Eurovision 2022: Vital Statistics

Impress your friends, dominate your local pub quiz, or be your own commentator at your watch party this year!

Who’ll be performing:

(40 nations, one more than 2021 following Armenia and Montenegro’s return and the absence of Russia):

• Solo Female (15): Albania, Armenia, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Sweden
• Solo Male (11): Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Estonia, Germany, Israel, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Switzerland, United Kingdom
• Duos (2): Austria, Italy
• Groups and Collaborations (12): Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Iceland, Latvia, Moldova, Norway, Slovenia, Ukraine

How they were chosen:

• National Final (26): Albania, Australia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy*, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine**

  * – The winner of Italy’s Sanremo Festival is given first right of refusal for the ticket to Eurovision. This year, the winner accepted the invitation.

  ** – The original winner of the Ukrainian National Final withdrew her candidacy after her win at Vidbir. After some deliberation, runners-up and public-vote winners Kalush Orchestra were granted the ticket to Turin.

• Partial National Final (Public artist selection, internal song selection) (1): Malta
• Internal Selection (12): Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Montenegro, Netherlands, Switzerland, United Kingdom
• Other (1): Moldova***

  *** – Auditions were publicly aired, but the country’s entry for Eurovision was internally selected by a jury panel.

What language will the song be performed in?

• English (24): Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Malta, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
• Single Language, not in English (8): France, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Slovenia, Ukraine
• Multilingual (7): Albania, Croatia, Cyprus, Moldova, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Spain

  Fun fact: For the first time in Eurovision history, no song will be performed in French this year.

Artists under the age of 20 (at the time of performance):

• Austria:

  Lumix: 19

  Pia Maria: 18

• Denmark:

  Agnes Roslund: 19

  Ida Bergkvist: 18

• Italy:

  Blanco: 19

• Slovenia:

  Gašper Hlupič: 18

  Mark Semeja: 19

  Zala Velenšek: 17

  Filip Vidušin: 18

  Žiga Žvižej: 19

Artists over the age of 40 (at the time of performance):

• Bulgaria:

  Biser Ivanov: 48

  Ronnie Romero: 40

  Stoyan Yankoulov: 55

• Finland:

  Eero Heinonen: 42

  Aki Hakala: 42

  Lauri Ylönen: 43

• Iceland:

  Sigríður Eyþórsdóttir: 40

• Moldova:

  Vasile Advahov: 43

  Vitalie Advahov: 44

  Andrei Cebotari: 46

  Mihail Gîncu: 47

  Roman Iagupov: 48

  Sveatoslav Staruș: 47

• Norway:

  Keith & Jim: Their ages are unknown, but they’ve been performing together for 4.5 billion years, so we’re pretty sure they’d go into this category.

• Serbia:

  Konstrakta: 43

Solo Artists using a pseudonym, mononym, or nickname:

• Armenia: Rosa Linn’s real name is Roza Kostandyan.
• Australia: Sheldon Riley’s full name is Sheldon Riley Hernandez.
• Austria: Lumix’s real name is Luca Michlmayr, and Pia Maria’s full name is Pia Maria Außerlechner.
• Cyprus: Andromache’s full name is Andromache Dimitropoulou.
• Estonia: Stefan’s full name is Stefan Airapetjan.
• France: Alvan’s real name is Alexis Morvan-Rosius.
• Greece: Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord’s birth name is simply Amanda Klara Georgiadis, but she adopted the name Tenfjord to honor the town of Tennfjord, where she spent most of her childhood.
• Ireland: Brooke’s full name is Brooke Scullion.
• Italy: Blanco’s real name is Riccardo Fabbriconi, and Mahmood’s full name is Alessandro Mahmoud.
• Lithuania: Monika Liu’s full name is Monika Liubinaitė.
• Montenegro: Vladana’s full name is Vladana Vučinić.
• The Netherlands: S10’s real name is Stien den Hollander. When pronounced in Dutch, “S10” is a homophone for her name.
• North Macedonia: Andrea’s full name is Andrea Koevska.
• Poland: Ochman’s full name is Krystian Ochman.
• Portugal: Maro’s full name is Mariana Brito da Cruz Forjaz Secca.
• Romania: WRS’s real name is Andrei-Ionuț Ursu.
• San Marino: Achille Lauro’s real name is Lauro De Marinis.
• Serbia: Konstrakta’s real name is Ana Đurić.
• Spain: Chanel’s full name is Chanel Terrero Martínez.
• Sweden: Cornelia Jakobs’ full name is Anna Cornelia Jakobsdotter Samuelsson.
• Switzerland: Marius Bear’s real name is Marius Hügli.
• United Kingdom: Sam Ryder’s full name is Sam Ryder Robinson.

