Eurovision 2021 By The Numbers Written by Samantha Ross on May 16, 2021 | 3 Comments

Who’ll Be Performing

(39 nations, two fewer than last year after the withdrawal of Armenia and disqualification of Belarus, and two fewer than the 2019 event, following the withdrawal of Hungary and Montenegro, but the return of Ukraine and Bulgaria):

• Solo Female (17): Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Malta, Moldova, Romania, Russia, San Marino*, Slovenia

(* – San Marino is officially listed as being performed by Senhit, but she may be joined by rapper Flo Rida. Italian rapper Don Jiggy took his place in rehearsals.)

• Solo Male (13): Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
• Duos (1): Denmark
• Groups and Collaborations (8): Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Serbia, Ukraine

How They Were Chosen

• National Final (12): Albania, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Italy*, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Sweden (*- The winner of Italy’s San Remo Festival is given first right of refusal for the ticket to Eurovision. This year, the winner accepted the invitation.)
• Partial National Final:
  • Internal artist selection, public song selection (2): Israel, Spain
• Internal Selection (23): Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Malta, Moldova, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland, United Kingdom
• Other (2): Bulgaria, Ukraine (For both of these entries, a number of potential songs were released and public opinion was requested and considered, but the song was ultimately selected internally.)

How Many Selected To Perform For Their Countries In 2020 Were Carried Over To 2021

• Selected Internally (24): Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Malta, Moldova, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom
• Won a National Final (2): Estonia, Lithuania

What Language Will The Songs Be Performed In?

• English (21): Austria, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, United Kingdom
  • Primarily in English, a few scant words or phrases in other languages (7): Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Israel, Malta, San Marino,
• No English (7): Albania, Denmark, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine
  • Primarily in a non-English language, with only a few scant words in English (1): Serbia
• Bilingual (3): Croatia, The Netherlands, Russia

Artists Under The Age of 20 (At Time Of Performance)

• Greece: Stefania (18)
• Malta: Destiny (18)
• Sweden: Tusse (19)

Artists Over The Age of 40 (At Time Of Performance)

• Belgium:
  • Geike Arnaert (41)
  • Alex Callier (48)
  • Raymond Geerts (61)
• San Marino:
  • Senhit (41)
  • Flo Rida (41)

Solo Artists Using a Pseudonym, Mononym, or Nickname

• Australia: Montaigne’s real name is Jessica Alyssa Cerro.
• Azerbaijan: Efendi’s full name is Samira Azer gizi Efendiyeva.
• Bulgaria: Victoria’s full name is Victoria Georgieva.
• Croatia: Albina’s full name is Albina Grčić.
• Czech Republic: Benny Cristo’s real name is Ben da Silva Cristóvão.
• France: Barbara Pravi’s real name is Barbara Piévic.
• Germany: Jendrik’s full name is Jendrik Sigwart.
• Greece: Stefania’s full name is Stefania Liberakakis.
• Iceland: Daði’s full name is Daði Freyr Pétursson.
• Latvia: Samanta Tīna’s real name is Samanta Poļakova.
• Malta: Destiny’s full name is Destiny Chukunyere, and as a recipient of Malta’s Medal for Service to the Republic, she is entitled to use the post-nominal initials MQR.
• North Macedonia: Vasil’s full name is Vasil Garvanliev.
• Norway: TIX’s real name is Andreas Andresen Haukeland.
• Poland: Rafał’s full name is Rafał Brzozowski.
• Romania: Roxen’s real name is Larisa Roxana Giurgiu.
• Russia: Manizha’s full name is Manizha Dalerovna Sangin.
• San Marino: Senhit’s full name is Senhit Zadik Zadik. Flo Rida’s name is Tramar Lacel Dillard.
• Sweden: Tusse’s full name is Tousin Michael Chiza.
• Switzerland: Gjon’s Tears’ real name is Gjon Muharremaj.

