All posts by ANDY RICHARDS

Diana Gromova/Belarus, new music

Diana Gromova loves ‘The Smell of Skin’

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Belarusian singer, Diana Gromova, has just released a brand new song: ‘Запах кожи’ – which translates as ‘The Smell of Skin’. (Edit: We previously incorrectly reported this as ‘The Smell of Leather’ due to the Russian word translating as both ‘leather’ and ‘skin’)

This dreamy-pop meody is a great addition to her catalogue of music, with a fantastic uplifing feel to it.

The lyrics and music of the song by are by Diana Gromova herself. The music video is produced by Mash Romanovskaya, and the sound production is by Nikita Ignatenko. You can watch Diana’s video for ‘Запах кожи’ / ‘The Smell of Skin’ below:

Diana is a talented and passionate singer from Belarus and has released several popular songs and music videos. She had also previously participated in Belarussian Junior Eurovision national selections.

You can find out more about her on her Instagram blog.

Image: @dianagromova_blog (Instagram)

2026 Eurovision Song Contest

Qualifier Predictions for the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest

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Now that the dust has settled on last week’s Semi-Final running order draw, the team at ESC Covers have been making personal predictions for the 20 songs that will qualify to the Grand Final on Saturday, 16th May.

With only 15 songs performing in each Semi-Final, it’s one of the easier years to get a decent prediction score. No matter who you choose, you’ll have a minimum of 5/10 correct for each show, but there’s still quite a debate as to who fans think will make the cut.

Andy Richards has made the following predition, based on a variety of factors – not just necessarily which are the best songs:

1st Semi-Final:
🇲🇩 MOLDOVA
🇸🇪 SWEDEN
🇭🇷 CROATIA
🇬🇷 GREECE
🇬🇪 GEORGIA
🇫🇮 FINLAND
🇲🇪 MONTENEGRO
🇮🇱 ISRAEL
🇵🇱 POLAND
🇷🇸 SERBIA
(with 🇸🇲 SAN MARINO just missing out in 11th place.)

2nd Semi-Final:
🇧🇬 BULGARIA
🇷🇴 ROMANIA
🇱🇺 LUXEMBOURG
🇨🇿 CZECHIA
🇦🇲 ARMENIA
🇨🇾 CYPRUS
🇱🇻 LATVIA
🇩🇰 DENMARK
🇦🇺 AUSTRALIA
🇳🇴 NORWAY
(with 🇺🇦 UKRAINE just missing out in 11th place)

Let us know in the comments what your predictions are. With such few songs in each semi – to be a great prediction,  we think only 10/10 scores are valid this year. It would be fairly easy to get 8 or 9 correct, simply by randomly drawing them out of a hat!

 

2026 Malta Eurovision Song Contest

12 acts make it to the final of the 2026 Malta Eurovision Song Contest

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Last night, the semi-final of Malta’s Eurovision Song Contest selection show took place at the Malta Fairs & Convention Centre. Of the 18 competing songs, just 12 have qualified to Saturday night’s grand final. The lucky 12 are as follows:

Aidan – “Bella”

Ema – “Achikuku (Don’t Think About It)”

Franklin Calleja – “Guide You Home”

Matthew Cilia and the AfterParty – “Brutality Mentality”

Mark Anthony Bartolo – “Mumenti sbieħ”

Denise – “Trophy”

Matt Blxck – “Ejja lejja ħdejja ‘l hawn (The Flute)”

Adria Twins – “Nerġa’ nqum”

Kelsie Borg – “Let a Girl Breathe”

Mychael Bartolo Chircop – “My Sweet Angel”

Janice Mangion – “Univers”

Nathan Psaila – “Ganador”

After last night’s semi-final show had ended, a draw was made to determine the acts to open and close the grand final.

Janice will perform first, and the Adria Twins will perform in the closing slot. You can watch the draw below:

We also got chance to witness the reactions of some of the finalists after the draw for the final. They’re available to watch on our YouTube channel, and below:

The live Grand Final of the 2026 Malta Eurovision Song Contest takes place on Saturday night from 20:50 CET.

2026 Eurovision Song Contest, 2026 Malta Eurovision Song Contest

The search for Malta’s Eurovision Song Contest entrant begins tonight!

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The semi-final of the Malta Eurovision Song Contest begins at 21:00 CET tonight!

