La selezione dei partecipanti all’Eurovision Song Contest spetta alle emittenti televisive competenti dei singoli stati. A loro spetta la scelta del metodo di selezione: una selezione interna (quindi cantante e/o brano vengono scelti dall’emittente stessa), come accade solitamente per San Marino o Australia, oppure può organizzare un festival musicale (il pubblico sceglie un vincitore che viene invitato a partecipare all’Eurovision Song Contest), come accade in Norvegia (Norsk Melodi Grand Prix), Svezia (Melodifestivalen), Italia (Festival di Sanremo), Grecia (Ellinikós Telikós) e molti altri. Il vincitore dell’eventuale festival però non è obbligato a partecipare all’Eurovision Song Contest né tanto meno è obbligato ad esibirsi con la canzone vincitrice, ad esempio Iva Zanicchi ha vinto il Festival di Sanremo nel 1969, in coppia con Bobby Solo, con la canzone “Zingara”, ma all’Eurovision Song Contest si presentò da sola con il brano “Due grosse lacrime bianche”. Con il tempo buona parte delle emittenti sta abbandonando la selezione interna in favore del festival musicale.

I partecipanti non devono obbligatoriamente avere vincoli di nazionalità (ad esempio nel 1988 la Svizzera vinse con la cantante canadese Céline Dion) e le canzoni non hanno restrizioni riguardanti la lingua (anche se nelle prime edizioni vigeva un obbligo di cantare in una delle lingue ufficiali del proprio paese).

L’Eurovision Song Contest 2020 avrebbe dovuto essere la 65ª edizione dell’annuale concorso canoro; la manifestazione si sarebbe svolta presso l’Ahoy Rotterdam di Rotterdam, nei Paesi Bassi, in seguito alla vittoria di Duncan Laurence nell’edizione precedente, il 12, 14 e 16 maggio 2020.

Il 18 marzo 2020, l’EBU-UER ha annunciato la cancellazione dell’evento a causa della pandemia di COVID-19 che ha coinvolto diverse regioni del mondo tra cui, più duramente, la Cina, l’Europa e gli Stati Uniti. La manifestazione verrà riorganizzata nel 2021 e discussioni sono in corso con NPO, NOS, AVROTROS e città di Rotterdam sulla riorganizzazione nella stessa città o meno.

In seguito a questa cancellazione senza precedenti, l’EBU-UER ha voluto sostituire l’evento con una serata speciale legata alla manifestazione, dal titolo Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light; che verrà trasmessa il 16 maggio, giorno in cui era prevista la finale.

Il 13 novembre 2019 era stata ufficializzata la lista definitiva degli Stati partecipanti a questa edizione, che ne prevedeva 41, come nell’edizione precedente.

Eurovision Song Contest 2019 ← Eurovision Song Contest 2020 → Eurovision Song Contest 2021 Contest

• Countries – 1ª Semi-finale. La Prima Semi-finale  si sarebbe dovuta svolgere il 12 Maggio 2020 dalle 21:00 (CEST); vi avrebbero gareggiato 17 Paesi e avrebbero votato anche Germania, Italia e i Paesi Bassi.

First half – Semi-final 1.

Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

• Participations: 5 (5 Finals)
• First participation: 2015 (Guy Sebastian)
• Best result: 2nd: 2016
• Worst result: 20th: 2018
• Nul points: None
• Victories: None
• Hosts: Never hosted
• Broadcasters: SBS
• National selection events: National final [Eurovision – Australia Decides (2019, 2020)] Internal selection [2015–2018, 2021]

Eurovision Song Contest 2020
Country	Australia
National selection
Selection process	Eurovision – Australia Decides – Gold Coast 2020
Selection date(s)	8 February 2020
Host
Presenter(s)	Joel Creasey & Myf Warhurst
Host broadcaster – Venue	SBS, Blink TV Production – Gold Coast Convention Centre, Gold Coast
Participants
Number of entries	10
Selected entrant	Montaigne
Selected song	“Don’t Break Me”
Selected songwriter(s)	Jessica Cerro, Anthony Egizii, David Musumeci
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Final result	Contest cancelled
Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2019 Kate Miller-Heidke – “Zero Gravity” • 2020 Montaigne – “Don’t Break Me” • 2021 Montaigne – “”►

Australia originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam with the song “Don’t Break Me” written by Jessica Cerro, Anthony Egizii and David Musumeci. The entry will be performed by Montaigne. The Australian broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) chose the song in the national final Eurovision – Australia Decides on 8 February 2020. However, due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Europe, the contest was cancelled.

Background: Australia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2015 by invitation from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) as a “one-off” special guest to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Eurovision. On 17 November 2015, the EBU announced that SBS had been invited to participate in the 2016 contest and that Australia would once again take part.

In 2015, Australia was guaranteed a spot in the final of the contest and was allowed to vote during both semi-finals and the final. For 2016, Australia would have to qualify for the final from one of two semi-finals and could only vote in the semi-final in which the nation was competing. Dami Im sang Sound of Silence and finished second in the 2016 contest.

In 2019, the country was represented by Kate Miller-Heidke with “Zero Gravity,” which was chosen in a national selection. Australia received ninth place in the grand final with 284 points.

Before Eurovision: 

Eurovision – Australia Decides 2020: On 29 August 2019, SBS announced that they would hold a national final to select the Australian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Eurovision – Australia Decides national final will take place at the Gold CoastConvention and Exhibition Centre on 7 and 8 February 2020, hosted by Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey.

Competing entries: On 29 August 2019, SBS announced an open submission for interested songwriters to submit their songs. The submission period lasted until 30 September 2019. SBS announced the first two participants for the national final on 8 November 2019, the next two on 19 November 2019, with the final names revealed on 16 December 2019.

Artist	Song	Language	Songwriter(s)
iOTA (Sean Hape)	“Life”	English	Jesse Watt
Jordan-Ravi	“Pushing Stars”	English	Mattias Lindblom, Tania Doko, George Sheppard, Martin Eriksson
Jaguar Jonze	“Rabbit Hole”	English	Deena Lynch, Aidan Hogg
Jack Vidgen	“I Am King I Am Queen”	English	Jack Vidgen, Andrew Lowden
Vanessa Amorosi (Vanessa Joy Amorosi)	“Lessons of Love”	English	Vanessa Amorosi, Aleena Gibson, Trevor Muzzy
Diana Rouvas	“Can We Make Heaven”	English	Diana Rouvas, Louis Schoorl
Mitch Tambo	“Together”	English, Gamilaraay	Roberto De Sa, Isabella Kearney-Nurse, Andy Hopkins
Casey Donovan	“Proud”	English	Justine Eltakchi
Montaigne (Jessica Alyssa Cerro)	“Don’t Break Me”	English	Jessica Cerro, Anthony Egizii, David Musumeci
Didirri	“Raw Stuff”	English	Didirri Peters, Oscar Dawson

Format: The Jury voted based on the performance of each act from a special preview show, which will occur the night prior to the main broadcast.  The jury consisted of:

• Josh Martin – SBS Commissioning Editor for Entertainment and Australia’s Head of Delegation at Eurovision
• Kate Miller-Heidke – winner of Australia Decides 2019
• Måns Zelmerlöw – winner of Eurovision Song Contest 2015
• Milly Petriella – APRA AMCOS Director of Member Relations
• Paul Clarke – Director of Blink TV and Creative Director of Eurovision and Eurovision – Australia Decides.

For the televote, Australia’s total votes cast by the Australia public was divided by 290 to determine the number of votes that would equal 1 point. The vote total of each act was divided by this value to determine and be rounded up to the nearest whole number to determine the points received by each act. This rounding could result in slightly more than 290 points being awarded by the public.

In the event that there is a tie in point totals, the tie will break in favour of the act with the higher number of votes from Australia’s vote. In the unlikely event the vote number from Australia’s Vote be identical, the Jury’s vote is used as the further tie-breaker.

Results: 

Final – 8 February 2020
Draw	Artist	Song	Jury	Televote	Total	Place
1	iOTA	“Life”	19	13	32	9
2	Jordan-Ravi	“Pushing Stars”	11	12	23	10
3	Jaguar Jonze	“Rabbit Hole”	18	28	46	6
4	Jack Vidgen	“I Am King I Am Queen”	19	15	34	8
5	Vanessa Amorosi	“Lessons of Love”	42	40	82	3
6	Diana Rouvas	“Can We Make Heaven”	24	18	42	7
7	Mitch Tambo	“Together”	24	33	57	5
8	Casey Donovan	“Proud”	40	60	100	2
9	Montaigne	“Don’t Break Me”	54	53	107	1
10	Didirri	“Raw Stuff”	39	24	63	4

At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big 5″ (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Australia was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. However, due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.

Semi-final:

Voting:

Points awarded to Australia (Semi-final 1):

Points awarded to Australia (Final): 

Points awarded by Australia (Semi-final 1):

Points awarded by Australia (Final): 

Split voting results: 

Split voting results from Australia (Semi-final 1):

Split voting results from Australia (Final):

Artist:

Montaigne
Background information
Birth name	Jessica Alyssa Cerro
Born	14 August 1995 (age 24)
Genres	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Origin	Art pop
Occupation(s) / Instruments	Musician / Vocals, acoustic guitar, piano
Years active	2014–present
Labels	Wonderlick
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country	Australia
Artist(s)	Montaigne
Language	English
Composer(s)	Jessica Cerro, Anthony Egizii, David Musumeci
Lyricist(s)	Jessica Cerro, Anthony Egizii, David Musumeci
Finals performance
Semi-final result / points	Contest cancelled
Final result / points	Contest cancelled
Appearance chronology
◄2019 Kate Miller-Heidke – “Zero Gravity” • 2020 Montaigne– “Don’t Break Me” • 2021 Montaigne – “” ►

Jessica Alyssa Cerro (born 14 August 1995), who performs as Montaigne, is an Australian art pop singer-songwriter-musician. Her debut album, Glorious Heights, was released on 5 August 2016, which peaked at No. 4 on the ARIA Albums Chart. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2016 she won Breakthrough Artist – Release for the album and was nominated for three other categories. In April 2016 she was a featured vocalist on Hilltop Hoods’ track, “1955”, which reached No. 2 on the ARIA Singles Chart. She would have represented Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with her song “Don’t Break Me”, however the contest was cancelled due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Europe. On 2nd April 2020, it was revealed that she would represent Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.

Biography:

Early life.Cerro was born in Sydney on 14 August 1995, and was raised in the Hills District. Her father Gus was a soccer/football player who played in the Australian National Soccer League, as well as for Negeri Sembilan FA and Pahang FA in Malaysia. Cerro has stated that her “ethnic background is a mixture of Argentinian, Spanish, Filipino and French”.

2012–13: Career beginnings. Jessica Cerro was a Triple J Unearthed High School finalist in 2012 with her indie pop song “Anyone But Me” but waited until finishing high school to pursue her music career. In November 2012, Cerro signed a publishing deal with Albert Music and spent the following two years refining her songwriting skills under the guidance of Michael Szumowski.

In late 2013, Cerro decided to adopt the moniker Montaigne, inspired by the 16th century philosopher and essayist Michel de Montaigne. Shortly after completing her HSC Montaigne began recording her debut EP with producer Tony Buchen (The Preatures, Andy Bull).

2014–16: Glorious Heights. In 2014, Montaigne released her first single “I Am Not an End”, which was added to high rotation on Triple J. In July 2014 Montaigne signed a management and recording deal with Wonderlick Entertainment. On 21 November 2014, she performed “I Am Not an End” for the radio station’s Like a Version segment, along with her cover of Sia’s “Chandelier”. The song was listed as its 36th most played song of 2014. The same day Montaigne also released her second single “I’m a Fantastic Wreck” in conjunction with the Life of Montaigne EP. “I’m a Fantastic Wreck” also received high rotation on Triple J and Sydney-based community radio station FBi Radio, which also listed the song as its eighth most played song of 2014.

Montaigne was selected by San Cisco as the support act for their Run tour in November 2014. Shortly after, she was also chosen by Megan Washington to be the main support for her February 2015 national There There tour.

In January 2015, Montaigne won FBi Radio’s Next Big Thing Award at its annual SMAC Awards, which recognises “the musicians, artists, performers, restaurants and events that shaped the Sydney’s creative culture in 2014”. Montaigne announced her first headline tour in February 2015, visiting Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth in April.

In August 2015, she released “Clip My Wings”, the first single from her debut studio album, Glorious Heights. In January 2016, Montaigne released “In the Dark”, the second single from her debut album, along with the announcement of the In the Dark Tour. A music video for the song followed in March. The following month, she featured on Hilltop Hoods’ song “1955”, which reached number 2 in Australia.

In June 2016, Montaigne released the third single from her debut album, titled “Because I Love You”. The album, Glorious Heights, was released on 5 August 2016. On 30 July, “Because I Love You” debuted at number 98 on the ARIA Singles Chart, marking Montaigne’s first solo chart appearance. In November 2016, at the ARIA Music Awards of 2016, Montaigne won the ARIA award for Breakthrough Artist – Release.

2017–present: Complex and Eurovision. On 4 May 2017, Montaigne was featured on Akouo’s single “Feel That”. In 2018, she was featured on the track “The Best Freestylers in the World” from the Aunty Donna album, The Album.

In November 2018 Montaigne released “For Your Love” as the lead single from her upcoming sophomore album. In June 2019, she released the second single “Ready” alongside the announcement that the album would be titled Complex. On 9 August 2019, the album’s third single “Love Might Be Found (Volcano)” was released. The album was released on August 30, 2019, and debuted at #19 on the ARIA albums chart.

On 6 December 2019, Montaigne, along with fellow singer Didirri, was announced as two out of the ten participating performers for Eurovision – Australia Decides the Australian national final in which the winner would represent Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song “Don’t Break Me”. On 8 February 2020, she won the competition, and would have competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, to be held in Rotterdam in May 2020, but on 18 March 2020, Eurovision announced that the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 has been cancelled due to the uncertainty created by the spread of COVID-19. On 19 March 2020, Montaigne made a Facebook post clarifying her feelings saying “I’ve had my cry. I spent a couple of hours paralysed in bed, despondently scrolling through the many lovely tweet mentions from people expressing their love and support. I imagine I’ll probably have a lot more cries in the next little while, for me and for the wonderful team who were working with me to make our vision come to life.” She stated that she agreed with the cancellation choice saying it is “the most responsible and ethical decision that the EBU could have made.” On 2 April 2020, SBS confirmed Montaigne will represent Australia at the 2021 contest.

On 16 February 2020, Montaigne appeared as part of the Hilltop Hoods’ Fire Fight Australia set, joining them for “1955”.

Song: 

“Don’t Break Me”
Single by Montaigne
Released	31 January 2020
Genre	Pop
Length	3:00
Label	Wonderlick
Songwriter(s)	Jessica Cerro, Anthony Egizii, David Musumeci
Producer(s)	DNA
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country	Australia
Artist(s)	Montaigne
Language	English
Composer(s)	Jessica Cerro, Anthony Egizii, David Musumeci
Lyricist(s)	Jessica Cerro, Anthony Egizii, David Musumeci
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Semi-final points	Contest cancelled
Appearance chronology
◄ 2019 “Zero Gravity” – Kate Miller-Heidke • 2020 “Don’t Break Me” – Montaigne • 2021 “” – Montaigne►

“Don’t Break Me” is a song by Australian singer-songwriter Montaigne, released as a single on 31 January 2020. The song won the second installment of Eurovision – Australia Decides, Australia’s national selection for Eurovision on 8 February 2020, and was going to represent Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, to be held in Rotterdam, before the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Europe caused the cancellation of the contest. Montaigne was due to compete in the first semi-final which was meant to be held on 12 May 2020.

Background: Montaigne said “‘Don’t Break Me’ is a depiction of the enough is enough phase of a relationship breakdown, where one person feels like they are putting much more time, energy and resources into the relationship than the other person and becomes frustrated and resentful. I wrote it while reading ‘Co-dependent No More’ by Melody Beattie, which really informed the qualities of the character and the relationship dynamic.”

Eurovision – Australia Decides: Montaigne performed the song wearing a clown costume including a blue wig, and flanked by  The song was awarded the most jury points (54) and second highest public televote points (53) for a total of 107, winning Australia’s second national selection competition for Eurovision.

Bielorussia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

• Participations: 16 (6 Finals)
• First participation:2004 (Aleksandra & Konstantin)
• Best result: 6th: 2007
• Worst result: 22nd SF: 2006
• Nul points: None
• Victories: None
• Hosts: Never hosted
• Broadcasters: BTRC/БТРК
• National selection events: National final [EuroFest (2004–2009, 2012–2018) Nationalny Otbor (2019)] Internal selection [2010–2011]

Eurovision Song Contest 2020
Country	Bielorussia
National selection
Selection process	Nationalny Otbor 2020 Евровидение-2020 («Национальный отборочный тур конкурса песни «Евровидение-2020» – Проект)
Selection date(s)	28 February 2020
Host
Presenter(s)
Host broadcaster – Venue	BTRC –
Participants
Number of entries	12
Selected entrant	VAL (Valeria Gribusova e Vlad Pashkevich)
Selected song	“Da vidna”  (Да вiдна, Before dawn)
Selected songwriter(s)	Uladzislaŭ Paškievič, Valeryja Hrybusava, Mikita Najdzionaŭ
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Final result	Contest cancelled
Bielorussia in the Eurovision Song Contest (◄Predecessore—Successore►)
◄2019 ZENA – “Like It” • 2020 VAL – “Da Vidna” • 2021►

Belarus originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The Belarusian broadcaster National State Television and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus (BTRC) organised a national final in order to select the Belarusian entry for the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. However, due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Europe, the contest was cancelled.

Background: Prior to the 2020 Contest, Belarus had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixteen times since its first entry in 2004. The nation’s best placing in the contest was sixth, which it achieved in 2007 with the song “Work Your Magic” performed by Dmitry Koldun. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004, Belarus had managed to qualify to the final six times. In 2019, Belarus qualified to the final with the song “Like It” performed by ZENA ending in the 24th place with 31 points.

The Belarusian national broadcaster, National State Television and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus (BTRC), broadcasts the event within Belarus and organises the selection process for the nation’s entry. The broadcaster has used both internal selections and national finals to select the Belarusian entry for Eurovision in the past. Since 2012, BTRC has organised a national final in order to choose Belarus’ entry, a selection procedure that will continue for their 2020 entry.

Before Eurovision: 

National final (Nationalny Otbor 2020 Евровидение-2020 («Национальный отборочный тур конкурса песни «Евровидение-2020» – Проект)):

Competing entries: On 18 January 2020 it was announced that 95 songs had been submitted for the national final. 49 acts were invited to perform during an audition on 27 January 2020. From this, the expert jury chose 12 finalists that would compete in the televised national final. 

Auditions – 27 January 2020
Draw	Artist	Song
1	ELEN	“Broken”
2	Natali Domini	“I Believe”
3	Veronika Tsubikоva	“True tо Myself”
4	PАULINN	“Razhadaj” (Разгадай)
5	Anastasiya Hlamоzda / Гламозда Анастасия Игоревна	“Burning Again”
6	Vitaliy Vоrоnkо	“Listen to Your Heart”
7	Ekaterina Denis	“Tvoj novyj dzień” (Твой новый дзень)
8	Parade оf Planets & Platon	“Pour lui”
9	Serzh Berkov	“I Fell in Lоve With the Devil”
10	Katrin Leоni	“Bliže” (Бліже)
11	Anna Fuks	“Fly Higher”
12	Darya Khmelnitskaya / Хмельницкая Дарья Павловна	“On Fire”
13	АLЕN HIT	“#1 Problem”
14	Ivan Zdonyuk	“Shake It Up”
15	Еlline Day	“Alien”
16	breesku & Nika De	“Chains”
17	АURА / Быкова Юлия Викторовна (AURA)	“Barany svaje” (Бараны сваё)
18	VАL / Грибусова Валерия Олеговна, Пашкевич Владислав Константинович (VAL)	“Da vidna” (Да відна)
19	Angelika Pushnоva / Пушнова Анжелика Дмитриевна	“True Love”
20	Katya & Volha	“Noy” (Ной)
21	Vitaliy Artist	“Odnim Solntsem” (Одним Солнцем)
22	Аugusta	“My Light”
23	NAPOLI / Шиманская Ольга Игоревна (NAPOLI)	“Don’t Let Me Down”
24	Apollinariya Kоvalenko	“I Will Nоt Bоw / Ya ne sdamsya” (Я не сдамся)
25	Artsem Mikhalenka	“Move”
26	Sasha Zaharik / Захарик Александра Николаевна (Саша Захарик)	“Rocky Road”
27	2mоrrоw2late	“Paradise”
28	Gabriel Kupatadze	“Silver”
29	АRSI	“Song of Peace”
30	Batareyki Ltd.	“You for Me”
31	KeySi / Смольская Екатерина Олеговна (КейСи)	“Chili Pepper”
32	Аbsоlem Clоud	“It’s OK”
33	Yan Yarosh / Ярош Ян Геннадьевич	“Fire”
34	July	“Every Hour”
35	Janet	“Flying Free”
36	Alyona Gоrbachyova	“Mоments оf Lоve”
37	Anastasiya Razvadоvskaya / Развадовская Анастасия Александровна	“Hello”
38	Mariya Demenkоva	“Shake”
39	NЕZАBUDKI	“Paradise”
40	PRОvоkatsiya	“Suddenly”
41	Аlena Grand & Pasha Pashkevich	“Can You Feel”
42	Yulia Glebova & Chas Speak	“Pajdziem sa mnoj” (Пайдзем са мной)
43	CHАKRАS / Григорьева Ольга Игоревна, Яночкина Юлия Викторовна, Кауфман Светлана Григорьевна (Группа CHAKRAS)	“La-ley-la”
44	Tani Faredо	“Travel Lifestyle”
45	Polina Krasnovskaya	“Impuls tоka” (Импульс тока)
46	PАVLОNI	“Stones of My Soul”
47	Alexey Gross	“Don’t Fear”
48	Jenifer	“Making Our Universe”
49	Anastasiya Malashkevich / Вахомчик Анастасия Игоревна (Малашкевич Анастасия)	“Invisible”

–

Artist	Song	Composer(s)
Anastasiya Malashkevich	“Invisible”	Niklas Bergqvist, Ylva Persson, Linda Persson, Simon Johansson
Angelika Pushnоva	“True Love”	Oleg Sidorov, Anastasiya Belyavskaya, Nikos Sofis
АURА	“Barani svajo” (Барані сваё)	Evgeniy Oleynik
CHАKRАS	“La-ley-la”	Max Aleinikov
Darya Khmelnitskaya	“On Fire”	Lexy Weaver
KeySi	“Chili Pepper”	D. Bain, Dmitry Fomich, M. Duke
NAPOLI	“Don’t Let Me Down”	Michael James Down, Will Taylor, Rafaela Truda
Nastasea	“Hello”	Anastasiya Razvadоvskaya, Sasha Guris, Vitaly Penzin
Nastya Glamozda	“Burning Again”	Anastasiya Hlamоzda, Dmitry Piven
Sasha Zaharik	“Rocky Road”	Sasha Zaharik
VАL	“Da vidna” (Да відна)	Uladzislaŭ Paškievič, Valeryja Hrybusava, Mikita Najdzionaŭ
Yan Yarosh	“Fire”	Yan Yarosh, Matthew Douglas Funnell

Final (28 February 2020) – The televised final will take place on 2020 at the “600 Metrov” studio in Minsk. The national final will consist of up to twelve competing acts participating in a televised production where the winner will be determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from a professional jury and a public telephone vote.

Draw	Artist	Song	Jury	Televote		Total	Place
1	NAPOLI	“Don’t Let Me Down”	2	373	3	5	9
2	Sasha Zaharik	“Rocky Road”	4	371	2	6	8
3	Anastasiya Malashkevich	“Invisible”	8	499	4	12	5
4	CHАKRАS	“La-ley-la”	6	2190	12	18	2
5	Nastya Glamozda	“Burning Again”	1	305	1	2	10
6	Nastasea	“Hello”	0	258	0	0	12
7	Yan Yarosh	“Fire”	12	706	6	18	3
8	Angelika Pushnоva	“True Love”	5	634	5	10	6
9	Darya Khmelnitskaya	“On Fire”	0	261	0	0	11
10	АURА	“Barani svajo”	3	812	7	10	7
11	KeySi	“Chili Pepper”	7	1010	8	15	4
12	VАL	“Da vidna”	10	1494	10	20	1

—

Detailed Jury Votes
Draw	Song	S. Karlsen	D. Koldun	W.L. Adams	O. Vorobyova	Zena	A. Panayi	T. Eshkoli	Y. Seleznyov	J. Levieva-Sawyer	Total	Points
1	“Don’t Let Me Down”	6	2	4	3	6	2		4	2	29	2
2	“Rocky Road”		3	2	5	3	6	6	8	10	43	4
3	“Invisible”	10	8	10	10	8	4	5	6	3	64	8
4	“La-ley-la”	7	4	5		7	12	12	5	7	59	6
5	“Burning Again”	2			6				10		18	1
6	“Hello”	1			2	4		2			9	0
7	“Fire”	8	12	12	12	1	10	10	7	8	80	12
8	“True Love”	5	7	6	1	5	7	8	3	5	47	5
9	“On Fire”	4	1	1			3	3		1	13	0
10	“Barani svajo”		5	3	7	2	1	7	1	4	30	3
11	“Chili Pepper”	12	10	8	4	10	5	4	2	6	61	7
12	“Da vidna”	3	6	7	8	12	8	1	12	12	69	10

Promotion:

At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big 5” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Belarus was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. However, due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.

Semi-final:

Voting:

Points awarded to Bielorussia (Semi-final 1):

Points awarded to Bielorussia (Final):

Points awarded by Bielorussia (Semi-final 1):

Points awarded by Bielorussia (Final):

Split voting results:

Split voting results from Bielorussia (Semi-final 1):

Split voting results from Bielorussia (Final):

 Artist: 

VAL
Background information
Birth name	VAL (Гурт Валерыі Грыбусавай (Valeria Gribusova) і Уладзіслава Пашкевіча (Vladislav Pashkevich) «VAL»)
Born
Genres	House, R&B, Pop, Hip-Hop
Origin
Occupation(s)
Years active	2016 –present
Labels	MediaCube Music
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country	Belarus
Artist(s)	VAL (Valeria Gribusova e Vlad Pashkevich)
Language	Belarussian
Composer(s)	Uladzislaŭ Paškievič, Valeryja Hrybusava
Lyricist(s)	Mikita Najdzionaŭ
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Semi-final points	Contest cancelled
Appearance chronology
◄2019 ZENA – “Like It” • 2020 VAL – “Da vidna” (Да вiдна, Before dawn) • 2021►

VAL is a band that would have represented Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam with the song “Da vidna”, although it was canceled due to the coronavirus.

The band’s lead singer is Valeria Gribusova. Vlad Pashkevich is the keyboardist and does the sampling and production.

Valerie Gribusova participated in The Voice Ukraine and won a vocal competition at the Slavic Bazaar festival. Vlad Pashkevich produced Belarus’ Eurovision 2017 entry Story Of My Life by Naviband and has collaborated with various global brands.

Experimenting with genres such as house, R&B, pop, hip-hop, and many other, VAL have been pushing the boundaries of their music and live performances since 2016. With influences of vogue and fashion, the duo consistently surprises fans with extravagant looks. Valerie and Vlad first met in 2015, with the little help of their friends. Their first single, Who Are You, was entirely written and produced by the duo. In May 2017, VAL released their first EP In My Room, which consisted of 5 tracks, mixing house with R&B, along with other electronic musical influences. It helped the duo begin their live performances, along with session drummer and keyboardist. Since then, VAL performed as an opening act for Cream Soda, Zivert, Beissoul & Einius and other famous artists.

In 2018, VAL was featured a ToneTwins’ track, where Valerie first experimented with folk vocal influences. On 14 September 2018, VAL released the single Aftermath, along with their first professional music video. The track became a radio hit in Belarus. Their creative path continued to unfold into 2019: VAL released the single Safe Haven, where Vlad sang lead vocals alongside Valerie for the first time.

Near the end of 2019, the duo decided to put themselves forward for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 and, together with lyricist Mikita Naidzenau, wrote Da Vidna. The single was released in January, and one month later an acoustic version was released along with the music video, shot in one take. On 28 February, the song won the National Selection contest in Belarus and became the Belarusian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020.

Song: 

“Da vidna” (Да вiдна, Before dawn)
Single by VAL
Released	2020
Format	Digital download, streaming
Length	2:55
Label	–
Songwriter(s)	Mikita Najdzionaŭ
Producer(s)	Vladislav Paškevič
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country	Belarus
Artist(s)	VAL
Language	Belarussian
Composer(s)	Uladzislaŭ Paškievič, Valeryja Hrybusava
Lyricist(s)	Mikita Najdzionaŭ
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Semi-final points	Contest cancelled
Appearance chronology
◄ 2019 “Like It” – ZENA • 2020 “Da vidna” (Да вiдна, Before dawn) – VAL • 2021►

“Da Vidna” (Да вiдна, Before dawn) is a song performed by Belarussian band VAL that will represent Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Eurovision Song Contest: The song will represent Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after VAL was selected through the Belarus national selection. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Belarus was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.

Irlanda in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

• Participations: 53 (45 Finals)
• First participation: 1965 (Butch Moore)
• Best result: 1st: 1970, 1980, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996
• Worst result: Last: 2007, 2013, 2019 SF
• Nul points: None
• Victories:1970 (Dana), 1996 (Eimear Quinn), 1980 (Johnny Logan), 1987 (Johnny Logan), 1992 (Linda Martin), 1993 (Niamh Kavanagh), 1994 (Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan)
• Hosts: Dublin 1997, Dublin 1995, Dublin 1994, Millstreet 1993, Dublin 1988, Dublin 1981, Dublin 1971
• Broadcasters: RTÉ, RÉ, TG4
• National selection events: National final [National Song Contest (1965–1982, 1984–1986) Eurosong (1987–2001, 2008–2015) You’re a Star (2003–2005) The Late Late Show (2006–2007)] Internal selection [2016–2021]

Eurovision Song Contest 2020
Country	Ireland
National selection
Selection process	Internal selection
Selection date(s)	March 5 2020
Host
Presenter(s)	–
Host broadcaster – Venue	–
Participants
Number of entries	–
Selected entrant	Lesley Roy
Selected song	“Story Of My Life”
Selected songwriter(s)	Lesley Roy, Robert Marvin, Catt Gravitt, Tom Shapiro
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Final result	Contest cancelled
Irlanda in the Eurovision Song Contest (◄Predecessore—Successore►)
◄2019 Sarah McTernan – “22” • 2020 Lesley Roy – “Story Of My Life” • 2021 – “”►

Ireland originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The Irish national broadcaster, Radio-Television of Ireland – RTÉ selected internally Lesley Roy with the song “Story of My Life” to represent Ireland in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. However, due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Europe, the contest was cancelled.

Background: 

Before Eurovision: 

Internal selection: On 5 March 2020, RTÉ announced Lesley Roy as the Irish entrant at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song “Story of My Life”.

Promotion:

At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big 5” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Ireland was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. However, due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.

Semi-final:

Voting:

Points awarded to Irlanda (Semi-final 1):

Points awarded to Irlanda (Final):

Points awarded by Irlanda (Semi-final 1):

Points awarded by Irlanda (Final):

Split voting results:

Split voting results from Irlanda (Semi-final 1):

Split voting results from Irlanda (Final):

Artist: 

Lesley Roy
Background information
Birth name	Lesley Roy
Born	17 September 1986 (age 33) Dublin, Ireland
Genres	Alternative rock, pop rock
Origin	Balbriggan, Dublin, Ireland
Occupation(s)	–
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Jive Records
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country	Ireland
Artist(s)	Lesley Roy
Language	English
Composer(s)	Lesley Roy, Robert Marvin, Catt Gravitt, Tom Shapiro
Lyricist(s)	Lesley Roy, Robert Marvin, Catt Gravitt, Tom Shapiro
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Semi-final points	Contest cancelled
Appearance chronology
◄2019 Sarah McTernan – “22” • 2020 Lesley Roy – “Story of My Life” • 2021 – “”►

Lesley Roy (born 17 September 1986) is a singer-songwriter from Balbriggan in Dublin, Ireland. She was signed to an independent Irish label and in 2006, licensed to US label, Jive Records. She released her debut album, Unbeautiful in 2008, which was executive produced by Max Martin. Until switching her focus to songwriting, and attracting the attention of Marc Jordan, the manager credited for launching the career of Rihanna and owner of Rebel One Management & Publishing. As a songwriter Roy has experienced international success with releases for artists including Adam Lambert, Miss Montreal, Medina, Jana Kramer, and Marlee Scott.

Unbeautiful (2008–2009): Jive Records A&R Jeff Fenster noticed Roy’s work at HitQuarters, and agreed to jointly finance Roy’s first album project. The debut album, titled Unbeautiful was released on 30 September 2008. According to Soundscan Unbeautiful sold 45,000 albums and 350,000 digital downloads. The album peaked on Billboard’s Top Heatseekers chart at No. 5. Her first single “I’m Gone, I’m Going” was the 48th most played song on Hot AC radio stations for the week ending 24 June 2008, then charted at No. 36 on Billboard’s Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks and No. 61 on Billboard’s Pop 100 Airplay chart. “I’m Gone, I’m Going” was the theme tune for MTV’s show Exiled, and was featured on an episode of The Hills. Roy appeared on FNMTV on 18 July 2008, to release the track’s video. “I’m Gone, I’m Going” was highlighted as a downloadable track in Rock Band 2. Her second single was “Unbeautiful”, the title track from the album. It peaked on Billboard’s Pop 100 Airplay chart at No. 39 and was also featured on an episode of The Hills. “Thinking Out Loud” was also featured on an episode of The Hills. The song “Slow Goodbye” was co-written by Katy Perry. Other songwriters who collaborated on Unbeautiful with Roy include Max Martin, Dr. Luke, Rami Yacoub, Savan Kotecha, Desmond Child, Dave Hodges, Emanuel Kiriakou, Kara DioGuardi, Greg Wells, Mitch Allen and Andreas Carlsson. Also notable is that Unbeautiful was mixed by Chris Lord-Alge. In early 2009, Roy provided tour support on a 32-city tour for American Idol runner-up and hit recording artist David Archuleta. In late 2009, Roy paid tribute to her Irish roots by recording a cover of U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Names” for a video montage featured in the New York City Marathon airing worldwide.

Songwriting (2010–present): Under the management of Benjamin Tischker at Wide Eyed Entertainment, Roy signed to Marc Jordan’s Rebel One Publishing then placed three songs with Wal-Mart’s debut artist, Ashlyne Huff, for her album, Let It Out, released on 7 June 2011. While working on Huff’s album, Roy teamed up with some of the industry’s biggest talents including, The Writing Camp, Eric Bellinger and Jerrod Bettis. On 13 April 2012, Dutch singer-songwriter, Miss Montreal, released I Am Hunter which Roy co-wrote three songs including the title track and single, “I Am Hunter”, that reached No. 28 on the Dutch Top 40 chart. Roy also co-wrote the proceeding single “Better When It Hurts” and “Everything”. On 15 May 2012, American singer, Adam Lambert released Trespassing, his second studio album, which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, marking Roy’s first co-write on a No. 1 album for the track “Pop That Lock” included on Trespassing. Roy collaborated with Danish production team, DEEKAY, Tim McEwan and Johannes Jørgensen on “Waiting for Love” for Danish singer, Medina’s album, Forever, released on 1 June 2012, in Europe through EMI. Also in June 2012, Roy released two country music co-writes. “Goodbye California” with American actress of One Tree Hill and country music singer, Jana Kramer, for her self-titled debut album. Then joining back up with Desmond Child to co-write, “Rhinestone in the Rough” for Canadian country singer-songwriter Marlee Scott’s album Beautiful Maybe. In 2016 she provided the lead vocals for the Entrance Theme of WWE-Superstar Ember Moon in collaboration with CFO$ for the song “Free the Flame”. The song is as of 2020 still used for Ember Moon.

Eurovision Song Contest 2020: On March 5 2020 it was announced by RTE that Roy was chosen to represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song ”Story of My Life”. She will perform in the first semi final on May 10 2020. However, on March 18th 2020, the event was cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak. It is currently unknown if Roy will represent Ireland in the 2021 event.

Personal life: Roy has been married to her American wife since 2010.

Song: 

“Storm of my life”
Single by Lesley Roy
Released	13 March 2020
Format	Digital download, streaming
Length	3:05
Label	Universal
Songwriter(s)	Lesley Roy, Robert Marvin, Catt Gravitt, Tom Shapiro
Producer(s)
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country	Ireland
Artist(s)	Lesley Roy
Language	English
Composer(s)	Lesley Roy, Robert Marvin, Catt Gravitt, Tom Shapiro
Lyricist(s)	Lesley Roy, Robert Marvin, Catt Gravitt, Tom Shapiro
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Semi-final points	Contest cancelled
Appearance chronology
◄ 2019 “22” – Sarah McTernan • 2020 “Story Of My Life” – Lesley Roy • 2021 “” – ►

“Story of My Life” is a song by Irish singer-songwriter Lesley Roy. The song will represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020.

Background: The Irish broadcaster RTÉ invited established songwriters and artists to submit songs from which they, in conjunction with 2FM, made a shortlist and chose their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. For the first time in Irish Eurovision history, RTÉ has selected acclaimed theatre and events production company THISISPOPBABY to work on staging and the creative direction of Ireland’s entry. Head of the Ireland Delegation for Eurovision 2020, Michael Kealy said, “We are extremely excited about Lesley Roy and this year’s Irish entry, Story Of My Life. The song is fresh and uplifting, it’s a banger, and we are very much looking forward to working with Lesley and THISISPOPBABY in preparation for our performance on the biggest music stage in the world in Rotterdam in May.” Creative Director, Phillip McMahon said, “We are thrilled and proud to be asked to be on Team Ireland for Eurovision 2020. It’s a celebration of Irish creativity and we couldn’t be more excited for Rotterdam. As Creative Directors, our vision is simple, we want to encourage Irish artists, musical and visual, to get involved in future years – to show them that this contest is modern and fun and an incredible platform for their creativity.” Lesley Roy said, “We wanted something uptempo and triumphant, which centres around overcoming your difficulties in life and getting back up again.”

Eurovision Song Contest: The song was meant to represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Lesley Roy was internally selected by the national broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Ireland was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.

Music video: A music video to accompany the release of “Story of My Life” was first released onto YouTube on 5 March 2020. The video was directed by Kate Dolan. When talking about the music video, Roy said, “The music video was so fun to shoot. Kate Dolan totally came up with a treatment that would work in showing the triumphant energy that here we are shining bright and ready to have fun. It completely captures what I wanted to create in the song. Kate understood that it wasn’t supposed to show people being angry or sad, but show that we can and we will defy them, rise up and throw a massive dance party to celebrate!”

Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

• Participations: 20 (13 Finals)
• First participation: 1994 (Ovidijus Vyšniauskas)
• Best result: 6th: 2006
• Worst result: Last SF: 2005
• Nul points: 1994
• Victories: None
• Hosts: Never hosted
• Broadcasters: LRT
• National selection events: National final [1999, 2001–2002, 2004–2008 Lietuvos Dainų Daina (2009) Eurovizija (2010–2012) “Eurovizijos” dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka (2013–2019) Pabandom iš naujo! (2020-2021)] Internal selection [1994]

Eurovision Song Contest 2020
Country	Lithuania
National selection
Selection process	„Pabandom iš naujo!” 2020 („Let’s try again!” 2020)
Selection date(s)	Heats: 11.01.2020, 18.01.2020, 25.01.2020 Semi-finals: 01.02.2020, 08.02.2020 Grand Final: 15.02.2020
Host
Presenter(s)	Ieva Zasimauskaitė (Green Room), Gabrielė Martirosianaitė ir Giedrius Masalskis
Host broadcaster – Venue	LRT – Heats / Semi-finals: LRT–Studios, Vilnius Final: Žalgirio Arena, Kaunas
Participants
Number of entries	36
Selected entrant	The Roop
Selected song	“On Fire”
Selected songwriter(s)	Vaidotas Valiukevičius, Robertas Baranauskas, Mantas Banišauskas
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Final result	Contest cancelled
Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest (◄Predecessore—Successore►)
◄2019 Jurij Veklenko – “Run with the Lions” • 2020 The Roop – “On Fire” • 2021►

Lithuania originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The Lithuanian broadcaster LRT televizija (LRT) organised the national final Pabandom iš naujo! (“Let’s try again!”) to select the Lithuanian entry for the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. However, due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.

Background: Prior to the 2020 Contest, Lithuania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty times since its first entry in 1994. The nation’s best placing in the contest was sixth, which it achieved in 2006 with the song “We Are the Winners” performed by LT United. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004, Lithuania, to this point, has managed to qualify to the final nine times.

In 2019, Lithuania was represented by Jurijus and the song “Run with the Lions”, the country failed to qualify to the final, ending in 11th place in the second semi-final with 93 points.

For the 2020 Contest, the Lithuanian national broadcaster, Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT), will broadcast the event within Lithuania and will organise the selection process for the nation’s entry. Other than the internal selection of their debut entry in 1994, Lithuania has selected their entry consistently through a national final procedure.

Before Eurovision: 

„Pabandom iš naujo!” 2020 (Let’s try again! 2020″): 

Competing entries: Artists and songwriters were able to submit their song entries from 30 September 2019 to 8 December 2019. LRT received more than 60 submissions. However, only 36 songs were chosen to compete at the selection. All participants were revealed on 3 January 2020. On 2 February 2020, before the upcoming semifinal, Evgenya Redko withdrew from the competition because of pain due to spinal hernia.

Artist	Song (English Translation)	Composer(s)
Abrokenleg	“Electric Boy”	Aistė Motiejūnaitė, Darjuš Loznikov, Edvard Ragoža, Adas Gecevičius
aika	“Paradas” (Parade)	Jekaterina Fiodorova
Aistay	“Dangus man tu” (You’re the sky for me)	Aistė Tomkevičiūtė-Pajaujienė
Aistė Pilvelytė (Aistė Pilvelytė-Motiekienė)	“Everlastingly”	Thomas G:son, Johnny Sanchez
Alen Chicco	“Somewhere Out There”	Tomas Alenčikas, Faustas Venckus
Andy Vaic	“Why Why Why”	Andrius Vaicenavičius
Antturi	“I Gotta Do”	Žeraldas Povilaitis, Marija Povilaitė
Grupė „Baltos Varnos“	“Namų dvasia” (Spirit of home)	Milda Andrijauskaitė-Bakanauskienė, Teresė Andrijauskaitė
Bernardas	“Dad, Don’t Be Mad at Me”	Bernardas Garbačauskas
Donata Virbilaitė	“Made of Wax”	Christopher Wortley, Niko Westelinck, Hannah Brine, DWB
Evgenya Redko	“Far”	Asaf Yehuda, Evgenya Redko, Rolands Venckys
Gabrielius Vagelis	“Tave čia randu” (I find you here)	Gabrielius Vagelis
Germantas Skoris	“Chemistry (Breaking Free)”	Germanas Skoris
Grupė „Glossarium“	“Game Over”	Saulius Šivickas, Tadas Kaminskas, Lukas Gubanovas, Aivaras Daniel, Aurimas Jazdauskas
Indraya	“You and I”	Andrius Bernatonis, Joel Wayman
Justina Žukauskaitė	“Breathe In”	Samuel Bugia Garrido, Justina Žukauskaitė
Justinas Lapatinskas	“High Way Story”	Justinas Stanislovaitis, Justinas Lapatinskas, Marius Matulevičius
KaYra	“Alligator”	Kristina Radžiukynaitė, Marius Leskauskas
Kristina Jure	“My Sound of Silence”	Aurimas Papečkys
Lukas Bartaška	“Where Is That Change?”	Leonardas Pilkauskas, Lukas Bartaška
Lukas Norkūnas	“Atsiprašyk” (Be sorry)	Lukas Norkūnas
MEANDI	“DRIP”	Saulius Šemiotas
Monika Marija	“If I Leave”	Monika Marija Paulauskaitė, Marius Leskauskas
Moniqué (Monika Pundziūtė)	“Make Me Human”	Vytautas Bikus
Nombeko Augustė	“Reikia man” (I need)	Kasparas Barisas, Nombeko Augustė Khotseng
Petunija	“Show Ya”	Agnė Šiaulytė, Kęstutis Vaitkevičius, Adas Gecevičius
Rokas Povilius	“Vilnius Calling”	Rokas Povilius
Ruslanas Kirilkinas	“Soldier’s Heart”	Edgaras Lubys
Ruta Loop	“We Came from the Sun”	Rūta Žibaitytė, Kasparas Meginis, Edgaras Žaltauskas, Paulius Vaicekauskas
Soliaris (Algimantas Minalga)	“Breath”	Rolandas Venckys, Viktoras Olechnovičius, Algimantas Minalga, Ray Andre
Grupė „The Backs“	“Fully”	Berta Timinskaitė, Artiomas Penkevičius, Algė Matekūnaitė, Eglė Gadeikytė, Silvija Pankūnaitė
Grupė „The ROOP“ (Vaidotas Valiukevičius, Robertas Baranauskas ir Mantas Banišauskas)	“On Fire”	Vaidotas Valiukevičius, Robertas Baranauskas, Mantas Banišauskas
Grupė „Twosome“	“Playa”	Justinas Stanislovaitis, Paulius Šinkūnas, Marius Matulevičius
Viktorija Miškūnaitė	“The Ocean”	Jacob Jonia, Viktorija Miškūnaitė
Vitalijus Špokaitis	“Nemušk savęs” (Don’t hit yourself)	Dominykas Vaitiekūnas, Rolandas Venckys, Dovydas Kiauka
Voldemars Petersons	“Wings of Freedom”	Voldemars Petersons

Shows: The national selection show Pabandom iš naujo! 2020 began on 11 January 2020. The first three shows were the elimination heats where half the acts were eliminated each week. The results of each of the shows were determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and public televoting.

Pirma laida / Heat 1 (11 January 2020). The first heat was filmed on 7 January 2020 and aired on 11 January 2020. The members of the jury consisted of Darius Užkuraitis, Gerūta Griniūtė, Giedrė Kilčiauskienė, Vaidotas Stackevičius and Leon Somov.

Draw	Artist	Song	Jury		Public		Total
			Votes	Points	Televote	Points	Votes	Place
1	Glossarium	„Game over“	18	4	218	2	3	8
2	Baltos Varnos	„Namų dvasia“	46	10	592	10	10	2
3	Justinas Lapatinskas	„High way story“	8	1	43	0	1	10
4	Aistay	„Dangus man tu“	11	2	228	3	2	9
5	Petunija	„Show ya“	24	6	240	5	5	6
6	Lukas Norkūnas	„Atsiprašyk“	1	0	83	0	0	12
7	Donata Virbilaitė	„Made of wax“	4	0	125	1	0	11
8	Andy Vaic	„Why why why“	22	5	466	7	6	5
9	Aika	„Paradas“	18	4	237	4	4	7
10	MEANDI	„Drip“	46	10	461	8	8	3
11	Monika Marija	„If I leave“	54	12	1006	12	12	1
12	Gabrielius Vagelis	„Tave čia randu“	38	7	394	6	7	4

Antra laida /  Heat 2 (18 January 2020). The second heat was filmed on 15 January 2020 and aired on 18 January 2020. The members of the jury consisted of Darius Užkuraitis, Gerūta Griniūtė, Aistė Smilgevičiūtė (ESC 1999), Jievaras Jasinskis (ESC 2010 „Inculto“) and Viktoras Diawara (ESC 2001 „SKAMP“ and ESC 2006 „LT United“). 

Draw	Artist	Song	Jury		Public		Total
			Votes	Points	Televote	Points	Votes	Place
1	Rūta Loop	„We came from the sun“	45	10	523	7	8	3
2	Soliaris	„Breath“	22	5	179	1	4	7
3	Kristina Jure	„My sound of silence“	28	6	1071	12	10	2
4	Alen Chicco	„Somewhere out there“	39	8	522	6	6	5
5	Indraya	„You and I“	3	0	264	2	0	11
6	Germanas Skoris	„Chemistry“	18	4	428	4	5	6
7	Viktorija Miškūnaitė	„The ocean“	34	7	670	8	7	4
8	Antturi	„I gotta do“	11	1	266	3	2	9
9	Abrokenleg	„Electric boy“	14	3	142	0	1	10
10	Twosome	„Playa“	4	0	517	5	3	8
11	Monique	„Make me human“	60	12	851	10	12	1
12	Voldemars Petersons	„Wings of freedom“	12	2	155	0	0	-12

Trečia laida / Heat 3 (25 January 2020). The third heat was filmed on 21 January 2020 and aired on 25 January 2020. The members of the jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys, Jievaras Jasinskis, Leon Somov, Monika Linkytė (ESC 2015 with Vaidas Baumila) and Vaidas Stackevičius.

Draw	Artist	Song	Jury		Public		Total
			Votes	Points	Televote	Points	Votes	Place
1	The Backs	„Fully“	12	2	757	7	5	6
2	Bernardas	„Dad, don’t be mad at me“	2	0	703	6	2	9
3	Justina Žukauskaitė	„Breathe in“	10	1	239	1	0	11
4	Rokas Povilius	„Vilnius calling“	26	6	526	5	6	5
5	KaYra	„Alligator“	33	7	1240	8	8	3
6	Lukas Bartaška	„Where is that change?“	1	0	93	0	0	12
7	Evgenya Redko	„Far“	50	10	423	4	7	4
8	Ruslanas Kirilkinas	„Soldier’s heart“	17	4	383	3	3	8
9	Nombeko Augustė	„Reikia man“	26	6	247	2	4	7
10	Vitalijus Špokaitis	„Nemušk savęs“	13	3	183	0	1	10
11	Aistė Pilvelytė	„Unbreakable“	46	8	1692	10	10	2
12	The ROOP	„On fire“	54	12	2175	12	12	1

Semi-Finals: 

Pirmasis pusfinalis / Semi-final 1 (1 February 2020). The first semi-final was aired on 1 February 2020. The members of the jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys, Andrius Mamontovas (ESC 2006 „LT United“), Monika Linkytė (ESC 2015 with Vaidas Baumila), Giedrė Kilčiauskienė and Vaidas Stackevičius.

Draw	Artist	Song	Jury		Public		Total
			Votes	Points	Televote	Points	Votes	Place
1	KaYra	„Alligator“	34	7	2080	8	8	3
2	Viktorija Miškūnaitė	„The ocean“	11	2	862	3	2	9
3	Baltos varnos	„Namų dvasia“	32	6	1258	7	6	5
4	Rūta Loop	„We came from the sun“	35	8	1224	6	7	4
5	Gabrielius Vagelis	„Tave čia randu“	24	4	576	2	3	8
6	The ROOP	„On fire“	45	10	5192	12	10	2
7	Kristina Jure	„My sound of silence“	19	3	963	4	4	7
8	Alen Chicco	„Somewhere out there“	29	5	1096	5	5	6
9	Aistė Pilvelytė	„Unbreakable“	56	12	2521	10	12	1

Antrasis pusfinalis / Semi-final 2 (8 February 2020). The second semi-final was aired on 8 February 2020. Evgenya Redko, who qualified from the 3rd heat, withdrew her song “Far” on 2 February because of pain due to a spinal hernia. The members of the jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys, Giedrė Kilčiauskienė, Jievaras Jasinskis, Leon Somov and Gerūta Griniūtė.

Draw	Artist	Song	Jury		Public		Total
			Votes	Points	Televote	Points	Votes	Place
1	Meandi	„DRIP“	40	8	486	6	8	3
2	Petunija	„Show ya“	23	4	195	3	4	7
3	Germanas Skoris	„Chemistry“	33	7	339	5	6	5
4	Monique	„Make me human“	54	10	2618	12	10	2
5	Rokas Povilius	„Vilnius calling“	26	5	588	7	5	6
6	Monika Marija	„If I leave“	56	12	1652	10	12	1
7	Andy Vaic	„Why why why“	15	3	321	4	3	8
8	The Backs	„Fully“	28	6	606	8	7	4

Finalas / Grand Final (15 February 2020). The Grand Final was streamed on 15 February 2020. The members of the Lithuanian jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys, Leon Somov, Vaidas Stackevičius, Viktoras Diawara (ESC 2001 „SKAMP“ and ESC 2006 „LT United“), Gerūta Griniūtė, Aistė Smilgevičiūtė (ESC 1999), Jazzu and Simona Albavičiūtė-Bandita. International jury members consisted of Zita Kaminska, Myles Jessop and Anthony Marshall. Due to the high influx of SMS votes, around 25,000 votes sent via phone or SMS were delayed and were considered in the final score. TCG Telecom contacted the organizers the following day and, in co-operation with auditor Grand Thornton Baltic, adjusted the scores. These changes did not change the final ranked order but increased The Roop’s winning margin.

Draw	Artist	Song	Jury		Public				Total
			Votes	Points	Televote	Changes	Televote	Points	Votes	Place
1	Aistė Pilvelytė	„Unbreakable“	62	5	6478	891	7370	8	6	5
2	Rūta Loop	„We came from the sun“	75	7	1528	338	1866	6	7	4
3	KaYra	„Alligator“	47	4	1109	199	1308	5	4	7
4	Monika Marija	„If I leave“	87	8	5439	1131	6570	7	8	3
5	Meandi	„DRIP“	63	6	467	236	703	3	5	6
6	The Roop	„On fire“	128	12	34585	15554	50139	12	12	1
7	The Backs	„Fully“	42	3	682	284	966	4	3	8
8	Monique	„Make me human“	101	10	10366	5596	15962	10	10	2

Promotion:

At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big 5” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Lithuania was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. However, due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.

Semi-final:

Voting:

Points awarded to Lituania (Semi-final 1):

Points awarded to Lituania (Final):

Points awarded by Lituania (Semi-final 1):

Points awarded by Lituania (Final):

Split voting results:

Split voting results from Lituania (Semi-final 1):

Split voting results from Lituania (Final):

Artist: 

The Roop
Background information
Birth name	The Roop (Vaidotas Valiukevičius, Robertas Baranauskas, Mantas Banišauskas)
Born	The Roop (Vaidotas Valiukevičius, Robertas Baranauskas, Mantas Banišauskas)
Genres	Pop rock, soft rock, dance-rock, electronica, indie
Origin	Vilnius, Lithuania
Occupation(s)
Years active	2014–present
Labels	Musica Publica
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country	Lithuania
Artist(s)	The Roop
Language	English
Composer(s)	Vaidotas Valiukevičius, Robertas Baranauskas, Mantas Banišauskas
Lyricist(s)	Vaidotas Valiukevičius
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Semi-final points	Contest cancelled
Appearance chronology
◄2019 Jurij Veklenko – “Run with the Lions” • 2020 The Roop – “On Fire” • 2021►

The Roop are a Lithuanian pop rock band from Vilnius. Formed in 2014, the group consists of Vaidotas Valiukevičius, Robertas Baranauskas, and Mantas Banišauskas. The group has released two albums—To Whom It May Concern in 2015 and Ghosts in 2017–as well as the extended play Yes, I Do in 2018. They were to represent Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with their song “On Fire” after winning their country’s national selection, before the contest was cancelled as a result of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Europe.

Eurovision Song Contest: The Roop attempted to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest twice. They took part in Lithuania’s 2018 national selection with the song “Yes, I Do”. In the final, they received 16,491 votes (the second-highest ranking) from the public and came third overall. The Roop returned for the 2020 edition, Pabandom iš naujo! 2020, in the final of which it won both the public vote (with 50,139 votes) and the jury vote. The Roop was thus set to represent Lithuania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in May that year, before that event was cancelled.

Song: 

“On Fire”
Single by The Roop
Released	14 January 2020
Format	Digital download, streaming
Length	2:50
Label	Musica Publica
Songwriter(s)	Vaidotas Valiukevičius, Robertas Baranauskas, Mantas Banišauskas
Producer(s)
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country	Lithuania
Artist(s)	The Roop
Language	English
Composer(s)	Vaidotas Valiukevičius, Robertas Baranauskas, Mantas Banišauskas
Lyricist(s)	Vaidotas Valiukevičius
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Semi-final points	Contest cancelled
Appearance chronology
◄ 2019 “Run with the Lions” – Jurij Veklenko • 2020 “On Fire” – The Roop • 2021►

“On Fire” is a song by Lithuanian pop-rock band The Roop. It will represent Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The song was released as a digital download on 14 January 2020.

Eurovision Song Contest: The song will represent Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after The Roop was selected through Pabandom iš naujo! Let’s try again! 2020, the music competition that selects Lithuania’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Lithuania was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.

North Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

• Participations: 19 (9 Finals)
• First participation: 1998 (Vlado Janevski)
• Best result: 7th: 2019
• Worst result: 18th SF: 2018
• Nul points: None
• Victories: None
• Hosts: Never hosted
• Broadcasters: MKRTV/МКТВ
• National selection events: National final [Skopje Fest (1998, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2008–2011, 2015) Nacionalen Evrosong (2006–2007)] Internal selection [2004, 2012–2014, 2016–2020]

Eurovision Song Contest 2020
Country	Macedonia del Nord
National selection
Selection process	Internal selection
Selection date(s)	Artist: 05.01.2020 Song: 08.03.2020
Host
Presenter(s)	–
Host broadcaster – Venue	–
Participants
Number of entries	1
Selected entrant	Vasil (Vasil Garvanliev, Васил Гарванлиев)
Selected song	“YOU”
Selected songwriter(s)	Nevena Neskoska, Kalina Neskoska, Alice Schroeder, Javier Lloret de Muller, Darko Dimitrov, Lazar Cvetkovski
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Final result	Contest cancelled
Macedonia del Nord in the Eurovision Song Contest (◄Predecessore—Successore►)
◄2019 Tamara Todevska – “Proud” • 2020 Vasil – “YOU” • 2021►

North Macedonia originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song “YOU”, performed by Vasil (Vasil Garvanliev, Васил Гарванлиев). The entry, written and produced by Nevena Neskoska alongside Alice Schroeder and Kalina Neskoska. Javier Lloret de Muller, Darko Dimitrov and Lazar Cvetkovski provided additional production, was selected internally by the national broadcaster MRT. However, due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Europe, the contest was cancelled.

Background: 

Before Eurovision: 

Internal Selection:

Competing entries: 

Promotion:

At Eurovision:

Semi-final:

Voting:

Points awarded to Macedonia del Nord (Semi-final 1):

Points awarded to Macedonia del Nord (Final):

Points awarded by Macedonia del Nord (Semi-final 1):

Points awarded by Macedonia del Nord (Final ):

Split voting results:

Split voting results from Macedonia del Nord (Semi-final 1):

Split voting results from Macedonia del Nord (Final):

Artist: 

Vasil
Background information
Birth name	Vasil Garvanliev (Васил Гарванлиев)
Born	2 November 1984 (age 35) Strumica, SR Macedonia, SFR Yugoslavia (today North Macedonia)
Genres	–
Origin	–
Occupation(s)	Singer
Years active	–
Labels	–
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country	North Macedonia
Artist(s)	Vasil Garvanliev (Васил Гарванлиев)
Language	English
Composer(s)	Nevena Neskoska, Kalina Neskoska, Alice Schroeder
Lyricist(s)	Nevena Neskoska, Javier Lloret de Muller, Darko Dimitrov, Lazar Cvetkovski
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Semi-final points	Contest cancelled
Appearance chronology
◄2019 Tamara Todevska – “Proud” • 2020 Vasil – “YOU” • 2021►

Vasil Garvanliev (Macedonian: Васил Гарванлиев; born 2 November 1984 in Strumica), also known mononymously as Vasil, is a Macedonian singer. He was due to represent North Macedonia with the song “You” in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam before the show was cancelled.

