• (en) Non Participating Entries: All songs listed here qualified to represent their countries however did not participate in the event.

Throughout the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, many songs were chosen. And some were then withdrawn. We all know the famous Belarussians who had the tendency to withdraw their entries about five times before coming up with their final answer in the past years, but there have been many more who did the same! 

Some of these songs have received great attention in the past few years, but there are some others who I had never even heard of. The history of Eurovision once again turns out to be full of drama, emotion and hidden gems no one has ever heard of. 

Most of these entries did indeed get their hands on the Eurovision ticket, but some didn’t even get the chance to do that: Disqualifications before the national final for the favourite, countries to fully withdraw or other, sometimes less clear, motives… Let’s take a look then.

Entries which failed to qualify. Qualifying competitions were held in advance of the 1993 and 1996 editions of the contest, as a measure to reduce the number of competing entries. In 1993 Kvalifikacija za Millstreet was held between seven new Eastern European countries competing for three places in the contest proper; in 1996 an audio-only competition was held for all interested participants, with Norway automatically qualified as host country and 29 additional countries competing for 22 places in the contest. Unlike the semi-final system in place since 2004, in which countries that do not advance from the semi-finals are still credited as having participated in the contest, countries which competed in these qualifying rounds but failed to progress to the main contest have not been credited with having participated in that year’s contest.

Withdrawn and disqualified entries. On a number of occasions entries into the contest have been prevented from competing at a late stage, either through withdrawal by the participating broadcaster or through disqualification by the European Broadcasting Union. The list below highlights cases where an entry for a given country had been planned in a particular year but which ultimately did not occur, either by withdrawal, disqualification or the cancellation of the contest.

On a number of occasions participation in the contest has been either suggested or attempted by countries which are ineligible due to a lack of a participating EBU member broadcaster, such as past media reports of interest by broadcasters in China, Kosovo, Liechtenstein and Qatar. Participation has also been suggested for a number of nations and territories whose participation is currently covered by another country. Potential entries from Wales and Scotland (currently countries of the United Kingdom) and the Faroe Islands (currently a territory of Denmark) have been reported, but are generally prevented due to the exclusive participation rights of the sovereign nation to which they belong. Wales and Scotland have participated in other Eurovision events where the United Kingdom as a whole do not participate, including the Junior Eurovision Song Contest and Eurovision Choir.

• 1956 | United Kingdom: 1.”Ev’rybody falls in love with someone” (English) – Denis Lotis & The Keynotes / 2.”Little Ship” (English) – Shirley Abicair. Three more countries, Austria, Denmark and United Kingdom were also expected to take part in the contest, but they missed the submission deadline and therefore could not take part. The BBC’s Festival of British Popular Song, which had been intended to choose the United Kingdom entry, was in the end not held until after the Eurovision contest.

• 1960 | France: “Tom Pillibi” (French) – Marcel Amont. After being selected to represent France, it was decided that the song would stand a better chance performed by a female performer. Jacqueline Boyer was selected and she went on to give France her second win. 

• 1961 | Sweden: “April April” (Swedish) – Siw Malmkvist. During the reprise of the winning song, the singer got a fit of the giggles and forgot may of her lines. She was therefore sacked and replaced by Lilly-Babs.

• 1962 | Danimarca: “Jeg Snakker med mig Selv” (Danish) – Gitte Hænning. In 1962 she attempted to compete for Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest in the Eurovision Song Contest with “Jeg Snakker med mig Selv” but was disqualified because the composer Sejr Volmer-Sørensen had whistled the song in the canteen of the DR. In 1973 she competed for Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Junger Tag”. Her success continued after famous duets with Rex Gildoas ‘Gitte & Rex’ in a number of popular films.^[3] Gitte made an attempt to represent Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1978 with the song “Rien qu’une femme” but she lost out to the group Baccara.

• 1963 | Spain: “Nubes De Colores” (Spanish) – José Guardiola. Conflicting reports state that TVE’s aim was to use the Festival de la Canción Mediterránea (Mediterranean Song Festival) as the national final, while others maintain that TVE’s intention was to select internally one of the performers that had won a prize in one of the many song festivals that used to take place across the Spanish geography. José Guardiola had won the 1962 Mediterranean Song Festival with the song “Nubes de colores”, but the result was declared null and void the day after the festival because a fix was discovered in the voting process. Paper ballots were sold to the audience in the hall; however, by the end of the festival, more ballots were counted in the box than the number that had been sold. José Guardiola was chosen to represent Spain but with another song, “Algo prodigioso”.

• 1963 | Finland: “Muistojeni laulu” (The song of my memories) (Finnish) – Marjatta Leppänen. In 1963 “Muistojeni laulu” Marjatta Leppänen performed the winning song (and so did Irmeli Mäkelä as each song was performed by two different singers) was chosen as the Finnish entry at the national final organised by broadcaster YLE and held on 14 February. YLE however, in its eternal wisdom decided to send Laila Halme with the song instead. Laila Halme Halme originally finished third in the national final, but replaced the winning singer Marjatta Leppänen / Irmeli Mäkelä at Eurovision for unknown reasons.

• 1965 | Finland: “Iltaisin” (In the evening) (Finnish) – Marjatta Leppänen. In 1965 she won again with Lasse Mårtenson penned “Iltaisin”, but YLE decided to send the runner up by Viktor Klimenko instead.  However, she never reached the stage of the Eurovision Song Contest. Marjatta Leppänen won the vote of the regional juries but the professional jury preferred “Aurinko laskee länteen” by Viktor Klimenko. The regional juries selected “Iltaisin” however the expert jury disagreed with this and selected the song the regional juries put into second place. Under the prevailing rules in place, this was allowable, hence this is not strictly a withdrawn song.

• 1967 | Italy: “Non Pensare A Me” (Italian) – Claudio Villa. Italy was represented by Claudio Villa, with the song “Non andare più lontano”, at the1967 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 8 April in Luxembourg City. As always until this date, broadcaster RAI chose one of the winning performers from the year’s Sanremo Music Festival as their singer, but for the first time they opted not to send the winning Sanremo song “Non pensare a me” as their entry. This was Villa’s second Eurovision appearance, having previously participated in the 1962 contest.

• 1968 | Norway: “Jag Har Aldri Vært Så Glad I No’en Som Deg” (Norwegian) – Odd Børre. “Stress” originally finished second in the 1968 Melodi Grand Prix on 3 March, but was promoted to the Norwegian entry when the winning song “Jag har aldri vært så glad i no’en som deg” was withdrawn from the contest by its composer amid persistent allegations that it plagiarised the 1963 hit “Summer Holiday” by Cliff Richard – who ironically was the United Kingdom’s singer in the 1968 contest. This is the only occasion on which the MGP winner did not go forward to Eurovision.

• 1968 | Spain: “La la la” (Spanish – Catalan) – Joan Manuel Serrat. Originally, the artist chosen to perform “La, la, la” at Eurovision was singer-songwriter Joan Manuel Serrat. However, he intended to sing the song in Catalan. The Franco dictatorship would not allow this – and insisted that the entry should be performed in Spanish, official language for all the territories of Spain, although Serrat wanted to claim for the other regional languages of this country, repressed under the Franco dictatorship. On 29 March 1968, one week before the contest, Massiel was asked to replace Joan Manuel Serrat as Spain’s representative at the Eurovision Song Contest.

• 1969 | Liechtenstein: “Un beau matin” (French) – Vetty. Si è creduto per anni che il Liechtenstein avrebbe voluto partecipare a quest’edizione dell’Eurovision Song Contest con la canzone Un beau matin interpretata daVetty, non potendolo fare perché non ha un rete televisiva nazionale. La canzone era in realtà una parodia ideata dal comico francese Jacques Martin.

• 1970 | Portugal: “Onde Vais Rio Que Eu Canto” (Portuguese) – Sérgio Borges. Austria (who had not taken part in 1969), Finland, Norway, Portugal and Sweden boycotted this contest as they were not pleased with the result of 1969 and the voting structure. Portugal did however host a National final, being won by Sérgio Borges.

• 1971 | Belgium: “Goeiemorgen, morgen“ – Nicole & Hugo. Belgium was represented by Jacques Raymond and Lily Castel at the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 3 April in Dublin. Raymond and Castel had not taken part in the original Belgian final, which was won with Nicole & Hugo performing the song. Shortly before the Dublin final however, Nicole had fallen ill and was unable to travel, so broadcaster BRT, predecessor of VRT, drafted in Raymond and Castel as late replacements. Raymond had previously sung for Belgium at Eurovision in 1963. Nicole & Hugo famously did come back 2 years later with those infamous purple catsuits and memorable dance routine.

• 1972 | Israel: “Chayekha ve chayai” (שינית את חיי) (Hebrew) – Ilanit (אילנית). Israel joined the EBU-UER in 1972 but missed the registration deadline for the 1972 contest. The song which would have participated had been mistakenly identified as “Chayekha Ve Chayai” (שינית את חיי) performed by Boaz Shar’abi (Boaz Sharabi, בעז שרעבי) but this is incorrect. Ilanit was the artiste lined up to represent Israel, however, the song is not known. It is rumoured that a song was selected and commercially released in 1972.

• 1973 | Malta: “?” () – ?. Malta was drawn to perform in 6th place between Norway and Monaco, but the Maltese broadcaster withdrew before the deadline to select an entry.

• 1973 | Yugoslavia:  “Na, Na, Na, Na” (На, на, на, на) (Croatian-Serbian) – Josipa Lisac (Јосипа Лисац). This song was Disqualified. During 1987 Josipa Lisac entered preselection venue Jugovizija with hope to represent Yugoslavia in Eurovision Song Contest 1987, she sang her hit Gdje Dunav ljubi nebo (Where Danube Kisses the Sky) and had finished on 9th place out of 24 compositions, soon after releasing her album Boginja (Goddess) she became an acclaimed pop artist throughout Yugoslavia.

• 1974 | France: “La Vie à 25 Ans / La vie à vingt-cinq ans” (French) – Dani. France had been drawn to sing at No. 14 (after Ireland and before Germany) with the song “La vie à vingt-cinq ans” by Dani, but as a mark of respect following the death of French President, Georges Pompidou, during Eurovision week, French broadcaster ORTF made the decision to withdraw the entry. Since President Pompidou’s funeral was held the day of the contest, it was deemed inappropriate for the French to take part. Dani was seen by viewers in the audience at the point the French song should have been performed. For the same reason, the French singer Anne-Marie David, who had won the first place for Luxembourg in 1973, could not come to Brighton to hand the prize to the 1974 winner.

• 1974 | Malta: “Paċi Fid Dinja” (Peace in the World)  (Maltese) – Enzo Gusman. Malta had selected Enzo Gusman with the song “Paċi Fid Dinja” (Peace in the World) to represent them, but withdrew from the contest for unknown reasons. Malta returned to the competition in 1975.

• 1975 | France: “Comme un boomerang” (French) – Dani. It would appear that this rumour originated from the singer herself who is reported to have said that this Serge Gainsbourg composition was submitted as the French entry but later rejected as the subject matter was considered too dark for the Eurovision Song Contest. There is nothing to support this claim in the OGAE France documentation of internal French selections, although she was shortlisted in the final six with another song, “Paris, paradis” which lost out to Nicole Rieu.

• 1976 | Malta: “Sing Your Song, Country Boy” (Tifkiriet Taghna T-Tnejn) (English) – Enzo Gusman. Malta, having selected Enzo Gusman & Renato Micallef with the song “Sing Your Song, Country Boy” to represent them, then withdrew from the contest for undisclosed reasons, as the singer has confirmed. Enzo sang the Maltese version whilst Renato sang the English version. Malta would not return to the competition until 1991.

• 1976 | Germany: “Der Star” (The star) (German) – Tony Marshall. “Der Star” was the public choice by a margin of over 20,000 votes, but was later disqualified when it was discovered that the song had been performed in public prior to the national final. “Sing Sang Song” was therefore promoted and announced as the 1976 German entry. “Sing Sang Song” originally placed runner-up in the German national final but became the German entry when the winner, “Der Star” by Tony Marshall, was disqualified. 

• 1976 | Liechtenstein: “Little Cowboy” (German) – Biggi Bachman. Liechtenstein has never participated at the Eurovision Song Contest, but the contest has had a long history within the country, with at least one attempt to participate being made by the principality. The country has made attempts to participate in the contest in the past: in 1976 a Liechtenstein entry was selected to compete in the contest – Biggi Bachman and “Little Cowboy” would have been the country’s first entry had there been a national broadcaster, but as there was none in the country the entry was rejected from competing.

• 1977 | Tunisia: “?” () – ?. At one point before the contest Tunisia was going to participate but they withdrew. Had Tunisia gone ahead they would have appeared fourth on stage.

• 1977 | Spagna: “Dónde vas” (Spanish) – Paloma San Basilio. There are rumours that this was the original choice to represent Spain in 1977, however, I suspect that this may be more a case of this song should have represented Spain! Does anyone have any background to this? The singer would, of course, go on to represent Spain eight years later in Gothenburg.

• 1978 | Greece: “Mr Nobel” (O Kyrios Nobel, Ο Κος Νόμπελ) (Greek) – Anna Vissi (Άννα Βίσση). In 1978 she was proposed by ERT (Greek National Television) to represent Greece at the 23rd Eurovision Song Contest. There were two candidate songs: “Poso S’ Agapo” (Ω Μαρία) and “O Kyrios Nobel” (Ο Κος Νόμπελ). Finally, due to controversies between the composers of the songs, her participation was disqualified and Tania Tsanaklidou (Τάνια Τσανακλίδου) went to the contest. “Na kseris s’agapo” – Robert Williams, withdrawn because neither of the composers were Greek.  However in the original final Anna Vissi was tied with this song.  She didn’t go to Paris either as ERT comissioned a whole new set of songs which included the eventual Greek entry – Charlie Chaplin.

• 1978 | Yugoslavia: “Zbogom ostaj ljubavi!” (Збогом остај љубави) (Croatian-Serbian) – Oliver Dragojević (Оливер Драгојевић). According to a Croatian website, this song won the Opatija Festival (Dani Jugoslavenske Zabavne Muzike JRT – Opatija ’78) of 1978. This was used as the pre-selection for Yugoslav eurovision entries between 1973 and 1976, however, there is no record of Yugoslavia ever intending to send this song to compete for them in Paris.

• 1979 | Turkey: “Seviyorum” (I Love) (Turkish) – Maria Rita Epik & 21.Peron. Epik had won the internal Turkish pre-Elimination in 1979 to sing for Turkey at the first ever Eurovision Song Contest hosted by Israel. However due to political reasons and pressure by Arabic countries, to boycott Israel, she had to withdraw and stay at home, instead of having a chance to get a European career. She would have sung “Seviyorum” (I Love) together with the band 21.Peron.

• 1979 | Yugoslavia: “Sklopi oči” (Склопи очи) (Croatian-Serbian) – Novi fosili (Нови фосили) . As in 1978, this won the Opatija festival (Dani Jugoslavenske Zabavne Muzike – Jrt – Opatija 1979), however, again, it does not look as though there was ever any intention to return to eurovision during this particular year. It was previously thought that Tereza had won this festival with Disco but we have since been advised that this is not the case. Novi Fosili would go on to represent Yugoslavia in 1987, finishing in 4th place.

• 1980 | Israel: “Pizmon Chozer” (פזמון חוזר) (Refrain) (Hebrew) – Ha’ahim ve Ha’ahayot (האחים והאחיות). Israel, winners in 1979, declined to host the show for the second time in a row, as the IBA (Israel Broadcasting Authority) could not fund another international production, and the Israeli government turned down a request to extend the IBA budget. Moreover, the date that was eventually set for the 1980 contest by the European Broadcasting Union coincided with a national religious day of Israel, Israel’s Day of Remembrance for their casualties of war, so Israel was forced to withdraw. The song was called “Pizmon Chozer” (Refrain) and was performed by the group “Ha’achim ve ha’achayot” (Brothers and Sisters).

• 1980 | Yugoslavia: “Jugoslavio” / “Jugoslavio volim te!” (Croatian-Serbian) – Tereza (Tereza Kesovija). There was a rumour that Yugoslavia intended to return to the contest in 1980, although they would wait another year before coming back. There are rumours that this rather nationalistic-flavoured ballad was the choice to go to The Hague but this song was not intended for eurovision and, in any event, a French team were behind the composition.

• 1981 | Iceland: “?” () – ?. There are rumours of a song having been selected to be Iceland’s first-ever entry in 1981, however, they do not appear to have been included in the draw. Maybe they did not register in time? They would not be the first and probably not the last to make that particular mistake! Can anybody shed some light here? Iceland would not actually debut until 5 years later.

• 1982 | Greece: “Sarantapente Kopelies” (Σαρανταπέντε Κοπελιές) (Greek) – Themis Adamantidis (Θέμης Αδαμαντίδης).  Greece was disqualified from the Eurovision Song Contest 1982 after it was revealed that Themis Adamantidis was to sing “Sarantapente Kopelies” (Σαρανταπέντε Κοπελιές), a previously released song. After returning in 1983, ERT decided that all of the possible songs were of “low quality” and decided not to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 1984.

• 1984 | Israel: “Balalaika” (בללייקה) (Hebrew) – Ilanit (אילנית). Israel withdrew from the contest due to Yom Hazikaron (Day of Remembrance for the Fallen Soldiers of Israel and Victims of Terrorism) being commemorated on the same date. At that time Ilanit was already one of Israel’s most popular singers and the song “Balalaika” became an instant hit, despite not taking part.

• 1985 | Belgium: “Ik was een kind / Vannacht” () – Mireille Capelle.  Flemish broadcaster BRT was responsible for selection of the 1985 Belgian entrant and, unusually for BRT at the time, opted for internal selection rather than a public final. The selection process was fraught with problems before the last-minute announcement of singer and song was made. VRT selected singer Mireille Capelle as their entrant, to perform a tango-flavoured song with music by Frédéric Devreese. The song was chosen in an unfinished state, without lyrics. Capelle and Devreese subsequently submitted a set of lyrics by one of Flanders’ best-known and respected authors Hugo Claus (Vannacht). VRT were not impressed however, and proposed a different set of lyrics by Bert Vivier (Ik was een kind). Capelle and Devreese refused to have anything to do with the Vivier lyrics, and gave VRT an ultimatum that they would disassociate themselves from the selection unless their lyrics of choice were approved. When VRT refused to back down, Capelle and Devreese were as good as their word and withdrew their participation. This left VRT facing a race against time to find an alternative song and performer: several singers and songs were put forward and found unsuitable before VRT finally settled on singer/actress Lepomme with a completely new song “Laat me nu gaan”. The song was presented publicly at the last minute, very close to the EBU-UER deadline for song submission, on 1 April 1985 (the date was noted with some irony by observers aware of the to-ing and fro-ing which had gone on).

• 1985 | Yugoslavia: “Pokora” (Penance, Покора) (Croatian-Serbian) – Zorica Kondža (Зорица Конџа) & Josip Genda. This was selected to go to Gothenburg, Sweden but Yugoslav TV did not participate in this Contest due to the anniversary of the death of Josip Broz Tito in Yugoslavia. Despite this Yugoslavia did choose its song: “Pokora” (Penance) (music by Ivo Pupačić and lyrics by Zvonimir Pupačić), a duet sung by Zorica Kondža and Josip Genda.

• 1986 | Greece: “Wagon-Lit” (Βαγκόν-Λί) (Greek) – Polina (Πωλίνα). Selected by Greece, having been drawn eighteenth in order of presentation. The reason behind the withdrawal, was that the Eurovision contest coincided with Holy Saturday. Their entry would have been “Wagon-lit” (βάγκον λι) performed by Polina.

• 1987 | Sweden: “Fyra bugg och en Coca-Cola” / “Fyra bugg” ( “Four chewing gums and a Coca Cola”) (Swedish) – Lotta Engberg. Sweden selected an entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1987 by holding a preselection show named Melodifestivalen 1987. Out of 1 502 submitted songs and 12 songs in the final, the entry “Fyra bugg och en Coca-Cola” was chosen. (“Four chewing gums (Bugg was a brand of chewing gum that was popular in Sweden in the 60’s-80’s) and a Coca Cola”), also called “Fyra bugg”, is a Swedish language song, written by Mikael Wendt and Christer Lundh. Swedish dansband and pop singer Lotta Engberg won the Swedish Melodifestivalen 1987 in Sweden with this song. The lyrics are about summer. As the songs title contained the trademark names Coca-Cola and the Swedish chewing gum Bugg, the European Broadcasting Union demanded that the lyrics would be changed before the Brussels final, so the song was renamed “Boogaloo”. 

• 1988 | Cyprus: “Thimame (San to rock ‘n’ roll)” (Θυμάμαι (Σαν το ροκ-εν-ρολ)) (Greek) – Giannis Demetriou (Γιάννης Δημητρίου). Cyprus withdrew its already registered entry for breaching the contest’s rules by being published few years earlier, in an attempt to represent the country at a prior edition of the contest.  Cypriot broadcaster CyBC had selected the song ‘Thimame’ sung by Yiannis Dimitrou, and at a late stage saw that the song was ineligible to represent them as it had been entered into the Cypriot selection for the 1984 Contest, where it had finished in 3rd place. This was classed as a breach of the Cypriot rules of selecting their entry at this time as well as an infringement of the Eurovision Song Contest rules. It was a very late decision as the song was already drawn to perform second in the contest, advertised in the Radio Times information about the preview programme of the contest, and appears as song number two in accordance to its initial performance draw, on the record release “Melodi Grand Prix 1988” – the compilation disc of the contest’s entries.

• 1990 | Austria: “Das Beste” (German) – Duett. ÖRF used a national final to select their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1990, with the winner being decided through a mixture of televoting (50%) and an expert jury (50%). The winner of the final was Duett with the song “Das Beste”, however they were disqualified after it was revealed they had competed with the same song in the 1988 German National semi-final. The winner was then declared as Simone Stelzer with the song “Keine Mauern Mehr”.

• 1990 | Malta: “Our little world of yesterday” (English) – Maryrose Mallia. Malta were desperate to return to Eurovision in 1990, no doubt inspired by Maltese singer Ray Caruana’s good result for the UK, a second place, as lead singer of Live Report, the year before. Unfortunately, the rules at the time only permitted a maximum of 22 competitors and they would therefore have to wait a further year, when the Netherlands abstained, before they could return. Maryrose Mallia won their national song contest, which would have selected their eurovision entry. She recorded a version of this with previous Maltese contestant Renato, who represented them in 1975.

• 1991 | Norway: “Ett liv” (One life) (Norvegian) – Heidi Halvorsen. NRK, the Norwegian broadcasters, decided that the standard of the entries for the Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix of 1991 was too low, no doubt reflecting on their bottom placing a year previously. The group selected were Just 4 Fun, who were an amalgamation of four popular singers, Marianne Antonsen, Jan Groth, Eiríkur Hauksson and Hanne Krogh. Hauksson had previously represented Iceland at the Eurovision Song Contest 1986, as part of the group ICY with “Gleðibankinn”, while Krogh represented Norway twice before, inEurovision Song Contest 1971 with “Lykken er” and Eurovision Song Contest 1985, as part of duo Bobbysocks! that won the contest for Norway.. Later on, a Swedish broadcaster organised a contest amongst some of the original songs and this was won by Heidi Halvorsen with Ett liv. For the first time, NRK held an internal selection to select the Norwegian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1991, beacuse they meant that the songs they were getting, had bad quality. NRK had continuously used the Melodi Grand Prix contest to select the Norwegian entry for Eurovision, however for 1991 this was not used. Later, another Norwegian TV-channel, TV3, decided to hold a final with the best of the songs that was rejected because of this. Heidi Halvorsen won that competition with the song “Ett liv” (One life).

• 1992 | Switzerland: “Soleil, Soleil” (German) – Géraldine Olivier. Switzerland had to replace its original choice of entry, “Soleil, soleil” which was to have been performed by Géraldine Olivier. The song did not comply with some of the rules of the national selection contest and so, despite having won, it did not go to Malmö. The Swiss broadcaster, SRG SSR idée suisse, hosted a national final to select the Swiss entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1992, held in Malmö, Sweden. The contest was held at the Palazzo dei Congressi in Lugano on 23 February, hosted by Emanuela Gaggini. 10 songs competed, with the winner decided through the votes of 3 regional juries, an expert jury and a press jury. The winner of the contest was Geraldine Olivier with the song “Soleil, soleil”. However after the contest the song was disqualified after it was revealed that the song was inputted into the French-speaking broadcaster, Télévision Suisse Romande (TSR), for their selection for the contest with French lyrics and was rejected, before being entered into the German-speaking broadcaster, Schweizer Fernsehen (SF), and their selection for the contest with German lyrics and accepted. Therefore the song that came second, “Mister Music Man” by Daisy Auvray went to Malmö for Switzerland. “Mister Music Man” was composed by Gordon Dent.

• 1992 | Croatia: “Aleluja” (Hallelujah) (Croatian-Serbian) – Magazin. It appears that the first Dora was held in 1992, according to a Damaltian website which you can access here. Magazin won ahead of Severina in second place and Doris Dragovic in third. Interestingly, all three would go on to represent their country at Eurovision, as would Maja Blagdan, who finished in 10th place. There was, however, never any possibility that the winner would go on to represent Croatia in Malmo as full EBU membership had not been conferred in time. Along with former-Yugoslav nations, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzogovina, Croatia would qualify through a pre-selection event a year later. Croatia’s former sub-national broadcaster RTV Zagreb became the country’s national broadcaster, renamed Hrvatska radiotelevizija (HRT). The broadcaster first attempted to enter the Eurovision Song Contest as an independent nation in 1992, holding a national contest to select a song. However, as the broadcaster was not a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) at the time they were refused entry to the contest. The winner of the contest was Magazin with the song “Hallelujah”. The broadcaster became a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) on 1 January 1993, allowing it to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time as an independent nation in 1993.

• 1993 | Estonia: “Muretut meelt ja südametuld” (Sorrowless mind and flames of heart) (Estonian) – Janika Silamaa. In 1992, Janika was internally chosen to represent Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest 1993. Her song, “Muretut meelt ja südametuld”, however failed to pass the qualifying round in Ljubljana (Kvalifikacija za Millstreet / Qualification for Millstreet; Qualification pour Millstreet), where only the top three would secure places at Millstreet) and therefore was not able to participate in the Eurovision final, held in Millstreet, Ireland, that year. This finished in 5th place out of 7 with 47 points and Janika sang all 8 songs in the national final.

• 1993 | Slovakia: “Amnestia na neveru” (Amnesty to infidelity) (Slovak) – Elán. Slovenská Televízia (STV), the Slovakian broadacter, selected Slovakian band Elán to represent them for the first time in Eurovision Song Contest history. The song that represented Slovakia in Kvalifikacija za Millstreet was “Amnestia na neveru” (“Amnesty to infidelity”), This was also selected in a national final. Slovakia performed 7th in the running order, following Slovenia. Elán received 50 points for their song and performance, placing 4th, thereby failing to qualify.

• 1993 | Romania: “Nu pleca” (Don’t go away) (Romanian) – Dida Drăgan. Romania was one of seven countries who wished to join the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 1993, a pre-selection was held for the first time to reduce this number to three countries who would compete in the final of the Contest in May, held in Millstreet, Ireland. Televiziunea Română (TVR) held a national final to select the first Romanian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. 11 songs competed on 16 January to represent Romania at the Kvalifikacija za Millstreet (Qualification for Millstreet) pre-selection contest, with the winner selected in an opinion poll of 1100 households in Romania and neighbouring Moldova. Dida Drăgan was the winner of the contest with the song “Nu pleca” (Don’t go). Only the winner of the contest was announced, however it was rumoured that Laurenţiu Cazan was second with Laura Stoica third. This finished in 7th place out of 7 with 38 points.

• 1993 | Hungary: “Árva reggel” (Lonesome morning) (Hungarian) – Andrea Szulák. Hungary’s first entry was Andrea Szulák, selected by Magyar Televízió (MTV) to compete at the pre-selection with “Árva reggel”. Szulák performed fourth, following Estonia and preceding Romania. She received 44 points, placing 6th in the line-up, and failing to qualify to the grand final in Ireland.

• 1993 | France: “Le chat” () (French) – Pow woW. I have not seen any mention of this in the excellent biography of French selections put together by OGAE France, however, José Luis Uribarri (the TVE commentator in 1993) says during the transmission “Patrick Fiori was called in at the last minute because the original entrants, the popular band Pow woW, were withdrawn as it seems that the song was aired in earlier the group’s tour. 

• 1994 | Iceland: “Nætur” (Nature) (Icelandic) – Sigga (Sigrún Eva Ármannsdóttir). In 1994, Iceland televised a national final with just 3 songs. Sigga, one of the girls from Heart 2 Heart, Iceland’s representatives in 1992, won the show. The broadcasters were, however, unhappy that the song, as it stood, would not represent them creditably in Dublin and Irish arranger, Frank McNamara was therefore hired to re-arrange the song. In this process, Sigrun Eva was replaced by the other Heart 2 Heart girl, Sigga, who had also represented Iceland in 1990 as part of Stjornin.

• 1995 | Russia: “Karnaval” / “Carnaval” (Карнавал) (Russian) – Phillipp Kirkorov (Фили́пп Кирко́ров). Word has it that this was the original choice of song for Philip to take to Dublin but can anyone throw further light on this and, particularly, why it was decided to disqualify it?.

