As we enter 2017, Eurovision national finals are in full flow. To keep you up to date with all the Eurovision happenings, we have brought back our feature; ’15 Things We Learned This Week’ which we will continue to post every Sunday evening to recap the Eurovision news for the past week! So without further ado, here is the 15 things we learned this week…
Krista Siegfrids’ ‘Be Real’ our Song of 2016!
1. For weeks we have been asking for your input in order to find out which song from former Eurovision stars released in 2016 was your favourite. Earlier this evening we crowned Krista Siegfrids’ ‘Be Real’ the Eurovision NI Song of 2016. Full story>>>
2. Jedward had three songs in the top 30 countdown: ‘The Hope Song’ (#27), ‘Good Vibes’ (#21) and ‘Hologram’ (#9).
3. This week Albania were the first nation to choose their song for Eurovision 2017. Lindita Halimi won Festivali i Kenges 55 last week with her song ‘Bote’. Full story>>>
4. The song however will not be performed in the native Albanian tongue, but instead will undergo an English language translation, this version of the song will be released in due course.
5. Montenegro revealed this week that it will be Slavko Kalezic who will represent them at Eurovision in 2017. Full story>>>
6. Artsvik triumphed over Marta in the final of Armenia’s national selection show Depi Evratesil. Full story>>>
7. Lithuania announced their plans for Eurovision 2017 with the return of Eurovizijos 2017. 51 songs will battle it out over 4 initial heats including songs written by Latvia’s Aminata and Fame Academy winner David Sneddon. Full story>>>
8. Girl band Serebro who represented Russia in 2007 unveiled the music video for their new single ‘My Money’ including a parody Donald Trump.
9. In 2016 Ira Losco won the MESC contest and was chosen as the Maltese representative, later though the song chosen by the public ‘Chameleon (Invincible)’ was changed to the eventual entry ‘Walk On Water’. This week Malta announced that the song that wins MESC will be the song that represents the nation at Eurovision 2017.
10. On Christmas Day the Russian Defence Ministry plane carrying 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble Choir, went down off the coast of Sochi on its way to Syria for a Christmas concert.
11. The creative team behind Eurovision 2017 was announced this week and will include Florian Wieder who will design the stage for Kiev.
12. Ukraine’s Zlata Ognevich returned with new music this week. Check out her song ‘Novorichne Disco’ below:
13. The annual Eurovision chart #ESC250 voted for by Eurovision fans and co-ordinated and revealed by ESC Radio crowned Loreen’s ‘Euphoria’ number one for the fifth year in a row.
14. The top five on the chart was compiled of Il Volo’s ‘Grande Amore’, Sergey Lazarev’s ‘You Are The Only One’, last year’s winner Jamala’s ‘1944’ and Turkish winner Sertab Erener’s ‘Everyway That I Can’. Check out the full top 250 here>>>
15. Rumours are that Jedward could be set to return to the Celebrity Big Brother house later this week in the new series which pits All Stars against New Stars. Full story>>>
Eurovision NI 