Career.

Eurovision Song Contest. Garvanliev was a backing vocalist for the Macedonian entry “Proud”, performed by Tamara Todevska, at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. On 15 January 2020, it was announced that he had been internally selected by the national broadcaster MRT to represent North Macedonia in the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

 Song: 

“YOU”
Single by Vasil
Released	8 March 2020
Format	Digital download, streaming
Length	3:00
Label	Independent
Songwriter(s)	Nevena Neskoska, Kalina Neskoska, Alice Schroeder
Producer(s)	Nevena Neskoska, Javier Lloret de Muller, Darko Dimitrov, Lazar Cvetkovski
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country	North Macedonia
Artist(s)	Vasil Garvanliev
Language	English
Composer(s)	Nevena Neskoska, Kalina Neskoska, Alice Schroeder
Lyricist(s)	Nevena Neskoska, Javier Lloret de Muller, Darko Dimitrov, Lazar Cvetkovski
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Semi-final points	Contest cancelled
Appearance chronology
◄ 2019 “Proud” – Tamara Todevska • 2020 “YOU” – Vasil • 2021►

“You” is a song recorded by Macedonian singer Vasil Garvanliev. The song was written and produced by Nevena Neskoska alongside Alice Schroeder and Kalina Neskoska. Javier Lloret de Muller, Darko Dimitrov and Lazar Cvetkovski provided additional production.

The song was scheduled to represent North Macedonia in the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, after being internally selected by the national broadcaster MRT. However, the contest was later cancelled due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Background.

Composition. Lasting three minutes, the English-language song, “You”, was composed by Macedonian composer Nevena Neskoska and written by the latter together with Alice Schroeder and Kalina Neskoska. Along with Nevena Neskoska and Javier Lloret de Muller, Macedonian producers Darko Dimitrov and Lazar Cvetkoski were also helmed for the record’s production process.

Promotion. An accompanying music video for “You” was officially premiered onto the YouTube channel of the Eurovision Song Contest on 8 March 2020. The vibrant video was directed by Milena Vitman and produced by Jellmaz Dervishi while it was solely edited and recorded by Gjorgi Vacev. Visually, its message is an “invitation for everyone to connect, open up, dance, and celebrate the moment”.

At Eurovision. The 2020 Eurovision Song Contest was scheduled to take place in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, consisting of two semi-finals on 12 May and 14 May 2020, and the grand final on 16 May 2020. Each participating country, except the host country and the Big 5, is required to qualify from one of two semi-finals to compete for the grand final. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. North Macedonia was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. In March 2020, the European Broadcasting Union cancelled the contest due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China and its spread to other countries.

Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

• Participations: 22 (21 Finals)
• First participation: 1994 (Youddiph)
• Best result: 1st: 2008
• Worst result: 15th SF: 2018
• Nul points: None
• Victories: 2008 (Dima Bilan)
• Hosts: Moscow 2009
• Broadcasters: C1R, ORT, RTR (VGTRK/ВГТРК, Channel One/Первый канал)
• National selection events: National final [Skopje Fest (1994, 2005, 2008–2010, 2012) Nacionalen Evrosong (2006–2007)] Internal selection [1995, 1997, 2000–2004, 2006–2007, 2011, 2013–2016, 2018–2020]

Eurovision Song Contest 2020
Country	Russia
National selection
Selection process	Internal Selection
Selection date(s)	Artist: 02.03.2020 Song: 12.03.2020
Host
Presenter(s)	–
Host broadcaster – Venue	–
Participants
Number of entries	–
Selected entrant	Little Big
Selected song	“UNO”
Selected songwriter(s)	Denis Tsukerman, Ilia Prusikin, Viktor Sibrinin
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Final result	Contest cancelled
Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest (◄Predecessore—Successore►)
◄2019 Sergey Lazarev – “Scream” • 2020 Little BIG – “UNO”  • 2021►

Russia originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song “UNO” (One), performed by Little Big. The entry, written and produced by Denis Tsukerman, Ilia Prusikin, Viktor Sibrinin. The video features Yuriy Muzychenko from The Hatters and Florida Chanturia from Leningrad, “extended” members who were to join the band during the contest. Little Big had been internally selected by the national broadcaster Channel One / Первый канал, Pervyy kanal, First Channel) (VGTRK/ВГТРК, Channel One / Первый канал). However, due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Europe, the contest was cancelled.

Background:

Before Eurovision: 

Internal Selection:

Competing entries: 

Promotion:

At Eurovision:

Semi-final:

Voting:

Points awarded to Russia (Semi-final 1):

Points awarded to Russia (Final):

Points awarded by Russia (Semi-final 1):

Points awarded by Russia (Final ):

Split voting results:

Split voting results from Russia (Semi-final 1):

Split voting results from Russia (Final):

Artist: 

Little BIG
Background information
Birth name	Little Big (Ilya “Ilich” Prusikin, Sonya Tayurskaya, Anton “Boo” Lissov, Sergey “Gokk” Makarov / Илья (Ильич) Прусикин, Софья Таюрская, Антон Лиссов, Сергей (Gokk) Макаров)
Born
Genres	Rave,pop, hip-hop, EDM
Origin	Saint Petersburg, Russia
Occupation(s)
Years active	2013–present
Labels	Little Big Family
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country	Russia
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
Semi-final points
Appearance chronology
◄2019 Sergey Lazarev – “Scream” • 2020 “UNO” – Little Big • 2021►

Little Big is a Russian rave band founded in 2013 in Saint Petersburg. The band consits of Ilya “Ilich” Prusikin, Sergey Gokk Makarov, Sonya Tayurskaya, and Anton Boo Lissov. Their first full-length album, With Russia from Love, was released on 17 March 2014. The group has released three albums and nine singles.

History. The band made its debut on 1 April 2013, releasing their first video Every Day I’m Drinking. They made their first public appearance on 2 July 2013 at the club A2, opening for Die Antwoord.

They have toured in Europe, Russia, and North America. “This music is really in demand. We have not invested a single penny, just shot video, and became known in Europe”, Ilya Prusikin said in an interview with UTV.

On 19 December 2015, the band released their second album, Funeral Rave. It was 8th on the Russian iTunes chart for the 52nd week of 2015.On 21 May 2016, videos for the songs Give Me Your Money and Big Dick received a prize at the Berlin Music Video Awards 2016. Big Dick won Most Trashy, and Give Me Your Money won third place for Best Performer. Big Dick, with over 60 million views, is full of sexual imagery and overtones.

“We just want to show people that they own their lives. Countries and governments are not as important as they think, a person can deal with what he wants”, said frontman Ilya Prusikin on the purpose of the band in an interview with Noisey.

The band has its own label “Little Big Family”, which includes Little Big (2016–present), The Hatters [ru] (2016–present), Tatarka (2016–present), Khleb [ru] (2017–present), and Lizer [ru] (2018–present.

In April 2018 Olympia Ivleva decided to leave the band. Later that year she stated her “burnout after five years of doing the same job”, combined with intention to start her own non-musical businesses (chocolate paste and lingerie), were the reasons behind her exit.

Little Big achieved viral success with the release of the video for “Skibidi” on 6 October 2018. The video features a dance that became popular when others tried to imitate it as part of the “Skibidi Challenge”.

In March 2020, Little Big released the video for “UNO”, Russia’s entry for Eurovision Song Contest. The video features Yuriy Muzychenko from The Hatters and Florida Chanturia from Leningrad, “extended” members who were to join the band during the contest. However, on March 18th 2020, the event was cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

Musical style. Less than a half of Little Big’s 738 millions yearly YouTube views were from Russia, as for March 13, 2020.

The team calls itself a satirical art collaboration, which relies on the music, visuals, and the show. Little Big mocks various national stereotypes about Russia. All the videos are filmed by co-founder Alina Pasok. The band shoots and produces all of their music videos.

Since the first concert took place as the opening act for Die Antwoord, the band was dubbed “The Russian Die Antwoord”, and is often compared with this band. Vice also called Little Big “a Russian mental patient’s answer to Die Antwoord”. Other critics point out that while Little Big has an identity of its own, it also exposes the listener to Russian folk songs and Russian culture.

The band was influenced by a variety of musicians from Cannibal Corpse, NOFX, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rammstein, and The Prodigy to Mozart and Vivaldi.

Song: 

“UNO”
Single by Little Big
Released	13 March 2020
Format	Digital download, streaming
Length	2:40
Label	Little Big Family, Warner Music Russia
Songwriter(s)	Denis Tsukerman, Ilia Prusikin, Viktor Sibrinin
Producer(s)	Little Big
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country	Russia
Artist(s)	Little Big
Language	English, Spanish
Composer(s)	Denis Tsukerman, Ilia Prusikin, Viktor Sibrinin
Lyricist(s)	Denis Tsukerman, Ilia Prusikin
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Semi-final points	Contest cancelled
Appearance chronology
◄ 2019 “Scream” – Sergey Lazarev • 2020 “UNO” –  Little Big • 2021►

“Uno” (stylized as “UNO”; Spanish for One) is an English-Spanish language song recorded by Russian rave group Little Big. It was due to represent Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 before its cancellation. The song was released as a digital download and for streaming on 13 March 2020.

Eurovision Song Contest. The song was due to represent Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 after Little Big had been internally selected by the Russian broadcaster, Channel One. The song would have performed in one of the two semi-finals. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would have performed in. Russia was placed into the first semi-final, which was to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. However Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was cancelled due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus.

Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

• Participations: 25 (15 Finals)
• First participation: 1993 (1X Band)
• Best result: 7th: 1995, 2001
• Worst result: Last: 2013 SF
• Nul points: None
• Victories: None
• Hosts:Never hosted
• Broadcasters: RTVSLO
• National selection events: National final [Slovenski izbor za Pesem Evrovizije (1993, 1995) EMA (1996–1999, 2001–2012, 2014–2020)] Internal selection [2013]

Eurovision Song Contest 2020
Country	Slovenia
National selection
Selection process	EMA Freš, EMA 2020
Selection date(s)	EMA FREŠ: Duels (04.11.2019-20.11.2019), Weekly finals (08.11.2019-22.11.2019), Second chance (25.11.2019-06.12.2019), Final (18.02.2020) EMA 2020 Final: 22.02.2020
Host
Presenter(s)	EMA Freš:  Bojan Cvjetićanin, Klemen Kopina, Denis Živčec, Maja Pinterič in Rebeka Tomc, EMA:
Host broadcaster – Venue	RTV SLO –
Participants
Number of entries	EMA Freš: 18, EMA: 10
Selected entrant	Ana Soklič
Selected song	“Voda” (Water)
Selected songwriter(s)	Ana Soklič, Bojan Simončič
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Final result	Contest cancelled
Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest (◄Predecessore—Successore►)
◄2019 Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl – “Sebi” • 2020 Ana Soklič – “Voda” • 2021►

Slovenia originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The Slovenian broadcaster Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTVSLO) will use the national selection EMA 2020 to decide their representative. However, due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.

Background: Prior to the 2020 Contest, Slovenia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-five times since its first entry in 1993. Slovenia’s highest placing in the contest, to this point, has been seventh place, which the nation achieved on two occasions: in 1995 with the song “Prisluhni mi” performed by Darja Švajger and in 2001 with the song “Energy” performed by Nuša Derenda. The country’s only other top ten result was achieved in 1997 when Tanja Ribič performing “Zbudi se” placed tenth. Since the introduction of semi-finals to the format of the contest in 2004, Slovenia had thus far only managed to qualify to the final on six occasions. In 2018, Slovenia was represented by Lea Sirk and the song “Hvala, ne!”, which qualified to the final and placed twenty-second. One year later, in 2019, Slovenia qualified for the final again with Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl, finishing in fifteenth place with the song “Sebi”.

The Slovenian national broadcaster, Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV Slovenija), broadcasts the event within Slovenia and organises the selection process for the nation’s entry. The Slovenian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest has traditionally been selected through a national final entitled Evrovizijska Melodija (EMA), which has been produced with variable formats. To this point, the broadcaster has only foregone the use of this national final in 2013 when the Slovenian entry was internally selected. For 2020, the broadcaster opted to organise EMA 2020 to select the Slovenian entry.

Before Eurovision: On 1 August 2019 RTVSLO announced the launch of their national final EMA 2020 and the associated competition, EMA FREŠ. EMA FREŠ acted as a preselector for EMA itself, with eighteen artists participating at EMA FREŠ and two qualifying for EMA 2020. EMA FREŠ was held in late 2019.

EMA FREŠ:

Format: EMA FREŠ took place in late 2019, beginning on 4 November 2019 and finishing on 6 December 2019. All competing artists must be under the age of 26 and have three or less released songs. Eighteen songs in total have been chosen for the competition, which will take place online. 

Two competing songs were released every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 4-20 November 2019 (inclusive). Online voters picked their preferred song of the two released each day, with the winners of each of these duels moving forward to another round on the Friday of that week (8, 15 or 22 November 2019). Online voters picked one song to qualify for the EMA FREŠ final, and a jury picked another qualifier. Two songs qualified each week for three weeks, leaving six songs in the final. The remaining twelve competing entries went through the same process again, with duels on 25-27 November 2019 and 2-4 December 2019 and the next rounds on the 29th of November or the 6 December 2019. After this process was complete, ten songs qualified for the EMA FREŠ final.

Competing entries:

Artist	Song (English Translation)	Composers(s)
Alfirev	“Črno bela lika” (Black and white figure)	Patrik Šimenc, Žan Vončina, Tia Alfirev
Astrid in Avantgarden	“Sing to Me”	Astrid Ana Kljun, Janez Hace, Martin Štibernik
Klarity	“Diham” (I’m breathing)	Klara Klasinc Brglez, Primož Jurendić, Niki Kozoderc
Lana Hrvatin	“Dream”	Lana Hrvatin, Enej Žagar
Ljudmila Frelih	“Vztrajaj, ker je vredno” (Persevere because it’s worth it)	Damjan Pančur, Sara Jagrič
Marko Škof	“Hočem da je vse kot prej” (I want everything as before)
Marmoris	“Moj pristan” (My haven)	Matic Skok, Blaž Horvat, Andraž Kos
Martina	“Pleši” (Dance)
Nuša Pliberšek	“Življenje je čarovnija” (Life is magic)
Parvani Violet	“Cupid”	Veronika Steiner, Anže Zaveršnik, Aljaž Šumej, Florjan Ajdnik, Jaka Jeršič, Anže Lečnik
Petra Ceglar	“Srce naglas” (Heart out loud)	Petra Ceglar
Pia Nina	“Tukaj in zdaj” (Here and now)	Pia Nina Stružnik Štefe, Jernej Kržič
Sara Petešić	“Sanjaj/Dream”
Saška	“Še kar lovim tvoj nasmeh” (I’m still chasing your smile)	Jure Skaza, Matic Mlaka, Martin Bezjak
Soulution	“Eno” (One)	Patrik Mrak, Nace Jordan
Stella	“Ne vem, če sem v redu” (I don’t know if I’m okay)	Špela Jezovšek – Stella, Blaž Hribar, Gaber Marolt
Tilen Lotrič	“Jaz in ti” (Me and you)
Younite	“The Cure”	Jakob Zlatinšek, Pija Lucija Kralj

Dnevni dvoboji / Duels (4-20 November):

Duels		Internet votes		Result
Artist	Song	Votes	Percentage (%)
Duel 1 – 4 November 2019
Stella	“Ne vem, če sem v redu”	869	52,07%	Advanced
Pia Nina	“Tukaj in zdaj”	800	47,93%	Second chance
Duel 2 – 5 November 2019
Soulution	“Eno”	1150	46,26%	Second chance
Younite	“The Cure”	1336	53,74%	Advanced
Duel 3 – 6 November 2019
Astrid in Avantgarden	“Sing to Me”	811	41,87%	Second chance
Martina	“Pleši”	1126	58,13%	Advanced
Duel 4 – 11 November 2019
Klarity	“Diham”	1098	56,98%	Advanced
Tilen Lotrič	“Jaz in ti”	829	43,02%	Second chance
Duel 5 – 12 November 2019
Marko Škof	“Hočem da je vse kot prej”	688	41,62%	Second chance
Petra Ceglar	“Srce naglas”	965	58,38%	Advanced
Duel 6 – 13 November 2019
Parvani Violet	“Cupid”	1008	74,39%	Advanced
Sara Petešič	“Sanjaj/Dream”	347	25,61%	Second chance
Duel 7 – 18 November 2019
Saška	“Še kar lovim tvoj nasmeh”	1240	81,63%	Advanced
Ljudmila Frelih	“Vztrajaj, ker je vredno”	279	18,37%	Second chance
Duel 8 – 19 November 2019
Nuša Pliberšek	“Življenje je čarovnija”	847	50,48%	Advanced
Alfirev	“Črno bela lika”	831	49,52%	Second chance
Duel 9 – 20 November 2019
Marmoris	“Moj pristan”	723	56,62%	Advanced
Lana Hrvatin	“Dream”	554	43,38%	Second chance

Tedenski finali / Weekly finals (8-22 November):

Artist	Song	Jury	Internet votes		Result
			Votes	Place
Final 1 – 8 November 2019
Stella	“Ne vem, če sem v redu”	2	669	2	Finalist
Younite	“The Cure”	1	1148	1	Finalist
Martina	“Pleši”	3	558	3	Second chance
Final 2 – 15 November 2019
Klarity	“Diham”	3	799	1	Finalist
Petra Ceglar	“Srce naglas”	2	617	3	Second chance
Parvani Violet	“Cupid”	1	766	2	Finalist
Final 3 – 22 November 2019
Saška	“Še kar lovim tvoj nasmeh”	1	773	1	Finalist
Nuša Pliberšek	“Življenje je čarovnija”	3	516	3	Second chance
Marmoris	“Moj pristan”	2	679	2	Finalist

Poraženci I in Poraženci II / Second chance (25 November–6 December) :

Artist	Song	Internet votes		Result
		Votes	Percentage (%)
Duel 1 – 25 November 2019
Pia Nina	“Tukaj in zdaj”	429	73,08%	Advanced
Sara Petešič	“Sanjaj/Dream”	158	26,92%	Eliminated
Duel 2 – 26 November 2019
Marko Škof	“Hočem da je vse kot prej”	277	47,43%	Eliminated
Nuša Pliberšek	“Življenje je čarovnija”	307	52,57%	Advanced
Duel 3 – 27 November 2019
Alfirev	“Črno bela lika”	1050	54,89%	Advanced
Soulution	“Eno”	863	45,11%	Eliminated
Duel 4 – 2 December 2019
Lana Hrvatin	“Dream”	324	66,26%	Advanced
Martina	“Pleši”	165	33,74%	Eliminated
Duel 5 – 3 December 2019
Astrid in Avantgarden	“Sing to Me”	808	55,46%	Advanced
Petra Ceglar	“Srce naglas”	649	44,54%	Eliminated
Duel 6 – 4 December 2019
Ljudmila Frelih	“Vztrajaj, ker je vredno”	240	47,06%	Eliminated
Tilen Lotrič	“Jaz in ti”	270	52,94%	Advanced

—

Artist	Song	Jury	Internet Votes		Result
			Votes	Percentage (%) – Place
Final 1 – 29 November 2019
Pia Nina	“Tukaj in zdaj”	1	337	2 – 22,01 %	Finalist
Nuša Pliberšek	“Življenje je čarovnija”	3	260	3 – 16,98 %	Eliminated
Alfirev	“Črno bela lika”	2	934	1 – 61,01 %	Finalist
Final 2 – 6 December 2019
Lana Hrvatin	“Dream”	2	326	2 – 33,10 %	Finalist
Astrid in Avantgarden	“Sing to Me”	1	398	1 – 40,41 %	Finalist
Tilen Lotrič	“Jaz in ti”	3	261	3 – 26,50 %	Eliminated

Finale / Final: The contest was held on 18 January 2020 at RTV Slovenija Studio 2 in Ljubljana. The ten songs that qualified from the weekly finals and the second chance round competed in the final for one of the two spots in EMA 2020. One song was determined by a public vote, and another by the jury to compete in EMA 2020. The jury consisted of Urša Mihevc, Rok Ahačevčič and Jernej Vene.

Final – 18 January 2020
Draw	Artist	Song	Jury	Televote		Result
1	Stella	“Ne vem, če sem v redu”	9	588	2	Eliminated
2	Younite	“The Cure”	4	417	7	Eliminated
3	Alfirev	“Črno bela lika”	6	461	6	Eliminated
4	Klarity	“Diham”	8	474	4	Eliminated
5	Marmoris	“Moj pristan”	10	464	5	Eliminated
6	Saška	“Še kar lovim tvoj nasmeh”	5	684	1	Finalist
7	Pia Nina	“Tukaj in zdaj”	3	154	10	Eliminated
8	Lana Hrvatin	“Dream”	7	211	9	Eliminated
9	Parvani Violet	“Cupid”	1	570	3	Finalist
10	Astrid in Avantgarden	“Sing to Me”	2	285	8	Eliminated

EMA 2020: EEMA 2020 was the 24th edition of the Slovenian national final format Evrovizijska Melodija (EMA). The competition was organised by RTV Slovenija to select Slovenia’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020.

Competing entries: Artists and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between 1 August 2019 and 18 November 2019. 74 entries were received by the broadcaster during the submission period. An expert committee consisting of Raiven (musician and singer), Mojca Menart (head of the publishing business of ZKP RTV SLO) and Jernej Vene (music editor for Radio Val 202) selected ten artists and songs for the competition from the received submissions. The competing artists were announced on 20 December 2019. Among the competing artists, Bozidar Wolfand Wolf was previously competed in the 1986 Yugoslav final and was also a backing singer for Yugoslavia at the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest, while Lina Kuduzović represented Slovenia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015, finishing third, and Tinkara Kovač represented Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014.

Final. EMA 2020 took place on 22 February 2020 at the RTV Slovenija Studio 1 in Ljubljana, hosted by comedian, actor and television anchor Klemen Slakonja. The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a three-member jury panel selected two entries, “Voda” performed by Ana Soklič and “Man Like U” performed by Lina Kuduzović, to proceed to the second round. The jury consisted of Maja Keuc (singer, represented Slovenia in 2011), Darja Švajger (singer and vocal coach, represented Slovenia in 1995 and 1999) and Nuša Derenda (singer, represented Slovenia in 2001). In the second round, a public vote selected the song “Voda” performed by Ana Soklič as the winning entry.

Final – 22 February 2020
Draw	Artist	Song	Composer(s)	Place	Result
1	Simon Vadnjal	“Niši sam” (You’re not alone)	Kevin Koradin, Clifford Goilo, Simon Vadnjal	4	Eliminated
2	Saška	“Še kar lovim tvoj nasmeh”	Jure Skaza, Matic Mlakar	4	Eliminated
3	Gaja Prestor	“Verjamem vase” (I believe in myself)	Žan Serčič, Gaja Prestor	7	Eliminated
4	Ana Soklič	“Voda” (Water)	Ana Soklič, Bojan Simončič	1	Advanced
5	INMATE	“The Salt”	Andrej Bezjak, Marko Duplišak, Miha Oblišar, Jure Grudnik	7	Eliminated
6	Manca Berlec	“Večnost” (Eternity)	Patrik Šimenc, Manca Berlec	10	Eliminated
7	Tinkara Kovač	“Forever”	Aleš Klinar, Anja Rupel	4	Eliminated
8	Božidar Wolfand – Wolf	“Maybe Someday”	Grigor Koprov, Božidar Wolfand Wolf, Helena Banič Wolfand	12	Eliminated
9	Parvani Violet	“Cupid”	Veronika Steiner, Anže Zaveršnik, Aljaž Šumej, Florjan Ajdnik, Jaka Jeršič, Anže Lečnik	3	Eliminated
10	Klara Jazbec	“Stop the World”	Ed Fisher, Ani Cordero, Klara Jazbec	7	Eliminated
11	Imset	“Femme Fatale”	Jaka Peterka, Dejan Macura, Blaž Horvat, Jaka Ažman, Matej Pečaver, Rok Lunaček	11	Eliminated
12	Lina Kuduzović	“Man Like U”	Lina Kuduzović	2	Advanced

—

Superfinale / Superfinal – 22 February 2020
Draw	Artist	Song	Televote	Place
1	Ana Soklič	“Voda”	5035 (53,54%)	1
2	Lina Kuduzović	“Man Like U”	4369 (46,46%)	2

Promotion:

At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big 5” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Slovenia was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. However, due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.

Semi-final:

Voting:

Points awarded to Slovenia (Semi-final ):

Points awarded to Slovenia (Final):

Points awarded by Slovenia (Semi-final ):

Points awarded by Slovenia (Final ):

Split voting results:

Split voting results from Slovenia (Semi-final ):

Split voting results from Slovenia (Final):

Artist: 

Ana Soklič
Background information
Birth name	Anna Soklich (Ana Soklič, Diona Dim, Diona Dimm)
Born	1984 (age 35–36) Municipality of Bohinj, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia
Genres	Pop
Origin	–
Occupation(s) – Instruments	Singer, songwriter – Vocals
Years active	2004–present
Labels	–
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country	Slovenia
Artist(s)	Ana Soklič
Language	Slovene
Composer(s)	Ana Soklič, Bojan Simončič
Lyricist(s)	Ana Soklič
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Semi-final points	Contest cancelled
Appearance chronology
◄2019 Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl – “Sebi” • 2020 Ana Soklič – “Voda” • 2021►

Ana Soklič (born 1984) is a Slovenian singer.

Career. On 20 December 2019, Soklič was announced as one of the twelve participants in EMA 2020, the national contest in Slovenia to select the country’s Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry, with the song “Voda”. On 22 February 2020, she won the contest and was supposed to represent Slovenia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. However, the contest was cancelled on 18 March 2020 due to coronavirus pandemic.

Song: 

“Voda”
Single by Ana Soklič
Released	20 March 2020
Format	Digital download, streaming
Length	3:01
Label	ZKP RTVSLO
Songwriter(s)	Ana Soklič, Bojan Simončič
Producer(s)	Žiga Pirnat
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country	Slovenia
Artist(s)	Ana Soklič
Language	Slovene
Composer(s)	Ana Soklič, Bojan Simončič
Lyricist(s)	Ana Soklič
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Semi-final points	Contest cancelled
Appearance chronology
◄ 2019 “Sebi” – Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl • 2020 “Voda” – Ana Soklič • 2021►

“Voda” (English: Water) is a song recorded by Slovenian singer Ana Soklič. Soklič wrote lyrics, while also composing the music alongside Bojan Simončič. It will represent Slovenia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Eurovision Song Contes. RTVSLO allowed artists and composers to submit their entries for EMA 2020 between 1 August and 19 November 2019 for the selection of their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. On 20 December 2019, Soklič was confirmed as one of the 12 participants in EMA 2020 with the song “Voda”. The song will represent Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Soklič was selected through EMA 2020, the music competition that selects Slovenia’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest on 22 February 2020. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Slovenia was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.

Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

• Participations: 59 (58 Finals)
• First participation: 1958 (Alice Babs)
• Best result: 1st: 1974, 1984, 1991, 1999, 2012, 2015
• Worst result: Last: 1963, 1977
• Nul points: 1963
• Victories: 1974 (ABBA), 1991 (Carola), 1999 (Charlotte Nilsson), 1984 (Herrey’s), 2012 (Loreen), 2015 (Måns Zelmerlöw)
• Hosts: Stockholm 2016, Malmö 2013, Stockholm 2000, Malmö 1992, Gothenburg 1985, Stockholm 1975
• Broadcasters: SVTS, RTV4
• National selection events: National final [Melodifestivalen (1959–1963, 1965–1969, 1971–1975, 1977– 2020)] Internal selection [1958]

Eurovision Song Contest 2020
Country	Sweden
National selection
Selection process	Melodifestivalen 2020
Selection date(s)	Semi-finals: 01.02.2020, 08.02.2020, 15.02.2020, 22.02.2020 Second Chance: 29.02.2020 Final: 07.03.2020
Host
Presenter(s)	David Sundin, Linnea Henriksson, Lina Hedlund
Host broadcaster	SVT
Participants
Number of entries	28
Selected entrant	The Mamas (Ashley Haynes, Loulou Lamotte, Dinah Yonas Manna)
Selected song	“Move”
Selected songwriter(s)	Melanie Wehbe, Patrik Jean, Herman Gardarfve
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Final result	Contest cancelled
Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest (◄Predecessore—Successore►)
◄2019 John Lundvik – “Too Late for Love” • 2020 The Mamas – “Move”  • 2021►

Sweden originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) organises the national final Melodifestivalen 2020 in order to select the Swedish entry for the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. However, due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.

Background: Prior to the 2020 contest, Sweden had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-nine times since its first entry in 1958. Sweden had won the contest on six occasions: in 1974 with the song “Waterloo” performed by ABBA, in 1984 with the song “Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley” performed by Herreys, in 1991 with the song “Fångad av en stormvind” performed by Carola, in 1999 with the song “Take Me to Your Heaven” performed by Charlotte Nilsson, in 2012 with the song “Euphoria” performed by Loreen, and in 2015 with the song “Heroes” performed by Måns Zelmerlöw. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004, Sweden’s entries, to this point, have featured in every final except for 2010 when the nation failed to qualify.

The Swedish national broadcaster, Sveriges Television (SVT), broadcasts the event within Sweden and organises the selection process for the nation’s entry. Since 1959, SVT has organised the annual competition Melodifestivalen in order to select the Swedish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Before Eurovision: 

Melodifestivalen 2020: Melodifestivalen 2020 will be the 60th edition of the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen. It will be held between 1 February and 7 March, 2020. Presenters for the edition will be Lina Hedlund, David Sundin and Linnea Henriksson. The winner of the competition will represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam. The competition will be broadcast on SVT.

One singer has already been confirmed, Amanda Aasa the first runner-up of the Sveriges Radio P4 show, P4 Nästa.

Melodifestivalen 2020 is the 60th edition of the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen. The competition is organised by Sveriges Television (SVT) and takes place over a six-week period between 1 February and 7 March 2020. The winner of the competition would have represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, which would have been held in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Mamas are the first band to win since 2007 and the first female act to win since 2014.

