Bulgaria – Great news today as Bulgaria confirms that it will return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2020. With the loss of Hungary, but the return of Ukraine, it looks like we already have 40 countries taking part in Rotterdam.
The official statement said “We are delighted to announce that Bulgaria is set to take part at #Eurovision 2020. More exciting details will follow soon.”
Bulgaria last took part in 2018. In 2016 and 2017 they came close to winning, finishing in 4th place with Poli Genova and 2nd place with Kristian Kostov.
The Eurovision Times 
RTCG’s relased the following statement:
The Eurovision Song Contest participation costs around € 130,000 each year. Our representatives have mostly achieved modest results, hardly qualifying to the Grand Final.
So this year we have decided to invest that money in the RTCG fleet renewal. The plan is to buy five new cars, whhich will significantly improve the safety of our crews, who exceed over 1,000 kilometers every day.
Lol! To be honest where I am from I’s not so bad!
In Montenegro I can understand the expense balance I guess! Limited budgets should be spent on nonessential items, it’s a business win win, thus bye bye ESC,
My Top 20 of all winners from 2000 and on:
1. Amar pelos dois
2. Molitva
3. Euphoria
4. 1944
5. Wild dances
6. Fly on the wings of love
7. Everybody
8. Toy
9. Hard rock hallelujah
10. Fairytale
11. I wanna
12. Satellite
13. Arcade
14. Rise like a phoenix
15. Heroes
16. Believe
17. Everyway that I can
18. My number one
19. Only teardrops
20. Running scared
I agree with your top 4 but would put ‘Everybody’ in 5th place. And I have ‘Everyway that I can’ and ‘Arcade’ in my top 10 at the expense of ‘HRH’ and ‘Fairytale’. :)
Ask me tomorrow and my list might look a little difference. ;)
There is no doubt however about my Top 4 as well. They’re in a completely different league.
*different
LOL I agree. My list might look differently tomorrow too. In fact, people who are very sure about anything scare me to death …
1. “1944”
2. “Molitva”
3. “Everyway That I Can”
4. “Euphoria”
5. “Only Teardrops”
6. “Wild Dances”
7. “Fly on the Wings of Love”
8. “Arcade”
9. “Satellite”
10. “Believe”
11. “Fairytale”
12. “Running Scared”
13. “Amar pelos dois”
14. “Toy”
15. “Heroes”
16. “My Number One”
17. “Rise Like a Phoenix”
18. “Everybody”
19. “I Wanna”
20. “Hard Rock Hallelujah”
For the most part
And my Top 20 of the 2000’s overall (a terribly tough choice):
1. Lejla (Bosnia & Herzegovina 2006)
2. Lane moje (Serbia & Montenegro 2004)
3. Et s’il fallait le faire (France 2009)
4. Calm after the storm (Netherlands 2014)
5. Oro (Serbia 2008)
6. Senhora do mar (Portugal 2008)
7. Amar pelos dois (Portugal 2017)
8. Molitva (Serbia 2007)
9. Euphoria (Sweden 2012)
10. Rändajad (Estonia 2009)
11. 1944 (Ukraine 2016)
12. Taken by a stranger (Germany 2011)
13. Visionary dream (Georgia 2007)
14. Madness of love (Italy 2011)
15. Suus (Albania 2012)
16. Soldi (Italy 2019)
17. Sanomi (Belgium 2003)
18. Vukovi umiru sami (Croatia 2005)
19. Forogj, világ (Hungary 2005)
20. Gravity (Ukraine 2013)
Portugal and Serbia are among your fave esc countries…
almost all my winners per years are there, and “Lejla” is probably the best song this century (but most people only had the last decade)
Everybody love Urban Trad – “Sanomi”!!! :D
How not to love it!?
Belgium 2003 is still very popular with fans. :)
I enjoy “Sanomi” for what it is, but for someone who has been listening to pioneering bands such as Hedningarna (Sweden/Finland) or Sorten Muld (Denmark), it feels a bit primitive, or “basic” so to speak.
For a comparison, here is a track by Sorten Muld which I think goes a bit deeper musically than “Sanomi” does (Sorten Muld was based on old Danish traditional songs – ‘folkeviser’ as they are called here – that were written down in the 16th and 19th centuries).
And here, Hedningarna:
Aram MP3 ‘s new single.
Wonderful!
It even reminds me of Italian songs and Marco Mengoni! :o
He should definitely try again for Armenia!
1. Dorians
2. Aram MP3
3. Iveta Mukuchyan
Top 3 Armenian entries! :)
I think he’ll never do it again. Though Gor Sujyan from Dorians and Iveta may be selected internationally again.
You know how much i loved his entry but i don’t think he should come back.He’s not a big live event performer.
Guys you judge him from one performance but being in his concerts I’d say he is fine live. Just Aram had big fails during his promos…. nervousness… He is a performer for smaller audiences like clubs etc. Anyways there are younger singers who deserve to try Eurovision.
Yes, that’s what i’m saying. He may be better for smaller stages. It has nothing to do with his artistry. It’s just some singers work better in big stages and some don’t.
He could be great music director for Eurovision. Nearly all his later singles used to become hits here.
Songwise I like Artsvik and Inga & Anush best but at the end of the day Aram MP3 was probably the most complete package.
Maruv has a new video out:
Thx for sharing! One of her weaker efforts – unlike Siren sing, which IMO would have been this year’s strongest contender besides Soldi.
Evridiki’s entry at the Cypriot N.F of 1991. It finish second. It was her first attempt to go solo in esc. She would come back in 1992 to win with “Teriazoume”
And!? :P :D
Nothing more than some random esc trivia. :)
Ok.. But it didn’t tell us almost anything.. :P
But all right, I like it! :D
lol. What do you mean it didn’t tell you anything? I posted the video of the runner-up of the Cypriot NF of 1991 which happened to be Evridiki’s second attempt(i stand corrected) to go solo to esc. Her actual first solo attempt was this song which finished 2nd again:
Hattari are popular in Russia, had concert in Peter yesterday, today they have in Moscow!
I still don’t like ’em… :P
Non traditional relations propaganda. FSB should grab them.
I’m surprised they got permissions to perform there. Maybe it is because this performance art group depicted everything that’s wrong with decadent gays and West. Perfect tool for counter propaganda 😃
Or maybe judging by their appearence and style of singing they thought it’s an alt-right group. :P
Klemens easily passes as alt-right babe 😃
their “Russia mid sigra” slogan with rainbow wings was amazing <3
❤️
They do their commenting very stylishly. I simply love it.
Oslo (10/nov./2019)
Amar pelos dois/La det swinge :)
OGAE Greece reports that Cybc received 120 songs. They will choose the song according their criteria. For reasons they only know they have already decided they want a male artist for Rotterdam.
Morgan’s darlings released a new video:
boring song, nicely put, cute clip, though it’s tiring all these 80s stuff (Stranger Things, American Horror Story…) I mean Rufus did it in 2003 already :p
I had a dream that Selena Gomez represented Azerbaijan in Rotterdam! :P :D
what Selena is this? kss
The only one who exist! :P :D
Good to know that you are already in full ESC mode. :)
LOL :D
For the first time ever Andorra did not come last in its qualification group. Felicitació!
Finland first time ever in champs (both european and World)…
That was mentioned the other day and I am very happy for the Finnish football fans. :)
I want to see all European countries participating in a major tournament in my lifetime. Can you hear me, San Marino? Gibraltar? Etc?
:D you are Europeholic, you are “worse” than Juncker! :P
I adore Mr. Juncker. He is a passionate European.
#proudjunckerboys
I was laughing so much when Juncker confronted Brexiters from the UK, 2 years ago.. :D
There were many funny incidents during the seemingly endless Brexit saga. My favourite still is Mr Johnson in Luxembourg and Mr Bettel’s speech. :)
Let’s hope that the Brexit mess will be resolved soon, one way or the other. The EU has more important issues to address.
