Finland held the first of three semi-final of the 2016 UMK national selection series. Six acts performed and three progressed through to the final.
The six acts and songs were –
Televoting and online votes decided who would progress. The three acts that made it were
Source: www.esccovers.com
Ukraine are back for the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest. Last night the first semi-final was held with nine acts performing and three progressing to the final.
The nine acts taking part were –
Anastasia Prykhodko represented Russia at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest with Mamo. The results were decided by a combination of expert jury and televoting. The jury were Konstantin Meladze (producer and composer), Ruslana (winner of the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest for Ukraine) and Andrdei Danilko (also known as Verka Seduchka – 2007 ESC Ukraine).
The three acts that qualified for the final were –
Source: www.eurovision.tv; www.esccovers.com
Spain held their national selection, Objetivo Eurovisión, with six finalists taking part. A combination of televoting, international jury and studio artists jury (including Loreen ESC Sweden winner 2012) and Edurne (ESC Spain 2015).
The six acts and songs –
Maria Isabel was the winner of the 2004 Junior Eurovision Song Contest with Antes muerta que sencilla.
The winning act that will represent Spain in the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest will be Barei and her song Say Yay!
You can see Barei perform Say Yay! below.
Source: www.esccovers.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqIsmOX0eV0
The second quarter-final of the 2016 A Dal has taken place in Hungary. 10 acts competed and six qualified for the next phase.
Five acts qualified immediately via the expert jury votes and one via televoting –
Source: www.eurovision.tv; www.esccovers.com
The BBC has announced that they will be holding a National Final on the 26th February 2016. Eurovision: You Decide, will be the first National Final show that the BBC have had in 6 years. The show will be hosted by television personality Mel Giedroyc, who Eurovision fans will remember as one of the British commentators from last year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna.
Eurovision: You Decide will feature 6 contestants vying to represent the UK at Eurovision. These 6 acts were chosen through 3 different methods. Firstly, the OGAE UK fan club shortlisted entries submitted from the public to the BBC. Secondly, the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) ran a song-writing competition amongst its members. Finally former MD of record company RCA and founder of Innocent Records, Hugh Goldsmith acted as Music Consultant to the BBC overseeing communication with established record labels, publishers, managers, writers and producers encouraging high-level music industry involvement.
Eurovision: You Decide will be broadcast live on Friday the 26th February on BBC Four. Good luck UK!
The second show of the Lithuanian national selection has taken place. Eight more acts competed and three were eliminated. The eight acts and songs were –
The three acts to be eliminated by a national and international jury were –
Source: www.eurovision.tv
10 acts have been announced to take part in the German selection, Unser Lied für Stockholm, to find their representative for the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden.
The 10 acts and song titles are –
Eurovision veterans Ralph Siegel and John O’Flynn have composed the song for Laura Pinski.
The final will be held on 25 February.
Source: www.eurovision.tv
Austria have announced nine acts that will participate in the national final which will be held on 12 February. The nine confirmed acts are –
ZOË was a popular finalist in the 2015 Wer singt für Österreich? with Quel Filou and had success with her album entitled Debut.
One more act will make it 10 in the final via a wildcard vote to be held on Facebook on 14 January. Anyone can vote on this so check the official ORF Facebook page on that date for details of how to vote https://www.facebook.com/ESCOesterreich/
The wildcard acts in contention are –
Source: www.eurovision.tv; www.esccovers.com
Lithuania have started the road to Stockholm with the first of their Eurovision national selection shows. Eight acts performed and three were eliminated in the first week.
The acts and songs in the first show –
An expert national and international jury voted in the first phase. The acts that were eliminated were –
The first show was won by Donny Montell, the Lithuanian Eurovision representative in 2012 in Baku where he sang Love Is Blind.
Source: www.eurovision.tv; www.esccovers.com
The 10 acts who will participate in the 2016 EMA national selection in Slovenia have been announced. They include two former Eurovision participants for Slovenia. Regina, who sang Dan najlepših sanj in 1996, returns as well as Nuša Derenda, who gave us Energy in 2001.
Also, in the selection is ManuElla, who progressed far in the Misija Evrovizija competition, to find the competitor for Slovenia for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest. The eventual winner was Eva Bota.
The 10 acts competing in the 2016 EMA are –
The EMA final will be held on 27 February.
Source: www.eurovision.tv; www.esccovers.com