One of the most successful countries in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest is definitely Serbia having won on their debut in 2007 with the track Molitva performed by Marija Šerifović but this was followed, by another two top ten achievements, the most recent coming last year at the hands of Željko Joksimović with the song Nije Ljubav Stvar finishing in third place. This year, RTS has decided on hosting an open national final, the first in almost four years which will see fifteen (15) entries competing for the right to represent the Balkan nation at the esteemed competition taking place in Malmö, Sweden.

The broadcaster received a total of one hundred, seventy one (171) submissions and had to narrow them down directly to the performance stage, with a semi-final taking place prior to the final selection round in order to make sure that both the jury and the public will select their entry out of a number of tracks which deserve their respective result. The semi-final has been scheduled for the 2nd March whilst the final will be taking place on the 3rd March. In the final round of the selection, there will be just five (5) acts competing to represent Serbia. Below you could see which entries made it through with their respective songwriters. The performers of the tracks will be revealed within the next couple of days.

• Moja Svetlosti - Igor Terzija (Filipovic / Savic)
• Što Prolazim - Dusan Zrnic (Bojic Mrden)
• Za Tebe Živim - Kristina Savic (Borisavljevic / Savic)
• Savršen Kraj - Aleksandra Dabic (Maric - Carli)
• Usne Kadifa - Vanja Gnjapic i 'Kal (Ristic / Milanovic Marika)
• Tren - Zarko Stepanov (Ivan Ilic)
• Svetla Pale Se Za Nas - Kesnija Kocetova (Kocetov / Kocetova / Malbasic)
• Blagoslov - Maja Nikolic (Paelinck / Nikolic)
• Spas - Dusan Svilar (Durasevic - Mahoni / Savic)
• Ruža Od Baruta - Ruza od Baruta (Milosavljevic)
• Anđeo S Neba - Maja Odzaklijevska (Burovac / Buljan / Kon)
• Halo! - Marija Mihailovic (Cuturilo / Jankovic / Tanaskovic)
• Ljubav Je Svuda - Radulovic, Bozovic, Jovanovic (Milosevic / Tucakovic)
• Magija - Sky'z (Sky Wikluh)
• Duga U Tvojim Očima - Aleksandra Jankovic (Petrovic)

Norway and their disappointment at the Eurovision Song Contest continued last year when Tooji could only manage last place in the final stage of the competition and therefore, NRK is looking to re-invent the Melodi Grand Prix with various genres and it has to be noted that the second semi-final which took place last night in the city of Floro was stronger in quality than the first semi-final with a number of tracks which could do relatively well at the international stage which not be too far away, in the neighbouring country of Sweden. 

Three entries did eventually manage to make it through to the final and will be joining the acts that made it through last week which somewhat baffled the international community due to the fact that some of the best presented entries failed to make it through unfortunately proving difficult for a successful result in Malmö, Sweden. Surprises have become a thing for these events and last night, it seems to have been existent in one particular case but nevertheless, a pleasant trio of entries to make it through to the final. The three qualifiers which made it through last night are well detailed below. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for more news.

3rd place: I'm With You - Annsofi

One of the most (if not the most) discussed songs was undoubtably the song of Annsofi who performed extremely well I'm with you which was the big return of Alexander Rybak to the eurovision scene. The song has a lot of celtic and irish influences and touched the hearts of the people. Annsofi and Alexander Rybak met each other some years ago during a christmas show and stayed since then in contact. After reaching in 3rd place in the norwegian X-Factor things developped more and more for the now 18-year old singer with this participation. The singer got last night 3rd place but somehow we feel she will definately compete for the first place on 9th February in Oslo Spektrum in Norway. This is a definate qualifier for the final in Malmö if this wins, I even see it in the top5.

2nd place: Ulvetuva - Fjellfolk 

The second place went to the band Fjellfolk also with a song with celtic influences. A total different song then Annsofi and very intimate and sung in Norwegian. Not bad at all but this would be a much bigger struggle for Norway to qualify for the final in Malmö.

1st place: I Feed You My Love - Margaret Berger

The first place went to Margaret Berger who was already a favourite in this semfinal with Annsofi. I feed you my love is a very electronic and modern popsong and performed very well by Margaret. This might do well on some radiostations but i dont think this is the right song for Norway to represent the country in Eurovision as the style will push many people away from voting. Should this wins in Norway i see it struggling to reach the final.

