They’re some of the most talked-about names to pop up in 1 in 360 — San Marino’s search for an Internet candidate for Eurovision 2018.

But, in news that won’t surprise most of you, it turns out that “submissions” from Margaret, Egine, Berget and Syuzanna Melqonyan may not all have been legitimate.

By Wednesday morning organisers had removed these entries from 1in360.com. Presumably this follows their own investigation after fans pressed alarm bells about the submissions.

Interestingly, the submissions from Margaret and Syuzanna were re-uploaded about an hour after we published this post.

Today on Twitter 1 in 360 organisers confirmed that Syuzanna’s video is real.

Apparently the “troll police” — lol — suggested it was fake, which initially led them to take it down, only to restore it this afternoon.

However, writing on their official Facebook page, they finally and officially confirmed that Margaret’s entry is fake. “Sorry, guys,” they wrote. “Margaret’s management just came back and confirmed it’s a fake submission. We’re removing it from the website.”

In any case, the submissions had raised the hopes of many fans, who long to see these ladies slay the global stage.

We initially thought several of these entries were fake, following the logic below.

As we discuss in our video above, Margaret — whose Krajowe Eliminacje 2016 song “Cool Me Down” trended globally on Spotify — has said publicly that she is no longer interested in pursuing Eurovision.

Egine and Syuzanna, fresh from last year’s Depi Evratesil selection, seem to have that Eurovision fire — but are perhaps more keen to represent their Motherland Armenia.

And Berget, a Dutch Songfestival veteran who just wrapped UK X Factor a few weeks ago, likely has numerous gigs in the pipeline, which would make a Eurovision run in San Marino unlikely.

Also gone is a video of popular YouTuber Ben Woodward covering Dua Lipa’s “New Rules”. Perhaps a fan submitted it with the hope Ben would take up the offer?

But there is still plenty to smile about: Other submissions rumoured to be fake are still online, suggesting that they are, in fact, real.

Yola Dinis — the talented fado singer who many thought should have won Portugal’s Eurovision selection in 2015 — has been actively courting votes on Facebook.

Maxine Swaby — the singer behind one of the very first “WTF is this?” songs — is also in the race. She rose to infamy with “Pardon Me”, which you can watch below. Here’s how Know Your Meme describes that song:

“Pardon Me (also known as “Tunnel of Love”) is a viral video & original song by Maxine Swaby, a hairdresser and Gospel singer from Coventry, England. The video is most notable for its sub-par production quality, which shows Maxine singing and dancing rather awkwardly in front of various downtown locations and outdoor landscapes.”

San Marino’s second wildcard

The hopefuls who don’t pass the judge’s exacting eyes (and ears) will still have a chance to get to the live shows in January.

Zoë, one of the three judges of the San Marinese competition, recently revealed how the second wildcard act will be chosen.

“On the 1st of December, which is also my birthday, all likes on the web site will be reset and then you have 10 days to vote for your favourite artist,” she explained. “On the 10th of December at 11:59pm we will count all the likes and the artist with the most likes will get the second wildcard.”

This follows the November 1 announcement about the first wildcard, who, along with the two other wildcard entries, will progress to the final 10 and live shows.

The first of these wildcards will be placed in the hands of the OGAE fan groups around the world.

Are you saddened by today’s news? Did you think that any of the ladies who have been removed were real contenders?

Vote for our songbirds William & Deban in 1in360

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4dmGuX247s

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Ron
Ron
6 years ago

So, they accepted entries without verifying if it’s the actual artist’s submission? WTF

Pablo
Pablo
6 years ago

Guessed Susanna was real. Unlike Egine, she is not really the one with a whole Eurovision fan entourage to post fake/wishful trolling, even if she had reached top 4 on Depi Evratesil.

Pablo
Pablo
6 years ago

Well, similar as Switzerland’s old selection, where there weren’t immediate checks on song’s originality. (Someone one year submitted a cover or Eric Saade)

4life
4life
6 years ago

I’ve read comments from you that you don’t like people singing in front of the laptop. All contrary, I like only those. Even if Adele wants to enter, I would still ask her to send a video with her singing in front of her laptop. These recordings are genuine and appropriate for casting, not a video we’ve all saw 1000 times. If that were the requirement the trolls could not exist.

R
R
6 years ago

12th of May of 2018: Salvador Sobral will give the crystal mic to a duo of an american and an european 😉

Ali
Ali
6 years ago

William and Deban for 1 in 360 – our true heroes.

MrBrightside
MrBrightside
6 years ago

Total slayage honey would be a hit worldwide!

Jo
Jo
6 years ago

This thing could be better organized, but at the same way we wouldn’t have fun lol.

Olivier Vanhoutte
6 years ago

I can guarantee that the submission of Suzanna from Armenia is real

Amor
Amor
6 years ago

Guys, there are also a lot of other fake entries like Sada Vidoo and Alexandra Pushinova (I think that is how you spell it). From the Danish and Belarusian national selection

Escphbelgium
Escphbelgium
6 years ago
Reply to  Amor

Alexandra Pushnova’s entry is actually real. I commented at the video on YouTube and she replied.

Stephanie
6 years ago

If anything, they need to remove videos that have a massive amount of dislikes… Vasilije’s tone-deaf dirge is heading towards 100 likes in the opposite direction!

KESC
KESC
6 years ago

Somehow, I have the feeling that Emma will win the selection.
I felt so sorry for her, she really deserves to be on that Eurovision stage.
Fingers crossed for her song.

Alex
Alex
6 years ago
Reply to  KESC

<3

Thomasfan22
Thomasfan22
6 years ago

MAXINE SWABY QUEEN

EscAU
EscAU
6 years ago

Wait what they’ve just reuploaded them

Jennister
Jennister
6 years ago

Jennifer Ellström from Sweden has to get a wildcard!

EscAU
EscAU
6 years ago

Aa they finally removed margaret’s video, took them long enough to realise it wasn’t actually her behind my submission 😉 Hopefully this can prove that they need to sort out their online protocols, best of luck San Marino

CJGE
CJGE
6 years ago

#WilliamDebanSanMarino2018 GO GO GO!!!!!!

Oliver
Oliver
6 years ago

Fake entries are part of democracy. I still prefer democracy. Good luck San Marino!

TJ
TJ
6 years ago
Reply to  Oliver

you have a scary notion of democracy

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
6 years ago

Tip to William: Enough focussing on the fake entries. It’s time to start reviewing the real ones. I know it will be fun. Thank you. 🙂

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
6 years ago
Reply to  Purple Mask

Ah, understood.
I didn’t know there were THAT many real entries.