• 1995 | The Netherlands: “Bij alles wat ik doe” () – Wia Buze. Like Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland, the Netherlands had not qualified for the 1995 contest. The EBU-UER decreased the number of participants back to 23 to make sure the show wouldn’t last longer than 3 hours. 5 of the 6 countries that were relegated the previous year came back to the contest, Luxembourg decided to stop participating completely and Italy withdrew voluntarily, as in 1994. A radio contest was broadcast, which Wia won, however, this had no direct connection to eurovision.

• 1995 | FYRO Macedonia: “Ne me dopiraj” (Не допирај ме) (Macedonian) – Maja Odžaklievska (Маја Оџаклиевска, Маја Оџаклијевска). A Makvizija contest was held in 1995 with the express purpose of sending the winning song to Dublin, however, for whatever reason, the song was not ultimately entered. Odžaklievska won Skopje Fest (Скопје Фест / Festival na zabavni melodii Skopje, Фестивал на забавни мелодии Скопје) with the song “Ne me dopiraj” composed by Grigor Koprov with lyrics by Odžaklievska herself. Maja Odžaklievska’s performance on the Second Semi-Final evening of the revived Skopje Song Festival 1994, held on 16.04.94. 29 songs were performed at the Semi-Finals, 22 qualified for the Finals. “Ne me dopiraj” won the First Audience Award and the Festival’s GRAND PRIX in the Finals.

• 1995 | Estonia: “Vari ja Roos” (Estonian) – Evelin Samuel. Estonia were not eligle to participate in 1995 but still televised a national final, which Evelyn won. she won the Baltic song contest Via Baltica and a year later she won again with “Vari ja roos” at Uus Laul, a song contest organized by the Estonian Television. She would, of course, go on to represent Estonia 4 years later in Jerusalem. 

• 1996 | Spagna: “Noches de Bohemia” (Spanish) – Navajita Plateá. Spanish broadcaster, TVE, initially chose this song to represent them in Oslo, but withdrew it because it was part of the promotion of a competitive channel. Like the song, Ay que deseo! which was subsequently sent in its place, it Is a flamenco song, however this is a much stronger song in my view. 

• 1996 | Denmark: “Kun med dig” (Only with you) (Danish) – Dorthe Andersen & Martin Loft. In 1996, 30 countries registered for the final and for the only time in Eurovision history, an audio-only pre-qualifying round (from which hosts Norway were exempt, qualified automatically) was held on 20 March as 29 countries wished to participate in the final but the European Broadcasting Union had set a limit of 22 (plus Norway). All the 29 other songs went through a pre-selection process where audio tapes were played to each national jury of all 29 songs, including a jury from Norway. The top 22 songs went forward to the final. The audio-only pre-qualification round, which was never televised, was used by the EBU-UER in order to shortlist the number of participating nations that would compete in the televised final. This song won the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix on 9 March and finished 25th in the pre-selection. It has never been released, not even on a subsequent compilation of Danish Melodi Grand Prix songs. However, Denmark was one of seven countries which failed to qualify for the Eurovision final from a pre-qualifying round, so they were not represented in Oslo.

• 1996 | Germany: “Planet of Blue” (Blauer Planet) (German) – Leon. The 1996 Contest implemented an audio-only pre-qualification round for all competing country (except for host country Norway). 22 songs from the 29 competing could join Norway in the live final on 16 May. For the first time since 1992, a national final was held in Germany to select their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. At the contest, represented by Leon with the techno song “Planet of Blue”, Germany failed to progress from the pre-qualification round, leading to the first time that Germany failed to participate at Eurovision. It was the only year in the history of the ESC in which Germany did not participate in the final. For those fixated on the fairness, or otherwise, of the Big 4 ruling, think carefully about how sustainable this contest would be if this happened too often. 

• 1996 | FYRO Macedonia: “Samo Ti” (Само ти, Only you) (Macedonian) – Kaliopi (Калиопи). Winner of Skopje Fest, the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 1996. With the song “Samo ti”, she was awarded first place by the jury and the audience, winning the right to be the first representative for FYRO Macedonia at the Eurovision Song Contest. However, the 1996 Contest saw an influx of new participants and at a non-televised audio pre-selection, this finished in joint 26th place with Russia in the pre-qualifier. As a result FYRO Macedonia’s submission was never classified as a debut entry by the EBU-UER, the nation eventually went on to make their official televised debut in 1998. FYRO  Macedonia’s efforts to enter the contest were again hindered in 1997 when another new system was introduced where countries with the lowest average scores over the previous four years were excluded from participating.

• 1996 | Hungary: “Fortuna” (Hungarian) – Gjon Delhusa. Hungary chose Gjon Delhusa, with the song ‘”Fortuna”, to be their representative at the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest. It was selected in a national final. However, Hungary was one of seven countries which failed to qualify for the Eurovision final from a pre-qualifying round, so they were not represented in Oslo. The countries occupying the bottom seven places after the pre-qualifier would be unable to take part in the main contest. After the voting, “Fortuna” had received 26 points, tying with Finland for the final 22nd qualifying position, however the spot was awarded to Finland because the country attained a higher top score, bringing Hungary’s participation in 1996 to a premature end.

• 1996 | Israel: “Shalom olam” (שלום עולם) (Hebrew) – Galit Bell (). Winner of the 1996 Kdam, this finished in penultimate place in the pre-qualification round. It would seem that IBA, the Israeli broadcasters, sent a live version of the track to the pre-selection and this probably did not enhance its chances of being selected. The official Eurovision site does not count 1996 in Israel’s list of appearances.

• 1996 | Romania: “Rugă pentru pacea lumii” (Prayer for world peace) (Romanian) – Monica Anghel & Sincron. The song was chosen as the Romanian entry on a National Final held by Televiziunea Română (TVR) on 8 March. However, Romania was one of seven countries which failed to qualify for the Eurovision final from a pre-qualifying round, so they were not represented in Oslo. After the voting, “Rugă pentru pacea lumii” had received 11 points, placing 29th (last) and because of that Romania did not participated in 1996 Eurovision Song Contest. Monica’s luck would change significantly when she went to Estonia 6 years later and delivered Romania’s first top ten placing. 

• 1996 | Russia: “Ya eta ya” (Ja eto ja, Я это я, I am what I am) (Russian) –  Andrej Kosinski (Андрей Косинский). In 1996, Russia’s entry was Andrey Kosinski with the song “Me is me”, but on the eve of competition (for the second time in its history), he scored an insufficient number of points in a special qualifying round and therefore missed the final. Another to fall at the pre-qualification stage, this won the Russian national final.

• 1996 | Serbia-Montenegro: “Budi dobar kao to sam ja” (Буди добар као што сам ја) (Serbian) – Maja Odžaklievska (Маја Оџаклиевска, Маја Оџаклијевска). It seems that a national final was held in 1996 and, guess what, it was won by Maja Odzaklijevska! Boy was that woman ever unlucky! Of course Serbia-Montenegro were unable to enter due to ongoing sanctions. Original performance of the winning song from Mesam’s 1995 Pop Festival competition (МЕСАМ ’95), held on 25.02.1995 in Belgrade. “Budi dobar kao što sam ja” won the First Festival Prize (by the votes of the regional RTV studios) and Maja won the Best Interpretation Award. “Budi dobar kao što sam ja” was released on Maja’s album “Bele njive” (1995), followed by a video directed by Stole Popov. Maja Odžaklievska is one of the best female singers in former Yugoslavia. She sang at the Yugoslav national finals for the Eurovision 5 times – 1981 (Ne podnosim dan), 1982 (Julija, 2nd), 1983 (Lidu lidu du, 3rd), 1984 (Niki, 2nd) & 1988 (Te ljubam ludo, 5th) and also at the first (failed) Macedonian national Finals 1996 (Prosti mi, 2nd – look for the video on Youtube!) and again in 2006 (Koj pat da izberam (More lagi)). Recently she entered the Serbian pre-selection for Malmo with the song “Andjeo s neba”. She lives in Belgrade and still actively singing.

• 1996 | Slovakia: “Let the party go on” (English) – MC Erik & Barbara (Erik Aresta & Barbara Haščáková). Slovakia entered the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 in Oslo, after being relegated from the 1995 contest. Reported to have been the original choice to represent Slovakia, although Marcel Polander, who did represent them in Oslo, contends that this was untrue and that no official announcement had actually been made. 

• 1997 | Greece: “An Den Agapissis, Den Tha Agapissi” (Αν Δεν Αγαπήσεις, Δεν Θα Αγαπήσει) (Greek) – Dimosthenis Stringlis (Δημοσθένης Στριγκλής). This was selected but ERT demanded that the composer be replaced by another singer. Stringlis refused so the song was ditched.This was announced as the original choice to represent Greece in 1997. Dimosthenis was the composer of Greece’s song in 1993. ERT, the Greek broadcasters, however, were not happy to accept him as the singer and therefore told him that representation in Dublin would be reliant on finding an alternative singer. He refused to co-operate insisting that if the song went, he would sing it. It then transpired that another song, Horepse, would have been the original choice but the application details were not filled in correctly. ERT went back to the composer and this song therefore went to Dublin instead. It’s no wonder they went back to a televised national final the next year!.

• 1997 | FYR Macedonia: “Manastirski son” (Манастирски сон) (Macedonian) – Pece Ognenov (Пеце Огненов). Pece Ognenov performs “Manastirski son” at the finals of Skopje Song Festival 1997. There were 31 songs in competition, 22 in the finals. “Ljuboven son” finished 10th in the finals (36 points). “Manastirski son” won the festival’s Grand Prix (296 votes) and the Award for Best Stage Performance. However FYR Macedonia were relegated after not qualifying with their first song the previous year and would therefore have to wait another year before making the final. 

• 1997 | Austria: “Vienna” – Cora. In 1997, the standard of songs submitted to ÖRF, the Austrian broadcasters, was thought to be so low that further songs were commissioned. It was then rumoured that the song that won the internal selection was “Vienna”, however, there was no German lyric and the song could not therefore be sent to Dublin. Another of the newly-commissioned songs, performed by Betina Soriat would therefore go. In 1999, Vienna was re-submitted to the internal selection in 2 versions but lost out to Bobbie Singer.

• 1998 | Hungary: “Csak Neked!” (Hungarian) – Erika Zoltán. 2 schools of thought on this one.  Firstly that Erika was heavily pregnant and was unable to make it to Birmingham.  Secondly it’s also been rumoured that the song had been previously released as early as 1991.  Also strangely the Hungarian song that went to Birmingham had not appeared in the Hungarian NF.

• 1998 | Russia: “Solntse moyo” (Солнце моё) (Russian) – Tatiana Ovsienko (Татьяна Овсиенко). Russia did not broadcast the event due to withdrawals. In 1998 the Russian broadcaster ORT prepared to run internal preselections, but soon organisers realised that because of low average results in previous years Russia would not qualify to compete in 1998 (though there were rumours that Channel One had planned to name Tatyana Ovsienko as their representative, performing “Solntse moyo”). Because Russia did not participate, Channel One decided not to broadcast the 1998 contest. According to other sources Channel One had expected Channel Russia to broadcast the contest.

• 1999 | FYR Macedonia: “Sejachot” (Сејачот, The sower) (Macedonian) – Sašo Gigov-Giš (Сашо Гигов Гиш). Winner of Skopje 1999 (Скопје Фест 1999), having been runner-up a year earlier, but can anyone confirm what the song was or, better still. It did not go to Jerusalem as FYR Macedonia were relegated until 2000. One year after the timeless “Samovilska svadba” from Skopje Fest ( Macedonian ESC – NF ) 1998, Sasho Gigov Gish performed another great ethno song “Sejachot” (The Sower) and won the Grand Prix. The composer is most probably Gligor Koprov, but you’re welcome to leave a comment if you know the producing team of the song for sure.

• 1999 | Bosnia & Herzegovina: “Starac I More” (The old man and the sea) (Bosnian) – Hari Mata Hari. The original winner was of the Bosnian national final declared to be Hari Mata Hari, however was disqualified one month after their entry was discovered to have been released in Finland two years previously by a different singer. The singer would later represent the country in 2006. Consequently, the runner-up, Dino & Béatrice with “Putnici”, was declared the new winner and represented Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Eurovision Song Contest 1999.

• 1999 | Germany: “Hör’ Den Kindern Einfach Zu” (Just listen to the children) (German) – Corinna May. On March 16, it was announced that the Corinna May’s winning song was also disqualified after her song was revealed to have been released in 1997 by a different singer since entering a cover song was (and still is) contrary to the rules. The original version was called “Where Have All The Good Times Gone?” by a group called Number 9. She would later represent the country in 2002.

• 2000 | Portugal: “Sonhos mágicos” (Magical dreams) (Portuguese) – Liana. Portugal were relegated from the 2000 contest, however, RTP, the Portuguese Broadcaster, still conducted a national final ‘Festival RTP da Canção 2000’ which Liana won. In 2000 the winner Liana did not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000, as Portugalhad for the first time been relegated due to consecutive poor showings.

• 2001 | FYR Macedonia: “Nostalgija” (Носталгија, Nostalgia) (Macedonian) – Andrijana Janevska (Андријана Јаневска). FYR Macedonia just missed out on qualifying for the 2001 contest but Skopje 2001 went ahead regardless and Andrijana emerged as winner with this nice ballad. On March 2001, with the hit “Nostalgija” (“Nostalgia”) Andrijana got first place from the public, first place from the jury, and the festival’s Grand-Prix at SkopjeFest. What a shame this did not get the opportunity to go to Copenhagen. 

• 2002 | Lithuania: “We All” (Mes čia!) (English) – B’Avarija. B’Avarija in 2002 won the finals with their song “We All”, however this win had to be disqualified, just over a month later as the song had been released the previous year in Lithuanian language version, under the title “Mes čia!” (We Are Here). Under the rules, a song may not be released before 1 January of the year of the relevant contest.  In fact, many of the Lithuanian national final entries had already been released, rendering them ineligible under Contest rules. Officials argued that the lyrics were different (as it was in a different language) and therefore a different song, however the EBU-UER rules that the song was not different enough and therefore could not be used in the main Eurovision Song Contest 2002. It is thought that the Lithuanian broadcasters had not fully understood the rules as a number of the songs competing in the final had also been released earlier. Aivaras, who was second in the national finals, went to the contest for Lithuania instead.

