Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

RTVSLO relaunches EMA, the national final for Eurovision song contest for Slovenia after two years of internal selections. Out of 114 submissions 12 songs were selected and announced on December 13, 2024.  The final takes place on February 1, 2025 as one off selection but in two rounds. First five juries of five people each select the top-2 and out of them televoters will eventually pick up the winner who gets the ticket to Basel.The most talked name among the competitor is actor, singer, presenter, comedian Klemen Slakonja , most known abroad for his Putin, Putout thing that went viral presented in EMA 2016 he was hosting. He has hosted EMA in 2011, 2012 and 2020.  Below is as usual my fist time listening ranking and call me a sentimental emotional fool but Klemen did something..... against all odds I must admit. Otherwise as most everywhere this year rather modest and mediocre selection . Anna - Čau  *** Astrid and the Scandals - Touché  * Eva Pavli - Niti  ...

  Greece has chosen Klavdia and her Asteromata (Αστερομάτα) for Basel 2025 Eurovision song contest. She beat another fan favorite Evangelia by 2 points. The show was hosted by Sakis Rouvas and Helena Paparizou and featured besides them belting out their respective Eurovision entries most every other Greek Eurovision entry plus the Cypriot entrant Theo Evan belting out in play back Fuego. Klavdia Papadopoulou /  Κλαυδία Παπαδοπούλου (23) is yet another The Voice alumni. She went all the way to final stages of contest in Eurovision winner Helena Paparizou's team but failed to make the top-4. in 2018. She secured however a recording deal and has been delivering hits ever since. She released her debut EP last year and has released six singles before her Eurovision entry Asteromata. Enjoy her previous hits below: Ethnikos thelikos results: 1. Klavdia - Asteromata  44 2. Evangelia - Valé  42 3. Barbz - Sirens  30 4. Dinamiss - Odyssey  24 5. Xannova Xan - Pla...

France continues sending big guns to Eurovision song contest as following Slimane's footsteps it is Louane, who was in my bingo card as a possible and welcome one to be selected!  If in 2024 France was the first to publish their song in 2025 they will be among the very last, if not the last, as she will premier her entry on March 15, 2025 during the half time of the Six Nations rugby match France-Scotland at the Stade de France. March 15: Maman was released Louane (Anne Edwige Maria Pelchert, 28) is another singer coming out of The Voice even if she didn't amek the top-4. However her road to stardom was ready and her debut album in 2015 went to #1, sold double platinum in France, platinum in Belgium and gold in Switzerland. The second album also went to #1 selling half a million copies in France. Three more albums have followed , all top-10.  She has also released 23 singles so far including one #1, and five top-20 hits.  Enjoy below some of her previous hits:

Belgium returns to national final with VRT in charge and eight acts will battle out the ticket to Basel 2025 Eurovision song contest. the artists will present their song in January in two occasion without any staging and belting out also an Eurovision cover of their choice. The artists were chosen by contacting directly the record labels.  Lenn (Len Neefs, 25), grandchild of Louis Neefs (ESC 1967, 1969) Mentissa (Mentissa Aziza, 24), The Voice Kids winner 2014, later took part in The Voice of Holland but it was The Voice of France that made her big name and was nominated to Victoires de la Musique award. Red Sebastian (Seppe Herreman, 25), Eurovision veteran Gustaph's protege and known from Belgium's Got Talent. S tefanie Callebaut (37), ex-singer of indie band SX. La Manou (Manou Maerten, 29) is a singer-songwriter and Dj. Grace (Grace Khuabi, 21) , The Voice of Flanders 2021 winner who later starred in musical Hairspray. Jelle van Dael (34), singer dancer known for vario...

  Austria has chosen internally Johannes Pietsch who for Eurovision goes by name JJ . This 23-year-old Philippino-Austrian countertenor whose voice reaches soprano heights switches from classical music and Vienna opera house to the biggest pop stage in the world in Basel. He has done The Voice UK  2020 (was eliminated in knock outs)  and Starmania 2021 (up until fist live show) Update: His entry is called Wasted love and was released March 6. Currently, JJ performs at the Vienna State Opera and has participated in numerous productions, including Die Zauberflöte, Von der Liebe Tod, Tschick, and many other classical masterpieces. Offstage, he continues to refine his craft by studying classical music at the renowned Music and Art Private University of Vienna (MUK) under the guidance of Univ.-Prof. Kammersängerin Linda Watson, where he is recognized as an outstanding talent in his field. Previously it was rumored Philip Piller, Dominic "Dodo" Muhrer of The Makemakes (ESC 2015...