Artists’ Names in their native-language script, if the Roman alphabet used is not their primary script of use:

• Azerbaijan: Əfəndi (full name: Samirə Azər qızı Əfəndiyeva)
• Bulgaria: Виктория (full name: Виктория Георгиева)
• Cyprus: Έλενα Τσαγκρινού
• Georgia: თორნიკე ყიფიანი
• Greece: Στεφανία (full name: Στεφανία Λυμπερακάκη)
• Israel: עדן אלנה (Hebrew), ኤደን አለነ (Amharic)
• Moldova: Наталія Гордієнко
• North Macedonia: Васил (full name: Васил Гарванлиев)
• Russia: Манижа (full name: Манижа Далеровна Сангин)
• Serbia: Hurricane is written as such in Serbian, but can be transliterated as “Харикејн”.
  • Band Members: Сања Вучић (Sanja Vučić), Ксенија Кнежевић (Ksenija Knežević), Ивана Николић (Ivana Nikolić).
• Ukraine: Go_A is written as such in Ukranian, but can be transliterated as “Ґоу_Ей”
  • Band Members: Катерина Павленко (Kateryna Pavlenko), Тарас Шевченко (Taras Shevchenko), Ігор Діденчук (Ihor Didenchuk), Іван Григоряк (Ivan Hryhoriak)

Songs Changed, Modified, Revamped, or Translated from the original National Final Winner, Announcement, or Release

• Albania
  • While still staying in Albanian, the original version of “Karma” underwent a revamp to get it ready for Eurovision.
• Israel
  • “Set Me Free” had a bit of a revamp between Israel’s Selection Show and the final Eurovision version.
• Italy
  • The original version of “Zitti e buoni” was slightly too long for Eurovision, and a few unsavory phrases in Italian were softened for the international stage.
• Ukraine
  • The original version of “Shum” was too similar to the traditional Ukranian folk tune that inspired it, and it was also longer than the 3 minute limit. The song underwent an edit and revamp to get it to conform to Eurovision rules.

How Many Have Had Previous Involvement With Eurovision?

• Austria: Vincent Bueno was one of the backing singers for Austria’s 2017 entry, “Running on Air” by Nathan Trent.
• Belgium: Hooverphonic member Alex Callier co-wrote Belgium’s 2018 entry for Sennek, “A Matter of Time“.
• Malta: Destiny was one of the backing singers for Malta’s 2019 entry, “Chameleon”, by Michela Pace. Furthermore, as the winner of Junior Eurovision 2015, Destiny was featured briefly at Eurovision 2016.
• Moldova: Along with Arsenium and Connect-R, Natalia Gordienko represented Moldova at Eurovision 2006, coming in 20th place in the Final with “Loca”.
• North Macedonia: Vasil was one of the backing singers for North Macedonia’s 2019 entry, “Proud” by Tamara Todevska.
• San Marino: Senhit (then marketed as “Senit”) represented San Marino at Eurovision 2011, where her song “Stand By” came in 16th place in the Semi-Final.
• Serbia:
  • Ksenija Knežević was a backing singer for her father, Knez, in 2015, with the Montenegrin entry “Adio”.
  • Sanja Vučić represented Serbia as a soloist in 2016, coming in 18th place in the Final with “Goodbye (Shelter)”.
• United Kingdom: James Newman was one of the songwriters for Brendan Murray’s 2017 song for Ireland, “Dying to Try”.

How Many Have Previous Involvement With Junior Eurovision?

• France: Barbara Pravi is the songwriter behind France’s two most recent Junior Eurovision entries: 2019’s “Bim Bam Toi” for Carla and 2020’s “J’imagine” for Valentina, which took home the winner’s trophy.
• Greece: As one third of the group Kisses, Stefania represented The Netherlands at JESC 2016 with the song “Kisses and Dancin’”. The trio came in 8th place.
• Malta: Destiny was the winner of Junior Eurovision 2015 with her song “Not My Soul”.
• Poland: Rafał was one of the co-hosts for the 2020 Junior Eurovision Song Contest, and also co-hosted the 2017 Polish Junior National Final.
• Spain: Blas Cantó participated in the 2004 National Final to represent Spain at Junior Eurovision that year with the songs “Cantaré” and “Sentir”, but came in second place to eventual JESC winner Maria Isabel.

