From Fighters to Warriors to Visionary Dreamers: A history of Georgia at Eurovision

On Saturday 16 November, Georgia became the latest country to win Junior Eurovision, when Andria Putkaradze took home the trophy at the Madrid 2024 event.

It became Georgia's 4th Junior Eurovision win, making the country the most successful participant in the history of the Contest. It's an achievement worth shouting about. And even more so for a country that only debuted in the Eurovision multiverse less than two decades ago.

Georgia first rocked up to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007, making its first appearance in Helsinki. 

The EBU had put aside its limit of having no more than 40 countries participating in any one year, and a new record of 42 broadcasters took part at Helsinki 2007. Joining in on the party for the first time alongside Georgia were Czechia, Montenegro and Serbia. 

Straight away, Georgia's Eurovision story was off to a good start, with the country managing to do what 18 others couldn't - which was to qualify for the Grand Final from that now infamous 28-song Semi-Final! 

Georgia did so courtesy of Visionary Dream by Sopho. The artist had been internally selected by broadcaster GPB, with a national final taking place consisting of 5 songs all performed by Sopho. Visionary Dream won with a huge 51% of the vote, so Georgia was able to debut at Eurovision with a song the country could really get behind. 

Georgia has taken part in 16 Contests in total, and the country's initial run of results turned out to be a formidable one. In Georgia's first 4 years of competing, it succeeded in qualifying to the Grand Final on each occasion, landing on either side of a 10th-place finish every time.

It finished in 9th place twice; in 2010 thanks to Shine by Sofia Nizharadze, and one year later in 2011, with One More Day by Eldrine. 11th place was achieved in 2008, courtesy of Diana Gurtskaya's Peace Will Come. And Georgia's strong debut at Helsinki 2007, with Sopho's Visionary Dream, was rewarded with a 12th-place finish. 

In total, Georgia has enjoyed 8 appearances at the Grand Final; most recently at Malmö 2024, when Firefighter was brought to us by Nutsa Buzaladze. 

Nutsa Buzaladze arrived at the Eurovision Song Contest a seasoned pro when it came to televised competition, with the performer having already taken part in Georgia's Got Talent, The Voice of Turkey, Your Face Sounds Familiar, Dancing With The Stars, All Together Now and, most recently pre-Malmö, American Idol - on which she got to duet with Kylie Minogue on a performance of the Aussie superstar's most iconic hit Can't Get You Out Of My Head. 

Nutsa's performance of Firefighter in the Second Semi-Final ended a 6-Contest streak of Georgia not making it out of the Semi-Finals. At the Grand Final, the song was awarded 34 points and placed 21st. 

Throughout its 16 Contests so far, Georgia has sent a song in English the vast majority of times. But we did get treated to the Georgian language being performed at the Eurovision Song Contest twice; in 2018 with For You performed by Ethno-Jazz Band Iriao, and one year later in 2019, thanks to Oto Nemsadze's Keep On Going.

Georgia's entry in 2012, I'm A Joker by Anri Jokhadze, was performed in English with its intro in Georgian. The entry marked not only the first occasion that the Georgian language had appeared at the Contest, but also the first time that the country had been represented by a male soloist. And unfortunately for Georgia, it also turned out to be the first time that it had not managed to qualify for the Grand Final. 

If you were to take a cursory glance back through Georgia's participation history, you'd be forgiven for coming to the conclusion that it seemed somewhat punctuated by rock music. 

The country gave us an all-out rock anthem in 2011, via One More Day by Eldrine, which was rewarded with a Top 10 finish. Georgia was also behind the entry which has made singer Nina Sublatti one of the defining 'rock chick' poster girls of the modern era of Eurovision. Warrior placed 11th at the Grand Final in 2015. And almost a decade on, we've yet to get that iconique look out of our head-banging minds.

Georgia has also contributed two aces of the progressive rock genre to the Contest; in 2016 with Midnight Gold by Nika Kocharov and Young Georgian Lolitaz, and again in 2022, via the memorable Lock Me In by Circus Mircus.

Though Georgia being partial to sending a bit of prog rock to the Contest is no coincidence - both entries were fronted by the same performer, Nika Kocharov! 

Nika is so far the only artist to front a Georgian Eurovision entry on more than one occasion. But at Liverpool 2023, we had a former Junior Eurovision winner make her way to the Eurovision stage!

Iru represented her country at the 67th Eurovision Song Contest with the song Echo. Over a decade earlier, as a member of the girl group Candy, she had given Georgia its second Junior Eurovision win, bringing victory via the song Candy Music. 

Iru is to date the sole Georgian Junior Eurovision winner to try their luck at the Eurovision Song Contest. But who knows... Perhaps we'll be hearing Andria Putkaradze's vocals on that stage by 2035!

After all, representing Georgia at the Eurovision Song Contest doesn't just bring you honour, glory and the biggest available international audience to tap into, it can also bring you the love of your life!

At the 2017 Contest in Kyiv, Tamara Gachechiladze was representing Georgia with her song Keep The Faith. While there, she met Bulgarian songwriter Borislav Milanov. A name that will be familiar to many Eurovision fans, he was particularly prolific at the 2017 Contest, having had a hand in writing the entries for Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Serbia.

The two became a couple, married in 2018 and now have two children, with the whole family living in Austria.

Truly, Keep The Faith, everyone! 

Whether it's having a performer literally parachuting onto the stage in 2014, sending a Disney-worthy power ballad in 2013, or introducing viewers to the concept of beard gardens (yes, beard gardens) in 2022, the mark that Georgia has made on the Eurovision Song Contest, hasn't been any less notable than the impression that it has left on Junior Eurovision.

And for a full persual of Georgia's participation history - you can check out its Country Profile right here.

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