Here are the top 10 most-read stories from the world of Eurovision for the week-ending 3 August 2019.
10. Sweden: Duncan Laurence brings “Arcade” magic to Allsång på Skansen
Swedish Summer singalong show Allsång på Skansen is in full swing, with weekly live shows featuring iconic Swedish acts, including some from Melodifestivalen and Eurovision. This week Duncan Laurence stopped by for the traditional Eurovision winner’s performance.
The Dutch star took to the Skansen stage and gave a rendition of his Eurovision winning song “Arcade”. He was accompanied by the show’s live band, giving a slightly different feel to his Eurovision performance. Read more.
9. Brighton Pride: #WeStandTogether to find potential acts for Eurovision 2020
It’s no secret! The UK has a large pool of talent, but many have found it difficult to make an impression on the Eurovision stage. Since finishing fifth in 2009, the UK has failed to make the Top 10. After a rather disappointing last place finish at Eurovision 2019, we look to a sizzling hot lineup of acts gracing the Brighton Pride and Love BN1fest stages this weekend. From global superstar headliners like Kylie Minogue and Grace Jones, you’ve got your pool of interval acts to follow in the footsteps of Justin Timberlake and Madonna. With chart-topping acts gracing the stage with emerging artists, this LGBT event is slaying on every level. Could one of these acts take the UK to the left side of the scoreboard next year? Read more.
8. Spain: Diana Navarro sets sights on Eurovision 2020…as Edurne rules out a return to the contest
She placed fourth on Tu Cara Me Suena in 2018 and is on the promo tour for her forthcoming album Inseperado. And now Spanish outlet Bluper reports Diana Navarro has her eyes on Eurovision 2020 glory for Spain.
In an interview talking about the new album, Navarro says she’d “love” to go to the Contest: “I would love to be able to participate in such a festival.” Her participation is conditional though: “If I go, it has to be with my team, because if I hit it, I’m going to hit it.”
Rumours of an internal selection are rife, after it emerged Operación Triunfo may not act as the Eurovision selection for 2020. Read more.
7. “I would love to go to Eurovision” – Armenian Greek singer Athena Manoukian shares her dream
‘Tis the season for speculation. The latest artist to fire up their fans about a possible Eurovision participation is the Armenian Greek songstress Athena Manoukian. She has recently revealed that she would love to go to Eurovision, making fans wonder if they’ll be seeing her in the Netherlands this May.
The buzz started when Athena made a post to her Instagram story. It included a photo of some kinky boots along with a Q&A box asking her fans to “Guess what’s coming”. For a lot of her fans, there was only one answer: Eurovision. Athena was flooded with commentswondering if she would be representing Armenia, Greece or even Germany at Eurovision 2020. A fan blog wrote up the story, which prompted Athena to respond. Read more.
6. Vangelis Kakouriotis for Eurovision? Greek heartthrob says if asked “I will take it”
While speculation has hit overdrive as more and more artists announce their intention to represent their country at Eurovision in 2020, one artist in particular has expressed a strong interest – backed up with a proven track record and strong musical connections to boot.
Greek singer Vangelis Kakouriotis, who has long been touted to grace the Eurovision stage, has recently expressed his interest in entering the contest, and will take it with both hands should be he asked. Read more.
5. Norway: 25 songs, five regions – more details emerge of the expanded Melodi Grand Prix 2020
We’ve known for a while that Norway‘s broadcaster NRK was planning something special to celebrate the 60th anniversary of national final Melodi Grand Prix. But now details have been confirmed of the MGP 2020 show format. Norwegian fan blog escNorge met with Melodi Grand Prix boss Stig Karlsen and got the lowdown on MGP 2020.
As previously known, the 2020 contest will involve five semi-finals, each themed on acts from different regions of the Scandi nation: Northern Norway, Central Norway, Western Norway, Eastern Norway and Southern Norway. While the five semi-final shows will be filmed at a television studio in Oslo, Karlsen says he hopes the regional themes will create engagement with viewers up and down the nation.
Despite earlier speculation that up to 40 acts would compete in Melodi Grand Prix 2020, Karlsen confirms that only 25 acts will be involved, with ten progressing to the grand final. Read more.
In 2006, he represented Romania at Eurovision and gave the nation one of their best ever results. But Mihai Trăistariu — now known as M I H A I — has never given up his dream of winning the song contest for Romania. He’s now confirmed his intention to win Eurovision 2020 with a ballad and has invited songwriters to submit suitable songs.
M I H A I launched his 2020 campaign on Facebook, with a post making his plans clear. Read more.
3. Destined for Eurovision? Destiny Chukunyere spotted at X Factor Malta auditions
She’s the young soul diva who gave Malta their second Junior Eurovision win in 2015. But could Destiny Chukunyere now be headed to the Eurovision Song Contest? The “Not My Soul” singer was recently spotted at the bootcamp filming of the upcoming second series of X Factor Malta. This could be her path to Eurovision 2020.
Maltese news site Lovin Malta spotted Destiny sitting in the audience at the recent bootcamp taping. The bootcamp audience is make up of the other hopeful competing acts, which suggests that if Destiny is at the bootcamp, she’s taking part in the contest this year. Read more.
2. Poll results: Mahmood’s “Soldi” is the Eurovision 2019 song you’re listening to the most
In the months and years after Eurovision, most songs from the contest can’t be found on the charts, but a few can find themselves on Eurofan playlists. So way back on June 18 — one month after the grand final of Eurovision 2019 — we asked our readers which songs they were still playing. You guys voted up a storm, casting a total of 37,523 votes. Now the results are in and we have a clear winner. Italy’s Mahmood has won the day with “Soldi”.
The Sanremo winner earned 3,369 votes — or around 9% of all those cast. It’s not that surprising. The Italian of Egyptian descent had one of the most radio-friendly tracks of the year and has smashed countless streaming records. His music video, first uploaded in early February, is one of just five videos from Eurovision to achieve more than 100 million views. Read more.
1. Banana bang! Netta and Maruv perform mashup of “Nana Banana” and “Siren Song”
One is the queen who won Eurovision 2018 with the female empowerment anthem “Toy”. The other is the queen who controversially didn’t even make it to the Eurovision stage in 2019. Despite their mixed fortunes, both Netta and Maruv won over many new fans through their Eurovision experience. And now, the pair have performed a mashup duet we’ve been dying to see.
Performing in front of thousands of fans at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, the duet took the stage by storm — or bang. Netta started the performance by belting out the first verse of her new single “Nana Banana“, which she also performed during the Eurovision 2019 final. She is then joined by Maruv and the song seamlessly transitions into “Siren Song”. The Ukrainian diva also dazzles us with some signature sensual choreography, with Netta joining in. Read more.
What was your highlight of the week? Let us know in the comments.
Netta and Maruv duet is something I didn’t knew I need. I really hope Romania snatches the trophy this year. E comunque so troppo contenta per Mahmood 😀
On a deja la candidate de malte destiny et le candidat de Chypre vasilis….super
On a donc déjà la candidate de qlte
I don’t really get it – what’s the point of making a post just listing the articles you can easily check out by visiting the first two pages?
I really get your point, but on the other hand I found it very interesting to see the ranking of these articles based on their views. With a social-scientific point of view, it’s very exciting to see what people have actually read! 😀 Example: The topic “Brighton Pride in combination with potential artists” was less read than other “potential artist profiles” like Diana Navarro. This is interesting considering the fact, that Eurovision and LGBT movement are well connected…