 Logo used from 2009 to 2017 | |
Type of site | Eurovision news, YouTube channel |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Founder(s) | William Lee Adams |
| URL | wiwibloggs |
| Launched | 22 April 2009 |
| Current status | Active |
Wiwibloggs is a fansite and YouTube channel focusing on the Eurovision Song Contest, launched in 2009 by journalist William Lee Adams. [1]
In April 2015, Wiwibloggs won the Arts & Culture category at the UK Blog Awards. [2]
Adams has judged at national selections for a number of countries, among them Armenia (in 2017), Belarus (in 2020), Finland (every year between 2017 and 2021), Germany (as a member of the 100-member fan jury panel in 2019), Norway (in 2017 and 2018), Romania (in 2019, alongside fellow Wiwibloggs correspondent Deban Aderemi) and Spain. Wiwibloggs staffers have also been among the jurors for selections in Latvia and Portugal. In some cases, their role as jurors in national selection finals has been criticized by local media. [3]
During the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, Adams and Aderemi served as special guests on Studio Eurovision, Swedish host broadcaster SVT's Eurovision preview show. [4]
Adams had a cameo appearance as himself in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020). [5]
Romania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 23 times since its debut in 1994, and has placed in the top ten six times. Its best results were achieved by Luminița Anghel and Sistem in 2005, and by Paula Seling and Ovi in 2010, who both finished in third place. Selecția Națională, a song contest that has been taking place every year in Romania except for 2021, has been used to select the country's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.
"Tornerò" is a song by Romanian singer Mihai Trăistariu from his eighth studio album of the same name (2006). Released by CMC Entertainment on 3 July 2006, it was written by Cristian Hriscu, Mihaela Deac and its producer Eduard Cîrcotă. With English verses and a refrain in Italian, "Tornerò" is a disco, pop, dance and rave song featuring Trăistariu using his higher vocal range. The track won the Selecția Națională pre-selection show and represented Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, held in Athens, Greece. There, the singer was pre-qualified for the Grand Final, where he finished fourth with 172 points. On stage, three male and two female dancers from Romanian dance group Big Bounce accompanied Trăistariu, performing a mixture of ballet and contemporary dance.
Christer Samuel Björkman is a Swedish singer and television producer. He represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992 with the song "I morgon är en annan dag". From 2002 to 2021, he served as a producer of Melodifestivalen, and has remained an important figure in Melodifestivalen and the Eurovision Song Contest. He stepped down from this position after Melodifestivalen 2021, and is currently working at Voxovation, a Los Angeles-based company that focuses on expanding the Eurovision Song Contest brand into other markets.
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.
Lorine Zineb Nora Talhaoui, known professionally as Loreen, is a Swedish singer and songwriter. Representing Sweden, she has won the Eurovision Song Contest twice – in 2012 and 2023 – with the songs "Euphoria" and "Tattoo". She is the second performer and the first and only woman to have won the competition twice to date.
"Suus" is a song by Kosovo-Albanian singer and songwriter Rona Nishliu. It was released as part of a CD compilation on 4 May 2012 by Universal Music. The song was written by the singer herself and composed by Florent Boshnjaku. Musically, it is an Albanian-language folklore-inspired ballad, which lyrically addresses an emotional circumstance reflecting the moments that occurred in the past and the expectations of insecure tomorrows.
"Euphoria" is a song performed by Swedish singer Loreen. It was released on 26 February 2012 as the third single from her debut studio album Heal (2012). The song was written by Thomas G:son, Peter Boström and produced by Boström and SeventyEight. It is best known as Sweden's winning entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 held in Baku, Azerbaijan. The song won the competition with a total of 372 points, at the time the second-highest point total in the contest's history. The song received the highest number of maximum (12) points of any entry in the contest's history with eighteen countries giving the song their top marks.
Kristin "Krista" Siegfrids is a Finnish singer and television presenter. She represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with her entry "Marry Me". Siegfrids' debut album, named Ding Dong!, was released in May 2013. As a television presenter, she hosted Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu from 2016 to 2020.
Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu is an annual music contest organised by the Finnish public broadcaster Yle. It made its debut in 2012 as the Finnish selection format for the Eurovision Song Contest, replacing the previous Finnish Eurovision selection Suomen euroviisukarsinta which had been held since 1961.
