Welcome to the first and biggest Super Saturday of 2020! After several weekends of two or three shows, we’re suddenly in the deep end with no less than nine shows taking place today, Saturday 8 February.
Here are all the details you need for 2020’s fifth Saturday of national selections. We’ll be checking in with semi-finals in Norway, Lithuania, Sweden, Iceland and Ukraine and finals in Malta, Latvia, Italy and Australia.
You can follow all the results on wiwibloggs (and via our Twitter@wiwibloggs and Instagram wiwibloggs) throughout the evening. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s happening, when it’s on and how to watch.
Saturday 8 February: Eurovision 2020 Selection Shows
Eurovision — Australia Decides 2020
Grand final
Time: 10:30 CET to 13:10 CET
It’s the one national final where the roles are reversed — evening viewing for Australia and breakfast TV for Europe… or more like brunch. Returning for its second year, Australia’s selection has once again thrown up a mixture of familiar names and up-and-coming artists. Much of the pre-contest chatter has focused on “Absolutely Everybody” hitmaker Vanessa Amorosi and Montaigne. But don’t rule out the possibility of a surprise winner. Kate Miller-Heidke, Dami Im and Måns Zelmerlöw are all on hand to provide interval entertainment.
Watch Eurovision — Australia Decides 2020 on Facebook
For additional viewing instructions, click here.
Ukraine’s Vidbir 2020
Semi-Final One
Time: 18:00 CET to 21:21 CET
It’s the national final that fell into complete disarray in 2019 when winner Maruv pulled out of Eurovision for contractual reasons. She triggered a domino effect which saw the remaining acts turn down the opportunity too, forcing Ukraine to withdraw. This year the country’s back with a clean state. Tonight’s first semi will see eight acts compete for just three final spots. Those generating early buzz include Assol, Jerry Heil and Go-A.
Click to Watch Vidbir 2020 Semi-Final One on YouTube
For additional viewing instructions, click here.
Norway’s Melodi Grand Prix 2020
Semi-Final Five
Time: 19:50 CET to 21:10 CET
Norway’s MGP 2020 turns 60 this year. And to mark the occasion, the Nordic nation is reviving the semi-finals, last used in 2014. This evening’s show will see performances from four acts — Elin & The Woods, Jenny Jenssen, Kevin Boine and Liza Vassilieva. A series of duels will reduce this number to just one finalist. They’ll join the other semi-final qualifiers plus five pre-qualified finalists in the grand final.
Automatic qualifier Tone Damli will also showcase her entry tonight.
Click to Watch Melodi Grand Prix 2020 Semi-Final Five
For additional viewing instructions, click here.
Lithuania’s Eurovizijos atranka 2020
Semi-Final Two
Time: 20:00 CET to 22:15 CET
Over in the Baltics, Lithuania is also shaking things up a bit. The once bloated national selection — it ran for 10 weeks as recently as 2017 — has been slashed to just six episodes. And to mark the new slimmer show, there’s also been a little bit of a rebrand. The official title is now Pabandom iš naujo! Nacionalinė Eurovizijos Atranka 2020.
Tonight’s second semi will see eight acts battle for four grand final slots. All eyes are set to be on Moniqué and Monika Marija.
Click to Watch Eurovizijos atranka 2020 Semi-Final Two
For additional viewing instructions, click here.
Sweden’s Melodifestivalen 2020
Semi-Final Two
Time: 20:00 CET to 21:30 CET
It’s one of the most anticipated national selections of the season. And 2020 sees Melodifestivalen return for a sixth decade. As with all four semis, tonight’s big prize will be two spots in the grand final for the top acts, with the next two getting passes to Andra Chansen. The remaining three will be eliminated. Anna Bergendahl, Paul Rey, Dotter and Mendez & Alvaro Estrella all feature on this evening’s line-up.
Click to Watch Melodifestivalen 2020 Semi-Final Two
For additional viewing instructions, click here.
Latvia’s Supernova 2020
Grand Final
Time: 20:25 CET to 23:15 CET
Latvia’s newly slimmed-down Supernova 2020takes place on Saturday 8 February. For the first time since its inception in 2015, the televised element of the series will only consist of a one-shot final in which the winner will be solely determined by the public. Despite the format change, there are still plenty of returning acts including Samanta Tīna, Edgars Kreilis and Aarzemnieki’s Katrīna Dimanta.
Watch Supernova 2020 on LTV.LV
For additional viewing instructions, click here.
Iceland’s Söngvakeppnin 2020
Semi-Final One
Time: 20:45 CET to 22:05 CET
Iceland is still recovering after the spectacular trail of chaos left by Hatari. And while this year’s selection is a more sedate affair, there are still gems to be found. As before, each semi will see five songs compete for two places in the final. Although there will be a glimmer of hope for the eliminated acts — the expert jury may or may not send a wildcard through to the final. This evening’s show includes 2016 finalist Elísabet Ormslev.
Click to Watch Söngvakeppnin 2020 Semi-Final One on RÚV.is
For additional viewing instructions, click here.
Italy’s Sanremo 2020
Grand Final
Time: 20:45 CET to 01:15 CET (approximately)
Festival di Sanremo is a unique beast. While it’s used to select Italy’s act for Eurovision, it’s not correct to call it a national selection. The winner won’t necessarily be the act to go to Eurovision — as happened in 2016 — and the song contest will be seen as a bonus rather than the ultimate prize. Tonight is the fifth consecutive night of the show, and it’s set to be an endurance test of at least four and a half hours. Acts to look out for include Elodie, Francesco Gabbani and Diodato.
Watch Sanremo 2020 on RAIPlay.
For additional viewing instructions, click here.
X Factor Malta 2020
Grand Final
Time: 20:50 CET to 22:00 CET
Technically, this is only a partial selection show as it will only pick Malta’s artist. Still, it should worth the watch to see if the island will crown former Junior Eurovision champ Destiny Chukunyere as its Eurovision singer. While Destiny might be deemed the chosen one, there are three other acts vying for the trophy.
Which show will you watch? Will you survive until Sunday? Let us know in the comments.
A deserving winner! I hope he accepted the ESC invite. 🙂
Indeed. Thank you all tonight, and good night. x
Diodatoooo!
Diodato! 🙂
Diodato won the critic’s prize.
And other stuff.
Rancore the lyrics’ prize.
Tosca won a prize! yeyyy
And Tosca the musical composing one.
Gabbani won a prize for the number of streamings it seems.
Just as I think this is FINALLY over, they bring yet another guest! My post of congratulating Samanta Tina is now over 3 hours old! I want to sleep so badly, but I feel like I got so far to quit now. The irony is that these acts are good, but there’s just too many of them in a row this late at night.
I’m here for you Colin. Well, in cyberspace at least.
Thanks to you and Sabrina, this is way more fun. 😉
Just me, Sabrina and Colin left? Shocking.
It’s only 10:15pm here, you guys are the brave ones.
Colin is one hour braver than I am
It’s 2.30 here. But so is in Italy, so IDK who they think still watches it on Tv.
And to think many of them have to go to church in about 6 hours’ time.
Oh, come on! An interval between announcing the third placed and the winner? This is just dragging even by Ukrainian standards! Sanremo lasts for over 5 hours now!
Ps. I love you, Francesco, but Diodato should win!
Only an operatic version of Queen could keep me awake at this hour. Oh, wait…
Pinguini 3rd place. They’re lovely and would make a very Eurovision friendly act. Maybe next time.
They did very well. Congrats to them.
The programme is now officially running over time.
Okay this late result is really taking the mic now Italy!
What do you think – Will we find out today whether the winner accepted the invitation to ESC or not?
Maybe. I hear that Rai have most of the artists contracts negotiated and ready should the answer be “yes”. So it’s highly possible I think.
But what if the result only comes tomorrow? They don’t seem too eager to end their party. 😀
They will announce a winnerof the Festival, at least.
Europe really wants to sleep now, Italy!
I like all three of these superfinalists. But Diodato’s song touches me the most. It would be good to see Gabbani again though, and Pinguini would be a nice change for Italy.
Same. All 3 are good, but only Diodato is almost certainly in my top 10.
Diodato, Gabbani and Pinguini in the super final, as expected.
No women then. None at all! Tut tut.
Elodie 7th, really?!
