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Latest news: EBU responds to Dutch government news on audiences 🇳🇱

01 April 2021 at 08:31 CEST
Fans having a great time as the Grand Final is nearing its end. Andres Putting
Welcome to our latest news blog of March 2021. Stay up to date here with all the latest on national selections, artists and songs for Eurovision 2021. Keep checking back for more news!

Latest news: EBU responds to Dutch government news on audiences 🇳🇱

Published on 1 April at 08:30 CEST

The EBU has responded to the announcement that, if circumstances allow, audiences will be permitted to attend the Eurovision Song Contest in May.

“We welcome this decision by the Dutch government and the possibility that we can invite fans to join us as we bring the Eurovision Song Contest back in May,” says Martin Österdahl, Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest.

“We will consider the options now available and announce more details in the coming weeks on how we can safely admit audiences to the Ahoy venue in Rotterdam should the situation allow. The health and safety of all those attending the event remains our top priority.”

The EBU added, “as previously announced, all delegations, artists and production crew will be following a strict protocol and would not come in contact with potential members of the audience under any circumstances.”

Latest news: Join us for 39 Country Celebration Days 🇸🇲

Published on 29 March at 17:25 CEST

Over the next 39 days, Eurovision.tv will celebrate each participating country across our website and social media channels. Each nation will get a whole day in the spotlight, so make sure you follow us on Twitter, Tik Tok, Instagram and Facebook to find out where we’re going.

Our participant profile pages will be updated with brand new bios plus a range of quick fire questions. Want to know who Gjon’s Tears picks in Mario Kart? Or maybe you’re curious as to how long Blind Channel think it’s acceptable to wear the same pair of socks for? Perhaps you want to know Jendrik’s favourite type of cheese is? Turns out he really likes cheese.

For these crucial answers and more, stay tuned!

We’re kicking off the celebrations with the small but mighty San Marino and Senhit!

Latest news: Dance with The Roop troop! 🇱🇹

Published on 29 March at 09:30 CEST

It’s time to learn your first dance of the Eurovision season! The Roop have released a handy how-to guide showcasing the 4 steps you’ll need to keep up with their entry Discoteque.

“With our song Discoteque, we want people to move. When you move, you feel good; it’s common knowledge. And everyone knows dancing is good for you and has positive effects on our physical and mental health.”

The Roop’s 2020 entry, On Fire, became one of a number of Eurovision bops that became popular dance crazes on social media last year.

TIX opens up 🇳🇴

Published on 27 March at 09:30 CET

TIX is currently one of Norway’s biggest pop stars with record streaming numbers, a string of chart-toppers, and an unrivalled press presence - but beyond the sunglasses and fake fur is Andreas Haukeland, the man behind the persona.

In this exclusive interview with Eurovision.tv, the Norwegian participant talks about growing up with Tourettes Syndrome and OCD (Obsessive–compulsive disorder) and how this has impacted on his adult life. As a mental health awareness advocate, Andreas supports the Norwegian non-profit organisation Mental Helse.

Eden Alene revamps Set Me Free 🇮🇱

Published on 26 March at 13:50 CET

It’s been two long months since the Israeli public picked Set Me Free for Eden Alene to take to the Eurovision Song Contest. Today, after weeks of perfecting her entry, Eden reveals the revamped version she’ll be performing in Rotterdam.

The music video was shot in the Design City complex and was directed by Nimrod Peled. It depicts a dormant universe which Eden awakens with music, filling her surroundings with colour, energy and human connection.

Eden will perform Set Me Free during the first Semi-Final on Tuesday 18 May.

Måneskin release video for Zitti E Buoni 🇮🇹

Published on 16 March at 20:00 CET

Turn your volume up to 11 and prepare to rock out! Måneskin have released the official video for their Eurovision Song Contest entry Zitti E Buoni.

Don't forget to subscribe to the official Eurovision YouTube channel to receive alerts and updates whenever new videos are added!


'Húsavík' nominated for Oscar 🇮🇸

Published on 15 March at 14:15 CET

The song Húsavík (My Hometown) from the Netflix comedy Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

The film, celebrating everyone’s favourite global music competition, shares the story of two small-town singers chasing their big pop star dreams.

