ESC 2022 – Selezioni Nazionali – 2ª Semi-Finale

images

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 2021 sarà la 65ª edizione dell’annuale concorso canoro e si terrà presso l’Ahoy Rotterdam a Rotterdam, nei Paesi Bassi.

Il 18 marzo 2020 l’Unione europea di radiodiffusione (UER) ha annunciato la cancellazione dell’edizione 2020 a causa della pandemia di COVID-19 che ha coinvolto diverse regioni del mondo tra cui, più duramente, la Cina e l’Europa. Successivamente è stato annunciato che la manifestazione verrà riorganizzata nel maggio 2021 e sono in corso discussioni con le emittenti olandesi NPO, NOS, AVROTROS, incaricate di organizzare la precedente edizione, e la città di Rotterdam sulla riorganizzazione dell’evento nella stessa città o meno.

Il 16 maggio 2020, durante la trasmissione dello show Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light, è stato confermato che la città Rotterdam avrebbe ospitato l’evento.

A seguito della cancellazione l’UER ha valutato la possibilità di consentire ai brani selezionati di competere nel 2021; tuttavia, il 20 marzo 2020, è stato confermato dal gruppo di referenza che, in conformità al regolamento, ciò non sarebbe avvenuto, lasciando però la possibilità alle singole emittenti di selezionare nuovamente i rappresentanti annunciati per il 2020.

Il 16 maggio 2020 l’EBU-UER e AVROTROS hanno confermato che lo slogan ufficiale dell’evento resterà Open Up, il medesimo pianificato per l’edizione annullata.

97090839_3306849109359734_3573747346749521920_n

Eurovision Song Contest 2021 ← Eurovision Song Contest 2022 → Eurovision Song Contest 2023 Contest

Lettonia • Lituania • Malta • Moldavia • Montenegro • Paesi Bassi • Macedonia del Nord • Norvegia • Polonia • Portogallo • Romania • San Marino • Serbia • Slovenia • Svezia • Svizzera • Ucraina

• Country: 🇱🇻 Lettonia

• National selection:

  • Selection process: Supernova 2022
  • Selection date(s): Online vote: 10–14 January 2022 Ι Semi-final: 5 February 2022 Ι Final: 12 February 2022
  • Host venue: –
  • Presenter(s): –
  • Host broadcaster: LTV
  • Participants – Number of entries: –
  • Selection entrant: Citi Zēni
  • Selection song: “Eat Your Salad”
  • Selected songwriter(s): Roberts Memmēns, Jānis Pētersons, Dagnis Roziņš, Jānis Jačmenkins

• Final performance: 

  • Semi-final result: 2º SF 1:
  • Final result:

Latvia is scheduled to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with “Eat Your Salad” performed by Citi Zēni. The Latvian broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) organised the national final Supernova 2022 in order to select the Latvian entry for the contest.

Background: Prior to the 2022 contest, Latvia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-one times since its first entry in 2000. Latvia won the contest once in 2002 with the song “I Wanna” performed by Marie N. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004, Latvia was able to qualify to compete in the final between 2005 and 2008. Between 2009 and 2014, the nation failed to qualify to the final for six consecutive years. In the 2015 contest, Latvia managed to qualify to the final with the song “Love Injected” performed by Aminata, which placed 6th in the final, scoring 186 points, giving them their best placing since 2005. In 2021, Latvia was represented by Samanta Tīna and the song “The Moon Is Rising”, but the country did not qualify for the final and finished last in the second semi-final with 14 points.

Before Eurovision:

Supernova 2022: Supernova 2022 was the seventh edition of the Latvian national selection Supernova, which selected Latvia’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. The competition consisted of 17 entries, of which 10 took part in a final that took place on 12 February 2022.

Competing entries: On 7 October 2021,  LTV opened a two-month submission period for interested singers and songwriters to enter the audition process for Supernova 2022. All entries were required to be by a singer-songwriter that was aged at least sixteen and a citizen of Latvia, with foreign writers allowed only if they contributed to one third or less of the entry.

After all submissions were received, a jury formed of representatives of the main radio stations in Latvia assessed the songs, only being informed of the song title (not the singer). 16 acts were selected by the jury to take part in the competition. The selected entries were announced on 5 January 2022. In addition to the initial sixteen competing artists, LTV held an online vote between 10 and 14 January 2022 to determine a seventeenth act.

Online vote – 10–14 January 2022 
Artist Song Songwriter(s)
Antra Stafecka and Atis Ieviņš “Call the Lights” Antra Stafecka, Atis Ieviņš, Oskars Deigelis
Dārta Stepanova “Brīnumzeme“ Valters Pūce, Patrīcija Ksenija Cuprijanoviča 
Edvards Strazdiņš “Open Road” Edvards Strazdiņš, Kerija Hauptmane
Katrīna Dimanta “My Voice” Katrīna Dimanta, Reinis Briģis
Marta Ritova  “Let Me Go” Marta Ritova, Armands Varslavāns
Mārtiņš Strods “One More Time” Mārtiņš Strods, Evija Smagare
Miks Galvanovskis  “I’m Just a Sinner” Miks Galvanovskis, Reinis Briģis
Rihards Bērziņš “1+1” Rihards Bērziņš
Tētis “Labākie vārdi“ Nauris Brikmanis, Valters Osis
Toms Kalderauskis “Naked Smile” Liene Stūrmane, Kaspars Ansons, Toms Kalderauskis
Artist Song Songwriter(s)
Aminata “I’m Letting You Go” Aminata Savadogo
Beatrise Heislere “On the Way Home” Edvards Grieze, Beatrise Heislere
Bermudu Divstūris  “Bad” Marats Ogļezņevs
Bujāns “He, She, You & Me” Intars Busulis, Reinis Sējāns [lv], Marts Pujāts [lv], Jānis Šipkēvics
Citi Zēni “Eat Your Salad” Roberts Memmēns, Jānis Pētersons, Dagnis Roziņš, Jānis Jačmenkins
Elīna Gluzunova “Es pabiju tur“ Jānis Šipkēvics, Marts Pujāts
Inspo “A Happy Place” Nadīna Stirniniece, Aivars Lietaunieks
Katō [lv] “Promises” Kaspars Ansons, Anna Zankovska
Linda Rušeniece “Pay My Own Bills” Ralfs Eilands, Rūdolfs Ozols, Valters Sprūdžs
Markus Riva “If You’re Gonna Love Me” Markus Riva
Mēs Jūs Mīlam “Rich Itch” Rūdolfs Ozols, Valters Sprūdžs, Ralfs Eilands
Miks Dukurs  “First Love” Miks Dukurs
Miks Galvanovskis  “I’m Just a Sinner” Miks Galvanovskis, Reinis Briģis
Patriks Peterson  “Can’t Get You Outta My Head” Elviss Pētersons
Raum “Plans” Daniel Levi Viinalass [et], Reinis Straume, Arnis Račinskis 
The Coco’nuts “In and Out of the Dark” Marija Valmiera, Pēteris Narubins, Toms Valmiers, Monta Kurme, Benijs Zeltkalis, Artūrs Strautmanis
Zelma “How” Arturs Liede, Andrjus Jaņuns, Arta Zelma Jēgere

Semi-final: The semi-final took place on 5 February 2022. Ten entries were selected by a professional jury and a televote in a 50/50 split vote. The members of the jury will be revealed after the Eurovision final.[6] On February 10th it was announced that LTV assigned Miks Dukurs a wildcard for the Supernova final, citing technical issues that impacted his semi-final performance.

Semi-final – 5 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Result
1 Citi Zēni “Eat Your Salad” Advanced – Jury and public vote qualifier
2 Miks Dukurs “First Love” Advanced – Wildcard
3 Linda Rušeniece “Pay My Own Bills” Advanced – Jury and public vote qualifier
4 Elīna Gluzunova “Es pabiju tur“ Advanced – Jury and public vote qualifier
5 Raum “Plans” Advanced – Jury and public vote qualifier
6 Patriks Peterson “Can’t Get You Outta My Head” Eliminated
7 Mēs Jūs Mīlam “Rich Itch” Advanced – Jury and public vote qualifier
8 Katō “Promises” Eliminated
9 Miks Galvanovskis “I’m Just a Sinner” Advanced – Jury and public vote qualifier
10 Markus Riva “If You’re Gonna Love Me” Eliminated
11 The Coco’nuts “In and Out of the Dark” Eliminated
12 Aminata “I’m Letting You Go” Advanced – Jury and public vote qualifier
13 Bermudu Divstūris “Bad” Advanced – Jury and public vote qualifier
14 Beatrise Heislere “On the Way Home” Eliminated
15 Zelma “How” Eliminated
16 Bujāns “He, She, You & Me” Advanced – Jury and public vote qualifier
17 Inspo “A Happy Place” Advanced – Jury and public vote qualifier

Final:The final took place on 12 February 2022. The winner was determined by a professional jury and a televote in a 50/50 split vote. The members of the jury will be revealed after the Eurovision final.

The final also featured Uku Suviste and the Roop (respectively Estonian and Lithuanian representatives at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 and 2021) as guest performers.

Final – 12 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Rank
1 Miks Dukurs “First Love” 11 2,116 11 22 11
2 Raum “Plans” 6 3,486 9 15 9
3 Linda Rušeniece “Pay My Own Bills” 5 3,394 10 15 10
4 Bermudu Divstūris “Bad” 9 24,216 5 14 7
5 Miks Galvanovskis “I’m Just a Sinner” 4 16,060 6 10 4
6 Bujāns “He, She, You & Me” 8 38,924 2 10 3
7 Elīna Gluzunova “Es pabiju tur“ 3 3,572 8 11 5
8 Citi Zēni “Eat Your Salad” 1 50,566 1 2 1
9 Inspo “A Happy Place” 7 6,432 7 14 8
10 Mēs Jūs Mīlam “Rich Itch” 10 26,692 4 14 6
11 Aminata “I’m Letting You Go” 2 30,983 3 5 2

At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (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 25 January 2022, an 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. Latvia has been placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2022, and has been scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.

Once all the competing songs for the 2022 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows’ producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Latvia was set to perform in position 2, following the entry from Albania and before the entry from Lithuania.

• Country: 🇱🇹 Lituania

• National selection:

  • Selection process: Pabandom iš naujo! 2022
  • Selection date(s): Heats (Atrankos): 8 January 2022, 15 January 2022, 22 January 2022 Ι Semi-finals (Pusfinaliai): 29 January 2022, 5 February 2022 Ι Final (Finalas): 12 February 2022
  • Host venue: –
  • Presenter(s): –
  • Host broadcaster: LRT
  • Participants – Number of entries: –
  • Selection entrant: Monika Liu
  • Selection song: “Sentimentai“
  • Selected songwriter(s): Monika Liubinaitė

• Final performance: 

  • Semi-final result: 3º SF 1:
  • Final result:

Lithuania is scheduled to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with “Sentimentai” performed by Monika Liu. The Lithuanian broadcaster, Lietuvos radijas ir televizija (LRT), used the national selection Pabandom iš naujo! 2022 to select their representative.

Background: Prior to 2022, Lithuania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-one times since its first entry in 1994. Their best placing was achieved in 2006, with “We Are the Winners”, performed by LT United, finishing in sixth place in the final. Following the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, Lithuania has managed to qualify to the final ten times.

Lithuania was represented in 2021 by the song “Discoteque”, performed by the Roop, who qualified for the final and ended 8th overall with 220 points.

Before Eurovision:

Pabandom iš naujo! 2022: In mid-August 2021, LRT confirmed its participation in the 2022 contest. On 1 October 2021, the broadcaster announced Pabandom iš naujo! 2022 (“Let’s try again! 2022”) had been confirmed for the third time in a row as the national final format used to select Lithuania’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, and opened its submissions. The shows were broadcast on LRT televizija, LRT Lituanica and LRT Radijas as well as online via the broadcaster’s website lrt.lt.

Format: For the 2022 competition, six shows were held starting in early January 2022, consisting of three heats, two semi-finals, and a final, in which 36 contestants took part. The three heats took place in 2022 on 8, 15 and 22 January, while the two semi-finals took place on 29 January and 5 February. The final took place on 12 February.

Competing entries: On 1 October 2021, LRT opened a submission form for artists to apply with one song (contrarily to what had occurred the previous year, when two separate forms for entries and entrants had been opened), with the deadline set for 25 November 2021. The broadcaster allocated a budget of around €54,000 to be divided among the participants as their funding. On 7 December 2021, the list of the 36 participating artists was released by LRT. Included in the list are previous Eurovision competitors Erica Jennings (2001, as member of SKAMP), Ieva Zasimauskaitė (2018), Monika Linkytė (2015) and Vilija Matačiūnaitė (2014). The day after the release, the titles of the songs were also released. On 11 January 2022, it was revealed that Alekas and Monika Linkytė withdrew from the competition for personal reasons and illness, respectively.

Artist Song Songwriter(s)
Aldegunda “Holiday” Gailė Asačiovaitė-Main
Alekas “Out of Mind” Aaron Sibley
Augustė Vedrickaitė “Before You’re 6ft Under” Augustė Vedrickaitė, Paulius Vaicekauskas, Robertas Semeniukas
Basas Pegasas “Ponai“ Rokas Smilingis, Marius Repšys
Clockwork Creep “Grow” Paulius Mscichauskas
Cosmic Bride “The Devil Lives in Spain” Natalia Kharetskaya, Bruno Vogel
Elonas Pokanevič “Someday” Elonas Pokanevič, Edvardas Mikulis, Rokas Arciševskij
Emilija Valiukevičiūtė “Overload” Aurimas Galvelis, Justas Kulikauskas, Emilija Valiukevičiūtė
Emilijana “Illuminate” Emilija Katauskaitė, Stoyan Stoyanov, Paul Bester
Erica Jennings “Back to Myself” Erica Jennings, Stephen Sims, Deividas Jaroška, Rick Blaskey, Victor Diawara
Gabrea “Make It Real” Aurimas Galvelis, Justas Kulikauskas
Gabrielė Goštautaitė “Over” Gabrielė Goštautaitė, Robertas Semeniukas
Gebrasy “Into Your Arms” Audrius Petrauskas, Faustas Venckus
Geleibra “Aš jaučiu tave“ Evaldas Mikalauskas, Gabrielė Urbonaitė, Justinas Chachlauskas
Gintarė Korsakaitė “Fantasy Eyes” Faustas Venckus, Gintarė Korsakaitė, Elena Jurgaitytė, Audrius Petrauskas
Ieva Zasimauskaitė “I’ll Be There” Ieva Zasimauskaitė, Martin Hausner
Joseph June “Deadly” Vytautas Gumbelevičius
Justė Kraujelytė “How to Get My Life Back” Justė Kraujelytė, Kasparas Meginis, Edgaras Žaltauskas
Justin 3 feat. Nanaart “Something That Is Natural” Justinas Stanislovaitis, Liucija Nanartavičiūtė
Lolita Zero “Not Your Mother” Gytis Ivanauskas, Vitas Vaičiulis
Mary Mo “Get Up” Marija Monika Dičiūnė, Tomas Dičiūnas, Paulius Vaicekauskas
Mėnulio Fazė “Give Me a Sign” Vladas Chockevičius
Monika Linkytė “See You Again” Monika Linkytė, Vitalij Puzyriov
Monika Liu “Sentimentai“ Monika Liubinaitė
Moosu X “Love That Hurts” Justas Kulikauskas, Aurimas Galvelis
Queens of Roses “Washing Machine” Michael James Down, Will Taylor, Primož Poglajen, Natalie Palmer
Rūta Loop “Call Me from the Cold” Edgaras Žaltauskas, Kasparas Meginis, Rūta Žibaitytė
Sun Francisco “Dream Again” Giedrė Ivanova, Maksim Ivanov, Snorre Bergerud
Titas and Benas “Getting Through This” Audrius Petrauskas, Faustas Venckus
Urtė Šilagalytė “Running Chords” Urtė Šilagalytė, Justas Kulikauskas, Aurimas Galvelis
Vasha “Nepaleidi“ Vasha, Viktoras Olechnovičius
Viktorija Faith “Walk Through the Water” Charlie Akin, Viktorija Faith
Viktorija Kajokaitė “Piece of Universe” Viktorija Kajokaitė
Vilija “101” Vilija Matačiūnaitė, Leonas Somovas
Voldemars Petersons and the Break Hearters “Up” Voldemars Petersons
Živilė Gedvilaitė “Lioness” Ylva Persson, Linda Persson, Charlie Mason, John Matthews, Paulius Jasiūnas

Shows: 

Heat 1: The first heat of the competition aired on 8 January 2022 and featured eleven of the competing artists. Basas Pegasas was intended to participate on Heat 1 as well but due to disclosed health issues the band appeared on Heat 3. The show was filmed on 4 January 2022. 6 of the competing acts qualified to the semi-finals. The jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer), Ieva Narkutė (singer), Gerūta Griniūtė (cultural presenter and event host), Vytautas Bikus (composer) and Vaidotas Valiukevičius (singer of the Roop, representative of Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 and 2021).

Heat 1 – 8 January 2022
Draw Artist Song Jury Public Total Place
Votes Points Televote Points
1 Augustė Vedrickaitė “Before You’re 6ft Under” 52 12 317 4 16 2
2 Gabrielė Goštautaitė “Over” 12 2 138 1 3 11
3 Voldemars Petersons and the Break Hearters “Up” 11 1 328 5 6 8
4 Joseph June “Deadly” 39 8 363 7 15 4
5 Aldegunda “Holiday” 14 3 231 2 5 10
6 Viktorija Faith “Walk Through the Water” 18 5 92 0 5 9
7 Elonas Pokanevič “Someday” 11 1 477 10 11 6
8 Sun Francisco “Dream Again” 31 6 257 3 9 7
9 Urtė Šilagalytė “Running Chords” 15 4 824 12 16 3
10 Mary Mo “Get Up” 35 7 400 8 15 5
11 Erica Jennings “Back to Myself” 52 12 338 6 18 1

Heat 2: The second heat of the competition aired on 15 January 2022 and featured eleven of the competing artists. The show was filmed on 10 January 2022. 6 of the competing acts qualified to the semi-finals. The jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer), Giedrė Kilčiauskienė (soloist, formerly member of an electronic band Pieno lazeriai), Leonas Somovas (producer and composer), Vytautas Bikus (composer) and Ieva Narkutė (singer).

Heat 2 – 15 January 2022
Draw Artist Song Jury Public Total Place
Votes Points Televote Points
1 Clockwork Creep “Grow” 16 4 359 5 9 7
2 Justė Kraujelytė “How to Get My Life Back” 43 8 691 10 18 2
3 Gabrea “Make It Real” 16 4 283 2 6 9
4 Titas and Benas “Getting Through This” 47 10 291 3 13 3
5 Cosmic Bride “The Devil Lives in Spain” 12 2 93 0 2 11
6 Viktorija Kajokaitė “Piece of Universe” 1 0 332 4 4 10
7 Emilijana “Illuminate” 7 1 748 12 13 6
8 Justin 3 feat. Nanaart “Something That Is Natural” 30 6 258 1 7 8
9 Ieva Zasimauskaitė “I’ll Be There” 56 12 554 8 20 1
10 Moosu X “Love that Hurts” 30 6 433 7 13 5
11 Queens of Roses “Washing Machine” 32 7 423 6 13 4

Heat 3: The third heat of the competition aired on 22 January 2022 and featured twelve of the competing artists. The show was filmed on 11 January 2022. 6 of the competing acts qualified to the semi-finals. The jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer), Ieva Narkutė (singer), Gerūta Griniūtė (cultural presenter and event host), Vytautas Bikus (composer) and Darius Užkuraitis (LRT Opus director).

Heat 3 – 22 January 2022
Draw Artist Song Jury Public Total Place
Votes Points Televote Points
1 Basas Pegasas “Ponai“ 19 4 217 2 6 7
2 Rūta Loop “Call Me from the Cold” 43 8 586 8 16 2
3 Vasha “Nepaleidi“ 15 3 222 3 6 8
4 Geleibra “Aš jaučiu tave“ 10 2 216 1 3 11
5 Vilija “101” 44 10 183 0 10 6
6 Emilija Valiukevičiūtė “Overload” 1 0 70 0 0 12
7 Gintarė Korsakaitė “Fantasy Eyes” 23 5 497 6 11 5
8 Živilė Gedvilaitė “Lioness” 4 0 253 4 4 10
9 Monika Liu “Sentimentai“ 58 12 2,124 12 24 1
10 Gebrasy “Into Your Arms” 40 7 576 7 14 4
11 Mėnulio Fazė “Give Me a Sign” 6 1 349 5 6 9
12 Lolita Zero “Not Your Mother” 27 6 1,074 10 16 3

Semi-final 1 The first semi-final of the competition aired on 29 January 2022 and featured nine of the remaining artists. The show was filmed on 24 January 2022. 4 of the competing acts qualified to the to the grand final. The jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer), Ieva Narkutė (singer), Gerūta Griniūtė (cultural presenter and event host), Giedrė Kilčiauskienė (soloist, formerly member of an electronic band Pieno lazeriai) and Vaidotas Valiukevičius (singer of the Roop, representative of Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 and 2021).

Semi-final 1 – 29 January 2022
Draw Artist Song Jury Public Total Place
Votes Points Televote Points
1 Queens of Roses “Washing Machine” 22 4 648 7 11 4
2 Elonas Pokanevič “Someday” 14 3 377 2 5 9
3 Emilijana “Illuminate” 14 3 573 6 9 8
4 Joseph June “Deadly” 37 7 378 3 10 5
5 Erica Jennings “Back to Myself” 32 6 474 4 10 6
6 Justė Kraujelytė “How to Get My Life Back” 54 12 799 10 22 1
7 Gebrasy “Into Your Arms” 46 10 751 8 18 3
8 Gintarė Korsakaitė “Fantasy Eyes” 24 5 511 5 10 7
9 Lolita Zero “Not Your Mother” 42 8 2,281 12 20 2

Semi-final 2: The first semi-final of the competition aired on 5 February 2022 and featured nine of the remaining artists. The show was filmed on 25 January 2022. 4 of the competing acts qualified to the to the grand final. The members of the jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer), Ieva Narkutė (singer), Vytautas Bikus (composer), Gerūta Griniūtė (cultural presenter and event host) and Stanislavas Stavickis-Stano (singer-songwriter).

Semi-final 2 – 5 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Jury Public Total Place
Votes Points Televote Points
1 Mary Mo “Get Up” 20 4 301 2 6 9
2 Vilija “101” 30 6 303 3 9 6
3 Urtė Šilagalytė “Running Chords” 12 2 1,165 10 12 5
4 Ieva Zasimauskaitė “I’ll Be There” 37 8 481 5 13 4
5 Augustė Vedrickaitė “Before You’re 6ft Under” 49 10 934 8 18 2
6 Rūta Loop “Call Me from the Cold” 37 8 878 7 15 3
7 Titas and Benas “Getting Through This” 26 5 310 4 9 7
8 Monika Liu “Sentimentai“ 58 12 3,965 12 24 1
9 Moosu X “Love That Hurts” 16 3 637 6 9 8

Final: The final of the competition aired on 12 February 2022 and featured the eight remaining artists. The members of the jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer), Gerūta Griniūtė (cultural presenter and event host), Vytautas Bikus (composer), Stanislavas Stavickis-Stano (singer-songwriter), Aistė Smilgevičiūtė (representative of Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999), Ieva Narkutė (singer) and Vaidotas Valiukevičius (singer of the Roop, representative of Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 and 2021).

Final – 12 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Jury Public Total Place
Votes Points Televote Points
1 Lolita Zero “Not Your Mother” 57 8 20,929 10 18 3
2 Ieva Zasimauskaitė “I’ll Be There” 33 4 729 3 7 7
3 Rūta Loop “Call Me from the Cold” 51 7 1,830 7 14 4
4 Gebrasy “Into Your Arms” 42 6 1,404 6 12 5
5 Justė Kraujelytė “How to Get My Life Back” 37 5 1,164 5 10 6
6 Queens of Roses “Washing Machine” 21 3 1,108 4 7 8
7 Monika Liu “Sentimentai“ 84 12 23,604 12 24 1
8 Augustė Vedrickaitė “Before You’re 6ft Under” 60 10 4,147 8 18 2

Ratings: 

Viewing figures by show
Show Date Viewing figures Ref.
Nominal Share
Final 12 February 2022 250,000 10% –

At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (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 25 January 2022, an 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 has been placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2022, and has been scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.

Once all the competing songs for the 2022 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows’ producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Lithuania was set to perform in position 3, following the entry from Latvia and before the entry from Switzerland.

• Country: 🇲🇹 Malta

• National selection:

  • Selection process: Artist: Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2022
    Song: Internal selection
  • Selection date(s): Semi-final: 17 February 2022; Special evening: 18 February 2022; Final:19 February 2022 – Song selection: 14 March 2022
  • Host venue: –
  • Presenter(s): –
  • Host broadcaster: PBS
  • Participants – Number of entries: –
  • Selection entrant: Emma Muscat
  • Selection song: “I Am What I Am”
  • Selected songwriter(s): Dino Medanhodžić, Emma Muscat, Julie Aagaard, Stine Kinck

• Final performance: 

  • Semi-final result: 6º SF 2:
  • Final result:

Malta  is scheduled to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy. Emma Muscat was selected as the Maltese representative via the national final Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2022, where she competed with the song “Out of Sight”. As the rules of the Maltese national final allowed for the winning artist to change the winning song either partially or entirely with the consent of the winning composers, on 14 March 2022, it was announced Muscat would perform the song “I Am What I Am” instead.

Background: Prior to the 2022 contest, Malta has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty-three times since its first entry in 1971. Malta briefly competed in the Eurovision Song Contest in the 1970s before withdrawing for sixteen years. The country had competed in every contest between their return in 1991, and 2022. 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 the 2005 contest with the song “Angel” performed by Chiara. In the 2021 edition, Malta qualified to the final and placed 7th with the song “Je me casse” performed by Destiny.

The Maltese national broadcaster, Public Broadcasting Services (PBS), broadcast the event within Malta and organised the selection process for the nation’s entry. PBS confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2022 contest on 21 June 2021. Malta used the talent show format X Factor Malta for their 2019 and 2020 participations which resulted in the selection of a winning performer that would subsequently be given an internally selected song to perform at Eurovision. However PBS announced that they would select their 2022 entry through a national final procedure, a method that was last used in 2018.

Before Eurovision:

Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2022: Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was the national final format developed by PBS to select the Maltese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. The competition consisted of three shows held between 17 and 19 February 2022 at the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre in Ta’ Qali, Attard. All shows were hosted by Stephanie Spiteri, Quinton Scerri, Ron Briffa, Josmar and Ryan Borg, and broadcast on Television Malta (TVM) as well on the broadcaster’s website tvm.com.mt.

Format: The competition consisted of twenty songs competing in the semi-final on 17 February 2022 where the top sixteen entries with the addition of a wildcard qualified to compete in the final on 19 February 2022. The special evening took place on 18 February 2022 where the first sixteen qualifiers were announced. Six judges evaluated the songs during the shows and each judge had an equal stake in the final result. The seventh set of votes were the results of the public televote and announced prior to the final on 19 February, which had a weighting equal to the votes of a single judge. The wildcard was selected by an additional televote following the special evening, while the six members of the jury that evaluated the entries during both the semi-final and final consisted of TVM representatives: Carlo Borg Bonaci, Antonio Belli, Maria Muscat, Antoine Faure, Nadine Muscat and Ruth Amaira.

