Georgia goes ahead with Oto Nemsadze for Eurovision 2019

03 March 2019 at 22:17 CET

Finalists 'Georgian Idol 2019' performing on stage GPB

Oto won 44.13% of the 234,383 votes cast by the audience in the final of Georgian Idol, making him and his song 'Sul tsin iare' (Keep on Going)' the clear winner on the night.

Oto will perform for Georgia in the first Semi-Final of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest on the 14th of May.

About Oto Nemsadze

Oto is a household name in Georgia after winning Idol in 2011. He was a finalist of The Voice of Ukraine in 2013 and in 2017 he took part in the Georgian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest as part of the group Limbo, where he finished eleventh among 25 contestants.

About the show

This year, Georgia picked its Eurovision representative via the Idol tv format. Ten singers were able to qualify for the final, and battled for weeks to represent Georgia at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Israel in May.

At the start of the show, the four finalists drew their starting positions. The singers then went on to perform one song each, an original song that would automatically become their song for the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. In running order:

Giorgi Nakashidze - Sul tsin iare (Keep on Going)
Liza Kalandadze - Sevdisferi zgva (Sad Sea)
Oto Nemsadze - Sul tsin iare (Keep on Going) [WINNER]
Giorgi Pruidze - Me mjera (I Believe)

The show was hosted by Vaniko Tarkhnishvili and Ruska Makashvili and the jury consisted of:

Tinatin Berdzenishvili (First Deputy Director of GPB)
Zaza Shengelia (President of Bravo Records)
Stephan Mghebrishvili (singer, producer)
Natia Todua (singer)

The winner of Georgian Idol 2019 was completely decided by the Georgian viewing audience. The Georgians were able to cast their vote via phone, SMS and Facebook. A total of 234,383 votes was cast on the night of the final, with 44.13 procent going to winner Oto Nemsadze.

Georgia in Eurovision

Georgia debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007, finishing in the top half of the Grand Final leader board four times in a row, though they withdrew in 2009. Georgia’s highest placing was 9th, which it reached in both 2010 with Sofia Nizhardze’s Shine and 2011 with Eldrine’s One More Day.

Sofia finished third in her Eurovision Semi-Final, the only time Georgia has achieved a top three result in a Semi-Final so far. After missing out on qualification from the Semi-Finals for two years in a row, Georgia will be hoping to make it third time lucky this year in Tel Aviv.