Artists’ Names in their native-language script, if the Roman alphabet is not their primary script of use, or if their name is traditionally written with characters not used in English spelling:

• Armenia: Rosa Linn is written as Ռոզա Լին in Armenian script, while her full name, Roza Kostandyan, is written as Ռոզա Կոստանդյան.
• Azerbaijan: If written using the proper Azerbaijani way, Nadir Rustamli’s name would be written Nadir Rüstəmli.
• Cyprus: Andromache’s name is written as Ανδρομάχη in Greek (Ανδρομάχη Δημητροπούλου if you’re using her full name.)
• Georgia: To write “Circus Mircus” in Georgian, you’d write “ცირკუს მირკუსი”.
• Greece: Amanda Georgiadis Tenfjord is written as “Αμάντα Γεωργιάδη Τένφγιορντ” in the Greek alphabet.
• Israel: In Hebrew, Michael Ben David would be written as “מיכאל בן דוד”.
• Montenegro: Using Montenegrin Cyrillic, Vladana Vučinić would be written as “Владана Вучинић”.
• North Macedonia: Andrea Koevska would be written “Андреа Коевска” using Macedonian Cyrillic.
• Serbia: If you wanted to write “Konstrakta” in Serbian Cyrillic, you’d write “Констракта”.
• Ukraine: The name “Kalush Orchestra” is normally stylized using the Roman alphabet, but it would be written as Калуш Оркестра if written using the Ukrainian Alphabet.

Songs changed/modified/revamped/translated from original winner/announcement/release?

• Albania: The original version of Sekret underwent a revamp to get it ready for Eurovision. The song was shortened to the Contest’s maximum regulation length of three minutes, lyrics in English and Spanish were added, and some production was tweaked.
• Czech Republic: Between the Czech National Final and the release of the official video for Lights Off, the song underwent some minor edits.
• Iceland: Með Hækkandi Sól didn’t go through any changes, but the name of the group performing it did! The trio formerly known as “Sigga, Beta & Elín” are now known simply as “Systur”, Icelandic for “sisters”. They’ve also released music under the name “SísýEy”.
• Israel: With the official video release of I.M. came a revamp of the song, as well.
• Italy: At 3:19, the original version of Brividi was slightly too long for Eurovision.
• Latvia: A mild bit of editing had to be worked into Eat Your Salad in order to avoid some saucy language.
• Malta: Soon after Emma Muscat’s National Final win with the song Out of Sight, the Maltese delegation opted to change their song to I Am What I Am.
• Moldova: A slight revamp in arrangement and instrumentation was applied to Trenulețul, and a few more lines in English were added, as well.
• Romania: WRS’s Llámame was slightly rearranged prior to taking the stage in Turin.
• United Kingdom: The original version of Space Man was 3:37, so it had to be trimmed to 3:00 to comply with the EBU’s rules.

How many have had previous involvement with Eurovision?

• Bulgaria

  Drummer Stoyan Yankoulov represented Bulgaria alongside Elitsa Todorova at Eurovision in 2007 with the song Water, and the pair returned in 2013 with Samo Shampioni.

• Denmark

  Ihan Haydar appeared on stage at Eurovision 2012 for Denmark, drumming on Soluna Samay’s Should’ve Known Better.

• Italy

  Mahmood represented Italy at Eurovision in 2019, coming in second place overall with Soldi.

• Lithuania

  Monika Liu was the lyricist behind Lithuania’s 2015 entry This Time.