Latvia's Supernova returns as usual as their national selection for the Eurovision song contest 2025 in Basel. A total of 20 songs have been selected out of the 96 submitted for the semi-final on February 1 and  ten of them will be voted for the final a week later. There will be 50-50 televote-jury vote.  Among the artists we have two Eurovision veterans, Justs (2016) and Citi Zēni (2022). There are also a few regular Supernova participants trying once again, leading them of course Markus Riva - this is his 10th time since 2014 without a win (he has missed only 2021 and 2024 selections).  Below is my usual first listening ranking stars. Somehow "Definition of mediocre nothingness" pops into mind while listening. Meaning none is really, really bad but none isn't anything special either with very few exceptions. Then again songs tend to get better with further listenings... The Ludvig seems to be the one to beat I suppose.  Greta sadly had to withdraw last minute due i...

The rehearsals are in full swing for the orchestra and the media has had their usual preview hearing of the entries and their comments, votes and critics are all over the Italian press. At the same time the betting odds are shaping up to determinate the favorites. Who are they? Will Achille Lauro finally enter the podium? Will he return to Eurovision?! Will Giorgia score another win? She's already got a perfect podium: 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Will the giant Olly (1,95m)  lift the trophy to new heights? First of all summing the various media comments the best scores overall went to Brunori Sas and Simone Cristicchi, followed by Giorgia, Lucio Corsi, Achille Lauro, Joan Thiele, Shablo & co, Willie Peyote, Noemi and Olly completing the Top-10.  The first two are probably getting the Critic's awards rather than the podium though. The betting odds in various sites seem to agree with the Top-10 almost completely as the Top-8 is the same for all when writing this and almost in same ord...

The traditional allocation draw took place in Basel today. As usual the countries are drawn into first or second semi-final and their first of second half, and the Big5 and the host country are also drawn to vote in one of them. The event is also the official hand over from Malmö to Basel as host city. The purpose of it all is not only to make neighboring and diaspora voting  more difficult and less significant but also help the delegations to prepare for their trip to Basel in many ways as they will know when to arrive and how long they will stay and when the rehearsals are. As every single day costs money and usually performing in the first half of first semi-final versus second half of second semi-final makea a difference of 3-4 days. Or night.  As usual there were five pots: Pot 1: Belgium, Czechia, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Latvia, Netherlands Pot 2: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Israel, Poland, Ukraine Pot 3: Albania, Austria, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia P...

Benidorm fest returns for the fourth year as the relaunched Spanish national selection for the Eurovision song contest 2025. As usual it is three nights affair with two semi-finals and the grand final on January 28 and 30 and February 1, 2025. A threesome jury will send four out of eight semi-finalist to the grand final with 50% professional jury, demoscopic panel 25% and televote 25%. The 16 semi-finalist have been chosen among the almost 1000 submissions.  Below are my first time hearing ratings as usual. Sadly there isn't much to get very excited by. Spanish pop by numbers and their own style added with some Latin flavor but very little imagination or originality. Shame. Most fall into *** meaning harmless and listenable but nothing special I'd listen outside Eurovision national finals. This said I know further listening will surely change ratings for some but in the end it's the first impact that matters in Eurovision. The staging and live performance will be crucial to...

As she should have, after topping all fan polls and being by far one of the best entries in any national final this season if you ask me, Laura Thorn triumphed in Luxemburg song contest 2025 despite home ground audience voting en masse for Zero Point Five band.  She scored full 12 points from 7 out 8 international juries - only Estonia placed her second giving full points to Luzac - and placed second in televotes behind Zero Point Five (90 to 110). Her La poupée monte le son is a very nice homage to France Gall's winning entry Poupée de cire, poupée de son in 1965 but with updated lyrics and attitude. Great stuff! All in all good looking show with several good staging and tricks on screen while some also were flat and weird (Mäna) and vocally most delivered but Mäna again and also Zero Point Five vocally wasn't so great but their stage energy made up for it. Luzac performed great but didn't come across otherwise very reachable and welcoming where as Laura was all smiles all...