• 2003 | Serbia-Montenegro: “Čija si” (To Whom Do You Belong?) (Serbian) – Toše Proeski (Тоше” Проески). Tose won Beovizija 2003, the competition used to select Serbia’s (but not Montenegro’s) songs in subsequent years. There was never any prospect of this going to Riga, although Macedonian singer, Tose, would be asked to sing all eight songs in the pre-selection for FYR Macedonia the following year, making it through the pre-qualifier and into the final. Proeski won Beovizija in Belgrade on April 2003, with “Čija Si” (“To Whom Do You Belong?”), a song which became a huge hit in Macedonia and the other former republics. This song was due to represent Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 but the EBU stated that too many countries wanted to enter in that year and so some would be forced to withdraw. Serbia and Montenegro (who participated as one country at the time) were one of them. In 2004, MKTV chose Proeski to represent Macedonia at the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul, Turkey, and in February, he performed eight songs, where a jury, televoting, and his own opinion chose the song. The song “Angel Si Ti” (“You’re an Angel”) was chosen by all three. In April, Proeski released his album “Dan Za Nas” (“A Day For Us”), which featured the eight songs from the Eurovision selection in Macedonian. In May, Proeski finished 14th with the song “Life”, which was the English version of “Angel Si Ti”. Prior to the contest he was popularised by reporters due to his tremendous opera singing ability, at his press conferences. All eight songs were recorded in English, but only the winning song of the national final, “Life,” was released. During the TV national final show, after each song was performed, a clip of the song was played in English to show viewers how it would sound if that song won the contest and was performed in English at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 final.

• 2003 | Albania: “Brënda vetes më merr” (Albanian) – Mira Konçi. Albania, along with Belarus, Serbia-Montenegro and Ukraine, registered for the 2003 event. Initially, the EBU-UER indicated that participation should be fine, however, on review, it was felt that this would require too many existing nations to be barred from competing. As it was planned to incorporate a pre-qualification round from 2004 onwards, they were asked to defer from competition a further year. Ukraine appealed and the EBU-UER included one extra nation  in the 2003 competition. Mira won the Festivali i 41-të i Këngës në RTSH competition in December 2002, the contest used to select Albania’s eurovision song.

• 2004 | France: “Non, L’aissez Moi Le Temps” (French) – Jonathan Cerrada. France Télévisions decided that they would select their entry internally and as a result, Cerrada will represented the country. At first, the broadcaster chose a different song entitled “Laissez-moi le temps”, but decided to use the alternative “À chaque pas” (With Every Step) instead of the original decision.

• 2005 | Belarus: “Boys and Girls” (English) – Angelica Agurbash (Анжалікі Агурбаш). “Boys and Girls” was intended to be the Belarusian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, to be performed in English by Angelica Agurbash. As it was not performed, the song enters a very exclusive group of only three of four songs to be announced as an entry before not being performed. The song is an emotional ballad, with the lyrics written as a plea to the children of the world, reminding them that they are the future. Due in part to the unfashionable style of the song but also to its subject matter (the song is based around the Beslan school hostage crisis, which is unusual in English language songs), it did not attract a favourable reception prior to the Contest. Thus, Agurbash chose to perform the up-tempo dance number “Love Me Tonight” instead. Ironically, the Finnish entry at the 2005 Contest (“Why?” by Geir Rönning) was themed around the same events, although it did not qualify from the semi-final. 

• 2005 | Lebanon: “Quand Tout S’enfuit” (French) – Aline Lahoud (الين لحود). Lebanon has never participated in the Eurovision Song Contest. The country’s broadcasting organization, Télé Liban, was set to make the country’s debut at the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song “Quand tout s’enfuit” performed by Aline Lahoud, but was forced to withdraw due to Lebanon’s laws banning the broadcast of Israeli content.

• 2006 | France: “Vous, C’est Nous” (You are us) (French) – Virginie Pouchain. France’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was selected in a national final consisting of talent search performers. It was held on 14 March and the public and a panel of experts, presided by Charles Aznavour, combined to select the winner. Virginie Pouchain decided to take part in ‘Entrée des Artistes’, a musical show hosted by Pascal Sevran. Virginie won that competition and along with three other participants, she entered ‘Et si c’était vous?’, the French broadcaster’s national final for Eurovision, which was intended to have new talents emerge. Out of 21 participants, she was chosen to move on to the next round of the competition along with two others after she interpreted Céline Dion’s French hit, “Pour que tu m’aimes encore”. She won the final after gaining the jury’s and televoters’ support to gain selection for Athens. Virginie Pouchain was selected to represent France at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song “Vous, c’est nous” (You are us), but the song was later changed to “Il était temps” (It was time), as Virginie complained to the songwriter, Corneille Nyungura, that it did not suit her style. The song was composed by Corneille Nyungura & Virginie Pouchain. 

• 2006 | Serbia & Montenegro: “Moja Ljubavi” (Моја љубави, My love) (Montenegrin) – No Name (Но нејм). Although Serbia & Montenegro did not compete in the contest, they still regained voting rights due to a scandal that was caused during their National Selection. “Moja ljubavi” was placed second in the Montenegrin semifinal Montevizija 2006 and won the Serbo-Montenegrin Eurovision Song Contest national selection Evropesma/Europjesma 2006 with a new arrangement and therefore became the Serbian and Montenegrin entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. But, due to the accusations of tactical voting of the RTCG jury members (Serbian TV protested that the voting of Montenegran jurors was partisan and proposed a second final with different voting). Montenegran TV believed that their song had won fairly and squarely. The two sides could not agree before the entry deadline so UJRT decided that Serbia and Montenegro would withdraw from ESC 2006. 

• 2006 | Ucraina: “I am Your Queen” (Я – твоя королева) (Inglese) -Tina Karol (Тіна Кароль). Ukraine’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was chosen in a selection process called “Ty-Zirka” (Ти — зірка!), the Ukrainian version of the Irish show “You’re A Star”. In 2006 Karol won at the casting for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song “I Am Your Queen” and therefore represented Ukraine at the event finishing 7th, scoring 145 points, with a revised version of the song entitled “Show Me Your Love”. The final took place on 11 March and both the televoters and jury agreed that Tina Karol should represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song I am Your Queen. Kirill Turichenko and Irina Rosenfeld accumulated 21 points but it was Irina who finished 2nd following the televote. For Eurovision, the lyrics of the song changed and Show Me Your Love was performed by Tina.

• 2006 | Moldova: 1. “Made in Moldova” – Serj Cuzencoff (Serj Kuzencoff) / 2. “Sing your song” – Moldstar & Alexa (Rodica Stegarescu, Dana Marchitan, Alexa & Serj Coston) / 3. “Zii lauta” (Sing guitar) – Geta Berlacu. What a farce this second-ever Moldovan selection process was. Three songs tied for first place. Under the rules in place, the youngest jury member was required to select which of the three songs should go forward! He (or she) refused to do this, or so we are led to believe. Clearly, however, the Moldovan broadcasters were less than tickled with any of the songs as, logically, they would have chosen one from the three. Instead, another final was organised which, initially, the singers of these three songs refused to enter. Subsequently Serj Cuzencoff, who arguably had the strongest chance, relented, and finished as runner-up to Arsenium from O-Zone. The first Moldovan national final took place on 25 February 2006 at the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Chisinau. The combination of televoting (50%) and an eight member jury vote (50%) resulted in the three-way tie between “Made in Moldova” performed by Serj Cuzencoff, “Sing your song” performed by Moldstar and Alexa and “Zii lauta” performed by Geta Burlacu. Under the competition’s tiebreak rules, the youngest member of the jury was required to cast the deciding vote and select the winner, however, the juror abstained from voting. The national final ended without selecting a winning song.

• 2009 | Georgia: “We Don’t Wanna Put In” (English) – Stephane & 3G (სტეფანე და 3G). Georgia originally announced their intention to withdraw, but it was later stated by the EBU-UER that the country would indeed participate (after being placed to compete in the first semi-final on 12 May). However, Georgia later decided to withdraw after the EBU-UER rejected its song as being a breach of contest rules (Section 4 Rule 9 of the Rules of the 54th Eurovision Song Contest). Just months after the war in South Ossetia, Georgia in a public final chose to send to Moscow a retro disco number Stefane & 3G with “We Don’t Wanna Put In” gained coverage and controversy due to perceived political connotations within its lyrics relating to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. “Put in” sounded alike with Putin. The words “put in” are sung with accented pronunciation as “poot een”, which is how the Russian prime minister’s name is pronounced. The EBU-UER rejected the song due to these political connotations, calling it a clear breach of the contest’s rules. The EBU-UER then asked the Georgian broadcaster GPB on 10 March to change either the lyrics of the song or to select a new song to compete for the country. In the face of the pressure to make alterations to the lyrics from some of Russia’s and Georgia’s cultural and political figures (including Diana Gurtskaya, 2008 competitor from Georgia, and David Gamkrelidze, leader of the New Rights Party of Georgia), but GPB refused to change the lyrics or the song, claiming that the song contained no political references, and that the rejection by the EBU-UER was due to political pressure from Russia. As such, GPB withdrew Georgia from the contest on 11 March. The EBU-UER never made a comment on the country’s withdrawal. On 11 May the band admitted the political content of the song and their intention was just to embarrass Putin in Moscow. As a result of refusing to change the song lyrics and decision to withdraw the song developed in an idea to start an AlterVision Open Air Song Contest. First Open Air AlterVision Song Contest was held in Tbilisi (Georgia) on May 15–17, 2009.

• 2009 | Hungary: “If You Wanna Party” (Vigyen a szél) (English) – Márk Zentai. After an internal selection, with both the performer and song being selected internally. On February 3, after receiving a total of 105 entries, MTV revealed that they had selected Márk Zentai to represent Hungary at the contest in Moscow, Russia, with the song “If You Wanna Party”. However, shortly after the announcement of the proposed Hungarian entry, it came to light that the song selected had been released in 2004 under the title “We Became Friends”, which acted as the Swedish Big Brother theme song. Zentai withdrew his song from the selection shortly after this news became apparent, and MTV set about finding a new entrant for the contest.

• 2009 | Hungary: “Magányos Csónak” (Lonely boat) (Hungarian) – Kátya Tompos. After an internal selection, with both the performer and song being selected internally. On February 4, MTV announced that actress Kátya Tompos would replace Zentai as the Hungarian representative, competing with the song “Magányos csónak” (Lonely boat). However the Alliance of Hungarian Popular Music Composers and Songwriters protested that they did not feel as if the jury had long enough to make a correct decision on 3 February, and were dissatisfied with the internal selection instead of a national final where the public could vote for the winner. Other claims were made as well, such as that the songwriters have to be from his or her motherland and that the jury was not professional. MTV, however, stood by their decision of selecting the song internally, as well as revealing that the jury of television and music industry professionals chose the song all day long on 3 February, and that they were satisfied with the jury’s decision. On 10 February, Tompos announced her withdrawal from the contest, alleging she wanted to focus on her theatre career and that she had no time to prepare her participation in Eurovision properly, because she takes part in 8 plays of 3 different theatres. The MTV jury had to convene once again to select another artist to represent Hungary at Eurovision. On 23 February, MTV held a press conference about this year’s entrant. They mentioned that the jury chose three songs before the final decision was made to be sure one of them will not withdraw and completely meet the requirements. Then they announced the official entrant, which was Zoli Ádok with the song “Dance With Me”. Rather than select another singer to interpret the song, the TV station chose a completely different third entry. 

• 2010 | Belarus: “Far Away” (English) – 3+2. “Far Away” having been chosen internally by BTRC to represent Belarus in Oslo. The song had previously taken part in the ONT contest “Musical Court”, which was planned to be used to select the Belarusian entry for the Contest before ONT’s application to join the EEBU-UER, the contest’s organisers, was rejected. News reports suggested that a “back-up” entry had been also chosen (why, it was not explained) by another artist. Less than a month later, after underwhelming internet reaction to the original song, Belarus announced that their entry was being replaced, not with the back-up, but with a new song by the original group and will now perform the song “Butterflies” at the contest, written byMaxim Fadeev and Malka Chaplin.

• 2010 | Ukraine: “I Love You…” (English, Ukrainian) – Vasyl Lazarovych (Василь Лазарович). On 29 December 2009 he was selected internally to represent Ukraine at the ESC 2010 in Oslo. On 6 March 2010 was the song “I Love You”, performed in both English and Ukrainian, chosen from five songs (all performed by Lazarovych) by the public as his song. On 15 March, one week before the deadline for Eurovision entries to be submitted to the EBU-UER, it was announced that NTU may hold another national final to replace Lazarovych as the Ukrainian entry for the Contest, (because the song was not good enough), with a new (last minute) national final to take place on 20 Marchwhere 20 finalists were chosen from an open audition of songs. However, he participated in the new national final with “I Love You” on 20 March to attempt to continue his Eurovision participation, but he just placed seventh. The winner of the new national selection was Alyosha, who will represent Ukraine with her song “Sweet People”, which replaced her song “To Be Free” due to allegations of plagiarism and evidence that the song was publicly available two years prior.

• 2010 | Ukraine: “To Be Free” (English, Ukrainian) – Alyosha (Aльоша). She replaced Vasyl Lazarovych who was originally picked on December 29, 2009 to represent Ukraine. After some political changes that took place in Ukraine his candidacy was withdrawn on March 15 under suspicion that he was picked with the help of the current director of the State National Television (1st National) Vasyl Ilashchuk. The petition to organize another concourse and to cancel the current results was signed by several famous Ukrainian performers such as Taisia Povaliy, Ruslana Pysanka, Kostyantyn Meladze, and many others. The winner of the new national selection declared by a professional jury and SMS voting was Alyosha and Masha Sobko. With Alyosha getting the most points from the professional jury she was declared the winner with her song “To Be Free”. After the national final on 20 March, allegations were made that the song plagiarized the Linda Perry and Grace Slick song “Knock Me Out” and had been made available publicly 2 years before its entry in the national final ( the winning song has been available for purchase (under the name of Alonya) at Amazon.de since 12 April 2008). This would break the rules of the Eurovision Song Contest. A new song, “Sweet People”, was chosen, two days after the 22 March deadline had passed, so NTU was fined by the EBU-UER. Alyosha will represent Ukraine with her song “Sweet People”, that was revealed on 24 March.

• 2011 | Belarus: “I Am Belarusian” (English) – Anastasiya Vinnikova (Анастасия Винникова). “I Am Belarusian” (previously Born in Bielorussia or Born in Byelorussia), after being internally selected by the Belarusian national television was unveiled as their song for Düsseldorf. However the song had to be withdrawn after it was discovered that it was sung in public in the summer of 2010. It was changed to another song called “I Love Belarus”.

• 2012 | Belarus: “All My Life” (English) – Alyona Lanskaya (Алёна Ланская).  Alyona Lanskaya participated in Eurofest 2012 singing the song “All My Life” in a bid to represent Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 held in Baku, Azerbaijan. However she was later disqualified following an investigation about rigged televoting which made her song the winning entry. After advancing to the semi-finals that was held on December 21, 2011, she qualified for the Eurofest 2012 finals as one of the five chosen from the 15 entries. The finals was held on 14 February 2012 where the song came first and won by 12 points from televotes making the song Belarus’ entry for Eurovision Song Contest 2012. However on February 24, 2012 it was announced that Lanskaya was disqualified after the Belorussian President conducted an investigation leading to her “unfair” win in Eurofest 10 days earlier. There were rumours circulating that the producers had rigged the televoting giving her 12 points making her the winner. In response to the allegations, the president ordered an immediate investigation and it was later confirmed to be true. This was the first time that an act who won a national selection was disqualified since Ukraine’s original artist was disqualified in 2010. She was replaced by Litesound instead, who got second place in Eurofest finals, and were internally chosen as the new representatives of Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku.

