Estonian national broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR), revealed via Eurovision.tv, the 20 finalists for their much-anticipated national final Eesti Laul. The qualifying singers, their songs, and the writers are: August Hunt – “Kus On EXIT?” – August Hunt Brigita Murutar – “Laule Täis Taevakaar” – Rainer Michelson, Feliks Kütt Kõrsikud – “Tule Ja Jää” – Kõrsikud Lauri Pihlap – “Lootus” – Lauri …

When news broke that one of Belarus’ national finalists for Eurovision 2014 was disqualified, nobody was shocked. After all, Belarus has, by far, been one the most mercurial participants in the Eurovision Song Contest. With disqualifications, last-minute song changes, and presidential politics thrown into the mix, no Eurovision country compares to the Belarus’ fickle 11-year run. On 5 November, the …

Since Eurovision is a competition, it’s safe to assume the point is to win.  Accordingly, it’s important to consider what makes a winning song and that, of course, depends on the televote and jury vote.  So my question is: what motivates peoples’ votes?  There’s so much talk about Eurovision being biased and political but there doesn’t seem to be much …

Belarus national broadcaster BTRC has chosen fifteen national finalists today. After having received over 100 entries, a jury has chosen 15 to vie for Belarus’ spot on the Eurovision stage in Copenhagen. The 15 selected contestants are: Matvej Bondarenko Yuri Vashchuk Aleksey Gross (Update 12/8: Gross has been disqualified.) Daria Zhanet Max Lorens & DiDyuLya Anastasia Malashkevich Artem Mikhalenko Alina …

As rumours have already hinted at months ago – and due to his own statements about the possibility of participating at Eurovision – Sergej Cetkovic will be the Montenegrin representative in Copenhagen next May. At a press conference in Podgorica, it was announced that he will be also the author of the song, which will be a love song. “The …

In an unexpected twist of fortunes, the Bosnian national broadcaster, BHRT, has announced today that they will actually be returning to Europe’s favourite music event next year. In their announcement they’ve stated that the Bosnian withdrawal in 2013 was due to financial reasons, but that the situation is not any better this year. However, the Executive Board of BHRT believes …

The Albanian national broadcaster RTSH has revealed their dates for the Albanian national selection for this year. As per tradition, Albania is one of the first countries to select their representatives in a non-internal selection format, through the 52 year old Festivali i Këngës music festival. Since 2003, the winner of the Festival got the honour of representing Albania on the …

The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) has announced, via its official website, that the Mediterranean island country will not be participating in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen. CyBC’s board said that they reached the decision after determining a need to cut spending on programs, despite public interest. Cyprus has had a bumpy history with placing in Eurovision, having qualified to the …

Estonian national broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) has confirmed that Estonia’s national selection Eesti Laul 2014 will be held on March 1 of next year, with the same format as the previous year’s contest. “The competition provides the opportunity for all artists to introduce their work to a wider audience,” said Heidy Purga, producer of Eesti Laul, to ERR. Indeed, each year, …

Eurovision season is truly upon us: Swiss German-language broadcaster Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) has opened its web portal and has begun to accept video entries for their portion of the 2014 Switzerland national selection. SRF’s web platform currently features a number of submitted entries, all of which have entered in the hopes to represent Switzerland in the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest …