in any language. Additionally, RTVSLO also have the option of inviting entrants to the show.  Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest Slovenia made their Eurovision debut back in 1993 with 1X band being their first representative, finishing 22nd. So far, Slovenia made 24 appearances at the contest, only missing out in 1994 and 2000 and qualified for the final on 14 occasions. To date, their best result is …

Last year, in Lisbon, Germany’s string of bad results in Eurovision came to an end when Michael Schulte came 4th with his song, You Let Me Walk Alone. This was Germany’s best result in the contest since Lena’s win with Satellite in 2010 and it appears to have spurred a lot of interest in the country. The list of songwriters taking part in the Unser lied für Tel Aviv songwriting camps has just been revealed and it is looking like Germany may be heading for another top 5 result! The 24 songwriters have spent five days supporting the six Unser lied für Tel Aviv candidates. The songs will be performed in a “preliminary round” in February. Lars Ingwersen and his team will pick which songs will advance to the Unser lied für Tel Aviv live show. Several Eurovision alumni The list of songwriters includes several previous Eurovision participants and songwriters. Tim Schou was the lead singer of the Danish band A Friend in London, who came 5th in Eurovision 2011 with their song New Tomorrow. The band went on to release an album in 2013 before disbanding in 2014. You may know Axel Ehnström by his stage name, Paradise Oskar, with …

The Reference Group welcomes three new members, but doesn’t grow bigger as three members have left the EBU committee that organises and oversees the contest. Three new faces, three new women All three new members have been appointed by the EBU, and they are all women, replacing three men, bringing a better gender balance in the Reference Group. Those three men were Edoardo Grassi, who seemingly lost his seat after loosing his job as Head of the French Delegation, Martin Österdahl, Executive Producer of the 2016 contest (who was appointed for two years) and João Nuno Nogueir, Exective Producer of the 2018 contest. Traditionally, the Executive Producers of the two previous contest are present in the Group, but this tradition was broken when the EBU did not appoint Pavlo Hrytsak (Executive Producer of the 2017 contest) last year. Despite the departure of João Nuno Nogueir, the 2018 team is still in the Group with the appointment of Carla Bugalho. Not only was she the deputy Executive Producer and the Show Producer for 2018, she is also the Portuguese Head of Delegation. As usual, the Executive Producer of the next contest has been appointed to sit in the committee. Zivit Davidovich, from …

The German national final is set for February 2019. NDR used the same system, they used for their selection this year. Who will follow Michael Schulte and his amazing place from Lisbon? Now we know the first six names for the live show in February. The first six, because the NDR is still in talks with artists to possible add to the line-up. We’ll update the article if more names get announced! Meet the participants for “Unser Lied Für Israel” © eurovision.de Aly Ryan Aly had the longest way to the songwriting camp as she lives in Los Angeles for the past five years. The 21 year old singer became popular the most on the platform Soundcloud. She released some songs and works on an album. The last Eurovision Song Contest she saw was the 2010 edition, but she is looking forward to get back to it. When it comes to clothes, Aly always wasn’t as mainstream as the others. She likes a lot of colors everywhere. Aly taught herself guitar and piano. Her songs are “a bit like a diary”. She writes about what she has experienced and wants to process – and just rather sings than says. She always wants …

After confirming their participation for Tel Aviv 2019, further details of Croatia’s returning national selection, Dora, have emerged. This comes as 2017 representative Jacques Houdek announces that he has written a song for the selection. According to Croatian news site Slobodna Dalmacija, the selection will comprise of 16 acts. The project will be overseen by HRT veteran Uršula Tolj, who was the country’s Eurovision spokesperson back in 2013. Meanwhile, Željen Klašterka has been confirmed as the Head of Delegation for Croatia. They got new rules, I count ‘em Dora, despite being used to select the Croatian entry until 2011, marks a shake-up in the Balkan nation’s selection method. Originally, HRT cancelled the show due to decreasing public interest and a string of disappointing results. Between 2016 and 2018, HRT had internally selected their entries. The most notable change is that HRT have enabled foreign songwriters to take part in the selection for the first time. However, the performer(s) still must be Croatian to be eligible. The selection will be taking part in the town of Opatija over three nights. Designed to showcase different aspects of the Croatian music scene, old and new, the breakdown of the gala shows is as follows: Chansons …