• 2012 | Italy: “Per Sempre” (Forever) (Italian) – Nina Zilli. Nina Zilli competed in the “Big Artists” section of the Festival di Sanremo 2012, placing seventh in a field of fourteen entries. During the contest, Zilli was also chosen by a specific jury to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 (was announced by the ESC 2011 winners Ell & Nikki), but it was announced that it would not be with her festival song.  After being confirmed as the Italian entry to the contest, one week later RAI and Universal Music Italy announced that the song was replaced by “L’amore è femmina (Out of Love)”, also performed by Nina Zilli in English-Italian language.

• 2012 | San Marino: “Facebook Uh, Oh, Oh (A Satirical Song)” (Italian) – Valentina Monetta. “Facebook Uh, Oh, Oh (A Satirical Song)” was chosen internally by the San Marino broadcaster SMRTV to represent San Marino at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. On 18 March 2012, a few days after the song was announced, the EBU-UER deemed that the song contained an unreasonable commercial message for Facebook, which resulted in the lyrics’ disqualification; according to the Eurovision Rule 1.2.2.g, commercial messages within songs are not allowed. San Marino was given the option of submitting a new song, or revising the lyrics to remove any references to Facebook, no later than 12:00 CET on 23 March 2012. On 22 March 2012, SMRTV announced that the song and its lyrics has been revised with a new title, “The Social Network Song (OH OH – Uh – OH OH)”, with mostly the same lyrics, except without directly mentioning Facebook.

• 2012 | Denmark: “Nowhere” (English) – Valen:Tine (Tine Lynggaa). Speaking of technicalities, last year’s Dansk Melodi Grand Prix allowed ‘Nowhere’, by Tine Lynggaa (performing as Valen:Tine) through to the National Finals. Even though it broke DR’s date rule, the October release still sneaked in under the EBU date of September 1st. Unfortunately it was never written as a Eurovision song, so the demo version uploaded to YouTube in the summer by Lynggaa was enough to qualify as a prior performance and into the ‘disqualified’ playlist went ‘Nowhere’.

• 2013 | F.Y.R.O. Macedonia: “Imperija” (Империја, Empire) (Macedonian) – Esma Redžepova & Vlatko Lozanoski (Есма Реџепова & Влатко Лозаноски). Unlike their Bulgarian neighbours, the Macedonians selected internally for 2013. On 8 March, several Macedonian media outlets reported that the song “Imperija” would be withdrawn as the Eurovision entry and replaced with a different song “Pred da se razdeni”  (Before the sunrise, Пред да се раздени with the English version being If I Could Change The World), ostensibly due to the poor internet reaction.     

• 2013 | Belarus: “Rhythm of Love” (English) – Alyona Lanskaya (Алёна Ланская). For the fourth year in a row the Belarus entry was replaced. The original song was selected (chosen from nine other songs) on 7 December 2012 through a combination of the Belarusian national selection, ‘Eurofest’ and an internal song selection carried out by the winning artist. After receiving top points from both the jury (50%) and the public vote (50%), Alyona Lanskaya was selected to represent Belarus in Malmö. While her song, “Rhythm of Love”, was also selected, the Eurofest rules specified that the winning artist was free to change the song if they were able to find a more suitable alternative. After the public contest, the responsible committee of Belarusian BTRC network, decided to replace it and on 6 March 2013 announced the song “Solayoh” to be sung by Lanskaya at the Eurovision Song Contest.On 26 February 2013, it was discovered that the songwriters Marc Paelinck and Martin King had the demo version of the song on their MySpace account. The EBU-UER has also decided that this won’t give any advantage to the Belarusian entry, and “Solayoh” went on to reach the 16th place in the final of 2013.

• 2013 | Bulgaria: “Kismet” (Кисмет) (Bulgarian) – Elitsa Todorova & Stoyan Yankoulov (Елица Тодорова & Стоян Янкулов). The Bulgarian entry was selected through a combination of an internal selection to select the artist and a national final to select the song (three candidate songs), organised by the Bulgarian broadcaster BNT. The combined jury/televote produced a tied result. After a tie between “Samo shampioni” (Само шампиони) and “Kismet” (Кисмет), the televoting results took precedence which resulted in “Kismet” being selected as the winning song for Malmö.  After a week later apparently due to copyrights issues with Jonatan Tesei, one of the apparent authors of the song that BNT was misinformed about of the national final. The broadcaster’s possession of copyrights for the entry “Kismet”, are required under the rules of the Eurovision Song Contest, the song was replaced with the runner-up.

• 2015 | Germany: “Heart Of Stone” (English) – Andreas Kümmert. The song was originally chosen to represent Germany in Vienna. Unser Song für Österreich (Our Song for Austria) was the competition that selected Germany’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. Eight artists participated in the competition with two songs each; seven of the participants were established artists, while the eighth participant was selected from a club concert wildcard round for new talents (1.213 entries were received). Ten artists were selected to compete and the winner of the wildcard round, Ann Sophie with “Jump the Gun”, was determined solely by public televoting. The national final featured eight competing artists performing their song entries. The selection of the winning entry was to occur over three rounds with public televoting determining the results for each round. The first round reduced eight artists to four (each artist performed one of the two songs they had selected to perform first), the second reduced four artists to two (each artist performed one of the two songs) and the third round, public televoting determined the winning entry. Andreas Kümmert was announced as the winner, however he declined the opportunity to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest and Ann Sophie and her song “Black Smoke” was declared the German representative.

• 2015 | Albania: “Diell / Të kërkoj” (Sun) (Albanian) – Elhaida Dani. The song was originally going to represent Albania in Vienna. The entry would’ve been performed by Elhaida Dani, and was written by Aldo Shllaku, Viola Trebicka and Sokol Marsi, however on 23 February 2015 the songwriters decided to withdraw the song and Dani will perform something else at Eurovision. The following day it was revealed that Dani will perform “I’m Alive”.

• 2016 | Malta: “Chameleon (Invincible)” (English) – Ira Losco. “Chameleon” is a song performed by Maltese singer Ira Losco. Originally, the song would haverepresented Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. However, the Maltese broadcaster TVM later changed it to “Walk on Water”.

• 2016 | Romania: “Moment of Silence” (English) – Ovidiu Anton. “Moment of Silence” is a song performed by Romanian singer Ovidiu Anton. The song was scheduled to represent Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. Due to defaulted payments by the nation’s national broadcaster, TVR, the song was disqualified from the contest.

• 2016 | Germania: “?” () – Xavier Naidoo. On 19 November 2015, Naidoo was announced as the German representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. His entry was due to be chosen from six competing entries in a national final in February. However, his selection proved controversial. Naidoo’s right wing political views, coupled with homophobic lyrics in his 2012 song (featuring Kool Savas) “Wo sind sie jetzt”, led to calls for his selection to be reconsidered. Within a day, an online petition had gathered nearly 15,000 signatories. Claudia Roth, a vice-president of the Bundestag for the German Green Party, also criticised the decision, citing the poor timing, with right wing political causes gaining popularity in the wake of the migrant crisis. On 21 November, it was revealed by the German broadcaster, NDR, that Germany had withdrawn the singer’s participation. Il 19 novembre 2015 era stato annunciato che l’artista avrebbe rappresentato la Germania all’Eurovision Song Contest 2016; la decisione è stata però poi annullata due giorni dopo in seguito alle proteste dovute alla sua appartenenza alla Reichsbürgerbewegung (a group that believes that the German Reich continues to exist in its pre-WWII borders) e agli insulti contro gli ebrei e le persone LGBT nei suoi brani  (in his song “Raus aus dem Reichstag”).  

• 2016 | Italia: “Un giorno mi dirai” (One day you will tell me) (Italian) – Stadio. La canzone vincitrice della sezione Campioni è stata “Un giorno mi dirai” degli Stadio, come già accaduto l’anno precedente, ai vincitori della sezione Campioni è stato riservato il diritto di rappresentare l’Italia all’Eurovision Song Contest 2016. In seguito alla rinuncia degli Stadio, tale possibilità è stata concessa dalla Rai a Francesca Michielin, seconda classificata nella categoria Campioni con il brano “Nessun grado di separazione”.

• 2016 | Albania: “Përrallë” (Albanian) – Eneda Tarifa. Eneda ha preso parte per una terza volta al Festivali i Këngës, la cui finale si è tenuta il 27 dicembre 2014. La sua canzone, intitolata Përrallë, scritta da Olsa Toqi, è stata proclamata vincitrice del concorso e le garantirà la partecipazione all’Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in qualità di rappresentante dell’Albania. Al contest, Eneda ha cantato Fairytale, la versione tradotta in inglese, presentata il 13 marzo 2016 sul canale YouTube dell’Eurovision e messa in commercio il 30 marzo. Eneda si è esibita nella seconda semifinale dell’Eurovision, svolta il 12 maggio 2016 a Stoccolma, ma non si è qualificata per la finale del 14 maggio.

• 2017 | Russia: “Flame is burning” (English) – Julia Samoylova. La cantante russa Julia Samoylova è stata selezionata per rappresentare la Russia nella competizione con il brano “Flame is burning”. Tuttavia, il 22 marzo 2017 è stato rilasciato un divieto di accesso sul territorio ucraino nei suoi confronti di una durata di tre anni per aver attraversato illegalmente il confine ucraino in occasione di un’esibizione in Crimea; è la prima edizione dove lo Stato organizzatore non permette ad un’artista di entrare nel Paese. Jon Ola Sand, dopo aver confermato la notizia, ha spiegato che l’EBU-UER deve attenersi alle leggi locali del Paese organizzatore. Tuttavia ha detto di essere profondamente in disaccordo con questa decisione, spiegando che: “Va contro lo spirito del concorso e la nozione di inclusività che si pone nel cuore dei suoi valori. Continueremo a dialogare con le autorità ucraine con l’obiettivo di assicurare che tutti gli artisti possano esibirsi al 62° Eurovision Song Contest a Kiev”. Tuttavia il 31 marzo 2017 il divieto di accesso nei confronti della Samoylova è stato reso definitivo. A confermare tutto ciò è stato il Ministro degli Esteri ucraino Pavel Klimkin spiegando che: “La risposta è semplice. Concessioni, formali o informali, sono impossibili perché la legge deve essere applicata a tutti. Se la legge viene violata, ogni passo indietro è fuori discussione”. L’EBU-UER aveva offerto all’emittente russa Channel One Russia un compromesso e due possibili soluzioni, permettendo all’artista di esibirsi in collegamento via satellite da una sede a scelta dell’emittente o che venisse permesso ad un altro cantante di recarsi in Ucraina al posto suo, ma entrambe le proposte sono state rifiutate sia da Channel One Russia che dal governo ucraino. Il 13 aprile 2017 Channel One Russia ha annunciato quindi ufficialmente che la Russia non avrebbe partecipato alla gara e non avrebbe più trasmesso l’evento.  Russia announced their withdrawal on 13 April 2017, after their singer, Yulia Samoylova, was banned from entering Ukraine after the government said she had illegally travelled directly to Crimea, a region that was annexed by Russia in 2014, to give a performance. The European Broadcasting Union condemned Ukraine’s actions. Russian singer Yulia Samoylova was selected to represent Russia with the song “Flame Is Burning”. However, she was issued a three-year travel ban on entering Ukraine by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), for illegally crossing the Ukrainian border during her 2015 visit to Crimea – a region that was annexed by Russia in 2014. According to Ukrainian law, entering Crimea by foreigners via Russia is illegal. Samoylova has stated that she did perform in Crimea in 2015. The EBU responded by stating that it was continuing to ensure that all entrants would be able to perform in Kiev, and their disappointment about the lack of compromise from the broadcasters. A compromise was offered to Channel One Russia from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to allow Samoylova to perform her entry via satellite link from a venue of the broadcaster’s choice, which was later turned down by the Russian broadcaster and the Ukrainian government. The chief of the EBU, Ingrid Deltenre, condemned Ukraine’s actions, describing them as “abusing the ESC for political reasons” and “absolutely unacceptable”. On 13 April, Russian broadcaster Channel One announced their withdrawal from the contest and stated that the broadcaster may not air the contest.

• 2019 | Ucraina: “Siren song” (English) – Maruv (Hanna Korsun) / MARUV (Ганна Корсун). Nel 2019, ha vinto la selezione nazionale per rappresentare l’Ucraina all’Eurovision Song Contest 2019 con il brano Siren Song, ma a causa di alcune incongruenze tra l’artista e l’emittente radiotelevisiva ucraina UA:PBC, si è ritirata dall’incarico. A seguito del ritiro di Tayanna, Maruv viene selezionata per il Vidbir 2019, processo di selezione nazionale per l’Eurovision Song Contest con il brano Siren Song. Nella serata finale, ha vinto il televoto nella finale, ed è stata posizionata seconda dalla giuria, accumulando abbastanza punti da risultare la vincitrice dell’intera selezione e quindi diventando di diritto la rappresentante ucraina all’Eurovision Song Contest 2019 a Tel Aviv. Tuttavia, dopo che è stato rilevato che si esibirà in due concerti in Russia nei mesi successivi, dopo l’intervento militare russo del 2014 in Ucraina, le relazioni tra Russia e Ucraina sono deteriorate, il Vice Primo Ministro e Ministro della Cultura Vyacheslav Kyrylenko ha affermato che gli artisti che hanno girato in Russia o “che non riconoscono l’integrità territoriale dell’Ucraina” non dovrebbero rappresentare il paese ad una manifestazione internazionale come l’Eurovision. Il 24 febbraio 2019, il canale televisivo UA:PBC, ha offerto all’artista un contratto con una clausola che le permette di partecipare alla manifestazione a patto di annullare tutti i concerti in Russia. In caso di rifiuto il canale ucraino potrà decidere un nuovo rappresentante tramite propri criteri. In seguito al rifiuto della cantante di firmare il contratto, l’emittente selezionerà internamente un altro rappresentante, ma non tra i primi classificati della finale del Vidbir, che si sono a loro volta rifiutati di sostituire Maruv.

