Wednesday Wishlist Eurovision 2020 Hungary Malta

For the sixth year running, the team at wiwibloggs is organising our “Wednesday Wishlists”. As the title suggests, it’s our yearly round-up of the artists we think would do a fantastic job representing their nation in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Over the five Wednesday Wishlist editions we have done, our wishes were granted a total of eleven times, with a total of twelve entries sent to the grand Eurovision stage. Will any more be granted in 2020?

And as this is all fantasy, we’ll also be taking a look at absentee countries, both long and short term. Because in our ideal contest everyone comes to the party.

To make sure that no one gets left out, we’ll be going through countries in alphabetical order, so this week we’re starting with Hungary and working through to Malta.

Eurovision 2020 Wishlist (Part Three)

Hungary: Cloud 9+

Barnabas: If there’s a country that is an expert in successfully sending unconventional entries to Eurovision, it’s Hungary. And why shouldn’t it keep doing that? Ladies and gentlemen, let me present Cloud9+, a four-piece band formed in 2013. Their music is a unique blend of hip hop, rock, dubstep and drum ‘n’ bass. It channels a current yet alternative vibe. Their electrifying live shows have made them very popular in their native Hungary. And they’ve gigged abroad as well. One of their biggest hits so far, “Hide The Pain” is a great example of their typical sound.

Past wishes: Linda KirályFreddie (wish granted), Margaret Island, Wellhello and Paddy And The Rats

Iceland: BRÍET

Sebastian: Don’t let her age fool you. BRÍET’s sound is well beyond her 20 years, melding familiar pop tropes with something uniquely Icelandic (be it a tinge of rock/indie vibes). She’s clearly a strong songwriter, with her songs a reflection and a very self-aware portrayal of young love. And while this isn’t unfamiliar territory in modern-day pop, hers comes across authentically. Chart success dictates this, with “In Too Deep” amassing close to 700,000 plays on Spotify — more than double the population of her home country. If she does decide to take the leap to Eurovision, Icelanders and Europeans must be prepared to let Briet do things her way. We’ll just be here for the ride.

Past wishes: Retro StefsonOf Monsters And MenSoffía Björg, Ólafur Arnalds and Moses Hightower

Ireland: Dermot Kennedy

Padraig: He’s been labelled a dark melancholic Ed Sheeran. But Dermot Kennedy’s music has got a lot more shades than such a description implies. The breakout star of 2019 melds pop with rock and then throws in hip hop and folk for good measure. In just over a year, he’s gone from a self-publishing busker to an inescapable radio presence, on Irish airwaves at least. “Power Over Me” is the biggest homegrown chart hit in Ireland so far this year, beating Westlife and Hozier. And his latest single “Outnumbered” has cracked the top 20 in Britain. What’s more, he featured on the 2018 edition of 2FM Rising, an initiative which will supposedly play some role in Ireland’s 2020 Eurovision selection.

Past wishes: HozierSinead O’ConnorLisa HanniganNadine Coyle and LYRA

Israel: Scardust

Ari: The pipe dream of Nightwish for Finland or Within Temptation for the Netherlands doesn’t seem very realistic. But that doesn’t mean symphonic metal is off limits in Eurovision. Scardust is a progressive symphonic metal group that has the total package. And they’re exactly what the metalheads in the Eurovision bubble crave. Noa Gruman, the lead vocalist, has a remarkable set of pipes, as well as growling skills that Max Jason Mai would envy. The instrumental diversity is outstanding, too, and most of their songs include short instrumental breaks and/or segments sung by a choir. A choir wouldn’t be possible rule and the long instrumental breaks will be hard to fit in three minutes, but you could count on Scardust to make it work. Come on, Israel, make it six finals in a row, would you?