Competing entries: Artists and composers were able to submit their entries between 15 October 2021 and 15 December 2021.[6] Songwriters from any nationality were able to submit songs as long as the artist were Maltese or possessed Maltese citizenship. Artists were able to submit as many songs as they wished, however, they could only compete with a maximum of one in the semi-final. 2021 Maltese Eurovision entrant Destiny was unable to compete due to a rule that prevented the previous entrant from competing in the following contest. The twenty-two songs selected to compete in the semi-final were announced on 29 December 2021.

Among the selected competing artists were former Eurovision entrants Richard Edwards who represented Malta in the 2014 contest as part of the group Firelight and Jessika Muscat who represented San Marino in the 2018 contest. Francesca Sciberras represented Malta in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2009 and Nicole Azzopardi represented Malta in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2010. Among the songwriters, Matthew Mercieca, Gerard James Borg and Philip Vella were all past writers of Maltese Eurovision entries. Dimitri Stassos co-wrote the Spanish entry in 2009 and the Greek entry in 2012; Nektarios Tyrakis co-wrote the Greek entry in 2004, the Belarusian entry in 2005 and the Sammarinese entry in 2016; Peter Boström co-wrote the Swedish and Norwegian entries in 2012 as well as the Spanish entry in 2015.

Semi-final: The semi-final took place on 17 February 2022. The running order for the semi-final was announced on 6 February 2022. Twenty-two songs competed for seventeen qualifying spots in the final, one of them being a wildcard among the six songs that originally failed to qualify from the semi-final, awarded to Jessika with the song “Kaleidoscope”.

Draw Artist Song Songwriter(s) Result
1 Aidan “Ritmu“ Aidan Cassar, Boban Apostolov Advanced
2 Janice Mangion “Army” Cyprian Cassar, Mark Scicluna, Emil Calleja Bayliss Advanced
3 Nicole Hammett “A Lover’s Heart” Cyprian Cassar, Joe Julian Farrugia Advanced
4 Sarah Bonnici “Heaven” Aidan Cassar Advanced
5 Mark Anthony Bartolo “Serenity” Mark Anthony Bartolo Advanced
6 Denise “Boy” Aidan Cassar Advanced
7 Richard Edwards “Hey Little” Richard Micallef Advanced
8 Francesca Sciberras “Rise” Mark Scicluna, Etienne Micallef Eliminated
9 Miriana Conte “Look What You’ve Done Now” Cyprian Cassar, Matthew Mercieca Advanced
10 Giada “Revelación“ Aidan Cassar Advanced
11 Baklava feat. Nicole “Electric Indigo” Philip Vella, Gerard James Borg Advanced
12 Derrick Schembri “II” Cyprian Cassar, Emil Calleja Bayliss Eliminated
13 Norbert “How Special You Are” Shaun Farrugia, Norbert Bondin, Peter Borg Advanced
14 Raquel “Over You” Aidan Cassar Advanced
15 Jessica Grech “Aphrodisiac” Philip Vella, Gerard James Borg Eliminated
16 Matt Blxck “Come Around” Matt Blxck, David Grech Advanced
17 Rachel Lowell “White Doves” Ylva Persson, Linda Persson, Peter Frodin, Emil Calleja Bayliss Eliminated
18 Nicole Azzopardi “Into the Fire” Peter Boström, Per Jonsson, Marika Lindė, Dimitri Stassos, Nektarios Tyrakis Advanced
19 Emma Muscat “Out of Sight” Antonio Caputo, Emma Muscat, Gabriel Rossi, Lorenzo Santarelli, Marco Salvaderi Advanced
20 Malcolm Pisani “We Came for Love” Gaspare Incatasciato, Matthew Mercieca Eliminated
21 Enya Magri “Shame” Cyprian Cassar, Jodie Magri Advanced
22 Jessika “Kaleidoscope” Philip Vella, Gerard James Borg Advanced

Special evening: The special evening, which celebrated Malta’s 50th Anniversary since their first participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, took place on 18 February 2022. The twenty-two contestants performed former Maltese Eurovision songs in duets with their respective original artists. The show was opened with a guest performance from the Analise Dance Studio, and featured a tribute to 1994 Maltese Eurovision entrant Christopher Scicluna who had passed away the same day.

Draw Artist Song Year performed[a]
1 Aidan and Malcolm Pisani “Marija l-Maltija” (with Joe Grech) 1971
2 Baklava, Nicole Vella and Nicole Hammett “Vertigo” (with Olivia Lewis) 2007
3 Malcolm Pisani and Matt Blxck “One Life” (with Glen Vella) 2011
4 Derrick Schembri, Emma Muscat and Miriana Conte “This Is the Night” (with Kurt Calleja) 2012
5 Aidan, Richard Edwards, Janice Mangion and Giada “Could It Be” (with Paul Giordimaina and Georgina) 1991
6 Francesca Sciberras and Nicole Azzopardi “In a Woman’s Heart” (with Miriam Christine) 1996
7 Derrick Schembri and Norbert “Keep Me in Mind” (with Mike Spiteri) 1995
8 Mark Anthony Bartolo and Sarah Bonnici “L-imħabba” (with Helen and Joseph) 1972
9 Enya Magri and Jessika “My Dream” (with Thea Garrett) 2010
10 Enya Magri and Nicole Hammett “Warrior” (with Amber) 2015
11 Jessika and Nicole Azzopardi “Vodka” (with Morena) 2008
12 Denise and Rachel Lowell “7th Wonder” / “Walk on Water” (with Ira Losco) 2002 (“7th Wonder”), 2016 (“Walk on Water”)
13 Renato “Singing This Song” 1975
14 Giada and Raquel “Chameleon” (with Michela) 2019
15 Mark Anthony Bartolo and Matt Blxck “Tomorrow” (with Gianluca Bezzina) 2013
16 Denise and Raquel “The One That I Love” / “Angel” / “What If We” (with Chiara) 1998 (“The One That I Love”), 2005 (“Angel”), 2009 (“What If We”)
17 Francesca Sciberras and Jessica Grech “To Dream Again” (with Lynn Chircop) 2003
18 Nicole Hammett and Sarah Bonnici “On Again… Off Again” (with Julie and Ludwig) 2004
19 Emma Muscat and Francesca Sciberras “Breathlessly” (with Claudia Faniello) 2017
20 Baklava, Nicole and Jessica Grech “Let Me Fly” (with Debbie Scerri) 1997
21 Janice Mangion “Little Child” (with Mary Spiteri) 1992

Final: The final took place on 19 February 2022. The seventeen entries that qualified from the semi-final were performed again and the votes of a six-member jury panel (6/7) and the results of public televoting (1/7) determined the winner. The show was opened with a guest performance from the Analise Dance Studio, while the interval act featured performances by Malta’s Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 winner and 2021 Maltese Eurovision entrant Destiny Chukunyere, 2021 Maltese Junior Eurovision entrant Ike and Kaya, and the Concept of Movement dance troupe. After the votes from the jury panel and televote were combined, “Out of Sight” performed by Emma Muscat was the winner.

Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place.[a]
1 Baklava feat. Nicole “Electric Indigo” 6 1 7 15
2 Norbert “How Special You Are” 30 4 34 4
3 Matt Blxck “Come Around” 15 3 18 7
4 Giada “Revelación“ 7 1 8 13
5 Jessika “Kaleidoscope” 0 1 1 17
6 Raquel “Over You” 8 0 8 13
7 Nicole Hammett “A Lover’s Heart” 15 1 16 8
8 Miriana Conte “Look What You’ve Done Now” 27 1 28 6
9 Nicole Azzopardi “Into the Fire” 31 5 36 3
10 Sarah Bonnici “Heaven” 9 1 10 12
11 Enya Magri “Shame” 12 3 15 9
12 Denise “Boy” 28 3 31 5
13 Emma Muscat “Out of Sight” 72 20 92 1
14 Janice Mangion “Army” 6 1 7 15
15 Mark Anthony Bartolo “Serenity” 10 1 11 11
16 Aidan “Ritmu“ 60 12 72 2
17 Richard Edwards “Hey Little” 12 1 13 10

Ratings: 

Show Air date Viewers Ref.
Semi-final 17 February 2022 300,000[b] –
Special evening 18 February 2022
Final 19 February 2022 386,000[c] –

Song selection: Following Muscat’s win at Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2022, rumours began to surface that she would perform a song other than “Out of Sight” at the Eurovision Song Contest. The national final rules set by PBS allowed for the winning song to be partially modified or completely changed. “I Am What I Am” was released on 14 March 2022, and on the same day, the song was confirmed to replace “Out of Sight” as Muscat’s entry at Eurovision. In an interview with DR, the Danish public broadcaster, producer Anders Fredslund has revealed that PBS was looking for a new Eurovision entry for Emma Muscat the day after her victory in the Maltese selection. Anders Fredslund, who runs the music company The Arrangement, explained that he had been informed the representative has been chosen, but the broadcaster was looking for potential songs to represent it in the contest. The company then sent a number of songs to PBS, from which two were selected to be recorded as demos, with the broadcaster subsequently selecting “I Am What I Am”. According to Anders Fredslund, the song was written in 2021 as part of a songwriting camp that The Arrangement and Autor organised for the Eurovision Song Contest. Originally, it was claimed that the song had been submitted into Melodifestivalen but rejected by the Swedish national broadcaster, SVT; however, it was later announced that it was just intended to compete in Melodifestivalen, but never officially submitted due to the lack of an “appropriate artist for the song”.

  1. [a] Refers to the year the song performed in the Eurovision Song Contest.
  2. [b] Combined viewers of the semi-final and special evening shows
  3. [c] Including online and social media streams

At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (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 25 January 2022, an 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 has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2022, and has been scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.

Once all the competing songs for the 2022 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows’ producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Malta was set to perform in position 6, following the entry from Georgia and before the entry from San Marino.

• Country: 🇲🇩 Moldavia

• National selection:

  • Selection process: Internal selection 2022
  • Selection date(s): 29 January 2022
  • Host venue: –
  • Presenter(s): –
  • Host broadcaster: TRM
  • Participants – Number of entries: –
  • Selection entrant: Zdob și Zdub and Frații Advahov
  • Selection song: “Trenulețul“
  • Selected songwriter(s): Andrei Cebotari, Victor Dandeș, Mihai Gîncu, Roman Iagupov, Valeriu Mazîlu, Sveatoslav Staruș, Vasile Advahov, Vitalie Advahov

• Final performance: 

  • Semi-final result: 9º SF 1:
  • Final result:

Moldova is set to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy with the song “Trenulețul“, performed by the band Zdob și Zdub and Frații Advahov. This marks the third time the former will represent Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest, having previously done so in 2005 and 2011.

The Moldovan broadcaster TeleRadio-Moldova (TRM) had originally planned to organise the national final Selecția Națională 2022 in order to select the Moldovan entry for the 2022 contest. However, in January 2022, TRM decided to internally select it instead by having the competing acts audition in front of a jury panel, and “Trenulețul” emerged as the contest entry.

Background: Prior to the 2022 Contest, Moldova has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixteen times since its first entry in 2005. The nation’s best placing in the contest was third, which it achieved in 2017 with the song “Hey, Mamma!” performed by SunStroke Project. To this point, Moldova have achieved another three top ten placings at the contest: in 2005 where “Boonika bate toba” performed by Zdob și Zdub placed sixth, in 2007 where “Fight” performed by Natalia Barbu placed tenth, and in 2018 where “My Lucky Day” performed by DoReDoS also placed tenth. In the 2021 contest, “Sugar” performed by Natalia Gordienko qualified Moldova to compete in the final and placed thirteenth.

For the 2022 Contest, the Moldovan national broadcaster, TeleRadio-Moldova (TRM), broadcast the event within Moldova and organised the selection process for the nation’s entry. TRM confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest on 20 October 2021. Moldova has selected their entry via a national selection show between 2008 and 2020, while their entry in 2021 was selected via an internal selection. The internal selection procedure was continued for their 2022 participation following the cancellation of a planned national selection due to COVID-19 restrictions. 

Before Eurovision: 

Internal selection: Artists and composers had the opportunity to submit their entries between 20 December 2021 and 24 January 2022.An international act was allowed to compete only if they were part of a duo or group where 50% of the lead vocalists were of Moldovan nationality. Songwriters could hold any nationality. Artists could submit more than one song. At the conclusion of the submission deadline, 29 valid  entries were received by the broadcaster, with Misscatylove’s “Intro” originally being included in but shortly after removed from the longlist. Among the competing artists were 2005 and 2011 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Zdob și Zdub and 2012 Moldovan Junior Eurovision entrant Denis Midone.

The live audition round took place on 29 January 2022 at TRM Studio 2 in Chișinău and was broadcast on Moldova 1, Moldova 2 and Radio Moldova as well as online via trm.md and via TRM’s Facebook and YouTube pages. The votes of an expert jury selected “Trenulețul” performed by Zdob și Zdub and Frații Advahov as the Moldovan entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. Entries were assessed on criteria such as voice quality and strength of the composition. The jury panel that evaluated the songs consisted of Geta Burlacu (singer, 2008 Moldovan Eurovision entrant), Vali Boghean (singer-songwriter), Cristina Scarlat (singer, 2014 Moldovan Eurovision entrant), Victoria Cușnir (journalist) and Aliona Moon (singer, 2013 Moldovan Eurovision entrant).

Results of the Live Audition Round – 29 January 2022
Draw Artist Song Songwriter(s) Place
1 Y-Limit “Nothing More” Roman Lupu —
2 Katy Rain “Lele“ Ecaterina Tostogan-Condrea —
3 Zdob și Zdub and Frații Advahov “Trenulețul“ Andrei Cebotari, Victor Dandeș, Mihai Gîncu, Roman Iagupov, Valeriu Mazîlu, Sveatoslav Staruș, Vasile Advahov, Vitalie Advahov 1
4 Marcela Scripcaru “Starlight” Aaron Sibley, Nikos Sofis —
5 Naminal “Stop Tonight” Vadim Luchin, Timofei Tregubenco, Marcel Ștefăneț, Ghenadie Cubasov —
6 Dianna Rotaru “My Time Is Now” Ylva Persson, Linda Persson, Rickard Bonde Truumeel —
7 The Tramps “Sky Blues” Ruth Mussie, Jerusalem Yemane, Irena Krsteva, Kian Fakhary —
8 Trio Eva “Get a Kiss” Mădălina Țurcan, Michael Ra —
9 Denis Midone “Run Away” Denis Midone, Olga Fesenco —
10 Sasha Bognibov “(I Just Had) Sex with Your Ex” Jacob Jonia —
11 Annet Smirnova “Toxic Eyes” Mădălina Țurcan, Michael Ra 4
12 Ricky Ardezianu “Cherchez la femme“ Ion Istrati, Tatiana Postolache —
13 Tudor Bumbac “Iartă-mă că te iubesc“ Tudor Bumbac —
14 Lemonique “Boys” Michael Ra, Sergiu Ionaș, Mary Vegga, Fox Banger 3
15 Carolina Gorun and Danieli Shvets “Take Me Anywhere” Ylva Persson, Linda Persson, Rickard Bonde Truumeel —
16 Mihaela Andrei “Libre“ Paul Gamurari, Anatolie Vornicescu —
17 Maxim Zavidia “Ready” Pasha Rudenko, Arina Berezhnaya, Alexey Streltsov, Nikos Sofis 4
18 Emilia Russu “Yama“ Emilia Russu 5
19 Lanjeron “Magic Carpet” Serghei Forman, Ana Colesnicov 5
20 Pelageya Stefoglo “I’m the Only One” Yuliya Ogiokhyna —
21 Sendrei “Beginner’s Luck” Elviss Pētersons, Elad Lahmany —
22 Viola Julea “Before (Twin Flame)” Ylva Persson, Linda Persson —
23 Angel Kiss “The Sunshine in Me” Jacob Jonia —
24 Valeria Barbas “My Tree” Valeria Barbas, Frank Schulte —
25 Diana Elmas “Spirit High” Jacob Jonia —
26 Ana Cernicova “Silent Battlefield” Þórhallur Halldórsson, Nikos Sofis 2
27 Ferum “Love Is” Dmitrii Jelezoglo 6
28 Viorela Moraru “Tell Me That You Love Me” Eugen Doibani, Radmila Popovici-Paraschiv —
— Sasha Bognibov[a] “My Friend Is Gay” Sasha Bognibov —
  1. [a] ^ Due to undisclosed reasons, Sasha Bognibov only performed one of his two selected songs.

At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (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 25 January 2022, an 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. Moldova was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2022, and is scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.

Once all the competing songs for the 2022 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows’ producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Moldova was set to perform in position 9, following the entry from the Netherlands and before the entry from Portugal.

• Country: 🇲🇪 Montenegro

• National selection:

  • Selection process: Selezione Interna 2022
  • Selection date(s): Artist: 4 January 2022 Ι Song: 4 March 2022
  • Host venue: –
  • Presenter(s): –
  • Host broadcaster: RTCG
  • Participants – Number of entries: –
  • Selection entrant: Vladana
  • Selection song: “Breathe”
  • Selected songwriter(s): Vladana Vučinić, Darko Dimitrov

• Final performance: 

  • Semi-final result: 15º SF 2:
  • Final result:

Montenegro is set to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy with the song “Breathe” written by Vladana Vučinić and Darko Dimitrov. The song will be performed by Vučinić, who was internally selected by the Montenegrin broadcaster Radio i televizija Crne Gore (RTCG) to represent the nation at the 2022 contest. Vučinić was announced as the Montenegrin representative on 4 January 2022, while her song was presented to the public on 4 March 2022.

Background: Prior  to the 2022 contest, Montenegro has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest as an independent nation eleven times since its first entry in its own right in 2007. The nation’s best placing in the contest was thirteenth, which they achieved in 2015 with the song “Adio” performed by Knez. In 2014, Montenegro qualified to the final for the first time since they began participating and have since featured in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest two times up to this point. The nation briefly withdrew from the competition between 2010 and 2011 as well as between 2020 and 2021 citing “modest results” and/or financial difficulties as the reason for their absences. Montenegro failed to qualify to the final in 2019 with the song “Heaven” performed by D mol.

The Montenegrin national broadcaster, Radio i televizija Crne Gore (RTCG), broadcasts the event within Montenegro and organises the selection process for the nation’s entry. After a two-year absence, on 12 October 2021, RTCG confirmed that Montenegro would participate at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. Montenegro had used various methods to select the Montenegrin entry in the past, such as internal selections and televised national finals to choose the performer, song or both to compete at Eurovision. In 2018 and 2019, the Montenegrin entry was selected via the national final Montevizija. However, for 2022, the broadcaster opted to internally select both the artist and song that would represent Montenegro.

Before Eurovision: 

Internal selection: On 28 October 2021, RTCG opened a submission period where artists and songwriters were able to submit their entries until 10 December 2021. At the closing of the deadline, RTCG received 30 entries, of which 24 were valid for consideration. A selection jury evaluated and marked the received submissions against a number of criteria: up to 50 points for composition, up to 30 points for lyrics and up to 20 points for the production potential of the composition. The jury consisted of Radio Montenegro music editor Stana Šalgo, TVCG music editor Branka Banović, President of the Association of Pop Artists and Performers of Montenegro and member of 2005 Serbian and Montenegrin entrant No Name Danijel Alibabić, music advisor at the Bureau for Educational Services of Montenegro Bojana Nenezić, professor at the Music School “Vasa Pavić” Zoja Đurović, TVCG entertainment editor Dražen Bauković, singer and 2013 Montenegrin Eurovision entrant Nina Žižić, RTCG director and producer Gojko Berkuljan, TV Teuta editor and director Ilmira Lika and RTCG Marketing Manager Đorđije Kustudić.

On 4 January 2022, RTCG announced during the TVCG 1 morning show Dobro jutro Crna Goro that Vladana Vučinić would represent Montenegro in Turin. Vladana previously attempted to represent Serbia and Montenegro at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005 with the song “Samo moj nikad njen” which failed to qualify from the Montenegrin semi-final, and in 2006 with the song “Željna” which she performed in a duet with Bojana Nenezić and placed fifteenth. In regards to her selection as the Montenegrin representative, Vladana stated: “I know that life is in both black and white keys, and everyday is a brand new song. That’s why it’s interesting. We only realise what it means to fight for a life when it begins to hurt, and when the cure is the only mission. This is my song, my cure for Europe, and for the world.”

The Montenegrin song, “Breathe”, was presented during a television special titled Montenegro, dodici punti on 4 March 2022. The show was televised on TVCG 1 and TVCG SAT as well as broadcast online via the broadcaster’s website rtcg.me. In addition to the presentation of the song, the show featured guest appearances by 2022 Macedonian Eurovision entrant Andrea, members of 2005 Serbian and Montenegrin entrant No Name and 2016 Montenegrin Eurovision entrant Highway Luka Vojvodić, Nina Žižić, 2015 Montenegrin Eurovision entrant Knez, and member of 2019 Montenegrin Eurovision entrant D mol Tamara Vujačić. “Breathe” was written by Vučinić herself together with Darko Dimitrov who also carried out the production and mixing. Vučinić recorded the music video for the song in early February 2022, which was filmed in Cetinje and directed by Gojko Berkuljan who described his involvement as an opportunity to “communicate the message of the song through strong visual and metaphorical elements that accentuate the deep connotations the lyrics convey […] The whole ambience of the video acts as if it is frozen in time, with people and things slowly levitating in that airless and weightless space”. The video was released via the official Eurovision Song Contest’s YouTube channel on the same day.

Preparation and promotion. Vladana is currently making appearances across Europe to specifically promote “Breathe” as the Montenegrin Eurovision entry. On 5 March, Vladana performed “Breathe” during the final of the Romanian Eurovision national selection. On 11 March, Vladana performed during the Melfest WKND event, which was held at the Nalen venue in Stockholm, Sweden and hosted by Reine, Brenda Mandlar and Miss Tobi. Vladana also performed during the Barcelona Eurovision Party event on 26 March, which was held at the Sala Apolo venue in Barcelona, Spain and hosted by Sharonne and Giuseppe Di Bella. Having made several appearances in television talk shows in Serbia and Slovenia, Vladana is due to perform at the London Eurovision Party, which will be held at the Hard Rock Hotel venue on 3 April 2022 in London, United Kingdom and hosted by SuRie and Paddy O’Connell. On 7 April 2022, Vladana will perform “Breathe” once again at the Menora Arena in Tel Aviv for the Israeli pre-party. She will also perform in the Eurovision in Concert 2022 at AFAS Live in Amsterdam on 9 April 2022 hosted by Edsilia Rombley and Cornald Maas.

In addition to participating in promotional activities across Europe to promote the Montenegrin entry, on 6 March 2022, Vladana recorded her ‘live-on-tape’ backup performance in Belgrade, Serbia alongside the entrants from Serbia and North Macedonia. This can be used if Vladana is unable to travel to Turin, or subjected to quarantine on arrival.

On 29 March 2022, it was revealed that Vladana will release a symphonic version of “Breathe” sung in Italian as “Respira“, which was written by Natasa Latković. The filming for the symphonic version began on 29 March and is due to be released on the Eurovision YouTube channel on 4 April 2022.

At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (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 25 January 2022, an 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. Montenegro has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2022, and has been scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

Once all the competing songs for the 2022 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows’ producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Montenegro was set to perform in position 15, following the entry from Poland and before the entry from Belgium.

• Country: 🇳🇱 Paesi Bassi

• National selection:

  • Selection process: Selecione Interna 2022
  • Selection date(s): Artist: 7 December 2021 Ι Song: 3 March 2022
  • Host venue: –
  • Presenter(s): –
  • Host broadcaster: AVROTROS
  • Participants – Number of entries: –
  • Selection entrant: S10 (Stien den Hollander)
  • Selection song: “De diepte“
  • Selected songwriter(s): Stien den Hollander, Arno Krabman

• Final performance: 

  • Semi-final result: 8º SF 1:
  • Final result:

The Netherlands is scheduled to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, having internally selected S10 to represent the country with the song “De diepte“.

Background: Prior to the 2022 contest, the Netherlands has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixty-one times since its debut as one of seven countries to take part in the inaugural contest in 1956. Since then, the country has won the event five times: in 1957, 1959, 1969 (as one of four countries to tie for first place), 1975, and most recently in 2019. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004 contest, the Netherlands has featured in eight finals. The country ended last on five occasions, most recently in the second semi-final of 2011. The Netherlands has also received nul points on two occasions, in 1962 and 1963. In 2021, directly qualifying for the final as the host nation, it ended 23rd (fourth to last) with Jeangu Macrooy and “Birth of a New Age”, being one of four contestants to receive nul points from the televoting.

The Dutch national broadcaster, AVROTROS, broadcasts the event within the Netherlands and is responsible for organising the national selection process. The Netherlands has used various methods to select the Dutch entry in the past, such as the Nationaal Songfestival, a live televised national final to choose the performer, song or both to compete at Eurovision. However, internal selections have also been held on several occasions. Since 2013, the broadcaster has internally selected the Dutch entry for the contest. In 2013, the internal selection of Anouk performing “Birds” managed to take the country to the final for the first time in eight years and placed ninth overall. In 2014, the internal selection of the Common Linnets performing the song “Calm After the Storm” qualified the nation to the final once again and placed second, making it the most successful Dutch result in the contest since its victory in 1975, until Duncan Laurence won in 2019 with the song “Arcade”.

Before Eurovision: 

Internal selection. On  24 May 2021, shortly after the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, the Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS announced its participation in the following edition and opened submissions for interested artists to present its selection committee with up to three songs, with the deadline being 31 August 2021. The selection committee consisted of Eric van Stade, Cornald Maas, Jan Smit, Sander Lantinga, Coen Swijnenberg and Joyce Hoedelmans. The selection process was carried out under the supervision of Dutch head of delegation Lars Lourenco.

AVROTROS announced S10 as the Dutch entrant on 7 December 2021. On 25 January 2022, the creative team to support S10 in the preparations for her entry was announced, consisting of creative supervisor Wouter van Ransbeek, director Marnix Kaart and lighting designer Henk Jan van Beek. On 21 February, Frits Huffnagel claimed that the entry would be presented on 3 March, which was confirmed by the broadcaster the following day. The presentation of her entry, “De diepte“, took place between 09:00 and 12:00 (CET) in the Tuschinski Theatre.

AVROTROS announced S10 as the Dutch entrant on 7 December 2021.

At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (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 25 January 2022, an 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. The Netherlands has been placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2022, and has been scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.

Once all the competing songs for the 2022 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows’ producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. The Netherlands was set to perform in position 8, following the entry from Bulgaria and before the entry from Moldova.

