Eurovision Song Contest 2006
The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 will be the fifty-first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, which will be held at the Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens, Greece. The scheduled dates for the contests are 18 May 2006 for the semi-final and 20 May 2006 for the final. ERT, the host broadcaster of the contest, have already started preparations and are ahead of schedule. The venue for the contest has already been chosen and the stage designs are being finalized.
The official logo of the contest has remained the same from 2004 and 2005 with the country's flag in the heart being changed. The 2006 sub-logo created by the design company Karamela for Greek television is apparently based on the Phaistos Disc which is a popular symbol of ancient Greece. According to ERT, it is "inspired by the wind and the sea, the golden sunlight and the glow of the sand". Following Istanbul's "Under The Same Sky" and Kyiv's "Awakening", the slogan for the 2006 show is "Feel The Rhythm" and is apparently tied into Greek tourism's "Feel The Myth" slogan. This theme will also for the basis for the postcards for the 2006 show, which will apparently emphasize Greece's historical significance as well as being a modern tourist destination.
Greek television has confirmed that popular Greek singer Sakis Rouvas will host the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest. Born on the Greek island of Corfu in 1972, Rouvas began his pop career in 1991 and has been Greece's biggest pop star for over a decade. The singer's energetic performances (he previously represented Greece as a pole vaulter) have attracted a legion of fans, and he has been awarded countless gold and platinum discs in his home country and also won several prestigious music awards. He represented Greece at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 in Istanbul, finishing third, the best result Greece had achieved to that point. Later the same year he performed at the closing ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens. ERT has still not confirmed the name of the female presenter, although it has said that there will be one. Several names have been mentioned and an announcement is expected very soon. Elena Paparizou, who performed the winning song in Kyiv, will return to the Eurovision stage in Athens. Following the examples of Sertab Erener and Ruslana in the last two years, Elena will perform the links from the backstage "green room", interviewing the contestants.
Final participants
Fourteen countries will be pre-qualified to the final in 2006:
| Nation | Singer | Song | Selection Date |
|---|---|---|---|
 Denmark |
Not Selected | Not Selected | February 11th |
 France |
Not Selected | Not Selected | March 4th |
 Germany |
Not Selected | Not Selected | March 9th |
 Greece |
Anna Vissi | Not Selected | March 8th |
 Israel |
Not Selected | Not Selected | March 15th |
 Latvia |
Not Selected | Not Selected | March 4th |
 Malta |
Not Selected | Not Selected | February 4th |
 Member of the Order of Liberty |
Not Selected | Not Selected | February 25th |
 Norway |
Not Selected | Not Selected | February 4th |
 Romania |
Not Selected | Not Selected | February 26th |
 Serbia and Montenegro |
Not Selected | Not Selected | March 11th |
 Spain |
Not Selected | Not Selected | March |
 Switzerland |
six4one | If We All Give A Little | Internal Selection |
 United Kingdom |
Not Selected | Not Selected | March 4th |
The ten highest-scoring participants from the semi-final (see below) will also take part in the final.
Semi-final participants
The top ten semi-finalists will progress to the final. On 18 June 2005, Austrian newspaper Der Kurier reported that the Austrian broadcaster ORF will not be taking part in the 2006 contest. On 5 October 2005 the managing director of Georgia Television & Radio Broadcasting stated that Georgia would not enter the 2006 contest; on 6 October 2005 Ceská Televize announced that the Czech Republic would not participate; and on 9 December 2005 Hungarian broadcaster Magyar TV announced that Hungary would not participate for financial reasons. This leaves twenty-four semi-finalists:
| Nation | Singer | Song | Selection Date |
|---|---|---|---|
 Albania |
Luiz Ejlli | Zjarr e ftohtë "Fire and cold" |
December 18th, 2005 |
 Andorra |
Not selected | Not selected | March 4th |
 Armenia |
Andre | Stay With Me | Internal Selection |
 Belgium |
Not selected | Not selected | February 19th |
 Belarus |
Not selected | Not selected | February 10th |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Not selected | Not selected | March 5th |
 Bulgaria |
Not selected | Not selected | March 11th |
 Croatia |
Not selected | Not selected | March 5th |
 Cyprus |
Not selected | Not selected | February 22nd |
 Estonia |
Not selected | Not selected | February 4th |
 Finland |
Not selected | Not selected | March 10th |
 Iceland |
Not selected | Not selected | February 18th |
 Ireland |
Brian Kennedy | Not selected | February 17th |
 Lithuania |
Not selected | Not selected | March 4th |
 North Macedonia |
Not selected | Not selected | February 26th |
 Monaco |
Not selected | To be Announced | Internal Selection |
 Netherlands |
Not selected | Not selected | March 12th |
 Poland |
Ich Troje featuring Real McCoy | Follow My Heart | January 28th |
 Portugal |
Not selected | Not selected | March 10th |
 Russia |
Not selected | Not selected | Unknown |
 Slovenia |
Anžej Dežan | Plan B | January 29th |
 Sweden |
Not selected | Not selected | March 18th |
 Turkey |
Sibel Tüzün | Not selected | March 15th |
 Ukraine |
Not selected | Not selected | March 11th |
On 16 January 2005, the European Broadcasting Union announced that a total of thirty-eight countries would participate in the contest, two less than their current maximum. The Greek Ministry of Tourism originally announced that the maximum in 2006 would increase to forty-four, although the EBU's statement has proved this to just be a rumour.
