Eurovision Fever 2020: These are the countries (& singers) Malta will be going up against
Following Duncan Laurence's win for The Netherlands at the 2019 Eurovision in Tel Aviv, Israel, this year's edition will be held in Rotterdam. Preparations are well under way, with the two semi-final draws announced only yesterday.
Malta will this year be competiting in the first semi-final. Scheduled for Tuesday 12th May, Malta is one of 17 competing for a top ten finish to qualify for the grand final. In the same group are several longtime Eurovision favourites such as Sweden, Russia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus and Ukraine. Bound to be a tough one!
The second semi-final, scheduled for Thursday 14th May, will see the following countries compete for a place in the final:
Most countries in the first semi-final are still in the process of selecting their country's representatives. Belarus, Lithuania, Sweden, Slovenia, Australia, Norway, Malta, Israel, Ukraine and Croatia will all be selecting a singer via some form of televised competition. Ireland's representative is to be selected internally, while Romania's selection method has not yet been announced. Additionally, Russia and Azerbaijan have not yet confirmed their respective selection methods, but both are believed to be choosing their singers via an internal selection.
While it is still too early for the songs to be released (they generally start being announced around March), three countries have already confirmed their representative, and they're BIG! Have a look at who Malta will be going up against in May's semi-final:
North Macedonia
This Northern European country has confirmed Vasil Garvanliev's participation for this year's edition. He's no Eurovision newbie; last year he was a backing singer for North Macedonia's representative Tamara Todevska and his career has seen him lend his vocals to Chance The Rapper's 2016 album Coloring Book.
Established as an opera singer in Canada, we may be getting some Il Volo vibes from him. However, his latest single has a completely different vibe with Eurovision blog wiwibloggs referring to it as a: "song that takes traditional Balkan sounds but builds a contemporary track — one that comes with flourishes of dance and pop." Guess we'll have to wait till his Eurovision song is announced to find out what we're up against!
Cyprus
Cyprus almost always performs spectacularly well at the Eurovision, and their strong claim seems set to extend to 2020. American-Greek German singer Sandro Nicolas will be representing the country this year. Sandro, a.k.a Alessandro Rütten is quite well known in the musical scene, having previously participated in The Voice of Germany, singing Shawn Mendes' In My Blood at the blind auditions, causing all four judges to turn around.
Belgium
Belgium has this year selected ambient pop trio Hooverphonic. Out of the three confirmed participants, Hooverphonic are the veterans, with an illustrious professional musical career spanning 15 years. While their song has not yet been announced, they have confirmed that their tune will retain their vintage sounds with lots of string instruments. If you've never hear about them, get ready: your playlist is about to get invaded:
It's already looking like an exciting semi-final!