• Moldova

  We’ve seen Zdob şi Zdub representing Moldova twice now, with 2005’s Boonika Bate Doba and 2011’s So Lucky.

• Ukraine

  Kalush Orchestra’s Ihor Didenchuk is also a member of Go_A, who we saw last year with Shum, and who also gave us Solovey in 2020.

How many have previous involvement with Junior Eurovision?

• Armenia

  Rosa Linn took part in Armenia’s Junior Eurovision preselection in 2013 with the song Gitem.

How many had previously been involved in National Finals (excluding their victory this year)?

(Links have been provided if available from a national broadcaster or official artist page.)

• Estonia

  2018: Laura (Walk with Me) – as part of the duet Vajé – 3rd place overall

  2019: Without You – 3rd place overall

  2020: By My Side– 7th place overall

• Italy (Mahmood)

  2019: Soldi– Winner

• Moldova (Zdob și Zdub)

  2005: Boonika Bate Doba – Winner

  2011: So Lucky – Winner

• Montenegro

  2005: Samo moj nikad njen – 18th place in Montevizija, the pre-NF qualifier.

  2006: Željna – with Bojana Nenezić– 15th place overall

• San Marino

  2019: Rolls Royce – 9th place overall in the Sanremo Music Festival

  2020: Me ne frego – 8th place overall in the Sanremo Music Festival

  2022: Domenica– 14th place overall in the Sanremo Music Festival

• Serbia

  2008: Čudesni svetovi – as part of the band Zemlji gruva, with Zoe Kida – 8th place overall

  2009: Svejedno je – as part of the band Zemlji gruva – 16th place in the semifinal

• Sweden

  2011: Dance Alone – as part of the group Love Generation – Eliminated in Andra Chansen

  2012: Just a Little Bit – as part of the group Love Generation – 6th place in the semifinal

• Ukraine (Ihor Didenchuk)

  2020: Solovey– as part of the group Go_A – winner

Who wasn’t born in the country they’ll be representing?

• Bulgaria:

  Lead singer Ronnie Romero was born in Santiago, Chile.

• Cyprus:

  Andromache was born in Siegen, Germany, and raised in Greece.

• Czech Republic

  Lead singer Dominika Hašková was born in Buffalo, New York, USA, as her father was playing for the Buffalo Sabres ice hockey team at the time. Guitarist Casper Hatlestad and keyboardist Benjamin Rekstad are both from Norway, and the band was formed in Leeds, United Kingdom.

• Denmark:

  Guitarist Agnes Roslund and bassist Ida Bergkvist are both from Sweden.

• Greece:

  Amanda Georgiadis Tenfjord was born in Ålesund, Norway, but moved between Norway and Greece throughout her childhood.

• Ireland:

  Brooke Scullion is from Bellaghy, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.

• Moldova:

  Lead singer Roman Iagupov was born in Volgograd, Russia.

• Norway:

  Keith and Jim of Subwoolfer were born on the Moon.

• Poland:

  Ochman was born in Melrose, Massachusetts, USA (near Boston) and raised in Rockville, Maryland, near Washington, DC. He relocated to Poland after high school.

• San Marino:

  Achille Lauro was born in Verona, Italy, and grew up in Rome.

• Spain:

  Chanel was born in Havana, Cuba, but moved to Spain at a young age.

How many songs this year were written or composed (at least partially) by the performer? (34!)

• Albania
• Armenia
• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Georgia
• Germany

• Greece
• Ireland
• Italy
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Malta
• Moldova
• Montenegro
• Netherlands
• North Macedonia
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• San Marino
• Serbia
• Slovenia
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Ukraine
• United Kingdom

How many of this year’s entries include a songwriter who had taken part in Eurovision as a performer (including returning artists)?

• Armenia

  Tamar Kaprelian: Part of the group Genealogy, Tamar was one of five singers to represent Armenia in 2015 with the song Face the Shadow.

• Cyprus

  Arash Labaf: As one half of the duo AySel and Arash, he represented Azerbaijan in 2009 with the song Always.

• Denmark

  Ihan Haydar: Now part of the group Reddi, Ihan was part of Soluna Samay’s backing band in 2012 with the song Should’ve Known Better.