Individual Entries
Albania
On December 18th in a show lasting over three hours the song that was chosen to go to Athens was "Zjarr E Ftohte (Cold Fire)" performed by Luiz Ejlli and a group of musicians playing traditional Balkan instruments and wearing traditional costumes. A mixture of a public televote and a panel of experts chose the winning entry. There were two semi-finals in the evenings preceding the final, with the top twenty songs progressing to the final. Klodian Qafoku composed the winning song “Zjarr E Ftohte”, with lyrics written by Dr. Flori. In its performance version, the song is over three and a half minutes long and will therefore have to be re-arranged before May.
20-year-old Luiz Ejlli is the first male singer to represent his country. Luiz originally came to fame in Albania when he won the 2004 "Idols" show. Later that year he competed in the Albanian National Final with the song "Hëna Dhe Vjet dashurojnë" (The Moon And The Stars Are Loving) and finished in second place, behind Ledina Çelo and the song "Nesër Shkoj" which represented Albania in Kyiv. Because Albania finished in 16th place in 2005, they will be competing against twenty-four other countries in the semi-final of Eurovision 2006 on May 18th.
Final, 18th of December
| Position | Singer | Song | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kujtim Prodani | Thera kokën si pa dashur | - |
| 2 | Manjola Nallbani | S'mjafton një jetë | - |
| 3 | Edona Llalloshi | Vetëm një puthje | - |
| 4 | Eri feat. Perfect Bliss | Dum-ba-de | - |
| 5 | Marsida Saraci | Do të doja | - |
| 6 | Mateus Frroku | Ti ëngjëll, unë Prometë | - |
| 7 | Mariza Ikonomi & Erion Korini | Edhe fati qan | - |
| 8 | Kozma Dushi | Nuk plakën ëndrrat | - |
| 9 | Denisa Macaj & Entela Zhula | Një ëndërr | - |
| 10 | Sonila Mara | Vjeshtë me ty | - |
| 11 | Anjeza Shahini | Pse ndal? | - |
| 12 | Albëria Hadergjonaj | Ah, sikur kjo jetë... | - |
| 13 | Sajmir Cili | Hipokrizi | - |
| 14 | Evis Mula | Edua këngën | 3 |
| 15 | Luiz Ejlli | Zjarr e ftohtë | 1 |
| 16 | Erti Hizmo & Flaka Krelani | Për ty | - |
| 17 | Miriam Cani | Shko | - |
| 18 | Era Rusi | Nuk je ëndërr | 2 |
| 19 | Agim Poshka | Nostalgji | - |
| 20 | Erinda Dhima | Për ju | - |
Andorra
Andorran television has announced that it has made an internal decision on who will represent the country in Athens and the entrant will be unveiled in a special show most likely on March 4th. It is believed that despite two poor results in 2004 and 2005, the song will once again be performed in Catalan at Eurovision.
Armenia
Armenian broadcaster ARMTV confirmed that the popular singer Andre will represent the country with the song "Stay With Me". Andre was born in the city of Stepanakert, in the republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. In his early years Andre's family noticed that he was showing interest in music. He started singing being just 3 years old, when his stage was a chair, thermometer as microphone and audience were his family members. When he turned 6, Andre started attending piano classes at the Komitas School of Music in Stepanakert. After studying for three years Andre wrote his first song "Prayer".