• Country: 🇲🇰 Macedonia del Nord

• National selection:

  • Selection process: Za Evrosong 2022
  • Selection date(s): 4 February 2022
  • Host venue: –
  • Presenter(s): –
  • Host broadcaster: MKRTV
  • Participants – Number of entries: –
  • Selection entrant: Andrea () – with Ana Petanovska and Renata Kralevska (Ана Петановска и Рената Кралевска )
  • Selection song: “Circles”
  • Selected songwriter(s): Aleksandar Masevski, Andrea Koevska

• Final performance: 

  • Semi-final result: 11º SF 2:
  • Final result:

North Macedonia is set to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with the song “Circles”, written by Aleksandar Masevski and Andrea Koevska. The song will be performed by Andrea, who was selected via the national final Za Evrosong 2022 organised by the Macedonian national broadcaster Macedonian Radio Television (MRT). The competition featured six entries and took place between 28 January 2022 and 4 February 2022, with the winner determined via a combination of public voting and international jury voting in a live show on 4 February 2022.

Background: Prior to the 2022 contest, North Macedonia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty times since its first entry in 1998. The nation’s best result in the contest to this point was seventh, which it achieved in 2019 with the song “Proud” performed by Tamara Todevska. Following the introduction of semi-finals to the format of the contest in 2004, North Macedonia has featured in only six finals. In 2021, North Macedonia was represented by Vasil with the song “Here I Stand”, which failed to qualify for the final, finishing in 15th place in the first semi-final with 23 points.

The Macedonian national broadcaster, Macedonian Radio Television (MRT), broadcasts the event within North Macedonia and organises the selection process for the nation’s entry. North Macedonia has previously selected their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest through both national finals and internal selections. MRT confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest on 20 October 2021. For 2015, North Macedonia selected their entry using the national final Skopje Fest. Between 2016 and 2021, the broadcaster internally selected North Macedonia’s entries, resulting in a single qualification to the final during this period, in 2019. The broadcaster returned to using a national final to select the Macedonian entry for 2022.

Before Eurovision: 

Za Evrosong 2022. Za Evrosong2022 was the national final developed by MRT in order to select Macedonia’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. The competition commenced on 28 January 2022 and the winner was announced in a live final on 4 February 2022. Six acts competed, and the voting results were revealed in a live televised show on 4 February 2022 held at MRT’s Studio 1 in Skopje and hosted by 2017 Macedonian entrantJana Burčeska and co-head of delegation for North Macedonia at the Eurovision Song Contest Aleksandra Jovanovska. The winner was selected through a professional international jury panel and a public televote. The show was broadcast on MRT 1 as well as streamed online via the MRT’s satellite broadcast.

Competing entries. A submission period was opened for interested artists and composers to submit their entries between 10 December 2021 and 16 January 2022. MRT received 47 submissions at the closing of the deadline. Six entries were selected by a special jury from the submissions and were announced on 21 January 2022. The jury consisted of Meri Popova (MRT 1 editor and Macedonian Head of Delegation for the Eurovision Song Contest), Zoran Mirčevski (MR 2 editor-in-chief), Biljana Nikolovska (MR 1 music editor), Aleksandra Jovanovska (MR 2 journalist), Jana Burčeska (journalist at MRT 3), Maja Trpčanovska (MRT 1 journalist) and Ardita Imeri (MRT 2 journalist). The competing entries were released to the public on 28 January 2022.

Final. The six competing artists and songs were presented to the public on 28 January 2022 during the MRT programme Stisni Plej. The public was able to vote online for their favorite entry until 4 February 2022. A 50/50 combination of the online vote and an international jury panel. A monetary prize of €2,000 was also awarded to the winner. In addition to the competing entries, 2019 North Macedonian entrant Tamara Todevska and 2021 North Macedonian entrants in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest Dajte Muzika made guest appearances.

The international jury panel consisted of Gordon Bonello (Maltese TV producer and journalist), Tali Eshkoli (music critique and head of delegation for Israel), Natia Mshvenieradze (TV producer and head of delegation for Georgia), Felix Bergsson (writer, actor and head of delegation for Iceland) and David Tserunyan (TV producer and head of delegation for Armenia). Each juror ranked the competing entries from 1–6 based on their personal preference. These rankings were then converted into points that contributed to half of the final result.

Artist Song Songwriter(s) Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points Votes Points
Andrea “Circles” Aleksandar Masevski, Andrea Koevska 10 12 4,300 8 20 1
Kaly “Love and Light” Davor Jordanovski, Vesna Malinova 22 6 7,539 10 16 3
Lara Ivanova “Flower of Sorrow” Robert Bilbilov [mk], Robin Zimbakov 12 10 1,186 5 15 4
Ris Flower “Flying to Berlin” Boris Cvetanovski 24 5 1,367 6 11 6
Viktor Apostolovski “Superman” Vladimir Dojcinovski, Viktor Apostolovski 16 8 12,621 12 20 2
Yon Idy “Dreams” Jon Ajdini 21 7 3,743 7 14 5
Detailed international jury votes hide
Song
MLT
ISR
GEO
ISL
ARM		 Total Points
“Circles” 1 5 1 2 1 10 12
“Love and Light” 4 3 6 4 5 22 6
“Flower of Sorrow” 2 2 5 1 2 12 10
“Flying to Berlin” 6 4 3 5 6 24 5
“Superman” 3 1 2 6 4 16 8
“Dreams” 5 6 4 3 3 21 7

Preparation: On 5 February 2022, MRT announced that “Circles” would undergo a production revamp prior to the contest in May as a part of a €2,000 budget allocated by the broadcaster to improve the nation’s entry prior to the contest and for contributions to staging at the contest. The revamp was revealed in the first live performance of the song in Romania’s national selection on 5 March 2022, with the official music video premiered on the Eurovision YouTube channel on 10 March 2022.

Promotion: Prior to the contest, it was revealed that Andrea would perform in both Montenegro’s song presentation show Montenegro, dodici punti on 4 March 2022 and in the final of Romania’s national selection on 5 March 2022. Andrea is also due to perform at the London Eurovision Party, which will be held at the Hard Rock Hotel venue on 3 April 2022 in London, United Kingdom and hosted by SuRie and Paddy O’Connell.

At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (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 25 January 2022, an 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 has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2022, and has been scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

Once all the competing songs for the 2022 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows’ producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. North Macedonia was set to perform in position 11, following the entry from Ireland and before the entry from Estonia.

• Country: 🇳🇴 Norvegia

• National selection:

  • Selection process: ‘Norsk’ Melodi Grand Prix (MGP) 2022
  • Selection date(s): Semi-finals (Delfinale): 15 January 2022; 22 January 2022; 29 January 2022; 5 February 2022 Ι Second Chance (Sistesjansen): 12 February 2022 I Final (Finale): 19 February 2022
  • Host venue: H3 Arena Fornebu
  • Presenter(s): Kåre Magnus Bergh, Annika Momrak, Mikkel Niva
  • Host broadcaster: NRK
  • Participants: 21 (10 final)
  • Number of entries: –
  • Selection entrant: Subwoolfer
  • Selection song: “Give That Wolf a Banana”
  • Selected songwriter(s): Keith, Jim, DJ Astronaut

• Final performance: 

  • Semi-final result: 16º SF 1:
  • Final result:

Norway will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy with “Give That Wolf a Banana” performed by Subwoolfer. The Norwegian broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix 2022 in order to select the Norwegian entry for the 2022 contest. 21 entries were selected to compete in the national final, which consists of seven shows: four semi-finals, two Last chance round shows and a final. Ten entries ultimately qualified to compete in the final that took place on 19 February 2022 and the winner was determined over two rounds of voting.

Melodi Grand Prix 2022 was the 60th edition of the Norwegian music competition Melodi Grand Prix (MGP). The contest is held annually and serves as the country’s preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest. MGP was organized by Norway’s public broadcaster NRK and was held in January and February 2022. The winner of the competition, Subwoolfer with “Give That Wolf a Banana”, will represent Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy in May 2022.

Background: Prior to the 2022 contest, Norway has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixty times since its first entry in 1960. Norway has 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 has 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 has finished last eleven times and has failed to score a point in four contests. Following the introduction of semi-finals for 2004, Norway has finished in the top ten eight times. In 2021, “Fallen Angel” performed by Tix qualified to the final and placed eighteenth.

The Norwegian national broadcaster, Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK), broadcasts the event within Norway and organises the selection process for the nation’s entry. NRK confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest on 28 May 2021. 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. Along with their participation confirmation, the broadcaster revealed details regarding their selection procedure and announced the organization of Melodi Grand Prix 2022 in order to select the 2022 Norwegian entry.

Before Eurovision: 

Melodi Grand Prix 2022: Melodi Grand Prix 2022 was the 60th edition of the Norwegian national final Melodi Grand Prix which selected Norway’s entry for the 2022 contest. The competition took place at the H3 Arena in Fornebu and consists of four semi-finals between 15 January and 5 February, two Last chance round shows on 7 and 12 February, and a final on 19 February. The seven shows were hosted by Mikkel Niva, Kåre Magnus Bergh, and Annika Momrak. The national final was televised on NRK1 and NRK TV as well as streamed online at NRK’s official website nrk.no.

Semi-finals and Last chance round:

  • The first semi-final took place on 15 January 2022. “Black Flowers” performed by Frode Vassel qualified to the final.
  • The second semi-final took place on 22 January 2022. “Dangerous” performed by Farida qualified to the final.
  • The third semi-final took place on 29 January 2022. “Hammer of Thor” performed by Oda Gondrosen qualified to the final.
  • The fourth semi-final took place on 5 February 2022. “Made of Glass” performed by Sofie Fjellvang qualified to the final.
  • The Last chance round (Sistesjansen) took place over two shows on 7 and 12 February 2022. “Fly” performed by Maria Mohn qualified to the final.

Final: Ten songs consisting of the four semi-final and Last chance qualifiers alongside five pre-qualified songs competed during the final on 19 February 2022. The winner was selected over two rounds of voting, with the four-way Gold Final being dropped for the first time since 2015.

Final – 19 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Result
1 Oda Gondrosen “Hammer of Thor” Eliminated
2 NorthKid “Someone” Gold Duel
3 Anna-Lisa Kumoji “Queen Bees” Eliminated
4 Farida “Dangerous” Eliminated
5 Sofie Fjellvang “Made of Glass” Top 4
6 Frode Vassel “Black Flowers” Eliminated
7 Christian Ingebrigtsen “Wonder of the World” Eliminated
8 Maria Mohn “Fly” Eliminated
9 Subwoolfer “Give That Wolf a Banana” Gold Duel
10 Elsie Bay “Death of Us” Top 4
Gold Duel – 19 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Votes Place
1 NorthKid “Someone” 312,223 2
2 Subwoolfer “Give That Wolf a Banana” 368,106 1

Format: The contest consisted of four semi-finals, a two-part “wild card” round (Sistesjansen, “Last chance”) and a final, held at the H3 Arena in Fornebu across January and February 2022. The concept is similar to the competition in 2021: one contestant qualified for the final from each of the previous rounds, while another five added up to these as pre-qualified entrants, for a total of ten finalists. In the final, two rounds of voting took place, narrowing down the competition to two contestants, and ultimately determining the winner.

In October 2021, Stig Karlsen, in charge of the organization of the event for NRK, announced the broadcaster was considering a few changes to the format, particularly to the voting system, which among other things might have returned to include an international jury vote for the final. This was ultimately ruled out.

In December 2021, it was announced that the show would be hosted by Mikkel Niva, Kåre Magnus Bergh, and Annika Momrak.

The semi-finals and the wild card round took place without an audience due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway, particularly due to the ongoing spread of the Omicron variant. The final was attended by an audience of 500 spectators.

Competing entries: About one week after the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, NRK officially opened for songwriters to submit entries for Melodi Grand Prix 2022. The submission window was set to close on 15 August 2021, but was later extended to 15 September 2021. 

The competition was open to all songwriters, and each songwriter could submit up to three songs. Each song should have had at least one Norwegian contributor, in order to “prioritize and promote the Norwegian music scene”. In addition to the open submission, NRK also looked for possible entries through targeted search and direct dialogue with the Norwegian music industry.

In late November 2021, it was reported that 21 entries had been selected to take part in the contest. Originally, the lineup of participating artists was scheduled to be revealed on 6 January 2022, and their entries at a later time; however, it was later decided they would be announced together on 10 January. 

Competing entries
Artist Song Composer(s)
Alexandra Joner “Hasta la vista“ Henrik Sæter, Jazara Aden Hutton
Anna-Lisa Kumoji “Queen Bees” Olli Äkräs, Alan Roy Scott, Elsbeth Rehder, Anna-Lisa Kumoji
Christian Ingebrigtsen “Wonder of the World” Christian Ingebrigtsen, Michael Hunter Ochs, Henrik Tala
Daniel Lukas “Kvelertak“ Daniel Lukas Kalelic, Are Næsset
Eline Noelia “Ecstasy” Eline Noelia Myreng, Audun Agnar Guldbrandsen, Tea Megaard
Elsie Bay “Death of Us” Elsa Søllesvik, Jonas Holteberg Jensen, Andreas Stone Johansson
Farida “Dangerous” Farida Bolseth Benounis, Rasmus Simon Vedvik Thallaug, Atle Pettersen, Peter Newman, Hannah Dorothy Bristow
Frode Vassel “Black Flowers” Frode Vassel, Benjamin Larsen, Niklas Rosström, Celine Alette Pedersen Breivoll
Kim Wigaard “La melodia“ Kim Wigaard Johansen, Marius Hagen, Karianne Sissener Amundsen, Ronny Janssen
Lily Löwe “Bad Baby” Lill Sofie Wilsberg, Trond Holter, Victoria Land
Mari Bølla [no] “Your Loss” Lars Horn Lavik, Morten Franck, Mari Eriksen Bølla
Maria Mohn “Fly” Maria Mohn, Einar Kristiansen Five
Mira Craig “We Still Here” Mira Craig, Bård Berg
NorthKid  “Someone” Helge Moen, Alex Charles, Sandra Lyng, Jim Bergsted
Oda Gondrosen “Hammer of Thor” Morten Franck, Elsa Søllesvik, Torgeir Ryssevik, Oda Kristine Gondrosen
Sofie Fjellvang “Made of Glass” Sofie Fjellvang, Kjetil Mørland
Steffen Jakobsen “With Me Tonight” Mats William Wennerberg, Nicolai Herwell
Sturla “Skår i hjerte“ Sturla Fagerli Larsen
Subwoolfer “Give That Wolf a Banana” Keith, Jim, DJ Astronaut
Trollfest “Dance Like a Pink Flamingo” Eirik Renton, Jostein Austvik
Vilde “Titans” Vilde Johannessen, Ben Adams, Sindre Timberlid Jenssen

Semi-finals: 

Semi-final 1: The first semi-final took place on 15 January 2022.

Semi-final 1: 15 January 2022
Duel Draw Artist Song Result
Duel 1 1 Eline Noelia “Ecstasy” Gold Duel
2 Mira Craig “We Still Here” Last chance
Duel 2 1 Trollfest “Dance Like a Pink Flamingo” Last chance
2 Frode Vassel “Black Flowers” Gold Duel
Promo – Elsie Bay “Death of Us” Pre-qualified
Gold Duel: 15 January 2022
Draw Artist Song Result
1 Eline Noelia “Ecstasy” Last chance
2 Frode Vassel “Black Flowers” Final

Semi-final 2: The second semi-final took place on 22 January 2022.

Semi-final 2: 22 January 2022
Duel Draw Artist Song Result
Duel 1 1 Lily Löwe “Bad Baby” Last chance
2 Steffen Jakobsen “With Me Tonight” Gold Duel
Duel 2 1 Farida “Dangerous” Gold Duel
2 Daniel Lukas “Kvelertak” Last chance
Promo – Christian Ingebrigtsen “Wonder of the World” Pre-qualified
Gold Duel: 22 January 2022
Draw Artist Song Result
1 Steffen Jakobsen “With Me Tonight” Last chance
2 Farida “Dangerous” Final

Semi-final 3: The third semi-final took place on 29 January 2022. Subwoolfer was originally slated to perform in this semi-final as a pre-qualified entrant, before testing positive for COVID-19. Instead, NorthKid, another pre-qualified entrant, performed in this semi-final.

Semi-final 3: 29 January 2022
Duel Draw Artist Song Result
Duel 1 1 Mari Bølla “Your Loss” Last chance
2 Oda Gondrosen “Hammer of Thor” Gold Duel
Duel 2 1 Sturla “Skår i hjerte“ Last chance
2 Vilde “Titans” Gold Duel
Promo – NorthKid “Someone” Pre-qualified
Gold Duel: 29 January 2022
Draw Artist Song Result
1 Oda Gondrosen “Hammer of Thor” Final
2 Vilde “Titans” Last chance

Semi-final 4: The fourth semi-final took place on 5 February 2022. 

Semi-final 4: 5 February 2022
Duel Draw Artist Song Result
Duel 1 1 Maria Mohn “Fly” Gold Duel
2 Alexandra Joner “Hasta la vista“ Last chance
Duel 2 1 Kim Wigaard “La melodia“ Last chance
2 Sofie Fjellvang “Made of Glass” Gold Duel
Promo – Subwoolfer “Give That Wolf a Banana” Pre-qualified
Gold Duel: 5 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Result
1 Maria Mohn “Fly” Last chance
2 Sofie Fjellvang “Made of Glass” Final

Last chance: The Last chance round took place on two nights on 7 and 12 February 2022. On 7 February, NRK hosted a live broadcast where the public was able to vote on the 12 eliminated acts and assign four wildcards for the second chance semi-final on 12 February, where Maria Mohn with “Fly” ultimately went on to the final.

Last chance round 1: 7 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Result
1 Mira Craig “We Still Here” Eliminated
2 Trollfest “Dance Like a Pink Flamingo” Round 2
3 Eline Noelia “Ecstasy” Eliminated
4 Lily Löwe “Bad Baby” Eliminated
5 Daniel Lukas “Kvelertak“ Eliminated
6 Steffen Jakobsen “With Me Tonight” Eliminated
7 Mari Bølla “Your Loss” Round 2
8 Sturla “Skår i hjerte“ Eliminated
9 Vilde “Titans” Eliminated
10 Alexandra Joner “Hasta la vista“ Eliminated
11 Kim Wigaard “La melodia“ Round 2
12 Maria Mohn “Fly” Round 2
Last chance round 2: 12 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Result
1 Mari Bølla “Your Loss” Eliminated
2 Kim Wigaard “La melodia“ Eliminated
3 Maria Mohn “Fly” Gold Duel
4 Trollfest “Dance Like a Pink Flamingo” Gold Duel
Promo Anna-Lisa Kumoji “Queen Bees” Pre-qualified
Gold Duel: 12 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Result
1 Maria Mohn “Fly” Final
2 Trollfest “Dance Like a Pink Flamingo” Eliminated

Final: The final took place on 19 February 2022.

Final: 19 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Result
1 Oda Gondrosen “Hammer of Thor” Eliminated
2 NorthKid “Someone” Gold Duel
3 Anna-Lisa Kumoji “Queen Bees” Eliminated
4 Farida “Dangerous” Eliminated
5 Sofie Fjellvang “Made of Glass” Top 4
6 Frode Vassel “Black Flowers” Eliminated
7 Christian Ingebrigtsen “Wonder of the World” Eliminated
8 Maria Mohn “Fly” Eliminated
9 Subwoolfer “Give That Wolf a Banana” Gold Duel
10 Elsie Bay “Death of Us” Top 4
Gold Duel: 19 February 2022
Draw Artist Song South Central North West East Total Place
Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %
1 NorthKid “Someone” 28,095 43.44 40,288 47.22 79,548 73.47 57,369 41.12 106,923 37.84 312,223 45.89 2
2 Subwoolfer “Give That Wolf a Banana” 36,576 56.56 45,038 52.78 28,731 26.53 82,146 58.88 175,615 62.16 368,106 54.11 1

Ratings: 

Viewing figures by show
Show Air date Viewers
(millions)		 Share
(%)		 Ref.
Semi-final 1 15 January 2022 0.555 N/A –
Semi-final 2 22 January 2022 0.574 –
Semi-final 3 29 January 2022 N/A
Semi-final 4 5 February 2022 0.533 –
Last chance round 1 7 February 2022 N/A
Last chance round 2 12 February 2022 0.437 –
Final 19 February 2022 0.737 –

At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (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 25 January 2022, an 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 has been placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2022, and has been scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

Once all the competing songs for the 2022 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows’ producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Norway was set to perform in position 16, following the entry from Greece and before the entry from Armenia.

• Country: 🇵🇱 Polonia

• National selection:

  • Selection process: Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję! 2022
  • Selection date(s): 19 February 2022
  • Host venue: –
  • Presenter(s): –
  • Host broadcaster: TVP
  • Participants – Number of entries: –
  • Selection entrant: Ochman
  • Selection song: “River”
  • Selected songwriter(s): Krystian Ochman, Ashley Hicklin, Adam Wiśniewski, Mikołaj Trybulec

• Final performance: 

  • Semi-final result: 14º SF 2:
  • Final result:

Poland is scheduled to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with “River” performed by Ochman. The Polish broadcaster Telewizja Polska (TVP) first announced in September 2021 that the Polish entry for the 2022 contest would be chosen through an internal selection. However, the broadcaster later decided to organise the national final Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję in order to select the Polish entry. The national final took place on 19 February 2022 and featured ten entries.

Background: Prior to the 2022 Contest, Poland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-three times since its first entry in 1994. Poland’s highest placement in the contest, to this point, has been second place, which the nation achieved with its debut entry in 1994 with the song “To nie ja!” performed by Edyta Górniak. Poland has only reached the top ten on two other occasions, when Ich Troje performing the song “Keine Grenzen – Żadnych granic” finished seventh in 2003, and when Michał Szpak performing the song “Color of Your Life” finished eighth in 2016. Between 2005 and 2011, Poland failed to qualify from the semi-final round six out of seven years with only their 2008 entry, “For Life” performed by Isis Gee, managing to take the nation to the final during that period. After once again failing to qualify to the final in 2011, the country withdrew from the contest throughout 2013. Since returning to the contest in 2014, Poland managed to qualify to the final each year before failing to qualify to the final between 2018 and 2021, the latter with their entry “The Ride” performed by Rafał Brzozowski.

The Polish national broadcaster, Telewizja Polska (TVP), broadcasts the event within Poland and organises the selection process for the nation’s entry. TVP confirmed Poland’s participation in the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest on 29 August 2021. The broadcaster opted to internally select the Polish entry for the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest, a selection procedure that was to be continued for their 2022 entry. The selected entry was scheduled to be presented by 2 January 2022, which was later delayed to 15 January 2022. However, on 14 January 2022, TVP announced that the Polish entry would be selected via a national final; the last time the Polish entry was selected via a national final was in 2020.

Before Eurovision:

Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję! 2022: Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję (“The heart of Europe beats here! We choose the hit for Eurovision”) was the national final organised by TVP in order to select the Polish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. The show took place on 19 February 2022 at the Studios 4 and 5 of TVP in Warsaw, hosted by 2021 Polish Eurovision entrant Rafał Brzozowski, Ida Nowakowska and Małgorzata Tomaszewska with Aleksander Sikora and Marek Sierocki serving as backstage hosts. The show was broadcast on TVP2 and TVP Polonia as well as streamed online at the broadcaster’s website tvp.pl.

Competing entries: TVP opened a submission period for interested artists and songwriters to submit their entries between 20 September 2021 and 20 November 2021. The broadcaster received 150 submissions at the closing of the deadline. A five-member selection committee selected ten entries from the received submissions to compete in the national final. The selection committee consisted of Halina Frąckowiak (singer), Krystian Kruczkowski (programme director of TVP), Marcin Kusy (president of the Polish Radio Program I), Szymon Orłowski (musician and composer) and Marek Sierocki [pl] (Eurovision commentator, music journalist and artistic director). The selected entries were announced on 14 January 2022 during the TVP2 programme Pytanie na śniadanie. Among the competing artists was Lidia Kopania, who represented Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009.

Artist Song Songwriter(s)
Ania Byrcyn “Dokąd?“ Ania Byrcyn, Patryk Rogoziński, Wojtek Hartman, Szymon Orłowski, Iga Janowiak
Daria [pl] “Paranoia” Daria Marcinkowska, Maciej Puchalski, Kevin Zuber, Duncan Townsend
Emilia Dębska “All I Need” Emilia Dębska
Karolina Lizer “Czysta woda“ Marcin Partyka, Tomasz Kordeusz
Karolina Stanisławczyk [pl] feat. Chika Toro “Move” Peter Macko, Karolina Stanisławczyk, Neidy Viviana, Toro Salazar
Kuba Szmajkowski “Lovesick” Dominic Buczkowski-Wojtaszek, Ewelina Skonieczna, Jan Bielecki, Kuba Szmajkowski, Mateusz Dziewulski, Patryk Kumór, Sven Kolandson, Thomas Karlsson
Lidia Kopania “Why Does It Hurt?” Ylva Persson, Linda Persson, Rickard Bonde Truumeel
Ochman “River” Krystian Ochman, Ash Hicklin, Adam Wiśniewski, Mikołaj Trybulec
Szlachta Sisters “Drogowskazy“ Piotr Walicki, Monika Wydrzyńska
Unmute “Głośniej niż decybele“ Michał Król, Michał Pakuła

Final: The televised final took place on 19 February 2022. Ten entries competed and the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the top three as determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from a five-member professional jury and a public vote advanced to the second round, the superfinal, during which the winner, “River” performed by Ochman, was determined by the public and jury vote. Ochman was the winner of the public vote while Daria was the winner of the jury vote. The jury consisted of Halina Frąckowiak, Krystian Kruczkowski, Marcin Kusy, Szymon Orłowski and Marek Sierocki. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 for Azerbaijan Ell and Nikki, former Polish Eurovision entrants Justyna Steczkowska (1995), Blue Café (2004), Kasia Moś (2017) and Rafał Brzozowski (2021), and former Polish Junior Eurovision entrants Viki Gabor (2019) and Sara James (2021) performed as the interval acts.

Final – 19 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Percentage Place
1 Kuba Szmajkowski “Lovesick” 4% 4
2 Ania Byrcyn “Dokąd?“ 3% 6
3 Szlachta Sisters “Drogowskazy“ 3% 7
4 Lidia Kopania “Why Does It Hurt?” 1% 10
5 Karolina Stanisławczyk feat. Chika Toro “Move” 2% 8
6 Karolina Lizer “Czysta woda“ 3% 5
7 Unmute “Głośniej niż decybele“ N/A
8 Mila “All I Need” 1% 9
9 Ochman “River” N/A
10 Daria “Paranoia”
Superfinal – 19 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Percentage Place
1 Ochman “River” N/A 1st 51% 1
2 Unmute “Głośniej niż decybele“ N/A 10% 3
3 Daria “Paranoia” 1st 39% 2

OGAE Poland voting: On the day of the final, members of the OGAE Poland fanclub association members voted for their favourite of the selection. 131 OGAE members took part in the voting.[17] Ochman was chosen as the OGAE favourite with the song “River”, winning the voting with 1,445 overall points. “Paranoia” by Daria finished 2nd in the voting, scoring 948 points. “Dokąd“, performed by Ania Byrcyn, placed 3rd with 929 points. The Top 5 was completed by Kuba Szmajkowski with the song “Lovesick”, and Karolina Lizer with the song “Czysta woda“.