Past wishes: Eden Ben ZakenThe Young ProfessionalsRoni DalumiStatic & Ben El Tavori and Ori Ben Ari

Italy: Young Kali

Lucy: Mahmood smashed glass ceilings by bringing a new edge to the contest, and facing a lot of challenges along the way. The soulful, emotional and rap-flavoured “Soldi” came second, possibly opening doors for other rap artists or acts with more urban sounds to get involved with Eurovision. The Italian charts have plenty of rap in there, and a standout track is “Borderline” by Young Kali. It combines genres of jazz and hip hop, making it accessible to a wider European audience. It brings new softness to his work, compared to his heavier 2017 album Ade. With a couple of singles under his belt with a more poppy sound, could Young Kali consider partaking in Sanremo after Mahmood’s success?

Past wishes: Raffaella CarràMalika AyaneTiziano FerroFabio Rovazzi and Måneskin

Latvia: Instrumenti

Edd: Despite being a hub of alternative music, Latvia is yet to exploit its extensive collection of great indie bands – the most Eurovision-friendly of these being Instrumenti. Their sound has varied throughout their decade of formation, ranging from beautiful, haunting ballads, all the way to their retro, upbeat music found in their most recent album. Elements that always stay consistent, however, are their distinctive falsetto vocals, an atmospheric production, and a big anthemic chorus. Given their artistry and strong popularity they could win Supernova by a landslide, and inject some much-needed excitement into Latvia’s underwhelming presence at Eurovision.

Past wishes: Fox LimaCarnival Youth,MashaPYØR and Kautkaili

Lithuania: SEL

Renske: The band SEL has a longstanding career in the Baltic States. Founded in Vilnius in 1992, the group has had many radio hits in the country and was nominated for (and won) several M.A.M.A. Awards, the most prestigious music prize in Lithuania. Eurovision fans might know them from a collaboration the group made with Donny Montell in 2017, “Nieko verta”. With their unique mix of hip hop and rock, SEL would perform an uncommon genre on the Eurovision stage.

Past wishes: Jurga SeduikyteSimonnaAlina OrlovaMoniqué and Beatrich

Luxembourg: Alex Uhlmann

Robyn: Luxembourg won’t be making a special appearance in Eurovision 2020, but it’s (probably) not too late. Should RTL wish to break from its news and information format and embrace the world of Eurovision, there’s a lot of local talent to choose from. They have an ideal candidate in the form of Alex Uhlmann. The Luxembourgish singer came to fame as part of the Italian electronic group Planet Funk, who have enjoyed success in many European countries. But recently Alex has branched out with solo releases. The charismatic singer has an ear for uplifting modern pop, perfectly suited to Eurovision. Recent release “Butterfly” is an almost perfect Eurovision song, with a catchy chorus, a sense of story and it even clocks in at under three minutes.

Past wishes: Angel At My TableNatas Loves You, Seed To TreeWhen ‘Airy Met Fairy and Austinn

North Macedonia: Bobi Andonov

Antranig: Coming off the back of its best-ever result, Tamara Todevska has set the bar high. One man who could jump over that bar is Macedonian-Australian singer-songwriter Bobi Andonov. Born in Melbourne to Macedonian parents, Andonov represented his mother country at Junior Eurovision 2008. He then participated in Australia’s Got Talent. He has released three excellent singles in the last two years and this would be the ideal time for a Eurovision berth, giving him the chance to perform for a worldwide audience. North Macedonia proved they can compete in 2019 and hopefully they are inspired for even greater success in 2020.

Past wishes: Natasa MalinkovaRennataTatijana StefanovskaViktorija Loba and Menil Velioski

Malta: Red Electrick

Patrick: After returning to the grand final this year, Malta is definitely on the right path to big success. And there’s nobody better than Red Electrick to keep that momentum running. Formed in 2008, the band consists of five members with individual tastes. Songs like “Young Again” and “New Day” are proof of their musical talent. The band with lead singer Joe Roscoe is a well-established name and they were nominated for local music awards several times. They are also planning to release a new album in November, so it would be perfect timing for Eurovision. To continue producing music and staying current over 11 years is a big achievement and I’m sure I’m not the only one that would love to see them perform in Rotterdam.

