We’re almost down to the final countdown for the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, and countries across the continent have finally decided on the acts that will be representing them in Tel Aviv. In Eurovision betting odds, prices are changing fast and currently, the Netherlands are the favourites at 13/8 while former favourites Russia are priced at 7/1. Here, we will briefly run down all the acts hoping to win the hearts of Europe in the iconic song contest.
Semi-finals:
Albania
Jonida Maliqi – Ktheju tokës
Jonida is a huge name in her home country, she hosts Dancing with the Stars and had been a coach on The Voice. Her song translates as ‘return to the land’ and has lyrics referring to emigration and the Kosovo War.
Armenia
Srbuk – Walking Out
Srbuk has been on the Armenian talent show circuit for nine years now, competing on The X Factor (where she finished second) and The Voice (fourth).
Australia
Kate Miller-Heidke – Zero Gravity
With four albums and a greatest hits under her belt, Kate is a pretty big deal in Australia. Despite being classically-trained, Kate delved into pop music and has enjoyed moderate success throughout her career.
Austria
Paenda – Limits
Gabriela Horn is a singer, songwriter and producer who only released her debut album last year. She studied pop and jazz music at the Vienna Music Institute.
Azerbaijan
Chingiz – Truth
Chingiz was born in Moscow but moved to Azerbaijan when he was six-years-old. He won the Azerbaijani version of Pop Idol in 2007 and has since participated in The New Wave competition as well as The Voice.
Belgium
Eliot Vassamillet – Wake Up
Eliot is a former contestant of The Voice and Belgium tend to turn to the TV talent show for their entries (three times in the last five years, in fact). The 18-year-old will perform Wake Up written by Pierre Dumoulin, who previously wrote the Belgian entry in 2017.
Belarus
Zena – Like It
Zinaida, also known as Zina (or ZENA) has plenty of experience of TV talent shows, competing in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2015 and 2016; and coming third in Russia’s Fame Academy. She also has experience of co-hosting the Junior ESC and has voiced characters in Russian dubs of Disney films.
Croatia
Roko Blažević – The Dream
19-year-old Roko will represent Croatia, having won Dora 2019. He comes from a family of musicians, with both his parents’ singers and his brother, a guitarist. Roko has been dubbed the Croatian Michael Bublé and has won two Croatian singing contests: Pinkove Zvezdice and Zvijezde.
Cyprus
Tamta – Replay
Georgian singer Tamta was a runner-up on super Idol Greece and has also been a mentor on both the Georgian and Greek versions of The X Factor. She’s released three albums and a ‘Best of’ – and had been declined the opportunity to represent Cyprus in last year’s contest.
Czech Republic
Lake Malawi – Friend of a Friend
Czech Indie band, Lake Malawi formed in 2013 and their name is inspired by Bon Iver’s Calgary. The trio released their debut single in 2014, but their debut album wasn’t released until 2017.
Denmark
Leonora – Love is Forever
Leonora won the Danish Melodi Grand Prix and has written many of her own songs. However, she’s probably best known as a figure skater, where she’s won gold medals and competed in junior competitions.
Estonia
Victor Crone – Storm
Swedish-born Victor previously tried to represent his home country but lost out to Måns Zelmerlöw in 2015. His Eurovision entry charted at number three in Estonia.
Finland
Darude and Sebastian Rejman – Look Away
The Finnish DJ famous for his 90s track Sandstorm is pairing up with Sebastian Rejman for Finland’s entry in this year’s contest. Rejman is a singer and guitarist in Finnish band, The Giant Leap and founded Sebastian & The 4th Line Band.
Georgia
Oto Nemsadze – Dear God
Oto is a Georgian household name, having won Idol in 2011; a finalist of The Voice in 2013; and a member of group Limbo in the 2017 Eurovision selection process that finished tenth. Hopefully he’ll have better luck this time around as a solo artist.
Greece
Katerine Duska – Better Love
Katerine is Greek-Canadian and is a singer songwriter who released her debut album in 2015.
Hungary
Joci Papai – Az én apám
Joci represented Hungary in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest and finished eighth, so is no stranger to the stage. Prior to both competitions, he won A Dai, the Hungarian national selection programme. He has a number of Hungarian top-five singles to his name.
Iceland
Hatari – Hatrið Mun Sigra
With a song translating as ‘hate will prevail’, you’d be right in assuming that Hatari are a punk-rock band. Formed in 2015, the trio will take to the stage clad in leather and sing (or should that be scream) about bringing down capitalism.
Ireland
Sarah McTernan – 22
A former finalist of The Voice in 2015, Sarah was mentored by Rachel Stevens (of S Club 7 fame) during the show. She previously tried to compete in Eurovision, but failed to represent San Marino last year.
Latvia
Carousel – That Night
The duo (made up of Sabine and Mārcis) won Supernova 2019 to represent Latvia in this year’s contest. Their song That Night is Sabine’s debut as a songwriter.
