Every morning between now and the grand final in May, the team from wiwibloggs will be rounding up the latest titbits from the world of Eurovision 2019. We’ve trawled through Instagram, Twitter and elsewhere so that y’all don’t have to. Whether you’re commuting to work, sitting on the school bus or still tucked under the covers, this is the Daily Digest for Tuesday 26 March.
Luca Hänni hits the charts
Last week he became the best-charting Swiss act in years. Landing at 11, Luca Hänni secured the highest chart position, pre-contest, since DJ Bobo debuted at number 3 in 2007. However, this week he tumbled to 45. That’s still a strong showing compared to other recent Eurovision peaks — Mélanie Réne (73), Rykka (did not chart), Timebelle (37) and Zibbz (62). A bounce closer to Tel Aviv remains a strong possibility — Anna Rossinelli and Sebalter reached highs of 3 and 6 after they qualified for the grand final in 2011 and 2014 respectively. In other news, y’all may recall that Luca sat on the Swiss professional jury in 2016. Fans have resurrected his scorecard, and it’s been doing the rounds on social media. Do you agree with his rankings? (Padraig)
[Curiosidad] Así votó ??Luca Hänni como miembro del Jurado suizo en la Final de #Eurovision 2016.
Posicionó a ??Rusia (Sergey Lazarev – 'You Are The Only One') en el puesto 21º.#Eurovision2019 pic.twitter.com/UR5iebNRbt
— ?Eurovisionario (@Eurovisionario) March 25, 2019
Serhat meets with his creative director
San Marino’s Turkish crooner Serhat was in Athens to meet with his creative director Nick Marianos. The Greek has plenty of experience putting on glitzy shows, having worked with starlets such as Eleni Foureira, Kalomira and Eleftheria Eleftheriou on TV productions like MAD VMA and Rising Star. He promises “something fresh something special something seductive”. (Padraig)
Tamta wraps up her rehearsals
Serhat wasn’t the only Eurovision 2019 star to grace the Nick Marianos dance studios recently. Cyprus’ Tamta was based there for several days while she trained with her own creative director Sacha Jean-Baptiste. Take a look at what she has in store. (Padraig)
Tamara hangs with past Eurovision stars
If one happened to be searching for a North Macedonian Eurovision star last Saturday, Skopje’s Boris Trajkovski Sports Center was the place to be. Lozano — one half of the country’s Eurovision 2013 act — was in concert. And in the audience were three more song contest alums — Elena Risteska from 2006, Karolina Goceva from 2007 and Tamara Todevska from 2008 and this year. Barely 24 hours later, Tamara was on board a plane for Tel Aviv. Today, she’ll begin work on her postcard for May’s contest. (Padraig)
Doctor, is it in my head?
On his song for Eurovision, Sebastian Rejman wonders “is it in my head?”. One man who might know the answer, or at least offer a referral, is Dr Jesper Adlercreutzia. Played by Sebastian, he’s a new character in the popular Finnish medical drama Syke, which returned for its fifth season last night. His “Look Away” collaborator Darude wished him luck, comparing him to George Clooney who famously rose to fame on the hospital-based drama ER. (Padraig)
Roko catches up with Vanna
Recently, Roko attended a Zagreb showing of the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. There he caught up with singer Vanna, known for representing Croatia at Eurovision 2001 with the song “Strings of My Heart”. This year, Vanna was one of the jury members involved with shortlisting the sixteen Dora songs. (Antony)
Miki recounts a weird fan encounter
Spain’s Miki was interviewed on Yu:No te pierdas nada, a popular talk show, yesterday. He recounted a strange fan experience. The “La Venda” singer was taking a nap on the train to Madrid when he suddenly woke up and found a mobile phone just centimetres away from his face. A young girl was trying to take a picture of him from very very close, and it made him feel all kinds of uneasy. Remember, just like the rest of us, Eurovision stars like their privacy. Respect that! (Luis)
Jonida Maliqi is set for a The Voice comeback
After three years away, Jonida Maliqi is returning to The Voice Albania. However, she won’t be picking up where she left off in season five. Instead of resuming her role as a coach, she’s just making a passing visit to the Kids series to perform the revamped “Ktheju tokës” for the first time. This is becoming something of a tradition for Albanian acts, with Eugent Bushpepa doing similar last year. (Padraig)