Bella Santiago as Freddie Mercury in “Your face sounds familiar”!
And as Beyonce! Woow! :o
:clap:
LOL #Eurodesperate
This is just sad now…
Is she even eligible for half these countries? She knows some countries restrict applicants to citizens or permanent residences right.
She is hillarious :-D
Really pathetic… she should just skip the music stuff and hit the reality show cycle.
My ranking of 21st century winners:
1. Molitva
2. 1944
3. Amor pelos dois
4. Euphoria
5. Satellite
6. Rise like a phoenix
7. Everyway that I can
8. Toy
9. Fairytale
10. Only teardrops
11. Arcade
12. Wild dances
13. My number one
14. Heroes
15. Hard rock hallelujah
16. Believe
17. I wanna
18. Fly on the wings of love
19. Running scared
20. Everybody
Mine looks like this:
1. Toy
2. Amar pelos dois
3. Molitva
4. 1944
5. Running scared
6. Arcade
7. Euphoria
8. Fly on the wings of love
9. Heroes
10. Satellite
11. Hard rock halellujah
12. Believe
13. Wild dances
14. Everybody
15. My Number one
16. Everyway that I can
17. I wanna
18. Rise like a phoenix
19. Fairytale
20. Only teardrops
Dublin has been invaded by the Danes!!
1 Amor pelos dois
2 Euphoria
3 1944
4 Satellite
5 Hard rock hallelujah
6 Fairytale
7 Wild dances
8 Only teardrops
9 Heroes
10 Arcade
11 Molitva
12 Fly on the wings of love
13 Everybody
14 My number one
15 Rise like a phoenix
16 I wanna
17 Running scared
18 Toy
19 Everyway that I can
20 Believe
1 Every way that I can
2 Molitva
3 Satellite
4 Euphoria
5 Rise like a Phoenix
6 Fairytale
7 Wild dances
8 Heroes
9 My number one
10 Amor pelos dois
11 Only teardrops
12 I wanna
13 1944
14 Arcade
15 Toy
16 Hard rock hallelujah
17 Running scared
18 Believe
19 Everybody
20 Fly on the wings of love
Good to know that I am not the only one who thinks that ‘FONWOL’ was a very underwhelming winner.
it’s awful and probably forgotten everywhere but in DK? however, it’s a televote winner! :o
It is definitely lost and forgotten ♫♪♫ in my house.
It’s still sometimes played on German media – and really, I’m not making this up to be mean, on stations/shows with a v old audience.
Geriatric easy listening.
yup and that tells you exactly who were still watching the contest in 2000 before it finally shifted to more modern stuff
Its the kind of the song that plays on an MOR radio station and makes you change the channel. I’ll never grasp what people see in that; with all others I can see what people might like? This seems like the vote came exclusively from elderly str8 people in the countryside / Fernsehgarten audience.
You all write AmOr pelos dois, isn’t it AmAr pelos dois!? :P :D
I want Iceland to host in 2021, because I want to visit it! :P
Yeah it is so expensive, but esc would be perfect reason to go there, and now at least air ticket can be purchased for cca 200 eur from Budapest (wizzair)…
The same goes for Armenia or Georgia, plus accommodation is much cheaper there than in Iceland. :)))
So if it is West, pick Iceland, if it is East pick Armenia or Georgia! :D
Moscow or St Petersburg would be great too, but I think air tickets are expensive.. :P
Iceland is my favorite country in the world. I’ve been there a few times and am going back this summer with my best friend, can’t wait. If I choose what country I was born in I’d pick Iceland.
Lucky you! I have to go there! :))
Moldova could be interesting pick for esc winner and then traveling there! :P lol
One of my close friends is from Moldova and she hates it there lol. Said Chisinau is an ugly city with nothing to do lol. I’d still like to visit though.