Past wishes: Kevin BorgLauren Aquilina, RaquelaThe Travellers and The New Victorians

What do you think of our choices? Who would you choose? Let us know in the comments.

CHECK OUT OUR PREVIOUS WEDNESDAY WISHLISTS.

34 Comments
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Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
4 years ago

where did y’all even find that young kali guy he barely has any streams sksssksjsk i get it that mahmood was a great choice to modernize both sanremo and the eurovision but let’s not go too far and put literal clowns in our wishlists. with all the good music we have in italy ‘young’ and ‘lil’s are the last thing we need.

Mark
Mark
4 years ago

My whislist for Italy: Annalisa, Arisa, Elodie, Giordana Angi, Martina Attili, Achille Lauro, Måneskin, Calcutta, Chiara Galiazzo, Levante, Michele Bravi, Liberato, etc etc…

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
4 years ago
Reply to  Mark

italian billie eilish, martina attili would be a literal DREAM

CookyMonzta
CookyMonzta
4 years ago

You’re not the only one who wants to see Red Electrick get their shot in Malta. I’ve had them tagged for possible selection since 2017. I’d like to see Chris Grech get his due as well.

For Iceland, I still want GusGus!

Darren
Darren
4 years ago

Dermot Kennedy, LYRA and Flynn would be absolute steals for RTÉ and could more than likely bring us back to the Top 10.
I do t think they would ever do it though.
Interesting to see how 2FM Rising will work though, as it has been quite successful in delivering quality homegrown Irish talent of late. At this rate, I’d just be happy with qualification.

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
4 years ago
Reply to  Darren

lyra’s emerald could’ve won the eurovision tbh, they way they had her but still chose not to qualify in 2016-7

Jonas
Jonas
4 years ago

RTÉ have an annual award for Song of the Year, this is the most recent winner. I think it would have made a good entry for Ireland. I don’t know why RTÉ can’t somehow entice some of these artists to represent Ireland.

Picture This – One Drink
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEqxZ-Ie5SQ

Nikki
Nikki
4 years ago

My wishlist for Italy
*Unrolls mile-long list*

Jonas
Jonas
4 years ago
Reply to  Nikki

Arisa is at the top of mine. I don’t even know if she’d get a good result, but I just want to see her on the Eurovision stage.

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
4 years ago
Reply to  Jonas

she’s ultra messy so other than a great voice we’d be graced by pure entertainment from her

AMonsterLikeMe
AMonsterLikeMe
4 years ago

The guy you’ve nominated for Lithuania is a homophobic redneck who has been banned from national music awards, has publicly written on his Facebook wall that Putin should bomb Europe so that lgbt movements can be destroyed and publicly bashed a successful female boxer claiming that a woman should not pretend to be a man and that he would hit her head hard. So I’m really not sure if you want a person like this taking part in Eurovision. At leat I would be ashamed to be represented by someone like him. The fact that in all these years you… Read more »

Ugnius
Ugnius
4 years ago
Reply to  AMonsterLikeMe

Indeed. SEL is known not for his music anymore, but for his scandals (such as drunk-driving etc), so it is very strange to see him on this wishlist

Tajikistan
Tajikistan
4 years ago
Reply to  Ugnius

The Lithuanian wish should for sure be changed – it just proves how little people know/care about Lithuanian music. Why not Moniqué, GJan or Juste? SEL is the lowest of the low, and for a site that promotes equality I would expect better

Dawid
Dawid
4 years ago
Reply to  Tajikistan

I guess he’s there only because od his song with Donny Montell

Justas
Justas
4 years ago
Reply to  Tajikistan

Gjan would be superb. Lithuania has a lot of great artists Wiwi seems to be clueless about 🙁