Years later, you can see Andre performing as the lead vocalist in his pop-jazz band called "Karabagh". Along with his band he travels to different regions of Armenia and Artsakh. Andre's excellent talents don't stop at singing. He acts in many plays at the Stepanakert State Drama Theater. When his parents were more sure that their son would become a doctor and would keep his love of singing as a hobby, Andre was dreaming of becoming one of the singers at Armenian State Music Theater. And finally in 1998 his dream came true. Since then, Andre has competed in many music festivals and has released two successful solo albums with many hit singles. Musical achievement of singer include participation in the festivals Voice of Asia, Golden Skif, Shanghai festival, Championship of Performing Arts, he was twice awarded as best Armenian singer of the year.
Belarus
The Belarussian broadcaster BT announced the 15 songs for its 2006 Eurovision Song Contest national selection. Televoters will pick the best three songs in a televised selection on 10th February, the winner will be chosen by a jury behind the scenes.
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mysterious logic | Жанет (Žanet) |
| 2 | Babysitter | Леся Кодуш (Lesja Koduš) |
| 3 | You can't stop this dance | Елена Гришанова (Elena Grišanova) |
| 4 | I can see the rising sun | Прима-Vera (Prima Vera) |
| 5 | Come back | Группа "Лявоны" ("Ljavony" band) |
| 6 | Connect the hearts | Гюнеш Абасова (Gunesh Abasova) |
| 7 | Прочь с глаз | Руслан Мусвидас и Светлана Вежновец (Ruslan Musvidas & Svetlana Vežnovec) |
| 8 | May by | Дмитрий Колдун (Dmitrij Koldun) |
| 9 | You never know | TYANA |
| 10 | Dangerous game | Gosia Andrzejewich |
| 11 | An a-class face | Александра Гайдук (Aleksandra Gajduk) |
| 12 | My faith | Группа "Litesound" ("Litesound" band) |
| 13 | Сайт одиночества | Полина Смолова (Polina Smolova) |
| 14 | Вышита сорочка | Ирина Дорофеева (Irina Dorofeeva) |
| 15 | Europe's heart's groov | Группа "Dali" ("Dali" band) |
Belgium
Flemish broadcaster VRT will stage the Belgian final, Eurosong '06, on February 19th. Before that there will be a series of four qualifying heats and two semi-finals held in January and early February. Each qualifying heat will contain 7 songs and the top 3 from each heat will proceed to one of the 2 semi-finals. After the qualifying heats, the jury will pick 2 wildcards - one for each of the semi-finals. This brings the total amount of songs in each semi-final to 7. Again, the top 3 of each semi-final proceeds to the final and after the semi-finals, the jury will select one wildcard to bring the total in the final to 7. The list of performers in the qualifiers includes Vanessa Chinitor (1999) and Barbara Dex (1993). Big local stars Belle Perez, Kate Ryan and "Idols" winner Peter Evrard are considered to be the favourites. The songs will be judged by a professional jury (consisting of Yasmine, Marcel Vanthilt, André Verrneulen and twice-Eurovision winner Johnny Logan), Radio 2, Radio Donna, Press Jury and televoters with a European Jury being implemented at a later stage. The two wild cards for Eurosong 2006 semi finals, are Sonny O'Brien and Els De Schepper.
First semifinal - 5th February
| Position | Song | Singer | Jury | Radio 2 | Radio Donna | Press Jury | Televoters | Total | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dame amor, dame vida | Jeason | |||||||
| 2 | Not right | Eve Kempbell | |||||||
| 3 | Als ik je morgen ergens tegenkom | Els De Schepper | |||||||
| 4 | Not that beautiful | Afi | |||||||
| 5 | Watch me move | Katerine | |||||||
| 6 | Profile | Kaye Styles | |||||||
| 7 | Je t'adore | Kate Ryan |
Second semifinal - 11th February
| Position | Song | Singer | Jury | Radio 2 | Radio Donna | Press Jury | Televoters | Total | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wonderland | La Sakhra | |||||||
| 2 | Push it | Roxane | |||||||
| 3 | I'll be there for you | Sonny O'Brien | |||||||
| 4 | P.O.W.E.R. | Brahim | |||||||
| 5 | El mundo bailando | Belle Perez | |||||||
| 6 | Coward | Peter Evrard | |||||||
| 7 | Crazy | Barbara Dex |
Bosnia and Herzegovina
PBSBiH will select the song that will represent Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Eurovision Song Contest in May on March 5th. The performer will be internally selected and will perform all the songs in the national selection.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria chooses its second Eurovision entry in a national final on March 11th. Songs must be submitted by January 20th. 24 finalists will be announced on February 4th. A qualifying contest will take place on February 25th with the public selecting the top twelve songs to contest the final. Last year's runner up Slavi Trifunov and Sofi Marinova have confirmed that they submitted a song to the broadcaster.