"Warrior" is a song performed by Georgian singer-songwriter Nina Sublatti. The song represented Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015.
Aminata Savadogo, occasionally known as simply Aminata, is a Latvian singer, songwriter, record producer, and model. She represented Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Love Injected". She released her debut studio album, Inner Voice, in April 2015.
"Heroes" is a song by Swedish singer Måns Zelmerlöw. It was released on 28 February 2015 as a digital download in Sweden. The song was written and composed by Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Joy Deb and Linnea Deb. On 14 March, the song won Melodifestivalen 2015 and represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Vienna, Austria, which it won. It is the lead single for Zelmerlöw's sixth studio album Perfectly Damaged.
"Fairytale" is a song by Albanian singer Eneda Tarifa. It was issued as a single on 30 March 2016 by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) and Universal Music. An English-language mid-tempo power rock ballad, the song was composed and written by Olsa Toqi. An accompanying music video was premiered to the official YouTube channel of the Eurovision Song Contest on 13 March 2016. The song represented Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden, after Tarifa's victory at the country's pre-selection competition Festivali i Këngës with the song's Albanian-language version "Përrallë". It failed to qualify for the grand final also marking the country's sixth non-qualification in the contest. During her minimalistic performance, she was accompanied by three backing vocalists while the LED screens showed a variety of gold images.
"Cool Me Down" is a song by Polish singer Margaret. It was included in the reissue of her debut studio album, Add the Blonde, released in 2016. The song was written by Alex Papaconstantinou, Anderz Wrethov, Arash, Linnea Deb, Robert Uhlmann and Viktor Svensson; all but Wrethov and Deb, produced the track. The song is a combination of pop music, reggae and electropop.
"Moment of Silence" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Ovidiu Anton. It was written and composed by himself, while production was handled by Liviu Sorescu. A gothic-inspired pop rock track featuring an electric guitar solo throughout, "Moment of Silence" acts as a homage to the victims of the 2015 Colectiv nightclub fire. It received mixed reviews from music critics, with one likening it to the works of Swedish band Europe. At the 2017 Radio România Actualități Awards, the track won in the Best Pop Rock Song category.
The United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Never Give Up on You" written by Daniel Salcedo, Emmelie de Forest and Lawrie Martin. The song was performed by Lucie Jones. Songwriter Emmelie de Forest represented Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "Only Teardrops" where she won the competition. The British entry for the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine was selected via the national final Eurovision: You Decide, organised by the British broadcaster BBC. Six acts competed in the national final and the winner was selected through the combination of a public vote and the votes of an eight-member professional jury.
Moldova participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Hey Mamma" written by Anton Ragoza, Sergei Ialovitski, Sergey Stepanov, Mihail Cebotarenco and Alina Galetskaya. The song was performed by the group SunStroke Project. The Moldovan broadcaster TeleRadio-Moldova (TRM) organised the national final O melodie pentru Europa 2017 in order to select the Moldovan entry for the 2016 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. 40 entries competed to represent Moldova in Kyiv, with 14 being shortlisted to participate in the televised national final after auditioning in front of a jury panel. After a semi-final and final which took place on 24 and 25 February 2017, "Hey Mamma" performed by SunStroke Project emerged as the winner after gaining the most points following the combination of votes from a jury panel and a public televote.
Aysel Mammadova, known professionally as Aisel, is an Azerbaijani singer. She represented Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "X My Heart". She has also performed the Azerbaijan national anthem at the opening of the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2023.
Romania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "On a Sunday" written by Ester Alexandra Crețu, Alexandru Șerbu and Ioana Victoria Badea. The song was performed by Ester Peony. The Romanian broadcaster Televiziunea Română (TVR) organised the national final Selecția Națională2019 in order to select the Romanian entry for the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel. The national final consisted of three shows: two semi-finals on 27 January and 10 February 2019, respectively, and a final on 17 February 2019. A total of twenty-four entries were selected and twelve competed in each semi-final where a five-member jury panel selected five entries to advance to the final, while a public vote selected an additional entry to enter the final. The twelve qualifiers competed in the final where "On a Sunday" performed by Ester Peony was selected as the winner after scoring top marks from a six-member international jury panel and a public televote.
National selections refer to the processes in which the broadcasters of the countries participating in the annual Eurovision Song Contest select the artist and song that will represent them in the contest.