Results of the OGAE Poland voting
Artist Song Points Place
Ochman “River” 1,445 1
Daria “Paranoia” 948 2
Ania Byrcyn “Dokąd?“ 929 3
Kuba Szmajkowski “Lovesick” 830 4
Karolina Lizer “Czysta woda“ 793 5
Karolina Stanisławczyk feat. Chika Toro “Move” 738 6
Szlachta Sisters “Drogowskazy“ 517 7
Unmute “Głośniej niż decybele“ 508 8
Lidia Kopania “Why Does It Hurt?” 464 9
Mila “All I Need” 424 10

Controversies: 

Lidia Kopania’s performance: The final performance of the song “Why Does It Hurt” by Lidia Kopania was widely commented in the local media media and on social networks. From the very beginning of the performance it had been speculated that the artist had forgotten the lyrics of her song, and her facial expressions during the performance and gestures after the song allegedly showed that she was aware of the failed performance. The songwriters Ylva and Linda Persson also accused the singer of sabotaging the song, adding that “a good song was wasted”. When asked in interviews to comment on the matter, Kopania said that such a performance had been planned, and with the song she wanted to pay tribute to her deceased family members – her father, her brother and her father’s sister. Later asked by different media outlets, she stated that she had been inspired by Monty Python, and that she knew her performance would cause outrage. After the singer’s performance, her fan-club founded 14 years prior was disbanded, with its founder informing about the singer’s “notorious” lies and suggesting that she needed “treatment for her mental health, which had been damaged for some time.”

Plagiarism accusations: The composers of the song “Why Does It Hurt”, Ylva and Linda Persson, were accused of plagiarising “Glitter & Gold” by Rebecca Ferguson. It was speculated Kopania had not been informed about the copyright infringement of the song.

Promotion: Ochman will be making appearances across Europe to specifically promote “River” as the Polish Eurovision entry. He is set to perform at the London Eurovision Party, which will be held at the Hard Rock Hotel venue on 3 April 2022 in London, United Kingdom and hosted by SuRie and Paddy O’Connell, as well as the Israeli preparty Israel Calling to be held on 7 April 2022 in the Menora Mivtachim Arena in Tel Aviv. He will also perform in the Eurovision in Concert 2022 at AFAS Live in Amsterdam on 9 April 2022 hosted by Edsilia Rombley and Cornald Maas, and the PrePartyES on 15 April which will organised by eurovision-spain.com in the Sala La Riviera in Madrid. In addition to participating in promotional activities across Europe to promote the Polish entry, on 21 March 2022, Ochman recorded his ‘live-on-tape’ backup performance in TVP’s Studio 5 in Warsaw. This can be used if he is unable to travel to Turin, or subjected to quarantine on arrival.

At Eurovision: AAccording to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (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 25 January 2022, an 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. Poland has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2022, and has been scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

Once all the competing songs for the 2022 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows’ producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Poland was set to perform in position 14, following the entry from Romania and before the entry from Montenegro.

• Country: 🇵🇹 Portogallo

• National selection:

  • Selection process: Festival da Cançao (Festival RTP da Canção) 2022
  • Selection date(s): Semi-finals: 5 March 2022, 7 March 2022 I Final:12 March 2022
  • Host venue: –
  • Presenter(s): –
  • Host broadcaster: TVP
  • Participants – Number of entries: –
  • Selection entrant: MARO
  • Selection song: “Saudade, saudade“
  • Selected songwriter(s): Maro, John Blanda

• Final performance: 

  • Semi-final result: 10º SF 1:
  • Final result:

Portugal is scheduled to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with “Saudade, saudade” performed by Maro. The national broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) selected the Portuguese entry to the contest through the national selection Festival da Canção, which consisted of two semi-finals and a final that were held in March 2022.

Background: Prior to the 2022 contest, Portugal has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-two times since its first entry in 1964 Since semi-finals were introduced into the contest in 2004, Portugal has failed to reach the final eight times. Portugal held the record for the most appearances in the contest without a win until 2017 when they won in Kyiv, Ukraine with Salvador Sobral’s entry “Amar pelos dois“. In 2021, Portugal was represented by the Black Mamba with the song “Love Is on My Side”. The country managed to qualify to the final, ultimately ending in twelfth place with 153 points.

Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) broadcasts the contest in Portugal and organises the selection process for its entry. Portugal has most commonly selected their entry through the national final Festival da Canção except between 2003 and 2005 when the broadcaster used internal selections and the talent competition Operação triunfo to select their entry. In September 2021, RTP confirmed its participation in the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest and confirmed its usual selection method for the event.

Before Eurovision:

Festival da Canção 2022: Festival da Canção 2022 was the 56th edition of Festival da Canção, the music competition that traditionally selects Portugal’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Format: The competition will consist of two semi-finals and a final, to take place at an as yet undetermined location in Portugal. On 8 September 2021, upon confirming its participation at Eurovision, RTP opened its selection process for the twenty competing entries in Festival da Canção, articulated as follows:

  • sixteen musical authors were invited to each compose a song, indicating a perfomer for it, and to send a provisional version thereof by 31 October 2021;
  • free submissions were opened to Portuguese citizens or residents of Portugal to submit their songs by 21 October 2021; four of these were selected by a professional jury within 10 days after the deadline;
  • all selected entrants are required to present RTP with a final version of their entry by 30 November 2021.

For the sixth consecutive year, the broadcaster abolished the language restrictions, so that artists may submit songs in any language(s), even without Portuguese. On 25 October 2021, RTP declared to have received more than 600 applications. The selected composers were revealed on 4 November 2021, while the competing artists and songs were revealed on 21 January 2022.

Artist Song Songwriter(s) Selection
Aurea “Why?” Aurea, Rui Massena Invited by RTP
Os Azeitonas “Solta a voz e canta“ Os Azeitonas, Mário Brandão, João Salcedo
Blacci “Mar no fim“ Blacci, Edu Monteiro, Hits Mike, Liam Cole, Gonzalo, Iolanda, Stego
Cubita “Uma mensagem tua“ Cubita, Scardini
Diana Castro “Ginger Ale” Joana Espadinha
Fado Bicha “Povo pequenino“ Fado Bicha, João Caçador, Lila Tiago
FF “Como é bom esperar alguém“ FF
Inês Homem de Melo “Fome de viagem“ Pedro Marques, Galileu Granito Open call winner
Jonas “Pontas soltas“ Fábia Rebordão Invited by RTP
Kumpania Algazarra [pt] “A minha praia“ Kumpania Algazarra [pt], Luís Barrocas, Francisco Amorim
Maro “Saudade, saudade“ Maro, John Blanda
Milhanas “Corpo de mulher“ Agir
Norton “Hope” Norton
Pepperoni Passion “Código 30“ Pepperoni Passion, António Santos, Pedro Ferreira, João Reis Open call winner
Pongo and Tristany “Dégrá.dê“ DJ Marfox, Pongo, Tristany Invited by RTP
Os Quatro e Meia “Amanhã“ Tiago Nogueira Open call winner
Syro “Ainda nos temos“ Syro, Ariel, Gonzalo Tau Invited by RTP
TheMisterDriver “Calisun” TheMisterDriver Open call winner
Valas and Os Astronautas “Odisseia“ Valas, Os Astronautas Invited by RTP
O Vampiro Submarino “Ao lado de mim“ PZ

Semi-finals: Each semi-final had ten entries compete, of which five advanced to the final from each show. The results were determined by a 50/50 combination of two votes: one from a jury made up of music professionals and one from a public televoting; each of these assigned 12 points to the highest placed contestant, 10 to the second, 8 to the third, and then 7 to 1 to the remaining (a system also in place at the Eurovision Song Contest itself). The sum of the two rankings determined the qualifying acts, with the jury score taking precedence in the event of a tie in the fifth place. The jury panel that voted in the semi-finals consisted of Dulce Pontes, Dino D’Santiago, Surma, Teresa Salgueiro, Pedro Granger, Miguel Cadete, and Tatanka.

Rita Redshoes, previous Eurovision entrants for Portugal The Blak Mamba and 2022 Spanish representative Chanel performed as guests.

Semi-final 1 – 5 March 2022
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
1 Os Quatro e Meia “Amanhã“ 6 12 18 2
2 TheMisterDriver “Calisun” 1 1 2 10
3 Diana Castro “Ginger Ale” 10 4 14 4
4 FF “Como é bom esperar alguém“ 8 8 16 3
5 Norton “Hope” 2 5 7 7
6 Aurea “Why?” 7 7 14 5
7 Kumpania Algazarra “A minha praia“ 3 2 5 9
8 Maro “Saudade, saudade“ 12 10 22 1
9 Valas and Os Astronautas “Odisseia“ 4 3 7 8
10 Fado Bicha “Povo pequenino“ 5 6 11 6
Semi-final 2 – 7 March 2022
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
1 Os Azeitonas “Solta a voz e canta“ 5 4 9 7
2 Cubita “Uma mensagem tua“ 1 1 2 10
3 Inês Homem de Melo “Fome de viagem“ 7 12 19 2
4 Syro “Ainda nos temos“ 4 10 14 4
5 Pepperoni Passion “Código 30“ 8 5 13 5
6 Milhanas “Corpo de mulher“ 12 8 20 1
7 O Vampiro Submarino “Ao lado de mim“ 2 2 4 9
8 Jonas “Pontas soltas“ 6 7 13 6
9 Blacci “Mar no fim“ 3 3 6 8
10 Pongo and Tristany “Dégrá.dê“ 10 6 16 3

Final: The final took place on 12 March 2022, at RTP’s Studio 1 in Lisbon, and was hosted by Filomena Cautela and Vasco Palmeirim. The ten finalists were judged by means of a televoting and a jury composed of representatives from the seven statistical regions of Portugal (Lisbon, North, Central, Alentejo, Algarve, Madeira and the Azores). Their rankings, drafted and combined using the same system adopted for the semi-finals, determined the Portuguese representative for Eurovision; the televoting score would have taken precedence in the event of a tie in the first place.

Final – 12 March 2022
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points
1 Pongo and Tristany “Dégrá.dê“ 42 7 3 10 6
2 Syro “Ainda nos temos“ 27 3 6 9 9
3 Milhanas “Corpo de mulher“ 52 8 2 10 7
4 Inês Homem de Melo “Fome de viagem“ 24 2 7 9 8
5 Aurea “Why?” 40 6 5 11 5
6 Os Quatro e Meia “Amanhã“ 36 4 10 14 2
7 FF “Como é bom esperar alguém“ 40 6 8 14 3
8 Diana Castro “Ginger Ale” 53 10 4 14 4
9 Maro “Saudade, saudade“ 73 12 12 24 1
10 Pepperoni Passion “Código 30“ 19 1 1 2 10
Detailed regional jury votes hide
Draw Song North Central Lisbon Area Alentejo Algarve Madeira Azores Total
1 “Dégrá.dê“ 8 7 8 4 4 1 10 42
2 “Ainda nos temos“ 2 4 6 3 8 3 1 27
3 “Corpo de mulher“ 5 10 7 8 7 10 5 52
4 “Fome de viagem“ 3 1 4 7 1 4 4 24
5 “Why?” 7 6 2 6 12 5 2 40
6 “Amanhã“ 10 3 5 2 6 7 3 36
7 “Como é bom esperar alguém“ 4 8 1 12 3 6 6 40
8 “Ginger Ale” 6 5 12 10 5 8 7 53
9 “Saudade, saudade“ 12 12 10 5 10 12 12 73
10 “Código 30“ 1 2 3 1 2 2 8 19
Regional jury members:
  • North: Joana Brandão, André Tentugal, and Jorge Romão
  • Central: Gomo, mema., and Jacinta
  • Lisbon Area: Mariana Norton, Joana Alegre, and Miguel Ângelo
  • Alentejo: Duarte, Paulo Ribeiro, and Jéssica Pina
  • Algarve: Diana Silveira, Paulo Silva, and Pete Tha Zouk
  • Madeira: Tiago Sena Silva, Catarina Faria, and Elisa Silva
  • Azores: Eugénia Contente, Herberto Quaresma, and Romeu Bairos

Ratings: 

Viewing figures by show
Show Date Viewing figures Ref.
Nominal Share
Semi-final 1 5 March 2022 548,000 12.7% –
Semi-final 2 7 March 2022 409,000 9.6% –
Final 12 March 2022 638,000 16.0% –

At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (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 25 January 2022, an 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. Portugal has been placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2022, and has been scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

Once all the competing songs for the 2022 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows’ producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Portugal was set to perform in position 10, following the entry from Moldova and before the entry from Croatia.

• Country: 🇷🇴 Romania

• National selection:

  • Selection process: Selecția Națională 2022
  • Selection date(s): Semi-finals: 5-10 February 2022, 12 February 2022 Ι Final: 5 March 2022
  • Host venue: –
  • Presenter(s): –
  • Host broadcaster: TVR
  • Participants – Number of entries: –
  • Selection entrant: WRS
  • Selection song: “Llámame“
  • Selected songwriter(s): Andrei Ursu, Cezar Gună, Alexandru Turcu, Costel Dominteanu

• Final performance: 

  • Semi-final result: 13º SF 2:
  • Final result:

Romania is scheduled to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with “Llámame” performed by WRS. The Romanian broadcaster, Televiziunea Română (TVR), organised the national final Selecția Națională 2022 in order to select the Romanian entry for the 2022 contest. The national final consisted of three shows, including two semi-finals and a final. A total of 46 entries were selected and 10 qualifiers ultimately competed in the final on 5 March 2022, where the winner scoring top marks from both a jury panel and a public televote was selected.

Background: Prior to the 2022 contest, Romania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 21 times since its first entry in 1994. Its highest placing in the contest, to this point, has 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 2020, Romanian Television (TVR) did not fully select its representative by means of the national final format Selecția Națională for the first time ever. They collaborated instead with Global Records to internally select the entrant, Roxen, with only her entry “Alcohol You” being selected through the national final. However, the contest was ultimately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The entrant was internally re-selected to take part in the 2021 contest with the song “Amnesia”, which failed to qualify to the final, placing 12th in the first semi-final. This marked the third consecutive time that the nation failed to qualify to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004. Following the televised debate Eurovision… pe șleau! (“Eurovision… frankly!”) on 5 July 2021 which featured personalities of the national music industry, the broadcaster confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest on 20 October 2021 and would opt for a national final with several artists to select their 2022 entry.

Before Eurovision: 

Selecția Națională 2022. Selecția Națională 2022 is the national final organised by TVR in order to select Romania’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. The competition consists of two shows: a semi-final featuring twenty songs and a final featuring ten songs to be held between 5 February and 5 March 2022. The two shows are being televised on TVR1, TVR HD, TVRi as well as online via the broadcaster’s streaming service TVR+ and YouTube. The two shows are also being broadcast in Moldova via the channel TVR Moldova. An additional three shows, titled Drumul spre Torino (Road to Turin) and hosted by Ilinca who represented Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, were aired on TVR1 between 5 and 7 February 2022 in order to give insight on the competing acts.

Competing entries. TVR opened a submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries between 26 November 2021 and 19 December 2021. The broadcaster received 94 submissions within the submission deadline. A jury panel consisting of Alexandra Ungureanu (singer), Ozana Barabancea (opera singer, actress), Randi (singer, producer), Cristian Faur (composer, producer) and Adrian Romcescu (composer, conductor) reviewed the received submissions on 21 and 22 December 2021, with each juror on the committee rating each song between 1 (lowest) and 10 (highest) based on criteria such as the melodic harmony and structure of the song, the orchestral arrangement, originality and stylistic diversity of the composition and sound and voice quality. After the combination of the jury votes, the top 45 entries that scored the highest, one per artist that entered with more than one song, were selected for the national final. The competing entries were announced on 23 December 2021. Among the selected competing artists are Ciro de Luca, who represented Romania in 2007 as part of Todomondo, and Cezar Ouatu, who previously represented Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013.

On 28 December 2021, TVR announced that “Malere” performed by E-an-na would also participate in the competition following a successful appeal made by the performers. “Best of Me” performed by Alex Parker, Erik Frank and Bastien was withdrawn from the competition on the same day and replaced with Parker and Bastien’s second song “All This Love”. “Hypnotized” performed by Barbara Tešija, was withdrawn from the competition on 5 February 2022.

Artist Song Language Songwriter(s)
Aldo Blaga “Embers” English Ylva Persson, Linda Persson, Rickard Bonde Truumeel, Charlie Mason, John Matthews
Alex Parker and Bastien “All This Love” English Alexandru Ciacoi, Vlad Cireșan, Sebastian Tudor
Alexa “Hoodies and Cold Nights” English Radu Bolfea, Iñaki Calvo Medel, Omar Secada Dihigo, Alexa Niculae
Alina Amon “Without You” English Alina Amon
Ana “Youngster” English Ana Maria Lazăr
Andra Oproiu “Younique” English Ylva Persson, Linda Persson, Paul Dubrovsky, Lee Music
Andrea Stocchino “Avere paura“ Italian Andrea Stocchino, Nicolo Baldini, Emedio Mazzilli
Andrei Petruș “Take Me” English Călin Ionce, Silvia Ștefănescu
Aris “Do svidaniya” (До свидания) English[a] Michael James Down, Will Taylor, Primož Poglajen, Natalie Palmer
Ayona “Let Me Come to You” English Marius Cobianu
Barbara Tešija “Hypnotized” English Barbara Tešija, Marko Tomasović
Bogdan Dumitraș “Sign” English Alex Luft
Carmen Trandafir “Măști“ Romanian Carmen Trandafir, Riona Sakurada
Cezar Ouatu “For Everyone” English Mihai Alexandru, Christian Alexandru
Ciro de Luca “Imperdonabile“ Italian Ciro de Luca, Rareș Varniote
Cream, Minodora and Diana Bucșa “România mea“ Romanian Alina Manolache, Costi Ioniță
Dan Helciug “241” English Dan Helciug
Dora Gaitanovici “Ana” Romanian Dora Gaitanovici
E-an-na “Malere“ Romanian Andrei Oltean, Ovidiu Ban
Eliza G “The Other Half of Me” English, Italian Valerio Carboni, Giuseppe Anastasi, Mike Connaris, Elisa Gaiotto
Eugenia Nicolae feat. Cazanoi Brothers “Doina“ Romanian Eugenia Nițu, Cezar Cazanoi, Anatolie Cazanoi, Liviu Tănăsoiu
Fabi “That Way” English Fabian Ferrara
Forțele de muncă “Hai afară, frate!“ Romanian Florin Dumitrescu
Gabriel Basco “One Night” English Gabriel Bîscoveanu, Roland Kiss, Dominic Dehen Perfetti
Giulia-Georgia “Find Your Way” English Giulia-Georgia Beiliciu
Ivel “Neverending” English Ivelin Trakiyski
Jessie “Regret” Romanian Alexander Sambo, Bianca Dragomir, Bogdan Samoilenco, David Popa, Jessie Baneș, Loredana Căvășdan, Luca Călin, Olga Verbițchi, Tomi Weissbuch
Kyrie Mendél “Hurricane” English Kyrie Mendél
Letiția Moisescu “Mirunica“ Romanian Ovidiu Junghiatu, Niculae Robert Andrei
Leyah “I’ll Be Fine” English Magdalena Marica
Mălina “Prisoner” English Cornel-Valentin Oprea, Mălina-Elena Paraschiv
Miryam “Top of the Rainbow” English Ovidiu Anton
Møise “Guilty” English Shawn Myers, Jonas Gladnikoff
Oana Tăbultoc “Utopia” English Ylva Persson, Linda Persson, Rickard Bonde Truumeel, Roeland Ruijsch
Olivia Miheț “Fragile” English Olivia Miheț, Mihai Costăchescu
Othello “You’re Worthy” English Liviu Elekes, Roxana Elekes
Outflow “Running in Circles” English Florin Ciotlăuș, Lucian Călin Blaga, George Popa, Mircea Georoceanu
Petra “Ireligios“ Romanian Petronela Donciu
Roberta-Maria Popa “Indigo” English Ylva Persson, Linda Persson, Peter Frodin, Lee Music
Romeo Zaharia “Until the Fight Is Over” English Arnar Ástráðsson, Aidan O’Connor
Seeya “Save Me” English Idris Jafarov, Bogdan Ioan Tomosoiu
Sophia “Beautiful Lies” English Alexandru Bugan, Eduard Cârcotă, Sophia Ulianov
Stelian “Remember” English Călin Giurgiu, Stelian Ciuciuc, Niklas Bergqvist, Stefan Knutsson
Vanu “Never Give Up” English Cristian Prăjescu, Ioana Hrișcă, Teodora Constantin, Răzvan Alexa
Vizi “Sparrow” English Vizi Imre
WRS “Llámame“ English[b] Andrei Ursu, Cezar Gună, Alexandru Turcu, Costel Dominteanu
  1. [a]^ Contains a repeated phrase in Russian.
  2. [b]^ Contains two repeated phrases in Spanish, with one of which being the song’s title.

Semi-finals: The semi-finals took place on 5–10 and 12 February 2022. Forty-five songs competed in the first semi-final and twenty qualified to the second semi-final. A jury panel first selected fifteen songs to advance, and a public online vote which took place on the Eurovision Romania Facebook page on 9 and 10 February 2022 then selected an additional five qualifiers from the remaining thirty entries. On 9 February, “That Way” performed by Fabi was withdrawn from the semi-final due to testing positive for COVID-19, while the twenty qualifying entries were announced on 10 February during the TVR evening news broadcast. The second semi-final took place at the TVR studios in Bucharest, hosted by Anca Mazilu and Bogdan Stănescu with Ilinca hosting segments from the green room. Twenty songs competed and the jury panel selected ten songs to qualify to the final. The members of the jury panel that voted during the semi-finals were: Alexandra Ungureanu, Ozana Barabancea, Randi, Cristian Faur and Adrian Romcescu.

Semi-final 1 – 5–10 February 2022
Artist Song Votes Place Result
Aldo Blaga “Embers” 1,423 12 Advanced, Jury qualifier 
Alex Parker and Bastien “All This Love” 453 31  Advanced, Jury qualifier 
Alexa “Hoodies and Cold Nights” 863 20 Eliminated
Alina Amon “Without You” 985 16 Eliminated
Ana “Youngster” 380 35 Eliminated
Andra Oproiu “Younique” 1,860 8 Advanced, Online vote qualifier
Andrea Stocchino “Avere paura“ 502 28 Eliminated
Andrei Petruș “Take Me” 1,650 9  Advanced, Jury qualifier 
Aris “Do svidaniya“ 1,110 14  Advanced, Jury qualifier 
Ayona “Let Me Come to You” 254 38 Eliminated
Bogdan Dumitraș “Sign” 444 32 Eliminated
Carmen Trandafir “Măști“ 588 24 Eliminated
Cezar Ouatu “For Everyone” 598 23  Advanced, Jury qualifier 
Ciro de Luca “Imperdonabile“ 147 42 Eliminated
Cream, Minodora and Diana Bucșa “România mea“ 1,497 10  Advanced, Jury qualifier 
Dan Helciug “241” 1,271 13 Eliminated
Dora Gaitanovici “Ana” 3,218 2  Advanced, Jury qualifier 
E-an-na “Malere“ 10,124 1 Advanced, Online vote qualifier
Eliza G “The Other Half of Me” 566 25  Advanced, Jury qualifier 
Eugenia Nicolae feat. Cazanoi Brothers “Doina“ 1,042 15  Advanced, Jury qualifier 
Fabi[a] “That Way” 4 45 Withdrew
Forțele de muncă “Hai afară, frate!“ 420 33 Eliminated
Gabriel Basco “One Night” 2,140 6  Advanced, Jury qualifier 
Giulia-Georgia “Find Your Way” 457 30 Eliminated
Ivel “Neverending” 25 44 Eliminated
Jessie “Regret” 251 39 Eliminated
Kyrie Mendél “Hurricane” 148 41  Advanced, Jury qualifier 
Letiția Moisescu “Mirunica“ 500 29 Eliminated
Leyah “I’ll Be Fine” 534 27 Eliminated
Mălina “Prisoner” 2,336 5 Advanced, Online vote qualifier
Miryam “Top of the Rainbow” 902 18 Eliminated
Møise “Guilty” 537 26  Advanced, Jury qualifier 
Oana Tăbultoc “Utopia” 2,629 4 Advanced, Online vote qualifier
Olivia Miheț “Fragile” 274 37 Eliminated
Othello “You’re Worthy” 329 36 Eliminated
Outflow “Running in Circles” 1,430 11 Eliminated
Petra “Ireligios“ 251 39  Advanced, Jury qualifier 
Roberta-Maria Popa “Indigo” 896 19 Eliminated
Romeo Zaharia “Until the Fight Is Over” 915 17 Eliminated
Seeya “Save Me” 71 43 Eliminated
Sophia “Beautiful Lies” 410 34 Eliminated
Stelian “Remember” 839 22 Eliminated
Vanu “Never Give Up” 2,084 7  Advanced, Jury qualifier 
Vizi “Sparrow” 2,753 3 Advanced, Online vote qualifier
WRS “Llámame“ 842 21  Advanced, Jury qualifier 
  1. [a] Although Fabi had withdrawn before the voting started, he was still included on the Eurovision Romania Facebook page.
Semi-final 2 – 12 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Result
1 Alex Parker & Bastien “All This Love” Advanced, Jury qualifier 
2 Aldo Blaga “Embers” Eliminated
3 Petra “Ireligios“ Advanced, Jury qualifier 
4 Vizi “Sparrow” Eliminated
5 Vanu “Never Give Up”  Advanced, Jury qualifier 
6 Mălina “Prisoner” Eliminated
7 WRS “Llámame“  Advanced, Jury qualifier 
8 Andrei Petruș “Take Me”  Advanced, Jury qualifier 
9 Møise “Guilty”  Advanced, Jury qualifier 
10 Gabriel Basco “One Night”  Advanced, Jury qualifier 
11 Cream, Minodora and Diana Bucșa “România mea“  Advanced, Jury qualifier 
12 Oana Tăbultoc “Utopia” Eliminated
13 Kyrie Mendél “Hurricane”  Advanced, Jury qualifier 
14 Dora Gaitanovici “Ana”  Advanced, Jury qualifier 
15 Cezar Ouatu “For Everyone” Eliminated
16 Andra Oproiu “Younique” Eliminated
17 E-an-na “Malere“ Eliminated
18 Eugenia Nicolae feat. Cazanoi Brothers “Doina“ Eliminated
19 Eliza G “The Other Half of Me” Eliminated
20 Aris “Do svidaniya“ Eliminated

Final. The  final took place on 5 March 2022 at the TVR studios in Bucharest, hosted by Eda Marcus and Aurelian Temișan with Ilinca hosting segments from the green room. Ten songs competed and the winner, “Llámame” performed by WRS, was determined by the combination of the votes from the jury panel and public televoting. Each member of the jury voted by assigning scores from 1–8, 10 and 12 points to their preferred songs, with the juries awarding 290 points in total. The viewer vote was assigned by dividing the votes received by each song by the number of votes of the song that gained the most viewer votes. This number was then multiplied by 12 and rounded to two decimal places. For example, if song A received the most viewer votes and song B received 10% of song A’s votes, then song A would be awarded 12 televoting points and song B would be awarded 1.2 televoting points. The members of the jury panel that voted during the final were: Alexandra Ungureanu, Ozana Barabancea, Randi, Cristian Faur and Adrian Romcescu. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval acts featured performances by 2016 Eurovision winner Jamala, who performed her winning song “1944”, as well as seven 2022 Eurovision entrants: Intelligent Music Project (Bulgaria), Zdob și Zdub and Frații Advahov (Moldova), Vladana (Montenegro), Andrea (North Macedonia), Ronela Hajati (Albania), We Are Domi (Czech Republic) and Stefan (Estonia).