Croatia
The Croatian entry will be chosen on March 5th at the Dora, their national final. On the two previous evenings there will be semi-finals, with the top songs progressing to the final. Former participant Claudia Beni (2003) has confirmed that she sent a song to HRT. The contest will be held in the seaside resort of Opatija - the site of the first edition of Dora.
Cyprus
The Cypriot public selects its entry from ten songs on February 22nd during a show entitled, "Song For Europe". Before that here will be two semi-finals on February 11th and 12th. Writers and composers from 20 countries submitted 114 songs. Semi-finals will take place in the studios of CyBC, the final will take place at the Eleftheria Stadium in Nicosia. 20 songs will compete, 10 in each semi-final. Five songs per semi-final will qualify for the final. The winner will be elected by televoting.
First semi-final (11th February)
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Love on the weekend | Andreas Konstantinidis |
| 2 | I’m a fighter | Marina Solonos |
| 3 | Invincible | Eleni Skarpari |
| 4 | Just your smile | Valeria Partali |
| 5 | Just a dance | Marina Pilakuri |
| 6 | If you ask me to lie | Giorgos Gavriel |
| 7 | I need you to need me | Liana |
| 8 | When I see you dreaming | Lizzi Marcroft |
| 9 | Funky | Nick Nikolaou & Vicky Anastassiou |
| 10 | Why angels cry | Annete Artani |
Second semifinal (12th February)
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Play that melody to me | Eleftheria Eleftheriou |
| 2 | Lost in love | Lefki Stilianou |
| 3 | Land of yesterday | Evagoras Evagorou |
| 4 | Night's shadows | Theodoti Alexandrou |
| 5 | Congratulations | Marios Tofis |
| 6 | Everytime I close my eyes | Constantinos Andronikou |
| 7 | We all are heroes | Patrick Babak |
| 8 | To s'agapo | Antonis Poorkou & Helena Georgiou |
| 9 | After you | Valanto Trifonos |
| 10 | Don’t crack now | Eleni Skarpari |
Denmark
The Danish Final will be held on February 11th at the Gigantium Arena in Aalborg.
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | En som dig | Søren Poppe & Lene Matthiesen Nørrelykke |
| 2 | Heaven | David Mader |
| 3 | Je ne regrette rien | Neighbours |
| 4 | Twist of love | Sidsel Ben Semmane |
| 5 | Ta’ hjertet med | Claus Hasfeldt |
| 6 | Søde gys | Jørgen Thorup |
| 7 | Åh amore | Kim Schwartz |
| 8 | Make this night forever | Kristine Blond |
| 9 | Grib mig | Trine Jepsen & Christian Bach |
| 10 | 2 in 1 | Danni Elmo |
Estonia
The Estonian Final will be held on February 4th at the ETV TV Studios in Tallinn. An international jury will choose the winner. Former participant Ines (2001) will sing the only Estonian song in the national final.
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | It was you | Carola Szücs |
| 2 | Open up your heart | Sofia Rubina |
| 3 | Everytime I tell you | Reverend B & Crux |
| 4 | Iseendale | Ines |
| 5 | Sweet separation | Anna-Liisa Supp |
| 6 | Through my window | Sandra Oxenryd |
| 7 | Higher | Glow |
| 8 | Be 1st | Marilin |
| 9 | Friends will be friends | Noorkuu |
| 10 | Mr Right | Meribel |
Finland
The Finnish Final will be held on March 10th at the Caribia hall in Turku, hosted by Heikki Paasonen & Jaana Pelkonen. Before the final, there will be 4 semi-finals held at the Tohloppi Studios in Tampere. The favourite song of each singer in the semi-finals (chosen by televoting) will qualify for the final, where the winner will be chosen in two rounds of voting - the first to select the top 6 and the second to select the winner.