The format of the competition consists of 6 shows: 4 semi-final rounds, a second chance round and a final. An initial 28 entries were selected for the competition through three methods: an open call for song submissions, direct invitations to specific artists and songwriters, and a wildcard given to one of the artists that participated in the P4 Nästa competition organised by Sveriges Radio P4. The 28 competing entries were divided into four semi-finals, with seven compositions in each. From each semi-final, the songs that earn first and second place qualify directly to the final, while the songs that place third and fourth proceed to the Second Chance round. The bottom three songs in each semi-final will be eliminated from the competition. An additional four entries qualify from the Second Chance round to the final, bringing the total number of competing entries in the final to 12. All 6 shows were hosted by Lina Hedlund, Linnea Henriksson and David Sundin.

Format: Four semifinals, one Second chance round and a final will be held. It will be held between 1 February and 7 March 2020.

Melodifestivalen 2020, organised by Sveriges Television (SVT), is the nineteenth consecutive edition of the contest in which the competition took place in different cities across Sweden. The four semi-finals were held in the Saab Arena in Linköping (1 February), the Scandinavium in Gothenburg (8 February), the Coop Norrbotten Arena in Luleå (15 February) and the Malmö Arena in Malmö (22 February). The Second Chance round took place in the Stiga Sports Arena in Eskilstuna on 29 February, while the final will be held in the Friends Arena in Stockholm on 7 March. A total of 28 entries competed in the semi-finals, with seven entries taking part in each show. The top two entries from each semi-final advanced directly to the final, while the third and fourth placed entries advanced to the Second Chance round. The bottom three entries in each semi-final were eliminated. An additional four entries qualified for the final from the Second Chance round, bringing the total number of competing entries in the final to 12.

Competition Schedule
Show	Date	City	Venue
Semi Final 1	1 February 2020	Linköping	Saab Arena
Semi Final 2	8 February 2020	Gothenburg	Scandinavium
Semi Final 3	15 February 2020	Luleå	Coop Norrbotten Arena
Semi Final 4	22 February 2020	Malmö	Malmö Arena
Second Chance Round	29 February 2020	Eskilstuna	STIGA Sports Arena
Final	7 March 2020	Solna, Stockholm	Friends Arena

Presenters: On 3 September 2019, Lina Hedlund (Lina Maria Hedlund), David Sundin (David Kai Lennart Abel Baker Sundin) and Linnea Henriksson (Ellen Linnea Petrea Henriksson) were announced as the presenters for the 60th edition of Melodifestivalen.

Semi-finals, Second Chance round and Final:

• The first semi-final took place on 1 February 2020 at the Saab Arena in Linköping. “Move” performed by The Mamas and “Take a Chance” performed by Robin Bengtsson qualified directly to the final, while “Ballerina” performed by Malou Prytz and “Boys with Emotions” performed by Felix Sandman advanced to the Second Chance round. “Sluta aldrig gå” performed by Sonja Aldén, “Inga problem” performed by OVÖ and “Moves” performed by Suzi P were eliminated from the contest.
• The second semi-final took place on 9 February 2020 at the Scandinavium arena in Gothenburg. “Bulletproof” performed by Dotter and “Kingdom Come” performed by Anna Bergendahl qualified directly to the final, while “Vamos amigos” performed by Méndez feat. Alvaro Estrella and “Talking in My Sleep” performed by Paul Rey advanced to the Second Chance round. “Nobody” performed by Klara Hammarström, “Miraklernas tid” performed by Jan Johansen and “Alla mina sorger” performed by Linda Bengtzing were eliminated from the contest.
• The third semi-final took place on 15 February 2020 at the Coop Norrbotten Arena in Luleå. “Shout It Out” performed by Mariette and “Winners” performed by Mohombi qualified directly to the final, while “Piga och dräng” performed by Drängarna and “Vem är som oss” performed by Anis don Demina advanced to the Second Chance round. “Crying Rivers” performed by Faith Kakembo, “Late” performed by Amanda Aasa and “Livet börjar nu” performed by Albin Johnsén were eliminated from the contest.
• The fourth semi final took place on 22 February 2020 at the Malmö Arena in Malmö. “Troubled Waters” performed by Victor Crone and “Brave” performed by Hanna Ferm qualified directly to the final, while “We Are One” performed by Frida Öhrn and “Surface” performed by Ellen Benediktson & Simon Peyron advanced to the Second Chance round. “Molnljus” performed by William Stridh, “Om du tror att jag saknar dig” performed by Jakob Karlberg and “Carpool Karaoke” performed by Nanne Grönvall were eliminated from the contest.
• The Second Chance round (Andra chansen) will take place on 29 February 2020 at the Stiga Sports Arena in Eskilstuna. “Vem e som oss” performed by Anis don Demina, “Talking in My Sleep” performed by Paul Rey, “Boys with Emotions” performed by Felix Sandman and “Vamos amigos” performed by Méndez feat. Alvaro Estrella qualified to the final.
• The final will take place on 7 March 2020 at the Friends Arena in Stockholm.

Presenters: On 3 September 2019, Lina Hedlund (Lina Maria Hedlund), David Sundin (David Kai Lennart Abel Baker Sundin) and Linnea Henriksson (Ellen Linnea Petrea Henriksson) were announced as the presenters for the 60th edition of Melodifestivalen.

Competing entries:The twenty-eight competing entries were announced to the public during a press conference on 26 November 2019. On 2 February 2020, it was announced that Thorsten Flinck would be disqualified from the competition due to the fact that criminal charges of unlawful threat and vandalism had been filed against him. One day later, Jan Johansen was announced as his replacement.

P4 Nästa (2008-2016 Svensktoppen nästa): 

Artist	Song	P4-Distrikt
Faith Kakembo	“Through fire and rain”	P4 Jönköping
Hildur Höglind	“Further apart”	P4 Dalarna
Julma (Torbjörn Emmoth, Jan Johansson, Simon Wilhelmsson, Daniel Snell, elgitarr och Peter Fredriksson)	“Om du bara hade lyssnat”	P4 Norrbotten
Josephine Hansson	“Om du var min”	P4 Malmöhus
Lazy Afternoon (Pontus Nordborg, Lasse Johansson, Jörgen Ahlqvist, Christina Säfsten, Stefan Magnusson, Bo Ahlbertz och Maria Nordseth)	“Make love real”	P4 Gotland
Zara & Jessica (Zara Kronvall Sigfridsson och Jessica Wetterstrand Sjöberg)	“Dansar med vinden”	P4 Kristianstad
Gjenita (Gjenita Bekteshi)	“Got you on my mind”	P4 Halland
Hugo Andersson	“Lovenote”	P4 Jönköping
Amanda Aasa	“Gå hem”	P4 Västernorrland
Grass (Sam Alaish och Sebastian Öster)	“Animal”	P4 Örebro
Zulueta (Benjamin och Sebastian Edman, Linus Jonsheden och Arvid Josteus)	“King of the ocean”	P4 Kronoberg
MAYA (Maya Arctaedius)	“Nej”	P4 Västerbotten
Moving to Ashbury (Mathias Helsing Andersson och Elias Glad)	“Out of Control”	P4 Västmanland
Max Jeansson	“Vi gör ingenting”	P4 Kalmar
Tova Glyt	“No ordinary girl”	P4 Jämtland
Tim Lööv	“All i need is you”	P4 Stockholm
Theo Blixth	“Smile”	P4 Väst
Bürner (Mats Thuressons, Björn Ohlson och Jan (Janne) Andersson)	“Hey-Hey”	Östergötland
Vilma Flood	“Hands of Fate”	P4 Dalarna
Browsing Collection (Moa Lenngren, Carolina Karlsson, Mimi Brander och Nora Lenngren)	“Oh no”	P4 Väst
Curt Hallqvist’s orkester (Gunilla Ståhlberg, Micke Hallqvist och Patric Dimander)	“Dina ögon”	P4 Uppland
Valter Nilsson	“Friday night lights”	P4 Göteborg
SOFIAA (Sofia Sjöö)	“Andas”	P4 Stockholm
Linn Wikblad	“Better”	P4 Gävleborg
Hildur Höglind (Hildur Höglind, Daisy Dehlén, Sven-Gunnar Petersson, Kristofer Johansson, Niclas Höglind och Sara Höglind)	“Further apart”	P4 Blekinge

Final

Draw	Artist	Song	Composition (Text and Music)	Place
1	Faith Kakembo	“Through fire and rain”	Johannes Häger	oplacerad
2	Hildur Höglind	“Further apart”	Joakim Budee, David Alexander Lomelino	oplacerad
3	Hugo Andersson	“Lovenote”	Hugo Andersson, Rasmus Gustafsson	oplacerad
4	Amanda Aasa	“Gå hem”	Amanda Aasa, Siri Jansson, Erik Grahn	—
5	Zulueta	“King of the ocean”	Benjamin Edman	—
6	Tova Glyt	“No ordinary girl”	Tova Glyt	—
7	Tim Lööv	“All I need is you”	Tim Lööv	1
8	Browsing Collection	“Oh no”	Moa Lenngren, Carolina Karlsson, Mimi Brander, Nora Lenngren	—

---

Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)
Albin Johnsén (Albin)	“Livet börjar nu”	Robin Stjernberg, Albin Johnsén, Gino Yonan
Amanda Aasa (Sigrid Amanda Evangelina Aasa Dernbrant)	“Late”	Amanda Aasa, Siri Jansson, Erik Grahn, Alex Shield
Anis don Demina	“Vem är som oss”	Anderz Wrethov, Johanna Elkesdotter Wrethov, Anis Don Demina, Robin Svensk
Anna Bergendahl (Anna Henrietta Bergendahl)	“Kingdom Come”	Bobby Ljunggren, Thomas G:son, Erik Bernholm, Anna Bergendahl
Dotter (Johanna Maria Jansson)	“Bulletproof”	Dino Medanhodzic, Johanna Jansson, Erik Dahlqvist
Drängarna (The Farmhands – “Starke Mange” (Magnus Olsson), “Sunna-Robert” (Robert Åhlin), “Olav i Fossen” (Olav Fossheim) och “Trygga Räkan” (Anders Wigelius))	“Pisa och dräng”	Anders Wigelius, Robert Norberg, Jimmy Jansson
Ellen Benediktson & Simon Peyron (Ellen Laura Catharina Benediktson och Simon Johan Peyron)	“Surface”	Paul Rey, Laurell Barker, Anderz Wrethov, Sebastian von Koenigsegg, Ellen Benediktson
Faith Kakembo	“Crying Rivers”	Jörgen Elofsson, Liz Rodrigues
Felix Sandman (Karl Felix Wilhelm Sandman)	“Boys with Emotions”	Tony Ferrari, Parker James, Peter Thomas, Philip Bentley, Nicki Adamsson, Felix Sandman
Frida Öhrn (Frida Maria Elisabet Öhrn)	“We Are One”	Frida Öhrn, Hampus Eurenius, Nicklas Eklund
Hanna Ferm (Hanna Alma Beata Ferm)	“Brave”	David Kjellstrand, Jimmy Jansson, Laurell Barker
Jakob Karlberg	“Om du tror att jag saknar dig”	Nanne Grönvall, Isak Hallén, Henrik Moreborg, Jakob Karlberg
Klara Hammarström (Klara Lovisa Hammarström)	“Nobody”	Erik Smaaland, Palle Hammarlund, Klara Hammarström
Linda Bengtzing (Linda Birgitta Bengtzing)	“Alla mina sorger”	Yvonne Dahlbom, Jesper Welander, Adam Jönsson, Linda Bengtzing
Malou Prytz (Malou Trasthe Prytz)	“Ballerina”	Thomas G:son, Peter Boström, Jimmy Jansson
Mariette (Mariette Petra Carola Hansson, MaryJet)	“Shout It Out”	Thomas G:son, Cassandra Ströberg, Alex Shield, Mariette Hansson
Méndez feat. Alvaro Estrella (Leopoldo Jorge Méndez Alcayaga, DJ Méndez feat. Álvaro Raúl Estrella Zapata)	“Vamos amigos”	Palle Hammarlund, Jimmy Jansson, Jakke Erixson, Leo Mendéz
Mohombi (Mohombi Nzasi Moupondo)	“Winners”	Jimmy Jansson, Mohombi Moupondo, Palle Hammarlund
Nanne Grönvall (Marianne Elisabeth “Nanne” Grönvall)	“Carpool Karaoke”	Nanne Grönvall, Peter Grönvall
OVÖ	“Inga problem”	Nicholas Frandsen, Lukas Nathanson, Jean-Willy Akofely, Nickie Osenius Kouakou
Paul Rey (Pauli Jokela)	“Talking in My Sleep”	Paul Rey, Lukas Hällgren, Alexander Standal Pavelich
Robin Bengtsson (Hans Robin Gustav Bengtsson, B Robin)	“Take a Chance”	Jimmy Jansson, Karl-Frederik Reichhardt, Marcus Winther-John
Sonja Aldén (Sonya)	“Sluta aldrig gå”	Bobby Ljunggren, David Lindgren Zacharias, Sonja Aldén
Suzi P (Suzi Estera Pancenkov)	“Moves”	Joy Deb, Suzi Pancekov, Aniela Eklund, Malou Ruotsalainen, Chanel Tukia, Kenny Silverdique
The Mamas	“Move”	Melanie Wehbe, Patrik Jean, Herman Gardarfve
Thorsten Flinck (Thorsten (Torsten) Flinck)	“Miraklernas tid”	Thomas G:son
Jan Johansen (Jan Christian Johansen)
Victor Crone (Victor Fritz-Crone, Vic Heart)	“Troubled Waters”	Dino Medanhodzic, Benjamin Jennebo, Victor Crone
William Strid (Björn Emilio William Strid)	“Molnljus”	Markus Lidén, Christian Holmström, David Kreuger, William Stridh

Semi-finals:

Deltävling 1 / Semi Final 1. The first semi-final took place on 1 February 2020 in the Saab Arena in Linköping. More than 454,000 SEK was collected for Radiohjälpen.

Detailed televoting results
Place	Song	Age groups							Telephone
		3-9	10-15	16-29	30-44	45-59	60-74	75+
1	“Move”	6	12	12	12	12	10	10	12
2	“Take a Chance”	12	10	8	10	10	12	12	10
3	“Ballerina”	10	8	6	8	8	4	8	6
4	“Boys with Emotions”	8	6	10	6	6	6	6	4
5	“Sluta aldrig gå”	1	1	2	4	4	8	4	8
6	“Inga problem”	2	4	4	2	2	1	2	2
7	“Moves”	4	2	1	1	1	2	1	1

–

Draw	Artist	Song	Votes		Place	Result
			Votes	Points
1	The Mamas	“Move”	1,370,798	86	1	Final
2	Suzi P	“Moves”	582,520	13	7	Out
3	Robin Bengtsson	“Take a Chance”	1,267,149	84	2	Final
4	Malou Prytz	“Ballerina”	1,146,797	58	3	Second chance
5	OVÖ	“Inga problem”	633,485	19	6	Out
6	Sonja Aldén	“Sluta aldrig gå”	661,376	32	5	Out
7	Felix Sandman	“Boys with Emotions”	1,080,040	52	4	Second chance

Deltävling 2 / Semi-final 2. The second semi-final took place on 8 February 2020 in the Scandinavium arena in Gothenburg.

Detailed televoting results
Place	Song	Age groups							Telephone
		3-9	10-15	16-29	30-44	45-59	60-74	75+
1	“Kingdom Come”	6	4	6	12	12	12	12	12
2	“Bulletproof”	8	12	10	10	10	6	8	10
3	“Vamos amigos”	12	10	8	8	8	8	6	6
4	“Talking in My Sleep”	4	6	12	6	6	10	10	8
5	“Nobody”	10	8	4	4	4	2	4	4
6	“Alla mina sorger”	2	2	2	2	2	4	2	2
7	“Miraklernas tid”	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

–

Draw	Artist	Song	Votes		Place	Result
			Votes	Points
1	Klara Hammarström	“Nobody”	951,815	40	5	Out
2	Jan Johansen	“Miraklernas tid”	501,335	8	7	Out
3	Dotter	“Bulletproof”	1,160,616	74	2	Final
4	Méndez feat. Alvaro Estrella	“Vamos amigos”	1,070,755	66	3	Second chance
5	Linda Bengtzing	“Alla mina sorger”	717,043	18	6	Out
6	Paul Rey	“Talking in My Sleep”	1,029,652	62	4	Second chance
7	Anna Bergendahl	“Kingdom Come”	1,140,812	76	1	Final

Deltävling 3 / Semi-final 3. The third semi-final took place on 15 February 2020 in the Coop Norrbotten Arena in Luleå.

Detailed televoting results
Place	Song	Age groups							Telephone
		3-9	10-15	16-29	30-44	45-59	60-74	75+
1	“Shout It Out”	12	10	10	12	12	12	12	8
2	“Winners”	10	8	6	8	10	8	8	4
3	“Vem e som oss”	8	12	12	10	4	4	4	6
4	“Piga och dräng”	6	6	8	6	6	6	6	12
5	“Crying Rivers”	1	4	4	4	8	10	10	10
6	“Late”	4	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
7	“Livet börjar nu”	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

–

Draw	Artist	Song	Votes		Place	Result
			Votes	Points
1	Mariette	“Shout It Out”	1,215,521	88	1	Final
2	Albin Johnsén	“Livet börjar nu”	470,431	9	7	Out
3	Drängarna	“Piga och dräng”	921,811	56	4	Second chance
4	Amanda Aasa	“Late”	534,652	18	6	Out
5	Anis don Demina	“Vem e som oss”	1,107,528	60	3	Second chance
6	Faith Kakembo	“Crying Rivers”	733,502	51	5	Out
7	Mohombi	“Winners”	1,031,906	62	2	Final

Deltävling 4 / Semi-final 4. The fourth semi-final took place on 22 February 2020 in the Malmö Arena in Malmö.

Detailed televoting results
Place	Song	Age groups							Telephone
		3-9	10-15	16-29	30-44	45-59	60-74	75+
1	“Brave”	12	12	10	12	12	12	12	12
2	“Troubled Waters”	10	10	12	10	10	10	10	10
3	“We Are One”	6	4	1	8	8	8	8	8
4	“Surface”	4	6	4	6	6	4	4	4
5	“Molnljus”	8	8	6	4	1	1	2	6
6	“Om du tror att jag saknar dig”	2	2	8	2	4	2	1	1
7	“Carpool Karaoke”	1	1	2	1	2	6	6	2

–

Draw	Artist	Song	Votes		Place	Result
			Votes	Points
1	Frida Öhrn	“We Are One”	685,633	51	3	Second chance
2	William Stridh	“Molnljus”	700,582	36	5	Out
3	Nanne Grönvall	“Carpool Karaoke”	548,116	21	7	Out
4	Victor Crone	“Troubled Waters”	1,072,105	82	2	Final
5	Ellen Benediktson & Simon Peyron	“Surface”	698,364	38	4	Second chance
6	Jakob Karlberg	“Om du tror att jag saknar dig”	619,888	22	6	Out
7	Hanna Ferm	“Brave”	1,174,481	94	1	Final

Andran Chansen / Second Chance. The Second Chance round (Swedish: Andra chansen) took place on 29 February 2020 in the Stiga Sports Arena in Eskilstuna. This was the first time in the history of the competition that Eskilstuna hosted a Melodifestivalen round.

Detailed televoting results
Duel	Place	Song	Age groups							Telephone
			3-9	10-15	16-29	30-44	45-59	60-74	75+
I	1	“Vem e som oss”	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	1
	2	“Surface”	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
II	1	“Ballerina”	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
	2	“Talking in My Sleep”	0	0	1	0	1	1	1	1
III	1	“Boys with Emotions”	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0
	2	“We Are One”	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1
IV	1	“Vamos amigos”	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	0
	2	“Piga och dräng”	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	1

–

Duel	Draw	Artist	Song	Votes	Points	Result
I	1	Anis don Demina	“Vem e som oss”	937,009	7	Final
	2	Ellen Benediktson & Simon Peyron	“Surface”	566,544	1	Out
II	1	Malou Prytz	“Ballerina”	833,780	3	Out
	2	Paul Rey	“Talking in My Sleep”	810,439	5	Final
III	1	Felix Sandman	“Boys with Emotions”	793,582	4	Final
	2	Frida Öhrn	“We Are One”	550,632	4	Out
IV	1	Méndez feat. Alvaro Estrella	“Vamos amigos”	805,286	4	Final
	2	Drängarna	“Piga och dräng”	685,762	4	Out

Finalen / Final. The final took place on 7 March 2020 in the Friends Arena in Stockholm.

Detailed televoting results
Place	Song	Age groups							Telephone	Total
		3-9	10-15	16-29	30-44	45-59	60-74	75+
1	“Move”	5	12	12	10	10	7	8	8	72
2	“Bulletproof”	8	8	10	12	8	8	7	10	71
3	“Kingdom Come”	0	0	5	8	12	12	12	12	61
4	“Brave”	12	10	6	7	7	10	10	7	69
5	“Vem e som oss”	6	6	8	6	4	0	6	6	42
6	“Talking in My Sleep”	4	7	7	5	2	3	3	2	33
7	“Boys with Emotions”	1	1	3	0	0	2	2	5	14
8	“Take a Chance”	2	3	1	2	5	6	5	4	28
9	“Troubled Waters”	7	5	4	4	6	5	4	3	38
10	“Shout It Out”	0	0	0	0	3	4	1	1	9
11	“Vamos amigos”	10	4	2	3	1	1	0	0	21
12	“Winners”	3	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	6

–

Draw	Artist	Song	Juries	Televote/App		Total	Place
				Votes	Points
1	Victor Crone	“Troubled Waters”	19	1,058,691	38 (8,2%)	57	9
2	Paul Rey	“Talking in My Sleep”	35	1,086,230	33 (7,1%)	68	6
3	The Mamas	“Move”	65	1,610,446	72 (15,5%)	137	1
4	Mohombi	“Winners”	20	787,224	6 (1,3%)	26	12
5	Hanna Ferm	“Brave”	25	1,335,870	69 (14,9%)	94	4
6	Méndez feat. Alvaro Estrella	“Vamos amigos”	19	882,046	21 (4,5%)	40	11
7	Dotter	“Bulletproof”	65	1,489,636	71 (15,3%)	136	2
8	Robin Bengtsson	“Take a Chance”	35	891,620	28 (6%)	63	8
9	Mariette	“Shout It Out”	42	719,420	9 (1,9%)	51	10
10	Felix Sandman	“Boys with Emotions”	53	827,809	14 (3%)	67	7
11	Anna Bergendahl	“Kingdom Come”	46	1,244,146	61 (13,2%)	107	3
12	Anis don Demina	“Vem e som oss”	40	1,168,875	42 (9,1%)	82	5

–

Detailed international jury votes
Draw	Song									Total
1	“Troubled Waters”	1	4	5	1	1	2	5	—	19
2	“Talking in My Sleep”	6	—	7	4	4	—	10	4	35
3	“Move”	4	6	12	10	12	8	6	7	65
4	“Winners”	5	5	—	3	—	4	3	—	20
5	“Brave”	7	—	3	2	7	3	2	1	25
6	“Vamos amigos”	—	1	2	7	3	1	—	5	19
7	“Bulletproof”	10	2	6	12	10	12	7	6	65
8	“Take a Chance”	3	8	10	—	6	5	1	2	35
9	“Shout It Out”	—	10	1	—	5	6	12	8	42
10	“Boys with Emotions”	8	7	8	8	2	—	8	12	53
11	“Kingdom Come”	12	3	4	6	8	10	—	3	46
12	“Vem e som oss”	2	12	—	5	—	7	4	10	40
International jury spokespersons
– Tali Eshkoli,  – Marvin Dietmann,  – Anush Ter-Ghukasyan,  – Paul Clarke,  – Clas Romander,  – Selma Björnsdóttir,  – Bruno Berberes,  – Getty Kaspers

Coronavirus considerations: Swedish state television (SVT), which arranged Melodifestivalen, issued a Q&A section on their official website to address concerns regarding the spread of the Coronavirus. On the third of March, four days before the final event, Swedish state radio (SR) reported over 200 confimed cases within Sweden. 

The questions and answers related to safety measures and the number of participants. 27000 audience members, including participants from overseas, were anticipated. This number does not include the audiences for the two major dress reharsials nor any of the personell. SVT stated on the Q&A page that they will not establish checkpoints or other kinds of control measures.

Promotion:

At Eurovision:

Semi-final:

Voting:

Points awarded to Svezia (Semi-final 1):

Points awarded to Svezia (Final):

Points awarded by Svezia (Semi-final 1):

Points awarded by Svezia (Final):

Split voting results:

Split voting results from Svezia (Semi-final ):

Split voting results from Svezia (Final):

Artist: 

The Mamas
Background information
Birth name	The Mamas (Ashley Haynes, Loulou Lamotte, Dinah Yonas Manna)
Born
Genres	Soul,Gospel
Origin	Sweden
Occupation(s)
Years active	2019–present
Labels	Universal Music Sweden
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country	Sweden
Artist(s)	The Mamas (Ashley Haynes, Loulou Lamotte, Dinah Yonas Manna)
Language	English
Composer(s)	Melanie Wehbe, Patrik Jean, Herman Gardarfve
Lyricist(s)	Melanie Wehbe, Patrik Jean, Herman Gardarfve
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Semi-final points	Contest cancelled
Appearance chronology
◄2019 John Lundvik – “Too Late for Love” • 2020 The Mamas – “Move” • 2021►

The Mamas are a Swedish-American soul and gospel group.

Career. The group consists of Ashley Haynes (born 19 January 1987 in Washington D.C.), Loulou Lamotte (born 16 April 1981 in Malmö) and Dinah Yonas Manna (born 5 September 1981 in Stockholm).^[1] Founding member Paris Renita left the group in 2019.

As a four-piece, the group provided backing vocals for John Lundvik’s Melodifestivalen 2019 entry “Too Late For Love”. Lundvik and The Mamas went on to win the competition and got to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 held in Tel Aviv, Israel. The entry finished 5th in the grand final on 18 May 2019.

In late 2019, it was announced that The Mamas (without Paris Renita) would return to Melodifestivalen, this time with their own entry “Move”. They performed in the first heat on 1 February 2020 in Linköping, and qualified directly for the final that took place on 7 March 2020 in the Friends Arena in Stockholm.

The Mamas went on to win Melodifestivalen 2020 with a total of 137 points, meaning they would represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 held in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The contest was cancelled in March 2020 due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic.

Song: 

“Move”
Single by The Mamas
Released	22 February 2020
Format
Length	2:48
Label	Universal
Songwriter(s)	Melanie Wehbe, Patrik Jean, Herman Gardarfve
Producer(s)
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country	Sweden
Artist(s)	The Mamas
Language	English
Composer(s)	Melanie Wehbe, Patrik Jean, Herman Gardarfve
Lyricist(s)	Melanie Wehbe, Patrik Jean, Herman Gardarfve
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Semi-final points	Contest cancelled
Appearance chronology
◄ 2019 “Too Late for Love” – John Lundvik • 2020 “Move” – The Mamas • 2021►

“Move” (stylized as MOVE) is a gospel-pop song by Swedish music group The Mamas. The song was performed for the first time in Melodifestivalen 2020, where it made it to the final. The song won Melodifestivalen with 137 points and would have represented Sweden in the first semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam. It peaked at number one on the Swedish single chart. The contest was cancelled in March 2020 due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic.

Eurovision Song Contest. The song would have represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after The Mamas was selected through Melodifestivalen 2020, the music competition that selects Sweden’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Sweden was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020 and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. The contest got canceled in March, 2020, due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Second half – Semi-final 2.

Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

• Participations: 12 (11 Finals)
• First participation: 2008 (Elnur & Samir)
• Best result: 1st: 2011
• Worst result: 11th SF: 2018
• Nul points: None
• Victories: 2011 (Ell/Nikki)
• Hosts: Baku 2012
• Broadcasters: İTV
• National selection events: National final [Avrovizija (2008, 2010-2014)] Internal selection [2009, 2015–2019, 2020, 2021]

Azerbaigian originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The Azeri broadcaster İTV selected internally Efendi with the song “Cleopatra” to represent Azerbaigian in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. However, due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Europe, the contest was cancelled.

Background: 

Before Eurovision: 

Internal selection: 

Competing entries:

2.2.Promotion:

3.At Eurovision:

3.1.Semi-final:

3.2.Voting:

3.2.1.Points awarded to Azerbaigian (Semi-final ):

Points awarded to Azerbaigian (Final):

3.2.2.Points awarded by Azerbaigian (Semi-final ):

Points awarded by Azerbaigian (Final ):

3.2.3.Split voting results:

Split voting results from Azerbaigian (Semi-final ):

Split voting results from Azerbaigian (Final):

Artist: 

Efendi
Background information
Birth name	Samira Efendi (Samirə Əfəndiyeva, Samira Azer gizi Efendiyeva, Samirə Azər qızı Əfəndiyeva)
Born	17 April 1991 (age 28) Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan, USSR
Genres	Pop, Jazz
Origin	–
Occupation(s)	Singer
Years active	2009–present
Labels	–
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country	Azerbaijan
Artist(s)	Efendi (Samira Efendi)
Language	English
Composer(s)	Luuk van Beers, Alan Roy Scott, Sarah Lake
Lyricist(s)	Luuk van Beers, Alan Roy Scott, Sarah Lake
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Semi-final points	Contest cancelled
Appearance chronology
◄2019 Chingiz – “Truth” • 2020 Efendi – “Cleopatra” • 2021 Efendi – “”►

Samira Azer gizi Efendiyeva (Azerbaijani: Samirə Azər qızı Əfəndiyeva; 17 April 1991), known as Samira Efendi or Efendi, is an Azerbaijani singer.

Career.

