:: Eurovision 24 :: Oslo 2010

The first artist impression of the stage of the 54th Eurovision Song Contest has been revealed. The impressive structure, which radically breaks recent Eurovision Song Contest traditions, has been designed by New York-based set designer John Casey and has been revealed to the Heads of Delegation of the 43 participating countries earlier tonight. Casey previously designed the stage for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1997 in Dublin, and was involved in 1994 and 1995 as well. -

Switzerland will be represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song The highest heights by Lovebugs.The song is the latest single of the band. The Lovebugs are a Swiss britpop band from Basel. Established in 1992 by Adrian Sieber and Sebastian “Baschi” Hausmann and drummer Julie, the band has become one of Switzerland’s most successful bands. -

Hungary has chosen their entry for the third time. Ádok Zoli will be singing “Dance With Me” in Moscow this year. Click here to view the song entry . -

On the 21st February, the FYR Macedonian national final for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest was held. 16 acts competed and in the end it was decided that Next Time will go to Moscow with the song Nesto sto ke ostane written by Damjan Lazarov and Jovan Jovanov. -

The 2009 Eurovision Song Contest entry for Germany was officially presented on the 21st February during the Echo Awards. Oscar Loya and Alex C performed Miss Kiss Kiss bang accompanied by a full band and ballet. -

On the 21st February, the Norwegian national final. The televoters decided to send Alexander Rybak to Moscow with the song Fairytale, written by himself. -

On the 21st February, the Bulgarian national final for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest was held. After twelve semi finals, three quarter finals and a semi final, it was decided that Krassimir Avramov will represent the country in Moscow with the song Illusion. -

On the 20th February, the Irish national final for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest was held. Six acts competed and by a jury and televoting, it was decided that Sinead Mulvey & Black Daisy will go to Moscow with the song Et cetera written by Niall Mooney, Jonas Gladnikoff, Daniele Moretti and Christina Schilling. -

RTE have announced ahead of the show tonight that 'America's Got Talent' host Jerry Springer will join Eurovision winner Linda Martin and Eurovision commentator Marty Whelan on the expert panel for Friday night's 'Late Late Eurosong Special' on RTÉ One at 9.35pm. The six Eurosong 2009 finalists were selected from a public competition and Friday night's winner will be decided by votes from regional juries and the public in a 50/50 ratio. The regional juries will be based in Cork (presented by 'Ice's Sinéad Kennedy), Sligo (presented by 'News2day's Paddy McKenna), Limerick (presented by 'Den Tots' host Emma O'Driscoll) and Dublin (presented by 'Kazoo's Kathryn McKiernan). The Late Late Show: Eurosong 2009 will be broadcast live on RTÉ ONE television and worldwide via webcast on Friday, February 20th at 22:35 CET (21:35 local time). More on the show here . -

Real tickets to the music competition Eurovision 2009 to be held in Moscow are still under development, so the tickets, which are already available, are surely counterfeit, the contest organizers warn. In spite of the fact that tickets to the Eurovision 2009 contest concerts have not been printed and developed yet, various websites, some of them claiming to be the competition’s official sites, already offer to book tickets in advance. The organizers report that for the time being Eurovision 2009 tickets are unavailable neither for booking nor for buying. All the currently existing offers to book tickets to Eurovision are fake. All information regarding the purchase of tickets will be made available on the official sites of the Eurovision Song Contest in early March. Those being the EBU's eurovision.tv and the host broadcaster's website eurovision.1tv.ru Source: rian.ru Source: Russia IC -

