Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Poland staged the season's last national final Finał krajowych kwalifikacji for the Eurovision song contest 2026. It was won by Alicja. So she finally gets to Eurovision having lost her 2020 chance due to contest's cancellation.  Alicja Szemplinska (24) won The Voice of Poland in 2019 and the year after the national final for Eurovision with Empires . However she was not selected for 2021. She tried again in 2023 with New home but placed only 6th. Outside Eurovision bubble she has released her debut album in 2024 and singles in a steady flow, Pray is her 23rd already.  The whole Polish affair seems bit a strange. The final was recorded already March 1, aired on March 7 and the results announced the next morning on March 8 after a 100% televoting. The finalists were chosen among the 173 submissions, first 20 for the live auditions and then the ten final ones after that. At the time of announcement they had become nine and later eight when Karolina Czarnecka with...

Portugal's 60th Festival da Canção came to an end tonight and the winner is Bandidos do Cante.  Portugal's national selection for Eurovision song contest 2026 has been quite critical to the participation with most artists and/or songwriters declaring they won't go to Vienna should they win. In the end there are apparently only two artists who have declared they will go to Vienna, and one uncertain if they win. Let's see who eventually will go to Eurovision in the end.... Apparently Bandidos do Cante is one of those who have said yes. Read more here .  Bandidos de Cante was formed almost by accident by childhood friends singing Alentejo folk songs at dinner parties and such. The quintet is composed of Miguel Costa, Duarte Farias, Francisco Raposo, Luís Aleixo and Francisco Pestana, all natives of the municipality of Beja, except for Francisco Pestana, who is from Monte Trigo. After tone of those dinner gatherings they were invited to record vocals to D.A.M.A.'s Casa ...

Sweden's Melodifestivalen has been the usual carnival travelling through Sweden with five semi-finals and the grand final that was won by Felicia as expected. She won both international jury vote and the televotes. Out of 3.888 submissions 30 songs made the cut, written by some ten names as usual, and two qualified from each semi-final for the final while the 3rd placed entry was sent to yet another qualification round where from two more songs made it to Stockholm. Among them two Eurovision veterans: Sanna Nielsen and Robin Bengtson. Add A-Teens that were dusted off for the occasion, Medina and Smash Into Pieces trying for another time after being close to the win already previous years. The pre-contest fan favorites this afternoon were Felicia (73%) and Greczula (8%). Read more here .  Final (jury + tele)  A-Teens – Iconic   (31 + 36) 67  7th Meira Omar – Dooset daram   (33 + 8) 41  9th Lilla Al-Fadji – Delulu   (24 + 39) 63  8th Saga Ludvigsson...

San Marino. The tiny little thing that makes things big and never ever stops surprising us. This year after the usual very long selecting process that included several previous Eurovision entrants and wannabes from various countries, even with songs they competed in another country's selection, as the last twist of turns announced the qualified semi-finalists before they aired the shows..... Ok. Because why Not?  Read more about all the zillion entrants here After all the submissions, castings through Dreaming San Marino song contest 20 semi-finalists were selected, among them previous Eurovision entrants Magdalena from Poland, Marayya from Slovenia and Star Guy (Norway),  and from this years national final selections Elysa (Estonia), Sheila (Albania) and Xannova Xan (Greece) and even Edward Maya also running in Romania at the same time, with other singers from Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Czechia, Netherlands and United States.  Ten out of those 20 semi-finalist qualified ...

