The second semi-final of the 2019 Destination Eurovision selection took place with nine acts competing and four of them progressed to the grand final next weekend.
The four acts to make it to the final courtesy of 50% international jury and 50% televoting –
1. Seemone – Tout les Deux
2. Emmanuel Moire – La Promesse
3. The Divaz – La Voix d’Aretha
4. Doutson – Sois Un Bon Fils
The acts did not make it through –
Philipelise – Madame la Paix
Ugo – Ce qui me blesse
Gabriella – On cherche encore (We Never Get Enough)
Tracy de Sa – Por Aqui
Noémie –Ma petite famille
You can see the winner on the night, Seemone, perform Tout les Deux below.
Herluis Rafael of Venezuela sent us the link to a protest during the second semi final in France last night. A female came onto the stage during Netta, last year’s Eufrovision winner on stage, with a banner protesting against the Eurovision song contest being held in Israel this year. Luckily it was fairly peaceful.
Melodifestivalen 2019, the Swedish selection for the Eurovision song contest heats up with voting changes.
The SMS voting disappears and the jury groups become fewer. From this year’s MF, it will no longer be possible to vote via SMS. There will also be fewer countries in the international jury, now 8 instead of 11.
These are some of the changes that SVT decided to introduce the current voting which they believe will make things even more exciting.
Voting via the app is as follows: All incoming votes must be divided according to seven different age categories, which are then weighted against each other. The age groups will be divided and colored in the app heart in the following way:
• Green: 3–9 years (interesting but then young young people learn technology quite fast)
• Turquoise: 10–15 years
• Blue: 16–29 years (quite a big group here)
• Purple: 30–44 years
• Pink: 45–59 years
• Red: 60–74 years
• Orange: 75+ (not sure how many people are in this group)
Furthermore, the voting heart visible on the TV screen will change as well. The heart will only pound, not be on fire, and the variations will be considerably subtler. This way, it will be harder to figure out the result by watching the heart. Also, the heart will change colour based on the age groups that shows the highest engagement at the moment.
An interesting and worthwhile project is the UK Albanian Talent Show. It is a great showcase for young talent with an Albania background who are based in the United Kingdom.
There are three different categories: singing, dancing, reciting/acting.
The winner of the 2018 UK Albanian Talent Show singing category was Alketa Ratkoceri. She performed Listen by Beyoncé.
The runner up in the singing category was Vanesa Sono and third place went to Enedio Metushi.
Gresa Pantina was the winner of the acting category with second place going to Tergita Asllani.
The dancing category was won by a group from the Arberia association. Also brother and sister Eliza & Joni Zagrgja and also Denisa & Desara Prifti, who both won prizes.
A special mention to the organisers of the show, alb uk tv (production), Juliana Shalla (organiser), Edita Krasniqi (choreographer), Ina Veneti (singer) and Helidon Kastrati (director of Alb UK tv). The Albanian ambassador in the UK was also present, Qirjako Qirko and the Albanian councillor, Kastriot Berberi. Ian Turner, a commentator of the Royal family, was also present. He also now works for Alb UK tv. Thank you also to the Albanian designer, Mirabelle Supure, who prepared this charming showcase.
We will bring you more about the projects of UK Albanian Talent Show soon.
The youngest participant was five years old Darlen Domi and also a mention for Doruntina Berisha, who was playing guitar on the stage.
The opening ceremony included a charming showcase with the children modelling and wearing traditional Albanian costumes.
Raiven is returning to the Slovenian national selection for Eurovision Song Contest (EMA) on the 16 February with a song KAOS. In her third attempt to win her chance to represent Slovenia at the Eurovision Song Contest, she is addressing all those who are not rebels without a cause.
Anna Grigoryan has recorded a cover version of a Russian song Skazhi mne Dzhanym. It is mid-tempo track with a nice melody performed beautifully by Anna.
Anna is a talented young singer from Armenia and she released a colourful and upbeat song and music video in 2018 called Mashup.
In the next few days AUSTRIA will announce who will represent them at the 2019 Eurovision song contest. Almost a year ago, SIMONE AND CHARLY BRUNNER (one of the Brunner and Brunner brothers) released a song called NACHTSCHWARMER. Simone represented Austria at the 1990 Eurovision song contest and Charly was one of the composers of the 1994 Eurovision entry for Austria sung by Petra Frey. Such a duet would really be a good choice for Austria but in recent years they have moved away from picking German songs.
