OA | Racist comments in Ukraine
++ Line up Spain complete ++ Amnesty International critical about Azerbaijan ++ Talking to Charlotte tonight! ++ ..
There is the general prejudice that non-white artists don't get too many votes from eastern European countries. Recent examples are Norway's entry last year and the Netherlands in 2007. This year Ukraine almost seems to have made a statement against this prejudice, selecting Gaitana to represent the country in Baku. Gaitana is partly Congolese but she was born and raised in Ukraine. Apparently this now hasn't turned out to be accepted generally in the country anyway. In Ukrainian press Yuriy Syrotyuk, of the Svoboda party, said that "Gaitana is not an organic representative of the Ukrainian culture." "Eurovision is our chance to promote Ukraine," "We need to show our originality," he told Kyiv Post on Feb. 21. Such a pity!
OA | Going up, up, up....
++ Euphoria disqualified?? ++ Dutch battles announced ++ No enthusiam for the Georgian and Montenegrin entries here ++ ..
Before the song Euphoria by Loreen actually is allowed to be released it already seems to be on its way to become an international hit. Euphoria, one of the qualifiers in the first heat of Melodifestivalen this year is a favorit among fans. Untill the day of the Swedish national final the song amy not be published, but somehow it already slipped out and now even made its way into a trailer of a Spanish TV series, reports Eurovision fansite Escdaily. Although this is against the contest rules, Loreen is not likely to be disqualified. Warner Music and SVT are trying hard to get the transmission of the trailer stopped (watch it below).
OA | 15+ songs by end of weekend
++ Roman for Germany! ++ Loads of Eurovision this weekend ++ Søren is back! Without Kirsten, and not for Denmark ++ ..
By the end of this weekend at least 16 of this years entries to the Eurovision song contest will be known. Let us know what is your top 10 so far? Will it be mystical Iceland on top? Poppy Cyprus? Oriental Norway? Alternative Switzerland? Artistic Albania? Middle of the road Denmark? (whoops was there a bit too much opinion in that last one?) Swinging Malta? Or any of the tunes we will get to know this weekend? You can find links to all selected entries on our frontpage or here.
OA | Maya sings Korake ti znam
++ Roman or Ornella, Germany will decide tonight ++ Duets in Italy ++ Ticket sales start soon ++..
Bosnian broadcaster BHRT has announced what song Maya Sar is going to sing at this year's Eurovision Song Contest. She was alreeady selected a while ago. Now we know the song title too: Korake ti znam. The song, written by Maya Sar herself will be presented on 10 March in a special broadcast on Bosnian television. The videoclip for the song will partially be filmed in Rome and partially in Istanbul.
OA | Four songs for Spain!
++ Sanremo continues ++ Belarus selected an artist! ++ Georgia announces its national final ++..
TVE, the Spanish broadcaster has announced the four songs for Pastora Soler today. Listen to them here, and tell us which one you like best! Two of them (Quédate Conmigo and Tu vida es tu vida) are already qualified for the final on 3 March and a third one will join them from the remaining two.
OA | Finalists clear in Germany
++ San Remo 2012 gets going ++ Belarus will select today! ++ Four have become two in Germany ++..
Roman and Ornella are going to meet eachother in the final of Unser Star Für Baku, this Thursday. Both will sing three songs in the German final for the Eurovision Song Contest. The audience will eventually decide through tele voting.
OA | Sabina Babayeva it is!
++ 72 became 5 became 1! ++ Unser Star Für Baku - semi final tonight ++ Ukrainian line up almost complete ++..
Host country Azerbaijan will be represented by Sabina Babayeva this year. She won last night in the Azeri national final, where she beat her four competetors. The song she will be singing in Baku has not been selected yet. In the coming weeks it is going to be written for her. Babayeva already tried to represent Azerbaijan last year, but didn't reach the final then. Now she was the clear favorit.
OA | Who'll represent the host country?
++ Azerbaijan selects artist tonight ++ Three more acts for Baku selected this week ++ La La Love # 2 in the Cypriot charts this week ++..
At six tonight the Azerbaijani will select their artist for the song contest later on this year in their own capital. Five artist remain (Orxan Kərimli, Səbinə Babayeva, Elton İbrahimov, Fəqan Səfərov and Arzu İsmayılova). The song will not be selected yet. last year two of the finalists were selected. We know all how that ended. A webcast is available here. Can Bonomo and Kurt Calleja, the selected artists from Turkey and Malta will attend the show. Can can't sing his Eurovision song yet, as it will not be presented before the end of this month.
OA | 3 more entries this weekend
++ Visa for Baku, a piece of cake ++ 48.4 million Euro allocated for the ESC ++ Will the contest improve the human rights situation in AZ? ++..
Tomorrow Norway (see details), Iceland (details) and Hungary (details) will select their Eurovision entry. This means yet another buzzing Eurovision night as Sweden and Lithuania also will continue their hunt for a suitable act for the Eurovision Song Contest. On Sunday the Germans will set the next step in their quest for a Star in Baku, presenting their semi final with only four remaining artists.
OA | So, Waterline it is!
++ First impressions of this week's MF songs ++ Do we have Jedward's real songtitle now? ++ MGP Come Back for Alexander Rybak ++..
The Irish are going to bring their entries out in the open, this afternoon. The 5 songs for the national final on 24 February will be presented in the RTÉ radio show Mooney (listen here). Among the contestants there are two Eurovision veterans: Donna McCaul (Ireland'05) and Jedward (Ireland'11).