RTÉ will air the audio pre views of the six songs that have made the Irish National Final show Eurosong 2009 which will be broadcasted live tomorrow night. The six songs who have a chance to represent Ireland at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest will be aired live by RTÉ radio 1 on The Mooney Show radio program today which begins at 15:00 in Ireland (16:00 CET). Here are the six finalists: 1. M.N.A - Flying (Ronan McCormack) 2. Laura-Jayne Hunter - Out of Control (Derry O’Donovan) 3. Lee Bradshaw - So What (Billy Larkin & Kevin Breathnach) 4. Johnny Brady - Amazing (Tony Adams Rosa) 5. Kristina Zaharova - I Wish I Could Pretend (Lauris Reiniks) 6. Sinead Mulvey & Black Daisy - Et Cetera (Niall Mooney, Jonas Gladnikoff, Daniele Moretti & Christina Schilling. Singers first, then song title, followed by composers of the songs. RTÉ Radio 1 is available to everyone online and can be listened to on Windows Media Player or on Real Player. -

Song: This Is Our Night Singer: Saki Rouvas Composer(s): ______________________________ On the 18th February, the publc selected that Saki Rouvas will sing "This Is Our Night" in Moscow in May. -

Song: We Don’t Wanna Put in Singer: Stephane & 3G Composer(s): ______________________________ On the 18th February, Stephane & 3G has won the Georgian National Final with their song “We Don’t Wanna Put in”. -

Belarus will participate in the Eurovision Dance Contest 2009 for the first time, it has been learnt from Alexander Martynenko, Deputy Chairman of the National State TV and Radio Company (Belteleradiocompany). More here>> -

SBS has confirmed that they will be airing both Eurovision Song Contest semi finals and the Grand final. SBS, the Australian broadcaster mainly targeted to ethnic groups in Australia, will be airing all finals of the 54th Eurovision Song Contest to be staged in Moscow, Russia. All times are in Australian time: Semi-final 1 - Friday May 15th, 2009 at 19:30 Semi-final 2 - Saturday May 16th, 2009 at 19:30 Grand Final - Sunday May 17th, 2009 at 19:30 -

Patrick Ouchène from the band Runnin' Wild has been selected by Belgian broadcaster RTBF to represent Belgium at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow. 43 year old Ouchène will sing the song Copycat . Song will be presented at a press conference on 10th March. -

On the 14th February, the Moldovan national final for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest was held. 20 acts competed and the jury and televoting decided to send Nelly Ciobanu to Moscow with the song Hora din Moldova. -

On the 14th February, The Lithuanian final was held. Sasha Son aka Dima Shavrov will represent Lithania with the song Pasiklydes zmogus. -

On the 14th February, Poland held its national final. Ten acts presented their songs and jury and televoting decided to send Lidia Kopania to Moscow with the song I don't wanna leave written by Alex Geringos and Bernd Klimpel. -

On the 14th February, the Icelandic national final for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest was held. The televoters decided to send Jóhanna Guðrún Jónsdóttir to Moscow with the song Is it true? written by Óskar Páll Sveinsson. -

Song: Nor par (New dance) Singer: Inga and Anush Arshakyan Composer(s): TBC _________________________________ On the 14th February, the Armenian national final was held and it was decided that Inga and Anush Arshakyan will represent Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Nor par (New dance). -

RTÉ today announced the six Eurosong 2009 finalists, as selected from the public competition. The song contest was open to songwriters from outside of Ireland and a jury chaired by Eurovision winner Linda Martin chose six songs from almost 300 entries received from both home and abroad. They are: 1. “Flying” performed by M.N.A and composed by Ronan McCormack. 2. “Out of Control” performed by Laura-Jayne Hunter and composed by Derry O’Donovan. 3. “So What” performed by Lee Bradshaw and composed by Billy Larkin and Kevin Breathnach. 4. “Amazing” performed by Johnny Brady and composed by Tony Adams Rosa 5. “I Wish I Could Pretend” performed by Kristina Zaharova and composed by Lauris Reiniks. 6. “Et Cetera” performed by Sinead Mulvey & Black Daisy. Composed by Niall Mooney, Jonas Gladnikoff, Daniele Moretti & Christina Schilling. The songs will be performed in the order above as drawn by independent auditor Michael O’Neill of PriceWaterhouse Coopers. The winner...