Early career. Efendiyeva gained popularity in her home country after participating in the singing competitions Yeni Ulduz (2009), Böyük Səhnə (2014) and The Voice of Azerbaijan (2015-2016, third place). In 2017, she was the Azerbaijani representative in the international singing competition Silk Way Star, staged in Almaty, Kazakhstan, finishing in third place. Efendiyeva represented her country again at the Voice of Nur-Sultan festival held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan in 2019.

2020–present: Eurovision Song Contest. On 28 February 2020, the Azeri broadcaster İTV announced that Efendiyeva had been internally selected to represent Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, held in Rotterdam, Netherlands. However, on March 18th 2020, the event was cancelled due to the 2019–20 Corona virus pandemic. On 20 March 2020, Efendi annouced on her Instagram account that she will represent Azerbaijan at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 after the cancellation of 2020 contest.

Song: 

“Cleopatra”
Single by Efendi
Released	10 March 2020
Format	Digital download, streaming
Length	3:00
Label	BMF
Songwriter(s)	Luuk van Beers, Alan Roy Scott, Sarah Lake
Producer(s)
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country	Azerbaijan
Artist(s)	Efendi (Samira Efendi)
Language	English
Composer(s)	Luuk van Beers, Alan Roy Scott, Sarah Lake
Lyricist(s)	Luuk van Beers, Alan Roy Scott, Sarah Lake
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Contest cancelled
Semi-final points	Contest cancelled
Appearance chronology
◄ 2019 “Truth” – Chingiz • 2020 “Cleopatra” – Efendi • 2021 “” – Efendi►

“Cleopatra” is a song recorded by Azerbaijani singer Samira Efendi. It will represent Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The song was written by Luuk van Beers, Alan Roy Scott and Sarah Lake.

Background. The song was originally written at Las Negras camps in Spain, by Sarah Lake, Alan Roy Scott and Luuk Van Beers, under the guidance and A & R direction of former UK, BBC, Music Consultant, Greig Watts. Once the final demo was complete, Publishers, Greig Watts from Dwb Music and Kevin Lee, from Wii Bii Music, engaged in finding the perfect home for the song.

Once it was agreed that the song would be Azerbaijan’s Eurovision entry, Tony Cornellisen and Luuk Van Beers travelled to Baku, to record Efendi, and produce the final production. 

The song features three traditional Azerbaijani instruments, an oud (a traditional guitar-like string instrument), a balaban (a wind instrument) and a tar (a string instrument added to the UNESCO’s List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity). When talking about the song, Efendi said, “Cleopatra is a song about trusting your gut instinct, standing up for yourself and being a “queen” – even when things get tough and especially if someone betrays or hurts you. It is truly a song about freedom, a celebration of all cultures and all sexualities and it’s a song that is meant to inspire people to be who they are and to be proud of themselves – just as Cleopatra was. She was a queen who went through love, heartbreak, and betrayal, but she stood up for herself and is now remembered as an icon of strength and femininity.”

Eurovision Song Contest. The song was due to represent Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Samira Efendi was internally selected by the Azerbaijani broadcaster, İctimai Television (İTV), and was going to be performed in one of the two semi-finals. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Azerbaijan was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. The track was originally submitted to San Marino RTV and a demo was recorded by Senhit, but the composers withdrew the song from the Sanmarinese selection. However, following the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, the Contest was cancelled.

Music video. A music video to accompany the release of “Cleopatra” was first released onto YouTube on 10 March 2020. The music video was filmed in Azerbaijan at the Gobustan National Park.

Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest

• Participations: 61 (51 Finals)
• First participation: 1956 (Mony Marc)
• Best result: 1st: 1986
• Worst result: Last: 1961, 1962, 1965, 1973, 1979, 1985, 1993, 2000
• Nul points: 1962, 1965
• Victories: 1986 (Sandra Kim)
• Hosts: Brussels 1987
• Broadcasters: BRTN, BRT, RTB, INR, NIR, RTBF, VRT
• National selection events: National final [Eurosong (1957–1963, 1965–1984, 1986–1989, 1991–1993, 1995–1996, 1998–2000, 2002, 2004–2006, 2008, 2010–2011, 2012, 2014, 2016)] Internal selection [1956, 1964, 1985, 1990, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017–2020, 2021]

Belgium originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song “Release Me”, performed by Hooverphonic. The entry, written by Alex Callier and Luca Chiaravalli, was selected internally by the Flemish broadcaster VRT. However, due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Europe, the contest was cancelled.

Background: 2020 is the 62nd time Belgium will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest since its debut as one of seven inaugural countries at the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. Belgium has won the contest once, in 1986 with the song “J’aime la vie” performed by Sandra Kim. The following year, Belgium hosted the 1987 Eurovision Song Contest in Brussels. In 2019, Eliot Vassamillet represented Belgium with the song “Wake Up (Eliot song)”. The song failed to qualify to the grand final, placing 13th out of 17 entries in its semi final.

Before Eurovision: 

Internal selection: On 1 October 2019, VRT announced Hooverphonic as the Belgian entrant at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. Their song “Release Me” was released on 17 February 2020 together with the official music video.

Promotion:

At Eurovision: The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 will take place at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, with two semi finals on 12 and 14 May and the final on 16 May 2020. Belgium will compete in the second half of the first semi final on 12 May. However, due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.

Semi-final:

Voting:

3.2.1.Points awarded to Belgio (Semi-final ):

Points awarded to Belgio (Final):

3.2.2.Points awarded by Belgio (Semi-final ):

Points awarded by Belgio (Final ):

3.2.3.Split voting results:

Split voting results from Belgio (Semi-final ):

Split voting results from Belgio (Final):

Artist: 

Hooverphonic
Background information
Birth name	Hooverphonic (Hoover)
Born
Origin	Sint-Niklaas, Belgium
Occupation(s)
Years active
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country	Belgio
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
Semi-final points
Appearance chronology
◄2019 Eliot – “Wake Up” • 2020 Hooverphonic – “” • 2021 Hooverphonic – “” ►

Hooverphonic is a Belgian band that formed in October 1995. Though originally categorized as a trip hop group, they quickly expanded their sound to the point where they could no longer be described as a lone genre, but rather encompass alternative, electronica, electropop, rock, and a mixture of others. The band originally called themselves Hoover, but later changed their name to Hooverphonic after discovering other groups were already using the Hoover name and to avoid any legal issues with the vacuum cleaner company.

Since their formation, Hooverphonic’s lineup consisted of bassist Alex Callier, guitarist Raymond Geerts, and various lead singers. Prominent ones included Liesje Sadonius (1996–1997), Geike Arnaert (1997–2008), Noémie Wolfs (2010–2015), and Luka Cruysberghs (2018–present).

They were supposed to represent Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam with their song “Release Me”.[1] However, on March 18th 2020, the event was cancelled due to the 2019–20 Coronavirus pandemic. They will instead represent Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.

History.

A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular. The original members of the group were vocalist Esther Lybeert, keyboardist Frank Duchêne, bassist Alex Callier, and guitarist Raymond Geerts. Lybeert recorded several demos with the group; however, she backed out of the band on the day they were to sign their contract with Sony Music. The band then brought in Liesje Sadonius to record the album. Sadonius left Hooverphonic on amicable terms shortly after the release of A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular. Kyoko Baertsoen, singer for fellow Belgian trip hop band Lunascape, filled in for Sadonius for three months of a European tour in 1997 before Geike Arnaert was made the permanent singer later that year.

The band achieved international recognition through the inclusion of the Stereophonic track “2Wicky” on the soundtrack to Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1996 film Stealing Beauty. “2Wicky” also appeared on the soundtracks of I Know What You Did Last Summer and Heights. The track’s main riff is sampled from Isaac Hayes’ recording of the 1960s hit “Walk On By”.

Additional session musicians for Stereophonic include Eric Bosteels, a session drummer with Hooverphonic from 1997–98 (replaced by Mario Goossens until 2005) and David Poltrock, a keyboard player with the group on and off from 1998 until 2005. In 1998, Hooverphonic also contributed to the Depeche Mode tribute album For the Masses with their cover of “Shake the Disease”.

Blue Wonder Power Milk. After an extensive European tour with artists such as Massive Attack, Morcheeba, and Apollo 440, and a tour opening for Fiona Apple in the United States in 1997, the band released Blue Wonder Power Milk in 1998 with 18-year-old Arnaert on vocals. A marked departure from their debut, the album is driven less by breakbeats and samples and more by organic string elements and traditional song structures.

The single “Club Montepulciano” was a hit in native Belgium and a minor college hit in the U.S., while “Renaissance Affair” was featured in the North American commercial campaign for the new Volkswagen Vapor Beetle. “This Strange Effect” and “Eden” were both featured in American cell phone commercials; “This Strange Effect” for the Motorola SLVR, and in 2006, “Eden” for the Cingular 8525. “Eden” was also used in the 1998 slasher film I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. At the time of their release, both songs were also featured in two separate third-season episodes of La Femme Nikita. Shortly afterward, Sarah Brightman recorded a cover of “Eden” on her 1998 album “Eden”. Yoko Kanno samples the opening track “Battersea” on “Cyberbird” on the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 2.

At this point, Frank Duchêne decided to quit the band: “Having made two successful albums for Sony Music with his band Hooverphonic, and after extensive touring as support for Fiona Apple, Moloko & Massive Attack, he was unhappy with the project and near the end of 1998, decided to leave.”

Early 2000s: The Magnificent Tree. The band followed up Blue Wonder Power Milk with 2000’s The Magnificent Tree, which expands on the sound of Milk with a warmer, more approachable sound. Highlights from the album are the string-laden “Out of Sight”, “Mad About You”, and the title track.

The same year, Hooverphonic was asked to write a song specifically for the opening ceremony of the 2000 European Football Championship, which took place in Brussels, Belgium. The result – a 12-minute-long track called “Visions” – became the theme song of the championship, and Hooverphonic’s performance at the opening ceremony was heard/seen by more than 1 billion people.

On the heels of Tree’s success, the band became the first Belgian outfit to headline the Belgian musical festival Rock Werchter in 2001.

2002: Hooverphonic Presents Jackie Cane. 2002 saw the group shifting gears again, this time releasing the concept album Hooverphonic Presents Jackie Cane. The album tells the story of the fictional title character, a celebrity and singer catapulted into stardom at the expense of her relationship with her twin sister. Driven to the brink of insanity by the pressures of fame, Jackie quits show business and returns home to attempt reconciliation, where her sister kills them both with a poisoned last supper.

Jackie Cane retains the dreamy elements of Hooverphonic’s previous works, most notably on songs “Nirvana Blue” and “Human Interest” (which contains references to “Echoes” by Pink Floyd), but tracks like “The World Is Mine” (the first single) and “Day After Day” have a clear Broadway influence and quality to them. The album went platinum in Belgium and won the group ZAMU’s Best Pop/Rock Band and Best Album awards in 2002.

2003: Sit Down and Listen to Hooverphonic. In 2003, the band released an album performed live in a studio with an orchestra entitled Sit Down and Listen to Hooverphonic, featuring a selection of songs from the band’s body of work, as well as the new songs “Antarctica” and “The Last Thing I Need Is You”, and a cover of Lee Hazlewood’s “My Autumn’s Done Come”. The band launched into an extended European tour in September 2003, performing in over 100 concert halls.

No More Sweet Music. The band’s fifth studio album, a double CD entitled No More Sweet Music/More Sweet Music, was released in December 2005. Both CDs include the same 11 tracks, however, they are all different versions.

Singles ’96 – ’06. In 2006 the band left Sony/BMG, complaining of lack of label support for No More Sweet Music. A best-of album (Singles ’96 – ’06) was released to end the relation with Sony/BMG. The band went on to work without a label.

The President of the LSD Golf Club. In an interview for the Spanish TV program Nosolomusica, Alex Callier gave some hints of a new, more psychedelic orientation for the band’s forthcoming music. During a show in Moscow (October 2007), the band revealed the first single of the new album, “Expedition Impossible”.

The President of the LSD Golf Club was released in October 2007 in Belgium and the Netherlands. The album was released in Europe in March 2008. Following the release, the lead singer of the band,Geike Arnaert announced on 10 October 2008 she would be leaving the band to pursue a solo career. Arnaert had been working on solo material for a few months. The last concert Hooverphonic did with Geike was on 13 December 2008 in Tele-Club, Ekaterinburg, Russia. It was filmed by the local MTV station and was shown on Russian TV in 2009.

On 4 November 2010, the new lead singer Noémie Wolfs was announced on De Laatste Show at the VRT, the Flemish public broadcasting organization.

2010s: The Night Before , re-release of A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular. On 29 October 2010, Hooverphonic announced a new single on their website. The videoclip showcased fourteen possible singers but only one of them, Noémie Wolfs, proved to be the real successor to Geike Arnaert. The single “The Night Before” to introduce new singer Noémie Wolfs. This was followed on November 26 by the release of the full-length album “The Night Before”. The album went platinum in Belgium soon after its release.

On 9 November 2011 they announced the re-release of their first album, A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular.

On 26 March 2015, Hooverphonic announced that Noémie Wolfs would be leaving the band “in mutual agreement”. In April 2018, Hooverphonic introduced their new singer Luka Cruysberghs.

2020s and Eurovision Song Contest. They were supposed to represent Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam with their song “Release Me”. The event was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Band members.

Use of music in television and movies. Hooverphonic’s music has also appeared in a number of commercials and other TV series:

• “2Wicky” has appeared in numerous movies, including I Know What You Did Last Summer, Permanent Midnight, The Interview, Bernardo Bertolucci’s Stealing Beauty, as well as an episode of Entourage. “2Wicky” and “Inhaler” were also featured on episodes of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and are also on the series soundtrack.

• “Eden” is included on the soundtrack of the film I Still Know What You Did Last Summer and in episode 10 of season three of the series La Femme Nikita.

• “Renaissance Affair” and “This Strange Effect” were used in the Belgian movie Shades, as was “Shades” (the theme composed for the film). “Renaissance Affair” was also used in the USA in a Volkswagen New Beetle TV ad circa 2000. Alex Callier worked as the composer for the movie. “This Strange Effect” was also used in the 20th episode of La Femme Nikita.

• “Battersea” was used in the 1999 pilot of the NBC TV series Third Watch and in the end of the show’s last episode (“Goodbye to Camelot”), in 2005.

• “Mad About You” was used in the CBS TV series Cold Case, in the third-season episode “Sanctuary”. The song was also featured in the film A Lot Like Love during the New Year’s Eve sequence, in the 2002 film New Best Friend, and in Driven. Netflix also used this song in The Umbrella Academy series 1, episode 8 titled “I Heard a Rumor”.

• “The World is Mine” was featured as the theme song of the UK television series Mile High (2003–2005), which follows the lives of an airline crew at the fictional UK airline “Fresh!”.

Song: 

“Release Me”
Single by
Released
Format
Length
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country	Belgio
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
Semi-final points
Appearance chronology
◄ 2019 “Wake Up” – Eliot • 2020 – “” • 2021►

“Release Me” is a song by the Belgian band Hooverphonic. It will represent Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The song was released as a digital download on 17 February 2020.

Eurovision Song Contest. The song will represent Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Hooverphonic was internally selected by the national broadcaster VRT. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Belgium was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

• Participations: 26 (51 Finals)
• First participation: 1993 (Put)
• Best result: 4th: 1996, 1999
• Worst result: 17th SF: 2018
• Nul points: 1962, 1965
• Victories: None
• Hosts: Never hosted
• Broadcasters: HRT
• National selection events: National final [Dora (1993–2011, 2019-2020)] Internal selection [2012–2013, 2016–2018]

Croatia originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The Croatian broadcaster Hrvatska radiotelevizija (HRT) used the national selection Dora 2020 to decide their representative. However, due to 2020 coronavirus pandemic, the contest was cancelled.

Background: Prior to the 2020 Contest, Croatia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-five times since its first entry in 1993. Croatia’s highest placing in the contest, to this point, has been fourth place, which the nation achieved on two occasions: in 1996 with the song “Sveta ljubav” performed by Maja Blagdan and in 1999 “Marija Magdalena” performed by Doris Dragović. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004 contest, Croatia had featured in seven finals. In 2019, Croatia failed to qualify to the final, placing 14th in the second semi-final with the song “The Dream” performed by Roko.

Before Eurovision: 

„DORA 2020.“: „DORA 2020.“ was the twenty-first edition of the Croatian national selection Dora, which selected Croatia’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The competition consisted of up to 16 entries competing in one final.

Format: The combination of points from a viewer vote and ten regional jury groups determined the winner. According to the competition rules, in the event of a tie for the first place, the winner was the entrant ranked highest by the public televote.

Competing entries: Artists and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between 5 November and 15 December 2019. An expert committee selected sixteen artists and songs for the competition from the received submissions. The list of competing artists and songs were released on 23 December 2019. Shortly after the list was released, Goran Karan withdrew from the competition. As a result of this, Elis Lovrić and her song “Jušto” participated in the national selection instead.

ARTIST	SONG	COMPOSER(S)
Aklea Neon	“Zovi ju mama” (Call her mama)	Dorotea Zovko, Pavle Kladarin
Alen Vitasović & B. Matija Čerina (Božidarka Matija Čerina)	“Da se ne zatare” (So as not to get old)	Robert Pilepić
Bojan Jambrošić	“Više od riječi” (More than words)	Antonija Šola
Colonia (Boris Đurđević i Ivana Lovrić)	“Zidina” (Walls)	Boris Đurđević
Damir Kedžo	“Divlji vjetre” (Will winds)
Đana	“One”
Edi Abazi	“Coming Home”
Elis Lovrić	“Jušto” ()	Elis Lovrić
Goran Karan	“My Legacy Is Love”	Nikša Bratoš
Indira Levak (Indira Vladić)	“You Will Never Break My Heart”	Branimir Mihaljević
Jure Brkljača	“Hajde nazovi me!” (Life is magic)
Lorena Bućan	“Drowning”
Lorenzo, Dino Purić & Reper iz sobe	“Vrati se iz Irske” (Come back from Ireland)
Marin Jurić Čivro	“Naivno” (Naive)
Mia Negovetić	“When It Comes to You”	Linnea Deb, Anderz Wrethov
Nikola Marjanović	“Let’s Forgive”
Zdenka Kovačiček	“Love, Love, Love”	Branimir Mihaljević

+ 4 rezervne skladbe:

1. Elis Lovrić – “Jušto”
2. Marcela Orosi – “Let me Break Your Heart”
3. Dino Petrić – “Što si meni ti” (What you are to me)
4. Singrlice – “Zavičaj” (Homeland)

2.1.1.Final () – 

1. Marin Jurić Čivro – Naivno
2. Goran Karan – My legacy is love
3. Edi Abazi – Coming home
4. Mia Negovetić – When it Comes to You
5. Colonia – Zidina
6. Zdenka Kovačićek – Love, Love, Love
7. Lorenzo feat Dino Purić & Reper iz sobe – Vrati se iz Irske
8. Jure Brkljača – Hajde nazovi me!
9. Damir Kedžo – Divlji vjetre
10. Lorena Bućan – Drowning
11. Alen Vitasović & B. Matija Čerina – Da se ne zatare
12. Aklea Neon – Zovi ju mama
13. Indira – You Will Never Break My Heart
14. Nikola Marjanović – Let’s forgive
15. Đana – One
16. Bojan Jambrošić – Više od riječi

The final took place at Opatija, on the 29 February 2020, and was hosted by Duško Ćurlić, Mirko Fodor, Zlata Mück Sušec and Doris Pinčić Rogoznica. The running order for the final was revealed on 17 February 2020 via Croatian radiotelevision’s official web page. The winner was determined by a 50/50 combination of points awarded by regional juries and from the public televote. In case of a tie, the song that scored better in the televote wins the tie.

Final – 29 February 2020
Draw	Artist	Song	Jury		Televote				Total	Place
			Votes	Points	Phone Calls	SMS	Total	Points
1	Elis Lovrić	“Jušto”	44	11	342	304	646	1	12	12
2	Bojan Jambrošić	“Više od riječi”	27	5	927	279	1206	7	12	10
3	Edi Abazi	“Coming Home”	26	3	829	524	1353	8	11	13
4	Zdenka Kovačiček	“Love, Love, Love”	39	6	1558	599	2157	12	18	6
5	Alen Vitasović & Božidarka Matija Čerina	“Da se ne zatare”	21	2	1514	815	2329	13	15	9
6	Đana	“One”	42	8	1084	403	1487	9	17	7
7	Aklea Neon	“Zovi ju mama”	52	13	997	768	1765	10	23	4
8	Nikola Marjanović	“Let’s Forgive”	44	10	453	367	820	2	12	11
9	Lorenzo, Dino Purić & Reper iz sobe	“Vrati se iz Irske”	20	1	608	339	947	3	4	16
10	Marin Jurić Čivro	“Naivno”	27	4	677	409	1086	6	10	15
11	Lorena Bućan	“Drowning”	43	9	1171	682	1853	11	20	5
12	Indira Levak	“You Will Never Break My Heart”	64	14	3414	2127	5541	14	28	3
13	Jure Brkljača	“Hajde nazovi me!”	40	7	698	313	1011	4	11	14
14	Colonia	“Zidina”	44	12	732	309	1041	5	17	8
15	Mia Negovetić	“When It Comes to You”	78	16	7954	3641	11595	15	31	2
16	Damir Kedžo	“Divlji vjetre”	69	15	7985	3870	11855	16	31	1

hideDetailed Regional Jury Votes
Draw	Song	Varaždin & Čakovec	Zagreb	Rijeka	Split	Osijek	Total
1	“Jušto”	5	7	7	11	14	44
2	“Više od riječi”	13	3	1	6	4	27
3	“Coming Home”	12	4	4	5	1	26
4	“Love, Love, Love”	10	6	11	3	9	39
5	“Da se ne zatare”	4	2	9	4	2	21
6	“One”	11	8	8	12	3	42
7	“Zovi ju mama”	14	14	10	2	12	52
8	“Let’s Forgive”	8	9	14	7	6	44
9	“Vrati se iz Irske”	3	5	3	1	8	20
10	“Naivno”	1	1	6	9	10	27
11	“Drowning”	7	10	5	8	13	43
12	“You Will Never Break My Heart”	9	15	13	16	11	64
13	“Hajde nazovi me!”	6	11	2	14	7	40
14	“Zidina”	2	12	15	10	5	44
15	“When It Comes to You”	15	16	16	15	16	78
16	“Divlji vjetre”	16	13	12	13	15	69

2.2.Promotion:

3.At Eurovision:According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big 5” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Croatia was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. However, due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.

3.1.Semi-final:

3.2.Voting:

3.2.1.Points awarded to Croatia (Semi-final ):

Points awarded to Croatia (Final):

3.2.2.Points awarded by Croatia (Semi-final ):

Points awarded by Croatia (Final ):

3.2.3.Split voting results:

Split voting results from Croatia (Semi-final ):

Split voting results from Croatia (Final):

Artist: 

Damir Kedžo
Background information
Birth name
Born
Genres
Origin
Occupation(s)
Years active
Labels
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
Semi-final points
Appearance chronology
◄2019 Roko Blažević – “The Dream” • 2020 – “” • 2021►

Damir Kedžo (born 24 May 1987) is a Croatian pop singer. While he started his career in 2003 by participating in Story Super Nova Music Talent Show, he became even more famous in Croatia after winning the third season of Tvoje lice zvuči poznato, the Croatian version of Your Face Sounds Familiar. He also performed in musicals.

Life and career.

1987–2002: Early life and education. Damir Kedžo was born on May 24, 1987 in Omišalj. He finished musical school in Omišalj, and was singing in a church choir. When he was a child, besides singing, he wanted to be a gynecologist, but he gave up on that idea when signed up for the Story Super Nova Music Talent Show. Damir had a jaw surgery, because he couldn’t speak or eat normally, and he had problems with pronunciation of words, which was important for the profession he chose. After the surgery, he couldn’t speak for a month, and the complete recovery took him three months, when he could chew normally again. He admitted that, after the surgery, he became a stronger person, and more confident in himself and his decisions.

2003–2005: Story Supernova Music Talents and Saša, Tin i Kedžo. In 2003, Kedžo auditioned for the first and only season of Nova TV’s talent show Story Supernova Music Talents, where he excited the audience and the jury with his personality and attitude and his song interpretations which took him into the top 7. He was 16 at the time when he decided to compete in one of the most famous Croatian TV shows.

A year after, in January of 2004, he became a part of the Croatian boy band “Saša, Tin i Kedžo” along with Saša Lozar (winner of the second season of Tvoje lice zvuči poznato) and Tin Samardžić. The band’s debut album, titled Instant, sold 10,000 copies in its chart run, while their debut single “365” topped the Croatian charts for six weeks. In 2005 the band disbanded and Kedžo took a year off in his career.

2006–2009: Melodije Istre i Kvarnera and debut album. After he won an award at Melodije Istre i Kvarnera for the best debuting artist with the song “Ki bi sad reke” in 2006 and the award for the best interpretation for the song “Kanet na vetru” in 2007, he has seen his path in pop songs with elements of Italian canzone. That was visible in his song “Odlučio sam otići”.

2010–2014: Slavianski Bazaar, Dora 2011 and musicals. Damir has also appeared in Croatian performance of musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” in double role, Benjamin and Potiphar. He had a great start in his acting career, he got awarded for great successes of young artists in operetta and musicals for the role of Hudi in musical “Crna kuća”.

In 2011, Kedžo applied for Dora 2011, Croatian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011.

2014 was a very successful year for Damir, he already sold two concerts in HKD Sušak.

2015–2019: Tvoje lice zvuči poznato and continued success. He debuted in 2006 on MIK with the song “Ki bi sad reke” and won the best debuting artist award. In 2007, on MIK, he won the award for the best interpretation with the song “Kanet na vetru” and the first place of the juries. In 2008 he published his debuting album with his most popular songs “Sjećam se”, “Idem” and “Kažnjen u duši”. Year after on MIK, he won the second place of the jury and third place of the audience with the song “Peza od zlata”. In 2010. on a festival in Belarus “Slavianski Bazaar”, he won the Grand Prix, and on MIK in 2012, he won the best interpretation award with the song “Daj mi kapju vodi” and the first place of the juries. In 2015 he won on a Russian festival “New Wave”. Since then, he started working on his songs in English. In 2016 Damir had one of his biggest concerts on International Women’s Day in front of 3.500 people in Zamet Hall, Rijeka.

In December 2016, Kedžo won the third season of Tvoje lice zvuči poznato (Croatian version of Your Face Sounds Familiar, the most watched Croatian TV Show). After a wide spectre of enjoyed performances (Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire, Britney Spears, Petar Grašo, Doris Dragović), he claimed the victory of the show as Mariah Carey. In january 2019. Keđo won Zagrebfest with a song Srce mi umire za njom.

2020–present: Eurovision Song Contest 2020. On 23 December 2019, Kedžo was announced as one of the 16 participants in Dora 2020, the national contest in Croatia to select the country’s Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry, with the song “Divlji vjetre”.^[6] He won the competition with a total of 31 points and was supposed to represent Croatia in Rotterdam. However, on March 18th 2020, the event was cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

Song: 

“”
Single by
Released
Format
Length
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
Semi-final points
Appearance chronology
◄ 2019 “The Dream” – Roko Blažević  • 2020 – “” • 2021►

“Divlji vjetre” (Wild Wind) is a song performed by Croatian singer Damir Kedžo. The track was written and composed by Ante Pecotić. It premiered on 29 February 2020, when it was performed during the final of Dora 2020, Croatia’s national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, and was released as a digital download on 1 March 2020 by Croatia Records.

Background and release. “Divlji vjetre” was one of sixteen songs commissioned by HRT for Dora 2020, Croatia’s national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. Ante Pecotić composed “Divlji vjetre” specifically for Damir Kedžo. “Divlji vjetre” premiered on 29 February 2020, when it was performed in Dora 2020, Croatia’s national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The song became available through digital retailers and streaming services on 1 March 2020 via Croatia Records.

At Eurovision. Main article: Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

National selection. HRT allowed artists and composers to submit their entries for Dora 2020 between 5 November and 15 December 2019 for the selection of their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. On 23 December 2019, Kedžo was announced as one of the 16 participants in Dora 2020 with the song “Divlji vjetre”. In the final, held on 29 February 2020, he won the televote and came second in the jury vote, placing first with 31 points and thus representing Croatia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020.

In Rotterdam. The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 will take place at the Rotterdam Ahoy in Netherlands and will consist of two semi-finals on 12 and 14 May, and the final on 16 May 2020. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Croatia was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

Commercial performance. “Divlji vjetre” debuted at number one on the Croatian HR Top 40, making it Kedžo’s first song to do so and fourth overall to reach the top position.

Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

• Participations: 36 (30 Finals)
• First participation: 1981 (Island)
• Best result: 2nd: 2018
• Worst result: Last: 1986
• Nul points: 1962, 1965
• Victories: None
• Hosts: Never hosted
• Broadcasters: CyBC
• National selection events: National final [1984, 1990–2000, 2004–2006, 2008–2012, 2015] Internal selection [1981–1983, 1985–1987, 1989, 2002–2003, 2007, 2013, 2016–2020]

Eurovision Song Contest 2020
Country	Cipro
National selection
Selection process	Internal selection
Selection date(s)	Artist: Song:
Host
Presenter(s)
Host broadcaster – Venue
Participants
Number of entries
Selected entrant	Sandro Nicolas (Σάντρο Νικόλα, Alessandro H. Rütten)
Selected song	“”
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
Final result
Cipro in the Eurovision Song Contest (◄Predecessore—Successore►)
◄2019 Tamta – “Replay” • 2020 Sandro – “Running” • 2021►

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song “”, performed by Sandro Nicolas. Sandro Nicolas was selected internally by the Cypriot national broadcaster, Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (Ραδιοφωνικό Ίδρυμα Κύπρου Radiofonikó Ídryma Kýprou, Kıbrıs Radyo Yayın Kurumu – CyBC, ΡΙΚ, KRYK) to represent Cyprus in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

1.Background: 

2.Before Eurovision: 

2.1.Competing entries: 

2.1.1.Final – 

2.2.Promotion:

3.At Eurovision:

3.1.Semi-final:

3.2.Voting:

3.2.1.Points awarded to Cipro (Semi-final ):

Points awarded to Cipro (Final):

3.2.2.Points awarded by Cipro (Semi-final ):

Points awarded by Cipro (Final ):

3.2.3.Split voting results:

Split voting results from Cipro (Semi-final ):

Split voting results from Cipro (Final):

Artist: 

Sandro
Background information
Birth name	Alessandro H. Rütten (Sandro Nicolas)
Born	2 August 1996 (age 23) Heinsberg, Germany
Genres	Pop
Origin	Germany, US, Greece
Occupation(s)	Singer
Years active
Labels
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
Semi-final points
Appearance chronology
◄2019 Tamta – “Replay” • 2020 Sandro Nicolas – “” • 2021►

Alessandro Rütten / Αλεσσάντρο Ρύττεν (born 4 October 1996), better known as Sandro / Sandro Nicolas is a singer from Germany.