• 2020 | 2020 contest was cancelled due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus. On 18 March 2020, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU-UER) announced that the event would be cancelled because of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Europe. This marks the first time in the contest’s 64-year history that it has been cancelled. Following its cancellation, the organising European Broadcasting Union (EBU-UER) is discussing carryovers for the 2021 contest, such as host city and participating artists, with various parties. Impacts of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic and cancellation. In 2020, the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China and its spread to other countries around the world raised concerns and the potential impact over staging the Eurovision Song Contest. On 6 March NPO, the Dutch broadcaster, stated “Eurovision organisers would follow the advice of health authorities in deciding what form the event, due to be held on 12-16 May, would take.” In March, authorities in Denmark urged the cancellation of events with more than 1,000 spectators to limit the spread of the virus. This resulted in the Danish national final being held with no live audience. Representatives from Sweden, Finland, Israel, Switzerland, Italy and Greece pulled out of the Heads of Delegation meeting on 9 March. Jon Ola Sand attended the meeting remotely after a travel restriction was placed on EBU staff until 13 March after an employee contracted the virus. Eden Alene, the Israeli representative, revealed that she would not travel to the Netherlands to film her postcard as a precaution to COVID-19. The broadcaster noted they would try to find another way to film her postcard. The Lithuanian representatives The Roop also cancelled both the travel plans to film their postcard and their participation in pre-contest parties in London and Amsterdam. The Bulgarian representative Victoria also cancelled her participation in pre-contest parties in London and Amsterdam. On 13 March Eurovision-Spain, organisers of the pre-party planned for 10-11 April in Madrid, announced that it would be postponed due to threats of the virus until further notice. On the same day, the organisers of Israel Calling, a pre-party planned in Tel Aviv, announced that it would be cancelled. On 16 March, the organisers of Eurovision in Concert, a pre-party planned in Amsterdam, announced that it would be cancelled. On the same day, the organisers of the pre-party London Eurovision Party announced that it would be postponed due to threats of the virus until further notice. It was ultimately decided that the contest itself would be cancelled as a result of the pandemic, which was announced on 18 March 2020. The reference group for the contest explored the option of letting the acts selected for the 2020 contest instead take part in the following year. It decided on 20 March 2020 that, in accordance with the rules of the Eurovision Song Contest, the 2020 songs would not be eligible to compete in the 2021 contest and would instead be honoured in a non-competitive manner. Il 18 marzo 2020, l’EBU-UER ha annunciato la cancellazione dell’evento a causa della pandemia di COVID-19 che ha coinvolto diverse regioni del mondo tra cui, più duramente, la Cina e l’Europa. La manifestazione verrà riorganizzata nel 2021 e discussioni sono in corso con NPO, NOS, AVROTROS e città di Rotterdam sulla riorganizzazione nella stessa città o meno.
• 2020 | Albania: “Fall from the sky” (Shaj) (English) – Arilena Ara (Darko Dimitrov, Lazar Cvetkovski – Michael Blue, Robert Stevenson, Sam Schummer). “Fall from the Sky” is a song recorded by Albanian singer Arilena Ara. The song was written by Michael Blue, Robert Stevenson and Sam Schummer, and composed by Darko Dimitrov and Lazar Cvetkovski. It is an English-language pop ballad with the instrumentation incorporating violins and a piano. The song was scheduled to represent Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, after winning the pre-selection competition Festivali i Këngës. However, on 18 March, the contest was later cancelled due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019-20 (COVID-19) in China and its spread to other countries across the globe. To promote and support the song, an accompanying lyric video premiered onto the official YouTube channel of the Eurovision Song Contest on 10 March 2020 at around 10:00 (CET). Arilena was one of the twenty contestants selected to compete in the 58th edition of Festivali i Këngës. As part from the competition’s rules, the lyrics of the participating entries had to be in the Albanian language. Arilena took part with the song “Shaj” solely written by Albanian singer and songwriter Lindon Berisha and composed by Macedonian producers Darko Dimitrov and Lazar Cvetkovski. Immediately after her victory in Festivali i Këngës, Arilena revealed that “Shaj” initially came to her in the English language and envisaged the possibility of remastering the song for her participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. In February 2020, following several months spent in Los Angeles, she confirmed the aforementioned and stated that she will perform a remastered version of “Shaj”. Three weeks after, she further revealed the remastered version’s title “Fall from the Sky” on 8 March 2020.
• 2020 | Armenia: “Chains on you” (English) – Athena Manoukian (Αθηνά Μανουκιάν, Աթենա Մանուկյան) (Athena Manoukian, DJ Paco – Athena Manoukian). “Chains on You” is a song by Greek-Armenian singer Athena Manoukian. It was to represent Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The song was released as a digital download on 14 February 2020. The song was to represent Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Athena Manoukian was selected through Depi Evratesil, the music competition that selects Armenia’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Armenia was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Australia: “Don’t break me” (English) – Montaigne (Jessica Alyssa Cerro) (Jessica Cerro, Anthony Egizii, David Musumeci – Jessica Cerro, Anthony Egizii, David Musumeci). “Don’t Break Me” is a song by Australian singer-songwriter Montaigne, released as a single on 31 January 2020. The song won the second installment of Eurovision – Australia Decides, Australia’s national selection for Eurovision on 8 February 2020, and was going to represent Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, to be held in Rotterdam, before the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Europe caused the cancellation of the contest. Montaigne was due to compete in the first semi-final which was meant to be held on 12 May 2020. Montaigne performed the song wearing a clown costume including a blue wig, and flanked by backing dancers. The song was awarded the most jury points (54) and second highest public televote points (53) for a total of 107, winning Australia’s second national selection competition for Eurovision.
• 2020 | Austria: “Alive” (English) – Vincent Bueno (Vincent Mendoza Bueno, Suitcase) (Vincent Bueno, David Yang, Felix van Göns, Artur Aigner – Vincent Bueno). “Alive” is a song performed by Austrian-Filipino singer Vincent Bueno. It was chosen to represent Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 on 12 December 2019. The song will represent Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Vincent Bueno was internally selected by the Austrian broadcaster ÖRF on 12 December 2019. The song will perform in one of the two semi-finals. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Austria was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe. 
• 2020 | Azerbaigian: “Cleopatra” (Kleopatra) (English, contains the Japanese mantra “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō”) – Efendi (Samira Azer gizi Efendiyeva, Samirə Azər qızı Əfəndiyeva) (Luuk van Beers, Alan Roy Scott, Sarah Lake – Luuk van Beers, Alan Roy Scott, Sarah Lake). “Cleopatra” is a song recorded by Azerbaijani singer Samira Efendi. It will represent Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The song was written by Luuk van Beers, Alan Roy Scott and Sarah Lake. The song will represent Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Samira Efendi was internally selected by the Azerbaijani broadcaster, İctimai Television (İTV). The song will perform in one of the two semi-finals. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Azerbaijan was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. The track was originally submitted to San Marino RTV and a demo was recorded by Senhit, but the composers withdrew the song from the Sanmarinese selection. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Bielorussia: “Da vidna” (Да вiдна, Before dawn) (Belarussian) – VAL (Valeria Gribusova, Vlad Pashkevich /  Валерыі Грыбусавай і Уладзіслава Пашкевіча) (Uladzislaŭ Paškievič, Valeryja Hrybusava – Mikita Najdzionaŭ). “Da Vidna” (Belarusian: Да вiдна, English: Before dawn) is a song performed by Belarussian band VAL that will represent Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The song will represent Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after VAL was selected through the Belarus national selection. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Belarus was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Belgio: “Release me” (English) – Hooverphonic (Alex Callier, Raymond Geerts, Luka Cruysberghs) (Alex Callier, Luca Chiaravalli – Alex Callier). “Release Me” is a song by the Belgian band Hooverphonic. It will represent Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The song was released as a digital download on 17 February 2020. The song will represent Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Hooverphonic was internally selected by the national broadcaster VRT. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Belgium was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Bulgaria: “Tears getting sober” (Сълзите стават трезви) (English) – VICTORIA (Victoria Georgieva, Виктория Георгиева) (Borislav Milanov, Cornelia Wiebols, Lukas Oscar Janisch, Victoria Georgieva – Borislav Milanov, Cornelia Wiebols, Lukas Oscar Janisch, Victoria Georgieva). “Tears Getting Sober” is a song recorded by Bulgarian singer and songwriter Victoria. The song was composed and written by the aforementioned artist together with Borislav Milanov, Cornelia Wiebols and Lukas Oscar Janisch. The song was scheduled to represent Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, after being internally selected by the national broadcaster Bulgarian National Television. However, the contest was later cancelled due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The song was scheduled to represent Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Victoria was internally selected by the national broadcaster, Bulgarian National Television (BNT). On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Bulgaria was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. In March 2020, the European Broadcasting Union cancelled the contest due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China and its spread to other countries. Soon after, it was announced that Victoria will represent the country in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.
• 2020 | Croazia: “Divlji vjetre” (Wild Wind) (Croatian) – Damir Kedžo (Ante Pecotić – Ante Pecotić). “Divlji vjetre” (English: Wild Wind) is a song performed by Croatian singer Damir Kedžo. The track was written and composed by Ante Pecotić. It premiered on 29 February 2020, when it was performed during the final of Dora 2020, Croatia’s national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, and was released as a digital download on 1 March 2020 by Croatia Records. “Divlji vjetre” was one of sixteen songs commissioned by HRT for Dora 2020, Croatia’s national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. Ante Pecotić composed “Divlji vjetre” specifically for Damir Kedžo. “Divlji vjetre” premiered on 29 February 2020, when it was performed in Dora 2020, Croatia’s national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The song became available through digital retailers and streaming services on 1 March 2020 via Croatia Records. The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 will take place at the Rotterdam Ahoy in Netherlands and will consist of two semi-finals on 12 and 14 May, and the final on 16 May 2020. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Croatia was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Cipro: “Running” (English) – Sandro (Sandro Nicolas, Alessandro H. Rütten, Αλεσσάντρο Ρύττεν) (Alfie Arcuri, Sebastian Metzner Rickards, Octavian Rasinariu, Sandro Nicolas, Teo DK – Alfie Arcuri, Sebastian Metzner Rickards, Octavian Rasinariu, Sandro Nicolas). “Running” is a song recorded by German-Greek singer Sandro. The song was scheduled to represent Cyprus in the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, after being internally selected by the national broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation. However, the contest was later cancelled due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The song was scheduled to represent Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Sandro was internally selected by the national broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Cyprus was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. In March 2020, the contest was later cancelled due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China and its spread to other countries.
• 2020 | Repubblica Ceca: “Kemama” (English) – Benny Cristo (Ben da Silva Cristóvão, Ben Cristóvão) (Osama Verse-Atile, Ben Cristóvão, Charles Sarpong, Rudy Ray). “Kemama” is a song performed by a Czech singer Benny Cristo. It was chosen to represent Czech Republic at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after winning the country’s national final. The song was released as a digital download on 20 January 2020. The song will represent Czech Republic in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Benny Cristo was chosen through Eurovision Song CZ, the national selection process organised by Česká televize to select Czech Republic’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Czech Republic was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Danimarca: “YES” (JA) (English) – Ben & Tan (Benjamin Tsimalona Rosenbohm og Tanne Amanda Balcells) (Emil Rosendal Lei, Jimmy Jansson, Linnea Deb – Emil Rosendal Lei, Jimmy Jansson, Linnea Deb). “Yes” is a song by Ben & Tan that will represent Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The song was released as a digital download on 8 March 2020. The song will represent Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Ben & Tan was selected through Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2020, the music competition that selects Denmark’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Denmark was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Estonia: “What love is” (English) – Uku Suviste (Uku Suviste, Sharon Vaughn – Uku Suviste, Sharon Vaughn). “What Love Is” is a song by Uku Suviste that will represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. It was written by Suviste and Sharon Vaughn. During the live performance, Uku is accompanied by five backing singers off-stage, Kaire Vilgats, Dagmar Oja, Kaarel Orumägi, Raimondo Laikre and Scott Murro. The song was scheduled to represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Uku Suviste was selected through Eesti Laul 2020, the music competition that selects Estonia’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. Estonia was scheduled to perform in the first half of the second semi-final at Eurovision, to be held on 14 May 2020, before the contest was canceled due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Suviste has confirmed he intends to compete in Eesti Laul 2021 and has been given a pass to the semi-finals, but will have to compete with a new song. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Finlandia: “Looking back” (Katsoa takaisin) (English) – Aksel (Aksel Kankaanranta) (Joonas Angeria, Whitney Phillips, Connor McDonough, Riley McDonough, Toby McDonough – Joonas Angeria, Whitney Phillips, Connor McDonough, Riley McDonough, Toby McDonough). “Looking Back” is a song by Aksel Kankaanranta that will represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The song will represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Aksel Kankaanranta was selected through Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2020, the music competition that selects Finland’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Finland was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Francia: “Mon alliée (The best in me) / The best in me)”  (Le Meilleur en moi) (French, English) – Tom Leeb (Thomas G:son, Peter Boström – John Lundvik, Amir Haddad, Tom Leeb, Léa Ivanne). “The Best in Me”, at times “Mon Alliée (The Best in Me)” is a song by French singer Tom Leeb. It would of represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The song was released as a digital download on 16 February 2020. The song was written by John Lundvik, Amir Haddad, Tom Leeb and Léa Ivanne. The song is a multi-lingual French-English power ballad and like France’s previous internal selections in 2016 and 2017, the verses are in French and the chorus is in English. After receiving more than one hundred songs written, the TV network convened several listening committees to pick the best entry. Everyone agreed on the chosen song, with some describing it as love at first listen. Three of the main selection criteria were universality, emotion and capacity of the song to make the audience “live an experience”. The listening committee included professionals from the music industry and France Télévision members. The delegation previously testified how magical the moment was when the artist and song first came together. The song was debuted live at an event at the Eiffel Tower in Paris on 16 February 2020. The song would of represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Tom Leeb was internally selected by the national broadcaster France 2. As France is a member of the “Big Five”, the song automatically advanced to the final, which would of been held on 16 May 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The contest was cancelled due to the Coronavirus Outbreak. The choice of a song primarily in English (with an English title) to represent France at Eurovision generated controversy, with the Minister for Culture, Franck Riester, responding to a question in the National Assembly Foreign Affairs Committee: “It’s true that the chorus is in English, it broke my ears a little this morning on the radio … I conveyed the message of my astonishment at a song whose chorus is written in English. Everyone must set an example to ensure that France is carried with pride everywhere, all the time.” This echoed similar public criticism received on Sébastien Tellier’s song ‘Divine’, which was selected to represent France in the 2008 contest. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Georgia: “Take me as I am” (მიმიღე ისეთი, როგორიც ვარ) (English, contains “I love you” in Italian, Spanish, French and German, and one more word in French) – Tornike Kipiani (ორნიკე ყიფიანი) (Tornike Kipiani, Aleko Berdzenishvili – Tornike Kipiani, Aleko Berdzenishvili). “Take Me as I Am” is a song performed by Georgian singer Tornike Kipiani released on 2 March 2020. It was chosen to represent Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 on 30 January 2020. After winning Georgian Idol, Kipiani was selected to represent Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The song was internally selected by Georgian Public Broadcasting. The song was selected to represent Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 after Tornike Kipiani won Georgian Idol, which was used as the Georgian national selection that chose Georgia’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. On 28 January 2020, it was announced that the song would be performed in the second half of the second semi-final of the contest to be held on 14 May 2020. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe. 
• 2020 | Germania: “Violent thing” (Schlimmes Ding) (English) – Ben Dolic (Benjamin Dolić, Usually Quiet) (Borislav Milanov, Peter St. James, Dag Lundberg, Jimmy Thorén and Connor Martin – Borislav Milanov, Peter St. James, Dag Lundberg). “Violent Thing” is a song by Slovenian singer Ben Dolic. It would of represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 prior to it’s cancellation due to the Covid-19 Outbreak. The song was released as a digital download on 27 February 2020. The song was written by Borislav Milanov, Peter St. James, Dag Lundberg, Jimmy Thorén and Connor Martin. The song was chosen to represent Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 by both a Eurovision Jury composed of 100 people from all over Germany and an international expert jury of 20 music professionals who have all been part of their home country’s national juries at some point. Both juries have evaluated all submitted artists, as well as the publically submitted songs. Talking about his selection, Dolic said, “When I got the news that I had been accepted by the juries, I was totally overwhelmed. Taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest for Germany was a dream come true for me. This is where I made my breakthrough as a professional singer. I think we have the perfect song for the Eurovision Song Contest, and I will give everything I have for Germany.” The song would of represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Ben Dolic was internally selected by the national broadcaster NDR. As Germany is a member of the “Big Five”, the song automatically advanced to the final, which would of been held on 16 May 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Grecia: “SUPERG!RL” (Supergirl) (English) – Stefania (Stefania Liberakakis, Στεφανία Λυμπερακάκη,Stefanía Lymperakáki) (Dimitris Kontopoulos, Arcade – Dimitris Kontopoulos, Arcade, Sharon Vaughn). “Supergirl” (stylized as SUPERG!RL) is a song that would represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. It would be performed by the Greek-Dutch singer Stefania Liberakakis. Stefania had previously been internally selected as the country’s representative by Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT). “Supergirl” was written and composed by Arcade group, consisting of Anastasios Rammos, Diverno, Gabriel Russell and Pavlos Manolis, and Dimitris Kontopoulos. Sharon Vaughn was additionally helmed for the writting process. The track was also produced by Arcade. The song with the official video clip were released at March 1, 2020, during the premiere of ERT’s new program, Eurovision Song Contest – Final Countdown, hosted by Mihalis Marinos. The song would represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Stefania was internally selected by the Greek broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT). On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Greece was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe. 
• 2020 | Islanda: “Think about things” (Gagnamagnið, The database) (English) – Daði og Gagnamagnið (Daði & Gagnamagnið – Daði Freyr Pétursson, Árný Fjóla Ásmundsdóttir, Sigrún Birna Pétursdóttir, Hulda Kristín Kolbrúnardóttir, Stefán Hannesson, Jóhann Sigurður Jóhannsson) (Daði Freyr Pétursson – Daði Freyr Pétursson). “Think About Things” is a song by Icelandic singer Daði Freyr Pétursson and his band Gagnamagnið. The song was released on 10 January 2020 with the Icelandic title “Gagnamagnið” (lit. ”The datavolume”), the name of the band. It was chosen to represent Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands on 29 February 2020, where the band will compete in Eurovision with the English version of their song. The song has two different-language versions – one in Icelandic (“Gagnamagnið”; released 10 January 2020) and one in English (“Think About Things”). The meanings of the two versions’ lyrics differ. In an interview, Daði stated that the Icelandic version’s lyrics “talk about Gagnamagnið (the fictional band we perform as in Söngvakeppnin) coming from the future and outer space to save the world with their brand new dance”. The band will compete in Eurovision with the English version of their song. Daði has stated that he considers the English-language lyrics to be “the real version of the song”. The song will represent Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Daði & Gagnamagnið was selected through Söngvakeppnin 2020, the music competition that selects Iceland’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Iceland was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe. 
• 2020 | Irlanda: “Story of my life” (English) – Lesley Roy (Lesley Roy, Robert Marvin, Catt Gravitt, Tom Shapiro – Lesley Roy, Robert Marvin, Catt Gravitt, Tom Shapiro). “Story of My Life” is a song by Irish singer-songwriter Lesley Roy. The song will represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The Irish broadcaster RTÉ invited established songwriters and artists to submit songs from which they, in conjunction with 2FM, made a shortlist and chose their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. For the first time in Irish Eurovision history, RTÉ has selected acclaimed theatre and events production company THISISPOPBABY to work on staging and the creative direction of Ireland’s entry. Head of the Ireland Delegation for Eurovision 2020, Michael Kealy said, “We are extremely excited about Lesley Roy and this year’s Irish entry, Story Of My Life. The song is fresh and uplifting, it’s a banger, and we are very much looking forward to working with Lesley and THISISPOPBABY in preparation for our performance on the biggest music stage in the world in Rotterdam in May.” Creative Director, Phillip McMahon said, “We are thrilled and proud to be asked to be on Team Ireland for Eurovision 2020. It’s a celebration of Irish creativity and we couldn’t be more excited for Rotterdam. As Creative Directors, our vision is simple, we want to encourage Irish artists, musical and visual, to get involved in future years – to show them that this contest is modern and fun and an incredible platform for their creativity.” Lesley Roy said, “We wanted something uptempo and triumphant, which centres around overcoming your difficulties in life and getting back up again.” The song was meant to represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Lesley Roy was internally selected by the national broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Ireland was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Israele: “Feker libi” (ፍቅር ልቤ, אהוב ליבי, My beloved) (English, Amharic, Hebrew, Arabic, imaginary) – Eden Alene (עדן אלנה‎) (Doron Medalie, Idan Raichel – Doron Medalie, Idan Raichel). “Feker Libi” (Amharic: “ፍቅር ልቤ”, My beloved) is a song recorded by Israeli singer Eden Alene, performed in English, Amharic, Hebrew and Arabic. It was planned to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. It is the first Eurovision entry to contain lyrics in Amharic. The song was released as a single on March 3, 2020. It was planned represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Eden Alene was selected through HaKokhav HaBa L’Eurovizion, the music competition that selects Israel’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. On January 28, 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Israel was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. However, on 18 March 2020, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced the cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest of 2020 would be cancelled due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Europe. This marks the first time in the contest’s 64-year history that it has been cancelled. Following its cancellation, the EBU is discussing carryovers for the 2021 contest, such as host city and participating artists, with various parties.
• 2020 | Italia: “Fai rumore” (You make noise) (Italian) – Diodato (Antonio Diodato) (Antonio Diodato, Edwyn Roberts – Antonio Diodato, Edwyn Roberts). “Fai rumore” (“You make noise”) is a song written and performed by Italian singer Diodato. It was released as a single on 7 February 2020 and will feature on his album Che vita meravigliosa. The song would have represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, after winning the Sanremo Music Festival 2020. It topped the Italian singles chart in its second week of release. The song would have represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Diodato was selected through Sanremo Music Festival 2020, the music competition that selects Italy’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. As Italy is a member of the “Big Five”, the song automatically advanced to the final, which would have been held on 16 May 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The music video for “Fai rumore” was directed by Giorgio Testi. As of March 2020, the video has over 19 million views on YouTube. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Lettonia: “Still breathing” (Vēl elpoju) (English) – Samanta Tīna (Samanta Poļakova) (Samanta Tīna – Amina Savadogo). “Still Breathing” is a song by Samanta Tīna. It will represent Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The song was released as a digital download on 28 November 2019. The song will represent Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Samanta Tīna was selected through Supernova 2020, the music competition that selects Latvia’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Latvia was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe. 
• 2020 | Lituania: “On fire” (English) – The Roop (Vaidotas Valiukevičius, Robertas Baranauskas ir Mantas Banišauskas) (Vaidotas Valiukevičius, Robertas Baranauskas, Mantas Banišauskas – Vaidotas Valiukevičius). “On Fire” is a song by Lithuanian pop-rock band The Roop. It will represent Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The song was released as a digital download on 14 January 2020. The song will represent Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after The Roop was selected through Pabandom iš naujo! Let’s try again! 2020, the music competition that selects Lithuania’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Lithuania was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Malta: “All of my love” (English) – Destiny (Destiny Chukunyere) (Bernarda Brunovic, Borislav Milanov, Sebastian Arman, Dag Lundberg, Joacim Persson, Cesár Sampson – Bernarda Brunovic, Borislav Milanov, Sebastian Arman, Dag Lundberg, Joacim Persson). “All of My Love” is a song recorded by Maltese singer Destiny Chukunyere. The song was planned to represent Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam. However the festival was cancelled. The song was written by Bernarda Brunovic, Borislav Milanov, Sebastian Arman, Dag Lundberg and Joacim Persson. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe. 
• 2020 | Moldavia: “Prison” (Închisoare) (English) – Natalia Gordienko (Наталя Гордієнко) (Dimitris Kontopoulos, Philipp Kirkorov – Dimitris Kontopoulos, Sharon Vaughn). “Prison” is a song by Natalia Gordienko. It was chosen to represent Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The song will represent Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Natalia Gordienko was selected through O melodie pentru Europa 2020, the music competition that selects Moldova’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Moldova was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe. 
• 2020 | Paesi Bassi: “Grow” (English) – Jeangu Macrooy (Jeangu Macrooy, Perquisite – Jeangu Macrooy). “Grow” is a song by Surinamese singer-songwriter Jeangu Macrooy. The song would have represented Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. It was released on 4 March 2020. The song is about his personal story about getting older and his quest to find himself. The song was written by Macrooy, with all instruments and arrangements by Perquisite & Macrooy. when talking about the song, Macrooy said, “Emotions, good and bad, are a universal language. I hope this song makes people feel a little less lonely in their search for happiness. I think that openness and honesty about how we really feel will ultimately bring us closer. I believe in the power music has to bring people together. It’s the reason I do what I do.” Together with his creative team, made up of Hans Pannecoucke (director), Marco Driessen (lighting) and Perquisite (creative supervisor), Macrooy will be working with AVROTROS to perfect his performance in Rotterdam. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Macedonia del Nord: “YOU” (English) – Vasil (Vasil Garvanliev, Васил Гарванлиев) (Nevena Neskoska, Kalina Neskoska, Alice Schroeder – Nevena Neskoska, Javier Lloret de Muller, Darko Dimitrov, Lazar Cvetkovski). “You” is a song recorded by Macedonian singer Vasil Garvanliev. The song was written and produced by Nevena Neskoska alongisde Alice Schroeder and Kalina Neskoska. Javier Lloret de Muller, Darko Dimitrov and Lazar Cvetkovski provided additional production. The song was scheduled to represent North Macedonia in the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, after being internally selected by the national broadcaster MRT. However, the contest was later cancelled due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).  The 2020 Eurovision Song Contest was scheduled to take place in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, consisting of two semi-finals on 12 May and 14 May 2020, and the grand final on 16 May 2020. Each participating country, except the host country and the Big 5, is required to qualify from one of two semi-finals to compete for the grand final. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. North Macedonia was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. In March 2020, the European Broadcasting Union cancelled the contest due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China and its spread to other countries. 
• 2020 | Norvegia: “Atention” (Oppmerksomhet)) (English) – Ulrikke (Ulrikke Brandstorp) (Christian Ingebrigtsen, Kjetil Mørland, Ulrikke Brandstorp – Christian Ingebrigtsen, Kjetil Mørland, Ulrikke Brandstorp). “Attention” is a song by Ulrikke Brandstorp. It will represent Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The song was released as a digital download on 31 January 2020. The song will represent Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Ulrikke was selected through Melodi Grand Prix 2020, the music competition that selects Norway’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Norway was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Polonia: “Empires” (English) – Alicja (Alicja Szemplińska) (Patryk Kumór, Dominic Buczkowski-Wojtaszek, Laurell Barker, Frazer Mac – Patryk Kumór, Dominic Buczkowski-Wojtaszek, Laurell Barker, Frazer Mac). “Empires” is a song by Polish singer Alicja Szemplińska. It was selected to be the entrant for Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 on 23 February 2020. Szemplińska will perform the song at the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on 14 May 2020. The song was composed by Patryk Kumór, Dominic Buczkowski-Wojtaszek, Frazer Mac and Laurell Barker as 17-year-old Szemplińska’s original song to perform during Poland’s national selection for Eurovision, Szansa na sukces, which Szemplińska subsequently won. The song will represent Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Alicja Szemplińska was chosen through Szansa na sukces, the national selection process organised by TVP2 to select Poland’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Poland was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Portogallo: “Medo de sentir” (Afraid of feeling / Fear of feeling) (Portuguese) – Elisa (Maria Elisa Silva ) (Marta Carvalho – Marta Carvalho). “Medo de sentir” (“Afraid of feeling”, literally “Fear of feeling”) is a song performed by Portuguese singer Elisa Silva and written by Portuguese singer-songwriter Marta Carvalho. It will represent Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The song will represent Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Elisa Silva was selected through Festival da Canção 2020, the music competition that selects Portugal’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Portugal was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Romania: “Alcohol you” (Te sun (joc de cuvinte)) (English) – ROXEN (Larisa Roxana Giurgiu) (Ionuț Armaș, Viky Red – Ionuț Armaș, Breyan Isaac). “Alcohol You” is a song recorded by Romanian singer Roxen, digitally released on 21 February 2020 by Global Records. It was written by Ionuț Armaș and Breyan Isaac, while Viky Red solely handed its production. “Alcohol You” emerged as the winner of Selecția Națională 2020 and was thus scheduled to represent Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 before the event’s cancellation due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China and its spread to other countries. Roxen had previously been internally selected at the country’s representative by Romanian Television (TVR). Musically, the track is a ballad that discusses emotions such as sadness, despair, hope and nostalgia, as well as finding inner peace. Observers noted its minimalistic and Billie Eilish-inspired production. “Alcohol You” was generally well-received by music critics upon release, receiving praise for its lyrics and Roxen’s vocal delivery. To promote the song, a lyric video was uploaded to YouTube simulateously with the track’s digital availability. Directed by Bogdan Păun, Roxen is shown in front of a neon sketch of herself alongside light and smoke effects. Additionally, the singer performed “Alcohol You” on native talk show La Măruță and radio station Virgin Radio in February and March 2020, repsectively. The lyrics of “Alcohol You” were written by Breyan Isaac and Ionuț Armaș. The latter composed the song alongside its sole producer Viky Red. Global Records made it available for digital download in various countries on 21 February 2020. Lyrically, the “dramatic” ballad discusses emotions such as sadness, despair, hope, nostalgia and finding inner peace; Romanian Television (TVR) labelled it as a “genuine anthem of universal love”. Critics noted a minimalistic production, with one comparing it to the works of American singer Billie Eilish. For the purpose of Roxen’s scheduled Eurovision Song Contest 2020 participation, the closing chorus of “Alcohol You” was remastered, with “extended notes […], new strings dial[ing] up the urgency and percussion” being added. Throughout the song, its title is used as a word play for “I’ll call you”. Regarding Roxen’s vocal delivery, an ESCUnited staff member noted that “[s]he does that grating indie voice where monosyllabic words are contorted (‘mind’ is my-eye-und, ‘line’ is lye-eye-ine, etc)”. In January 2020, TVR announced its collaboration with Global Records to select the Romanian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. On 11 February, Roxen was announced as the country’s representative, and was appointed five songs—”Alcohol You”, “Beautiful Disaster”, “Cherry Red”, “Colors” and “Storm”—that had been written during a songwriting camp previously organized. The entries advanced to the national final Selecția Națională 2020 for a jury panel and the public to choose from as the Romanian Eurovision entry. “Alcohol You” emerged as the winner, gathering a total of ten points conisting of the maximum five points from both the jury and the televote. Its live performance was directed by Păun with the assistance of the director of photography Dan Manoliu, and made use of a circular stage and a LED screen sized around 300 square metres. Florian Rahn of Wiwibloggs described the performance as “heartfelt and emotional”, noting “dark and mysterious” staging. Roxen wore a white dress with a black lace top and, at a point, interacted with a mirror image of herself on the LED screen. The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was scheduled to take place at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands and consist of two semi-finals on 12 and 14 May, and the final on 16 May 2020. According to Eurovision rules, each country, except the host country and the “Big 5” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), would have been required to qualify from one of two semi-finals to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final would have progressed to the final. In January 2020, it was announced that Romania would be performing in the second half of the first semi-final of the contest. However, on 18 March, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced the event’s cancellation due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China and its spread to other countries. Although TVR had considered sending “Alcohol You” to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, EBU soon after announced that intended 2020 entries were not eligible for the following year. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Russia: “UNO” (Один, Uno, One) (English, Spanish) – Little BIG (Ilya “Ilich” Prusikin, Sergey “Gokk” Makarov, Sonya Tayurskaya, Anton “Boo” Lissov and Yuriy Muzychenko and Florida Chanturia) (Denis Tsukerman, Ilia Prusikin, Viktor Sibrinin – Denis Tsukerman, Ilia Prusikin). “Uno” (“UNO”; Spanish for One) is an English-Spanish language song recorded by Russian rave group Little Big. It was due to represent Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 before its cancellation. The song was released as a digital download and for streaming on 13 March 2020. The song was due to represent represent Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 after Little Big had been internally selected by the Russian broadcaster, Channel One. The song would have performed in one of the two semi-finals. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would have performed in. Russia was placed into the first semi-final, which was to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. However Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was cancelled due to 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus in Europe.
• 2020 | San Marino: “FREAKY!” (English) – Senhit (Senhit Zadik Zadik, Senit) (Gianluigi Fazio, Henrik Steen Hansen, Nanna Bottos – Gianluigi Fazio, Henrik Steen Hansen, Nanna Bottos). “Freaky!” is a song by Italian singer Senhit. It was selected to be the entrant for San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 on 9 March 2020, after Senhit was internally selected to represent the country. The song was written by Gianluigi Fazio, Henrik Steen Hansen and Nanna Bottos. It was selected to represent San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in an online vote. After Senhit was internally selected to represent San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, an online vote was used to select which song she would perform. On 9 March 2020, it was announced that ‘Freaky!’ won the selection. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. San Marino was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Serbia: “Hasta la vista” (Видимо се, See you later) (Serbian, contains one repeated phrase in Spanish and two words in English) – Hurricane (Huricane Girls, Харикејн: Sanja Vučić, Ivana Nikolić and Ksenija Knežević) (Nemanja Antonić – Kosana Stojić, Sanja Vučić). “Hasta la vista” (See you later) is a song by Hurricane. It was chosen to represent Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, that has since been cancelled. The song will represent Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Hurricane was chosen through Beovizija 2020, the national selection process organised by Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) to select Serbia’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Serbia was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Slovenia: “Voda” (Water) (Slovene) – Ana Soklič (Anna Soklich) (Ana Soklič, Bojan Simončič – Ana Soklič). Voda (English: Water) is a song recorded by Slovenian singer Ana Soklič. Soklič wrote lyrics, while also composing the music alongside Bojan Simončič. It will represent Slovenia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. RTVSLO allowed artists and composers to submit their entries for EMA 2020 between 1 August and 19 November 2019 for the selection of their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. On 20 December 2019, Soklič was confirmed as one of the 12 participants in EMA 2020 with the song “Voda”. The song will represent Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Soklič was selected through EMA 2020, the music competition that selects Slovenia’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest on 22 February 2020. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Slovenia was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Spagna: “Universo” (Universe) (Spanish) – Blas Cantó (Blas Cantó Moreno) (Blas Cantó, Dan Hammond, Ashley Hicklin, Dangelo Ortega, Mikolaj Trybulec – Dan Hammond, Mikolaj Trybulec). “Universo” is a song by Spanish singer Blas Cantó. The song would have represented Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 at Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The song was written by Cantó, Dan Hammond, Ashley Hicklin, Dangelo Ortega and Mikolaj Trybulec, and produced by Hammond and Trybulec; the latter also co-wrote and produced the 2019 Czech Eurovision entry “Friend of a Friend”. The song would have represented Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Blas Cantó was internally selected by the Spanish broadcaster TVE on 5 October 2019. As Spain is a member of the “Big Five”, the song automatically advanced to the final, which would have been held on 16 May 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The official video of the song, directed by Cristian Velasco, was filmed in Tenerife and Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, and was released on 30 January 2020. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Svezia: “Move” (MOVE) (English) – The Mamas (Ashley Haynes, Loulou Lamotte (Stephanie Louise Caroline Nodin), Dinah Yonas Manna) (Melanie Wehbe, Patrik Jean, Herman Gardarfve – Melanie Wehbe, Patrik Jean, Herman Gardarfve). “Move” (stylized as MOVE) is a gospel-pop song by Swedish music group The Mamas. The song was performed for the first time in Melodifestivalen 2020, where it made it to the final. The song won Melodifestivalen with 137 points and would have represented Sweden in the first semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam. It peaked at number one on the Swedish single chart. The contest was cancelled in March 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak. The song would have represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after The Mamas was selected through Melodifestivalen 2020, the music competition that selects Sweden’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Sweden was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020 and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. The contest got canceled in March, 2020, due to the coronavirus outbreak. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Svizzera: “Répondez-moi” (Answer me) (French) – Gjon’s Tears (Gjon Muharremaj) (Gjon Muharremaj, Xavier Michel, Alizé Oswald, Jeroen Swinnen – Gjon Muharremaj, Xavier Michel, Alizé Oswald, Jeroen Swinnen). “Répondez-moi” (French for Answer me) is a French-language song by Swiss-Albanian singer Gjon’s Tears. It will represent Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The subject of the song is very personal for Gjon’s Tears and is also universal and speaks to everyone. He said, “Everyone asks themselves why exactly are we here, where do we come from and where are we going. These are key questions, particularly for people from a migrant background. My parents are from Albania and Kosovo. I grew up in Switzerland and it’s my home, these are questions that I think about a lot.” The song was selected to represent Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 after Gjon’s Tears was internally selected by the Swiss broadcaster Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR). On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Switzerland was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Ucraina: “Solovey” (Соловей, Nightingale) (Ukrainian) – Go_A (Ґоу_Ей – Kateryna Pavlenko, Ihor Didenchuk, Taras Shevchenko, Ivan Hryhoriak) (Taras Shevchenko, Kateryna Pavlenko – Kateryna Pavlenko). “Solovey” (Соловей, Nightingale) is a song by the Ukrainian electro-folk band Go_A. It was scheduled to represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam. This would have been the first time that a song sung entirely in Ukrainian represented the country at Eurovision. The song was selected to represent Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after Go_A was chosen through Vidbir, the music competition that selects Ukraine’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Ukraine was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. It was announced on March 18 2020 that, due to the 2020 pandemic of Coronavirus, the Eurovision Song Contest for 2020 would not go ahead. Tentatively, the national broadcasters have stated that no further national selection will take place in Ukraine next year and Go_A will be allowed to return as the Ukrainian entry for Eurovision 2021. According to the rules of the competition, Go_A will have to create a new song for the 2021 competition. However, on March 18th 2020, the EBU-UER announced the cancellation of Eurovision 2020 as a direct result of the Coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
• 2020 | Regno Unito: “My last breath” (English) – James Newman (James Richard Newman) (James Newman, Ed Drewett, Adam Argyle, Iain James – James Newman, Ed Drewett, Adam Argyle, Iain James). “My Last Breath” is a song by James Newman that would have represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam. The song was released as a digital download on 27 February 2020. The song was written by Newman, Ed Drewett, Adam Argyle and Iain James. The song would have represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, after James Newman was internally selected by the British broadcaster BBC. As the United Kingdom is a member of the “Big Five”, the song would of automatically advanced to the final, which would of been held on 16 May 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. However, On 18 March 2020 The EBU Announced they had cancelled the contest due to the 2019-20 Covid-19 Pandemic.