Yeah, male act for Italy and female act for Malta… what a surprise! 😛
Italy should exchange their male singers with Malta’s female singers to achieve musical balance. 🙂
Yeah. 😛 Remember 2012 when Nina Zilli represented Italy and Kurt Calleja represented Malta? I guess those days are history now. 😛
Yeah I remember. I was in Canada that year. Different times indeed.
I had some hope Elodie could have a final push.
The highest female placing was Tosca, in 5th place. Deserved, sure, by why was Elodie down in 7th?
My guess is because they shoved her as 2nd out of 24 with 10 interval acts and 10 commercial blocks in between. Even elephants would start to forget after awhile unless they’ve heard the song before.
Besides that, there was no recap before the televoting ended, which I find to be a huge omission in this otherwise extremely well produced and executed festival.
My top 3 – Rancore, Diodato, Elodie, maybe Raphael
Riki was last? Must have been that electro sound
“Boys, boys, boys” for the UK Eurovision entry! 🙂 Owh yes.
Rancore was absolutely powerful on stage! I’d be happy if he’s the winner! 🙂
Placing him last would be good for him… if they didn’t pulled the plug on televote 3 seconds later. :-\
Elettra looked really beautiful on stage.
Ah what beautiful men… Anastasio and now Riki. Anyhow, whenever that electro-voice layering moment happens in Riki’s song, it sounds like a technical malfunction! Sorry if some of you like it; it actually makes me laugh.
It’s generally a nice song, but these “electronic” elements are really out of place and make this among the less great songs in this really strong competition.
Still trying to figure out why someone thought it was a good idea to use this sound effect in Riki’s voice. He’s cute though.
Speaking on beautiful people, Giordana Angi is gorgeous. Her song is interesting too.
Giordana looks very much like the actress Morena Baccarin.
That’s true. Morena is of Italian descent too.
Yeah see my comment above. The electro-layering makes me laugh!
I gotta head out for a comedy show now. Hope they don’t get to the results before I get back. Later!
Enjoy the comedy night.
Just to ask, how much percentage of the final rating is made out of already existing ranking? Also, how does it work in the superfinal? It is also 33/33/33% for the jury, demoscopic jury and televote?
It cannot be so. That would only add up to 99%. 😀
I guess it’s 3.33 infinite 3s, or one is 34%. But the question stands. How does superfinal work?
It was explained in a Wiwibloggs article earlier in the season. Go to menu and select ‘By Country > Italy’ and find the article.
It is in this article, but you need to scroll down a bit to the relevant part:
https://wiwibloggs.com/2020/02/08/sanremo-2020-diodato-tops-press-voting-morgan-bugo-disqualified/249420/
I recognize the lady on the left! She gave Italy’s 12 points last year. (“Leonara!”)
This song is the first I have no strong feelings about whatsoever. It’s fine.
Apparently they really like this guy. He’s sticking around for another song!
He’s doing a mini-concert now. And here I was complimenting Italy in my head for actually getting through the competing songs at a decent pace.
“It’s a festival. Relax. Have a few drinks.” 🙂
This I was told many times when I was 16. (I looked older than my age.)
Sanremo is a beautiful city btw. Looks a lot like Tel Aviv!
I went to Sanremo in 2008. Stunning place. For me, I recognise it from the film “The Talented Mr. Ripley”. Oh and I walked up to the entrance to the Teatro Ariston but it was closed. Another nearby venue was open, but I was rejected for not being properly attired. I’ll leave the rest of that story to your imagination.
I bet you were dressed as Achille Lauro at the first night.
Le Vibrazioni are giving me ’90s-’00s Britpop vibes, like “Don’t Look Back in Anger” or “One Day Like This.”
They’re good, but Italy has better for Eurovision I feel.
They’re talking about Eurovision!
I nearly dropped my coffee.
By the way, Italian coffee is amazing. Might miss it after Brexit. (Cough, deal, cough.)
Oh, of course. Cappuccinos are the only way to go. (And cough up the extra dough for it. Johnson can’t take your coffee, dammit.)
Dona Rita Pavone has my huge respect for the energy she can bring on stage. 🙂
Where is the Iceland results article?
It’s “on ice”. 🙂
It’s separated by all that water.
It’s a cold article.
It’s a pun I can’t think of.
Found it!: https://wiwibloggs.com/2020/02/08/iceland-dimma-isold-helga-qualify-semi-final-1-songvakeppnin-2020/249374/
Barber of Seville music comes on and all I can think of is Bugs Bunny making a fruit salad on Elmer Fudd’s head.
