Lys Assia was a Swiss singer who won the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. Assia was born in Rupperswil, Aargau, and began her stage career as a dancer, but changed to singing in 1940 after successfully standing in for a female singer.
Eiffel 65 is an Italian Eurodance group that was formed in 1997 in the studios of the Turin record company Bliss Corporation, consisting of Jeffrey Jey, Maurizio Lobina, and formerly Gabry Ponte. They gained global popularity with their singles "Blue " and "Move Your Body" from their 1999 debut studio album Europop. The singles reached number one in many countries, while the album peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 chart. Their following two albums, Contact! (2001) and their 2003 self-titled album did not gain international success, but still managed to gain success in Italy.
San Marino has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 13 times, debuting in the 2008 contest, followed by participation from 2011 onward. The nation did not participate in 2009 or 2010, citing financial difficulties. Having failed to qualify in their first four attempts, the nation qualified for the contest's final for the first time in 2014. Valentina Monetta represented San Marino in 2012, 2013 and 2014, making her the first entrant to participate in three consecutive contests since the 1960s. In 2019, Serhat managed to qualify to the final, marking the second appearance of the country in a Eurovision final and achieving their best result to date of 19th place. Following the 2020 contest's cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, their 2020 candidate Senhit was again selected to represent San Marino in the following contest. She qualified to the final, making it the first time that San Marino made it to two consecutive finals.
John Kennedy O'Connor is a television and radio broadcaster, author, and entertainment commentator. He was born in North London, England, but is a naturalized citizen of the United States. He has written, reported and broadcast for numerous media organizations, as well as writing, created and produced media events for a number of international corporations all over the world. He is best known for his work within the Eurovision Song Contest as a TV commentator and host. Until 2023, he was the news anchor for NBC and CBS Northern California channels KIEM-TV and KVIQ-LD, before moving to CBS Station KIMA-TV in Washington, as the main anchor.
San Marino participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, held in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Sammarinese national broadcaster Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV) internally selected Valentina Monetta with "Maybe" to represent the nation in the contest. Monetta had previously represented San Marino in both the 2012 and 2013 contests, though both entries failed to qualify for the grand final. The 2014 entry was promoted through the creation of music videos in both English and Italian, and a promotional tour that included stops in Amsterdam, Moscow and London. San Marino performed 12th in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, held on 6 May 2014, and placed 10th, receiving 40 points. The entry qualified for the grand final held four days later, where the nation placed 24th with 14 points. This marked their best placing to this point.
"One Night's Anger" is a song by Albanian singer Hersi Matmuja. The track was first released as part of a CD compilation on 11 April 2014 by CMC Records and Universal Music. The English-language rock song was written by Jorgo Papingji and composed by Gentian Lako. An accompanying music video was uploaded on the official YouTube channel of the Eurovision Song Contest on 16 March 2014. The song received mixed reviews from music critics, some of whom praised the singer's vocals, while others described it as a "work-in-progress".
The Voice: la plus belle voix is the third season of the French reality singing competition, created by media tycoon John de Mol. It was aired from 11 January 2014 to 10 May 2014 on TF1.
San Marino participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, held in Vienna, Austria. The Sammarinese national broadcaster Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV) internally selected Anita Simoncini and Michele Perniola with "Chain of Lights" to represent the nation in the contest. Both Simoncini and Perniola had previously represented San Marino in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest on separate occasions. The 2015 entry in the Eurovision Song Contest was promoted through the creation of a music video, a tour that included a stop in Moscow and a contest on social media that awarded prizes to winning participants. San Marino performed third in the second semi-final, held on 21 May 2015, and placed 16th with 11 points, failing to qualify for the final.
San Marino participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, held in Stockholm, Sweden. The Sammarinese national broadcaster Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV) internally selected Turkish singer Serhat with "I Didn't Know" to represent the nation in the contest. The song was written by Olcayto Ahmet Tuğsuz and Nektarios Tyrakis and was presented to the public on 9 March 2016 alongside its music video. While initially a ballad version had been selected, SMRTV subsequently opted to use the disco version of the song for the contest based on feedback from the public. To promote the entry, Serhat embarked on a promotional tour across Europe in the lead up the Eurovision Song Contest. San Marino performed eighth in the first semi-final, held on 10 May 2016, and placed 12th with 68 points, failing to qualify for the final.
Ahmet Serhat Hocapaşalioğlu, known as Serhat, is a Turkish singer, songwriter, producer and television presenter.
San Marino participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, held in Kyiv, Ukraine. The Sammarinese national broadcaster Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV) internally selected Sammarinese singer Valentina Monetta and American singer Jimmie Wilson with "Spirit of the Night" to represent the nation in the contest. Monetta had previously represented San Marino as a solo artist on three previous occasions. The 2017 entry in the Eurovision Song Contest was promoted through the creation of a music video and promotional performances in Tel Aviv, Amsterdam and Madrid. San Marino performed 10th in the second semi-final, held on 11 May 2017, and placed 18th with one point, failing to qualify for the final.