• 2021 | Belarus: “Ya nauchu tebya (I’ll Teach You)” (Я навучу тебя) / “Pesnyu pro zaytsa (Song About Hares)” (Песня про зайцев) (Belarussian) – Galasy ZMesta (Галасы ЗМеста, Voices from the Places). Galasy ZMesta (Галасы ЗМеста, Voices from the Places) is a Belarusian band that was formed in 2020 in the city of Baranavichy, Belarus. The band was selected by national broadcaster BTRC to represent Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song Ya nauchu tebya (I’ll Teach You), that was released on 9 March 2021. However, on 11 March 2021, it was decided by the European Broadcasting Union that their song had put “the non-political nature of Eurovision in question” and the song was disqualified. The band presented a second song “Pesnyu pro zaytsa (Song About Hares)” which was in its turn rejected by the EBU for similar reasons depriving the band and Belarus from taking part in the 2021 contest altogether.This is the second year in a row the Belarusian entry has faced controversies. The winner of the 2020 Belarusian entry, the indie pop duo VAL, had already withdrawn their nomination with the duo taking a stand against the Lukashenka regime and against the arbitrary use of police force against demonstrators. BTRC had decided not to choose VAL internally for 2021 in any case. On 9 March 2021, Belarusian broadcaster BTRC confirmed that Galasy ZMesta would represent Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. The contest will take place in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and will consist of two semi-finals on 18 May and 20 May 2021, and the Grand Final on 22 May 2021. On 17 November 2020, it was announced that Belarus would be performing in the first half of the first semi-final of the contest. First song. Galasy ZMesta announced they were participating in Eurovision with the song “Ya Nauchu Tebya” with the subtitle “(I’ll Teach You)”. The song elicited a strongly negative response. Within hours of its release, a Change.org petition was started requesting Belarus’ disqualification from Eurovision 2021 due to lyrics which were interpreted as celebrating “political oppression and slavery”. It generated over one thousand signatures in twelve hours. The day after the song’s announcement, the EBU issued a statement asserting that due to the political nature of the song, it did not follow the rules of the contest. The Belarusian broadcaster were subsequently given the option of either resubmitting a modified version of the song not pursuing political agendas or selecting a completely different song. New deadline was set for Belarus. Failure to do so could result in Belarus’s disqualification from the contest. Second song. During the extended set deadline, Galasy ZMesta presented an alternative song “Pesnyu pro zaytsa (Song About Hares)” (Песня про зайцев). Although it included references in the form of a fable about a gullible rabbit that gets eaten by a fox, and generally is about various farm animals, each of which “has only one dream – to end up on a dinner table before others”, these lyrics were considered as latent political references to the Belarusian opposition. Objections also flew about the alleged use of homophobic language and political connotations in its lyrics. The bunny is a homophobic slur sometimes used against gay men in Belarus. Galasy ZMesta frontman Dmitry Butakov told Current Time TV, that the band members are “completely apolitical” and their lyrics were merely ironic. The song again came under criticism considering these references to rabbits and foxes were also references to the political conflict in Belarus and further criticism of political opponents. On 26 March 2021, The EBU released a statement that two songs by Galasy ZMesta were rejected thus Belarus were no longer going to be participating in the contest. In response, Ivan Eismont, the head of BTRC, responsible for choosing both entries, slammed the Eurovision disqualification as “politically motivated”. He said that the EBU was pressured by politicians and Belarusian anti-government activists who had waged an online campaign against the country’s entry. BTRC earlier said in a news report that the organizers failed to clarify which specific verses in the songs presented by Belarus the Eurovision found to be politically objectionable.

