In the spotlight: Senhit

08 April 2020 at 10:15 CEST

In the spotlight: Senhit Photo: Panini S.p.A.

With her song, 'Freaky!', Senhit was chosen to represent San Marino in 2020. In light of the unfortunate cancellation of the 65th Eurovision Song Contest, we wish to highlight the impressive acts that were set to appear. This is 'In the spotlight', our feature honouring the artists that would have made up this year's edition of the world's largest live music event.

Senhit, previously spelt Senit, was set to represent San Marino at the Eurovision Song Contest for the second time in 2020. Public broadcaster RTV announced that their 2020 representative would be the same singer that represented them in Düsseldorf in 2011 with the song Stand By.

Who is Senhit?

Born in Bologna, Italy, to Eritrean parents, Senhit is a singer that combines her African roots with Italian style and European electro-pop attitude. Senhit has worked with the most prominent names in the Italian music scene, such as Gaetano Curreri and Maurizio D'Aniello and international producers like Busbee, Steve Daly & Jon Keep, Jamie Hartman and Brian Higgins.

In 2016, Senhit travelled all over Europe for a tour of the most popular clubs: she sang in Milan, Amsterdam, Paris, Manchester, Berlin and London. One year later she released the EP Hey Buddy and her single, Something on your Mind, reached the Top 5 in the UK Commercial Pop Club Chart. In 2019 Senhit released two new singles in Italian, one also released in English, the videos for which were both directed by Luca Tommassini. Senhit also recently acted as a jury member for the Italian TV show All Together Now.

San Marino's Eurovision 2020 representative Senhit Panini S.p.A.

This year, Senhit planned to enter the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Freaky!; a song about the beauty of being out of the box, the freedom of living thoughtlessly, not caring about prejudices, breaking old rules and making up new ones. The song was chosen by European fans in a digital battle between it and the song Obsessed.

Freaky! was written and produced by Gianluigi Fazio, Henrik Steen and Nanna Bottos.

READ MORE: Senhit's participant profile

Senhit took to Instagram to express her feelings about the cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020: "I am very sorry. As you know, Eurovision 2020 has been cancelled. A painful but inevitable choice for our health. But the music stays and, nowadays, it can give us the strength to go on. #Freaky is a song to celebrate life, freedom, love in all its forms. Today, more than ever, we need to feel close to each other, to dance and to smile. Nevertheless, do not stop doing that."

You can follow Senhit on the following social media platforms:

LISTEN: Stream Freaky! and other Eurovision 2020 songs on Spotify

San Marino at the Eurovision Song Contest

San Marino is one of the smallest countries in the world, surrounded by Italy, and is said to be the world's oldest surviving republic. The country made its debut in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008.

Since San Marino first began participating in the Eurovision Song Contest the country has made it to the Grand Final twice; the first time in 2014, when Valentina Monetta took to the stage for third consecutive time with the song Maybe (Forse), and in 2019 with Serhat in Tel Aviv.

READ MORE: San Marino's country page

Serhat represented San Marino at the Eurovision Song Contest, another second-time Sammarinese contestant. Serhat sang Say Na Na Na, finishing 19th in the Grand Final.