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
4 years ago
Reply to  AMonsterLikeMe

but would legend gjan consider doing eurovision if she’s already so huge in lithuania? ppl who can get effortless hits in their country usually pay the contest dust. she deserves international recognition so she better apply for the selection, somebody send her threatening e-mails to make her participate

Erasmus
Erasmus
4 years ago

maybe internally, but she won’t do it with a Nf

Tajikistan
Tajikistan
4 years ago

Big Lithuanian artists do not enter Atranka unless they are desperate. Many would like to go to Eurovision, but would refute to go through our selection, and I do not blame them. That is why the same singers enter every year and why the other half the singers are completely unknown

Héctor
Héctor
4 years ago

I’ve known Dermot Kennedy for about two years and he’s amazing, one of my favourite singers and a source of inspiration. His songs are very poethic and meaningful and his voice and the way he sings are pure emotion. No doubt he would be a perfect choice for Ireland, though I don’t know if traditional eurofans would like it.

Cloud 9+ sounds cool too. Bobi Andanov would be a fresh choice for North Macedonia, though their problem isn’t the songs. Something like “Smoke” would give them a second top 10 in a row, if not a top 5.

Flattypatty
Flattypatty
4 years ago

Dermot Kennedy is too good for Eurovision ?

TL.
TL.
4 years ago
Reply to  Flattypatty

Come on, that’s not the spirit! Nothing or no one is to good for Eurovision, ‘cause Eurovision is the best!

Jonas
Jonas
4 years ago
Reply to  Flattypatty

Perhaps the Eurovision is too good for Dermot Kennedy?

Eurovisionfan12
Eurovisionfan12
4 years ago

Hungary: Follow The Flow
Iceland: Kælan Mikla
Ireland: Tara Lee
Israel: Lola Marsh
Italy: The Kolors
Latvia: VINA/Patrisha
Lithuania: Monika Marija
Luxembourg: Iceleak/GEZZA
North Macedonia: Antonia Gigovska
Malta: Brooke Borg

Mr. Vanilla Bean
Mr. Vanilla Bean
4 years ago

Yes! He was dealt such a bad hand in 2013. Lozano is the best (living) male Macedonian singer I can think of, he should get the chance to actually compete for real.

Théo
Théo
4 years ago

These lists are maybe my favourite thing that wiwibloggs does. So many great artists that I would have never come across otherwise. It’s like a little Eurovision. Thank you!!

Fionn
Fionn
4 years ago

I think for Hungary yesyes deserve one more chance

joff
joff
4 years ago

Hungary: Tolvai Reni, Péter Szabó Szilvia
Iceland: Of Monsters And Men
Ireland: Alessia Macari, Markus Feehily
Israel: Daniel Yafe, Mergui
Italy: Annalisa
Latvia: Katrine Lukins, Patrisha, Markus Riva
Lithuania: Gabrielius Vagelis, GJan
Luxembourg: Chaild, Gezza, Nyvinne
North Macedonia: Magdalena Ena
Malta: Emma Muscat

Fionn
Fionn
4 years ago

Another artist that I would love to see represent Ireland is soak . She is just amazing

Fionn
Fionn
4 years ago

Fun fact: my granny’s best friend is Dermot Kennedy’s mom

Fionn
Fionn
4 years ago
Reply to  Fionn

I’m serious

Carola
Carola
4 years ago
Reply to  Fionn

If your granny loves you, she’ll make this happen!

Fionn
Fionn
4 years ago
Reply to  Carola

I wish

Rhaenys
Rhaenys
4 years ago

I really wish for Måneskin to represent Italy!

Latvian
Latvian
4 years ago

Instrumenti have participated in Eurovision in 2006 and they told that Eurovision isn’t about music anymore. I think that Patrisha is the way to go next year. https://youtu.be/GOBq25Wbq-Y She has told multiple times that she would love to represent Latvia in ESC.