The movie stars Will Ferrell, Rachel McAdams, Dan Stevens, Demi Lovato and Pierce Brosnan, and has spawned a popular soundtrack, with fan favourites including Jaja Ding Dong, Double Trouble and Volcano Man.

However, the biggest breakout hit from the movie is Húsavík (My Hometown) performed by Melodifestivalen icon Molly Sandén, under the stage name My Marianne.

The song stormed several charts across Europe and was play-listed by many radio stations including BBC Radio 2.

The 93rd Academy Award 'Best Original Song' nominees:

  • Fight for You - Judas and the Black Messiah
  • Hear My Voice - The Trial of the Chicago 7
  • Húsavík (My Hometown) - Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
  • Io Si (Seen) - The Life Ahead
  • Speak Now - One Night in Miami…

Húsavík has been composed by Atli Örvarsson with lyrics from Fat Max Gsus, Rickard Göransson and Savan Kotecha.

The 93rd Academy Awards will be broadcast from 02:00 CET on Monday 26 April.

How to watch the Melodifestivalen final 🇸🇪

Published on 12 March at 17:00 CET

A big sparkly curtain is being drawn across national final season as it comes to a natural end. However, we still have one more selection show to enjoy and it's a belter. Get ready for the grand final of Melodifestivalen.

Can The Mamas bag a second (third if you’re counting Too Late For Love) victory? Has Dotter gotta shot at Eurovision glory? Is Eric Saade counting Every Minute until Rotterdam? We’ll have all the answers on Saturday night.

Guiding us through this epic evening of Scandinavian drama are the highly talented team of Måns Zelmerlöw, Shima Niavarani and Christer Björkman - so expect a song or two from our hosts as well.

That’s not all… following in the footsteps of Finland’s UMK, and to satisfy a growing online audience, English commentary will be provided for the first time in Melfest history, courtesy of Bella Qvist and Olivia Le Poidevin.

The Melodifestivalen 2021 grand final line-up:

  1. Danny Saucedo - Dandi dansa
  2. Klara Hammarström - Beat of Broken Hearts
  3. Anton Ewald - New Religion
  4. The Mamas - In The Middle
  5. Paul Rey - The Missing Piece
  6. Charlotte Perrelli - Still Young
  7. Tusse - Voices
  8. Alvaro Estrella - Baila Baila
  9. Clara Klingenström - Behöver inte dig idag
  10. Eric Saade - Every Minute
  11. Dotter - Little Tot
  12. Arvingarna - Tänker inte alls gå hem

The Melodifestivalen grand final kicks off at 20:00 CET on Saturday 13 March and can be watched on SVT or online.

And if you’re wondering why Sweden are so good at this Eurovision lark, check out our How To Eurovision guide for the Nordic nation:

EBU statement on Belarusian entry

Published on 11 March at 15:45 CET

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has released a statement regarding Belarus' Eurovision Song Contest entry:

“As part of the regular procedure for all songs submitted to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), the EBU has carefully scrutinized the Belarusian song, Ya Nauchu Tebya (I’ll Teach You) by Galasy ZMesta to ensure it complies with the rules of the competition.

It was concluded that the song puts the non-political nature of the Contest in question.

In addition, recent reactions to the proposed entry risk bringing the reputation of the ESC into disrepute.

We’ve written to the broadcaster BTRC, which is responsible for Belarus’ entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, to inform them that the song, in its present form, is currently not eligible to compete.

Furthermore we’ve requested that they take all necessary steps to submit a modified version, or a new song, that is compliant with the ESC rules.

Failure to do so could result in disqualification from this year’s Contest.”

United Kingdom ready to launch 🇬🇧

Published on 8 March at 21:45 CET

In a surprise announcement after Monday night’s episode of the iconic BBC One soap EastEnders, Graham Norton revealed details about the United Kingdom’s Eurovision entry.

The popular Irish comedian divulged that the track would get its first play on Thursday 11 March:

“I think we could all do with some good news at the moment and I’ve got some! We’ll be revealing the UK’s Eurovision song this Thursday on BBC Radio One and Two. Hopefully it’ll be another ‘Making Your Mind Up’ and not a ‘Cry Baby’... oh look it up.”

Shortly after the reveal, the BBC Eurovision twitter account shared an exclusive clip from the as yet unnamed song:

James will join Ken Bruce on Radio Two from 10:30 CET before making his way across to Scott Mill’s Radio One show at 14:00 CET.