• Italy

  Mahmood returns to Eurovision after his 2019 performance of Soldi.

• Moldova

  The crew from Zdob și Zdub are returning to Eurovision after their performances for Moldova in 2005 and 2011.

Other notable names among the songwriters? Any previous Eurovision songwriters among them?

• Austria

  Italian DJ and producer Gabry Ponte is best known as a member of dance group Eiffel 65.

  Sophie Alexandra Tweed-Simmons, a singer and songwriter in her own right, is the daughter of Kiss frontman Gene Simmons. Sophie appeared with her family on the reality TV show Gene Simmons Family Jewels from 2006 through 2012.

• Azerbaijan

  Anderz Wrethov was also one of the songwriters behind Always, the Azerbaijani entry at Eurovision 2009, Too Late For Love, which represented Sweden in 2019, and Voices, the Swedish entry last year. Andreas Stone Johansson was also part of the team for Too Late for Love. Thomas Stengaard has written many Eurovision entries over the years, including Denmark’s winning 2013 entry Only Teardrops, Germany’s You Let Me Walk Aloneand Sister, and both San Marino’s Adrenalinaand Cyprus’s El Diablo last year.

• Cyprus

  Alex Papaconstantinou, also known as Alex P, has been a familiar name in Eurovision songwriting circles for quite a while. He contributed to Greece’s 2007 entry, Yassou Maria, 2009’s Always for Azerbaijan, and Cypriot songs La La Love, Fuego, and Replay. Giorgos Papadopoulos has previously been involved in the songwriting for a number of Greek Eurovision entries, such as 2009’s This Is Our Night, 2012’s Aphrodisiac, and 2021’s Last Dance. Viktor Svensson was part of the songwriting team for a number of Cypriot Eurovision songs, including 2012’s La La Love, 2018’s Fuego, and 2019’s Replay. Robert Uhlmann was also involved in the songwriting for 2009’s Azerbaijani entry Always.

• Denmark

  Lars “Chief 1” Pedersen had a hand in previous Danish entries Stemmen I Mit Liv, Should’ve Known Better, and The Way You Are.

• Remee Jackman, best known as Remee, contributed to 2008’s German entry, Disappear, as well as Danish songs Should’ve Known Better and The Way You Are. He also co-hosted the inaugural Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2003.
• Finland

  Desmond Child is the writer of global megahits like Ricky Martin’s Livin’ la Vida Loca, Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on a Prayer, and Aerosmith’s Crazy, among many others. Closer to Eurovision, he also wrote Bonnie Tyler’s Believe in Me. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008.

• Iceland

  Lay Low (born Lovísa Elísabet Sigrúnardóttir) has been active on the Icelandic scene since 2006. She’s toured globally, often supporting other Icelandic acts like Emiliana Torrini and Of Monsters and Men, and has also played at the Glastonbury Festival.

• Montenegro

  Including Breathe, Darko Dimitrov has written a total of eight Eurovision songs for four countries. For North Macedonia, he contributed to 2006’s Ninanajna, 2013’s Pred Da Se Razdeni, 2014’s To the Sky, 2018’s Lost and Found, and 2019’s Proud. Also in 2019, he wrote Krunafor Serbia. In 2020, he was on the team for Albania’s Fall from the Sky, as well.

• North Macedonia

  Songwriter Aleksandar Masevski was a backing singer behind the late Toše Proeski in 2004 for the song Life, where he sang alongside two-time North Macedonian representative Tamara Todevska. He was also part of the songwriting team behind North Macedonian Junior Eurovision entries Love Will Lead Our Way and Dancing Through Life from 2016 and 2017, respectively.

• Poland

  River marks the sixth Eurovision song for Ashley Hichklin, who also contributed to Belgium’s Me and My Guitar (2010) and Mother(2014), Lithuania’s Run with the Lions (2019), Spain’s Universo(2020), and Austria’s Amen(2021).

• Spain

  Leroy Sanchez was one of the songwriters behind Voy a quedarme, Spain’s entry for 2021.

📺 Watch: All 40 Songs of the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest

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