Career. Sandro was born in Heinsberg to a Greek mother and an American father. He was raised in Germany, where he started his career in music.

In 2018, he participated in season 8 of The Voice of Germany (the German version of The Voice). He performed Shawn Mendes’ “In My Blood” in the Blind Auditions, and all four coaches turned for him. He was eliminated in the Sing Off round.In 2019, Sandro represented the United States in the New Wave competition in Sochi, Russia and finished in 5th place. On 29 November 2019, Cypriot broadcaster CyBC revealed that Sandro was to represent Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. However, on March 18th 2020, the event was cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

Song: 

“”
Single by
Released
Format
Length
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
Semi-final points
Appearance chronology
◄ 2019 “Replay” – Tamta • 2020 “” – Sandro Nicolas • 2021►

“Running” is a song recorded by German-Greek singer Sandro. The song was scheduled to represent Cyprus in the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, after being internally selected by the national broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.^[1][2] However, the contest was later cancelled due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).^[3]

At Eurovision.

Rotterdam. The song was scheduled to represent Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Sandro was internally selected by the national broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Cyprus was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. In March 2020, the contest was later cancelled due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China and its spread to other countries.

Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

• Participations: 42 (36 Finals)
• First participation: 1973 (Ilanit)
• Best result:1st: 1978, 1979, 1998, 2018
• Worst result: 24th SF: 2007
• Nul points: None
• Victories: 1998 (Dana International), 1978 (Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta), 1979 (Milk and Honey), 2018 (Netta)
• Hosts: Tel Aviv 2019, Jerusalem 1999, Jerusalem 1979
• Broadcasters: IBA, KAN
• National selection events: National final [1981–1983, 1985–1987, 1988 (song), 1989, 1991–1993, 1995–1996, 2001, 2005–2006, 2008–2011, 2013–2014 HaKokhav HaBa L’Eurovizion (2015 (artist), 2016, 2017-2020 (artist) HaShir HaBa L’Eurovizion 2020 (song)] Internal selection [1973–1977, 1988 (artist), 1990, 1998–2000, 2002–2004, 2007, 2012, 2015 (song), 2017–2019 (song), 2021]

Eurovision Song Contest 2020
Country	Israele
National selection
Selection process	Artist: HaKokhav HaBa L’Eurovizion 2020 (הכוכב הבא לאירוויזיון 2020) Song: Kdam Eurovision 2020 (קדם אירוויזיון, Kdam-Erovizyon, Pre-Eurovision (קדם-אירוויזיון) / Kdam (קדם, Pre)
Selection date(s)	Artist: Auditions 1-15 (20 November 2019-18 December 2019), Shortlisting rounds 1-4 (21 December 2019-29 December 2019), Top 20 round (), Heat 1-4 (), Semi-final 1-3 (), Wildcard round (), Semi-final 4 (), Final () Song:
Host
Presenter(s)
Host broadcaster – Venue
Participants
Number of entries
Selected entrant
Selected song	“”
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
Final result
Israele in the Eurovision Song Contest (◄Predecessore—Successore►)
◄2019 Kobi Marimi – “Home” • 2020 Eden Alene – “Feker Libi” • 2021►

Israel originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The Israeli broadcaster Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC) collaborated with the commercial broadcaster Keshet and Tedy Productions, which organisied the reality singing competition HaKokhav HaBa L’Eurovizion (“The Next Star for Eurovision”). However, due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.

1.Background: Prior to the 2020 Contest, Israel had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-two times since its first entry in 1973. Israel has won the contest on four occasions: in 1978 with the song “A-Ba-Ni-Bi” performed by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta, in 1979 with the song “Hallelujah” performed by Milk and Honey, in 1998 with the song “Diva” performed by Dana International and in 2018 with the song “Toy” performed by Netta Barzilai. Since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Israel has failed to reach the final six times. In 2005, Shiri Maimon gave the country its tenth top five result, finishing fourth. Having failed to qualify for the final for four consecutive years (2011–14), Israel reached the final for the first time in five years, with Nadav Guedj finishing ninth in 2015, and the country has participated in the final every year since. Israel’s fourth victory came when Netta won the 2018 contest in Lisbon, with the song “Toy”. The next year where the contest was held in Israel, Kobi Marimi represented the country on home soil with the song “Home”, finishing twenty-third with 35 points in the final.

The Israeli entry for the 2020 Contest was selected through the reality singing competition HaKokhav HaBa L’Eurovizion (“The Next Star for Eurovision”), which was organised by Keshet and Tedy Productions. This will be the fifth time that the Israeli entry was selected through a collaboration with Keshet and Tedy Productions. An additional show also enabled the public to select the song that the Israeli representative will sing, which had previously been selected internally.

2.Before Eurovision: 

HaKokhav HaBa L’Eurovizion 2020 (הכוכב הבא לאירוויזיון, The Next Star For Eurovision): The singer who will perform the Israeli entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was selected through the reality singing competition HaKokhav HaBa L’Eurovizion (“The Next Star for Eurovision”), the original version of the international format Rising Star produced by Tedy Productions and Keshet Media Group. HaKokhav HaBa has been used since 2015 to select the Israeli artist for Eurovision. The shows were hosted by Assi Azar and Rotem Sela and featured a judging panel composed of Asaf Amdursky, Keren Peles, Shiri Maimon (2005 Israeli Eurovision entrant), Static & Ben-El Tavori and Itay Levi.

The competition commenced on 20 November 2019. All shows in the competition were broadcast on Keshet 12 as well as online via mako.co.il.

Shows.

Auditions (שלב האודישנים): The auditions were broadcast between 20 November and 18 December 2019. In total, 59 contestants qualified for the next phase of the competition following the withdrawal of Itzik Shamli, one of the previously qualified contestants.

Among the contestants were Ohad Shragai, A finalist of Kokhav Nolad season 8 and one of the composers behind “Home”, the Israeli entry in 2019, Eden Alene, the winner of the X Factor Israel season 3, Moran Aharoni, a competitor of Kokhav Nolad season 4, Nicki Goldstein, a comedian who participated in the 2011 and 2013 Israeli national finals, Lihi Toledano, the daughter of the 1982 Israeli representative Avi Toledano, Daniel Ben-Haim, a competitor of Kokhav Nolad season 5, Or Eddie, a competitor of The Voice Israel season 1, Judah Gavra who participated in the 2013 Israeli and 2018 Sammarinese national finals and Liora Itzhak, an Indian origin singer.

Shefita who placed third in the 2019 Israeli national final performed as two different characters during the auditions and the shortlisting rounds and withdrew from the competition after her performances.

Advanced (עבר / עברה), Eliminated (הודחה / הודח), Saved (ניצלה מהדחה על ידי המנחים), Withdrew (פרשה)

DRAW	PERFORMER	SONG	JUDGES’ VOTE (הצבעת השופטים)					SCORE	RESULT
			AMDURSKY	STATIC & TAVORI	MAIMON	PELES	LEVI
AUDITION 1 (20 NOVEMBER 2019)
1	Ella-Lee Lahav (אלה-לי להב)	“You Don’t Own Me”						95%	Advanced
2	Ilor Bar (אילור בר)	“Power”						67%	Eliminated
3	Ohad Shragai (אוהד שרגאי)	“I Wanna Dance with Somebody”						88%	Advanced
4	Noa Maman (נועה ממן)	“Khayati” (חייאתי)						60%	Eliminated
5	Raviv Kaner (רביב כנר)	“Angels”						93%	Advanced
6	Danielle Ben Efraim (דניאל בן-אפריים)	“Neshima” (נשימה)						72%	Advanced
7	Or Amrami-Brockman (אור עמרמי ברוקמן)	“Ma ata rotse mimeni” (מה אתה רוצה ממני)						97%	Advanced
AUDITION 2 (23 NOVEMBER 2019)
1	Eden Alene (עדן אלנה)	“Alive” (בחיים)						87%	Advanced
2	Yanai Ben Hamo (ינאי בן חמו)	“Yesh en sof” (יש אין סוף)						88%	Advanced
3	Lee Eller (לי אלר)	“Sheva ba’erev” (שבע בערב)						63%	Eliminated
4	Lali Kolishkin (ללי קולישקין)	“Stay” (תישאר)						95%	Advanced
5	Avihu Pinhasov Rhythm Club (מועדון הקצב של אביהו פנחסוב)	“Hilton Tel Aviv” / “Yamim yafim” (הילטון תל אביב / ימים יפים)						79%	Advanced
6	Adam Lahav (אדם להב)	“Crazy in Love” (שיגעון באהבה)						67%	Eliminated
7	Loai Ali (לואי עלי)	“Tslil meitar” (צליל מיתר)						79%	Advanced
AUDITION 3 (24 NOVEMBER 2019)
1	Ido Kolton (עידו קולטון)	“Rise Up”						72%	Advanced
2	Ram Naim (רם נעים)	“Tafast li makom” (תפסת לי מקום)						41%	Eliminated
3	Dana Lapidot (דנה לפידות)	“All by Myself”						88%	Advanced
AUDITION 4 (27 NOVEMBER 2019)
1	Gaya Shaki (גאיה שאקי)	“Set Fire to the Rain” (הצת את הגשם)						87%	Advanced
2	Gafna Rachel Pinto (גפנה רחל פינטו)	“Listen”						69%	Eliminated
3	Yohai Tzarfati (יוחאי צרפתי)	“Mitga’aga’at” (מתגעגעת)						71%	Advanced
4	Nathan Quatorze (נתן קטורזה)	“It Will Rain”						88%	Advanced
5	Yuval Beider-Peretz (יובל בידר פרץ)	“Hakol ad lekan” (הכל עד לכאן)						67%	Saved
6	Omer Eliyahu (עומר אליהו)	“Rak shelach” (רק שלך)						83%	Advanced
7	David Sodi (דוד סודי)	“Halev sheli” (הלב שלי)						28%	Eliminated
8	Galit Fahima (גלית פחימה)	“Oolai hapa’am” (אולי הפעם)						49%	Eliminated
9	Dorel Saadon (דוראל סעדון)	“Someone You Loved”						95%	Advanced
AUDITION 5 (30 NOVEMBER 2019)
1	Yahel Yaish (יהל יעיש)	“Soldi” (כסף)						71%	Advanced
2	Zohar Manor (זהר מנור)	“Nana Banana” (נהנה בננה)						88%	Advanced
3	Moran Aharoni (מורן אהרוני)	“Believer”						88%	Advanced
4	Sagi Trabelsi (שגיא טרבלסי)	“Lekh im ha’emet shelkha” (לך עם האמת שלך)			—			46%	Eliminated
5	Racheli Tareka (רחלי טרקה)	“Issues”						87%	Advanced
6	Nicki Goldstein (ניקי גולדשטיין)	“Someone You Loved”						85%	Advanced
7	Stefanie Dúnio (סטפני דיוניו)	“Whenever, Wherever” (בכל זמן, בכל מקום)						65%	Eliminated
8	Lihi Toledano (ליהי טולדנו)	“Af akhat” (אף אחת)						91%	Advanced
AUDITION 6 (1 DECEMBER 2019)
1	Shira Gavrielov (שירה גבריאלוב)	“Shallow” (רדוד)						91%	Advanced
2	Dave Spektor (דייב ספקטור)	“Caruso”				—		58%	Saved
3	Itzik Shamli (איציק שמלי)	“Kama haser”						81%	Withdrew
AUDITION 7 (2 DECEMBER 2019)
1	Daniel Ben Haim (דניאל בן-חיים)	“Ve’im tavo’i elai” (ואם תבואי אליי)						81%	Advanced
2	Kim Kate Rose (קים קייט רוז)	“Addicted To You”			—		—	49%	Eliminated
3	Or Eddie (אור אדי)	“Barcelona” (ברצלונה)						77%	Advanced
AUDITION 8 (4 DECEMBER 2019)
1	Yinon Hagag (ינון חג’ג’)	“Tagidi lo” (תגידי לו)						80%	Advanced
2	Oneg Israel (ענג ישראל)	“Turning Tables” (להפוך את היוצרות)						80%	Advanced
3	Barak Biton (ברק ביטון)	“Livchor nachon” (לבחור נכון)			—			46%	Eliminated
4	Ofer Naveh (עופר נוה)	“Laisse-moi t’aimer”						71%	Advanced
5	Shira Tzafari (שירה צפרי)	“Karma Police”						58%	Saved
6	Judah Gavra (יהודה גברה)	“Somebody to Love” (מישהו לאהוב)			—			33%	Eliminated
7	Galit Weizman (גלית ויצמן)	“The Show Must Go On” (המופע חייב להימשך)						77%	Advanced
AUDITION 9 (7 DECEMBER 2019)
1	Eden Zohar Sivan (עדן זהר סיון)	“Who’s Lovin’ You”						92%	Advanced
2	80 Vemashu (80 ומשהו)	“Big in Japan” (גדול ביפן)						55%	Eliminated
3	Nethanel Sherf (נתנאל שרף)	“Ma ata rotse mimeni” (מה אתה רוצה ממני)						86%	Advanced
4	Eilon Elkayam (איילון אלקיים)	“Haim shlemim” (חיים שלמים)						80%	Advanced
5	Layla Suleiman (לילה סולימאן; Rotem Shefy רותם שפי / Shefita שֵׁפִיטָה)	“Beautiful” (יפה)						80%	Withdrew
6	Alan Butcher (אלן בוצוייר)	“Balaila”				—		84%	Advanced
7	Lidor Sailo (לידור סאילו)	“Cry Me a River”						53%	Eliminated
AUDITION 10 (8 DECEMBER 2019)
1	HaTavlinim (התבלינים)	“Nim’as li mimekh” (נמאס לי ממך)			—			59%	Saved
2	Noa Farag (נועה פרג’)	“Without You”						66%	Eliminated
3	Eldad Cohen (אלדד כהן)	“Klum lo ta’im” (כלום לא טעים)						78%	Advanced
AUDITION 11 (9 DECEMBER 2019)
1	Gaella Brown (גאלה בראון)	“Ain’t Nobody”	—	—				75%	Advanced
2	Nave Mamo (נווה מאמו)	“Hello” (הֶלוֹ)						51%	Eliminated
3	Liora Itzhak (ליאורה יצחק)	“Mala mala” (“מעלה מעלה)						74%	Advanced
AUDITION 12 (11 DECEMBER 2019)
1	Chen Hadar(חן הדר)	“Jealous”						83%	Advanced
2	Michael Tsidon (מיכאל צידון)	“Khayati” (חייאתי)	—					72%	Advanced
3	Atara Oryah (עטרה אוריה)	“Achshav o l’olam” (עכשיו או לעולם)	—					73%	Advanced
4	Hila Vaknin (הילה וקנין)	“Rak otkha” (רק אותך)						17%	Eliminated
5	Dikla Malka (דיקלה מלכה)	“Stone Cold” (קר כאבן)						66%	Saved
6	Wonder Years	“It Must Be Love”						77%	Advanced
7	Bar Furman (בר פורמן)	“Something’s Got a Hold on Me”						78%	Advanced
AUDITION 13 (14 DECEMBER 2019)
1	HaHertzelim (ההרצלים)	“Soldi” (כסף)						77%	Advanced
2	Oren Ettinger (אורן אטינגר)	“Crazy”						85%	Advanced
3	Yuval Gez (יובל גז)	“Over the Rainbow” (אי שם מעבר לקשת)						69%	Eliminated
4	Eden Shabi (עדן שאבי)	“Mima at mefahedet” (ממה את מפחדת)						72%	Advanced
5	Lital David (ליטל דוד)	“Jealous”						46%	Saved
6	Zion Huri (ציון חורי)	“Hurricane”						77%	Advanced
7	Rotem Edri Tuchner (רותם אדרי טוכנר)	“Djadja”					—[8]	47%	Eliminated
AUDITION 14 (15 DECEMBER 2019)
1	Yossi Asher (יוסי אשר)	“En li ahava” (אין לי אהבה)						51%	Saved
2	Noy Halperin (נוי הלפרין)	“Never Enough”						72%	Advanced
3	Maya Eliyahu (מאיה אליהו)	“Shkufim” (שקופים)						48%	Eliminated
4	Ron Peretz (רון פרץ)	“Roobama” (רובאמה)						81%	Advanced
AUDITION 15 (18 DECEMBER 2019)
1	Lidor Ben Atia (לידור בן עטיה)	“Shetisaref ha’ahava” ()						70%	Advanced
2	Linoy Akale (לינוי אקלה)	“Get Lucky”	—				—	41%	Saved
3	Ben Tzur (בן צור)	“Shmama” (שממה)						56%	Eliminated
4	Shir Argi (שיר ערגי)	“Yerushalayim shel zahav” (ירושלים של זהב)						88%	Advanced
5	Amit Sadan (עמית סדן)	“You Should See Me in a Crown” (אתה צריך לראות אותי בכתר)						41%	Eliminated
6	Shiran Avayou (שירן אבאיו)	“It’s My Life”						92%	Advanced

Shortlisting rounds:

DRAW	PERFORMER	SONG	JUDGES’ VOTE					SCORE	RESULT
			AMDURSKY	STATIC & TAVORI	MAIMON	PELES	LEVI
SHORTLISTING ROUND 1 (21 DECEMBER 2019)
1	Ohad Shragai (אוהד שרגאי)	“Mono” (מונו)						60%	Saved
2	Lali Kolishkin (ללי קולישקין)	“Addicted to You” (מכורה אליך)						100%	Advanced
3	Yahel Yaish (יהל יעיש)	“Perfect” (מושלם)	—					20%	Eliminated
4	Gaya Shaki (גאיה שאקי)	“Bad Romance” (רומן רע)		—				80%	Saved
5	Ella- ()Lee Lahav (אלה-לי להב)	“Into You” (בקטע שלך)						100%	Advanced
6	Galit Weizman (גלית ויצמן)	“Russian Roulette” (רולטה רוסית)						60%	Eliminated
7	Atara Oryah (עטרה אוריה)	—					—	20%	Eliminated
8	Eden Shabi (עדן שאבי)	“Aluf haolam” (אלוף העולם)						40%	Eliminated
9	Zion Huri (ציון חורי)	“Proud” (גאה)						20%	Eliminated
10	Lidor Ben Atia (לידור בן עטיה)	“HaLev sheli” (הלב שלי)				—		80%	Eliminated
11	Or Amrami-Brockman (אור עמרמי ברוקמן)	“Nitzakht iti hakol” (ניצחת איתי הכל)						100%	Advanced
SHORTLISTING ROUND 2 (25 DECEMBER 2019)
1	Raviv Kaner (רביב כנר)	“Sign of the Times”						100%	Advanced
2	Moran Aharoni (מורן אהרוני)	“Love Runs Out”						100%	Advanced
3	Dikla Malka (דיקלה מלכה)	“Who’s Lovin’ You”			—			20%	Eliminated
4	Michael Tsidon (מיכאל צידון)	“Aramam”	—					80%	Eliminated
5	Ofer Naveh (עופר נוה)	“Yekariti” (יקירתי)			—			60%	Eliminated
6	HaTavlinim (התבלינים)	“Tango”						80%	Saved
7	Lital David (ליטל דוד)	“Freedom”				—	—	0%	Eliminated
8	Eilon Elkayam (אילון אלקיים)	“Misheo oleh tamid iti” (מישהו הולך תמיד איתי)			—		—	0%	Eliminated
9	Alan Butcher (אלן בוצוייר)	“Impossible”		—			—	0%	Eliminated
10	Or Eddie (אור אדי)	“Hoevet oti tamid” (אוהבת אותי אמיתי)						60%	Saved
11	Avihu Pinhasov Rhythm Club (מועדון הקצב של אביהו פנחסוב)	“Avrom” (אברום)						100%	Advanced
SHORTLISTING ROUND 3 (28 DECEMBER 2019)
1	Dorel Saadon (דוראל סעדון)	“Heaven”						100%	Advanced
2	Eden Alene (עדן אלנה)	“Fallin’”						100%	Advanced
3	Yuval Beider-Peretz (יובל בידר פרץ)	“Veulai” (ואולי)		—				20%	Eliminated
4	Omer Eliyahu (עומר אליהו)	“Shuvi lebeitech” (שובי לביתך)						80%	Saved
5	Sarah Hoffman (שרה הופמן; Rotem Shefy רותם שפי  / Shefita שֵׁפִיטָה)	“Womanizer” (רודף שמלות)					—	80%	Withdrew
6	Nicki Goldstein (ניקי גולדשטיין)	“Million Reasons” (מיליון סיבות)						60%	Saved
7	Yohai Tzarfati (יוחאי צרפתי)	“Shmama” (שממה)				—		60%	Eliminated
8	Bar Furman (בר פורמן)	“Skyfall” (שמיים נופלים)						60%	Eliminated
9	Dana Lapidot (דנה לפידות)	“Mangina” (מנגינה)						100%	Advanced
SHORTLISTING ROUND 4 (29 DECEMBER 2019)
1	Nathan Ktorza	“Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”						100%	Advanced
2	Linoy Akale	“You’re the One That I Want”						100%	Advanced
3	Yossi Asher	“Besof mitraglim lehakol”			—			80%	Eliminated
4	Ron Peretz	“Af echad lo ba li”	—					0%	Eliminated
5	Lihi Toledano	“Melade”						2060%	Eliminated
6	Shiran Avayou	“Poison”	—		—			60%	Eliminated
7	Nethanel SheLoai Alirf	“Hello”				—		20%	Eliminated
8	Eden Zohar Sivan	“I Wish”		—				60%	Saved
9	Loai Ali	“Kehev shel lohamim”						60%	Saved
10	Oneg Israel	“Aieka”						60%	Saved

Eliminated contestants whose performances were not included in the shows
המתמודדים שהגיעו לשלב זה אך לא שודרו בטלוויזיה

Chen Hadar	Ido Kolton	Shira Tzafari
Daniel Ben Haim	Liora Itzhak	Wonder Years
Danielle Ben Efraim	Noy Halperin	Yanai Ben Hamo
Dave Spektor	Oren Ettinger	Yinon Hagag
Eldad Cohen	Racheli Tareka	Zohar Manor
Gaella Brown	Shir Argi
HaHertzelim	Shira Gavrielov

Top 20 round:

DUEL (דו קרב) 🆚	DRAW	ARTIST	SONG	JUDGES’ VOTE (הצבעת השופטים)					SCORE	RESULT
				AMDURSKY (אמדורסקי)	STATIC & TAVORI (סטטיק ותבורי)	MAIMON (מימון)	PELES	LEVI
PART 1 (4 JANUARY 2019)
I	1	Eden Alene	“Power”						86%	Advanced
	2	HaTavlinim	“Tel Aviv balayla”						70%	Saved
II	3	Or Edi	“Kmo Cinderella”						50%	Eliminated
	4	Or Amrami-Brockman	“Kol yom kmo ness”						88%	Advanced
III	5	Nathan Katorza	“Uptown Funk”						70%	Eliminated
	6	Gaya Shaki	“Crazy”						92%	Advanced
IV	7	Ella-Lee Lahav	“Hey Mama”						90%	Advanced
	8	Nicki Goldstein	“Creep”						73%	Saved
PART 2 (5 JANUARY 2019)
V	9	Avihu Pinhasov Rhythm Club	“Zingara” / “Neshama kapara mami”						52%	Saved
	10	Linoy and Gil	“Diamonds”						67%	Advanced
VI	11	Ohad Shragai	“Wake Me Up”						57%	Saved
	12	Eden Zohar Sivan	“Doo Wop (That Thing)”						80%	Advanced
VII	13	Dana Lapidot	“I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing”						61%	Eliminated
	14	Moran Aharoni	“River”						85%	Advanced
VIII	15	Raviv Kaner	“The Show Must Go On”						55%	Saved
	16	Dorel Saadon	“All of Me”						88%	Advanced
PART 3 (9 JANUARY 2019)
IX	17	Oneg Israel	“Proud Mary”						47%	Eliminated
	18	Lali Kolishkin	“Turning Tables”						88%	Advanced
X	19	Loai Ali	“Lindana Lindana”						60%	Saved
	20	Omer Eliyahu	“Pri ganeh”						68%	Advanced

Heat 1:

DUEL	DRAW	ARTIST	SONG	JUDGES’ VOTE					SCORE	RESULT
				AMDURSKY	STATIC & TAVORI	MAIMON	PELES	LEVI
PART 1 (11 JANUARY 2019)
I	1	Eden Alene & Moran Aharoni	“A Natural Woman”						92%	Advanced
	2	Dorel Saadon & Eden Zohar Sivan	“Stand by Me”						75%
II	3	HaTavlinim	“Shnei meshugaim”						60%
	4	Ohad Shragai	“Hey”						77%	Advanced
III	5	Avihu Pinhasov Rhythm Club	“Einaim sheli”						45%
	6	Loai Ali	“Ratsiti ledaber itcha”						78%	Advanced
IV	7	Linoy and Gil	“Eretz ktana im safam”			—			35%
	8	Raviv Kaner	“Aba”						67%	Advanced
V	9	Ella-Lee Lahav & Or Amrami-Brockman	“Señorita”						95%
	PART 2 (13 JANUARY 2019)
	10	Gaya Shaki & Lali Kolishkin	“Umbrella”						%
VI		Nicki Goldstein	“”						%
		Omer Eliyahu	“”						%

2.1.1.Semi-finals:

Semi-final 1 () – 

Semi-final 2 () – 

Semi-final 3 () – 

Wildcard round:

Semi-final 4 () – 

2.1.2.Final () – 

HaShir HaBa L’Eurovizion (“השיר הבא לאירוויזיון”): The final will be held on 3 March 2019. All songs will be performed by TBA and the winning song will be chosen by a combination of votes from a professional jury (65%), the judging panel (5%) and televoting (30%).

DRAW	SONG	SONGWRITER(S)	JURY (65%)	JUDGING PANEL (5%)						TELEVOTE (30%)	TOTAL	PLACE
				AMDURSKY	STATIC & TAVORI	MAIMON	PELES	LEVI	TOTAL
1
2
3
4

—

סדר	שיר	נקודת שיפוט 1	נקודת שיפוט 2	נקודת שיפוט 3	הוועדה	הצופים	ניקוד סופי	מקום
1
2
3
4

2.2.Promotion:

3.At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big 5” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Israel was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.^[13] However, due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.

3.1.Semi-final:

3.2.Voting:

3.2.1.Points awarded to Israele (Semi-final ):

Points awarded to Israele (Final):

3.2.2.Points awarded by Israele (Semi-final ):

Points awarded by Israele (Final ):

3.2.3.Split voting results:

Split voting results from Israele (Semi-final ):

Split voting results from Israele (Final):

Artist: 

Eden Alene
Background information
Birth name
Born
Genres
Origin
Occupation(s)
Years active
Labels
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
Semi-final points
Appearance chronology
◄2019 Kobi Marimi – “Home” • 2020 – “” • 2021►

Eden Alene (עדן אלנה‎; born 7 May 2000) is an Israeli singer. She was supposed to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.. She will represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 after the 2020 contest was cancelled due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic.

Early life. Alene was born in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Katamon to Ethiopian-born Jewish parents who immigrated separately to Israel during the aliyah from Ethiopia. When she was two years old her parents divorced. Since then, she hasn’t been in contact with her father. She studied in religious schools, and then attended the Hebrew University High School.

In 2018, she was enlisted to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and serves in a military band.

Career. In October 2017, she participated in the third season of Israeli reality show The X Factor Israel. At the first audition, she sang “Stone Cold” by Demi Lovato. In January 2018 she won the season finale. In April 2018, she performed a song by Arkadi Duchin at the torch-lighting ceremony that opened the celebrations of the 70th Anniversary of the Establishment of the State of Israel. In December 2018, she released her debut single, “Better”. In 2019, she took part in an Israeli production of Little Shop of Horrors

Personal life. Alene resides in Kiryat Gat, Israel.

Eurovision Song Contest. In February 2019, ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest in Israel, Eden Alene released a cover of the song “Save Your Kisses for Me” by Brotherhood of Man, which won the Eurovision Song Contest 1976. In March 2019, she released her second single, “When It Comes to You”, which was produced by American producer Julian Bunetta. In 2019, she participated in the seventh season of Israeli reality show Rising Star, achieving first place on February 4, 2020. As the winner, she was supposed to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 held in Rotterdam, Netherlands with the song Feker Libi. However, on March 18th 2020, the event was cancelled due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic. She was then chosen on March 22, 2020 to represent Israel one again in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.

Song: 

“Feker Libi” (ፍቅር ልቤ, אהוב ליבי, My beloved)
Single by
Released
Format
Length
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
Semi-final points
Appearance chronology
◄ 2019 “Home” – Kobi Marimi • 2020 – “” • 2021►

“Feker Libi” (Amharic: “ፍቅር ልቤ”, My beloved) is a song recorded by Israeli singer Eden Alene, performed in English, Amharic, Hebrew and Arabic. It was planned to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. It is the first Eurovision entry to contain lyrics in Amharic.

Eurovision Song Contest. The song was released as a single on March 3, 2020. It was planned represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Eden Alene was selected through HaKokhav HaBa L’Eurovizion, the music competition that selects Israel’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. On January 28, 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Israel was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

on 18 March 2020, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced that the Eurovision Song Contest of 2020 would be cancelled due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Europe. This marks the first time in the contest’s 64-year history that it has been cancelled. Following its cancellation, the EBU is discussing carryovers for the 2021 contest, such as host city and participating artists, with various parties.