Final – 5 March 2022
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points
1 Andrei Petruș “Take Me” 11 807 2.59 13.59 9
2 Alex Parker & Bastien “All This Love” 27 429 1.38 28.38 7
3 Gabriel Basco “One Night” 35 1,048 3.37 38.37 4
4 Vanu “Never Give Up” 34 676 2.17 36.17 5
5 Petra “Ireligios“ 34 412 1.32 35.32 6
6 Møise “Guilty” 10 585 1.88 11.88 10
7 Cream, Minodora and Diana Bucșa “România mea“ 13 764 2.45 15.45 8
8 Kyrie Mendél “Hurricane” 46 641 2.06 48.06 2
9 Dora Gaitanovici “Ana” 32 3,737 12 44 3
10 WRS “Llámame“ 48 3,497 11.23 59.23 1
Detailed jury votes
Draw Song A. Ungureanu O. Barabancea Randi C. Faur A. Romcescu Total
1 “Take Me” 1 1 1 3 5 11
2 “All This Love” 5 4 5 6 7 27
3 “One Night” 7 3 6 7 12 35
4 “Never Give Up” 4 6 4 10 10 34
5 “Ireligios“ 6 12 8 5 3 34
6 “Guilty” 3 2 3 1 1 10
7 “România mea“ 2 5 2 2 2 13
8 “Hurricane” 10 10 10 8 8 46
9 “Ana” 8 7 7 4 6 32
10 “Llámame“ 12 8 12 12 4 48

Ratings: 

Viewing figures by show
Show Date Viewing figures Ref.
Nominal Share
Final 5 March 2022 197,000 2.6% –

At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (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 25 January 2022, an 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. Romania has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2022, and has been scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

Once all the competing songs for the 2022 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows’ producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Romania was set to perform in position 13, following the entry from Estonia and before the entry from Poland.

• Country: 🇸🇲San Marino

• National selection:

  • Selection process: Una Voce Per San Marino 2022
  • Selection date(s): Artist: Emergingacts round: 13–17 December 2021, 3–11 January 2022 Ι Emerging acts semi-finals: 13–15 February 2022 Ι Sammarinese artists final: 16 February 2022 Ι Second chance: 17 February 2022 Ι Emerging acts final: 18 February 2022 Ι Final: 19 February 2022
  • Host venue: –
  • Presenter(s): –
  • Host broadcaster: SMRTV
  • Participants – Number of entries: –
  • Selection entrant: Achille Lauro
  • Selection song: “Stripper”
  • Selected songwriter(s): Daniele Dezi, Daniele Mungai, Davide Petrella, Federico De Marinis, Francesco Viscovo, Gregorio Calculli, Lauro De Marinis, Marco Lanciotti, Matteo Ciceroni, Mattia Cutolo, Simon Pietro Manzari

• Final performance: 

  • Semi-final result: 7º SF 2:
  • Final result:

San Marino is scheduled to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with “Stripper” performed by Achille Lauro. The Sammarinese broadcaster, San Marino RTV (SMRTV), organised the new national final Una voce per San Marino (“A voice for San Marino”) to decide their representative.

Background: Prior to the 2022 contest, San Marino has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 11 times since their first entry in 2008. The nation’s debut entry, “Complice” performed by Miodio, failed to qualify for the final and placed last in the semi-final it competed in. San Marino subsequently did not participate in both the 2009 and 2010 contests, citing financial difficulties. In 2014, Valentina Monetta represented San Marino for the third year in a row, and managed to bring the nation to the final for the first time with “Maybe”, placing 24th.

The second time San Marino qualified for the final, and the country’s best result to date, was in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, where Serhat represented San Marino for the second time and finished in 19th place in the final, singing “Say Na Na Na”.[1] After planning to take part in the 2020 contest with Senhit and her song “Freaky!” before it was cancelled, San Marino re-selected Senhit for 2021 with a new song, “Adrenalina“. For the first time ever, the nation qualified for the final two times in a row. In the final, Senhit (accompanied by rapper Flo Rida) achieved 22nd place.

Before Eurovision: 

Una Voce per San Marino: On 5 April 2021, SMRTV confirmed the participation of San Marino in the 2022 contest and the introduction of Una voce per San Marino (“A voice for San Marino”), a new national final format to select the nation’s entry as a part of a 2021–2022 tourism events calendar introduced by the government of San Marino.

In February 2022, following the success of the first edition, the Sammarinese Secretary of State for Tourism, Postal Services, Economic Cooperation and the World Expo Federico Pedini Amati announced that the format had been confirmed for 2023.

Format: On 22 September 2021, SMRTV revealed that the event would be held between December 2021 and February 2022. All competing artists were initially divided into two categories: Emerging and Established. Emerging artists were invited to attend an academy in the Teatro Titano in the City of San Marino from 13 to 17 December 2021 and 3–11 January 2022, acting as preliminary castings. Established artists, also nine in total, were directly invited to the final by Media Evolution SRL. From 13 to 17 February 2022, a series of semi-finals decided the nine Emerging acts that moved on to the Grand Final to join the ten already-selected Established artists, with the top three of the Grand Final also being awarded €1000, €2000 and €7000, respectively. The first four members of the jury for this category, announced on 16 November 2021, are Emilio Munda, Roberta Faccani, Roberto Costa and Steve Lyon. The remaining three jury members for the category were announced on 31 December 2021, and are Maurizio Raimo, Nabuk and Mimmo Paganelli.

Competing entries: SMRTV opened a submission period on 22 September 2021 for emerging artists and composers to submit their entries. On 16 November 2021, the broadcaster announced it had received over 200 applications, particularly from Germany, Russia and Sweden, but also from other European countries, the US, and Australia. It was later confirmed that there had been 585 applications received overall, out of which 299 were selected to take part in the Emerging acts round.

Emerging Acts Round. The Emerging Acts Round will take place between 13–17 December 2021 and 3–11 January 2022. 90 competing artists were announced on 11 December 2021 for the December period. Another 58 were announced in late December 2021 for the January period.

Established artists: On 8 February 2022, SMRTV announced the identity of the ten Established artists that qualified automatically for the final in their category. One day before the final, it was announced that established participant Blind had withdrawn due to health reasons.

Established artists
  • Cristina Ramos
  • Francesco Monte
  • Burak Yeter and Alessandro Coli
  • Valerio Scanu
  • Blind
  • Ivana Spagna
  • Matteo Faustini
  • Tony Cicco, Deshedus and Alberto Fortis
  • Fabry and Labiuse feat. Miodio
  • Achille Lauro

Emerging acts auditions: The Emerging acts auditions took place between 13 and 17 December 2021 and 3–11 January 2022. From December and over the course of two months, a total of 299 participants were announced to be taking part in the auditions, despite only 282 being listed. From the Emerging acts round, it was confirmed that 60 entrants had qualified. They were revealed on 17 January 2022. Highlights from the auditions were broadcast on San Marino RTV over three consecutive Fridays from 14 January to 28 January 2022.

On 10 February 2022 it was announced that Muriel had been disqualified from the competition for unspecified reasons.

Emerging acts auditions – 13 December 2021–11 January 2022
• Day 1 – 13 December 2021
  1. Marvin Schories
  2. Pascale Filomena Pia
  3. Silvia Cialona
  4. DanyWise
  5. Camille Cabaltera
  6. Giovanni and Tinashe
  7. Andrea Rutigliano
  8. Alessandro Stocco
  9. Susanna Reppucci
  10. Pietro Peloso
  11. Juri Mattia
  12. Joe Romano and TheStolenClipper
  13. Christopher Grevener
  14. The Sidèra
  15. Rosario Bottone
  16. Leandro Aponte
  17. Manuel Piccoli
  18. Myky Petillo
  19. Vanja Vatle
  20. Secondo and Rosanna
  21. Vanessa Semprini
  22. Theodor Xir
  23. Alessandra Simone
  24. Luca Cima
  25. Marco D’Annunzio
  26. Nanowar of Steel
• Day 2 – 14 December 2021
  1. Mattia Di Bernardo
  2. Sara Ricci
  3. Florent Amare
  4. Rafel Senzacorona
  5. Fedor Silvestrov
  6. Williams Leslie Yapi
  7. Maria Marchione
  8. Gisele Abramoff
  9. Anna Turrei
  10. Francesca Bernardini
  11. Maria Chiara Leoni
  12. Rafel Senzacorona
  13. Daniela Pisciotta
  14. Marco Murrone
  15. Elisa Del Prete
  16. Annalaura Princiotto
  17. Elettra Benedetto
  18. Waleska Lafitte
  19. Garon × Duan
  20. Massimiliano Tufo
  21. Martina Gaetano
  22. Stefan Varga
  23. Panagiotis Tsakalakos
  24. Yana Gorbunova
• Day 3 – 15 December 2021
  1. Federico Baroni
  2. Gabriele Cavalera
  3. Leonardo Frezzotti
  4. Fabienne Jacquemod
  5. Giada Pintori
  6. Jetem
  7. Leandro Pallozzi
  8. Nico Calvano
  9. Aurora Carrus
  10. Matilde Pieri
  11. Diego Federico
  12. Sara Mascella
  13. Alessia Valentina Nicotra
  14. MST
  15. Libero Reina
  16. Muriel
  17. Juliana Davis
  18. No Longer Player
  19. Jennifer Turri
  20. Chiara Malibrani
  21. Ginevra Bencivenga
• Day 4 – 16 December 2021
  1. Alice Burani
  2. Gloria Galassi
  3. Angela Madonia
  4. Raimondo Cataldo
  5. Noemi Mariani
  6. Marco Saltari
  7. Matilda Bonucci
• Day 5 – 17 December 2021
  1. Alessia Labate
  2. Goji
  3. Alex Ferro
  4. Aaron Sibley
  5. Ottobre Rosso
  6. Jeezus
  7. Rossella Zitiello
  8. Milena Mingotti
  9. Giulia Vitri
  10. Maria Chiara Urbinati
  11. Gloria Vampa
  12. Asia Antonietti
  13. Sophie Adebiyi
• Day 6 – 3 January 2022
  1. Marta Mormone
  2. Daimon D.
  3. Jacob Simpson
  4. Federica Ebiuwa Russo
  5. Lati K
  6. Fulvio Vasarri
  7. Brian Left
  8. João Paulo and Miguel
  9. Francesco Savoi Colombis
  10. Laura Maria Giuliani
  11. Silvia Cecchini
  12. Santi Clarity
  13. Ferdinand Rennie
  14. Giuseppe Di Sette
  15. I Dominguez
  16. Giada Giordano
  17. Giada Miccoli
• Day 7 – 4 January 2022
  1. Davide Rossi
  2. Marco Saltari
  3. Valentina Moro
  4. Boavista
  5. Marco Cazzamani
  6. Joanna Popik
  7. Michele Lattanzio
  8. Lucienne Adamo
  9. Jack Marsina and Sara de Blue
  10. Yayanice
  11. Alibi
  12. Anna Faragò
  13. Noor Amelie Mocchi
  14. Maurizio Di Cesare
  15. Eliška Mrázová
  16. Luigi Benincasa
  17. Silvia Benvenuti
• Day 8 – 5 January 2022
  1. Benedetto Grassotti
  2. Art Demur
  3. Fiammetta Anzevino
  4. Sonia Mazza
  5. Sabrina Morante
  6. Chair
  7. Masha Palazzo
  8. Nicola Gullotta
  9. Martina Guerra
  10. J Nueve
  11. Riccardo Foresi
  12. Veronica Villa
  13. Ashley
  14. Demis Facchinetti
  15. Caterina Calieri
• Day 9 – 6 January 2022
  1. Benedetta Castelli
  2. Matilde Montanari
  3. Giagkos Ion Chlomoudis
  4. Leonardo Savigne Desloy
  5. Arianna Petruzzi
  6. Ellis Teodor
  7. Elena and Francesco Faggi
  8. Matteo Giannaccini Gravante
  9. Anna Ramaglia
  10. Kurt Cassar
  11. Karen Marra and Gionathan
  12. Artemis Matafia
  13. Dirasc’k
  14. Luca Veneri
  15. Francesca Ledonne
  16. Manuel Russo
  17. Blackøut!
• Day 10 – 7 January 2022
  1. Bryan Grauso
  2. Derek Conyer
  3. Marinella Vescovini
  4. Mira D’Anello
  5. Aelita
  6. March. and Kiera Chaplin
  7. Carlo Audino
  8. I Koko
  9. OnlySara
  10. Mate
  11. Brenda
  12. Mad
  13. Chiara Osso
  14. Vian
  15. Rash
  16. Le Bebae
  17. Nuël
  18. Elia Pazzini
  19. Lorenza Rocchiccioli
• Day 11 – 8 January 2022
  1. Federica Orsini
  2. Sebastian Schmidt
  3. Giuseppe Meca
  4. Bucalone
  5. Camilla Pollio
  6. Eleonora Canuti
  7. La Quinta Stagione
  8. Irida Nasic
  9. Giada Varaschin
  10. Nada e Sissi
  11. Giorgia Fumarola
  12. Martina Affidato
  13. Vina Rose
  14. Fertur
  15. Kimberly Genil
  16. Gianmarco Gridelli
  17. Vittorio Giorcelli
  18. RaestaVinvE
  19. Lorenz Simonetti
  20. Snei Ap
• Day 12 – 9 January 2022
  1. Veronica Kirchmajer and Marc Mari
  2. Luci Blu
  3. Cassidy Civet
  4. Corinna Parodi
  5. Susanna Reppucci
  6. Luca Segantini
  7. Marco Gray
  8. Dang
  9. Federico Angelucci
  10. Kamira
  11. Sonia Mosca
  12. Ilenia Parolisi
  13. Fabrizio Cervellini
  14. Katrin Roselli
  15. Veronica Liberati
  16. Luca Orlando Cozzolino
  17. Francesco Tartarini
  18. Marco Scuderi
  19. Jessica Anne Condon
  20. Allerija
  21. IroniKe
  22. Frio
  23. Giorgia Barletta
  24. Operapop
  25. Frammenti
• Day 13 – 10 January 2022
  1. Charles Onyeabor
  2. Davide Puglisi
  3. Tothem
  4. Giovanni Capozio
  5. Nicole Riso
  6. Theo Gammino
  7. Andrea Baldini
  8. Angelo Monti
  9. Roberto Maria Forte
  10. Juno O
  11. Elisa Mazza
  12. Andrea Amati
  13. Elia Bondi
  14. Jeremi Sikorski
  15. Riccardo Guglielmi
  16. Tales of Sound
  17. Kumi Watanabe
  18. Simone Stragapede
  19. Underoots
  20. Martina Spaziani
  21. Stefano Villani
  22. Matteo Materassi
  23. Smoma
  24. Daniel Mincone
  25. Valentina Livi
  26. Marcin Szczurski
• Day 14 – 11 January 2022
  1. Hayley Tanzer
  2. Riccardo Sarti
  3. Libero Reina
  4. Anita Guarino
  5. Alessandro Iannone
  6. Valentina Tioli
  7. Simone Pastrello
  8. Guglielmo Lai
  9. Andrea Donzelli
  10. Maddalena Cicorella
  11. Santi Briguglio
  12. Letizia Ciarrocchi
  13. Simone Romano
  14. Freeda Hanami
  15. Giorgio Borghes aka Claudia F
  16. Giuseppe (UBI) Grasso
  17. Mariacristina Gionfriddo
  18. Andrea Guidi
  19. Oxa Sia
  20. Leo Cuba
  21. Alma Schneider
  22. Fabrizio Sanna
  23. Francesco Preci
  24. Maria Papanaga
  25. Stefania Moramarco
  26. Christiana Vatista
  27. Nudha
  28. Silvia Pirani
  29. Enrichetta Tandoi
  30. Ironsides
  31. Ellynora
  32. Mavit
  33. 2ies and Reskp
  34. Thomas Grazioso

Semi-finals: On 17 January 2022, the sixty international semi-finalists were announced by SMRTV, along with six Sammarinese artists. The sixty international artists competed across three semi-finals from 13 February to 15 February 2022. Three acts qualified from each semi-final, along with a further three Sammarinese artists on 16 February 2022. A second-chance round on 17 February 2022 allowed a further four of the previously eliminated international artists to qualify. A final for the emerging artists was held on 18 February 2022, where 9 of the 16 qualified acts proceeded to the grand final.

Semi-final 1 – 13 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Result
1 Aaron Sibley “Pressure” Finalist
2 Alessandra Simone “A rabbia e favole“ Eliminated
3 Alessia Labate “World Falls Down” Second chance
4 Alice Burani “Mezzanotte e ventidue“ Eliminated
5 Anna Faragò “Randagia“ Second chance
6 Ashley “In My Mind” Eliminated
7 Brenda “Occhi di uranio“ Eliminated
8 Camille Cabaltera “Move ‘Em Like You Never Did” Finalist
9 Daniel Mincone “In This World” Eliminated
10 Isa J “Tic Tac“ Second chance
11 Davide Rossi “Wasted Love” Eliminated
12 Elena & Francesco Faggi “Nothing Can Blow Me Out” Finalist
13 Elisa Del Prete “Labirinto senza fine“ Eliminated
14 Ellynora “Cuerpo“ Eliminated
15 Florent Amare “Libre“ Eliminated
16 Frio “A noite toda“ Second chance
17 Elis Mraz “Imma Be” Second chance
— Allerija[a] — Eliminated
Corinna Parodi[a] — Eliminated
Diego Federico[a] — Eliminated
  1. a b c Was absent from the show.
Semi-final 2 – 14 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Result
1 Giada Varaschin “W.A.T. (What a Tragedy)” Second chance
2 Giorgio Borghes aka Claudia F “Time is Ticking” Eliminated
3 Gisele Abramoff “Higher Than Before” Second chance
4 I Koko “Born to the River” Eliminated
5 Jessica Anne Condon “Water on the Ground” Eliminated
6 João Paulo and Miguel “Amore, infinito amore“ Eliminated
7 Joe Romano and TheStolenClipper “Hallelujah” Eliminated
8 Artika “If You Love Me” Finalist
9 Kimberly Genil “Pink Skies” Eliminated
10 Kumi “Freedom” Second chance
11 Kurt Cassar “Tears of Gold” Finalist
12 Le Bebae “Fuori di te“ Eliminated
13 Fritz “Blessing” Eliminated
14 Lorenza Rocchiccioli “Non mi batte mai neanche il cuore“ Finalist
15 Arkadia “Feed the Flies” Eliminated
16 Luca Veneri “Dreams and Beliefs” Eliminated
17 Luci Blu “Bla Bla” Eliminated
18 Mad “Gitana“ Second chance
19 Marco Saltari “Settembre (e poi ciao)“ Eliminated
20 MeriCler “Tiramisù“ Second chance
Semi-final 3 – 15 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Result
1 Martina Gaetano “Coffee” Second chance
2 Mate “DNA” Finalist
3 Matilde Montanari “Diventerà realtà“ Eliminated
4 Matteo Giannaccini Gravante “Read My Mind” Eliminated
5 Nada & Sissi “Malware” Second chance
6 OnlySara “Rubik” Eliminated
7 Operapop “Acqua nel deserto“ Eliminated
8 Oxa Sia “Purple Sky” Eliminated
9 Raymond “Feelin’ Broken” Finalist
10 Riccardo Foresi “Fino al mattino“ Eliminated
11 Herré “Petali“ Eliminated
12 Basti “Running” Second chance
13 Thomas Grazioso “Dance” Eliminated
14 Snei Ap “Viaggio“ Second chance
15 Tothem “Celebrate” Eliminated
16 Valentina Tioli “Never Looking Back” Eliminated
17 Vanja V “Hymn of Hope” Second chance
18 Veronica Liberati “Once More a Little Smile” Eliminated
19 Vina Rose “Sweet Denial” Finalist
— Muriel[a] — Eliminated
  1. [a] Disqualified

Sammarinese artists final: The final for the competing entrants from San Marino took place on 16 February 2022.

Sammarinese artists final – 16 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Result
1 Alibi “Cambiamento“ Eliminated
2 Elisa Mazza “Gonna Do Me” Eliminated
3 Garon × Duan “Power” Finalist
4 Giada Pintori “Luce e tenebre“ Finalist
5 Ginevra Bencivenga “Calma apparente“ Eliminated
6 Giulia Vitri “Father and Son” Finalist

Second chance: The second chance round took place on 17 February 2022 and featured the fifteen acts that finished in 4th to 8th place in the first three semi-finals. Five of the fifteen acts qualified for the Emerging acts final.

Second chance round – 17 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Result
1 Alessia Labate “World Falls Down” Finalist
2 Anna Faragò “Randagia“ Eliminated
3 Daniela Pisciotta “Tic Tac“ Eliminated
4 Elis Mraz “Imma Be” Eliminated
5 Frio “A noite toda“ Finalist
6 Giada Varaschin “W.A.T. (What a Tragedy)” Eliminated
7 Gisele Abramoff “Higher Than Before” Eliminated
8 Kumi “Freedom” Finalist
9 Mad “Gitana“ Eliminated
10 MeriCler “Tiramisù“ Finalist
11 Martina Gaetano “Coffee” Eliminated
12 Nada & Sissi “Malware” Eliminated
13 Basti “Running” Finalist
14 Snei Ap “Viaggio“ Eliminated
15 Vanja V “Hymn of Hope” Eliminated

Emerging acts final: The Emerging acts final took place on 18 February 2022 and featured the seventeen qualifying acts from the previous four shows. Nine of the seventeen acts qualified for a place in the final.

Emerging acts final – 18 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Points Place
1 Aaron Sibley “Pressure” 46 1
2 Alessia Labate “World Falls Down” 42 5
3 Camille Cabaltera “Move ‘Em Like You Never Did” 44 2
4 Elena & Francesco Faggi “Nothing Can Blow Me Out” 40 8
5 Frio “A noite toda“ 33 16
6 Garon × Duan “Power” 38 12
7 Giada Pintori “Luce e tenebre“ 34 15
8 Giulia Vitri “Father and Son” 29 17
9 Artika “If You Love Me” 40 10
10 Kumi “Freedom” 36 13
11 Kurt Cassar “Tears of Gold” 41 7
12 Lorenza Rocchiccioli “Non mi batte mai neanche il cuore“ 36 14
13 MeriCler “Tiramisù“ 42 6
14 Mate “DNA” 40 9
15 Raymond “Feelin’ Broken” 39 11
16 Basti “Running” 44 3
17 Vina Rose “Sweet Denial” 43 4

Final: The Grand Final took place on 19 February 2022 at the Teatro Nuovo in Dogana, and was hosted by Senhit and Jonathan Kashanian. A total of 18 artists participated, nine from the Emerging section and nine from the Big section. A jury decided the top three, with the winner going on to represent the country at Eurovision 2022. The jury consisted of: Mogol (songwriter; jury president), Simon Lee (conductor, composer and arranger), Clarissa Martinelli (radio presenter), Susanne Georgi (2009 Andorran representative) and Dino Stewart (managing director at BMG Italy).

Italian singer Al Bano (who represented his country at Eurovision in 1976 and 1985), Senhit (representative of San Marino in 2011 and 2021) and Valentina Monetta (representative of San Marino in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2017) performed as guests during the final.

Final – 19 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Points Place
1 Elena & Francesco Faggi “Nothing Can Blow Me Out” 31 11
2 Matteo Faustini “L’ultima parola“ 35 5
3 Aaron Sibley “Pressure” 39 3
4 Ivana Spagna “Seriously in Love” 37 4
5 Vina Rose “Sweet Denial” 34 7
6 Cristina Ramos “Heartless Game” 31 11
7 Alessia Labate “World Falls Down” 27 17
8 Achille Lauro “Stripper” 41 1
9 Mate “DNA” 27 17
10 Tony Cicco, Deshedus & Alberto Fortis “Sono un uomo“ 33 9
11 Basti “Running” 31 11
12 Francesco Monte “Mi ricordo di te (Adrenalina)“ 35 5
13 Kurt Cassar “Tears of Gold” 30 16
14 Valerio Scanu “Io credo“ 31 11
15 MeriCler “Tiramisù“ 33 9
16 Burak Yeter ft. Alessandro Coli “More Than You” 40 2
17 Camille Cabaltera “Move ‘Em Like You Never Did” 34 7
18 Fabry & Labiuse ft. Miodio “Blu“ 31 11

At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (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 25 January 2022, an 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. San Marino has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2022, and has been scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.

Once all the competing songs for the 2022 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows’ producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. San Marino was set to perform in position 7, following the entry from Malta and before the entry from Australia.

• Country: 🇷🇸 Serbia

• National selection:

  • Selection process: Pesma za Evroviziju ’22
  • Selection date(s): Semi-finals: 3 March 2022, 4 March 2022 Ι Final: 5 March 2022
  • Host venue: –
  • Presenter(s): –
  • Host broadcaster: RTS
  • Participants – Number of entries: –
  • Selection entrant: Konstrakta
  • Selection song: “In corpore sano“
  • Selected songwriter(s): Ana Đurić, Milovan Bošković

• Final performance: 

  • Semi-final result: 1º SF 2:
  • Final result:

Serbia will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with “In corpore sano” performed by Konstrakta. The Serbian national broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) organised the national final Pesma za Evroviziju ’22 in order to select the Serbian entry for the 2022 contest. It will be the first entry in the Eurovision Song Contest to contain a verse in Latin. 

Background: Prior to the 2022 contest, Serbia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirteen times since its first entry in 2007, winning the contest with their debut entry “Molitva” performed by Marija Šerifović. Since 2007, ten out of thirteen of Serbia’s entries have featured in the final with the nation failing to qualify in 2009, 2013 and 2017. Serbia’s 2021 entry, “Loco Loco” performed by Hurricane, qualified to the final and placed fifteenth.

The Serbian national broadcaster, Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), broadcasts the event within Serbia and organises the selection process for the nation’s entry. Between 2007 and 2009, Serbia used the Beovizija national final in order to select their entry. However, after their 2009 entry, “Cipela” performed by Marko Kon and Milaan, failed to qualify Serbia to the final, the broadcaster shifted their selection strategy to selecting specific composers to create songs for artists. In 2010, RTS selected Goran Bregović to compose songs for a national final featuring three artists, while in 2011 Kornelije Kovač, Aleksandra Kovač and Kristina Kovač were tasked with composing one song each. In 2012, the internal selection of Željko Joksimović and the song “Nije ljubav stvar” secured the country’s second highest placing in the contest to this point, placing third. In 2013, RTS returned to an open national final format and organized the Beosong competition. The winning entry, “Ljubav je svuda” performed by Moje 3, failed to qualify Serbia to the final. In 2015, RTS selected Vladimir Graić, the composer of Serbia’s 2007 winning entry “Molitva“, to compose songs for a national final featuring three artists. RTS internally selected the Serbian entries in 2016 and 2017 with the decision made by RTS music editors. In 2018 and 2019, RTS returned to using the Beovizija national final in order to select their entry, managing to qualify every year to the final. After the cancellation of the 2020 contest, RTS selected Beovizija 2020 winners Hurricane to represent Serbia in 2021. Their song “Loco Loco” was also internally selected and qualified the country to the final.