An exclusive piece of information released by our colleagues at oikotimes.com shows that the Greek national final will be taking place on Monday 18th February and will be including a stunning line-up of international guests with spectacular surprises all throughout the evening. This will be the first time the selection is being organized in collaboration between two broadcasters; ERT and MAD TV who represent two of the most popular channels in the country. It is important to denote that Eleftheria Eleftheriou was the last representative of the nation and was the first not to achieve a top ten result in almost ten years, finishing behind their neighbouring country of Cyprus for the first time in an extremely long time.

Ukraine is poised for a victory at the Eurovision Song Contest for a second time in the near future noting that they are dedicated to achieving success and have managed to qualify to the final on each occasion whilst also managing to acquire consecutive top ten results, their last one coming back in 2011 with Angel performed by Mika Newton. Earlier this year, many were surprised to see Be My Guest performed by Gaitana languishing in a mid-table position, only achieved due to the support of the jury because the track was a fan favourite and the performer herself was well received by the international community. Another year has passed though and today, a successor for Gaitana will be chosen through a mixture of public and jury votes.

NTU, the public broadcaster in Ukraine has had a busy couple of days noting that preparations have been taking place all week with the jury releasing to the submitted entries and ultimately selecting the twenty which they believe have enough potential to garner some airplay on television and as a matter of fact rehearsals took place throughout the day yesterday with some entries slightly touched upon prior to a final mix which we would be recorded should one of the tracks eventually is announced as a winner. There are a number of favourites in this selection process to be honest but nevertheless, we do not want to point them out prior to the start of the show which is imminent and just under an hour away. We would like you to follow our live report by virtue of the webcast offered by the official website of the Eurovision Song Contest as well as well as giving us your thoughts through Twitter.

01. Oksana Pekun and Maxim Novitskiy – Zeleniy dubochok

The first singer is not the best one to start, a bit too dramatic ballad so no song for the Eurovision Song Contest in my opinion.

02. Mariya Yaremchuk –Imagine

The second track is already better but still not too well for the stage of the Eurovision Song Contest. Mariya is screaming at points way too much. 

03. Marietta – Wonder

Another ballad but it really doesn't suit Marietta well, her voice is quiet boring to hear. A great vocal could have lifted this much higher!

04. Dmitry Yaremchuk – Mamo

 Its clear the production team is still very sleepy as the next singer is restarting three times. However the vocals are least a nice surprise. However not for eurovision though. And look at the audience they need to wake up too still.

05. Inesh – Delayu shag

Inesh is doing a dance song, she has a very low voice at parts. One hand one would think this might be not a bad track, but it seems that the production is still very poor. But one cannot expect more as the deadline for entering for the song was only some days ago. A missed chance unfortunately.

06. Zlata Ognevich – Gravity

The next track is one of the favourites to win, Zlata Ognevich. She tried before for Ukraine and was Alexander Rybak's favourite to represent the country but it was Mika Newton with Angel who won eventually. A not bad song and definitely the best of what we heard till now. Great vocals too, but still work to do on the act should it make it. Potential winner though!

07. Emotion – Saviour

The next group is Emotion with Saviour. The lead-singer would surely be followed closely by the euro-fans in case this song would represent the country at the Eurovision Song Contest  But now to the song itself: the singer has unfortunately not the vocals to stand out on a Eurovision stage especially in the lower notes. Somehow in the chorus he makes me think at one point to Sinplus from Switzerland  with one big difference, the Swiss brothers are vocally much better. So one advice to the lead singer of this song: start a model career and quit singing.

08. Gvozdivchanka – Naleteli gusenyata

Next one, Gvozdivchanka! Wow the Russian grannies have sent their nieces to Ukraine!  Only accompanied by an accordion they do a likely very authentic song which would be great surely at a folk-festival or something similar but for the Eurovision Song Contest ? No sorry, we had the grannies last year, this would fail surely big time.

09. RealIvanna – You Gave Me Everything

The next singer is RealIvanna on stage already, Ukrainian tv want to be home for lunch at this speed! The song and singer is again nothing special unfortunately. One would start to wonder why NTU bothered to make a final with so many singers but a very low level overall until now. Sorry Ukraine but I just cannot get most of the songs.

