SWEDEN 🇸🇪
The Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, known for revealing most of the contest participants, said this afternoon that SVT wants Eric Saade to contest for the fourth time. “He may want to participate again, but he will only do it with the right song,” revealed a source close to SVT, recalling that the singer was one of the presenters of the last edition of the contest, “SVT wants to have him in the contest. His name appears almost every year “. However, the language of the song may be one of the obstacles. As the newspaper recalls, the singer’s latest releases have been in Swedish, and he has confirmed that he intends to focus on the language. However, last June, asked about a possible return to the contest, Eric Saade stressed that “if I return, I will do with a good English song. It seems smarter.” Besides the possibility of Eric Saade’s return, the Aftonbladet newspaper revealed two more names for the event: Albin Johnsén and Suzi P. The singer was in competition with Mattias Andréasson in 2016, reaching Andran Chansen, and Suzi P, young with 16 years old, became known to the Swedish public with a controversy generated by having interpreted a theme with references to drugs and crimes … in a children’s program.
GERMANY 🇩🇪
National broadcaster NDR (Norddeutscher Rundfunk) has confirmed that there will be 4 shows, the so-called ESC-Songcheck. Through these will be presented the participation of Eurovision 2020. It is a live show broadcast by the German website eurovision.de, where users from all over the world have the opportunity to vote for Eurovision songs online in grades 1-12. They can also vote for both presenters, Stefan Spiegel and Alina Stiegler! For each song comes an average rating consisting of user votes (50%), Alina votes (25%) and Stefan votes (25%).
Friday, April 3, 2020, 9:00 pm
Sunday, April 5, 2020, 9:00 pm
Tuesday, April 7, 2020, 9:00 pm
Thursday, April 9, 2020, 9:00 pm
CZECH REPUBLIC 🇨🇿
HoD Jan Frost Bors quits but confirms that eight incredible songs have been selected for the national final. Bors has acted as the Czech Republic’s Head of Delegation since Eurovision 2016. His departure from the network means that he’ll be leaving this role too. During his time, he’s helmed three Czech qualifications including a top ten finish with Mikolas Josef and “Lie To Me” in 2018. Prior to his arrival, the country had never made it out of the semi-finals. In reply to a comment on his ČT resignation post, Bors reassured concerned fans telling them not to worry. He claims that the team is strong enough and doesn’t need him anymore. The surprise announcement comes just days after Bors shared an interview he gave with local media, also on Facebook.
SLOVENIA 🇸🇮
RTVSLO, the Slovenian national broadcaster, has revealed the duels for EMA FREŠ, which will begin next Monday. The public will pick a winner from each daily duel who will qualify for Friday’s round, where the winner of the week will be selected. The jury will also select a second winner every week. Six artists will qualify for the finals of EMA Freš in the first three weeks. Of the 12 acts who didn’t originally qualify for the finals, four of them will be selected through the “happy losers” online competition in the following two weeks to advance to the final. 10 artists of EMA FREŠ will compete for a place in EMA 2020. One act chosen by the public and one-act chosen by a professional jury will become the first two finalists of EMA 2020. They will compete against established artists, who have until November 18 to submit their songs, for the chance to represent Slovenia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam.
UNITED KINGDOM 🇬🇧
According to the UK documentary ‘Abba: Secrets Of Their Greatest Hits’ ‘Mamma Mia’ which spawned the Mamma Mia musical and two Hollywood films, topped the charts in 1976 and was originally offered to the band as the writers Benny, Bjorn and their Manager Stig didn’t see it as a hit. ‘Mamma Mia’ went on to reach Number 1 in a number of countries including the UK, the first time the band had achieved this since ‘Waterloo’.
THE NETHERLANDS 🇳🇱
Dutch national broadcaster started the search for the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest. The selection will be made by n expert panel made of Coen Swijnenberg, Sander Lantinga, Joyce Hoydelmans, Εric Van Stade, Cornald Maas, Jan Smit.
Eerste luistersessie voor #Songfestival2020 met onze nieuwe keuzecommissieleden @CoenEnSander en @Joyce86! 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/qTHafTZVPT
— JAN SMIT (@JanSmit) October 28, 2019
ARMENIA 🇦🇲
AMPTV has revealed that Armenia will take part in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. It has not yet been revealed how they will select their next entrant, however, they opted for an internal selection in 2019.
EUROVISION 2020 🇳🇱
Cornald Maas, the man who is the soul of Eurovision in the Netherlands and a commentator on the country’s public television broadcast, recently revealed that the Eurovision 2020 presenters will be held in Rotterdam on May 12, 14 and 16. two men and one woman are selected. In an interview with NPO Radio 2 and Gijs Staverman, he said that he would not be among the presenters himself, despite what has been written lately and that presenters will be announced in the near future.
HUNGARY 🇭🇺
The broadcaster responsible for Hungary’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, Duna TV, have given their strongest indication yet of a withdrawal from Eurovision 2020. The statement in full reads as follows:
“Instead of taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2020, we will support the valuable productions created by the talents of Hungarian pop music directly. Duna Television will support the winner of A Dal 2020 with numerous promotional opportunities and a chance to perform on the stages of the most prestigious Hungarian festivals. Additionally, the winner will be rewarded with a special promotion on Petőfi Radio and will receive support for the development of their music career.”
GREECE 🇬🇷
A delightful surprise is being prepared by Demy and her record label, Panik Oxygen, on the release of her latest album “Retrospective” and on collectable vinyl. On Friday, November 1, at 6 pm, the talented singer will be at the “Public” Constitution for a special meet and greet with her fans, who will sign copies of the album!