Yeah I know, it is the last European capital city with true comunist architecture… I was very close to Moldova Republic few weeks ago, in Iasi, Moldova province for Romania. :) it is really good, different to Moldova…
I wanna go to Albania too… :)
Romania is one of my top travel dream destinations. I’ve always adored Romanian castles since I was a young child (I was big into vampire stories as a little kid) so I’d love to be able to finally visit some of them. I also love the beautiful mountainous forests and those Transylvanian villages with wooden buildings that look straight out of a storybook. Definitely a top choice for me.
I definitely recommend visiting Albania. I took one of my ex-boyfriends (a non-Albanian) there when I was 16 to visit my Albanian family and he said that it reminded him of Greece without the tourists :P
My former French flatmate (back in my Munich days) travelled in Moldova for almost a year in 2003/2004. He even published a book on his experience, and one of the photographs he took (two old farmers leaning on a fence in a tiny village) is still decorating my library.
When I visited Iceland 2 years ago, one of my colleagues, who is a heavy smoker, went to buy cigarettes. When the cashier said ‘2000 íslenskar krónur’ – € 20) all the colour went from his face. At the end of the day he was too proud not to pay and bought the cigarettes. LOL
Great for smokera to quit smoking! :D I checked tours there to book, they are not too expensive, almost the same level of price like in Israel…
A bottle of mediocre Spanish wine was € 100 and for a regular lunch we were charged € 50. Luckily everything was paid for by the company which invited me to Reykjavík. :)
What struck me as most unusual was that you could only pay by credit card if you wanted to visit a public toilet. At least those were very clean. :)
Well I can skip eating in restaurants for a week.. :)
Ellen Benediktson reportedly confirmed for Melodifestivalen, and this is definitely the confirmation that has most excited me. Sure Songbird was nice enough but her releases after that in her new style are so my speed. I don’t know too much about what she’s been up to recently, but she released this song after her second Melfest attempt and I still love it.
Shevek and Toggie could like this. :)
I do.
I’ve been missing the most recent news, but I caught this piece on ESC Portugal. I am very curious too see what this lady brings to the table. She is most probably doomed though.
My hopes aren’t dead yet, but most likely :(
Totally doomed, I’m afraid, but I shall focus on the song itself. :)
Have you ever been to Santiago de Compostela?
Yes, I have. It’s a charming and cozy town.
Lina, the coming debate is going to very interesting. Imagine this scenario: white educated voters (Buttigieg), non-white voters (Biden) , liberal voters (Sanders). Warren must be flawless next Wednesday.
*going to be
I am quite excited for it. I think Buttigieg is gonna see what it’s like to be attacked for the first time, and he has quite a lot in his record that deserves that. Also, I think Warren has a bigger grasp on liberal voters than Sanders does. His is more exclusive to uneducated liberals, while Warren appeals to more educated white liberals and Buttigieg is more to educated white moderates.
My favorite part of all this though is how much Biden has been slipping. At this point he’ll probably lose both Iowa and New Hampshire, and could come as low as 4th. Back in June he was winning every primary with 30% of the vote.
Yes, those scenarios are also very plausible. There is one thing that is intriguing me as well: who will the Repblicans that feel abandoned by their former party support? Everything is still very fluid. I shall be reading your comments next Thursday as usual. I must go now. I have to get up very early tomorrow morning: :)
That was a point brought up by SE Cupp. She is a conservative commentator and NeverTrumper who works for CNN. She was talking about the possibility of NeverTrumpers leaving the Republican Party and turning to Democrats. She herself felt like it was something she’d might do, but she said that after watching the debates she was reminded why she was a Republican and not a Democrat. I don’t think there’s any real realistic situation of NeverTrumpers en masse going out to support the Democrats. We can’t forget that in the end they are conservatives still, and they do not support the ideas that are very popular in the Democratic Party right now. No matter what, one side will be losing out. Even the “moderate” Democrats à la Buttigieg and Biden are still advocating for “Medicare for All Who Want It” or a continuation of Obamacare, which are not in line with Republican values.
