The Christmas holidays are nearly upon us, and Eurovision fans have a rather interesting present after the weekend. Six confirmed songs and singers for Malmo 2013!
Weekend Results
Lithuania’s National Final process came to an end with a surprise victory for Andrius Pojavis. His song, called ‘Something‘ only finished third in his heat, and fourth in the first semi-final. If you wanted to define an underdog, it was Pojavis. Cometh the hour, cometh the man, and by finally topping a jury vote, he pushed in front of fan favourites Gerai Gerai & Miss Sheep, and Girmantė Vaitkute, to fly the flag in Malmo!
The 51st Festivali i Kenges ran its two semi-finals and final between Thursday and Saturday, with the prize including the right to represent Albania at the Song Contest. Like Melodifestivalen in Sweden, FiK is firstly about finding a great Albanian song, then sending it to Eurovision. Congratulations to the melodic and operatic rock of Adrian Lulgjuraj & Bledar Sejko, singing ‘Identitet‘. It’s already split fan opinion and ignited strong emotion on both sides. That’s what a good song should do
Finally in the triplet of talent, we had Ukraine, at the interesting hour of 1050 CET on Sunday. Topping both the jury and the public vote, Zlata Ognevich finally gets to stand on a Eurovision stage after her third attempt at the Ukrainian National Finals. ‘Gravity‘ may not be the best of her attempts, but it’s the one that has given her victory.
Coming Up This Week
Dissapointingly, there’s no big selection show for Eurovision this week, but there is some action.
- All this week, Azerbaijan’s Milli Secim Turu continues with the second round of contestants.
- Thursday December 27th: Finland’s YLE air the first of the ‘introduction’ shows for Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK).
Still, there is going to be one more thing to look forward to… a Christmas edition of ESC Insight’s comedy panel quiz show ‘Nul Points!‘ Quizmaster Ewan Spence will be joined by…
- Luke Fisher (EscXtra)
- Roy Bennett (12points.tv)
- Ben Robertson (Melodifestivalklubben)
- Will Adams (Wi Wi Bloggs)
That’s coming up on Friday 28th, down the podcast feed, or available to stream from the site.
And Finally…
Enjoy the holidays, no matter where you are, who you are with, and how you celebrate, from all of us at ESC Insight have a great time!