Sadly, the video for Jemini's 2003 United Kingdom entry Cry Baby is yet to be made available on our YouTube channel.

Sweden reveals grand finale running order 🇸🇪

Published on 6 March at 21:30 CET

Sweden's Mello juggernaut is nearing a conclusion as viewers this evening decided which 4 acts deserved a second chance to go through to next weekend’s final.

In contention for the Melodifestivalen grand final were the 8 songs that finished in 3rd or 4th place during their heats. Producers pitched the artists against one another in pairs allowing just the battle winners to progress.

The head-to-heads were:

  1. ⭐️ Alvaro Estrella - Baila Baila VS Lillasyster - Pretender
  2. Frida Green - The Silence VS ⭐️ Paul Rey - The Missing Piece
  3. Eva Rydberg & Ewa Roos - Rena rama ding dong VS ⭐️ Clara Klingenström - Behöver inte dig idag
  4. ⭐️ Klara Hammarström - Beat of Broken Hearts VS Efraim Leo - Best of Me

    ⭐️ = head-to-head winners


First up, Alvaro Estrella won through with Baila Baila; then Paul Rey's performance of The Missing Piece was enough to see him progress; Clara Klingenström saw off a stiff challenge from fan favourites Eva Rydberg & Ewa Roos for the third slot; and finally Klara Hammarström did enough to clinch the last remaining place in the grand final.

Within minutes of the show concluding, producers revealed the running order for next Saturday's final showcase.

The Melodifestivalen 2021 grand final line-up:

  1. Danny Saucedo - Dandi dansa
  2. Klara Hammarström - Beat of Broken Hearts
  3. Anton Ewald - New Religion
  4. The Mamas - In The Middle
  5. Paul Rey - The Missing Piece
  6. Charlotte Perrelli - Still Young
  7. Tusse - Voices
  8. Alvaro Estrella - Baila Baila
  9. Clara Klingenström - Behöver inte dig idag
  10. Eric Saade - Every Minute
  11. Dotter - Little Tot
  12. Arvingarna - Tänker inte alls gå hem

The Melodifestivalen grand final kicks off at 20:00 CET on Saturday 13 March and can be watched on SVT or online.

‘Technicolour’ for the Aussies 🇦🇺

Published on 4 March at 08:40 CET

G’day, Europe! Australia’s participant for the Eurovision Song Contest, Montaigne, has announced the name of her entry.

Technicolour can be pre-downloaded on streaming services in advance of the track going live at 23:30 CET later today (or 09:30 AEDT on Friday if you’re lucky enough to be reading this in sunny Australia).

The singer-songwriter teased Eurovision.tv that:

“Rina Sawayama, Utada Hikaru, and the Cha Cha Slide were big influences for the sound of the song.”

As if that wasn’t enough, Montaigne also joins the line-up for 'Super Saturday 2'. Hardcore fans wanting to pack an entire day with live Eurovision content can tune in to the 2021 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras on Saturday 6 March at 08:00 CET via SBS On Demand.

The Sydneysider will be giving her first live performance of Technicolour during the Pride event and broadcaster SBS has removed geo-blocking for international viewers to mark this auspicious occasion.

Epic Festival di Sanremo underway 🇮🇹

Published on 3 March at 08:00 CET

Last night, Festival di Sanremo began a run of 5 consecutive nights of live entertainment. By the time we reach the Italian contest’s grand final on Saturday 6 March, all 26 acts will have performed multiple times for different kinds of juries.

Diodato opened the show with a rousing rendition of his 2020 winning song Fai rumore; Swedish footballer Zlatan Ibrahimović told a joke; and host Amadeus explained how last year’s festival felt like the last moment of normality before the global pandemic.