Semi-Final 1 - January 13th
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eternamente Maria | Tomi Metsäketo |
| 2 | Look at your love | Jennie |
| 3 | Hard rock hallelujah | Lordi |
| 4 | Un posto fra le nuvole | Tomi Metsäketo |
| 5 | Take me higher | Jennie |
| 6 | Bringing back the balls to rock | Lordi |
Semi-Final 2 - January 20th
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kerta viimeinen | Johanna Pakonen |
| 2 | Liian monta yötä | Johanna Pakonen |
| 3 | Over you | Ville Pusa |
| 4 | Eternally | Ville Pusa & Christa Renwall |
| 5 | This is what we came for | Nina & Hanna-Riikka |
| 6 | Who I am | Nina & Hanna-Riikka |
Semi-Final 3 - January 27th
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shanghain valot | Annika Eklund |
| 2 | Sinussa on jotain | Annika Eklund |
| 3 | V.I.P. | Jane |
| 4 | Sivuoireita | Jane |
| 5 | Toinen minä | Kilpi |
| 6 | Katharsis | Kilpi |
Semi-Final 4 - February 3rd
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antaudun | Marita Taavitsainen |
| 2 | Enkeli itkee | Marita Taavitsainen |
| 3 | Liian aikaisin | Katariina Hänninen |
| 4 | Pala taivasta | Katariina Hänninen |
| 5 | I can't wait | Safe Six |
| 6 | Livin' it up | Safe Six |
France
A national final consisting of talent search performers will be held in early March and the public and a panel of experts will combine to select the winner. Before that there will be seven regional auditions including some in France's overseas territories. On 7th of January France 2 is launching the show "Entrée d'artistes" hosted by Pascal Sevran, which will air each Saturday at 11:55 CET. Two shows will be aired, each containing 9 performers. The public can vote and the best 9 from the 18 participants will proceed to a semi-final which will select 4 entries for the French National Final.
There will be 21 performers in total in the final. Besides the 4 selected during Pascal Sevran's show: 13 of them will be selected at an internal semi-final after 7 regional castings organized by France 3 in the cities of Lille, Nancy, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Rennes and Paris. A semi-final, entitled, "Et Si C'était vous?" will be broadcast on the internet and the winners will be selected by a mixture of web voting and a professional jury. The last 4 candidates will be selected internally by Radio and TV channel RFO. The final is scheduled for the beginning of March and televoting and a jury will decide the winner.
Entrée d'artistes Show 1 - January 14th
| Position | Performer | Home-town |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elodie | Pierrefeu (Var) |
| 2 | Arno | Marly-la-Ville (Île de France) |
| 3 | Mélody | Morisel (Somme) |
| 4 | Franck | Îlle et Vilaine (Bretagne) |
| 5 | Laure | Albens (Savoie) |
| 6 | Gaëtan | Saint Julien des Landes (Vendée) |
| 7 | Claudia | Pairs (Île de France) |
| 8 | Mickaël | Héricourt (Haute Saône) |
| 9 | Kathy | Le Cannet (Alpes-Maritimes) |
Entrée d'artistes Show 2 - January 21st
| Position | Performer | Home-town |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anthony | Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) |
| 2 | Fabien | Six-Flours les Plages (Var) |
| 3 | Gladys | Côtes d’Armor (Bretagne) |
| 4 | Laetitia | Wambrechies (Nord) |
| 5 | Laura | Cahors (Lot) |
| 6 | Matéo | Bouloc (Haute Garonne) |
| 7 | Thomas | Pairs (Île de France) |
| 8 | Virginie | Saint Montan (Ardéche) |
| 9 | Yorrick | Teyran (Herault) |
RFO
| Position | Overseas Territory | Performer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martinique | Kolo Barst |
| 2 | Réunion | Ousa Nousava |
| 3 | Mayotte | Mikidache |
| 4 | Polynesia | Barthélémy |
| 5 | Guadeloupe | Krys |
| 6 | Saint-Pierre et Miquelon | D'Gé |
| 7 | New Caledonia | Gulaan & Tyssia |
| 8 | Guyana | Chris Combette |
Germany
The German selection is on March 9th, with only three performers and songs as part of a special show celebrating 50 years of Eurovision. Singer/comedian Olli Ditrich with his country/pop band Texas Lightning, former Modern Talking singer Thomas Anders and 1972 Eurovision winner Vicky Leandros will compete. Although born in Greece, Leandros has lived in Germany for years. Her Eurovision winner "Apres Toi" was originally written for Germany, but when German television insisted on having a final in 1972, the songwriters offered the song to Luxembourg.