 

• 2022 | Ucraina: “Tini zabutykh predkiv” (Тіні забутих предків, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors” (Ukranian) – Alina Pash (Аліна Паш). “Tini zabutykh predkiv” (Тіні забутих предків, better known in English as “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors”, is a song by Ukrainian singer Alina Pash. The song was scheduled to represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, after winning Vidbir 2022, Ukraine’s national final. However, following controversy surrounding Pash’s status as a legitimate participant of Vidbir, she ultimately withdrew. The song shares the name of a 1965 movie, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. The music video features artwork of the characters, along with Ukrainian writers Lesya Ukrainka and Iryna Vilde. The first verse talks about the history of Ukraine, featuring a long history of war that plagued the country. Ancient Slavic gods Perun and Dazhbog heard cries of the Ukrainian people, peace was eventually brought to the country. With peace, new communities would form and rise. The chorus brings a message of unity to the people in Ukraine. The song then compares Ukraine’s past to Dante’s Divine Comedy, saying that Dante could have instead written a Divine Tragedy. The song ends with a message that says that peace is the only way out, and that Ukrainians can create a better future for themselves instead of being dependent on the tragedies of the past. “Tini zabutykh predkiv” was an entry in Vidbir 2022, a televised music competition used to determine Ukraine’s entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. The selection of the competing entries for Vidbir 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. 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 and entered the territory of Crimea 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. On the final, held on 12 February 2022, Pash resulted as the winner, but she ultimately declined her position after being involved in a controversy for having breached the rule barring Vidbir competitors from having traveled to Russia or Crimea. The document of proof of how she entered the region via Ukrainian territory was according to the UA:PBC a falsified certificate. On 16 February 2022 UA:PBC, stated it had decided to “cease her participation” and that “the artist agreed with this decision of the organizing committee”.
• 2022 | Russia: “” () – Yaroslava Simonova (Ярослава Симонова). 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 (Олександр Панайотов, Даня Милохин, Єгор Крід, Ваня Дмитрієнко, Клава Кока та Ярослава Симонова). 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. In the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February, 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. Several broadcasters expressed their concern at the decision and issued statements calling for the removal of Russia from the contest. In addition to Ukraine’s UA:PBC, nine other countries’ broadcasters requested the EBU to change the decision: Denmark’s DR, Estonia’s ERR, Finland’s Yle, Iceland’s RÚV, Lithuania’s LRT, the Netherlands’ AVROTROS, Norway’s NRK, Poland’s TVP and Sweden’s SVT. Yle also stated that they would withdraw their participation if Russia were not excluded from the contest. This was followed by a similar announcement from ERR. Latvian representatives Citi Zēni also urged the EBU to reconsider Russian participation. 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 following 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 had not publicly announced an artist or song before being excluded.