“Arcade” in sign language
We came across a video of a Dutch sign lanuage interpretation of Duncan Laurence’s “Arcade”. Our sign language may be a bit rusty, but if you ask us, this Dutch lady surely brings the emotion to screen. She is Mirjam Stolk, a certified Dutch sign language translator and interpreter. She is part of a Dutch group that sign translates music for deaf and hearing impaired people. She has done similar videos for Waylon’s “Outlaw In Em”, OG3NE’s “Lights and Shadows“, Douwe Bob’s “Slown Down” and The Common Linnets’ “Calm After The Storm”. (Jacintha)
My interpretation of #Arcade in Dutch Sign Language. @songfestival @dunclaurence. Such a beautiful song! https://t.co/BGvB1nA1e1
— Mirjam Stolk (@MirjamSTolkNGT) March 8, 2019
Michela pulls out of Eurovision in Concert
After she withdrew from the London Eurovision Party, there was some uncertainty as to whether Malta’s Michela would come to Eurovision in Concert or not. Yesterday, that came to an end when organisers explained that the “Chameleon” songstress will not be there due to scheduled rehearsals. She’ll be missed. (Jacintha)
We were informed by Television Malta that Michela Pace won’t be able to make it to Amsterdam after all – due to scheduled Eurovision rehearsals. Sorry guys (and girls)..
— EurovisionInConcert (@ESCinConcert) March 25, 2019
Kate Miller-Heidke is coming to Europe
For the third time since its 2015 debut, Australia will be represented on the preview circuit. Just hours after confirming the Maltese pull-out, the EiC team announced that Kate will be bringing “Zero Gravity” to AFAS Live. Meanwhile in down under, she appeared on this morning’s ABC News Breakfast. She has a feeling that she won’t be able to prepare for the Eurovision craziness in advance and will just have to go with the flow. She’s not thinking of results and is instead focusing on delivering the best performance possible (Jacintha).
Australia's #Eurovision hopes are pinned on the fabulous @kmillerheidke. No pressure!
"I have a feeling that I'm not going to be able to prepare myself!" pic.twitter.com/efdLO2Ci0Z
— News Breakfast (@BreakfastNews) March 25, 2019
Stream it
Zena’s “Like it” is now available to steam. There are no major changes to the track, but it’s accompanied by cute art work. It’s a relief to hear a polished sounding studio version without all the background noise from the national final. (Luis).
Alessandro Safina will be voting for Russia
Italian tenor Alessandro Safina, who finished 13th in Sanremo 2002, has praised Sergey Lazarev and his Eurovision entry “Scream”. “It is memorable” he says. “Sergey has something to offer everyone, not just Russian listeners and viewers”. According to Safina, presenting a song that appeals internationally, rather than exclusively to listeners in the singer’s home country, is the key to racking up the 12 points at Eurovision. He says that Italy does badly because they enter songs about social issues that are not interesting to the rest of Europe, while Scandi countries do better because they enter international pop. (Katie)
Additional contributions from Jacintha, Luis, Antony and Katie.
Are you excited for Serhat’s stage show? Are you disappointed about Michelea’s EiC news? Let us know in the comments.
My take from this: Malta are choosing to focus on Michaela’s rehearsals rather than showcasing her to Eurofans. Either Michaela needs a lot more training to make it to ESC, or Malta have already given up on the “fan vote”, or both. Having said that, I still think this could be Malta’s best entry in a long time.
None of you guys worry about Conan btw – just came to Israel to film his postcard and he hung out w Kobi!
I will hopefully soon see my buddy Whoopi the cat to determine the other eight semi-final 2 qualifiers. So far, it’s a yes for Norway and Ireland, good news for two countries I wouldn’t have called safe at first. What will be interesting is what she thinks of the Netherlands and Russia. I might leave them out just ‘cuz my own judgement says they’ll probably make it through no matter what, but who even knows.
