Skip to main content

One Big Family: This is what we know about tonight's contestants

14 May 2019 at 20:00 CEST
MyHeritage is the Presenting Partner of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. EBU/MyHeritage
MyHeritage is the Presenting Partner of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. As part of their One Big Family project, they have extensively researched the background of several of tonight's contestants based on their DNA profile.

Netta's mix

Tonight's first Semi-Final will be opened by last year's winner Netta. Netta’s MyHeritage DNA results showed the different journeys her ancestors took before her grandparents met, and even gave her a few surprises. She is 51.4% Sephardic Jewish from North Africa, 45.4% Ashkenazi Jewish, 1.7% Baltic, and 1.5% Irish, Scottish, and Welsh. Netta was thrilled to discover that she has some Irish DNA, and shared her lifelong affinity for the Irish people.

READ MORE: The Fascinating Family History of Netta Barzilai (external link)

Katerine Duska from Greece... and the Balkan!

This year’s Greek representative Katerine Duska was actually born in Montreal, Canada, to Greek parents. When she was in her teens, Katerine’s family returned to Greece, where she has lived ever since. Recently, Katerine took a MyHeritage DNA test and discovered that she is 70.6% Greek and 29.4% Balkan!

READ MORE: Katerine Duska Discovers Her Fascinating Heritage (external link)

Portugal's Conan... with some African roots!

Portugal’s cryptic Eurovision entry this year, Telémoveis, combines elements from radically different ethnic and cultural traditions all over the world… and so, it turns out, does the DNA of its performer, Conan Osíris (born Tiago Miranda). A native of Portugal, it’s not surprising that Conan is 84.8% Iberian, but he’s also 9.5% North African, 3% Ashkenazi Jewish, 1.7% Central Asian, and 1% Nigerian!

READ MORE: Conan Osíris’s DNA is as Diverse as His Music (external link)

Eliot from Belgium... or the UK?

Eliot is singing for Belgium in tonight's show and, as a native of Belgium, his ethnicity estimate may come as something of a surprise: his DNA is predominantly… English! He is 58.7% English, 18.4% Green and South Italian, 10.5% Italian, 5.7% Scandinavian, and only 6.7% North and West European (which includes Belgium).

READ MORE: Eliot Vassamillet Represents More Than Belgium (external link)

Want to know more about the background of this year's participants? Check out the MyHeritage Eurovision Song Contest website!