10. Tatyana Shirko – Feeling Like A Sir

The next act on stage is Tatyana Shirko with 'Feeling like a sir'. Only the title is already warning me to pay extra attention. This girl has a very very fragile voice but the notes seems to be too high for her that makes it somehow annoying. A good effort though and one of the better, or let's say one of the less bad tracks.

11. Trinity – Belym po belomu

Now Trinity on stage with Belym po belomu. They should be careful with the name as the groups name belong to a popular Belgian group who was very popular in the seventies mostly. But this said, three beautiful women who don't sing that bad, that's a nice surprise. One of the better song but not a winning track in my opinion.

12. Ana Stesia –Dare To Change

Ana Stesia is the next one on stage. The perfect song to listen on a late night in a lounge bar after too many drinks, but quiet boring in my opinion. This would definitely ruin Ukraine's chances to get to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest.

13. Alina Grosu – Let Go

And now the other top favourite of today, Alina Grasu. Alina comes from the city of Cernauti in western Ukraine, which used to be a part of Romania. Her name is also 100% Romanian, so definitely high points from Romania and Moldova would be guaranteed. About the song now: this is in my opinion the song that might be winning this years final. Very good singer, good song and a good performance! The only one that could take victory is Zlata. But with a good finalisation on the production this could be doing good things on stage in Malmö!

14. Dasha Medovaya – Don’t Want To Be Alone

Dasha Medova is the next one on stage after Alina's performance. Another ballad which is maybe full of good intentions, but Dasha's vocals are not up to standard for a national final, and definitely not for a Eurovision stage. Sorry Dasha, but this is not going to make it for sure.

15. Lena Korneeva – You’ll Be The Winner Forever

Olena Korneva is the next one to come on stage of the Ukrainian National Final, we are getting to the end of the songs. On the first look of the singer i was afraid really this would be something awful  Call me crazy or having a bad taste, but I kinda like this! Ok the vocals are not really how they should be but i believe her what she is doing on stage. It won't win but it's nice to see it on the finals in Ukraine.

16. Angeliya – Love Is Life

Angeliya with love is life is next on stage. A dance song which unfortunately doesn't suit the singer at all. I don't believe at all what is happening on stage and the voice is not fit for the song too unfortunately. No no good points for Angeliya unfortunately from my part.

17. Eduard Romanyuta – Get Real With My Heart

Eduard Romanyuta is next on stage with 'Get real with my heart'. A not too bad good lucking guy who tries to sing a Bilan like song, but he fails unfortunately. The vocals are again not good enough to stand out and fight for a good placing in the Ukrainian National Final. So a definite no for Malmö.

18. Matvey Vermiyenko – Otkryvay menya 

Matvey Vermiyenko with Otkryvay menya is the next track on stage. Ooohhhhhhhh an alien has arrived from outer space! For sure the singer has decided for this strange outfit in order to take the attention away from his vocals who are really bad. No way this can win the ticket for Sweden.

19. DiOfilmy – Medlyak

DiOfilmy with Medlyak is the second last song of today's final. An uptempo song by two male singers who cannot hold really well notes. The song itself might have some good intentions, but it sounds very very cheap. So please next one!

20. Dima Skalozubov – Davno

The last track of today is Dima Skalozubov with Davno. A strange song and act where at first his hands are tight. Not my cup of tea at all.

The Show (Part 2)

We will be awaiting the results from the Jury but the sms-voting is definitely putting Zlata in pole position for victory thus far. Nevertheless, we will announce the full result in accordance with NTU, the broadcaster. Recap of the songs performed throughout the morning and early afternoon is currently being shown on screen. Local artists are lining-up the stage at the moment whilst Zlata is confirmed as the runaway winner of the public with more than 8000 votes this afternoon leaving Eduard Romanyuta in second place with just over a 1000 votes. Zlata has just been confirmed the winner of both the public and the jury vote.