How Many Had Previously Been Involved In National Finals (excluding their 2020 or 2021 victory)?

• Austria: Vincent Bueno participated in the 2016 Austrian National Final with “All We Need Is that Love“.
• Azerbaijan: Efendi was a participant in Azerbaijan’s 2014 National Final, but was eliminated in the penultimate round of competition. She was also rumored to have been in the running for the internal selection in 2019.
• Estonia: Uku Suviste first attempted to represent Estonia at Eurovision in 2017, when his song “Supernatural” failed to qualify for the Eesti Laul final. Two years later, however, he came in second place at the national final with 2019’s “Pretty Little Liar”.
• Georgia: Tornike Kipiani participated in the 2017 Georgian National Final with the song “You Are My Sunshine”, featuring Giorgi Bolotashvili, coming in 23rd place.
• Iceland: Daði Freyr (alongside a then-uncredited Gagnamagnið, but all still rocking their trademark green jumpers) came in second place in 2017’s Söngvakeppnin with “Is This Love?” It was also performed in Icelandic as “Hvað með það?” during the show’s Semifinal.
• Latvia: Samanta Tīna’s road to Eurovision has been long and winding, but she’s persevered!
  • Latvian National Finals:
    • 2012:
      • “For Father”, 7th place in the semifinal.
      • “I Want You Back”, a duet with Dāvids Kalandija, 2nd place.
    • 2013:
      • “I Need a Hero”, 2nd place.
    • 2014:
      • “Stay”, 3rd place
    • 2016:
      • “The Love is Forever”, withdrawn after qualifying for the Semifinal.
      • “We Live for Love”, 5th place in the semifinal.
    • 2019:
      • “Cutting the Wire”, 7th place.
  • Lithuanian National Finals:
    • 2013:
      • “Hey Chiki-Mama”, a duet with Vudis, 4th place in its heat.
    • 2017:
      • “Tavo oda”, a duet with Tadas Rimgalia, 7th place in its heat.
• Lithuania: The Roop took part in the 2018 National Final with the song “Yes, I Do”, which came in third place overall.
• Moldova: Natalia Gordienko, alongside Arsenium and Connect-R, won the second Moldovan National Final in 2006 with their song “Loca”.
• North Macedonia: Vasil took part in Skopje Fest in 2007, coming in 13th place with “Pomogni mi”.
• Poland: In 2017, Rafał came in second place in the Polish National Final with the song “Sky over Europe”.
• Serbia: As a member of the group Sky’s, Ksenija Knežević came in fifth place in 2013’s edition of Beosong with the song “Magija”.
• Slovenia: As “Diona Dim”, Ana took part in EMA 2004 (with the song “If You”) and 2007 (with “Oče”), coming in ninth and eleventh place, respectively.
• Spain: Blas Cantó, as a member of the group Auryn, was a finalist in Destino Eurovisión, Spain’s selection process for Eurovision 2011, with the song “Volver”.

How Many Have Been Invovled In Non-Eurovision Affiliated Programming Or Other Major Festivals?

