April is typically the month of preview parties and concerts. But not this year. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, all of the Eurovision 2020 pre-parties have been cancelled, just like the song contest itself.
And the fans aren’t the only ones missing out. The preview circuit often acts as a great platform for artists to connect with their peers from across Europe. Many develop great working relationships and even friendships that last long after the closing credits have rolled on that Saturday in May.
However, San Marino’s Senhit isn’t ready for the class of 2020 to miss out on all of this. So, in an effort to bring about some good cheer, she launched the #hugforesc2020 hashtag on Instagram. Working with her friend and the campaign’s manager Ersin Parlak, the pair are hoping to give Europe “a virtual hug and a safe place to meet again.”
The idea is simple, she sends a virtual hug to one artist — Senhit chose Spain’s Blas Cantó — who in turn passes the hug onto another Eurovision 2020 act of their choice. And so the chain continues. The hope is that all 41 acts will have received a virtual hug by the time May rolls around.
As of our last update on 2 April, the hug had gone from San Marino to Spain to Cyprus to Norway to Sweden to Switzerland.
In the ten days since, it’s gone from Germany to Bulgaria to Romania to Lithuania to Iceland.
Now at 18:30 CEST on 12 April, the chain rests with Australia’s Montaigne. She was nominated by Iceland’s Daði og Gagnamagnið.
Below, we’ve tracked the full chain of hugs to date.
Keep scrolling to watch all the latest nomination videos. Click here for the first six #hugforesc2020 clips.
#hugforesc2020 Tracker at 12 April
- San Marino’s Senhit (24 March)
↓ - Spain’s Blas Cantó (25 March)
↓ - Cyprus’ Sandro (26 March)
↓ - Norway’s Ulrikke (28 March)
↓ - Sweden’s The Mamas (30 March)
↓ - Switzerland’s Gjon’s Tears (31 March)
↓ - Germany’s Ben Dolic (2 April)
↓ - Bulgaria’s Victoria (6 April)
↓ - Romania’s Roxen (7 April)
↓ - Lithuania’s The Roop (9 April)
↓ - Iceland’s Daði og Gagnamagnið (12 April)
↓ - Australia’s Montaigne (TBC)
#hugforesc2020 — The latest hugs
1. Germany’s Ben Dolic
2. Bulgaria’s Victoria
3. Romania’s Roxen
4. Lithuania’s The Roop
5. Iceland’s Daði og Gagnamagnið
Have you been following the chain? Who’s hug was your favourite? Let us know in the comments.
They are really ”fast” to answer, I suppose they will finish this challenge until May 2021.
it’s Daði Freyr, not Daði og Gagnamagnið – og is ‘and’ so it’s like e.g. Selena Gomez and The Scene type of name and you don’t call Selena Gomez and The Scene every time she does something
Thx Dadi.
See top10 guys/girls? You can hug people out of top 10 xd
I’m a normal person. I see the singer of The Roop so I click. Hope they’ll come back in the lithuanian selection in 2021 with a song as good as Fire.
Off-topic. “Pre-party ES” in Spain: Look for it on YouTube. It’s brilliant. 🙂
The artists that have already been nominated are mostly the more popular ones. I guess Malta, Russia, Italy, Azerbaijan will be up soon. But I would prefer some less talked-about artists to be nominated sooner.
What took Victoria so long?
I’m so pleasantly surprised by Roxen. Due to the serious nature of ‘alcohol you’ (in addition to her very morbid performance of the upbeat ‘cherry red’ at the national final), I thought she came across quite prickly and somewhat cold, but from her response here, one can see what a sweet, youthful, lovable, pleasant, young woman she is. I hope her song for next year’s Eurovision gives us a better opportunity to see this more vibrant side of her. It’s really nice to see her smile and be happy.