  The names and entries  keep dropping today and it's time to Azerbaijan to reveal their artist: Jiva Jiva or Jamina Hashimova has two decades of career behind her. After various talent contests in the early 2000's she won last year The Voice of Azerbaijan. In between various projects like Hazz band combining jazz and pop she launched her solo career in 2017 singing all genres of music.  Her entry Just go was published March 9, 2026 and yes, we finally have a proper ballad! Did they wait on purpose perhaps? Enjoy below her other songs:

  France has announced today, confirming the rumors of past few days, that  internally Monroe  will represent la France in Vienna 2026 Eurovision song contest.  Monroe Rigby is half American 17 year old opera singer. This soprano was born in Salt lake City . In 2024 she won a classical talent show Prodiges in France. She released her debut album last year and is set to tour inchurches in France in 2026. Besides that gig in Vienna, of course.  Her entry is called Regarde! Enjoy some of her previous performances here:

Romania returns to Eurovision after two years absence and does it with the national selection Selecția națională 2026 . It was won by  Alexandra Căpitănescu and Choke me. Alejandro Zandes and Emil Rengle with Hvnds completed the Top-3. Out of submissions 67 were invited for auditions that took place in three separate days. Ten entries were chosen for the final and a wildcard round was launched with five additional entries. One was ment to go through to the final but in the end they decided to send two, making it a 12 songs final. Eurovision veterans WRS made the cut through this wildcard round. In the final the jury alone  decided the winner.  Emy Alupei - Tili Bom Robert Lukian - Fire to the Lies Vanu - Therapy Enemy Edward Maya, LavBbe and Costi - Everybody Needs Somebody Yguana - Happy Birthday Hvnds - Dor Antonio Pican - Humans Wrs - All the Way Olivia Addams - Croco Monica Odagiu - Fereastră pentru un orb Alexandra Căpitănescu - Choke Me Alejandro Zandes and Emil Ren...

Sal Da Vinci came, sung and won. After being rejected 13 times. Out of the (it may seem) blue like he did in 1994 in Festival Italiano with Vera .(Sadly there's only a very, very bad live Youtube of it but the Passion comes through anyways)   He remains the only artist ever to have won both contests now. ( Festival Italiano was created my Mediaset to compete with Sanremo but Rai managed to kill it after only three editions by forbidding any artist taking part in it even dreaming of taking part in Sanremo ever again, as the story goes ). And to think that many (critics), as has happened in the past, didn't even see him coming. Relegated to the semi obligatory  "neomelodic quota of the Festival" (where neomelodic stands for kitch, which in turn stands for trash), mocked like a living meme, they had to change their minds the first time he sung live  his "Per sempre sì," dedicated to his wife Claudia Pugliese. All it took was one live performance with his usual ...

Australia has revealed its cards for Eurovision song contest 2026 and yes, it's finally true. Delta Goodrem is the chosen one as heavily speculated (also) this year before the announcement.  Delta (41) from Sydney is Australian singer, songwriter and television personality. her career started at the age of 15 and her debut album sold nearly six million copies being the second best selling Australian album ever. Seven albums todate including 5 #1s and two #2s . Eight #1 singles including one of my all time favourite songs Lost without you she's finally here!

Bulgaria had its artist selection earlier (read more here) and among all that happened during the Super Saturday 28 February they staged their song selection for Dara. The chosen one is Bangaranga.  The songs (jury + tele): This is me (12 + 1.075 = 1+1) 2 Curse (18 + 1.422 = 2 + 2)  4) Bangaranga (30 + 19.119 = 3 + 3) 6

The five day Italy stopping affair that is Sanremo music festival came to and end tonight and was won by Sal da Vinci!!!!! And he has said he would do Eurovision should he win! Forza Napoli! You read more about the previous nights here , here , here , here and here .  1. Sal Da Vinci - Per sempre si  22,2%  (televote 23,6%) 2. Sayf - Tu mi piaci tanto  21,9% (televote 26,4%) 3. Ditonellapiega - Che fastidio!  20.6% (televote 18,9%) 4. Arisa - Magica favola  18,9% (televoto 19,2%) 5. Fedez & Masini - Male necessario  18,5%   (televoto 11,9%) 6. Nayt - Prima che  7. Fulminacci - Stupida sfortuna 8. Ermal Meta - Stella stellina 9. Serena Brancale - Qui con me 10. Tommaso Paradiso - I romantici 11. LDA & Aka 7even - Poesie clandestine 12. Luchè - Labirinto 13. Bambole di pezza - Resta con me  14. Levante - Sei tu 15. J-Ax - Italia started pack 16. Tredici Pietro - Uomo che cade 17. Samurai jay - Ossessione 18. Raf - Ora e per sem...