• Albania: Anxhela Peristeri
  • Participant in the 2001 Miss Albania pageant
  • Participant on series 1 of X Factor Greece (2008)
• Australia: Montaigne
  • Montaigne’s song “My Life (is Better With You!)” serves as the theme song for the popular podcast “My Brother, My Brother, and Me”.
• Austria: Vincent Bueno
  • Winner of the ORF talent program Musical! Die Show. (2008)
• Azerbaijan: Efendi
  • Participant in Yeni Ulduz (Azerbaijani Idol) in 2009. Runner-up in the 2015 series of Səs Azərbaycan (The Voice of Azerbaijan). (The country’s 2016 representative Samra Rahimli came in third place that year.)
  • Third place in the 2017 “Silk Way Star” festival, and participant in “The Voice of Nur-Sultan” in 2019, both of which were held in Kazakhstan.
• Belgium:
  • Alex Callier was a coach on The Voice van Vlaanderen (The Voice of Flanders) for Series 1, 2, 5, and 6 (2011-2013 and 2017-2019)
• Bulgaria: Victoria
  • Sixth place on the fourth series of the Bulgarian edition of X Factor (2015-2016). This was the same series that had included 2017 Bulgarian Eurovision representative Kristian Kostov, and featured No Angels (Germany 2008) singer Lucy Diakovska as a coach.
• Croatia: Albina
  • Participant in X Factor Adria (2015), and third place on The Voice Croatia (2019).
• Cyprus: Elena Tsagrinou
  • Contestant on the 2009 edition of Ellada Eheis Talento (Greece’s Got Talent), and vocal coach on Just the 2 Of Us (2014), where she and partner Ivan Svitailo came in fourth place.
• Czech Republic: Benny Cristo
  • Seventh place on the 2009 edition of Česko Slovenská SuperStar, which also featured 2012 Slovak Eurovision alum Max Jason Mai as a contestant, and 2015 Czech representative Marta Jandová as a judge.
• Estonia: Uku Suviste
  • Third place in Estonian vocal contest Kaks Takti Ette (2005), third place in the New Wave Contest (2010), semifinalist in The Voice Russia (2018).
  • He also took part in the 2014 series of Sinu Nägu Kõlab Tuttavalt (Your Face Sounds Familiar), coming in fifth place overall.
• Georgia: Tornike Kipiani
  • Winner of the first series of X Factor Georgia (2014) and Georgian Idol, which also served as the selection show for Eurovision 2020.
• Greece: Stefania
  • Participant in the 2013 series of The Voice Kids Netherlands, eliminated during the Battle Rounds.
• Israel: Eden Alene
  • Winner of The X Factor Israel (2017), and winner of HaKokhav HaBa in 2019 which served as the selection process for the Eurovision artist in 2020.
• Italy: Måneskin
  • Second place on series 11 of X Factor Italy (2017).
• Latvia: Samanta Tīna
  • Winner of Latvian music show O!Kartes akadēmija (2010), second place in the Slavianski Bazaar contest (2012), and semi-finalist in The Voice Lithuania (2014).
  • Samanta is a panelist on Balss Maskā, the Latvian version of The Masked Singer. She was also a special one-off guest on Kaukės (the Lithuanian version of the same show), where she performed as a flower.
• Lithuania: The Roop
  • Vaidotas Valiukevičius is one of the current panelists on Kaukės, the Lithuanian edition of The Masked Singer.
• Malta: Destiny
  • Sixth place in series 11 of Britain’s Got Talent (2017), and winner of The X Factor Malta in 2019 which served as the selection process for the Eurovision artist in 2020.
• Moldova: Natalia Gordienko
  • Winner of Slavianski Bazaar (2006) and New Wave Contest (2007).
• North Macedonia: Vasil
  • Key performer at the 1994 Zlatno Slavejče children’s song festival.
• Norway: TIX
  • Member of the judging panel for the 2020 series of Idol in Norway. In 2019 he was also a “VIP participant” on the dating show Paradise Hotel.
• Poland:  Rafał
  • Semifinalist in series 1 of The Voice Poland in 2011.
  • In spring of 2014, Rafał took part in Dancing with the Stars: Taniec z gwiazdami, coming in 7th place.
  • Over the years, Rafał has been the host of shows such as Koło Fortuny (Wheel of Fortune), Mali giganci (Little Giants), Jaka to melodia? (Name That Tune), and The Voice Senior. 
• Russia: Manizha
  • Winner of the Rainbow Stars singing contest (2003) and Five Stars music competition (2007)
• Slovenia: Ana Soklič
  • Fifth place in X Faktor Slovenia (2012)
• Spain: Blas Cantó
  • Winner of the fifth series of Tu Cara Me Suena (Your Face Sounds Familiar) in 2016.
• Sweden: Tusse
  • Semi-finalist in Swedish talent show Talang (2018), and winner of Swedish Idol (2019).
• Switzerland: Gjon’s Tears
  • Third place in Albania’s Got Talent (2011), semi-finalist in Switzerland’s Got Talent (2012), and semi-finalist in The Voice France (2019)