As Mahmood has been announced as one of the co-hosts for the Sanremo 2025 fourth night this is as good as any excuse to have a some Friday night nostalgia and a closer look to his Sanremo participation history that is quite remarkable indeed. 2016 Placed 4th in Newcomer's with Dimentica  (behind certain Francesco Gabbani and Ermal Meta) 2018 Winner of Sanremo Giovani with Gioventú bruciata (won Critic's award) 2019 Winner of Sanremo with Soldi  (won awards for best performance and was voted the best by other artists) 2020 Author for Elodie's Andromeda (7th) 2021 Guest appearance           Author for Francesca Michielin & Fedez's Chiamami per nome (2nd)          Author for Noemi's Glicine (14th) 2022 Winner of Sanremo with Brividi together with Blanco          Author for Noemi's Ti amo non lo so dire (15th) 2023 Guest appearance 2024 Placed 6th with Tuta gold but had the biggest hit of the fe...

  Yuval Raphael has won HaKokhav HaBa 2025 and will represent Israel in the Basel Eurovision song contest in May. Yuval (24) who comes from Ra'anana has never sung in public before the contest. She has a connection to Switzerland having lived there for three years growing up, in Geneva. She's fluent in French. The search for her song was launched and will be publish in March She's a Nova music festival massacre survivor. She was hiding in a bomb shelter with 50 other people, only 11 survived after terrorist found the shelter and strafed it with bullets. Yuval survived playing dead under dead bodies.  In the first round of the final Daniel Weiss was eliminated and in the superfinal Yuval won both the jury vote and the televote. Update March 9: Her entry New day will rise was released:  1. Yuval Raphael (jury 70 + tele 87) 170 2. Valerie Hamaty (56 + 55) 111 3. Red band & Moran Aharoni (54 + 38) 92 Read more about HaKokhav HaBa here  

Yle has disqualified One Morning Left and their Puppy from UMk 2025 final due to violation of contract. They won't be replaced so UMK 2025 will have only six songs.  Mika Lahti is accused of messaging or grooming in IRC gallery in 2007-2010 with underage in unappropriated way as anonymously is now made known. That has come as a surprise to other members, Yle and band's collaborators and the other members have  left the band immediately so the One Morning Left is no more.  Mika Lahti denies all accusations and is ready to press charged against rumors. 

The announcement came in a press conference this morning, held by Moldova1 Director Corneliu Durnescu, and the Moldovan Head of Delegation, Daniela Crudu:  "The decision was not an easy one, but it was necessary in the current context. This year’s national selection highlighted certain challenges, including a decrease in the public interest and the overall quality of artistic plays and performances. This has generated a negative perception among specialists and the public, stressing the need for a substantial reform in the selection process. We consulted music specialists, and most of them expressed serious reservations about Moldova’s participation this year, in agreement with the opinion of the jury that TRM selected for this edition. We respect the opinions of professionals and of the general public, and we understand that we have to make responsible decisions. This decision was not an easy one, but we assure you that it was analysed in detail. We know that we all wanted to org...

Israel is choosing HaKokhav HaBa once again to select its entrant for Eurovision song contest 2025 in Basel. The shows started in October 2024. Apparently thousands of artists, unknown and known ones applied to take part while Eurovision 2019 host Assi Azar is hosting the selection with Rotem Sela. Among the judges an Eurovision veteran Shiri Maimon. The artists sing covers of their choice and only four will reach the final and the entry for Basel will then searched by an internal panel. The artists have been eliminated one by one, or two at occasion until the four finalists were left for the final on January 22, 2025 to select the artist. The song for Basel will then we selected internally to the chosen artist and will be revealed later. The finalists are Daniel Weiss, Red Band & Moran Aharoni, Yuval Raphael and Valery Hamati. Red Band is made of puppets with 20 years of experience already, Yuval is a Nova survivor and Valery Hamati seems to be the favorite to beat being, a Christ...