The German regional broadcaster for Switzerland, SF, most recently kicked off proceedings for the 2013 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Malmo, Sweden. Their online platform has been quite intriguing in the past two years but nevertheless, this time round, it seems that the pattern of submitting songs has not really picked up with only twenty (20) tracks submitted in total up to this point. Nevertheless, there has been a lot of buzz going around the fan community of the esteemed competition with three time Cypriot representative Constantinos Christoforou seemingly entering a track which bears the name I Still Remember.

Constantinos Christoforou first enetered the Eurovision Song Contest in 1996, finishing in ninth place with the song Mono Yia Mas before returning in 2002 along with the boyband ONE performing the track Gimme ranking in sixth place. He made one final appearance in 2005 with the song Ela Ela achieving only eighteenth place and the maximum twelve points from Malta following his guest appearance at the Malta Eurovision Song Contest which Chiara had won with her self-penned entry Angel. It is widely known that he is a very big Eurovision fan so, will he do so under the Swiss flag next time? One will have to see of course but nevertheless, we urge escflashmalta.com readers to have a listen to the song here. Stay tuned for more about the latest updates as soon as they become available.

Source: Eurovision Platform

Liefde Is Een Kaartspel is the name of the song that represented Belgium in the 1996 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest and the performer of the track was none other than Lisa del Bo who is quite a well known figure in Belgium having released her debut single back in 1991 and continued released music until somewhat 2004 before taking an indefinite break from music or rather releasing new material, focusing on a number of performances around the country. Nevertheless, despite the several appearances, Lisa has not been on radio and television that much in recent years but now things will be changing especially due to the fact that she has changed the management company.

Amongst the new people that she is currently working with a number of new indivduals including none other than producer Patrick Renier who is not completely unknown to the Maltese public having been the composer of the song You Make Me Go (Uh Uh Oh Oh) performed by Deborah C and featuring Leila James which is still very much a huge success in Belgium noting that the track is currently charting on renowned station BayFM. Another leading credential which Renier brings to the table is the fact that he had worked on all of the major successful tracks that Belle Perez released including El Mundo Bailando which was used as a theme song for the show Pjazza produced by Where's Everybody a couple of years back.

The new track that Lisa del Bo is currently promoting bears the name Hemelhoog and could be translated into Skyhigh. The composer of the track is as mentioned before none other than Patrick Renier whilst the lyricist is Sabien Tiels, a former participant of the Belgian national final back in 1996, the same year where she was beaten by Lisa. The single is a really uplifting track and the reviews have been somewhat glowing. She is being booked all over the country to perform the song and therefore, it seems that her comeback is working wonders. There is also huge support in the weeks to come noting that digital broadcaster Anne has picked up on the track and will be using it as a theme song for some of their shows and adverts in the coming weeks. You can hear the track just below and let us know what you think.

escflashmalta.com had the pleasure of watching Lisa perform live in the past couple of days and indeed, can vouch that she is indeed still remarkable. She is performing several songs from her repertoire as she kicks off the second leg of her career but then again, she would like to show that this is indeed a brand new chapter for her as an artist if the contacts that are made throughout the competition are then used to great effect of course. It also shows that despite the result that one achieves in the Eurovision Song Contest, it can still prove to be a successful platform in general. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news with regards to artists who have represented their country in the esteemed music event.

Source: escflashmalta.com, Lisa del Bo Official Facebook

There are several elements which prove the point that the Eurovision Song Contest is very much an individual type of competition noting that singers from a number of countries from the European Continent would ultimately be hoping to surpass others but there are a number of contacts made which are normally used after the event comes to an end so that music careers can continue to evolve and flourish. Alexander Rybak has been one of the most popular names in the Scandinavian music industry since winning for Norway with the song Fairytale a couple of years back but nevertheless, the second runner-up finish for Paula Seling alongside Ovi with the song Playing With Fire continued her epic rise to fame status in Romania and surrounding countries. They have most recently worked on a brand new track and they will be promoting it along with their solo work during a special visit in Belgium.

The event which they have been invited to perform in is none other than the 2012 edition of the Antwerp Pride on Sunday 12th August but it has to be noted that they will not be the only Eurostars on show during the event especially due to the fact that the organizers have also been in touch with none other than Kate Ryan who represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest back in 2006 with the song Je t'Adore as well as Nicole & Hugo who had done the honours for the Benelux country way back in 1973 with the extremely iconic Baby, Baby. It is expected that Alexander and Paula will be performing their recent duet I'll Show You which was also written by the Norwegian singer/songwriter. We urge you to stay tuned into escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news about these Eurostars noting that they are succeeding on several fronts in Europe with their respective music releases.