Credits and personnel. Credits adapted from YouTube

• Eden Alene – vocals
• Doron Medalie – backing vocals, songwriting
• Idan Raichel – songwriting, production, keyboards
• Yinon Yahel – production, keyboards, programming, mixing, mastering
• Ronen Hilel – recording engineer
• Ofek Ariov – engineer assistant
• Omri Bar Hod – programming
• Rudi Bainesay – backing vocals

Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

Participations33First participation1971 (Joe Grech)VictoriesNoneHostsNever hostedBroadcastersTVMXMPBMMTPBSPBS

Eurovision Song Contest 2020
Country	Malta
National selection
Selection process	Artist: X Factor Malta 2020 Song: Internal Selection
Selection date(s)	Semi-finals: 06.10.2019-13.10.2019 (Castings, Bootcamp, Six Chair Challenge & Judges Houses) Final: 08.02.2020
Host
Presenter(s)	Ben Camille
Host broadcaster – Venue	TVM – MFCC – Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre, Attard
Participants
Number of entries
Selected entrant
Selected song	“”
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
Final result
Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest (◄Predecessore—Successore►)
◄2019 Michela Pace – “Chameleon” • 2020 Destiny – “All Of My Love”  • 2021►

Malta originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) will use the talent show X Factor Malta‘s second season to decide their representative, who will perform a song selected internally by the broadcaster.^[1] However, due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.

1.Background:

Prior to the 2020 Contest, Malta has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 32 times since its first entry in 1971.^[2] Malta briefly competed in the Eurovision Song Contest in the 1970s before withdrawing for sixteen years. The country had, to this point, competed in every contest since returning in 1991. Malta’s best placing in the contest thus far was second, which it achieved on two occasions: in 2002 with the song “7th Wonder” performed by Ira Losco and in 2005 with the song “Angel” performed by Chiara.

In 2019, Malta returned to the final after two years with Michela Pace, performer also selected through X Factor Malta, and the pop entry Chameleon, managing to achieve a fourteenth place in the Saturday show with 107 points.

2.Before Eurovision:  

X Factor Malta:On 11 October 2019, the Maltese national broadcaster PBS announced through their official website that the second season of X Factor Malta would be used as national selection for their performer in Eurovision 2020.^[1] The shows started with the first auditions on 6 October 2019 with weekly shows aired on Sundays on TVM lasting until the start of the live shows in January 2020.^[3] The final of the show will then take place on 8 February 2020.^[1]

Finalists[edit]

Key:

     – Winner

     – Runner-up

     – Third Place

Category (mentor)	Acts
Boys (Mercieca)	Kyle Cutajar	Dav. Jr	Karl Schembri
Girls (Losco)	Jasmine Abela	Destiny Chukunyere	Justine Shorfid
Overs (Alden)	Ed Abdilla	Celine Agius	Paul Anthony
Groups (Debono)	Bloodline	F.A.I.T.H	Yazmin and James

Pre-auditions: 

Judges’ Auditions (6 October 2019–3 November 2019): 

X FACTOR MALTA − SEASON 2 (AUDITIONS)
SHOW 1 (6 OCTOBER 2019)
DRAW	ARTIST	SONG	RESULT
1	Ian Bondin	Original song	Eliminated
2[a]	Abigail Bartolo	“Bound to You”	Eliminated
	Anne Marie Ellul	“Hello”	Eliminated
	Etienne Bugeja	“We Are the World”	Eliminated
	Nadesh Buhagiar	“Stone Cold”	Eliminated
	Patricia Utulu	—	Eliminated
	Silvan Mula	“Halo”	Eliminated
3	Justine Shorfid	“All I Want”	Joins the bootcamp
4	Jurgen Volkov	“Say You Won’t Let Go”	Joins the bootcamp
5	Kelvin Cassar	“Lucky You”	Eliminated
6[b]	Eric Baldacchino	“All I Want”	Joins the bootcamp
	Jessica Micallef	—	Joins the bootcamp
	Maria Ellul	“Ex’s & Oh’s”	Joins the bootcamp
	Sheriden Balzan	—	Joins the bootcamp
	Luke Vassallo	“Stand by Me”	Joins the bootcamp
	Ela Cachia	—	Joins the bootcamp
7	Maya Sesay	“Natural Woman”	Joins the bootcamp
8	Cora Elizabeth Lewis	“When I Was Your Man”	Joins the bootcamp
9	Lisa Marie Tabone	“Lovesong”	Joins the bootcamp
10	Two Blocks Away	“Wicked Game”	Joins the bootcamp
11	Faraqui	“Stand by Me”	Eliminated
12	Kersten Graham	Original song	Joins the bootcamp
13	Edward Abdilla	“Riptide”	Joins the bootcamp
14	Luke Baldacchino	Original song	Joins the bootcamp
15	Giovanni	Original song	Joins the bootcamp
16	Michelle	“Natural Woman”	Joins the bootcamp
		“I Just Want to Make Love to You”
17	Melicent Abela	“Always Remember Us This Way”	Eliminated
18	Rodianne Vella	“Hasta Mañana”	Eliminated
SHOW 2 (13 OCTOBER 2019)
1	Engelbert Compagno	—	Eliminated
2	Dayle Camilleri	“Bruises”	Joins the bootcamp
3	Justin Mamo	“Falling Like the Stars”	Joins the bootcamp
4	Jelena Attard	“One and Only”	Joins the bootcamp
5	Nicole Mallia	“Price Tag”	Eliminated
6	Rebecca Mifsud	“La vie en rose”	Joins the bootcamp
7	Steve Azzopardi	“Lady Is a Tramp”	Eliminated
8	Cherton Caruana	“Young and Beautiful”	Joins the bootcamp
9	Priscilla Borg	“Hallelujah”	Eliminated
10	Estelle Imbroll	“House of the Rising Sun”	Joins the bootcamp
11	Cain Portelli	Original song	Joins the bootcamp
12	Glenn Farrugia	“Say Something”	Joins the bootcamp
13	Demi Galea	“Addicted to You”	Joins the bootcamp
14	Bernadette Mangion	“Rise Up”	Joins the bootcamp
15	Janica Aquilina	“All I Want”	Eliminated
16	Kyle Kutajar	“I’m Not the Only One”	Joins the bootcamp
17	Fitzpatrick Schembri	“Tears in Heaven”	Joins the bootcamp
18	Chris Cassar	“Photograph”	Joins the bootcamp
19	Anthony Scinto	“No Good in Goodbye”	Joins the bootcamp
20	Benjamin Attard	Medley	Joins the bootcamp
21	Maria Magro	“Take Me to Your Heaven”	Eliminated
SHOW 3 (20 OCTOBER 2019)
1	Jasmine Abela	“Best Part”	Joins the bootcamp
2	Chasmaine Sultana	“Rolling in the Deep”	Eliminated
3	Ludivine O’Toole	“Habanera”	Joins the bootcamp
4[c]	Kirsty Vidal	“Jar of Hearts”	Eliminated
	Clive Isaac Gucci	“No Matter What”	Eliminated
	Michela Fenech Conti	“The Bare Necessities”	Eliminated
	Julian Sultana	“Titanium”	Eliminated
	Owen Stivala	“Take Me to Church”	Eliminated
5	Paul Anthony	“One Woman Man”	Joins the bootcamp
6	Danica Muscat	“Bohemian Rhapsody”	Eliminated
7	Matt Blxck	“Rocketman”	Joins the bootcamp
8	Marston Farrugia	“Toxic”	Eliminated
9[d]	Megan Caruana	“Mercy”	Joins the bootcamp
	Jake Camilleri	“Home”	Joins the bootcamp
	Logan Borg	“You Are the Reason”	Joins the bootcamp
	Hannah Elkekli	“Somebody to Hold”	Joins the bootcamp
	Brad Cardona	“Hold My Girl”	Joins the bootcamp
	Mark Spiteri	“No Matter What”	Joins the bootcamp
10	Marija Bellia	Original song	Joins the bootcamp
11	Chanelle Zarb	Original song	Joins the bootcamp
12	Dwayne Mifsud	Original song	Joins the bootcamp
13	Ilenia Camilleri	“You’re My World”	Joins the bootcamp
		“Love Yourself”
14	Courtney Seguna	“Cry”	Eliminated
15	Chrissy Washington	“She Used to Be Mine”	Joins the bootcamp

Bootcamp  (10 November 2019-17 November 2019) : 

Six Chair Challenge (24 November 2019-15 December 2019): The 24 successful acts were:

SEASON 2 / MENTOR	CATEGORY	ACTS	RESULTS
IRA LOSCO	GIRLS	Jasmine Abela, Gail Attard, Marija Bellia, Destiny Chukunyere, Karin Duff, Justine Shorfid
HOWARD KEITH DEBONO	GROUPS	Bloodline, Chord, F.A.I.T.H, Reign, Sweet Chaos, Yazmin & James
ALEXANDRA ALDEN	OVERS	Edward Abdilla, Celine Agius, Chantal Catania, Paul Cuschieri, Kersten Graham, Jozi
RAY MERCIECA	BOYS	Matt Blxck, Kyle Cutajar, Dav. Jr, Giovanni, Karl Schembri, Jurgen Volkov

Judges’ Houses (22 December 2019-5 January 2020): The Judges’ Houses episodes were broadcast on 22 and 29 December 2019.

Summary of Judges’ Houses

JUDGE	CATEGORY	ASSISTANT	CONTESTANTS ELIMINATED
MERCIECA	Boys	Amelia Lily	Matt Blxck, Giovanni, Jurgen Volkov
LOSCO	Girls	Louisa Johnson	Gail Attard, Marija Bellia, Karin Duff
ALDEN	Overs	The New Victorians	Chantal Catania, Kersten Graham, Jozi
DEBONO	Groups	Lil’ Eddie	Chord, Reign, Sweet Chaos

2.1.Finalists / Competing entries (Artist / Song / Composition / Lyrics):

Key:

     – Eliminated

CATEGORY (MENTOR)	ACTS
BOYS (MERCIECA)	Kyle Cutajar	Dav. Jr	Karl Schembri
GIRLS (LOSCO)	Jasmine Abela	Destiny Chukunyere	Justine Shorfid
OVER 25S (ALDEN)	Ed Abdilla	Celine Agius	Paul Anthony
GROUPS (DEBONO)	Bloodline	F.A.I.T.H	Yazmin and James

2.1.1.Live shows (12 January 2020-8 February 2020): The live shows began on Sunday, 12 January 2020. They were filmed at the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre (MFCC) in Attard, Malta.

Results summary:

Colour key

     – Contestant in the bottom two/three and had to perform in the Sing-Off

     – Contestant was in the bottom three but received the fewest votes and was immediately eliminated

CONTESTANT	WEEK 1	WEEK 2	WEEK 3	WEEK 4	WEEK 5
					ROUND ONE	ROUND TWO	ROUND THREE
BLOODLINE
CELINE AGIUS
DAV. JR
DESTINY CHUKUNYERE
ED ABDILLA
F.A.I.T.H
JASMINE ABELA
JUSTINE SHORFID
KARL SCHEMBRI
KYLE CUTAJAR
PAUL ANTHONY
YAZMIN AND JAMES
SING-OFF					No Sing Off or Judges Vote, the public votes decide who wins.
ALDEN’S VOTE TO ELIMINATE
DEBONO’S VOTE TO ELIMINATE
LOSCO’S VOTE TO ELIMINATE
MERCIECA’S VOTE TO ELIMINATE
ELIMINATED

2.2.Promotion:

3.At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big 5” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Malta was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.^[4] However, due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.

3.1.Semi-final:

3.2.Voting:

3.2.1.Points awarded to Montenegro (Semi-final ):

Points awarded to Montenegro (Final):

3.2.2.Points awarded by Montenegro (Semi-final ):

Points awarded by Montenegro (Final ):

3.2.3.Split voting results:

Split voting results from Montenegro (Semi-final ):

Split voting results from Montenegro (Final):

Artist: 

Destiny
Background information
Birth name
Born
Genres
Origin
Occupation(s)
Years active
Labels
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
Semi-final points
Appearance chronology
◄2019 Michela Pace – “Chameleon” • 2020 – “” • 2021►

Destiny Chukunyere MQR (born 29 August 2002) is a Maltese singer from Birkirkara, Malta. She won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015, where she represented Malta with the song “Not My Soul“.

In 2017, she participated in the eleventh series of Britain’s Got Talent and finished 6th in the second semi-final and thus was eliminated. She won the second season of the Maltese version of The X Factor and was chosen to represent Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam with the song “All of My Love“, before the contest was cancelled due to the 2019–20 Corona virus pandemic.

Life and career[edit]

Family and early life[edit]

Chukunyere was born on 29 August 2002. She lives in Birkirkara and currently attends a secondary school in Ħamrun.^[1] Her father is Nigerian (Igbo^[2]) former footballer Ndubisi Chukunyere, while her mother is Maltese.^[3] She has two younger siblings; a sister named Melody and a brother named Isaiah.^[4]

Prior to her participation in the Junior Eurovision, Chukunyere participated in various singing competitions including Festival Kanzunetta Indipendenza 2014 in which she placed third with the song “Festa t’Ilwien”; and won the Asterisks Music Festival, and SanRemo Junior in Italy.^[5]

Junior Eurovision 2015[edit]

On 11 July 2015, Chukunyere won the Maltese national final held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta. She represented Malta at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015, in Sofia, Bulgaria on 21 November.^[6]

Chukunyere won the live national final with the Aretha Franklin song “Think“, enabling her to represent Malta; her Junior Eurovision entry called “Not My Soul” was composed by Elton Zarb and written by Muxu with her involvement.^[7][8] Chukunyere won the contest with 185 points breaking the previous record score set by María Isabel in 2004.^[9]

On 13 December 2015, Chukunyere and her team were awarded the Midalja għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika.^[8]

2017: Britain’s Got Talent[edit]

In early 2017, Chukunyere auditioned for series 11 of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent singing “Think”, by Aretha Franklin, where she was given four yeses. Her audition was aired on 20 May. She has received praise from established music critic Simon Cowell and international renowned tenor Joseph Calleja.^[10] After listening and watching her perform, Cowell told to the rest of the judges that they “have been waiting for someone to come out who … could be a star, and” Destiny may be the one.^[11] On 27 May, she was announced as one of the qualifiers to the live shows and performed in the second semi-final on 30 May.^[12] She placed 6th in the semi-final and thus was eliminated.

Eurovision Song Contest 2019[edit]

In 2019, Chukunyere appeared in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel as the Maltese entrant, Michela Pace‘s backing singer for her song, “Chameleon“. The song qualified for the final, finishing in 14th place with 107 points.

X Factor Malta 2019–20 and Eurovision 2020[edit]

In 2019, Chukunyere was revealed to be taking part in the second season of X Factor Malta. She was placed in the Girls category, mentored by Ira Losco, and advanced to the live shows. On 8 February 2020, she won the competition and therefore was supposed to represent Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 at Rotterdam, Netherlands. However, on 18 March 2020, the event was cancelled due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic.

Song: 

“”
Single by
Released
Format
Length
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
Semi-final points
Appearance chronology
◄ 2019 “Chameleon” – Michela Pace • 2020 – “” • 2021►

“All of My Love” is a song recorded by Maltese singer Destiny Chukunyere. The song was planned to represent Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam.^[1] However the contest was cancelled because of the 2019–20 Corona virus pandemic.^[2] The song was written by Bernarda Brunovic, Borislav Milanov, Sebastian Arman, Dag Lundberg and Joacim Persson.^[3]

Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

Participations
59
First participation
1960 (Nora Brockstedt)
Victories
2009 (Alexander Rybak)
1985 (Bobbysocks)
1995 (Secret Garden)
Hosts
Oslo 2010
Oslo 1996
Bergen 1986
Broadcasters
NRK

Eurovision Song Contest 2020
Country	Norvegia
National selection
Selection process	Melodi Grand Prix (MGP) 2020
Selection date(s)	Semi-finals: Semi-final 1 – 11.01.2020, Semi-final 2 – 18.01.2020, Semi-final 3 – 25.01.2020, Semi-final 4 – 01.02.2020, Second chance (Semi 5) – 08.02.2020  Final: 15.02.2020
Host
Presenter(s)	Kåre Magnus Bergh, Ingrid Gjessing Linhave, Ronny Brede Aase
Host broadcaster – Venue	Semi-finals: H3 Arena, Fornebu Final: Trondheim Spektrum
Participants
Number of entries	25
Selected entrant
Selected song	“”
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
Final result
Norvegia in the Eurovision Song Contest (◄Predecessore—Successore►)
◄2019 KEiiNO – “Spirit in the Sky” • 2020 Ulrikke – “Attention”  • 2021►

Norway will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The Norwegian broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix 2020 in order to select the Norwegian entry for the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The competition was won by Ulrikke Brandstorp with the song “Attention“. However, due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.

Background:

Prior to the 2020 Contest, Norway had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-nine times since their first entry in 1960.^[1] Norway had won the contest on three occasions: in 1985 with the song “La det swinge” performed by Bobbysocks!, in 1995 with the song “Nocturne” performed by Secret Garden and in 2009 with the song “Fairytale” performed by Alexander Rybak. Norway also had the two dubious distinctions of having finished last in the Eurovision final more than any other country and for having the most “nul points” (zero points) in the contest, the latter being a record the nation shared together with Austria. The country had finished last eleven times and had failed to score a point during four contests. Following the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, Norway has only failed to qualify on three occasions. In 2019, Norway was represented by KEiiNO with the song “Spirit in the Sky“. The country placed 6th in the final with 331 points.

The Norwegian national broadcaster, Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK), broadcasts the event within Norway and organises the selection process for the nation’s entry. The broadcaster has traditionally organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix, which has selected the Norwegian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in all but one of their participations.

2.Before Eurovision: 

Melodi Grand Prix 2020:Melodi Grand Prix 2020 was the 58th edition of the Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix, and selected Norway’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020.^[2]

Melodi Grand Prix 2020 was the 58th edition of the Norwegian music competition Melodi Grand Prix (MGP) and served as the country’s preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The competition was organized by NRK between 11 January 2020 and 15 February 2020, and a total of 25 songs participated – the highest number in the history of the competition.

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Norway’s debut in the Eurovision Song Contest, five heats and a final were organised instead of a single final. Each region in Norway was assigned its own heat, in which four acts from that region competed for a spot in the final on 15 February 2020. In addition, five pre-qualified finalists had been selected by the broadcaster.^[1][2] The heats were held in the H3 Arena in Fornebu, while the final took place in Trondheim Spektrum. This is the first time Trondheim is hosting a Melodi Grand Prix final, and it is the first time since 1989 that the final is not held in Oslo.^[3]

Kåre Magnus Bergh hosted Melodi Grand Prix for the sixth time, while Ronny Brede Aase and Ingrid Gjessing Linhave debuted as presenters of the competition. In the final, the pre-qualified entry “Attention” by Ulrikke Brandstorp received the most votes and was selected to represent Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Format:

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest, NRK decided to expand the competition with heats for the first time since 2014.^[3][4]

The semi-final concept was based on the five regions Northern, Central, Western, Southern and Eastern Norway. Each region had its own heat where artists and songwriters from that region competed for a place in the final on 15 February 2019. In each heat, four songs were set up in two pairs, and the winners of each pair then competed in a “gold duel”, with the final winner being decided by online voting.^[5][6]

All shows were hosted by Kåre Magnus Bergh, Ingrid Gjessing Linhave and Ronny Brede Aase. Kåre Magnus Bergh hosted for the sixth time, while Ingrid Gjessing Linhave and Ronny Brede Aase hosted the show for the first time.^[7][8]

Song submissions[edit]

As in previous years, NRK had invited Norwegian and foreign musicians to submit songs for the competition. Registration for Melodi Grand Prix 2020 opened on 2 March 2019, with the deadline being 31 July of the same year. Each submission had to have at least one Norwegian songwriter, and each songwriter could submit a maximum of three contributions.^[4] These changes to the rules led to a significant decrease in the number of songs submitted. In total, the broadcaster received about 800 submissions, compared to about 1,000 in previous years.^[5] A total of 25 songs were selected to participate in the competition: 20 songs were divided over the five heats, and five songs qualified directly for the final.

Shows[edit]

2020 marked the 60th anniversary of Norway’s debut in the Eurovision Song Contest 1960 with the song “Voi Voi” by Nora Brockstedt. On the occasion of the anniversary, NRK decided to expand the competition with five heats.^[6] This is the first time since 2014 that NRK organised heats ahead of the finals.^[7]

Each of the five heats was centered around one of Norway’s geographical regions: Northern, Central, Western, Southern and Eastern Norway. Four acts from each of these regions competed in their respective heats for a spot in the final on 15 February. The heats were broadcast directly from the H3 Arena in Fornebu, while the final was hosted by Trondheim Spektrum.^[5] This was the third time a Melodi Grand Prix final had been held outside of Oslo, and the first time since 1989. It was also the first time that Trondheim hosted the final.

The competition was hosted by three presenters. Kåre Magnus Bergh hosted for the sixth time, whereas Ronny Brede Aase and Ingrid Gjessing Linhave hosted the show for the first time.^[8][9]

Show	Date	Region	Venue
Heat 1	11 January 2020	Southern Norway	H3 Arena, Fornebu
Heat 2	18 January 2020	Eastern Norway
Heat 3	25 January 2020	Central Norway
Heat 4	1 February 2020	Western Norway
Heat 5	8 February 2020	Northern Norway
Final	15 February 2020	N/A	Trondheim Spektrum

Voting[edit]

The audience could vote for the competing acts in each heat, with the act that received most votes after two rounds proceeding to the final. A jury led by Stig Karlsen, the Norwegian head of delegation for the Eurovision Song Contest, selected the five pre-qualified finalists.^[6] In each heat, one of the pre-qualified finalists performed to ensure equal broadcasting time for all ten finalists. Viewers could only vote through the broadcaster’s website nrk.no.^[10]

In the final, the same method of online voting was used to determine the winner of the competition. Due to excessive server load caused by the emoji reaction function of the app, the four gold finalists were determined by a thirty-member backup demoscopic panel as the NRK website was down.^[11][12]

SEMI-FINAL	DATE	ARTIST REGION	ARENA	NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS
Semi-final 1	11 January 2020	Southern Norway	H3 Arena Fornebu	4 + 1 pre-qualified
Semi-final 2	18 January 2020	Western Norway		4 + 1 pre-qualified
Semi-final 3	25 January 2020	Central Norway		4 + 1 pre-qualified
Semi-final 4	1 February 2020	Western Norway		4 + 1 pre-qualified
Semi-final 5	8 February 2020	Northern Norway		4 + 1 pre-qualified
Grand final	15 February 2020	National	Trondheim Spektrum	10

2.1.Competing entries: The competing acts were announced during a press conference in Oslo on 6 January.^[13]

COMPETES AS	ARTIST	BORN	SONG (ENGLISH TRANSLATION)	COMPOSER(S)	RETURNING NRK (OR SVT) SONG CONTEST(S) PARTICIPANT
Akuvi	Beatrice Akuvi Hosen Kumordzie	1994	“Som du er” (“As You Are”)	Beatrice Akuvi Kumordzie, Andreas Stone Johansson	N/A
Didrik & Emil	Didrik Solli-Tangen Emil Solli-Tangen	1987 1991	“Out of Air”	Fredrik Boström, Mats Tärnfors, Niclas Lundin, Didrik Solli-Tangen	Melodi Grand Prix 2010, Eurovision Song Contest 2010 and Stjernekamp 2017 Melodi Grand Prix 2013
Geirmund	Geirmund Hansen	1988	“Come Alive”	Eric Lumiere, Jonas H. Jensen, Niklas Rosstöm	N/A
Kim Rysstad	Kim André Rysstad	1981	“Rainbow”	Knut Bjørnar Asphol, Kim André Rysstad	Melodi Grand Prix 2012 and Stjernekamp 2019
Lisa Børud		1996	“Talking About Us”	Jimmy Jansson, Anderz Wrethov, Maia Wright, Laurell Barker	Eurovision Song Contest 2018 (dancer) and Stjernekamp 2017
Raylee	Raylee Charlotte Kristiansen	1997	“Wild”	Andreas Stone Johansson, Anderz Wrethov, Laurell Barker	Melodi Grand Prix 2015 and Stjernekamp 2014
Sondrey	Sondre Mulongo Nystrøm	1994	“Take My Time”	Ola Frøyen, Eric Lumiere, Terchi Pippuri	Stjernekamp 2019
Tone Damli	Tone Damli Aaberge	1988	“Hurts Sometimes”	Helge Moen, Jim Bergsted, Jethro Fox, Tone Damli	Melodi Grand Prix 2009 and Melodifestivalen 2013
Ulrikke	Ulrikke Brandstorp	1995	“Attention”	Christian Ingebrigtsen, Kjetil Mørland, Ulrikke Brandstorp	Melodi Grand Prix 2017 and Stjernekamp 2018

2.1.1.Semi-finals:

Semi-final 1: The first semi-final took place on 11 January 2020 at the H3 Arena in Fornebu.

Semi-final 1 – South Norway, H3 Arena at Fornebu, Bærum, 11 January 2020

The participants and all the pre-qualified finalists were announced during a press conference in Oslo on 6 January.

DUELS

SEMI-FINAL 1 – 11 JANUARY 2020
DRAW	ARTIST	SONG	SONGWRITER(S)	RESULT
DUEL 1 / ROUND 1
1	Geirmund	“Come Alive”	Eric Lumiere, Jonas H. Jensen, Niklas Rosström	Eliminated
2	Lisa Børud	“Talking About Us”	Jimmy Jansson, Anderz Wrethov, Maia Wright, Laurell Barker	Gold Duel
DUEL 2 / ROUND 2
3	Kim Rysstad	“Rainbow”	Knut Bjørnar Asphol, Kim André Rysstad	Eliminated
4	Raylee	“Wild”	Andreas “Stone” Johansson, Anderz Wrethov, Laurell Barker	Gold Duel
PROMO
–	Sondrey	“Take My Time”	Ola Frøyen, Eric Lumiere, Terchi Pippuri	Pre-qualified

GOLD DUEL – 11 JANUARY 2020
DRAW	ARTIST	SONG	VOTES	RESULT
1	Lisa Børud	“Talking About Us”		Eliminated
2	Raylee	“Wild”		Advanced

In this semi-final, the following pre-qualified finalist performed for the first time his song.

ARTIST	SONG	PLACE
Sondrey	“Take My Time”	Pre-qualified

Semi-final 2: The second semi-final will take place on 18 January 2020 at the H3 Arena in Fornebu.

Semi-final 2 – East Norway H3 Arena at Fornebu, Bærum, 18 January 2020

Participants will be announced during a press conference on 13 January.

SEMI-FINAL 2 – 18 JANUARY 2020
DRAW	ARTIST	SONG	SONGWRITER(S)	RESULT
1
2
3
4

GOLD DUEL – 18 JANUARY 2020
DRAW	ARTIST	SONG	VOTES	PLACE
1
2

In this semi-final, the following pre-qualified finalist performed for the first time his song.

ARTIST	SONG	PLACE
Didrik & Emil Solli-Tangen	“Out of Air”	Pre-qualified

Semi-final 3: The third semi-final will take place on 25 January 2020 at the H3 Arena in Fornebu.

H3 Arena at Fornebu, Bærum, 25 January 2020

Participants will be announced during a press conference on 20 January.

SEMI-FINAL 3 – 25 JANUARY 2020
DRAW	ARTIST	SONG	SONGWRITER(S)	RESULT
1
2
3
4

GOLD DUEL – 25 JANUARY 2020
DRAW	ARTIST	SONG	VOTES	PLACE
1
2

In this semi-final, the following pre-qualified finalist performed for the first time his song.

ARTIST	SONG	PLACE
Akuvi	“Som du er” (“As You Are”)	Pre-qualified

Semi-final 4: The fourth semi-final will take place on 1 February 2020 at the H3 Arena in Fornebu.

H3 Arena at Fornebu, Bærum, 1 February 2020

Participants will be announced during a press conference on 27 January.^[10]

SEMI-FINAL 4 – 1 FEBRUARY 2020
DRAW	ARTIST	SONG	SONGWRITER(S)	RESULT
1
2
3
4

GOLD DUEL – 1 FEBRUARY 2020
DRAW	ARTIST	SONG	VOTES	PLACE
1
2

In this semi-final, the following pre-qualified finalist performed for the first time his song.

ARTIST	SONG	PLACE
Ulrikke Brandstop	“Attention”	Pre-qualified

Semi-final 5: The fifth semi-final will take place on 8 February 2020 at the H3 Arena in Fornebu.

H3 Arena at Fornebu, Bærum, 8 February 2020

Participants will be announced during a press conference on 3 February.

SEMI-FINAL 5 – 8 FEBRUARY 2020
DRAW	ARTIST	SONG	SONGWRITER(S)	RESULT
1
2
3
4

GOLD DUEL – 11 JANUARY 2020
DRAW	ARTIST	SONG	VOTES	PLACE
1
2

In this semi-final, the following pre-qualified finalist performed for the first time his song.

ARTIST	SONG	PLACE
Tone Damli	“Hurts Sometimes”	Pre-qualified

Final:

Ten songs consisting of the five semi-final winners alongside the five pre-qualified songs competed in the final hosted by Trondheim Spektrum in Trondheim on 15 February 2020. This was the third time a Melodi Grand Prix final had been held outside of Oslo, and the first time since 1989. It was also the first time that Trondheim hosted the final.^[9]

In the first round, all ten finalists performed once, after which the four best songs proceeded to the gold final. After a second voting round, the two best songs from the gold final proceeded to the gold duel. A third voting round then determined the winner of Melodi Grand Prix 2020.