| Position | Singer | Song |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Anders | Songs that live forever |
| 2 | Vicky Leandros | |
| 3 | Texas Lightning | No no never |
Greece
Greek television ERT once again made an internal selection of the performer. ERT has now chosen Anna Vissi, Greece's most famous female singer, to represent Greece in the contest. There will be about 5 songs to choose, from various composers. Rumored choice is Nikos Karvelas. The Greek song selection will be 60% televoting, and 40% jury. One of the jurors, will be the famous Nana Mouskouri and will take place on March 8th at Club Votanikos.
Anna Vissi was born in the town of Larnaca, Cyprus. In 1980, Anna took 13th place at the 25th Eurovision Song Contest representing Greece with the song Autostop (Hitchhike). Two years later in 1982, she represented her native Cyprus at the 27th Eurovision Song Contest with the song Mono i Agapi (Only Love), which ended 5th with 85 points. In 1983 she married Nikos Karvelas, a very talented composer, with whom she collaborated in 1975. Anna has had great chart success with all her songs. In 1986, she participated at the Cypriot National Final for Eurovision Song Contest, with the song 'Thelo na Gino Star' (I want to become a star), taking second place. She became very successful because of her hit albums: I Epomeni Kinisi (The next move), Tora (Now), Empnevsi, and Fotia (Fire). In 1989 she made her debut as a radio producer on ANT1 Radio. In the same year she participated with the song Kleo (I cry) at the Greek National Final for the Eurovision Song Contest, ending second. Anna Vissi rocketed to fame when she presented shows all across Greece and Cyprus. She also acted in a couple of Broadway shows that had great success. With all of her success in Greece and Cyprus, Anna became more popular in other countries in Europe. She had concerts and tours and released more singles and albums that shot up the charts.
More recently she performed at the closing ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics, in Athens, Greece. Later that year, she moved to the USA, for the preparation and promotion of her single Call Me that has been included in the play lists of major radio stations, both in USA and Europe. In the Billboard Charts of USA, the single, which features twelve remixes, went to number 1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music Club Play chart. Anna's most recent album is a new Greek Album called Nylon which is the first dual disc ever to be released in Greece. She is said to be releasing a new International English Album in spring 2006. It will most likely be pushed back later, because of the Eurovision Song Contest. Also Anna Vissi is planning an Unplugged album for 2006. Some other hit CD's of her's include Klima Tropiko (Tropical Climate), Travma (Wound), Antitodo (Antidote), Kravgi (Scream), X, and Paraxenes Eikones (Strange Images). A World Tour for 2006 is also in the works.
Iceland
Iceland has its national final on February 18th in Reykjavík. Before the final there will be a series of 3 semi-finals held on January 21st and 28th and February 4th with 8 songs in each. The top 4 songs in each semi-final (chosen by televoting) will qualify for the final where the public will also choose the winner. The songs which end up in the 5th position from each of the semi-finals will be in with a chance to qualify for two wildcards. These wildcards will join the qualified songs to make up a final of 14 songs. Among the singers are former Icelandic performers Eyjólfur Kristjánsson (1991) and Birgitta Haukdal (2003).