The 26 competing acts/songs:

  • Aiello - Ora
  • Annalisa - Dieci
  • Arisa - Potevi fare di più
  • Bugo - E invece sì
  • Colapesce e Dimartino - Musica leggerissima
  • Coma_Cose - Fiamme negli occhi
  • Ermal Meta - Un milione di cose da dirti
  • Extraliscio feat. Davide Toffolo - Esordienti
  • Fasma - Parlami
  • Francesca Michielin e Fedez - Chiamami per nome
  • Francesco Renga - Quando trovo te
  • Fulminacci - Santa Marinella
  • Gaia - Cuore amaro
  • Ghemon - Momento perfetto
  • Gio Evan - Arnica
  • Irama - La genesi del tuo colore
  • La Rappresentante di Lista - Amare
  • Lo Stato Sociale - Combat Pop
  • Madame - Voce
  • Malika Ayane - Ti piaci così
  • Måneskin - Zitti e buoni
  • Max Gazzè e Trifluoperazina Monstery Band - Il farmacista
  • Noemi - Glicine
  • Orietta Berti - Quando ti sei innamorato
  • Random - Torno a te
  • Willie Peyote - Mai dire mai (La locura)

Before competing, all contestants are required to tell broadcaster Rai whether they would be willing to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest should they win. Not every act says ‘sì’, so the winner of Sanremo won't necessarily join us in Rotterdam.

In fact, Francesca Michielin (competing in the Italian final this year with Chiamami per nome) came second at the 2016 festival but ended up representing Italy at Eurovision when rock band Stadio turned down the opportunity.

The Festival della Canzone Italiana di Sanremo broadcasts nightly from 21:00 CET from Tuesday 2 until Saturday 6 March and can be watched on Rai 1 or online. The shows can go long into the night, so line up those espressos.

Russia makes a little (but big) announcement 🇷🇺

Published on 2 March at 09:20 CET

The act and song that will represent Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Rotterdam will be chosen by the public during a special show that will broadcast live on Channel One Russia at 18:00 CET on Monday 8 March.

Head of Music & Entertainment for Channel One Russia, Yury Aksyuta, shared their thoughts:

‘There are two main ways to choose the national act for the ESC. It can be an internal decision by the broadcaster, like it was in the case of Duncan Laurence, who went on to win the contest in 2019. Or the broadcaster may arrange a national selection with the winner to be named by the jury and/or public. During recent years we often selected our representative internally but this time we want our viewers to make the final choice after we present them with songs that meet the Eurovision Song Contest requirements’.

Little Big were due to represent their country before the Contest was cancelled in 2020; the St Petersburg band set the record for the most viewed video (Uno) on the official Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel. It is unknown if they will participate next Monday.

Stay tuned to Eurovision.tv for further updates.

Albania’s Anxhela releases ‘Karma’ video 🇦🇱

Published on 27 February at 20:00 CET

Anxhela Peristeri has shared the music video for her Eurovision entry Karma.

The singer won the 59th edition of Festivali i Këngës (the national selection show of Albania) back in December, and will compete in the later half of the second Semi Final on Thursday 20 May.

VICTORIA ready for reveal show 🇧🇬

Published on 27 February at 20:00 CET

Team Bulgaria have announced that their song for Rotterdam has been selected and will be revealed during a special concert on Wednesday 10 March.

Fans can watch the gig live at 21:00 CET on Bulgarian TV channel BNT1 or via VICTORIA’s official YouTube channel. She will perform songs from her first EP a little dramatic, as well as her biggest hits to date.

North Macedonia sets a date 🇲🇰

Published on 1 March at 12:30 CET

North Macedonia's Eurovision competitor Vasil has teased fans with a snippet from his upcoming entry across social media.

A gospel choir can be heard singing:

They all tried to break us,
Not knowing it’s what makes us,
This is how we found our way.

The singer also revealed that Here I Stand will be released on Thursday 11 March.

Tornike Kipiani will sing 'You' for Georgia 🇬🇪

Published on 1 March at 10:00 CET

Georgia has chosen to stick with their Eurovision 2020 representative for this year's competition. Tornike Kipiani will battle it out for his country with the song You which can be described as a mix of rock, pop-rock, and blues-rock.

Tornike Kipiani will represent Georgia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song You GPB

The father of 3 wrote and composed the song himself and also features contributions from the Gori Girls' Choir, Aleko Berdzenishvili, Marian Shengelia and Mariko Lezhava.

Welcome to the new blog

Published on 1 March at 10:00 CET

Every month we will start a new blog covering the latest news from national selections, the artists and their songs for Eurovision 2021. Our previous blog included the following headlines:

  • Semi-Final shows in Estonia, Sweden and Portugal.
  • Many artists released the title of their songs.

Read about it and many other updates in our February 2021 blog.