San Marino participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, held in Lisbon, Portugal. The Sammarinese national broadcaster Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV) partnered with the London-based company 1in360 to stage an online search for their entrant, marking the first time the nation did not select their representative internally. The process, entitled 1in360, culminated in an 11-participant final with acts chosen from three wildcard selection processes and two 11-act showcase events. The winner of 1in360 was "Who We Are" performed by Jessika featuring Jenifer Brening. The 2018 entry in the Eurovision Song Contest was promoted through performances in London, Amsterdam, Madrid and Lisbon as well as a 10-week anti-bullying campaign to raise money for the Diana Award. San Marino performed fourth in the second semi-final, held on 10 May 2018, and placed 17th with 28 points, failing to qualify for the final.
Jessica Muscat, more commonly known as Jessika is a Maltese singer and actress. She represented San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal, with the song "Who We Are", alongside Jenifer Brening. She had previously attempted to represent her home country every year from 2008 to 2017 and in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "Precious Time". As an actress, she plays the character of Emma on daily Maltese soap opera Ħbieb u Għedewwa.
San Marino participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, held in Tel Aviv, Israel. The Sammarinese broadcaster San Marino RTV (SMRTV) confirmed that a second season of 1in360 would not take place to select the entry. In January 2019, they announced that Serhat had been internally selected to represent the nation in the contest with the song "Say Na Na Na", co-written by himself and Mary Susan Applegate. Serhat had previously represented San Marino in 2016 but failed to qualify for the final. To promote the entry, a music video for the song was released and Serhat made appearances at Eurovision parties in Amsterdam and Madrid in the lead up to the contest. San Marino performed last (17th) in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, held on 14 May 2019, and placed 8th, receiving 150 points. The entry qualified for the final held four days later, where the nation placed 19th with 77 points. This marked their best placing to this point and their second final qualification.
Marie Wegener is a German singer who won the 15th season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar. She is the youngest winner of the show, the second minor to win, and its fourth female winner. Her winning song "Königlich" was produced by Dieter Bohlen.
San Marino planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, which was scheduled to be held in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Italian singer Senhit was chosen to represent the nation with her song "Freaky!". Sammarinese broadcaster San Marino RTV (SMRTV) internally selected the singer, while her song was selected through a national final entitled Digital Battle. Senhit previously represented San Marino in the 2011 contest, but failed to qualify for the final. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe during 2020, the Eurovision Song Contest was cancelled in mid-March 2020. "Freaky!" was subsequently an entry for several replacement events including Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light, Der kleine Song Contest and Sveriges 12:a. Senhit announced during the former of the three that she would return to represent the nation at the 2021 contest the following year.
San Marino participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The Sammarinese broadcaster San Marino RTV (SMRTV) internally selected Senhit as their representative with the song "Adrenalina" featuring Flo Rida. Senhit was due to compete in the 2020 contest with "Freaky!" before the event's eventual cancellation and had also served as the nation's 2011 entrant. "Adrenalina" was written and composed by Thomas Stengaard, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Jimmy Thörnfeldt, Kenny Silverdique, Suzi Pancenkov, Malou Linn Eloise Ruotsalainen and Chanel Tukia, along with Senhit and Flo Rida themselves. While Flo Rida had provided vocals for the track, his participation in the performance of the song on the Eurovision stage was only confirmed on the day of the second semi-final due to COVID-19-related travel restrictions.
San Marino participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with the song "Stripper" performed by Achille Lauro. The Sammarinese broadcaster, San Marino RTV (SMRTV), organised a new national final concept entitled Una voce per San Marino to decide their representative. The event consisted of 299 emerging and nine established artists competing over a three month period from December 2021 through February 2022 for the opportunity to represent the nation at the contest. The winning entry "Stripper" was written by Lauro, Daniele Dezi, Daniele Mungai, Davide Petrella, Federico De Marinis, Francesco Viscovo, Gregorio Calculli, Marco Lanciotti, Matteo Ciceroni, Mattia Cutolo and Simon Pietro Manzari.
Malta participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with the song "I Am What I Am" performed by Emma Muscat. The Maltese entry for the 2022 contest was initially selected through the national final Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2022, organised by the Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS). The competition consisted of a semi-final round, a special show and a final, held on 17, 18 and 19 February 2022, respectively, where "Out of Sight" performed by Muscat eventually emerged as the winning entry after scoring the most points from a six-member jury and a public televote. On 14 March 2022, PBS announced that Muscat would ultimately perform "I Am What I Am" in Turin; the song was released to the public on the same day.