Source: escflashmalta.com

One of the most anticipated national selections each and every year has been the one held in Sweden and this is due to the fact that they tend to organize it in a very formidable way. The level in this years' competition has been noted to be slightly less enthusiastic than it has been in recent years but some tracks clearly stood out from the rest and made an impact by getting the votes from the public. Some of the choices are unconventional but the Eurovision Song Contest has presented many interesting songs in the past.

Late in the afternoon, TVR, the Romanian broadcaster responsible for the participation in the Eurovision Song Contest held the draw for the running order to the national final set to take place on the 10th March 2012. The show will be consisting of two parts in order to divide it well. The final decision on which artist and song will be representing Romania at the musical extravaganza will be made through an equal division between an appointed jury and televoting. All of the songs can now be heard through the official website of the selection process which will lead to a specifically open channel on viral website Youtube where full version clips have been uploaded.

Part 1

1) Catalin Josan - Call my name (Keo, Raflo, Bogdan Muresan, James Alexander)

2) Ana Mardare - If you find simple words to say (Tudy Zaharescu, Ana Mardare)

3) Viky Red - If you ever feel (Victor, Silviu, Craciun, Constantin, Razvan, Toma)

4) RPK - Singura care (Zmau Laurentiu Nicolae, Karoly, Mihai, Mihail, Augustin)

5) Lucian Oros - The best a man can get (Mats Tarnfors, Gerard James Borg, Oros)

6) Raluca Ocneanu - Time is on my side (Mihai Alexandru)

7) Electric Fence - Sun-ta (Antemir, Indre, Elena, David, Sandu)

Part 2

1) Ovidiu Anton - I walk alone (Ovidiu Anton)

2) Miss Mary - Rollin' (George, Bogdan Florin, Loredana, Paul, Maria Alexandra)

3) Mandinga - Zaleilah (Costi Ionita, Ionescu Elena, Secada Dihigo Omar)

4) T&L - Twilight (Bianca Purcarea, Karl Broderick, Ziga Pirnat, Andraz Gliha)

5) Ioana Bianca Anuta - Girls don't cry (Ioana Bianca Anuta, Gerard James Borg)

6) Tasha - Say my name (Mustiuc Sebastian Vlad, Stanca Andrei, Cristescu Costin Claudiu)

7) Bianca Purcarea - Don't say sorry (Marc Paelinck, Bianca Purcarea)

8) Ana Mardare - This must be love (Zaharescu, Poglajen, Down, Gladnikoff, Mardare)

The national selection will be presented live through TVR1, TVRHD and TVR International at around 20:00 CET but it is highly expected that the official website of the Eurovision Song Contest will also be showing the event live. We would like to wish all of the acts, the very best of luck with the competition but a special one to people who are locally related to the competition in the form of Gerard James Borg who wrote five of the entries that represented Malta since the millennium as well as Belgian composer Marc Paelinck who wrote 'What If We' for Chiara in 2009 along with producing 'Angel' in 2005. This should be quite the interesting showcase, stay tuned for more news on ESCflashmalta.

Source: TVR

The entry of the host country of the 2012 Eurovision, Azerbaijan will be revealed within the next two weeks. This has been revealed through the official website of the Eurovision Song Contest, Eurovision.tv. Sabina Babayeva won the National Final in Azerbaijan on 12th February during a tv-show where our own Kurt Calleja was one of the guest performers. From then on the search for the perfect song for Sabina started and it seems this selection is coming into its final phase.

Obviously the announcement doesn’t come as a big surprise as in two weeks time all Head of delegations will be meeting in Baku to submit the different Eurovision entries. So this means that also by then the host country needs to announce officially their entry for the 2012 Eurovision. In the meanwhile, a video was released on Sabine where she talks about the international spectacle and about the city of Baku, the host city for the 2012 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest can be seen through the official channel of the competition on the viral website Youtube. Stay tuned for more information about Azerbaijan and all of the other competing countries on ESCflashmalta.

Source: Eurovision.tv