Before Eurovision: 

Pesma za Evroviziju ’22: Pesma za Evroviziju ’22 is the national final organised by RTS in order to select the Serbian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. The selection consisted of two semi-finals held on 3 and 4 March 2022, respectively, and a final on 5 March 2022. All shows were hosted by Dragana Kosjerina and Jovan Radomir with backstage interviews conducted by Kristina Radenković and Stefan Popović. The three shows were broadcast on RTS1 and RTS Planeta as well as streamed online via the broadcaster’s website rts.rs.

Competing entries: Artists and songwriters were able to submit their entries between 28 September 2021 and 1 December 2021. Artists were required to be Serbian citizens and submit entries in one of the official languages of the Republic of Serbia, while songwriters of any nationality were allowed to submit songs. At the closing of the deadline, 150 submissions were received. A selection committee consisting of RTS music editors reviewed the submissions and selected thirty-six entries to proceed to the national final. The selected competing entries were announced on 14 January 2022 and among the competing artists is Sara Jo, who represented Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 as part of the group Moje 3.

On 19 January 2022, Stefan Zdravković (Princ od Vranje) announced his withdrawal from the national final due to conflicts with the songwriter of his song “Ljubi svog čoveka“. The song was instead performed by Tijana Dapčević, who represented Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, under an altered version titled “Ljubi, ljubi doveka“. On 14 February 2022, RTS announced that Goca Tržan had withdrawn from the national final due to health problems and replaced with the song “Devojko sa plamenom u očima” performed by Chegi and Braća Bluz Band.

Artist Song Songwriter(s)
Aca Lukas “Oskar” (Оскар) Saša Nikolić, Mira Mijatović
Ana Stanić “Ljubav bez dodira” (Љубав без додира) Vojislav Dragović, Ana Stanić
Angellina “Origami” (Оригами) Ognjen Jovanov [sr], Marko Kon, Anđela “Angellina” Vujović
Bane Lalić and MVP “Tu gde je ljubav ne postoji mrak” (Ту где је љубав не постоји мрак) Bane Lalić
Biber “Dve godine i šes’ dana” (Две године и шес’ дана) Rastko Aksentijević, Momčilo Bajagić Bajaga
Bojana Mašković “Dama” (Дама) Dušan Krsmanović, Alen Duš
Boris Subotić “Vrati mi” (Врати ми) Boris Subotić
Chegi & Braća Bluz Band “Devojko sa plamenom u očima” (Девојко са пламеном у очима) Željko Čeganjac, Stefan Čeganjac, Dušan Čeganjac
Dušan Svilar “Samo ne reci da voliš” (Само не реци да волиш) Rastko Aksentijević, Momčilo Bajagić Bajaga
Euterpa “Nedostaješ” (Недостајеш) Boris Krstajić, Vladimir Danilović
Gift “Haos” (Хаос) Gift, Jovan Matić
Goca Tržan “Fitilj” (Фитиљ) Dušan Bačić
Gramophonedzie[a] “Počinjem da ludim” (Почињем да лудим) Marko Milićević, Milana Popović
Igor Simić “To nisam ja” (То нисам ја) Darko Dimitrov, Vladimir Danilović
Ivana Vladović and Jovana Stanimirović “Prijaće ti” (Пријаће ти) Ivan Ilić, Nikola Bulatović
Ivona “Znam” (Знам) Ivona Pantelić
Jelena Pajić “Pogledi” (Погледи) Marijo Pajić, Đorđe Miljenović
Julija “Brzina” (Брзина) Nenad Ćeranić
Julijana Vincan “Istina i laži” (Истина и лажи) Linda Persson, Ylva Persson, Vildana Husibegović
Konstrakta “In corpore sano“ Ana Đurić, Milovan Bošković
Lift “Drama” (Драма) Milan “SevdahBABY” Stanković, Lift
Marija Mikić “Ljubav me inspiriše” (Љубав ме инспирише) Vuxa, Miladin Bogosavljević
Marija Mirković “Požuri, požuri” (Пожури, пожури) Marija Mirković, Alka Vuica
Marko Nikolić “Dođi da te volim” (Дођи да те волим) Marko Nikolić, Nada Bučević
Mia “Blanko” (Бланко) Aleksandra Milutinović
Naiva “Skidam” (Скидам) Zoran Babović Babonja, Jelena Živanović
Orkestar Aleksandra Sofronijevića “Anđele moj” (Анђеле мој) Aleksandar Sofronijević, Nikola Labović, Mirna Košanin
Rocher Etno Band “Hajde sad nek’ svak’ peva” (Хајде сад нек’ свак’ пева) Miodrag Klisarić
Sanja Bogosavljević “Priđi mi” (Приђи ми) Ilija Antović
Sara Jo “Muškarčina” (Мушкарчина) Slobodan Veljković, Bojana Vunturišević
Srđan Lazić “Tražim te” (Тражим те) Srđan Lazić
Tijana Dapčević “Ljubi, ljubi doveka” (Љуби, љуби довека) Leontina Vukomanović
Vasco “Znaš li” (Знаш ли) Vasilije Čolan Vasco, Ivan Franović, Marko Kon, Anđela “Angellina” Vujović
VIS Limunada “Pesma ljubavi” (Песма љубави) Miodrag Ninić
Zejna Murkić “Nema te” (Нема те) Vlado Maraš, Sanja Perić
Zoe Kida “Bejbi” (Бејби) Ana Radonjić
Zorja “Zorja” (Зорја) Zorja Pajić, Lazar Pajić

[a] Vocals were provided by Maat Bandy.

Semi-finals: The semi-finals took place at the Studio 9 of RTS in Košutnjak, Belgrade on 3 and 4 March 2022. In each semi-final eighteen songs competed and the nine qualifiers for the final were decided by a combination of votes from a jury panel consisting of Željko Vasić (singer), Tijana Milošević (violinist), Vojislav Aralica (producer), Tijana Bogićević (represented Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017) and Biljana Krstić (singer), and the Serbian public via SMS voting. In addition to the competing entries, former Eurovision contestants Hurricane (who represented Serbia in 2020 and 2021) were featured as the guest performers in the first semi-final while former Eurovision contestants Daniel Popović (who represented Yugoslavia in 1983), Bojana Stamenov (who represented Serbia in 2015), Danica Krstić and Mladen Lukić (who represented Serbia in 2018 as part of Balkanika), and singers Đorđe David and Ivana Peters were featured as guest performers in the second semi-final.

Semi-final 1 – 3 March 2022
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points Votes Points
1 Sanja Bogosavljević “Priđi mi“ 9 1 499 0 1 13
2 VIS Limunada “Pesma ljubavi“ 0 0 823 0 0 14
3 Zorja “Zorja“ 46 10 5,518 12 22 1
4 Bojana Mašković “Dama“ 3 0 338 0 0 14
5 Boris Subotić “Vrati mi“ 0 0 1,976 5 5 10
6 Ivona “Znam“ 19 4 1,072 2 6 9
7 Bane Lalić and MVP “Tu gde je ljubav ne postoji mrak“ 5 0 901 0 0 14
8 Angellina “Origami” 21 5 1,693 3 8 7
9 Ana Stanić “Ljubav bez dodira“ 32 7 650 0 7 8
10 Julija “Brzina“ 0 0 584 0 0 14
11 Aca Lukas “Oskar“ 28 6 2,936 6 12 3
12 Konstrakta “In corpore sano“ 60 12 4,750 8 20 2
13 Igor Simić “To nisam ja“ 0 0 1,056 1 1 12
14 Mia “Blanko“ 8 0 388 0 0 14
15 Jelena Pajić “Pogledi“ 9 2 610 0 2 11
16 Biber “Dve godine i šes’ dana“ 40 8 1,953 4 12 4
17 Marija Mikić “Ljubav me inspiriše“ 10 3 4,412 7 10 6
18 Lift “Drama“ 0 0 5,020 10 10 5
Detailed jury votes hide
Draw Song Ž. Vasić T. Milošević V. Aralica T. Bogićević B. Krstić Total
1 “Priđi mi“ 1 2 3 1 2 9
2 “Pesma ljubavi“ 0
3 “Zorja“ 6 10 10 10 10 46
4 “Dama“ 3 3
5 “Vrati mi“ 0
6 “Znam“ 5 3 7 4 19
7 “Tu gde je ljubav ne postoji mrak“ 3 2 5
8 “Origami” 4 4 7 6 21
9 “Ljubav bez dodira“ 8 6 6 5 7 32
10 “Brzina“ 0
11 “Oskar“ 7 7 5 4 5 28
12 “In corpore sano“ 12 12 12 12 12 60
13 “To nisam ja“ 0
14 “Blanko“ 8 8
15 “Pogledi“ 2 5 2 9
16 “Dve godine i šes’ dana“ 10 8 8 6 8 40
17 “Ljubav me inspiriše“ 4 1 1 3 1 10
18 “Drama“ 0
Semi-final 2 – 4 March 2022
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points Votes Points
1 Srđan Lazić “Tražim te“ 12 3 444 0 3 12
2 Julijana Vincan “Istina i laži“ 2 0 1,904 3 3 11
3 Marko Nikolić “Dođi da te volim“ 7 0 661 0 0 17
4 Zoe Kida “Bejbi“ 29 6 2,018 5 11 3
5 Orkestar Aleksandra Sofronijevića “Anđele moj“ 12 4 1,995 4 8 6
6 Chegi & Braća Bluz Band “Devojko sa plamenom u očima“ 0 0 3,727 10 10 4
7 Euterpa “Nedostaješ“ 3 0 1,265 1 1 15
8 Dušan Svilar “Samo ne reci da voliš“ 26 5 1,252 0 5 10
9 Ivana Vladović and Jovana Stanimirović “Prijaće ti“ 9 1 551 0 1 16
10 Gift “Haos“ 54 12 2,178 6 18 2
11 Zejna Murkić “Nema te“ 36 8 595 0 8 7
12 Sara Jo “Muškarčina“ 54 10 5,615 12 22 1
13 Marija Mirković “Požuri, požuri“ 11 2 1,148 0 2 14
14 Rocher Etno Band “Hajde sad nek’ svak’ peva“ 0 0 1,771 2 2 13
15 Vasco “Znaš li“ 0 0 899 0 0 17
16 Tijana Dapčević “Ljubi, ljubi doveka“ 35 7 940 0 7 9
17 Gramophonedzie “Počinjem da ludim“ 0 0 2,482 8 8 5
18 Naiva “Skidam“ 0 0 2,338 7 7 8
Detailed jury votes hide
Draw Song Ž. Vasić T. Milošević V. Aralica T. Bogićević B. Krstić Total
1 “Tražim te“ 1 3 4 4 12
2 “Istina i laži“ 2 2
3 “Dođi da te volim“ 2 2 3 7
4 “Bejbi“ 4 8 7 5 5 29
5 “Anđele moj“ 5 1 4 2 12
6 “Devojko sa plamenom u očima“ 0
7 “Nedostaješ“ 3 3
8 “Samo ne reci da voliš“ 7 4 2 6 7 26
9 “Prijaće ti“ 5 1 3 9
10 “Haos“ 10 12 12 8 12 54
11 “Nema te“ 6 7 8 7 8 36
12 “Muškarčina“ 12 10 10 12 10 54
13 “Požuri, požuri“ 3 6 1 1 11
14 “Hajde sad nek’ svak’ peva“ 0
15 “Znaš li“ 0
16 “Ljubi, ljubi doveka“ 8 6 5 10 6 35
17 “Počinjem da ludim“ 0
18 “Skidam“ 0

Final: The final took place at the Studio 9 of RTS in Košutnjak, Belgrade on 5 March 2022 and featured the eighteen qualifiers from the preceding two semi-finals. The winner, “In corpore sano” performed by Konstrakta, was decided by a combination of votes from a jury panel consisting of Dragoljub Ilić (composer), Slobodan Marković (composer), Una Senić (music journalist), Vladimir Nikolov (composer) and Neda Ukraden (singer), and the Serbian public via SMS voting.[21] Former Eurovision contestants Jelena Tomašević (who represented Serbia in 2008), Sergej Ćetković (who represented Montenegro in 2014), Knez (who represented Montenegro in 2015), Tijana Bogićević (who represented Serbia in 2017), and singers Lena Kovačević, Kiki Lesendrić, Alen Islamović and Boris Režak were featured as guest performers during the show.

Final – 5 March 2022
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points Votes Points
1 Naiva “Skidam“ 14 0 3,204 0 0 15
2 Orkestar Aleksandra Sofronijevića “Anđele moj“ 2 0 2,829 0 0 15
3 Gift “Haos“ 11 0 3,208 1 1 13
4 Zejna Murkić “Nema te“ 15 1 846 0 1 14
5 Tijana Dapčević “Ljubi, ljubi doveka“ 17 4 1,228 0 4 11
6 Lift “Drama“ 1 0 6,947 6 6 7
7 Gramophonedzie “Počinjem da ludim“ 10 0 2,444 0 0 15
8 Zorja “Zorja“ 31 8 16,875 8 16 3
9 Aca Lukas “Oskar“ 6 0 11,018 7 7 5
10 Zoe Kida “Bejbi“ 20 5 4,030 2 7 6
11 Sara Jo “Muškarčina“ 46 10 21,253 10 20 2
12 Ana Stanić “Ljubav bez dodira“ 20 6 1,098 0 6 9
13 Biber “Dve godine i šes’ dana“ 1 0 3,130 0 0 15
14 Angellina “Origami“ 20 7 5,273 3 10 4
15 Chegi & Braća Bluz Band “Devojko sa plamenom u očima“ 0 0 6,145 5 5 10
16 Ivona “Znam“ 15 3 2,169 0 3 12
17 Marija Mikić “Ljubav me inspiriše“ 15 2 5,683 4 6 8
18 Konstrakta “In corpore sano“ 46 12 44,459 12 24 1
Detailed jury votes hide
Draw Song D. Ilić S. Marković U. Senić V. Nikolov N. Ukraden Total
1 “Skidam“ 3 4 2 4 1 14
2 “Anđele moj“ 2 2
3 “Haos“ 6 5 11
4 “Nema te“ 4 2 2 7 15
5 “Ljubi, ljubi doveka“ 2 8 3 4 17
6 “Drama“ 1 1
7 “Počinjem da ludim“ 10 10
8 “Zorja“ 10 3 6 12 31
9 “Oskar“ 6 6
10 “Bejbi“ 5 7 5 3 20
11 “Muškarčina“ 8 12 8 8 10 46
12 “Ljubav bez dodira“ 6 7 4 3 20
13 “Dve godine i šes’ dana“ 1 1
14 “Origami“ 6 5 1 8 20
15 “Devojko sa plamenom u očima“ 0
16 “Znam“ 5 10 15
17 “Ljubav me inspiriše“ 7 1 7 15
18 “In corpore sano“ 12 10 12 12 46

Ratings: 

Viewing figures by show
Show Air date Viewers
(in millions)		 Ref.
Semi-final 1 3 March 2022 1.4 –
Semi-final 2 4 March 2022 1.6 –
Final 5 March 2022 1.5 –

Controversies:

Vote rigging allegations: After the final, singer Aca Lukas, who placed 5th in the final with the song “Oskar“, accused the Serbian public broadcaster RTS of irregularities in the voting of the selection, stating he would file a criminal complaint against the head of the Radio Television of Serbia, editor of entertainment program Olivera Kovačević and general director Dragan Bujošević for “stealing votes”. RTS responded, stating that the SMS votes were counted automatically by software which did not allow interference. The Comtrade System Integration company, which set up the software to count the votes, said it was prepared to hand the votes to the authorities if requested to do so, adding that the same data is available from mobile phone operators. He also made comments about the winning performer Konstrakta, saying: “I could have gone on stage and washed my feet, but I chose instead to perform”, also claiming she is working for opposition political parties. Konstrakta, laughing off his suggestion, jokingly offered “to wash his feet for him.”After the controversy, RTS and Kovačević announced they would sue Lukas.

At Eurovision: Acccording to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (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 25 January 2022, an 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 has been placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2022, and has been scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.

Once all the competing songs for the 2022 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows’ producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Slovenia was set to perform in position 5, following the entry from Switzerland and before the entry from Ukraine.

• Country:🇸🇮 Slovenia

• National selection:

  • Selection process: EMA FREŠ / EMA (Evrovizijska Melodija) 2022
  • Selection date(s): EMA Freš: Duels: 29 November 2021 – 18 December 2021, Second chance: 20–24 December 2021, Final selection shows: 28 January 2022 Ι EMA 2022: Semi-finals: 5 February 2022, 12 February 2022 Final: 19 February 2022
  • Host venue: –
  • Presenter(s): –
  • Host broadcaster: RTV Slo
  • Participants – Number of entries: –
  • Selection entrant: LPS
  • Selection song: “Disko“
  • Selected songwriter(s): Filip Vidušin, Žiga Žvižej, Gašper Hlupič, Mark Semeja, Zala Velenšek, Jakob Korošec

• Final performance: 

  • Semi-final result: 5º SF 1:
  • Final result:

Slovenia plans to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with “Disko” written by Filip Vidušin, Žiga Žvižej, Gašper Hlupič, Mark Semeja, Zala Velenšek and Jakob Korošec and performed by LPS. The Slovene entry for the 2022 contest was selected via a two-stage national final organised Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTVSLO). The first stage EMA Freš began on 29 November 2021 with the purpose of selecting four newcomer artists to advance to the second stage EMA 2022. The national final featured twenty entries competing across two semi-finals on 5 and 12 February 2022, and the final on 19 February 2022, where a combination of jury and public voting decided the Slovenian representative in Turin among twelve entries.

Background: Prior to the 2022 contest, Slovenia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-seven 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 2021, Slovenia was represented by Ana Soklič with the song “Amen”, which failed to qualify for the final, finishing in 13th place in the first semi-final with 44 points.

The Slovenian national broadcaster, Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV Slovenija), broadcasts the event within Slovenia and organises the selection process for the nation’s entry. RTV Slovenija confirmed Slovenia’s participation in the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest on 15 September 2021. 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 the national final twice; in 2013 and in 2021 when the Slovenian entry was internally selected.

Before Eurovision: 

EMA FREŠ 2022: EMA FREŠ returned as the first phase for Slovenia’s selection for the Eurovision Song Contest for the second time after its first appearance in 2020, with a revamped format from the first edition. Newcomer artists who were not more than 30 years old and had released a maximum of three songs were eligible to apply for EMA Freš via a submission period opened by RTVSLO on 8 October 2021. A total of 24 artists were selected to take part in the selection, which commenced on 29 November 2021. After a series of nights, each showcasing a duel, 14 entries advanced to take part in the televised final on 28 January 2022. The remaining fourteen entries competed for four places in EMA 2022, two selected by public voting and two selected by a jury.

Format. Twenty-four songs competed in a series of duels starting in November 2021 for four weeks. After the duels, the fourteen winning songs competed in a televised live final selection show, which took place on 28 January 2022. The selection show saw the remaining fourteen songs compete for four places in the emerging category of EMA 2022.

After the four duels held each week (on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday), a weekly final was held on each Saturday where three out of the four weekly winners advanced: one selected via a public online vote and the other two by a committee composed of Joker Out singer Bojan Cvjetićanin, singer Eva Boto, who represented Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, and rapper Arne Međedović. Non-qualifiers were given a second chance on the following week (20 to 24 December), when one more act was chosen among three every day, for a total of fourteen finalists.

On 28 December 2021, Radiotelevizija Slovenija revealed that over 48,000 votes were cast during the online voting rounds of EMA Freš between 29 November and 24 December. The full results were revealed after EMA 2022 on 20 February 2022.

The 14 remaining entries were then originally meant to compete in two final selection shows, in which two entries would qualify from each show. However, on 12 January 2022, it was revealed by RTVSLO that all 14 entries would compete in one show on 28 January 2022 due to programming issues and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Slovenia at the time. The final saw four songs qualify for EMA 2022, with two songs chosen by the public and two by the jury. 

Competing entries. Artists and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between 8 October 2021 and 22 November 2021. All artists were required to be under the age of 30 and have three commercially released songs or fewer. Two days after the closing of the submission window, RTVSLO announced a total of 127 applications had been received for both competitions. The competing artists for EMA Freš were announced on 26 November 2021, along with which songs would compete in each duel. Among the competing composers was Josip-Cole Moretti, who represented Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1993 as member of the 1X Band, and Raay, who represented Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 as member of Maraaya.

Artist Song Songwriter(s)
Ain’t Harmony “Hočem da“ Anja Ruperčič, Katarina Pangeršič, Nika Svetlin, Nina Pintar, Špela Ivančič
Anja Vodošek “Maniac” Raay, Anej Piletič
De Liri “Obstajam“ Zala Kores, Julija Veleski, Žan Serčič
Ella “A sem dovolj?“ Špela Škofič, Josip-Cole Moretti, Miklavž Ašič, Jože Andrejaš, Dare Kaurič, Janez Rupnik, Aleš Berkopec, Primož Velikonja, Damjan Berkopec, Mitja Šedlbauer, Nejc Viher
Emma “Moja sreča“ Neisha, Dejan Radičević
Evita “Črno-bela“ Eva Šolinc, Marino Legovič, Damjana Kenda-Hussu, Simon Gomilšek, Diana Lečnik, Leon Oblak
Hvala Brothers “Gremo naprej“ Miha Hvala, Nejc Hvala, Rok Hvala
Ina “Moj dopamin“ Matic Mlakar, Jure Skaza, Ina Olup
Jaka Hliš “Svoje sreče krojač“ Jaka Hliš, Alex Volasko
Jon Vitezič “Jesus Style” Jon Vitezič, Peter Dekleva
Katja Korošec “Levo in desno“ Katja Korošec, Nino Oslak
Katja Kos “Deadly Flower” Katja Kos, Mario Babojelić
Lara Dovier “Ko sva se prvič spoznala“ Andrej Bezjak, Marko Duplišak, Lara Dovier, Jure Grudnik, Miha Oblišar, Jean Markič, Marko Golubović, Samuel Waermö, Uroš Obranovič
LaraYul “Moja lekcija“ Lara Šket
Leya Leanne “Naked” Leya Leanne, Shawn Myers, Jonas Gladnikoff
LPS “Disko“ Filip Vidušin, Žiga Žvižej, Gašper Hlupič, Mark Semeja, Zala Velenšek, Jakob Korošec
Luma “All In” Lucija Harum, Martin Vogrin, Vid Turica
Marijan and Špela “I Am So in Love” Marijan Novak
Mia Vučković “Telenovela“ Aleksandar Ignjatić, Senad Smajlović, Luka Radojlović
Mitja Dragan “Iščem“ Boro Dolc, Darjo Peklar, Mitja Dragan, Fadila Prijatelj
Neli Jerot “Magnum opus“ Neli Jerot, Nino Ošlak, Igor Pirkovič, Drago Mislej, Danilo Kocjančič, Franco Zabukovec, Domen Kumer, Petra Pečovnik
Nika S. “Počakaj me“ Martin Lunder, Nace Jordan
Nina Sodnik “Will You Be Enough” Nina Sodnik, Zvone Hranjec , Tea Vindiš, Matej Sušnik, Blaž Sotošek
Stela Sofia “Tu in zdaj“ Stela Tavzelj, Žan Serčič 

Contestant progress: EMA Freš 2022 began with the first week of duels on 29 November 2021 and concluded with a live final on 28 January 2022.

Advanced to EMA 2022 – Contestant was in the top four of the final and advanced to EMA 2022 as one of the four winners of EMA Freš
Eliminated
(EMA Freš 2022 final) –		 Contestant advanced from respective duel/weekly final/second chance round to the next stage
 Eliminated (second chance) – Contestant finished in last place from respective duel/weekly final and was given a second chance round in week four
Contestant Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Second chance Final
Duels Weekly Final Duels Weekly Final Duels Weekly Final
LPS Advanced Advanced N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Advanced to EMA 2022
Luma N/A N/A Advanced Advanced N/A N/A N/A
Stela Sofia Advanced Advanced N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Leya Leanne N/A N/A N/A N/A Advanced Advanced N/A
De Liri N/A N/A N/A N/A Advanced Advanced N/A Eliminated
(EMA Freš 2022 final)
Katja Kos Second chance N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Advanced
Anja Vodošek Second chance N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Advanced
Emma N/A N/A N/A N/A Advanced Second chance Advanced
Ina N/A N/A Advanced Advanced N/A N/A N/A
Jon Vitezič Advanced Advanced N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Jaka Hliš N/A N/A Advanced Advanced N/A N/A N/A
Nika S. Advanced Second chance N/A N/A N/A N/A Advanced
Mia Vučković N/A N/A N/A N/A Second chance N/A Advanced
Marijan and Špela N/A N/A N/A N/A Advanced Advanced N/A
LaraYul N/A N/A Second chance N/A N/A N/A Eliminated (second chance)
Hvala Brothers N/A N/A N/A N/A Second chance N/A
Lara Dovier N/A N/A Advanced Second chance N/A N/A
Ain’t Harmony N/A N/A Second chance N/A N/A N/A
Katja Korošec N/A N/A N/A N/A Second chance N/A
Evita N/A N/A Second chance N/A N/A N/A
Mitja Dragan N/A N/A Second chance N/A N/A N/A
Ella Second chance N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Nina Sodnik N/A N/A N/A N/A Second chance N/A
Neli Jerot Second chance N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

Duels: The first duel rounds took place between 29 November and 18 December 2021. All of the twenty-four competing entries were divided into three separate weeks. Each week featured four daily duels from Monday to Thursday with one qualifier from each duel progressing to the weekly final. The runners-up of each duel were given a second chance round after all of the other duels had taken place. The results were determined via an international online vote on RTVSLO’s website from 8:00 (CET) to 19:00 (CET) on the day of each duel. Each week rounded up with an online webcast final that featured the four duel winners of the week. Three of the artists advanced to the final selection show, while the last place finisher advanced to the second chance round. The results of the weekly final were determined via a combination of both jury voting and internet voting. The jury panel that voted in the weekly finals consisted of the show presenters Bojan Cvjetićanin, Eva Boto and Arne Međedović.