In every round, the Norwegian audience could cast their votes through the broadcaster’s online voting system. However, due to technical problems with the online voting in the first round, the four gold finalists were determined by a thirty-member demoscopic jury panel.^[10][11]

After the gold duel, the results of the online voting were revealed by representatives of Norway’s five regions, which led to the victory of “Attention” performed by Ulrikke Brandstorp.^[12]

FINAL – 15 FEBRUARY 2020, TRONDHEIM SPEKTRUM, TRONDHEIM,
DRAW	ARTIST	SONG (ENGLISH TRANSLATION)	COMPOSER(S)	RESULT
	Akuvi	“Som du er” (As you are)	Beatrice Akuvi Kumordzie, Andreas “Stone” Johansson
	Didrik & Emil	“Out of Air”	Fredrik Boström, Mats Tärnfors, Niclas Lundin, Didrik Solli-Tangen
	Sondrey	“Take My Time”	Ola Frøyen, Eric Lumiere, Terchi Pippuri
	Tone Damli	“Hurts Sometimes”	Helge Moen, Jim Bergsted, Jethro Fox, Tone Damli
	Ulrikke Brandstorp	“Attention”	Christian Ingebrigtsen, Kjetil Mørland, Ulrikke Brandstorp
	Raylee	“Wild”	Andreas “Stone” Johansson, Anderz Wrethov, Laurell Barker

GOLD FINAL – 15 FEBRUARY 2020
DRAW	ARTIST	SONG	TELEVOTE	PLACE	RESULT
1
2
3
4

GOLD DUEL – 15 FEBRUARY 2020
DRAW	ARTIST	SONG	TELEVOTE	PLACE	RESULT
1
2

2.2.Promotion:

3.At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big 5” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Norway was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.^[13] However, due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.

3.1.Semi-final:

3.2.Voting:

3.2.1.Points awarded to Norvegia (Semi-final ):

Points awarded to Norvegia (Final):

3.2.2.Points awarded by Norvegia (Semi-final ):

Points awarded by Norvegia (Final ):

3.2.3.Split voting results:

Split voting results from Norvegia (Semi-final ):

Split voting results from Norvegia (Final):

Artist: 

Ulrikke
Background information
Birth name
Born
Genres
Origin
Occupation(s)
Years active
Labels
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
Semi-final points
Appearance chronology
◄2019 KEiiNO – “Spirit in the Sky” • 2020 – “” • 2021►

Ulrikke Brandstorp (born 13 July 1995), also known simply as Ulrikke, is a Norwegian singer, songwriter and musical actress. She is known for participating in the Norwegian singing competitions Idol (2013), The Voice (2015) and Stjernekamp (2018).^[1][2][3]

In 2019, she played the role of Liesl in the musical The Sound of Music, performed in the Folketeateret in Oslo.^[4][5]

In 2020, she won Melodi Grand Prix 2020 with the song “Attention“, and was supposed to represent Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 held in Rotterdam, Netherlands.^[6] However, on March 18th 2020, the event was cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak. She was offered a direct entry to the finals of Melodi Grand Prix 2021 but has so far declined the offer to compete on 2021.^[7] She had previously participated in Melodi Grand Prix 2017, in which she finished in fourth place with the song “Places”.^[8]

Song: 

“”
Single by
Released
Format
Length
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
Semi-final points
Appearance chronology
◄ 2019 “Spirit in the Sky” – KEiiNO • 2020 – “” • 2021►

“Attention” is a song by Ulrikke Brandstorp. It will represent Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020.^[1] The song was released as a digital download on 31 January 2020.

Eurovision Song Contest
The song will represent Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Ulrikke was selected through Melodi Grand Prix 2020, the music competition that selects Norway’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Norway was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

Participations21First participation1994 (Dan Bittman)VictoriesNoneHostsNever hostedBroadcastersTVR

Eurovision Song Contest 2020
Country	Romania
National selection
Selection process
Selection date(s)	Semi-finals: Final:
Host
Presenter(s)
Host broadcaster – Venue
Participants
Number of entries
Selected entrant
Selected song	“”
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
Final result
Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest (◄Predecessore—Successore►)
◄2019 Ester Peony – “On a Sunday” • 2020 ROXEN – “Alcohol You”  • 2021►

Romania was scheduled to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands before its cancellation due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China and its spread to other countries. Romania’s artist, Roxen, was internally selected and announced on 11 February 2020. Their competing entry, “Alcohol You“, was chosen during the national selection competition Selecția Națională 2020 on 1 March. Prior to the 2020 contest, Romania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 20 times since its first entry in 1994. Its highest placing had been third place, which the nation achieved in 2005 and 2010. In 2019, they failed to qualify for the contest’s final for the second consecutive year. Prior to the scheduled Eurovision Song Contest 2020, “Alcohol You” was promoted by a lyric video, while Roxen appeared on several native talk shows and radio stations.

1.Background: Prior to the 2020 contest, Romania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 20 times since its first entry in 1994. Its highest placing in the contest, to this point, had been third place, which the nation achieved on two occasions: in 2005 with the song “Let Me Try” performed by Luminița Anghel and Sistem, and in 2010 with “Playing with Fire” by Paula Seling and Ovi. In 2019, Romania failed to qualify to the final, placing 13th in the second semi-final with Ester Peony‘s “On a Sunday“. This marked the second consecutive time that the nation failed to qualify to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, after 2018.^[1] In September 2019, Romanian Television (TVR) confirmed Romania’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020.^[2] As of December 2019, the broadcaster was discussing the method to select a representing entry,^[3] which evolved as the subject of online controversy since precise information surrounding Romania’s Eurovision participation had been given that time in preceding years. In addition, the mayors of Baia Mare and Buzău claimed the cities were potential hosts of a national final that was yet to be confirmed by TVR.^[4]

2.Before Eurovision: 

Artist selection[edit]

On 31 January 2020, TVR confirmed their collaboration with native label Global Records for the selection of a Eurovision entry, citing their recent relevancy and success within Romania’s music industry as reasons for the decision. Furthermore, it was announced that Liana Stanciu would return as the country’s head of delegation.^[5] While Global Records was not remunerated, the project had cost TVR a reported €69,000.^[6] A jury panel—consisting of Luminița Anghel, Liviu Elekes, Dan Manoliu, Crina Mardare, Bogdan Păun, Lucian Ștefan and Andrei Tudor^[7]—was hired to select Romania’s representing artist out of the label’s roster.^[8][9] Having brought together several composers such as David Ciente,^[10] a songwriting camp was organised in January 2020, with the five best-written songs being selected by music experts to proceed to Selecția Națională 2020.^[8][9] The segment Destinația Eurovision was aired by TVR, documenting the internal artist selection and songwriting camp.^[9]

In an online interview two days after TVR’s announcement, Global Records’s manager Ștefan announced that a male and two female artists had been shortlisted to represent Romania at Eurovision;^[11] they were later reported to be Cezar Gună, Diana V and Roxen.^[12][13] The latter was revealed as Romania’s representative on 11 February, and the competing songs were released on 21 February.^[12][14] Roxen had risen to prominence in the country upon being featured on producer Sickotoy’s “You Don’t Love Me” in 2019, which reached number three on the Airplay 100 chart and was playlisted in several other territories.^[15][16]

Selecția Națională 2020[edit]

Selecția Națională 2020 was the national final format organised by TVR in order to select Romania’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The competition consisted of five songs—”Alcohol You”, “Beautiful Disaster”, “Cherry Red”, “Colors” and “Storm”—out of which the winner was determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and a public televote (the latter would decide the winning song in case of a tie).^[8][9] The jury—consisting of Luminița Anghel, Crina Mardare, Alin Oprea, Edward Sanda and Andrei Tudor—awarded a set of points from five to zero, which was based on each member’s individual set of votes from five to zero. The televoting was rendered down using the same scores.^[17]

With an audience of around 200,000 viewers,^[18] Selecția Națională was broadcast at 21:00 (EET) and hosted by Elena Gheorghe and Connect-R at Sala Sporturilor “Romeo Iamandi” in Buzău. The hosts also served as interval acts alongside Loreen, Sandro Nicolas, Ulrikke Brandstorp, Dora Gaitanovici and Natalia Gordienco.^[7][19][20] Roxen’s performances were directed by Bogdan Păun with the assistance of the director of photography Dan Manoliu, and made use of a circular stage and a LED screen sized around 300 square metres (3,200 sq ft).^[7][19] CocoRico, Cotnari and Top Line were among the sponsors of the event,^[17] while Buzău itself contributed with €200,000 towards it.^[21] Writing for Eurovision.de, Irving Wolther lauded Selecția Națională, calling it “so opulent that one might think that a future [Eurovision] winner is actually celebrating here”.^[22] The full results of the national final were:^[23][24]

2.2.Promotion: Prior to Selecția Națională, Roxen was promoted as Romania’s Eurovision representative on various native talk shows and radio stations, occasionally performing one of the five songs.^[25] Lyric videos to all entries were released on YouTube, eventually alongside “alternative” live versions (Crystal Freckles Session).^[26] Additionally, Global Records released merchandise related to Roxen.^[27] Upon selecting “Alcohol You” as the Romanian entry, Roxen performed it live on Virgin Radio Romania,^[28] and appeared on multiple other Romanian radio stations to give interviews.^[29]

3.At Eurovision: The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was originally scheduled to take place at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands and consist of two semi-finals on 12 and 14 May, and the final on 16 May 2020.^[30] According to Eurovision rules, each country, except the host nation and the “Big 5” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), would have been required to qualify from one of two semi-finals to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final would have progressed to the final.^[31][32][33] In January 2020, it was announced that Romania would be performing in the second half of the first semi-final of the contest.^[34] However, on 18 March, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced the event’s cancellation due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China and its spread to other countries.^[35] Although TVR had considered sending “Alcohol You” to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021,^[36] EBU announced soon after that entries intended for 2020 would not be eligible for the following year.^[37] Roxen was nonetheless internally selected for 2021.^[38]

3.1.Semi-final:

3.2.Voting:

3.2.1.Points awarded to Romania (Semi-final ):

Points awarded to Romania (Final):

3.2.2.Points awarded by Romania (Semi-final ):

Points awarded by Romania (Final ):

3.2.3.Split voting results:

Split voting results from Romania (Semi-final ):

Split voting results from Romania (Final):

Artist: 

ROXEN
Background information
Birth name
Born
Genres
Origin
Occupation(s)
Years active
Labels
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
Semi-final points
Appearance chronology
◄2019 Ester Peony – “On a Sunday” • 2020 – “” • 2021►

Larisa Roxana Giurgiu^[A] (born 5 January 2000), known professionally as Roxen,^[B] is a Romanian singer signed by Global Records. She rose to prominence upon being featured on Romanian producer Sickotoy’s “You Don’t Love Me” (2019), which reached number three in Romania and received radio airplay in several other countries. Her debut single, “Ce-ți cântă dragostea“, eventually peaked atop the national chart. She was scheduled to represent Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song “Alcohol You” before the event’s coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related cancellation. Roxen was nonetheless internally selected as the country’s representative for the 2021 contest. Her music style has been deemed as deep house by music critics, and her appearance compared to Billie Eilish and Dua Lipa.

Early life and career[edit]

Born in Cluj-Napoca on 5 January 2000 as Larisa Roxana Giurgiu, Roxen discovered her passion for music at the age of seven. She also took singing and piano lessons as a child.^[1][2][3] Signed by Global Records,^[4] she was featured on Romanian producer Sickotoy’s “You Don’t Love Me” in August 2019.^[5] The single attained commercial success in Romania, reaching number three on the country’s Airplay 100 chart,^[6] and being playslisted by radio stations in several territories including France, United States, Russia and Spain.^[1] Her debut single “Ce-ți cântă dragostea” was released in the November of the same year and peaked at number one in Romania.^[6] Music critics have since regarded the singer’s primary genre as being deep house,^[1] and compared her music style and appearance to that of Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish.^[7] In an interview, Roxen cited Beyoncé as one of her major inspirations.^[8]

In early February 2020, it was reported that Roxen was one of three artists shortlisted to represent Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020; broadcaster Romanian Television (TVR) had collaborated with Global Records for the selection.^[9][10] On 11 February, she was revealed as the Romanian representative.^[11] Her five songs for Selecția Națională—”Alcohol You“, “Beautiful Disaster”, “Cherry Red”, “Colors” and “Storm”—were released on 21 February 2020.^[12] “Alcohol You” emerged as the winner of the national final.^[13] However, on 18 March, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced the cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China and its spread to other countries.^[14] Although TVR had considered sending “Alcohol You” to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021,^[15] EBU soon after announced that intended 2020 entries were not eligible for the following year.^[16] Roxen was nonetheless internally selected for the 2021 contest.^[17]

Song: 

“”
Single by
Released
Format
Length
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
Semi-final points
Appearance chronology
◄ 2019 “On a Sunday” – Ester Peony • 2020 – “” • 2021►

“Alcohol You” is a song recorded by Romanian singer Roxen, digitally released on 21 February 2020 by Global Records. It was written by Ionuț Armaș and Breyan Isaac, while Viky Red solely handed its production. “Alcohol You” emerged as the winner of Selecția Națională 2020 and was thus scheduled to represent Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 before the event’s cancellation due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China and its spread to other countries. Roxen had previously been internally selected at the country’s representative by Romanian Television (TVR).

Musically, the track is a ballad that discusses emotions such as sadness, despair, hope and nostalgia, as well as finding inner peace. It has a minimalistic and Billie Eilish-inspired production. “Alcohol You” was generally well-received by music critics upon release, receiving praise for its lyrics and Roxen’s vocal delivery. To promote the song, a lyric video was uploaded to YouTube simultaneously with the track’s digital availability. Directed by Bogdan Păun, Roxen is shown in front of a neon sketch of herself alongside light and smoke effects. Additionally, the singer performed “Alcohol You” on the native talk show La Măruță and radio station Virgin in February and March 2020, respectively.

Background and composition. The lyrics of “Alcohol You” were written by Breyan Isaac and Ionuț Armaș. The latter composed the song alongside its sole producer Viky Red.[1] Global Records made it available for digital download in various countries on 21 February 2020.[2] Lyrically, the “dramatic” ballad[3] discusses emotions such as sadness, despair, hope, nostalgia and finding inner peace.[4][5] Romanian Television (TVR) labelled it as a “genuine anthem of universal love”.[4] Music critics noted a minimalistic production, with one comparing it to the works of American singer Billie Eilish.[6][7] For the purpose of Roxen’s scheduled Eurovision Song Contest 2020 participation, the closing chorus of “Alcohol You” was remastered, with “extended notes […], new strings dial[ing] up the urgency and percussion” being added.[8] Throughout the song, its title is used as a word play for “I’ll call you”. Regarding Roxen’s vocal delivery, an ESCUnited staff member noted that “[s]he does that grating indie voice where monosyllabic words are contorted (‘mind’ is my-eye-und, ‘line’ is lye-eye-ine, etc)”.[6]

Critical reception. Upon its release, the track received generally positive reviews from music critics. Michael Outerson of EuroVisionary praised the original title of “Alcohol You”.[9] In a review for the song conducted by four ESCUnited staff members, the song’s emotional nature and lyrics, as well as Roxen’s vocal delivery were praised. The critics argued, however, on the word play and criticized the song’s lack of a “proper hook“.[6] Robyn Gallagher of Wiwibloggs ironically called the track’s title a dad joke, but expressed praise towards the “dark and gloomy” lyrics.[7] In an eventual Wiwibloggs review containing several reviews from individual critics, the song was given a score of 7.43 out of 10 points.[10] Romanian musician Horia Moculescu negatively noted that “Alcohol You” resembled the alcoholic lyrical themes of Romanian singer Delia‘s “Da, mamă” (2015).[11]

Music videos and promotion. A lyric video for “Alcohol You” was directed by Bogdan Păun and uploaded to YouTube on 21 February 2020. Alexandru Mureșan acted as the director of photography, while Mihai Sighinaș provided the graphics and Loops Production the production.[1] The video begins with a spiralling shot of Roxen against a neon sketch of herself. As it continues, the song’s lyrics swirl around her in addition to light and smoke effects being used; Wiwibloggs critic Angus Quinn wrote it “give[s] the video an almost underwater feel”. The video ends with pulsing lights and the singer “hypnotic[ally]” reaching out to the camera.[8] Additionally, the team also created a video for an “alternative” version of the track (Crystal Freckles Session), which was released on 25 February.[12][13] For promotional purposes, Roxen performed the track on La Măruță in late February,[14] as well as on Virgin Radio on 3 March.[15] While in quarantine during the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), footage of Roxen performing “Alcohol You” in a bedroom was broadcast during the Spanish PreParty ES event on 12 April.[16]

At Eurovision.

National selection. In January 2020, TVR announced its collaboration with Global Records to select the Romanian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.[17] On 11 February, Roxen was announced as the country’s representative,[18] and five songs were appointed—”Alcohol You”, “Beautiful Disaster”, “Cherry Red”, “Colors” and “Storm”—that had been written during a songwriting camp previously organized. The entries advanced to the national final Selecția Națională 2020 for a jury panel and the public to choose from as the Romanian Eurovision entry.[19] “Alcohol You” emerged as the winner, gathering a total of ten points consisting of the maximum five points from both the jury and the televote.[20] Its live performance was directed by Păun with the assistance of the director of photography Dan Manoliu, and made use of a circular stage and a LED screen sized around 300 square metres.[21] Florian Rahn of Wiwibloggs described the performance as “heartfelt and emotional”, noting a “dark and mysterious” staging.[22] Roxen wore a white dress with a black lace top and, at a point, interacted with a mirror image of herself on the LED screen.[9][23]

In Rotterdam. The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was scheduled to take place at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands and consist of two semi-finals on 12 and 14 May, and the final on 16 May 2020.[24] According to Eurovision rules, each country, except the host country and the “Big 5” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), would have been required to qualify from one of two semi-finals to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final would have progressed to the final.[25][26][27] In January 2020, it was announced that Romania would be performing in the second half of the first semi-final of the contest.[28] However, on 18 March, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced the event’s cancellation due to the pandemic of the COVID-19 in China and its spread to other countries.[29] Although TVR had considered sending “Alcohol You” to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021,[30] EBU soon after announced that intended 2020 entries were not eligible for the following year.[31] Nonetheless, Roxen was internally selected for 2021.[32]

Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

• Participations: 15 (15 Finals)
• First participation: 2003 (Olexandr)
• Best result: 1st: 2004, 2016
• Worst result: 24th: 2017
• Nul points: None
• Victories: 2016 (Jamala), 2004 (Ruslana)
• Hosts: Kyiv 2017, Kyiv 2005
• Broadcasters: NTU/НТУ (2003—2014), UA:PBC/НСТУ (2016—)
• National selection events: National final [2005–2014 Vidbir (2016–2018)] Internal selection [2003–2004, 2020, 2021]

Eurovision Song Contest 2020
Country	Ukraine
National selection
Selection process	Vidbir 2020 (Відбір 2020) / Yevrobachennia. Natsionalnyi Vidbir (Євробачення. Національний відбір; Eurovision. National Selection)
Selection date(s)	Semi-finals: 08.02.2020. 15.02.2020 Final: 22.02.2020
Host
Presenter(s)	Serhij Prytula / Сергій Притула
Host broadcaster – Venue	NTU / STB  – Національний технічний університет України «Київський політехнічний інститут імені Ігоря Сікорського» (National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute” (NTUU “KPI”), Kiev
Participants
Number of entries
Selected entrant
Selected song	“”
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result
Final result
Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest (◄Predecessore—Successore►)
◄2018 MÉLOVIN – “Under the Ladder” • 2020 Go_A – “Solovey”  • 2021►

Ukraine originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after a year break. The Ukrainian entry for the 2020 contest was selected through a national final, which UA:PBC organised in collaboration with the commercial broadcaster STB. However, due to the 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.

Background: Prior to the 2019 Contest, Ukraine had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifteen times since its first entry in 2003.The nation had won the contest on two occasions: in 2004 with the song “Wild Dances” performed by Ruslana and in 2016 with the song “1944” performed by Jamala. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004, Ukraine had managed to qualify to the final in every contest they participated in thus far. Ukraine had been the runner-up in the contest on two occasions: in 2007 with the song “Dancing Lasha Tumbai” performed by Verka Serduchka and in 2008 with the song “Shady Lady” performed by Ani Lorak.Ukraine’s least successful result had been 24th place, which they achieved during the 2017 with the song “Time” performed by O.Torvald.

The Ukrainian national broadcaster, National Television Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC), broadcasts the event within Ukraine and organises the selection process for the nation’s entry. In the past, UA:PBC had alternated between both internal selections and national finals in order to select the Ukrainian entry. Between 2011 and 2014, UA:PBC had set up national finals with several artists to choose both the song and performer to compete at Eurovision for Ukraine, with both the public and a panel of jury members involved in the selection. NTU withdrew from the contest for one year in 2015 due to the unstable financial and political situation caused by the conflict in east Ukraine. In 2016, NTU collaborated with the commercial broadcaster STB in order to organise a national final to select Ukraine’s entry, resulting in the selection of an entry that went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest. UA:PBC’s collaboration with STB continued will continue into 2021.

Before Eurovision: 

National final (Vidbir 2020): The Ukrainian national final was held at the Palace of Culture “KPI” in Kyiv and consisted of two semi-finals held on 8 and 15 February 2020 and a final on 22 February 2020.

The expert jury that voted during the shows consisted of:

• Andriy Danylko – comedian and singer, represented Ukraine in 2007 as the drag artist Verka Serduchka
• Tina Karol – singer, tv hostess, represented Ukraine in 2006
• Vitaliy Drozdov – general producer of TAVR Media Radio Holding

Competing entries:

Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)
О	“Tam, kudy ya ydu” (Там, куди я йду)	Olha Chernyshova, Alexander Kasprov
Assol	“Save It”	Kateryna Taranenko, Maksym Zakharin, Anna Chernukha, Eldar Bayramov, Yan Likarenko
Cloudless	“Drown Me Down”	Yuriy Kanalosh, Anton Panfilov, Oleksandr Lysanskiy, Mykhailo Shatokhin
David Axelrod	“Horizon”	David Axelrod, Pavlo Shylko, Volodymyr Grigorovitch
Elina Ivashchenko	“Get Up”	Elina Ivashchenko, Vadim Lysitsa
Fo Sho	“Blck Sqr”	Betty Endale
Garna	“Who We Are”	Alyona Levasheva, Roman Nepomnyashiy
Gio Dara	“Feeling So Lost”	Giorgi Darakhvelidze
Go A	“Solovey” (Соловей)	Taras Shevchenko, Kateryna Pavlenko
Jerry Heil	“Vegan”	Yana Shemaeva, Roman Cherenov
Katya Chilly	“Pich” (Піч)	Kateryna Kondratenko
Khayat	“Call for Love”	Andriy Khayat
KRUTь	“99”	Mykhailo Klymenko, Anton Babych, Maryna Krut
Moonzoo & Fmf Sure	“Maze”	Oleksandr Vasetskyi, F.M.F. Sure
Oleksandr Poriadynskyi	“Savior”	Yana Kovaliova
Tvorchi	“Bonfire”	Andrii Hutsuliak, Augustus Kehinde Jimon

Semi-finals:

Semi-final 1: The first semi-final took place on 8 February 2020 in Palace of Culture KPI. The top three entries following the combination of votes from a public televote and an expert jury advanced to the final of the competition, while the remaining five entries were eliminated. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2018 Eurovision entrant Mélovin performed with the song “Oh, No!” as a guest.

Semi-final 1 – 8 February 2020
Draw	Artist	Song	Jury	Televote (SMS) / App		Total	Place
				Percentage	Points
1	О	“Tam kudy ya ydu”	3	5,46%	2	5	7
2	Jerry Heil	“Vegan”	7	16,28%	6	13	3
3	Katya Chilly	“Pich”	4	8,44%	3	7	5
4	KRUTь	“99”	8	22,69%	8	16	1
5	Go A	“Solovey”	6	18,11%	7	13	2
6	Cloudless	“Drown Me Down”	5	14,75%	5	10	4
7	Gio Dara	“Feeling So Lost”	2	8,84%	4	6	6
8	Assol	“Save It”	1	5,43%	1	2	8

Detailed Jury Votes
Draw	Song	Danylko	Karol	Drozdov	Total	Points
1	“Tam, kudy ya ydu”	3	3	3	9	3
2	“Vegan”	5	7	7	19	7
3	“Pich”	4	6	4	14	4
4	“99”	7	8	8	23	8
5	“Solovey”	8	5	5	18	6
6	“Drown Me Down”	6	2	6	14	5
7	“Feeling So Lost”	1	4	2	7	2
8	“Save It”	2	1	1	4	1

Semi-final 2: The second semi-final took place on 15 February 2020 in Palace of Culture KPI. The top three entries following the combination of votes from a public televote and an expert jury advanced to the final of the competition, while the remaining five entries were eliminated. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, runners-up of Vidbir 2016 The Hardkiss, 2020 Czech entrant Benny Cristo and Junior Eurovision 2019’s Ukraine entrant Sophia Ivanko performed as guests.

Semi-final 2 – 15 February 2020
Draw	Artist	Song	Jury	Televote (SMS) / App		Total	Place
				Percentage	Points
1	Moonzoo & Fmf Sure	“Maze”	5	9,46%	2	7	6
2	Fo Sho	“Blck Sqr”	3	10,77%	3	6	7
3	Elina Ivashchenko	“Get Up”	4	10,94%	4	8	5
4	Oleksandr Poriadynskyi	“Savior”	2	11,72%	6	8	4
5	Garna	“Who We Are”	1	5,65%	1	2	8
6	Khayat	“Call for Love”	7	17,87%	7	14	2
7	David Axelrod	“Horizon”	6	11,56%	5	11	3
8	Tvorchi	“Bonfire”	8	22,03%	8	16	1

hideDetailed Jury Votes
Draw	Song	Danylko	Karol	Drozdov	Total	Points
1	“Maze”	7	2	7	16	5
2	“Blck Sqr”	2	4	3	9	3
3	“Get Up”	3	7	4	14	4
4	“Savior”	4	3	2	9	2
5	“Who We Are?”	1	1	1	3	1
6	“Call for Love”	6	8	5	19	7
7	“Horizon”	5	6	6	17	6
8	“Bonfire”	8	5	8	21	8

Final:

Final – 22 February 2020
Draw	Artist	Song	Jury	Televote (SMS) / App		Total	Place
				Percentage	Points
1	KRUTь	“99”	5	19,90%	4	9	3
2	Jerry Heil	“Vegan”	1	7,00%	1	2	6
3	Go A	“Solovey”	6	25,43%	6	12	1
4	David Axelrod	“Horizon”	3	11,30%	2	5	5
5	Khayat	“Call for Love”	4	20,93%	5	9	2
6	Tvorchi	“Bonfire”	2	15,44%	3	5	4

Draw	Song	Danylko	Karol	Drozdov	Total	Points
1	“99”	5	4	5	14	5
2	“Vegan”	1	1	1	3	1
3	“Solovey”	6	6	6	18	6
4	“Horizon”	3	3	3	9	3
5	“Call for Love”	4	5	4	13	4
6	“Bonfire”	2	2	2	6	2

Promotion:

At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big 5″ (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Ukraine was placed into the first semi-final, which was to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. However, due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.

Semi-final:

Voting:

Points awarded to Ucraina (Semi-final 1):

Points awarded to Ucraina (Final):

oints awarded by Ucraina (Semi-final 1):

Points awarded by Ucraina (Final ):

Split voting results:

Split voting results from Ucraina (Semi-final 1):

Split voting results from Ucraina (Final):

Artist: 

Go_A
Background information
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Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry
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◄2018 MÉLOVIN – “Under the Ladder” • 2020 – “” • 2021►

Go_A is a Ukrainian electro-folk band who were set to represent Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, with the song “Solovey”. Following the cancellation of the 2020 contest due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, it was announced the band will represent the country in 2021.

History. The idea to form a band that will combine modern electronic music with ethnic motifs first came to Taras Shevchenko in 2011, but the first attempts to work with actual musicians were in 2012. At the end of that year, in December, the first song “Koliada” (Коляда) was released. The band’s name means “return to the roots” and was made by combining the English word “Go” with the Greek letter “Alpha”, which symbolizes the beginning of everything.

The band first gained attention after the release of the single “Vesnianka” (Веснянка), which won the National competition The Best Track in Ukraine 2015. For six weeks, the song stayed at number one on the 10Dance chart of the Kiss FM radio station in Ukraine and was awarded Discovery of the Year by the radio station.

In the fall of 2016, Go_A released their debut album Idy na zvuk (Іди на звук; Follow the tune) under the Moon Records. Its tracklist consisted of ten songs, including the successful “Vesnianka”. In early 2017 they released a Christmas single “Shchedryi vechir” (Щедрий вечір) in collaboration with Katya Chilly

Eurovision Song Contest. In early 2020, it was announced that Go_A was among the 16 acts participating in the Ukrainian national selection for Eurovision 2020 with the song ‘”Solovey”. The band performed in the first semi-final, which took place on February 8, where they place second and thus qualified to the final. On February 22, in the final they won both the public vote and the jury vote. Hence, they were supposed to represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in May. However, on March 18th 2020, the event was cancelled due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, the same day UA:PBC announced that the band will represent the country in 2021.

Song: 

“Solovey” (Соловей)
Single by Go_A
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◄ 2018 “Under the Ladder” – MÉLOVIN • 2020 “Solovey”(Соловей) – Go_A • 2021

“Solovey” (Соловей, Nightingale) is a song by Ukrainian electro-folk band Go_A. It was scheduled to represent Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam. This would have been the first time that a song sung entirely in Ukrainian represented the country at Eurovision.

Eurovision Song Contest: The song was selected to represent Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Go_A was chosen through Vidbir, the music competition that selects Ukraine’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Ukraine was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

It was announced on March 18 2020 that, due to the 2020 pandemic of Coronavirus, the Eurovision Song Contest for 2020 would not go ahead. Tentatively, the national broadcasters have stated that no further national selection will take place in Ukraine next year and Go_A will be allowed to return as the Ukrainian entry for Eurovision 2021. According to the rules of the competition, Go_A will have to create a new song for the 2021 competition.