Serbian national final for the Eurovision song contest was held tonight and was won by Lavina and Kraj mene. Certainly not a Balcan ballad! Out of open call submissions 24 songs were selected for the semi-finals, among them many familiar names from the previous years: Harem Girls (2025), Zejna (2022, 2023, 2024), Yanx (2009, 2013, 2018, 2019, 2024) Eegor (2023), Aleksandra Sekulić (2019) and Nemanja Erić (2019). Seven songs made the final from each semi-final. Read more here .  Lavina is a Serbian metal band since 2020. They are Luka Aranđelović, Pavle Aranđelović, Pavle Samardžić, Andrija Cvetanović, Nikola Petrović and Bojan Ilić. They have toured Europe and released their debut album in 2022 and Kraj mene is their 6th single release.  Final results (Jury + tele): Mirna - Omaja (1 + 0) 1  14th  Kosmos trip - Sve je u redu (0 + 5) 5 8th Iva Grujin - Otkrivam sebe ( 0 + 4) 4 10th Lores - Unseen (6 + 2) 8  6th Yanx -  Srušio si sve (8 + 0) 8...

Germany has had its national selection Das Deutsche Finale for Eurovision song contest and it was won by Sarah Engels and Fire.  The songs were gathered by open submissions, invitations for record companies, publishers and managers. The songs were selected through three different selection and development rounds including international songwriting camps and eventually the nine finalists were out for the on off grand final. In the final an international panel of 20 selected the top-3 for the televoting only super final.  Sarah Engels, also known as Sarah Lombardi, is a German pop singer and television personality known for her participation twice in Deutschland sucht den Superstar talent show, finishing first in top-10, the  runner up. Six albums todate, two of them Top-10. Some sixteen singles so far, many of them with ex-husband Pietro Lombardi. The two first ones hit #2 in the charts.  Bela - Herz Dreamboys the Band - Jeanie Laura Nahr - Wonderland Malou Lovis - Wh...

Finland's national selection for Eurovision song contest 2026  or UMK (Uuden musiikin kilpailu) took place in Tampere tonight and was won by pre-contest favorites Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen and their Liekinheitin. Or rather they swept the floor with the other ones by winning both jury and televotes with a huge margin.  Special guests were last year's UMK winner Erika Vikman (11th in ESC) with last year's Eurovision winner JJ, Finland's Eurovision 1985 represent Sonja Lumme and quartet of leading Finnish rappers Elastinen, Ares, Turisti and Averagekidluke .  Out of 491 submitted entries a panel of 9 members along with five audience groups selected the seven entries for the final. Linda Lampenius & Pete Parkkonen emerged instantly the runaway favorites to win the selection gaining more Youtube views in 24 hrs than any other UMK entry ever and also reaached one million streams in record time. They also became international favorites pushing Finland to #1 in od...

  Norway had its national final for Eurovision song contest 2026. Jonas Lovvw on Melodi grand prix with Ya ya ya.  The final songs were selected among some 1.500 submissions shortlisted to 16; eight made the final directly, the other eight had to go through a radio competition in duels until one was left, that being Skrellex. Read more here . Among the competitors previous Eurovision winner Alexander Rybak and Eurovision veteran Marcus & Martinus little sister Emma, both being the favorites to win as well. Final (jury + tele) Skrellex - Into the wild (15 + 30) 45  7th Hedda Mae - Snap back (11 + 4) 15  8th Storm - Lullaby (14 + 36) 50  6th Mileo - Frankestein (54 + 35) 89  4th Silke - Forevermore (0 + 4) 4  9th Alexander Rybak - Rise  (66 + 126) 192  2nd Emma - Northern lights (28 + 99) 127  3rd Leonardo Amor - Prayer (60 + 13) 73  5th Jonas Lovv - Ya ya ya (96 + 196) 265  1st to be updated 