Lithuania
Jurijus Veklenko – Run with the Lions
The Lithuanian singer has previous in the Eurovision Song Contest – he performed as a backing singer in the 2015 contest and in 2017, provided the main vocals for lip-sync drag-act Lolita Zero in the national selection.
Malta
Michela Pace – Chameleon
Michela won Malta’s first ever X Factor in January and the 18-year-old was rewarded with a place in the Eurovision Song Contest, as well as a contract with Sony Music Italy.
Macedonia
Tamara Todevska – Proud
Tamara is no stranger to Eurovision. The pop star has released two albums and first featured in the contest in 2004 as a backing singer. She was also one third of Tamara, Vrčak & Adrijan in 2008, who failed to qualify for the final.
Moldova
Anna Odobescu – Stay
Anna won the Moldovan national section process O melodie pentru Europa in March and will represent her country with Stay. She previously graduated from the Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts in Chisinau.
Montenegro
D mol – Heaven
The six-piece vocal group, formed this year won Montenegro’s national selection.
Netherlands
Duncan Laurence – Arcade
A former semi-finalist of The Voice, Duncan is currently the favourite with the bookies, with his song Arcade. His Eurovision entry has already been a Dutch top-10 hit.
Norway
KEiiNO – Spirit in the Sky
The Norwegian trio were formed in late 2018 in preparation for Melodi Grand Prix, the Norwegian selection process – and it’s a good job they were, as they’re now representing their country. Their song Spirit in the Sky is inspired by historical struggles for equality.
Poland
Tulia – Fire of Love
Formed in 2017, folk music group Tulia consists of four singers. They released their debut album last year and were chosen by the Polish state broadcaster to represent at Eurovision.
Portugal
Conan Osiris – Telemóveis
The 30-year-old (real name Tiago Miranda) has only recently turned his attention to a full-time professional career in music. He released his debut album in 2016 and earlier this year, he entered Festival da Canção, securing his place in Eurovision.
Romania
Ester Peony – On a Sunday
Ester Peony became known in her home country for her covers of pop songs on Youtube. She won Selecția Națională earlier this year and away from Eurovision, aims to release her debut album later this year.
Russia
Sergey Lazarev – Scream
A former member of Russian early-00s band Smash!!, Sergey has pursued a solo career and previously represented Russia in the 2016 Eurovision Song contest, finishing third.
San Marino
Serhat – Say Na Na Na
Another former representative back for another go, Serhat (originally from Turkey) previously performed in 2016, but failed to qualify for the final. At 54, he recently announced that he would be releasing a debut album this month.
Serbia
Nevena Bozovic – Kruna
At the age of 13, Nevena represented Serbia at Junior Eurovision where she finished third. She rose to fame after coming second in TV talent show Prvi glas Srbije in 2013. That year, she failed to make the Eurovision finals when performing in a girl group and is back again this time around, as a solo artist.
Slovenia
Zala Kralj and Gašper Šantl – Sebi
The Slovenian duo, often known as ZalaGašper, only formed last year but have released a handful of singles and an EP.
Sweden
John Lundvik – Too Late for Love
John Lundvik competed in Melodifestivalen last year, finishing third – but is back for another go at Eurovision this year. Born in London but adopted by Swedish expatriates, John’s music career began in 2010 and he’s composed music for film and TV.
Switzerland
Luca Hanni – She Got Me
Luca won the 2012 show Deutschland sucht den Superstar and has since released four albums and 16 singles (including a cover of Ed Sheeran’s The A Team).
Grand final:
France
Bilal Hassani – Roi
He first came to prominence when performing a cover of Austrian winner Conchita Wurst’s Rise Like a Phoenix on the French version of The Voice Kids. The 19-year-old singer and Vlogger won the French national selection process, Destination Eurovision.
Germany
S!sters – Sister
No, the German representative aren’t sisters, in fact, they hadn’t sung together before Eurovision and the duo were selected from Germany’s Unser Lied für Israel. Carlotta was a finalist in Das Supertalent in 2009 and The Voice Kids in 2014; while Laurita was in fact a backing singing for 2010 entrant, Lena.
Italy
Mahmood – Soldi
Alessandro Mahmoud, better known by Mahmood came to prominence when he participated in the Italian version of The X Factor. He won the Sanremo Music Festival with Soldi and consequently will be representing Italy.
Spain
Miki – La Venda
Miguel ‘Miki’ Pozo became a star after winning the Spanish equivalent of Fame Academy, Operación Triunfo last year.
United Kingdom
Michael Rice – Bigger Than Us
The 21-year-old previously appeared on The X Factor in 2014, but won BBC One’s singing competition All Together Now last year. After participating in Eurovision: You Decide, it was revealed he will represent the UK with a song written by Sweden’s act, John Lundvik.