It has been announced that AySel, who was chosen to represent Azerbaijan in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, will perform her song Always as a duet with songwriter Arash. The decision was made by the seven-member jury that chose the entry. It is expected that the song will be presented at the end of February. -

ESC Today has reported that Latvian National Broadcaster, LTV has received the confirmation from Lauris Reiniks, the member of F.L.Y representing Latvia at Eurovision Song Contest 2003, that he is withdrawing from the Latvian semifinal to participate in the Irish National Final on February 20, 2009. Lauris Reiniks' song I Wish I Could Pretend performed by Kristina Zaharova had been submitted to both Latvian and Irish preselections. It is one of 6 songs out of 300 submitted to qualify for the Irish National Final. Meanwhile I Wish I Could Pretend entered the Latvian semifinal of Eirodziesma 2009. The rules and regulations of Eurovision National Finals determine that the author and the performer are allowed to represent one country only. Due to Lauris Reiniks' decision there will be 20 songs in the semifinal of Latvian Eirodziesma 2009 taking place on February 27, 2009 followed by the final on February 28, 2009. We wish a lot of luck to the people of Latvia! Labu veiksmi!! -

President of Armenian Dance Sport Federation Aghasi Mkrtchyan told Panarmenian.net that Armenia will not be participating in the Eurovision Dance Contest 2009. One of the reasons is Azerbaijan’s refusal to take part in International Dance Sport Championship held last year in Yerevan. According to Azeri media, General Manager of Azerbaijani Public Broadcasting Company Ismail Omarov declared that "Azerbaijan guarantees the safety of all contestants including Armenians, should they wish to participate.” Baku in Azerbaijan will host the Eurovision Dance Contest in September 2009. -

Mr Lordi, lead singer of Lordi which won the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, will be interviewed by Podge and Rodge on " The Podge and Rodge Show " on RTE Two next week, either on Monday 16th February or Tuesday 17th February ahead of Eurosong 2009 on the 20th February in Dublin. Podge and Rodge announced that they will be interviewing Mr Lordi during their show last night. RTE's website will be updated soon with the information regarding Lordi's appearance. The reason for Lordi's appearance in Ireland is that the band is performing at The Button Factory, Dublin on Sunday 15th February . Mr. Lordi is not the only winner to make an appearance on Irish Television. Marija Šerifović, winner of the 2007 contest, was a guest at the Eurosong National Final 2008, while our most recent winner, Dima Bilan, performed his winning song on The Late Late Show , a week after winning the contest for Russia in Belgrade. -

For the second time this year, the act announced to represent Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest withdraws from the competition. Kátya Tompos, who replaced Márk Zentai, also decided not to go to Moscow with her song Magányos csónak. Eurovision.tv reports that the record company Sony BMG informed Hungarian Television that Kátya Tompos cannot undertake the performance at the Eurovision Song Contest because of her theatre engagements. MTV is facing an unexpected situation as it presumed that those candidates submitting an entry really have the intention to participate in the Song Contest and automatically accepted the strict rules of the EBU which were clearly included in the call for applications. MTV regrets the decision of Kátya very much although fortunately there are still some excellent songs among the 105 submissions which are well worth to represent Hungary. The selection of a new song and artist can be expected later these days taking into consideration all the rules and dea...

German broadcaster NDR have just held their press conference where it was announced that Oscar Hoya will represent Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow. Californian-born Oscar will sing the song 'Miss Kiss Kiss Bang' . According to Oikotimes , NDR has stated that this internal selection is a one-off, and a national final will be reinstated for next year. Reasons given publicly for the unusual selection method this year included the last place finish for No Angels in 2008, plus the falling viewing figures achieved by NDR for national finals. -

An Abba tribute band says it has performed a private concert for Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Bjorn Again says it was paid £20,000 to play the gig 200 miles (320km) north of Moscow on 22 January. Bjorn Again's manager Rod Stephen and other band members said Mr Putin danced to Abba hits and shouted "Bravo!" The PM's spokesman denied the claim. Mr Putin - a former KGB spy who has a black belt in judo - is known in Russia and the West for his macho image. Russia is hosting the 54th Eurovision Song Contest. Source: BBC News -

Malta has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest since 1971. In the first few years the tiny island state did not do well and withdrew after the 1975 edition. Since its returned in 1991, however, it achieved eight top ten placings in a row, finishing second in 2002 and 2005. However, in recent years Malta's fortune in the Contest has reversed, coming last in the 2006 contest with a single point and failing to qualify for the 2007 and 2008 finals. Malta is always a country that deserves to win the contest, lets hope that 2009 could be the year for the tiny country To celebrate Chiara representing Malta for the 3rd time (1998, 2005 & 2009), here are the three songs back to back. Enjoy! -

Song: What if we Singer: Chiara Composer(s): Marc Paelinck & Gregory Bilsen. On the 7th February, the national final of Malta took place in Ta’Qali. Chiara was the winner who is a well known Eurovision contestant as she took part in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 & 2005. Chiara with the song What if we will represent Malta in Moscow. The song is composed and penned by the Belgian musicians Marc Paelinck & Gregory Bilsen. The winning song was chosen after two rounds. In the first round an expert jury selected the best 3 entries to take part in the second round. At the second round the audience had only the right to vote. - Source: ESC Time -

Song: Firefly Singer: Christina Metaxa Composer: Nikolas The Cypriot final was held on the 7th February. The winner was 16 year old Christina Metaxa with Firefly, a ballad written and penned by her brother Nikolas. Ten acts competed tonight in the Cypriot final, among them two past Eurostars, Marlain Angelidou and Alex Panayi. Christina Metaxa won the televoting by a huge margin from the second Pieros Kezos. Christina's song is composed and penned by her brother Nikolas who currently enjoys great popularity in both Cyprus and Greece as he was the runnerup in the local edition of the X Factor. -

On the 4th February, the Andorran national final for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest was held. During the programme, it was decided that Susanna Georgi will represent the country in Moscow with her entry La teva decisió and therefore become the sixth Andorran representative in the competition. -

MTV have announced that Mark Zentai has been replaced by Katya Tompos, a 25 year old actress and singer who will represent the country in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest with Maganyos csonak. Katya Tompos will be after all flying the Hungarian flag to Moscow after it was made known that the original choice of the Hungarian broacaster, Mark Zentai, was ineligible to participate with the chosen song as it was performed publically before the date set by the EBU. Katya has starred in a number of films the latest being Gabor Herendi's A kind of America 2 (Valami Amerika) in December. Katya also contributed three songs in the soundtrack one of which, Maganyos csonak was chosen as the next Hungarian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. Source: ESC Today -

ESC Today has received confirmation that Mark Zentai has withdrawn his entry It's time to party. MTV has confirmed that the jury is convening once again to select an alternative entry after it became clear late last night that the song had been used in Sweden as a song by the Big Brother reality show contestants. Mark Zenai will therefore not be representing hungary at the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow. MORE FROM ESCTODAY MORE FROM ZENE.HU -

There is a bit of confusion at the moment but Hungarian national broadcaster is about to change its decision regarding Mark Zentai's entry for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. The Hungarian song of 2009 appears to be a remake of a song first recorded in 2004. MTV jury for Eurovision is examining the allegations for plagiarism which are very clear if you compare the two songs (Shown below). The song first appeared on Swedish Big Brother back in 2004 and was uploaded onto Youtube in 2006. Regardless of the date it was first heard, it has broken the EBU rules by being made public before 1st October 2008, therefore it cannot take part. If this is in fact the song that Hungary intends to submit it will can result in disqualification. However MTV and the EBU has the final decision on all cases. It is not clear if MTV will ask Mark to replace his song entry with another song, or totally ban him from representing Hungary in Moscow. Our official Hungary 2009 page will be updated once we o...