Eighteen acts and songs will battle-it-out with the hope of gaining a place in the Grand Final on Saturday night. ESC Covers are on-site in Malta for both of the live shows, which are taking place at the Malta Fairs & Convention Centre. Tonight’s artists and songs are as follows:

1. Aidan – “Bella”

2. Ema – “Achikuku (Don’t Think About It)”

3.  Chess Galea – “Shout It Out”

4. Liston – “Mela”

5. Franklin Calleja – “Guide You Home”

6. Kelsy Attard – “Perfectly Broken”

7. Matthew Cilia and the AfterParty – “Brutality Mentality”

8. Mark Anthony Bartolo – “Mumenti sbieħ”

9. Denise – “Trophy”

10. Kurt Anthony – “On the Borderline”

11. Rhiannon Micallef – “Hold Myself Up”

12. Stefan Galea – “Pose”

13. Matt Blxck – “Ejja lejja ħdejja ‘l hawn (The Flute)”

14. Adria Twins – “Nerġa’ nqum”

15. Kelsie Borg – “Let a Girl Breathe”

16. Mychael Bartolo Chircop – “My Sweet Angel”

17.  Janice Mangion – “Univers”

18. Nathan Psaila – “Ganador”

Amongst the artists hoping to represent Malta in Vienna at the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest in May, a number of guests acts are also performing tonight, including Malta’s Junior Eurovision Song Contest winner, Gaia Cauchi, and everyone’s favourite coffee enthusiast – Tommy Cash!

Twelve of the 18 competing acts will make it to Saturday night’s live final, who will also be joined on stage by a number of guest acts including Destiny, Mariana Conte and Baby Lasagne!

ESC Covers will be alongside you at the MFCC, until Malta’s act is chosen and announced late Saturday night. May the best song win!

2025 Junior Eurovision Song Contest, Featured

Review of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2025 Jury show

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It’s very nearly time for the 2025 Junior Eurovision Song Contest, which takes place at 1700CET, live from Tbilisi, Georgia. ESC Covers had the pleasure of watching yesterday evening’s Jury show, and the following article features a quick review of each song, and what to expect in tonight’s show, including the interval act performances. Please be warned that this contains spoilers – so if you prefer to wait until the live show this evening, stop reading here!

Continue reading Review of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2025 Jury show →

2025 Junior Eurovision Song Contest

The 2025 Junior Eurovision Song Contest Running Order

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The European Broadcasting Union have now released the running order for the upcoming Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Tbilisi, Georgia.

A draw was conducted by last year’s winner, Andria Putkaradze, who brought the victory to Georgia with his song, “To My Mom”. Each country’s starting position, broadcaster and artist is listed below:

01: 🇲🇹 Malta (PBS) – Eliza Borg 
02: 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan (Ictimai) – Yağmur 
03: 🇭🇷 Croatia (HRT) – Marino Vrgoč 
04: 🇸🇲 San Marino (SMRTV) – Martina Crv 
05: 🇦🇲 Armenia (AMPTV) – Albert 
06: 🇺🇦 Ukraine (Suspilne) – Sofiia Nersesian 
07: 🇮🇪 Ireland (TG4) – Lottie O’Driscoll Murray 
08: 🇳🇱 Netherlands (AVROTROS) – Meadow 
09: 🇵🇱 Poland (TVP) – Marianna Kłos 
10: 🇲🇰 North Macedonia (MKRTV) – Nela Mančeska 
11: 🇲🇪 Montenegro (RTCG) – Asja Džogović 
12: 🇮🇹 Italy (Rai) – Leonardo Giovannangeli
13: 🇵🇹 Portugal (RTP) – Inês Gonçalves 
14: 🇪🇸 Spain (RTVE) – Gonzalo Pinillos 
15: 🇬🇪 Georgia (GPB – Host Broadcaster) – Anita Abgariani 
16: 🇨🇾 Cyprus (CyBC) – Rafaella and Christos 
17: 🇫🇷 France (France Télévisions) – Lou Deleuze
18: 🇦🇱 Albania (RTSH) – Kroni Pula 

The running order was decided via a draw in which each of the songs had been placed in different categories depending on music style and tempo. This is to ensure that viewers have the best possible viewing experiences when tuning into that Saturday evening of entertainment on 13 December.

Source: junioreurovision.tv / Wikipedia

2025 Eurovision Song Contest, Australia

Feeling hungry for more? Go-Jo and Erika Vikman have an ‘Appetite’

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2025 Eurovision Song Contest alumni, Go-Jo and Erika Vikman, have teamed up to create the perfect collaboration that you never realised you needed – until now!

“APPETITE” is now available to watch on YouTube, and features pop, EDM, and even rock styles (complete with a fancy guitar solo) for you to play along with your ‘air’ instrument.

The Milkshake Man and Finland’s blonde bombshell have “Komme” together to form a great musical alliance!

Check out more content from Go-Jo and Erika Vikman on their YouTube channels and Instagram accounts: Go-Jo | Erika Vikman

Featured image: Still from the “APPETITE” official music video

2014 Junior Eurovision Song Contest

Lizi Japaridze ‘Don’t Wanna Fall In Love’

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Lizi Japaridze who represented Georgia at the 2014 Junior Eurovision Song Contest as ‘Lizi Pop’ with “Happy Day” is back with new music!

The 21-year old’s new song is called “Don’t Wanna Fall In Love” and is available to listen to on her official YouTube channel

“Don’t Wanna Fall In Love” is a chilled dreamy pop tune with great production, and is a great addition to any playlist.

You can  find out more about Lizi on her Instagram page, and can also check out more of her music on her Spotify account.