Daily Duels – Week 1
Duel Date Artist Song Votes Result Ref.
I 29 November 2021 Katja Kos “Deadly Flower” 1,142 Second Chance –
Nika S. “Počakaj me“ 1,316 Advanced, Jury qualifier/duel winner
II 30 November 2021 Anja Vodošek “Maniac” 1,161 Second Chance –
Stela Sofia “Tu in zdaj“ 1,974 Advanced, Jury qualifier/duel winner
III 1 December 2021 LPS “Disko“ 3,139 Advanced, Jury qualifier/duel winner –
Neli Jerot “Magnum opus“ 419 Second Chance
IV 2 December 2021 Ella “A sem dovolj?“ 799 Second Chance –
Jon Vitezič “Jesus Style” 1,536 Advanced, Jury qualifier/duel winner
Weekly Final 1 – 4 December 2021
Artist Song Jury Internet Result
Votes Rank
Nika S. “Počakaj me“ 4 877 4 Second Chance
Stela Sofia “Tu in zdaj“ 3 1,295 2 Finalist
LPS “Disko“ 1 2,455 1 Finalist, Public vote qualifier
Jon Vitezič “Jesus Style” 2 977 3 Finalist
Daily Duels – Week 2
Duel Date Artist Song Votes Result Ref.
I 6 December 2021 Ina “Moj dopamin“ 1,174 Advanced, Jury qualifier/duel winner –
LaraYul “Moja lekcija“ 718 Second chance
II 7 December 2021 Ain’t Harmony “Hočem da“ 1,229 Second Chance –
Jaka Hliš “Svoje sreče krojač“ 1,295 Advanced, Jury qualifier/duel winner
III 8 December 2021 Luma “All In” 1,159 Advanced, Jury qualifier/duel winner –
Mitja Dragan “Iščem“ 662 Second chance
IV 9 December 2021 Evita “Črno-bela“ 539 Second chance –
Lara Dovier “Ko sva se prvič spoznala“ 1,061 Advanced, Jury qualifier/duel winner
Weekly Final 2 – 11 December 2021
Artist Song Jury Internet Result
Votes Rank
Ina “Moj dopamin“ 2 660 4 Finalist
Jaka Hliš “Svoje sreče krojač“ 4 706 2 Finalist
Luma “All In” 1 1,026 1 Finalist, Public vote qualifier
Lara Dovier “Ko sva se prvič spoznala“ 3 680 3 Second Chance
Daily Duels – Week 3
Duel Date Artist Song Votes Result Ref.
I 13 December 2021 Hvala Brothers “Gremo naprej“ 1,310 Second Chance –
Leya Leanne “Naked” 1,848 Advanced, Jury qualifier/duel winner
II 14 December 2021 De Liri “Obstajam“ 1,137 Advanced, Jury qualifier/duel winner –
Katja Korošec “Levo in desno“ 780 Second Chance
III 15 December 2021 Emma “Moja sreča“ 1,100 Advanced, Jury qualifier/duel winner –
Nina Sodnik “Will You Be Enough” 735 Second Chance
IV 16 December 2021 Marijan and Špela “I Am So in Love” 1,290 Advanced, Jury qualifier/duel winner –
Mia Vučković “Telenovela“ 741 Second Chance
Weekly Final 3 – 18 December 2021
Artist Song Jury Internet Result
Votes Rank
Leya Leanne “Naked” 1 1,237 1 Finalist
De Liri “Obstajam“ 2 643 3 Finalist
Emma “Moja sreča“ 3 622 4 Second Chance
Marijan and Špela “I Am So in Love” 4 733 2 Finalist, Public vote qualifier

Second chance: The remaining fifteen artists were given a second chance round between 20 and 24 December 2021. All fifteen performers were divided into five rounds, of which one from each would qualify for the final selection show. Similarly to the initial duel rounds, the results were determined by an international online vote held on RTVSLO’s website.

Round Date Artist Song Votes Result Ref.
I 20 December 2021 Katja Korošec “Levo in desno“ 374 Eliminated –
Katja Kos “Deadly Flower” 535 Finalist, Advanced to final of EMA Freš
Neli Jerot “Magnum opus“ 118 Eliminated
II 21 December 2021 Emma “Moja sreča“ 1,879 Finalist, Advanced to final of EMA Freš –
LaraYul “Moja lekcija“ 1,099 Eliminated
Mitja Dragan “Iščem“ 355 Eliminated
III 22 December 2021 Ain’t Harmony “Hočem da“ 524 Eliminated –
Anja Vodošek “Maniac” 632 Finalist, Advanced to final of EMA Freš
Nina Sodnik “Will You Be Enough” 321 Eliminated
IV 23 December 2021 Hvala Brothers “Gremo naprej“ 713 Eliminated –
Mia Vučković “Telenovela” 913 Finalist, Advanced to final of EMA Freš
Lara Dovier “Ko sva se prvič spoznala” 712 Eliminated
V 24 December 2021 Ella “A sem dovolj?“ 340 Eliminated –
Evita “Črno-bela“ 371 Eliminated
Nika S. “Počakaj me“ 705 Finalist, Advanced to final of EMA Freš

Final: The final of EMA Freš took place on 28 January 2022 at Radiotelevizija Slovenija‘s Studio 1 in Ljubljana, and featured the fourteen remaining artists. The show saw four artists advance to EMA 2022, with two qualifiers determined by an expert jury panel, consisting of Maja Keuc, Maša Kljun and Matjaž Vlašič, and two by a public vote. The qualified entrants were Stela Sofia, Leya Leanne, LPS and LUMA. The show was hosted by TV presenter Melani Mekicar, singer Eva Boto, who represented Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, and rapper Arne Međedović. The exact running order for the show was revealed on 13 January 2022. Having only sung a small snippet of their songs live in the duel stage, between 14 January 2022 and 18 January 2022, RTVSLO released official studio cuts of the remaining fourteen entries via their social media platforms. In addition to the competing entries, co-presenters Arne Međedović performed his new single “Loverboy” and Eva Boto performed her new single “Misliš na njo“.

Final – 28 January 2022
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Result
Votes Rank
1 Mia Vučković “Telenovela“ 13 177 13 Eliminated
2 De Liri “Obstajam“ 4 173 14 Eliminated
3 Jon Vitezič “Jesus Style” 10 624 5 Eliminated
4 Ina “Moj dopamin“ 9 324 10 Eliminated
5 Marijan and Špela “I Am So In Love” 14 357 9 Eliminated
6 Stela Sofia “Tu in zdaj“ 8 1,204 2 Advanced, Public vote qualifier
7 Leya Leanne “Naked” 3 2,066 1 Advanced, Public vote qualifier
8 Nika S. “Počakaj me“ 12 235 12 Eliminated
9 Katja Kos “Deadly Flower” 5 276 11 Eliminated
10 Jaka Hliš “Svoje sreče krojač“ 11 543 7 Eliminated
11 Anja Vodošek “Maniac” 6 394 8 Eliminated
12 Emma “Moja sreča“ 7 595 6 Eliminated
13 LPS “Disko“ 2 876 4 Advanced, Jury qualifier
14 Luma “All In” 1 984 3 Advanced, Jury qualifier

EMA 2022: EMA 2022 was the twenty-fourth edition of Slovenia’s annual national final for the Eurovision Song Contest EMA. After RTVSLO internally selected Slovenia’s entrant in 2021, the broadcaster confirmed the return of the selection process on 8 October 2022. The event consisted of two semi-finals, which were held on 5 and 12 February 2022, and a grand final on 19 February 2022 at the Gospodarsko razstavišče in Ljubljana. The venue previously hosted the EMA final in 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2017. All shows were hosted by Melani Mekicar and Bojan Cvjetićanin, with Nejc Šmit reporting live from the green room in the final. The competition was broadcast on TV SLO 1, Radio Val 202, Radio Koper, Radio Maribor and online via the broadcaster’s RTV 4D platform.

Prior to the final on 19 February 2022, RTVSLO also broadcast a video analysis of all performances in a podcast hosted by Jaka Dolinšek, Eva Beus and Marko Crnković.

A live after-party and analysis of the results was also broadcast on TV SLO 2 with green room host Nejc Šmit following the final.

Format: Upon announcing the return of EMA for 2022, RTVSLO revealed that, for the first time since 2017, the event would be held over three evenings. Twenty artists participated in two live semi-finals, with four newcomer acts chosen via EMA Freš and sixteen established acts chosen via a submission period opened by Radiotelevizija Slovenija in October 2021. In each semi-final, eight established artists and two newcomer (EMA Freš) artists competed to advance to the final. Public voting selected three finalists and a jury selected another three. In the final, five five-member juries (50%) and public voting (50%) decided which of the 12 finalists would represent Slovenia in Turin.

Competing entries: RTVSLO opened a submission period between 8 October 2021 and 22 November 2021 for artists and composers to submit their entries. All applicants were required to be at least sixteen years old on 1 February 2022, and the main performer (or at least half of the main performers in multi-performance ensembles) of the submitted composition must have permanent or temporary residence in the Republic of Slovenia. Two days after the closing of the submission window, RTVSLO announced a total of 127 applications had been received for both competitions. An expert jury panel consisting of Maja Keuc, Matjaž Vlašič, Žiga Pirnat, Maša Kljun and Žiga Klančar selected sixteen established acts to progress to EMA 2022. The first sixteen established competing acts were revealed on 19 December 2021, with the final newcomer four acts selected via EMA Freš on 28 January 2022. Among the competing acts were BQL, who participated in both EMA 2017 and EMA 2018 and finished as runners-up respectively, and Slovene-British performer July Jones, who wrote “Kaos” for Raiven which finished second in EMA 2019. Among the competing songwriters were Maraaya, who won EMA 2015 and represented Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. Raay also wrote the EMA 2014 winning song and Slovenian Eurovision entry “Round and Round” for Tinkara Kovač and wrote the Slovenian Junior Eurovision entries in both 2014 and 2015.

Established artists
Artist Song Songwriter(s)
Anabel “Tendency” Ana Teržan
Batista Cadillac “Mim pravil“ Urban Lutman, Matija Koritnik, Martin Štibernik, Tadej Košir, Benjamin Krnetič
Bowrain and Brina “Čas je“ Tine Grgurevič, Gregor Kosi
BQL “Maj“ Anej Piletič, Raay, Marjetka Vovk
David Amaro “Še vedno si lepa“ Goran Šarac, Rok Lunaček
Eva Moškon  “Kliki“ Nermin Puškar, Srečko Meolic
Gušti  feat. Leyre “Nova romantika“ Miha Guštin 
Hauptman “Sledim“ Žan Hauptman, Vid Turica
Jonatan Haller “Obzorje“ Jonatan Haller, Satja Medvešek, Jernej Drnovšek, Miha Rednak
July Jones “Girls Can Do Anything” July Jones, Toby Scott
Klara Jazbec “Vse kar imam“ Ani Cordero, Ed Fisher, Klara Jazbec
Le Serpentine  “Tud teb se lahk zgodi“ Žiga Jokić
Manouche “Si sama?“ Robert Pikl
Mia Guček “Independiente“ Mia Guček, Octavian Rasinariu, Patrick Jamnik
Vedran Ljubenko “H2O dieta“ Vedran Ljubenko, Jakov Zadro
Zala Smolnikar “V ogledalu“ Zala Smolnikar
Newcomer artists
Artist Song Songwriter(s)
Leya Leanne “Naked” Leya Leanne, Shawn Myers, Jonas Gladnikoff
LPS “Disko“ Filip Vidušin, Žiga Žvižej, Gašper Hlupič, Mark Semeja, Zala Velenšek, Jakob Korošec
Luma “All In” Lucija Harum, Martin Vogrin, Vid Turica
Stela Sofia “Tu in zdaj“ Stela Tavzelj, Žan Serčič 

Semi-finals: The two semi-finals took place on 5 and 12 February 2022 at 20:20 (CET) and were broadcast on TV SLO 1. Each show featured ten performances, eight established artists and two newcomer artists, with six qualifying to the EMA 2022 final based on votes from a jury vote and public vote. The running order for the semi-finals was revealed on 19 January 2022, with 30 second snippets of all of the established competing performances revealed by RTVSLO from 20 to 21 January 2022. The songs were also promoted with further interviews and snippets on Radio Val 202 on 2 and 3 February 2022. Both semi-finals were opened with a Eurovision medley performance from co-host Bojan Cvjetićanin with “Uvodna točka EME 2022“.

Final: The final took place on 19 February 2022 at 20:20 (CET) and was broadcast on TV SLO 1, Radio Val 202, Radio Koper, Radio Maribor and via a live satellite broadcast on the broadcaster’s website www.rtvslo.si. The show featured the twelve acts that qualified from the semi-finals. The combination of points from five thematical juries and a public vote selected LPS with “Disko” to represent Slovenia in Turin. The juries consisted of members from OGAE Slovenia, songwriters, radio and television personalities and music performers. The running order for the final was revealed on 14 February 2022. In addition to the competing entries, co-host Bojan Cvjetićanin and 2011 Slovenian entrant Amaya performed a cover of the winning entry of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 for Italy “Zitti e buoni“.

Final – 19 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points
1 Anabel “Tendency” 10 545 0 10 11
2 Stela Sofia “Tu in zdaj“ 8 962 15 23 10
3 Manouche “Si sama?“ 28 1,412 25 53 6
4 Leya Leanne “Naked” 8 1,018 20 28 9
5 BQL “Maj“ 19 2,441 50 69 3
6 Gušti feat. Leyre “Nova romantika“ 28 946 10 38 7
7 July Jones “Girls Can Do Anything” 32 1,655 30 62 5
8 David Amaro “Še vedno si lepa“ 2 447 0 2 12
9 LPS “Disko“ 43 3,151 60 103 1
10 Hauptman “Sledim“ 29 833 5 34 8
11 Luma “All In” 33 1,770 35 68 4
12 Batista Cadillac “Mim pravil“ 50 2,132 40 90 2
Detailed thematic jury votes
Draw Song OGAE Songwriters Radio Television Musicians Total
1 “Tendency” 4 2 0 3 1 10
2 “Tu in zdaj“ 7 0 1 0 0 8
3 “Si sama?“ 2 7 7 4 8 28
4 “Naked” 0 1 2 0 5 8
5 “Maj“ 5 3 3 2 6 19
6 “Nova romantika“ 3 6 10 5 4 28
7 “Girls Can Do Anything” 10 5 4 6 7 32
8 “Še vedno si lepa“ 1 0 0 1 0 2
9 “Disko“ 8 10 5 10 10 43
10 “Sledim“ 0 8 12 7 2 29
11 “All In” 12 4 6 8 3 33
12 “Mim pravil“ 6 12 8 12 12 50
Members of the Jury 
OGAE Slovenia Songwriters Radio Television Musicians
  • Eva Mavrič
  • Maja Tilinger
  • Erik Sedevčič
  • Boštjan Smrekar
  • Miran Cvetko
  • Matjaž Vlašič 
  • Miha Gorše
  • Gregor Strasbergar
  • Matevž Šalehar
  • Gašper Šantl
  • Anita Gošte (Radio Aktual)
  • Anja Ramšak (Radio 1)
  • Blaž Maljevac (Radio Koper)
  • Gregor Stermecki (Radio Maribor)
  • Žiga Klančar (Val 202)
  • Anja Möderndorfer
  • Dajana Makovec
  • Tina Novak
  • Den Baruca
  • Lorella Flego
  • Tinkara Kovač
  • Lea Sirk
  • Raiven
  • Eva Boto
  • Eva Hren

Ratings: 

Viewing figures by show
Show Date Viewing figures Ref.
Nominal Share
EMA Freš final 28 January 2022 153,500 17% –
Semi-final 1 5 February 2022 148,600 16% –
Semi-final 2 12 February 2022 126,100 15% –
Final 19 February 2022 234,800 27% –

At Eurovision: The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 is scheduled to take place at the PalaOlimpico in Turin, Italy, and will consist of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 10 and 12 May and the grand final on 14 May 2022. According to the Eurovision rules, all participating countries, except the host nation and the “Big Five”, consisting of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals to compete for the final, although the top 10 countries from the respective semi-final progress to the grand final.

• Country: 🇸🇪 Svezia

• National selection:

  • Selection process: Meodifestivalen 2022
  • Selection date(s): Semi-finals: 5 February 2022 – Malmö Arena, Malmö; 12 February 2022 – Scandinavium, Göteborg; 19 February 2022 – Saab Arena, Linköping; 26 February 2022 – Sparbanken Arena (Sparbanken Lidköping Arena), Lidköping; 5 March 2022 – Hägglunds Arena, Örnsköldsvik I Final: 12 March 2022 – Friends Arena, Solna
  • Host venue:All shows: Oscar Zia; Offstage co-host: Farah Abadi; Guest co-hosts:
  • Presenter(s): –
  • Host broadcaster: SVT
  • Participants – Number of entries: 28
  • Voting system: Semi-finals: 100% public vote; Final: 50% public vote, 50% jury vote
  • Selection entrant: Cornelia Jakobs
  • Selection song:“Hold Me Closer”
  • Selected songwriter(s): Isa Molin, David Zandén, Cornelia Jakobsdotter

• Final performance: 

  • Semi-final result: 1º SF 2:
  • Final result:

Sweden is set to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with “Hold Me Closer” performed by Cornelia Jakobs. The Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) organised Melodifestivalen 2022 in order to select its entry for the contest.

Background: Prior to the 2022 contest, Sweden has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixty 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 contest, Sweden’s entries, to this point, have featured in every final, except for 2010. This includes its 2021 entry, “Voices”, performed by Tusse, which ended 14th with 109 points in the final.

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:

The 2022 edition of Melodifestivalen featured four heats, a semi-finals show (replacing the previously-held Second Chance round) and a final, and saw 28 acts compete. It was held between 5 February and 12 March 2022 in Stockholm, with the first three heats held at the Avicii Arena, and the remaining heat, the semi-final and the final at the Friends Arena.

Heats:

  • The first heat took place on 5 February 2022. “Hold Me Closer” performed by Cornelia Jakobs and “Innocent Love” performed by Robin Bengtsson qualified directly to the final, while “Hallabaloo” performed by Danne Stråhed and “Som du vill” performed by Theoz advanced to the semi-final. “Moving Like That” performed by Omar Rudberg, “Let There Be Angels” performed by Shirley Clamp, and “Bananas” performed by Malou Prytz were eliminated from the contest.
  • The second heat took place on 12 February 2022. “Bluffin” performed by Liamoo and “Änglavakt” performed by John Lundvik qualified directly to the final, while “Suave” performed by Alvaro Estrella and “My Way” performed by Tone Sekelius advanced to the semi-final. “I Want to Be Loved” performed by Samira Manners, “Face in the Crowd” performed by Browsing Collection, and “Tror du att jag bryr mig” performed by Niello & Lisa Ajax were eliminated from the contest.
  • The third heat took place on 19 February 2022. “Bigger Than the Universe” performed by Anders Bagge and “Freedom” performed by Faith Kakembo qualified directly to the final, while “Best to Come” performed by Lisa Miskovsky and “I Can’t Get Enough” performed by Cazzi Opeia advanced to the semi-final. “Fyrfaldigt hurra!” performed by Linda Bengtzing, “Lyckligt slut” performed by Lancelot, and “Shut Me Up” performed by Tribe Friday were eliminated from the contest.
  • The fourth heat took place on 26 February 2022. “Run to the Hills” performed by Klara Hammarström and “In i dimman” performed by Medina qualified directly to the final, while “Higher Power” performed by Anna Bergendahl and “Till Our Days Are Over” performed by Lillasyster advanced to the semi-final. “The End” performed by Angelino, “La stella” performed by Tenori, and “Synd om dig” performed by Malin Christin were eliminated from the contest.
  • The semi-finals took place as part of one show on 5 March 2021. From the first semi-final, “Higher Power” performed by Anna Bergendahl, and “My Way” performed by Tone Sekelius qualified to the final, while “Suave” performed by Alvaro Estrella, and “Hallabaloo” performed by Danne Stråhed were eliminated from the contest. From the second semi-final, “Som du vill” performed by Theoz, and “I Can’t Get Enough” performed by Cazzi Opeia qualified to the final, while “Till Our Days Are Over” performed by Lillasyster, and “Best to Come” performed by Lisa Miskovsky were eliminated from the contest.

Final: The final took place on 12 March 2022.

Draw Artist Song Juries Televote Total Place
1 Klara Hammarström “Run to the Hills” 27 56 83 6
2 Theoz “Som du vill“ 39 26 65 7
3 Anna Bergendahl “Higher Power” 11 18 29 12
4 John Lundvik “Änglavakt“ 43 17 60 8
5 Tone Sekelius “My Way” 31 53 84 5
6 Anders Bagge “Bigger than the Universe” 31 90 121 2
7 Robin Bengtsson “Innocent Love” 29 5 34 11
8 Faith Kakembo “Freedom” 33 18 51 10
9 Liamoo “Bluffin” 65 26 91 4
10 Cornelia Jakobs “Hold Me Closer” 76 70 146 1
11 Cazzi Opeia “I Can’t Get Enough” 26 29 55 9
12 Medina “In i dimman“ 53 56 109 3

Melodifestivalen 2022: Melodifestivalen 2022 was the 62nd edition of the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen, which was organised by Sveriges Television (SVT) and took place over a six-week period between 5 February and 12 March 2022. The winner of the competition was Cornelia Jakobs with the song “Hold Me Closer”, who will represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, to be held in Turin, Italy in May 2022. All shows were hosted by Oscar Zia.

Format: The event was planned to return to its traditional tour around six cities of the country (namely Malmö, Gothenburg, Linköping, Lidköping, Örnsköldsvik and Stockholm) with venues available for spectators, after the previous edition was entirely held in one place and without an audience due to the COVID-19 pandemic.However, due to tightening restrictions in light of the spread of the Omicron variant, SVT announced on 14 January 2022 that all shows would instead be held in Stockholm. On 4 February, SVT announced that the first three heats would be held in the Avicii Arena, while the remaining one heat, the semi-finals and the final would be held in the Friends Arena. 

As usual, a total of 28 entries took part in the competition, 12 of which made it to the final. For this edition, the wildcard spot given to one of the artists in the P4 Nästa competition organised by Sveriges Radio P4 was not used.

Proceeds from the voting in the fourth heat, semi-finals and final were donated to aid relief efforts in the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Competition schedule
Show Date City Venue
Semi-final 1 (Deltävling) 5 February 2022 Malmö Malmö Arena
Semi-final 2 (Deltävling) 12 February 2022 Gothenburg Scandinavium
Semi-final 3 (Deltävling) 19 February 2022 Linköping Saab Arena
Semi-final 4 (Deltävling) 26 February 2022 Lidköping Sparbanken Arena
Semi-final 5 (Deltävling) 5 March 2022 Örnsköldsvik Hägglunds Arena
Final 12 March 2022 Stockholm Friends Arena

Format changes: New changes to the format were announced on 26 January 2022.

Heats: Two rounds of voting take place. The song with the most amount of votes in the first round directly qualifies for the final, while in the second round, the remaining six songs are decided on largely as it was prior – the top-placed song qualify for the final, while the songs that placed second and third go to the semi-finals, using a system of age groups that has been in place since 2019. Each age group’s vote carries a score of 12, 10, 8, 5, 3 and 1. For the first time, the full breakdown of the results, including points given out by each age group, is shown on screen. In contrast to previous editions, the two finalists do not reprise their songs at the end of the broadcast.

Semi-finals: The semi-finals show was introduced to replace the previously-held Second Chance round. In a draw held on 1 March 2022, the third- and fourth-placed songs from each of the previous four heats (eight songs in total) are placed into two semi-finals. No differences are made on whether the entries placed third or fourth in their respective heats. The top two songs from each semi-final proceed to the final, using the age group system. Each age group’s vote carries a score of 12, 10, 8, 5, 3 and 1. For the semi-finals, no full results breakdown is shown on screen.

Final: After the international jury groups have cast their votes, all viewers are provided with new votes, in order to continue to influence the results even after the international jury has had its say. The public voting results are determined using the age group system. Each age group’s vote carries a score of 12, 10, 8–1.

Presenters: On 7 September 2021, Oscar Zia was revealed to return as the main presenter for the show in 2022, after hosting the second heat of Melodifestivalen 2021. Radio and television host Farah Abadi served as the artists’ interviewer along the course of the competition and co-hosted the final. Guest co-hosts included Eva Rydberg (heat 2) and Johanna Nordström (heat 3). For the final, a commentary in English was provided by Olivia Le Poidevin and Bella Qvist on a separate stream on SVT Play.

Competing entries: On 27 August 2021, SVT opened a public submission window (with the deadline on 17 September 2021) to select one half of the contestants, the other half being made up of artists specially invited by the broadcaster. Upon closing the submission period, SVT announced that over 2,500 applications had been received, to be reviewed by a professional jury chaired by producer Karin Gunnarson.

The first half of contestants were officially announced by SVT on 26 November 2021, while the second half was revealed on the following 1 December. Several participants have previously competed at Melodifestivalen: Cornelia Jakobsdotter Samuelsson (daughter of The Poodles’ singer Jakob Samuel; 2011 and 2012, as part of Love Generation), Alvaro Estrella (2014, 2020 and 2021), Robin Bengtsson (2016, 2020, and winner in 2017), Lisa Ajax (2016, 2017, and 2019), Omar Rudberg (2017, as part of FO&O, and solo in 2019), Liamoo (2018 and 2019), John Lundvik (2018 and winner in 2019), Malou Prytz (2019 and 2020), Anna Bergendahl (2019, 2020, and winner in 2010), Faith Kakembo (2020), Klara Hammarström (2020 and 2021), band Lillasyster (2021), Sami Rekik, member of Medina (2021, with WAHL), Danne Stråhed (1992, as part of Wizex) and veterans Linda Bengtzing (2005, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2016 and 2020) and Shirley Clamp (2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2011 and 2014).

Artist Song Songwriter(s)
Alvaro Estrella “Suave“ Linnea Deb, Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Joy Deb, Alvaro Estrella
Anders Bagge “Bigger Than the Universe” Anders Bagge, Jimmy Jansson, Peter Boström, Thomas G:son
Angelino “The End” Angelino Markenhorn, Julie Aagaard, Melanie Wehbe, Thomas Stengaard
Anna Bergendahl “Higher Power” Anna Bergendahl, Thomas G:son, Bobby Ljunggren, Erik Bernholm
Browsing Collection “Face in the Crowd” Carolina Karlsson, Mimi Brander, Moa Lenngren, Nora Lenngren, Sandra Bjurman, Jimmy Wahlsteen
Cazzi Opeia “I Can’t Get Enough” Bishat Araya, Jakob Redtzer, Cazzi Opeia, Paul Rey
Cornelia Jakobs “Hold Me Closer” Isa Molin, David Zandén, Cornelia Jakobsdotter
Danne Stråhed “Hallabaloo” Danne Stråhed, Fredrik Andersson, Erik Stenhammar
Faith Kakembo “Freedom” Laurell Barker, Anderz Wrethov, Palle Hammarlund, Faith Kakembo
John Lundvik “Änglavakt“ Anderz Wrethov, Elin Wrethov, Benjamin Rosenbohm, Fredrik Sonefors, John Lundvik
Klara Hammarström “Run to the Hills” Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Julie Aagaard, Anderz Wrethov, Klara Hammarström
Lancelot “Lyckligt slut“ Lance Hedman, Niklas Carson Mattsson
Liamoo “Bluffin” Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Sami Rekik, Dino Medanhodzic, Ali Jammali
Lillasyster “Till Our Days Are Over” Jimmy Jansson, Palle Hammarlund, Ian-Paolo Lira, Martin Westerstrand
Linda Bengtzing “Fyrfaldigt hurra!“ Thomas G:son, Linda Bengtzing, Myra Granberg, Daniel Jelldéus
Lisa Miskovsky “Best to Come” Lisa Miskovsky, David Lindgren Zacharias
Malin Christin “Synd om dig“ Jonathan Lavotha, Oliver Heinänen, Malin Christin
Malou Prytz “Bananas” Alice Gernandt, Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb
Medina “In i dimman“ Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Sami Rekik, Dino Medanhodzic, Ali Jammali
Niello & Lisa Ajax “Tror du att jag bryr mig“ Yvonne Dahlbom, Niklas Grahn Linroth, Jesper Welander
Omar Rudberg “Moving Like That” Omar Rudberg, Gustav Blomberg, Amanda Kongshaug, Kristin Marie
Robin Bengtsson “Innocent Love” David Lindgren Zacharias, Victor Sjöström, Victor Crone, Viktor Broberg, Sebastian Atas
Samira Manners “I Want to Be Loved” Samira Manners, Fredrik Andersson
Shirley Clamp “Let There Be Angels” Mats Tärnfors, Pelle Nylén, Shirley Clamp, Jakob Skarin
Tenori “La stella“ Dan Sundquist, Kristian Lagerström, Marcos Ubeda, Bobby Ljunggren, Sarah Börjesson Wassberg
Theoz “Som du vill“ Tobias Lundgren, Axel Schylström, Tim Larsson, Elize Ryd, Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt
Tone Sekelius “My Way” Anderz Wrethov, Tone Sekelius
Tribe Friday “Shut Me Up” Isak Gunnarsson, Robin Hanberger Pérez, Noah Deutschmann

Heats: 

Heat 1: The first heat took place on 5 February 2022 in the Avicii Arena, Stockholm. 3,135,000 viewers watched the heat live. A total of 207,996 votes were cast, using 92,275 devices. Due to a technical fault, app voting did not work during this heat and only telephone voting was counted.

