Ireland – After a disappointing 23rd place in Saturday’s final, controversy arises in Ireland.Ronan Keating, who wrote the Danish entry for Brink last year has critizised RTÉ for being baised towards 1993 winner Niamh Kavanagh during the selection process. He stated that other competitors had no real chance. The Irish national final was held March 5th 2010 with 5 songs competing for the honour of representing Ireland. Niamh Kavanagh won, receiving top points from all juries and the televote. RTÉ has meanwhile refuted Keating’s allegations. Eurovision had pretty good ratings in Ireland this year. The second semifinal, in which Ireland competed and eventually qualified was watched by 397.000 people, while the Final attracted 719.000 viewers.
Belgium,Poland – Just me and my guitar? Not really! Tom Dice has announced on his facebook page, that he is in a relationship with Polish background singer Weronika Bochat. They both competed in the first semifinal this year. Now all we need is an official statement by Alexander Rybak and Lena 
. In Belgium the contest’s Final was watched by 1,3 million people, one of the best ratings in recent memory.
Germany – Our host for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 is already looking for possible host cities and venues. Different sources speak of not less than 6 German cities bidding to host the event: Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne, Franfurt, Hanover (Lena’s birthplace), Gelsenkirchen (with the Arena auf Schalke). The mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit has already promoted Berlin for being the best place to host such an event. One thing is clear, it will take a long time until we know where we have to go to next year.
Malta – The CEO of Maltese television Joe Mizzi has confirmed Malta’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Germany. Due to the bad results over the last years, a meeting of the officials will be held to discuss the Maltese National Final for 2011 to bring the country back on track.
Denmark – Danish television station DR has confirmed its participation next year by calling for new songs for the Danish National Final “Danks Melodi Grand Prix”. Songs can be send in until september 2010.
Also: Satellite debuts at #2 in the Danish single charts!
Including Malta and Denmark we already know 16 countries which confirmed their participation next year: Azerbaijan, Denmark, Cyprus, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and Ukraine.