One of Eurovision 24's favourite countries, France have won the contest 5 times, their last win in 1977, quite a long time. Despite appearing in the Contest for over 50 years, France has never taken last place, although they ended up placing second to last six times. Now 32 years later after their last win in 1977, France 3 have appointed Patricia Kaas as the 2009 representative with this marvellous song entry S'il Fallait Le Faire . It goes to show that France is really taken seriously the contest this year. The French song will go some changes. The first change is to narrow the duration of the song as it exceeds the EBU rule of the three minutes. Sources close to the French broadcaster told that the song will also be revamped and will be presented in a Eurovision version in March. Could this be France's 6th win on the cards? -

Song: Ádok Zoli Singer: Dance With Me Composer(s): _____________________________________ Hungary has chosen their entry for the third time. Ádok Zoli will be singing “Dance With Me” in Moscow this year. The song would be classified as a club/pop song. Hungary had to withdraw their first entry this year because it was plagiarized from a Swedish Big Brother song and the second was withdrawn because the singer had other responsibilities she had to tend to. -

All Kinds of Everything is reporting from its sources that there were just under three hundred entries received by RTÉ for Eurosong 2009, which is an increase on the numbers in the last two years. I can be fairly sure, there is no "Dustin the Turkey" on the list!! While few entrants have made their participation public, an interesting name has caught my attention. Marketa Iglova, although born in the Czech Republic, has been based in Ireland for several years. Last year she won an Acadamy Award for the song "Falling Slowly" co-written with Glen Hansard from the film "Once". It is believed that the duo may also have collaborated on a potential Eurovision entry. The duo work together under the group name, The Swell Season. Eurosong 2009 takes place on 20th February. Video of "Falling Slowly": -

I am a bit surprised by this decision but it has been announced an hour ago by The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) that the third Eurovision Dance Contest 2009 will take place in September this year at the Heydar Aliev Sports and Concert Complex (SCC) in Baku, Azerbaijan. Nearly 8,000 spectators are expected to attend the show in Baku's largest concert arena. The event is organised by the EBU and will be hosted by its Azerbaijani Member, Ictimai Television (ITV). The contest is to be held on the 16th September 2009. The first two editions of the show were hosted in the United Kingdom successfully by the BBC in 2007 and 2008. Azerbaijan's public service broadcaster, Ictimai Television, then won the EBU tender to serve as host broadcaster for the 2009 edition. Participating EBU broadcasters will each be represented by a couple dancing a freestyle choreography inspired by the country they represent. In addition to being judged by a panel of experts in the arena, the European a...

Song: S'il fallait le faire Singer: Patricia Kaas Composer: TBC __________________________________ In an interview with Daily Nord, a French daily newspaper, Patricia Kaas the French representative in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest has revealed the song with which she will participate in Moscow. It is called S'il fallait le faire and features on her new album, Kabaret. Below you can watch the official video of S'il fallait le faire, this is a longer version which will have to be cut down to the three minutes required by EBU rules. We will update the video once we get the official Eurovision Video. en Français Dans un entretien avec le quotidien Nord, un quotidien français, Patricia Kaas le représentant de la France dans le Concours Eurovision de la chanson 2009 a révélé la chanson avec laquelle elle participera à Moscou. Il est appelé S'il fallait le faire et les caractéristiques de son nouvel album, Kabaret. Ci-dessous, vous pouvez regarder la vidéo officiel de l...

Song: De Toppers Singer: Shine Composer: TBC ______________________________________ The band The Toppers with the song “Shine” will represent The Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. The Toppers already were choosen from the national broadcaster of the country internally. On the 1st February, the song "Shine" was choosen. This year the country will participate in the second semi-final. -

On the 1st February, Slovenia held their National Final. Quartissimo won the EMA 2009 and will represent Slovenia in Moscow with the song " Love Symphony " -