Draw Artist Song Round 1 Round 2 Result
Votes Place Votes Points Place
1 Malou Prytz “Bananas” 11,666 7 4,407 1 6 Out
2 Theoz “Som du vill“ 18,593 4 7,119 8 3 Semi-final
3 Shirley Clamp “Let There Be Angels” 12,290 6 4,606 3 5 Out
4 Omar Rudberg “Moving Like That” 15,034 5 6,143 5 4 Out
5 Danne Stråhed “Hallabaloo” 22,611 3 7,827 10 2 Semi-final
6 Cornelia Jakobs “Hold Me Closer” 57,790 1 — Final
7 Robin Bengtsson “Innocent Love” 27,167 2 12,743 12 1 Final

Heat 2: The second heat took place on 12 February 2022 in the Avicii Arena, Stockholm. 2,845,000 viewers watched the heat live. A total of 10,514,804 votes were cast, using 541,541 devices (which is a record for a heat).

Draw Artist Song Round 1 Round 2 Result
Votes Place Votes Points Place
1 Liamoo “Bluffin” 1,251,962 1 — Final
2 Niello and Lisa Ajax “Tror du att jag bryr mig“ 729,173 7 394,603 21 6 Out
3 Samira Manners “I Want to Be Loved” 918,801 6 483,416 35 4 Out
4 Alvaro Estrella “Suave“ 1,101,316 3 632,112 69 2 Semi-final
5 Browsing Collection “Face in the Crowd” 934,656 5 488,204 33 5 Out
6 John Lundvik “Änglavakt“ 1,203,899 2 778,736 92 1 Final
7 Tone Sekelius “My Way” 946,861 4 671,065 62 3 Semi-final

Heat 3: The third heat took place on 19 February 2022 in the Avicii Arena, Stockholm. 2,958,000 viewers watched the heat live. A total of 9,485,644 votes were cast, using 556,791 devices.

Draw Artist Song Round 1 Round 2 Result
Votes Place Votes Points Place
1 Cazzi Opeia “I Can’t Get Enough” 814,904 4 496,428 67 3 Semi-final
2 Lancelot “Lyckligt slut“ 701,151 6 388,513 35 5 Out
3 Lisa Miskovsky “Best to Come” 885,647 3 551,025 75 2 Semi-final
4 Tribe Friday “Shut Me Up” 665,176 7 368,861 19 6 Out
5 Faith Kakembo “Freedom” 1,076,213 2 685,512 79 1 Final
6 Linda Bengtzing “Fyrfaldigt hurra!“ 729,974 5 404,576 37 4 Out
7 Anders Bagge “Bigger than the Universe” 1,717,664 1 — Final

Heat 4: The fourth heat took place on 26 February 2022 in the Friends Arena, Stockholm. Heat 4 was originally going to take place at Avicii Arena, but had to be moved because the arena was already booked for a concert by singer Tomas Ledin. 2,778,000 viewers watched the heat live. A total of 8,423,843 votes were cast, using 534,683 devices.

Draw Artist Song Round 1 Round 2 Result
Votes Place Votes Points Place
1 Anna Bergendahl “Higher Power” 878,089 4 519,678 73 2 Semi-final
2 Lillasyster “Till Our Days Are Over” 921,658 3 560,382 65 3 Semi-final
3 Malin Christin “Synd om dig“ 520,201 6 217,215 16 6 Out
4 Tenori “La stella“ 508,062 7 259,361 37 5 Out
5 Medina “In i dimman“ 1,071,508 2 736,280 84 1 Final
6 Angelino “The End” 679,799 5 367,428 37 4 Out
7 Klara Hammarström “Run to the Hills” 1,184,182 1 — Final

Semi-finals: The semi-finals took place as part of one show on 5 March 2022 in the Friends Arena, Stockholm. 2,540,000 viewers watched the semi-finals live. A total of 6,415,609 votes were cast, using 584,876 devices.

Semi-final 1: 

Draw Artist Song Votes Place Result
Votes Points
1 Tone Sekelius “My Way” 1,185,407 86 1 Final
2 Alvaro Estrella “Suave“ 1,045,540 71 3 Out
3 Danne Stråhed “Hallabaloo” 640,928 46 4 Out
4 Anna Bergendahl “Higher Power” 863,838 77 2 Final

Semi-final 2: 

Draw Artist Song Votes Place Result
Votes Points
5 Theoz “Som du vill“ 968,353 71 2 Final
6 Lisa Miskovsky “Best to Come” 898,141 68 3 Out
7 Lillasyster “Till Our Days Are Over” 813,402 65 4 Out
8 Cazzi Opeia “I Can’t Get Enough” 844,189 76 1 Final

Final: The final took place on 12 March 2022 in the Friends Arena, Stockholm, where Cornelia Jakobs won with her song “Hold Me Closer”. 3,289,000 viewers watched the final live. A record-breaking total of 22,447,671 votes were cast, using 1,088,043 devices.

Draw Artist Song Juries Televote / App Total Place
Votes Points
1 Klara Hammarström “Run to the Hills” 27 2,409,631 56 83 6
2 Theoz “Som du vill“ 39 1,594,285 26 65 7
3 Anna Bergendahl “Higher Power” 11 1,056,035 18 29 12
4 John Lundvik “Änglavakt“ 43 1,324,091 17 60 8
5 Tone Sekelius “My Way” 31 2,113,374 53 84 5
6 Anders Bagge “Bigger than the Universe” 31 3,464,137 90 121 2
7 Robin Bengtsson “Innocent Love” 29 1,157,117 5 34 11
8 Faith Kakembo “Freedom” 33 1,268,069 18 51 10
9 Liamoo “Bluffin” 65 1,506,098 26 91 4
10 Cornelia Jakobs “Hold Me Closer” 76 2,937,401 70 146 1
11 Cazzi Opeia “I Can’t Get Enough” 26 1,488,320 29 55 9
12 Medina “In i dimman“ 53 2,129,113 56 109 3
Detailed international jury votes
Draw Song Netherlands Finland Spain Australia Czech Republic Republic of Ireland Israel Italy Total
1 “Run to the Hills” 2 5 3 5 3 3 6 27
2 “Som du vill“ 5 7 2 1 12 5 7 39
3 “Higher Power” 10 1 11
4 “Änglavakt“ 6 12 4 7 6 5 3 43
5 “My Way” 4 6 1 2 4 6 4 4 31
6 “Bigger than the Universe” 2 6 4 10 2 7 31
7 “Innocent Love” 1 1 3 8 10 6 29
8 “Freedom” 7 5 8 2 7 2 2 33
9 “Bluffin” 8 8 7 5 7 12 8 10 65
10 “Hold Me Closer” 10 10 12 12 8 12 12 76
11 “I Can’t Get Enough” 3 3 6 1 4 1 8 26
12 “In i dimman“ 12 4 8 10 3 1 10 5 53
International jury spokespersons
  • Netherlands – Lars Lourenco
  • Finland – Sophia Wekesa
  • Spain – Eva Mora
  • Australia – Paul Clarke
  • Czech Republic – Filip Vlček
  • Republic of Ireland – Neil Doherty
  • Israel – Tali Eshkoli
  • Italy – Marta Cagnola

Ratings:

Viewing figures by show
Show Air date Viewers
(millions)		 Share
(%)
Heat 1 5 February 2022 3.135 75.7%
Heat 2 12 February 2022 2.845 74.6%
Heat 3 19 February 2022 2.958 75%
Heat 4 26 February 2022 2.778 73.2%
Semi-finals 5 March 2022 2.540 72.5%
Final 12 March 2022 3.289 75.7%

At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (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 25 January 2022, an 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 has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2022, and has been scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

Once all the competing songs for the 2022 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows’ producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Sweden was set to perform in position 17, following the entry from Belgium and before the entry from the Czech Republic.

• Country: 🇨🇭Svizzera

• National selection:

  • Selection process: Selezione Interna 2022
  • Selection date(s): 8 March 2022
  • Host venue: –
  • Presenter(s): –
  • Host broadcaster: SRG SSR
  • Participants – Number of entries: –
  • Selection entrant: Marius Bear
  • Selection song: “Boys Do Cry”
  • Selected songwriter(s): Marius Hügli, Martin Gallop

• Final performance: 

  • Semi-final result: 4º SF 1:
  • Final result:

Switzerland  is scheduled to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, having internally selected Marius Bear to represent the country with the song “Boys Do Cry”, written by himself and Martin Gallop.

Background: Prior to the 2022 contest, Switzerland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixty-one times since their first entry in 1956. Switzerland is noted for having won the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Refrain” performed by Lys Assia. Their second and, to this point, most recent victory was achieved in 1988 when Canadian singer Céline Dion won the contest with the song “Ne partez pas sans moi“. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004 contest, Switzerland has managed to participate in the final five times. In 2005, the internal selection of Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja, performing the song “Cool Vibes”, qualified Switzerland to the final where they placed 8th. Due to their successful result in 2005, Switzerland was pre-qualified to compete directly in the final in 2006. Between 2007 and 2010, the nation failed to qualify to the final after a string of internal selections. Opting to organize a national final from 2011 to 2018, Switzerland managed to qualify for the final twice. The country returned to internally selecting its entry in 2019, a process that has yielded two top five results: a fourth place in 2019 with the song “She Got Me” by Luca Hänni, and a third place in 2021 with the song “Tout l’univers” by Gjon’s Tears.

Before Eurovision: 

Internal selection: In early April 2021, SRG SSR confirmed their intention to participate at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, opening applications to be part of the selecting committee. On 16 June 2021, the broadcaster published the rules for artists to apply for its internal selection process. Submissions were open between 1 and 15 September 2021.

The selection involved a panel of 100 Swiss viewers – as selected between April and June – alongside a specialized international 23-member jury, composed of former judges in their respective countries – namely Alexey Gross (Russia), Amie Borgar (Finland), Anders Øhrstrøm (Denmark), Argyro Christodoulidou (Cyprus), Deivydas Zvonkus (Lithuania), Florent Luyckx (Netherlands), Gabriela Horn (Austria), Gordon Groothedde (Netherlands), Gore Melian (Armenia), Grzegorz Urban (Poland), Helga Möller (Iceland), Henrik Johnsson (Sweden), Ilinca Băcilă (Romania), Julian Le Play (Austria), Karl-Ander Reismann (Estonia), Ludmila Kuts (Belarus), Maria Marcus (Sweden), Mark De Lisser (UK), Milan Havrda (Czech Republic), Ovidiu Jacobsen (Romania and Norway), Pete Watson (UK), Samuli Väänänen (Finland) and Tinkara Kovač (Slovenia); each panel accounted for 50% of the voting, which was articulated in various undisclosed phases and decided the Swiss act for Eurovision before the end of the year.

Marius Bear was announced as the selected entrant with the song “Boys Do Cry” on 8 March 2022.

At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (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 25 January 2022, an 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. Switzerland has been placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2022, and has been scheduled to perform in the first half of the show

Once all the competing songs for the 2022 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows’ producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Switzerland was set to perform in position 4, following the entry from Lithuania and before the entry from Slovenia.

• Country: 🇺🇦 Ucraina

• National selection:

  • Selection process: Internal selection among Vidbir 2022 participants / Vidbir (відбір; Yevrobachennia. Natsionalnyi Vidbir, Євробачення. Національний відбір, Eurovision. National Selection) 2022
  • Selection date(s): 22 February 2022
  • Host venue: –
  • Presenter(s): –
  • Host broadcaster: UA: PBC (Suspilne)
  • Participants – Number of entries: –
  • Selection entrant: Kalush Orchestra
  • Selection song: “Stefania” 
  • Selected songwriter(s): Ihor Didenchuk, Ivan Klimenko, Oleh Psiuk, Tymofii Muzychuk, Vitalii Duzhyk

• Final performance: 

  • Semi-final result: 6º SF 1:
  • Final result:

Ukraine is scheduled to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy. The Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne organized the national selection Vidbir in order to select the country’s representative for the contest, which was won by “Tini zabutykh predkiv / Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors”, performed by Alina Pash. Following controversy regarding her travel history, Pash’s status as a legitimate participant of Vidbir was challenged, which resulted in her participation being ceased by the broadcaster as well as her withdrawal. The runner-up, “Stefania” performed by Kalush Orchestra, was chosen as the Ukrainian entry for the contest.

Background: Prior to the 2022 contest, Ukraine has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixteen times since its first entry in 2003, winning it in the following year with the song “Wild Dances” performed by Ruslana. Following the introduction of semi-finals for 2004, Ukraine is the only country that has managed to qualify to the final in every contest they have participated in thus far. Ukraine has been the runner-up in the contest on two occasions: in 2007 with “Dancing Lasha Tumbai” by Verka Serduchka and in 2008 with “Shady Lady” by Ani Lorak; and it won the contest for a second time in 2016 with “1944” by Jamala. Ukraine’s least successful result has been 24th place, which they achieved, as hosts, in 2017, with the song “Time” performed by O.Torvald. The country came 5th in the final in 2021 with “Shum” by Go_A, scoring 364 points.

The Ukrainian national broadcaster, Suspilne, broadcasts the event within Ukraine and organises the selection process for the nation’s entry. Suspilne confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest on 18 June 2021. In the past, Suspilne has alternated between both internal selections and national finals in order to select the Ukrainian entry. Between 2016 and 2020, Suspilne, in collaboration with STB, 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.

Before Eurovision: On 30 August 2021, it was announced that Suspilne had terminated their partnership with STB. On 8 October 2021, the broadcaster announced that they would independently organise a national final to select the 2022 Ukrainian entry and requested proposals from production companies with a deadline of 24 October 2021. The selected company, Friends Pro TV, was announced on 29 December 2021.

Vidbir 2022: The Ukrainian national final took place in the NAU Center of Culture and Arts in Kyiv on 12 February 2022, and was hosted by Maria Efrosinina with Timur Miroshnychenko as backstage host.

Format. The selection of the competing entries for the national final and ultimately the Ukrainian Eurovision entry took place over three stages. In the first stage, artists and songwriters had the opportunity to apply for the competition through an online submission form. Twenty-seven acts were longlisted and announced on 17 January 2022. The second stage was a scheduled audition at designated dates and featured the twenty-seven acts in the longlist. Eight acts were selected to advance, which were announced on 24 January 2022. The third stage was the final, which took place on 12 February 2022 and featured the eight acts vying to represent Ukraine in Turin. The winner was selected via the 50/50 combination of votes from a public televote and a three-member expert jury, consisting of 2006 and 2016 Ukrainian entrants Tina Karol and Jamala, alongside Suspilne board member Yaroslav Lodyhin

Competing entries. Artists and composers had the opportunity to submit their entries between 14 December 2021 and 10 January 2022. Only artists that had not performed in a concert in Russia since 2014 nor entered the territory of Crimea without due permission were able to apply for the competition. A selection panel including the music producer of the show Mykhailo Koshevy and the television producer of the show Oleksiy Honcharenko reviewed the 284 received submissions, and twenty-seven entries that had been longlisted were announced on 17 January 2022. Auditions were later held at the My Dream Space venue in Kyiv where eight entries were shortlisted to compete in the national final. On 24 January 2022, the eight selected competing acts were announced. It was later announced by Suspilne that Laud was disqualified from the competition as his song “Head Under Water” was previously released in 2018, which is in violation of the rules. Barleben took his place in the final lineup with the song “Hear My Words”.

Longlisted artists
  • Alina Pash
  • Amariia
  • Antsia [uk]
  • Barleben
  • DOdoBro
  • Cloudless
  • Fizruk [uk]
  • Gorim!
  • Idxo
  • Kalush Orchestra
  • Laud
  • Laura Marti [uk]
  • Michael Soul
  • Our Atlantic
  • Oyedamola
  • Roxolana
  • Schor
  • Shy
  • Skhidzakhid
  • Sofia Shanti
  • Sowa
  • The Blue Artic
  • The Tape Machine
  • Victoria Niro
  • Vika Yagych
  • Wellboy
  • Yuliia Timochko
Competing artists
Artist Song Language(s) Songwriter(s)
Alina Pash “Tini zabutykh predkiv” (Тіні забутих предків) Ukrainian, English Alina Pash, Taras Bazeev
Barleben “Hear My Words” English Oleksandr Barleben, Kristina Hromiak
Cloudless “All Be Alright” English Yurii Kanalosh, Anton Panfilov, Mykhailo Shatokhin
Kalush Orchestra “Stefania” Ukrainian Ihor Didenchuk, Ivan Klimenko, Oleh Psiuk, Tymofii Muzychuk, Vitalii Duzhyk
Laud “Head Under Water” English Daniel Boting
Michael Soul “Demons” English Michael Soul, Vlad Freimann, Andrei Katikov, Ilia Paliakou
Our Atlantic “Moia liubov” (Моя любов) Ukrainian Viktor Baida, Dmytro Bakal
Roxolana “Girlzzzz” English, Ukrainian Roksoliana Syrota, Mykhailo Gaidai
Wellboy “Nozzy Bossy” Ukrainian, English Anton Velboi, Serhii Yurov, Stepan Oliinik, Yevhen Harbarenko

Final: The final took place on 12 February 2022. Former Ukrainian Eurovision entrants Tina Karol (2006), Jamala (2016) and Go_A (2021) were guest performers at the final. In addition, Ukrainian Junior Eurovision entrants Darina Krasnovetska (2018), Sophia Ivanko (2019), Oleksandr Balabanov (2020), and Olena Usenko (2021) performed a medley of past Ukrainian Eurovision entries (“1944”, “Shum”, “Dancing Lasha Tumbai”, and “Wild Dances”). Alina Pash won the televised version of the competition. Later, she was ceased from participating in the national selection after it was discovered that her representative had provided Suspilne with a falsified certificate of her travel history.

On 22 February 2022, it was announced that the televote winner and runner-up of the competition, Kalush Orchestra, would represent Ukraine at Eurovision.

Final – 12 February 2022
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Percentage Points
1 Cloudless[a] “All Be Alright” 1 3,410 4.38% 4 5 7
2 Michael Soul “Demons” 2 1,239 1.59% 1 3 8
3 Our Atlantic “Moia liubov“ 5 1,605 2.06% 2 7 6
4 Barleben “Hear My Words” 4 2,740 3.52% 3 7 5
5 Kalush Orchestra “Stefania” 6 38,634 49.63% 8 14 2
6 Roxolana “Girlzzzz” 3 5,034 6.47% 5 8 4
7 Wellboy “Nozzy Bossy” 7 5,646 7.25% 6 13 3
8 Alina Pash “Tini zabutykh predkiv“ 8 19,535 25.10% 7 15 1

Controversies: 

Results announcement issues and dispute: Following Alina Pash’s victory, runner-up Kalush Orchestra accused the organisers of falsifying the results. Lead singer Oleh Psiuk claimed that the organisers of the selection had refused to speak to him after several technical issues had occurred during the announcement of the results. Incorrect points were given during the allocation of the televotes, leading to a failure of the electronic scoreboard, meaning that host Timur Miroshnychenko had to manually announce the results from a sheet of paper. After the show, a video emerged of Psiuk confronting a producer in a corridor. On a livestream, Psiuk claimed that the producer had refused to answer his questions, and went on to state that he intended to challenge the organisers in court. Suspilne and its audit partner PwC maintained the validity of the results, stating that the technical difficulties had had no impact on the results. However, Yaroslav Lodyhin, chairman of the organising committee of Vidbir as well as one of the jurors in the competition, stated that he would be ready to resign from his position as further proof of the broadcaster’s good faith, and his resignation came into effect on 18 February. The full results of the selection were published on 22 February.

Alina Pash’s disqualification: Following the controversy surrounding Maruv at Vidbir 2019, which led to Ukraine withdrawing from the Eurovision Song Contest that year, a new rule was introduced starting from Vidbir 2020 which bars artists who have performed in Russia since 2014 or have entered Crimea “in violation of the legislation of Ukraine” from entering the competition. On 14 February 2022, activist and video blogger Serhii Sternenko alleged that Pash had entered Crimea from Russian territory in 2015, and counterfeited her travel documentation with her team in order to take part in Vidbir. Suspilne subsequently stated that they would request the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service to verify if the documentation is forged, and that Pash would not officially be the Ukrainian representative at the contest “until the verification and clarification of the facts is completed”. Andrii Demchenko, speaking on behalf of the Guard Service, maintained that the certificate Pash had handed in to the broadcaster had not been issued by them, but that a request to cross the border had been made by the artist, and that the public broadcaster would be provided with the results of the investigation by 16 February at 11:00 (EET). Svitlana Ostapa, chair of the Supervisory Board of Suspilne, later called a meeting, which was held on 18 February, in order to discuss the situation surrounding Vidbir.

Pash’s management addressed the accusations stating that she had entered Crimea from the Ukrainian border, and that the certificate had been requested by a “team member” rather than Pash herself. They had assured to be analyzing the circumstances surrounding the obtainment of the document. On 16 February, Pash claimed on an Instagram post that the State Border Guard Service had not been able to provide her with a new certificate as proof of her entrance to Crimea, as she had requested in the wake of the controversy, since related records are only kept for five years. Shortly after, Pash announced on her social media pages that she would withdraw her candidacy as the Ukrainian representative at the Eurovision Song Contest. On the same day, Suspilne stated it had decided to “cease her participation” and that “the artist agreed with this decision of the organizing committee”.

Tymofii Muzychuk’s travel history: On 16 February 2022, a 2015 VK post by runner-up Kalush Orchestra member Tymofii Muzychuk surfaced, portraying the musician in front of St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow. The band’s management stated that the photo had been taken before 2014, and that Muzychuk had traveled to Russia in 2013 to perform at a Mykhailo Poplavskyi concert in Moscow and at an event in Krasnodar, which he claimed to have been his last time in the country.

Internal selection: After it became clear that Alina Pash would not represent Ukraine at Eurovision, Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne stated that, according to the rules of Vidbir, they would select another representative among the other competing artists in the national final during the meeting of 18 February, without specifying when they would announce the result of the selection. Runner-up Kalush Orchestra were offered the proposal on 17 February. On 21 February, it was reported that the band would refuse to sign the participation contract until the detailed results of the national final were released. On 22 February, simultaneously with the release of the detailed results, the band accepted the offer to represent Ukraine at Eurovision.

Preparations: Following the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Suspilne and Kalush Orchestra had yet to formally comment on whether their Eurovision participation would continue. On 14 March, Claudio Fasulo and Simona Martorelli, executive producers of the 2022 contest, confirmed that Ukraine would still be competing; this was later reaffirmed by Suspilne on 19 March via a post on its social media pages.They added that work would commence on the Ukrainian ‘live-on-tape’ backup performance, which was recorded in Lviv and to be used in the event that the delegation cannot travel to Turin for the contest. On 2 April, Suspilne confirmed that Kalush Orchestra and the rest of the delegation was given permission from state authorities to travel to Turin for the contest, adding that the group will also take part in promotional events across Europe to raise donations for war relief efforts.

At Eurovision: According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (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 25 January 2022, an 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 has been placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2022, and has been scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.

Once all the competing songs for the 2022 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows’ producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Ukraine was set to perform in position 6, following the entry from Slovenia and before the entry from Bulgaria.

• Country: 🇷🇺 Russia

• National selection:

  • Selection process: Internal selection 2022
  • Selection date(s): –
  • Host venue: –
  • Presenter(s): –
  • Host broadcaster: UA: PBC (Suspilne)
  • Participants – Number of entries: –
  • Selection entrant:Yaroslava Simonova
  • Selection song: 
  • Selected songwriter(s): 

• Final performance: 

  • Semi-final result: Disqualified
  • Final result:

Russia was set to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy. However, due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) excluded Russia from participating.

Background: Prior to the 2022 contest, Russia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 23 times since its first entry in 1994. Russia has won the contest on one occasion in 2008 with the song “Believe” performed by Dima Bilan. In 2016, Russia finished third with the song “You Are the Only One” performed by Sergey Lazarev, who would later return to represent his country again in 2019 with the song “Scream”, also finishing in third place. In 2018, Russia placed fifteenth in the second semi-final with the song “I Won’t Break” performed by Yuliya Samoylova, making it the first time Russia did not qualify for the final since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004.[2] In 2021, “Russian Woman” performed by Manizha qualified for the final and ultimately finished ninth with 204 points.

Before Eurovision: 

Artist selection: No official announcement was made by national broadcaster VGTRK regarding the Russian selection for 2022. According to non-confirmed rumors, shortlisted acts included Aleksandr Panayotov, Danya Milokhin, Egor Kreed, Vanya Dmitrienko, Klava Koka and Yaroslava Simonova. Later, the number of artists on the shortlist was reduced to three: two women (Klava Koka, Yaroslava Simonova) and one man, among whom VGTRK selected a representative. Ultimately, Yaroslava Simonova was reportedly selected as the Russian representative.

Exclusion: In the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February, Ukrainian broadcaster UA:PBC appealed to suspend Russian EBU member broadcasters VGTRK and Channel One from the union, and to exclude Russia from competing in the contest. The appeal alleged that since the beginning of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine in 2014, VGTRK and Channel One have been a mouthpiece for the Russian government and a key tool of political propaganda financed from the Russian state budget. The EBU initially stated that Russia as well as Ukraine would still be allowed to participate in the contest, citing the non-political nature of the event.

According to Gustav Lützhøft, editor-in-chief of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, “we find it incompatible with Eurovision’s values that Russia is participating.” Sweden’s SVT, Iceland’s RÚV, Lithuania’s LRT and Norway’s NRK also called on the EBU to exclude Russia from the contest, while the Netherlands’ AVROTROS, Poland’s TVP and Ukraine’s UA:PBC additionally called on the EBU to suspend Russia’s membership of the union. Estonia’s ERR and Finland’s Yle stated that they would not participate if Russia is invited. Latvian representatives at the 2022 contest, Citi Zēni, called on the EBU in an email to reconsider their decision to allow Russia to compete.

On 25 February 2022, the EBU announced that Russia would not compete at the contest, stating that “in light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russian entry in this year’s Contest would bring the competition into disrepute.”The next day, all EBU members from Russia, including VGTRK and Channel One, announced their withdrawal from the union, according to a statement released by Russian state media.

Russia was originally set to perform in the second half of the first semi-final on 10 May 2022.