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Throughout the past few days, it seems like Eurovision news has been flowing in from every corner of Europe. You might have missed it, but we have received some updates regarding the processes intended for selecting Montenegro, Greece, and France’s representatives for Tel Aviv. Additionally, there has been buzz circulating about a certain group of artists returning for Sweden’s 2019 edition of Melodifestivalen.
🇲🇪 Montenegro
The country of Montenegro announced that it would participate in Tel Aviv last month, but RTCG is still unsure if their entry will be selected internally or through a national final. The country turned to Montevizija to select their artist for Lisbon following a string of internal selections, but was still unable to qualify for the Grand Final.
The broadcaster had this to say about their current situation:
“By deciding to join the Eurovision Song Contest and sending a Montenegrin representative to the most prestigious music competition in the world, RTCG uses its right and obligation to affirm domestic authors and creators, values and culture to promote its country in front of more than 200 million viewers.
The way in which the authors and singer will be selected, which will represent Montenegro at the Eurovision, will be in accordance with the program requirements and internal procedures of the RTCG…”
It seems we’ll just have to wait and see if Montenegro decides to use Montevizija for a second year, or returns to an internal selection process.
🇬🇷 Greece
Another country that is unsure of it’s selection process is the Greece. Our colleagues at EurovisionFun communicated with ERT to discuss how they plan to select their artist for Tel Aviv, and it’s clear that they haven’t made any decisions yet. ERT had this to say:
“There is still nothing to be announced because we have not yet decided. All the data is under consideration.”
You’ll remember that ERT attempted to organize a national for Lisbon, nominating 5 of the 20 submitted songs and artists to compete in February. Due to two entries lacking a Greek sound as stated by the rules, ERT was forced to disqualify Tony Vlahos and Duo Fina from the selection. Then one week prior to the show, Chorostalites and Areti Ketime were also disqualified because their record companies failed to pay the 20,000 euro fee, meaning that Yianna Terzi would go to Lisbon for Greece.
🇫🇷 France
While we were all aware that Destination Eurovision would return to select France’s representative for 2019, it would appear that one important change has been made to the show. According to Matthieu Grelier of ITV Studios France, the second edition of the national selection will feature 3 live shows, rather than the pre-taped semi-finals and live final that was used in 2018.
This means that the qualification spoilers that hit the internet back in January will be avoided, and the normal selection anxiety will hit Eurovision fans across the globe. There is also a potential voting change in the works, but no concrete information is currently known on any alterations to the voting structure.
Any acts interested in participating in Destination Eurovision have until November 30th to submit their entry. They can do so on the France TV website here.
🇸🇪 Sweden
Melodifestivalen is often considered to be the most exciting national final of them all during the selection season. As is the case with other countries, it’s not uncommon to see artists return numerous times in order to earn that golden ticket to the Eurovision stage. It would appear that this could be the case for the 2019 edition of the show as well.
Wiktoria, John Ludvik, Jon Henrik Fjällgren, and Nano are all rumored to be returning to Melodifestivalen, according to Swedish news group Aftonbladet. The site quotes an anonymous source that declares that Wiktoria will be competing with an amazing ballad, which will give her a chance to “show her vocal ability properly”. The site claims that both John and Jon Henrik are currently searching for songs to submit.
The site has also speculated that ex-FO&O member Oscar Enestad would be joining the 2019 line-up, as would Avirgarna (also know as The Heirs), who represented Sweden at Eurovision back in 1993. The site also reported that Jessica Andersson will not be competing for the ticket to Tel Aviv.
While this is all speculation, the site does have quite the track record with predicting Melodifestivalen acts every year. For the 2018 line-up, they managed to correctly report 24 of the 28 acts, which is quite an impressive feat. One thing we know for certain though is that we will see the 2018 P4 Nästa winner, The Lovers of Valdaro, in Melodifestivalen 2019.
What do #YOU think of all this National Final news? Share your thoughts with us on our forum HERE or join the discussion below and on social media!