I think the most realistic scenario is NeverTrumpers continue what they did in 2016 by either voting third party or doing a write-in vote. Cupp added that she believes once Trump is out of office the older Republican values will come back into play. I don’t know if I necessarily agree, especially assuming a former Trumpian doesn’t become the new Republican leader (Nikki Haley really wants to be that leader), but we shall see. We can’t predict what will happen when we’re in an unprecedented era.
Have a good night :)
I’ve heard her this evening. We’ll have to wait and see. Good night. :)
Just thought I’d add this is one of the many issues with having a two-party system. It’s very “this or that” with no room for compromise. Until Bernie Sanders popularized progressivism in the 2016 primaries, there were really no well-known Democrats with a chance at gaining real power that I felt like represented me or my values, and obviously there were no Republicans who did either. I don’t think there’s true democracy unless you have multiple viable parties.
Too many choices can be a messy affair. Spain is an example of that. I know what you mean though.
One more option for me could be Portugal to win and host at Madeira! <3 :P
21st century winners for me :
1. Euphoria
2. Fairytale
3. Amar pelos dois
4. Molitva
5. Everyway that I can
6. 1944
7. Arcade
8. Wild dances
9. Satellite
10. Toy
11. Rise like a phoenix
12. Heroes
13. Hard rock halellujah
14. Only teardrops
15. My Number one
16. Fly on the wings of love
17. Believe
18. I wanna
19. Running scared
20. Everybody
Shouldn’t you be watching Batman vs Superman or Captain America now?
Ahahaha, I thought it was all about Thor 1, 2 VS Ironman ft S!sterz :P
I don’t know, didn’t you see the superhero collages yesterday ;-)?
Same bottom five :-P I dislike all of them with passion, but I do wish Dima won with “Never let you go” instead…
Yes they are all very weak. “Everybody” is the only one I can’t relate at all though
yeah I love the 2006 song; the 2008 is meh (only 3rd in its semifinal) but the presentation is so awful it’s almost unbearable! I didn’t like much of the 2008 top (my faves being Serbia, Portugal, Finland, Bosnia, Turkey) but the only one I liked was Ukraine and was disappointed it lost (felt that Greece and Armenia with Ukraine in the Top 5 were redundant)…
I didn’t mind “Believe” so much as a RnB/pop number of its time. What I did mind was the MJ-esque antics and how they threw everything but the kitchen sink. In 2006 he managed the whole eastern boy sluttiness factor to perfection :-P
yes, all the way to the bending over the piano to show the top of his underwear! one of the hottest esc moments ever!
And personal favourites post-2000
1 Birds
2 Calm After the Storm
3 Amar pelos dois
4 Et s’il fallait le faire
5 Lejla
6 Taken By a Stranger
7 Madness of Love
8 Telemoveis
9 Rändajad
10 Lane moje
11 Euphoria
12 1944
13 Unsubstantial Blues
14 Visionary Dream
15 Todas as ruas do amor
16 City Lights
17 Bonika bate toba
18 The Worrying Kind
19 Senhora do mar
20 Forogj, Világ
It seems I am the only one not to have Molitva among my ten favourite winners.
Yes to all ! (except #13, #17, #18 which I don’t dislike for sure!)
They appeal to the rock fan in me :)
I know.
I was very happy to see HUN 05 on your list <3
I like that entry a lot, minus her vocals… :(
finally some love for The Ark <3 however since most people started their list when it was only this decade and not this century, it may be why it wasnt cited as much! also, as your list proves, there's a huge improvement of qualify this decade over the 00s decade in general
Well, actually there are 11 songs from the 00’s. and 9 from the 10’s.
but the top ones are…
I’ve always supported Sweden 2007, but I guess that shouldn’t come as a surprise. My only issue is the fact that it steals a line from a David Bowie song (“Just a mortal with potential of a superman”).