The 76th Sanremo festival comes to an end tonight. The 30 Big artists will perform once again and are voted by the holy threesome: Press, web and tv (33%), radio (33%) and televote (34%). the votes will be added to those of the first, second and third night and the final ranking will be revealed from 6th palce to 30th. The Top-5 will face another three way voting that is added to the previous votes and that will finally give us the winner and other placements. The winner may or may not go to Eurovision 2026 in Vienna. (Vai Sal!!!) Several other awards will be handed out for best music, lyrics, arrangements etc. Giorgia Cardinaletti and Nino Frassica will be co-hosting. Andrea Bocelli will be the musical guest while I Pooh (the most sold Italian group ever before Ricchi e Poveri including Eurovision veteran Riccardo Fogli) will be performing on Suzuki stage outside Teatro Ariston and Max Pezzali still aboard the cruise ship.  In pole position are Fedez & Masini, Arisa and Serena...

Finland's national selection for Eurovision song contest 2026  or UMK (Uuden musiikin kilpailu) takes place in Tampere tonight in Tampere arena to sold out crowds.  Special guests are last year's UMK winner Erika Vikman (11th in ESC) with last year's Eurovision winner Austrian  JJ, Finland's Eurovision 1985 represent Sonja Lumme and quartet of leading Finnish rappers Elastinen, Ares, Turisti and Averagekidluke. It's worth remembering JJ's staging and even outfit was made in Finland last year with UMK team.  The show is hosted by Jorma Uotinen, Sami Sykkö and Jasmin Beloued. Read more about them here . Out of 491 submitted entries a panel of nine members along with five audience groups selected the seven entries for the final. Linda Lampenius & Pete Parkkonen emerged instantly the runaway favorites to win the selection gaining more Youtube views in 24 hrs than any other UMK entry ever and also reached one million streams in record time. They also became inter...

Lithuania's long selection process Eurovizija.LT  for Eurovision song contest 2026 came to an end tonight and the winner is Lion Ceccah. He won the televote and was second with juries. Shwr won the jury and was second with televote but televote rules and Lion was declared the winner. He's no stranger to the contest as he was runner up last year and has participated multiple times before with different names I recall, Alen Chicco being at least one of them. And Tomas Alenčikas his real name. A total of 40 songs competed in pre-recorded five semi-finals and a wildcard round before the live broadcasted grand final with 11 songs (top-2 of each semi-final plus the wildcard round winner): Rug!le, Atikin, Black Biceps, Shwr and    were the semi-final winners while   won the wildcard round. Read more here .  Final results (jury + tele): Noy - Stand up   (0 + 0) 0  11th Rug1le -  Ikona Žemaitė   (4 + 3) 7  8th Atikin -  Degant...

The 76th Sanremo festival continues with the Covers night that no longer (hallelujah!) has no effect directly on the scoreboard but is a separate competition with its own winner and Top-10 announced. The competing Big artists have chosen a song to their liking and invited Italian or international artists to perform together. That brings many Sanremo veterans and regulars back on stage in Teatro Ariston: Morgan, Pupo, Fabrizio Moro, Giusy Ferreri, Gaia, Gianluca Grignani, Brunori Sas, Fiorella Mannoia, The Kolors, Michele Zarrillo, Alex Britti along with international stars like Gregory Porter. Morgan was supposed to be there with Chiello (Remember Dov'è Bugo? Where is Bugo? incident a few years ago?) but after rehearsals he withdraw because he didn't want to shadow the artist with his own talent"... Yeah. Right.  The competition itself sees Arisa, Serena Brancale and Fedez & Masini reaching Top-5 both nights and therefor are in pole position while Sal Da Vinci mania ke...