Category Archives: 2012
Preview: Melodifestivalen Semifinal 2
It’s a Saturday in February, and you know what that means…time for another Melodifestivalen Semifinal! This week’s event comes to us from the Scandinavium Arena in Göteborg, which also hosted the 1985 Eurovision Final. This week, we’ll see eight contenders fighting for two tickets to go “direkt till Globen” and two opportunities for an “andra chansen” on March 3. As usual, broadcaster SVT keeps a tight lid on the songs until their live presentation (and then promptly locks the qualifiers down again), but we’ve seen minute-long snippets of rehearsal footage. Read the rest of this entry
Germany: And we’re down to the Final Four!
We’re getting down to the wire in Germany’s National Selection, “Unser Star für Baku”. Now with twice-weekly shows, the Finals are just days away. Germany’s top five candidates were given the chance to sing a pair of songs this week; who came out on top, and who’s heading home?
Five Songs Revealed in Ireland
We’ve seen the rumors, we’ve heard the whispers, we’ve fallen for some of the red herrings …and now we’ve finally heard the songs! Irish broadcaster RTÉ has unveiled the quintet of songs in the running for the nation’s ticket to Baku. The songs will be performed on “The Late Late Show” on February 24, and a 50/50 jury/televote split will determine the winner.
In their running order, the songs are:
Israel has Decided: It’s Izabo’s “Time”!
One of the nations whose Eurovision plans appeared up in the air was Israel. The return of 1998 ESC champion Dana International last year resulted in disappointment (and a number of unfortunate jokes about the state of her “Ding Dong“.) After originally hemming and hawing over their participation in the contest (as the date of the Final coincides with the festival of Shavuot), national broadcaster IBA confirmed that the nation would, in fact, be competing in Baku. There had been rumors of a public National Final (or Kdam), but due to logistical issues, that plan was scrapped. What is a network to do? Read the rest of this entry
One more Star Eliminated in Germany
We’re getting closer to finding Germany’s next Eurovision Star, meaning that one more candidate has been cut from the list of ProSieben’s talent search “Unser Star für Baku”. We’re getting down to the wire; after tonight’s show, only five names are left in the search to find out who will fill Lena Meyer-Landrut’s shoes. Read the rest of this entry
Results: First Semifinal in Lithuania
This past weekend was a busy one in the world of Eurovision. Alongside the National Final in Malta and Semis in Sweden, Hungary, and Norway, Lithuania also held their first Semifinal of the 2012 season. Nine songs were performed, with the top scorers in a combined jury and televote moving on to the Finals on March 3.
Continuing on in the competition are: Read the rest of this entry
Results: Second Semifinal in Hungary
The second of Hungary’s two Semifinals took place this weekend, and ten songs left themselves up to the mercy of a professional jury and the Hungarian public’s vote in order to clinch one of four coveted spots in next week’s “A Dal” Final.
Continuing on in the competition are: Read the rest of this entry
Results: Third Semifinal in Norway
Yesterday marked the third and last Semifinal in Norway’s Melodi Grand Prix, live from the Idrettssenter in Florø. Eight songs were competing for three spots in next week’s National Final (although one Wildcard winner will be announced on Thursday).
Winning a ticket to the Oslo Spektrum Arena for next week are: Read the rest of this entry
Sweden: First Semifinal Results
As expected, it was an exciting first Semifinal in Växjö, Sweden, where Melodifestivalen veterans and newcomers kicked off the Grande Dame of National Finals in style. Country, schlager, comedy, and metal faced off against each other, with two songs proceeding “Direkt till Globen” (straight to the Finals at the Globen Arena on March 10), and two moving on to the Second Chance, or Andra Chansen, round on March 3.
Moving on directly to the Final are:
Malta has Decided: It’s Kurt Calleja!
After a marathon of a National Final, where sixteen hopeful performers took the stage for the chance to become Malta’s twenty-fifth Eurovision representative, we finally have a winner. In a closely-fought final, twenty-two year old Kurt Calleja bested his competitors and took home the trophy with “This is the Night”, which he co-wrote with Johan Jämtberg, and Mikael Gunnerås. He came in second with the jury’s vote, but took the lead through the public televote, and snatched victory away from seemingly perpetual runner-up Claudia Faniello. Read the rest of this entry
The ESC Insider 