I have nothing against Kate but her smile makes me so uncomfortable. About Safina, I think he is the typical guy talking without really knowing anything about Eurovision. It is true good international pop songs tend to do well, but as they are more “generic” it is difficult that one of them win. In fact, I think songs speaking about social issues has more chances of winning even if they end up placing out of the top 10. Lately we have had “Toy” (#MeToo movement), “1944” (war and genocide), Heroes (bullying) and “Rise Like A Phoenix” (LGTBIQ+), only “Toy” and… Read more »
oh, Elena. I still listen to her every now and then
The question is: who is Safina?
A passerby
A former tennis player lol
She retired too early and then couldn’t really come back
Luca has taste. Putting my two favorites, If Love were a crime and Sound Of Silence in top 3 proved that.
You keep writing “North Macedonian”, when the adjective is still just “Macedonian”. I know it’s a pretty small thing but it’s annoying the hell out of me
Can’t see why so offended. Don’t you know that there are not only one type of Macedonians in this planet, and as a result, futher definitions are needed? It’s called being able ro share, didn’t you learn that in kindergarten?
Saying “Macedonian” instead of “North Macedonian” is like saying “Korean” instead of “North/ South Korean”. I mean, South Korea and North Korea are too completely different countries, mixing them up would lead to an embarassing misunderstanding…
Lol Malta cancelled pre-parties, I guess one of those contestans who sound terribly live with their autotuned songs.
I strongly believe she will flop
That’s why she won X-factor…
Wow, what have you eaten for breakfast? Bread and bad manners? Or maybe milk and disrespect?
Lozano must return in the contest
YES! He’s a great singer. Let him go on his own.
Does this Safina guy not remember how well Italy has done in the televote in the past few years?
Lol at this guy Safina, what social issues he found in ”Soldi”? It is intimate song about Mahmood’s life and issues from his childhood. What social issues he found in ”Grande amore”?
Hey Alessandro Safina, whoever the hell you are! I have a very uncomfortable question TO you. EuroFastFoodMusicVision or EuroQualityMusicVision? Which is better? Quality lyrics or ‘tunz tunz’ like club music? This is why Eurovision is looked down on by so many artists that avoid it like the PEST. (Don’t get me started on how completely wasted Raphael Gualazzi was in 2011… I’m still mad he accepted to participate).
Thank you for your contribution, bye.
(Seriously, I’m Italian but… Who the hell are you?)
See Italy sending Elettra Lamborghini next year… Seriously, this guy turned my whole day to the worse! Aaargh
Alessandro Safina is a well known pop/opera singer, from that hit Luna
and he also provided vocals on elton john your song pop/opera version, and a cover version of that with ewan McGregor for moulin rouge movie
Again, who in the world is he? Never heard of him. And that doesn’t change the fact what he said it bulls*it
rude
he just as anyone is entitled of their own opinion tbh
SAY NA NA NA, stunning bop from my country
hope we get 2 shock qualifiers in semi 1 cheesy bops Montenegro and san marino
Wha? I thought you were Dutch.
I’m with you on San Marino but I wouldn’t hold my breath about Montenegro.
another article about arcade, UGH definitely this years odds, jury and fan favourite
so Obvious it is gonna win
I’ll give you another ten minutes before you’re fawning over it again.
Last year Italy was third in televote and this year “Soldi” is one of the favorites, so Italian songs appeal to people from different countries
Queens Tamta & Sacha !
Let’s get it! Replay THE SLAY
Wait until Kirkorov will find out how Luca Hanni voted in 2016. Rank 21? I wonder if Luca and Sergey will be friends.
I am sure artists can respect each other without loving each other’s music….
I guess it’s about the scandal Philipp Kirkorov made in 2016 about jury vote.
About the sign language, is there an official site where the sign language performance of all songs will be available? I have come across some on youtube in the past years. The translators really impressed me. The lady who translated “This Time” (Lithuania 2015) is truly amazing. I want to see all songs sung in sign language this year.
I like that KMH is still being KMH about not taking victory too seriously. Waiting for the audience reaction in In Concert!
Alessandro Safina has taste.