SWEDEN 🇸🇪
In February 2011, Saade entered the Melodifestivalen for a second time. This time he made the final, winning with “Popular” (written by Fredrik Kempe and produced by Peter Boström). The song’s music video premiered in April. In May 2011, Saade competed in the second semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, advancing to the final. He finished third in the competition, Sweden’s best placing since Charlotte Perrelli won in 1999 with “Take Me to Your Heaven”. This was Sweden’s fifth third-place finish at the Eurovision. “Popular” was released in Sweden on February 2011, reaching #1 on the Swedish charts. By July it sold over 40,000 copies in Sweden, reaching double platinum. Its music video premiered on April 2011, when the song was also released in Finland. The single was released in Norway on May 6, in Australia, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, the UK and the US on May 12, in Austria, Germany and Switzerland on May 18 and in Belgium on May 20. “Popular” reached #4 in the Belgian (Flanders) Ultratip Charts, #17 in Finland, #23 in the Belgian (Wallonia) Ultratip, #29 in Austria,[28] #27 in Ireland, #48 in Germany and #76 in the UK. The song was listed at #3 on popjustice.com’s list of 45 Best Singles of 2011. The album remix and slow versions of the song were released in Sweden in March 2011.[32][33] The slow version was named Song of the Day by popjustice.com on 15 May 2011,[34] and the SoundFactory remix was released in Sweden on 25 May; another remix was released on 9 June in Greece.
CROATIA 🇭🇷
On 27 November 2017, Batelić confirmed via social media that she will release her comeback single “S tobom” on 4 December 2017. The song was first played on Nives Čanović’s 385 Show on Narodni radio on 4 December with Batelić interviewed live. The accompanying music video for the song was directed by Sandra Mihaljević and Igor Ivanović and premiered on RTL Televizija’s HR Top show on 10 December 2017. It was announced on 13 February 2018 that Batelić would represent Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song “Crazy”. She came in 17th in the first semi-final thus not qualifying for the grand finale.
ARMENIA 🇦🇲
After releasing her new single “Im Anush Hayastan” two weeks ago, Iveta is finally dropped the song’s music video. Iveta is well known for delivering magnificent music videos. last year, her “Journey of a Woman” videos such as “Margo” and “Rich Bitch“ stunned her fans worldwide. the same thing happened when she revealed her project “Armenia Girls.”
SERBIA 🇷🇸
Serbian Eurovision veteran Nevena Bozovic wowed us in Tel Aviv this May with her stunning vocals and heartfelt anthem “Kruna“, dedicated to her new husband Nikola Ivanovic, whom she married a month before the contest. Nevena took her crown to a Top 20 finish, landing Serbia in 18th place. On Tuesday Nevena released her first new music since Eurovision 2019. Her latest offering “Sanjam”, which translates as “I dream” in English, was both written and composed by the songstress herself. This woman’s talent is endless!
NORWAY 🇳🇴
KEiiNO group was established in the late summer of 2018 when Tom Hugo and his husband, Alex Olsson, began writing “Spirit in the Sky”, a song inspired by historical struggles for equality. They later joined Sámi rapper and joker Fred-René Buljo and singer Alexandra Rotan. The group name Keiino was inspired by the name of Buljo’s home town Kautokeino (North Sami: Guovdageaidnu). The last part -geaidnu translates to the “way” or “road”, which Buljo states; “Represents the road that brought us together”, in an interview with TV 2.
UKRAINE 🇺🇦
Kostyantyn Mykolayovych Bocharov, better known by his stage name Mélovin, is a Ukrainian singer and songwriter. He first came to prominence after winning season six of X-Factor Ukraine. He represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal, with the song “Under the Ladder”.
SWEDEN 🇸🇪
Bengtsson was born in Svenljunga. He finished third behind winner Kevin Borg and runner-up Alice Svensson in Idol 2008. In mid-2009, he was signed by Merion Music label releasing the single “Another Lover’s Gone”. Bengtsson was also a guest of Katrin Zytomierska’s programs Idol 2008: Eftersnack and ZTV program Sexuellt. In 2010, Robin took part in the charity song “Wake Up World” for “Hjälp Haiti” with Karl Martindahl and Daniel “The Moniker” Karlsson and also performed the song “Long Long Night” with Kim Fransson (known from the TV reality program Made in Sweden. In 2010, Robin Bengtsson participated in the Swedish/Scandinavian version of Wipeout, reaching the final round and finishing second. He participated in Melodifestivalen 2016 with the song “Constellation Prize” and placed fifth. He came back in Melodifestivalen 2017 with the song “I Can’t Go On” and won the competition. He represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Kyiv. He performed in the first semifinal on 9 May and qualified to the final. In the final he placed fifth.
AUSTRIA 🇦🇹
Nathan Trent born in Innsbruck, Austria, to an Austrian father and an Italian mother. On 18 June 2016, Trent released his debut single “Like It Is”. On 19 December 2016, Trent was announced as the Austrian representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. His song, “Running on Air”, was released on 28 February 2017. At the time of his selection as the Austrian entrant, Trent was one of the 33 artists that had been shortlisted in Unser Song 2017, the contest to select the German entrant in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. He was automatically eliminated, as a performer can not represent more than one country in the same year by European Broadcasting Union regulations. He ultimately finished 16th in the contest, with 93 points.