I love Rita Pavone! Lots of power in her performance.
We should probably start our own group YouTube broadcast (Joe, Tibor, Sabrina and Colin), since I suppose Wiwibloggers will get tired of our ranting eventually. 😀
Lol. We gotta go solo!
The good thing is that today we’re in a post that’s already in page 2, so most people won’t even know we’re rambling. haha
Padraig will probably edit us out tomorrow anyhow in the post-Saturday clean-up. 🙂
Fine Primera Parte. Time for some Italian coffee!
We can say what we want about Gabbani and his song (it wouldn’t be in my top 5), but this man knows how to sell his music. Which makes even weirder how it hasn’t worked in Eurovision.
They overdid the staging for Occidentalis Karma. It was already a song with a ton of double meanings and messages that aren’t apparent on first listen or if you don’t speak Italian (which Eurovision fans and the people watching Sanremo get and do, since Eurofans listen to the songs a ton and Sanremo does, in fact, play the same songs multiple times so you get to know them). Then they went overly colorful and leaned on the dancing gorilla gimmick too much. This one doesn’t require as much, shall we say, research.
There were a lot of beginner’s mistakes there. One of the worst was to have the gorilla in front of a back screen. But my point is that Francesco seemed also a little uncomfortable. Probably seeing they trying new things all the time (remember the gorilla bowtie?) without any improvement broke his confidence a little bit.
Probably. Should’ve kept it closer to what they did at Sanremo.
Also: Destiny’s going to Eurovision!
You can talk all you like about whether or not there was any doubt, but it’d well deserved. And it doesn’t appear to be with the original song she performed at X Factor Malta, thank goodness.
Also: Water – wet!
But congrats! 🙂
Francesco killing it once again. One to watch out for.
Yeah. He came to win this. Again.
Songs like Tosca’s “Ho Amato Tutto” are why I love Sanremo so much. Beautiful music.
Agreed.
Agreed. Got chills from the emotion. It’s quite a theatrical song. I mean as in would be a great centerpiece of a theater play.
Time for Tosca. Didn’t know Martin Scorcese was a conductor.
Very classically Italian. I really dig it. I don’t know how well it’d do, but it makes me very nostalgic. This is the one people compared to Rapsodia, right? I totally hear it.
New York represent! We are watching it over here! (or at least I am)
Raphael making a splash! 🙂 Love it!
The crowd gave it a huge reception!
Alright, time for Raphael Gualazzi! I love his song.
He’s so freaking good. The dancing kids are new!
Indeed. I don’t understand why he’s not easily in the top 5 of the results so far.
Now with a Mini-Gualazzi.
He should’ve won with the one he had!
Back in time for Junior Cally, another one I hadn’t heard. I like it!
He doesn’t. Then again, who does, as this is really strong festival?
Achille Lauro as Queen Elizabeth the First! IDK whether this was brilliant or bizarre, but it got my attention! =-O
Superb. 12 points from the UK to Italy, for sure!
Yes it was, but it took me a few minutes to recover from the shock! It definitely added to the song & performance. It was an unexpected and hence amazing move to do. A little bizarre too, probably, but in good way and with a purpose. It’s really interesting. 🙂
He looked convincing too!
He obvious wanted “off with their heads”! 😀
I was in Italy back in November and now I miss it terribly.
And this is another guy we need to see in Eurovision someday. His vocals are better tonight, by the way.
Pinguini are also in my wishlist, but they still have a chance tonight.
It’s a look! This is my first time hearing the song and I quite like it.
Female conductor. Badass!
A female conductor who takes a break from conducting to do a drum solo. Doubly badass!
Music is for everyone, after all.
Came back just in time!
I’m so sorry, Elodie fans, but I can deny it no longer. Pinguini Tattici Nucleari 100% deserve to go to Eurovision. They are incredibly charming, the song’s a bop, and the crowd loves them.
Enrico Ruggeri! He had a classic Eurovision entry, Sole d’Europa. Intended as the last Italian Eurovision entry ever, but evidently it didn’t work out that way.
Gotta go to the bathroom, but I don’t wanna miss anything. Have PTN performed already?
Sweet. Brb