Who Wasn’t Born In The Country They’ll Be Representing?

• Cyprus: Elena Tsagrinou is from Athens, Greece
• Greece: Stefania was born in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
• The Netherlands: Jeangu Macrooy was born in Paramaribo, Suriname.
• Russia: Manizha was born in Dushanbe, in what is now Tajikistan.
• San Marino:
  • Senhit was born in Bologna, Italy.
  • Flo Rida was born in Carol City, Florida (near Miami).
  • If Flo Rida isn’t on stage in Rotterdam, his rehearsal stand-in, Don Jiggy, might take his place. He was born in Naples, Italy.
• Sweden: Tusse was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

How many of our singers for this year have spoken about their personal history or family ancestry in other nations?

• Albania: After graduating from high school, Anxhela Peristeri spent some time living in Greece.
• Austria: Vincent Bueno, while Austrian-born, has roots in the Philippines.
• Czech Republic: Benny Cristo was born in a then-united Czechoslovakia to a Czech mother and an Angolan father.
• France: Paris-born Barbara Pravi has roots in Serbia, Iran, Poland, and North Africa. Her stage name, Pravi, honors her Serbian heritage.
• Greece: Stefania was born in the Netherlands to Greek parents.
• Iceland: Daði Freyr was born in Iceland, but spent much of his childhood in Denmark.
• Ireland: Lesley divides her time between Ireland and the United States.
• Israel: Eden Alene was born in Jerusalem to Ethiopian-born parents.
• Italy: Bassist Victoria De Angelis has roots in Denmark. When the band was looking for a name, she suggested “Måneskin”, which means “moonlight” in the language.
• Malta: Destiny was born in Malta to a Maltese mother and a Nigerian father.
• North Macedonia: Vasil spent much of his teenage years living in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
• Russia: Manizha and her family left Tajikistan for Russia in 1994 to escape civil war.
• San Marino: Senhit was born in Bologna, Italy to Eritrean-born parents.
• Serbia: Ksenija Knežević is the daughter of the popular Montenegrin singer Knez.
• Switzerland: Gjon Muharremaj is the son of a Kosovar Albanian father and an Albanian mother.

How many songs this year were written or composed (at least partially) by the performer?

• Australia
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Georgia
• Germany
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Italy
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• The Netherlands
• North Macedonia
• Norway
• Portugal
• Russia
• San Marino
• Serbia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Switzerland
• Ukraine
• United Kingdom

How many of this year’s entries include a songwriter who had taken part in Eurovision as a singer (including returning artists)?

• Latvia
  • “The Moon is Rising” is co-written by Latvia’s 2015 representative Aminata Savadogo.
• Moldova
  • “Sugar”’s music was co-composed by Phillipp Kirkorov, who represented Russia in 1995.
• Serbia
  • “Loco Loco”’s lyrics were written by Sanja Vučić, who represented Serbia solo in 2016.

How many songwriters this year have more than one song in the running?

• Dimitris Kontopolous
  • Music for Greece and Moldova
• Jimmy “Joker” Thornfeldt
  • Music & Lyrics for Cyprus, San Marino, and Sweden
• Joy & Linnea Deb
  • Music & Lyrics for San Marino and Sweden
• Sharon Vaughn
  • Lyrics for Estonia, Greece, and Moldova
• Thomas Stengaard
  • Music & Lyrics for Cyprus and San Marino