Semi-Final #1 - January 21st
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ég sé | Íris Kristinsdóttir |
| 2 | Þér við hlið | Regína Ósk |
| 3 | Sést það ekki á mér? | Matthías Matthíasson |
| 4 | Það sem verður | Friðrik Ómar |
| 5 | María | Gunnar Ólason |
| 6 | Stundin Staðurinn | Þóra Gísladóttir & Edgar S. Atlason |
| 7 | Í faðmi þér | Maríanna Másdóttir |
| 8 | Strengjadans | Davíð Þ. Olgeirsson |
Semi-Final #2 - January 28th
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andvaka | Guðrún Árný Karlsdóttir |
| 2 | Eldur nýr | Arndís |
| 3 | Flottur karl, Sæmi rokk | Magni |
| 4 | 100% hamingja | Heiða |
| 5 | Lífið | Eyjólfur Kristjánsson & Bergsveinn Arilíusson |
| 6 | Hjartaþrá | Sigurjón Brink |
| 7 | Hamingjusöm | Fanney Óskarsdóttir |
| 8 | Dagurinn í dag | Geir Ólafsson |
Semi-Final #3 - February 4th
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mig langar að vera hjá þér | Þórey Heiðdal |
| 2 | 100% | Rúna |
| 3 | Mynd af þér | Birgitta Haukdal |
| 4 | Útópía | Dísella Lárusdóttir |
| 5 | Á ég | Bjartmar Þórðarson |
| 6 | Á meðan hjartað slær | Katy Winter |
| 7 | Til hamingju Ísland | Silvía Nótt |
| 8 | Það var lagið | Gunnar Ólason |
===Ireland===
Ireland was the first country to announce its Eurovision performer. 39-year-old Brian Kennedy will sing the Irish entry in Athens. Ireland will select Brian Kennedy's 2006 Eurovision Song Contest entry during a live show on 17 February where he will perform four songs and the public will vote for the best one. Brian Edward Patrick Kennedy is an Irish singer-songwriter and author. He was born and grew up on the Falls Road in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He performed on the original Secret Garden version of the song You Raise Me Up and was performer in Riverdance on Broadway in New York. He also wrote two novels titled, The Arrival of Feargal Flynn and Roman Song.
Israel
The Israeli KDam will be held on March 15th, with twelve songs competing. An early favourite is Maya Buskila, the only big star in the contest, although the field also includes former "Star Academy" favourite Michael Kirkilan and American born Eddie Butler, who as part of the group Eden, represented Israel in 1999 with "Happy Birthday". The Israeli broadcaster still needs to confirm whether or not this national selection process will happen since they are currently facing financial difficulties.
| Position | Singer | Song |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guy Harari | ? |
| 2 | Eddie Butler | ? |
| 3 | Shlomo Gronich | ? |
| 4 | Stalos & Oren Chen | ? |
| 5 | Gabi Shushan, Uzi Fux & Sherry | ? |
| 6 | Misha Kirkilan | ? |
| 7 | Tzipi Mash'hid | ? |
| 8 | Game Boys | ? |
| 9 | Rama Messinger | ? |
| 10 | Aviva & Maya Avidan | ? |
| 11 | Maya Buskila | ? |
| 12 | Diamonds | ? |
Latvia
The Latvian final, Eirodziesma, will be held in early March and before the final there will be 2 semi-finals in February. The competing songs have now been confirmed.
Semi-Final 1 - February 4th
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | We are the best | Beitiku ģimene |
| 2 | Frozen flower | Fidji |
| 3 | I hear your heart | Cosmos |
| 4 | Say it is | Marts Kristiāns Kalniņš & Melo-Mania |
| 5 | Find you | Kerija Kaleja & Santa Ozolina |
| 6 | Every mother and every child | Z-Scars |
| 7 | Bring The Sun | 2 Pieces of Cake |
| 8 | Player | Nicol |
| 9 | Later | Amber and Sonja Bishop |
| 10 | Feelin' | PRego |
Semi-Final 2 - February 11th
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feel the engine | Re:public |
| 2 | Day or night | Amberlife feat. Anna Polanski |
| 3 | Late Goodbye | Gain Fast |
| 4 | Don't | Nasty Smile |
| 5 | Get out of my way | VIA Meitenes |
| 6 | Roll down | May G |
| 7 | You say that kissin' is good | H20 |
| 8 | I'm alone | Jenny May |
| 9 | Love is everywhere | Device feat. Dāvis Kolbergs |
| 10 | Heaven In Your Eyes | Elina Furmane |
Lithuania
Lithuanian broadcaster LRT announced 22 of the 'big names' for the two semi-finals, scheduled to take place on 18th and 25th February. Lithuania will pick its 2006 Eurovision Song Contest representative at 4th March. So-called newcomers can earn a ticket for the semi-finals in three preselections. After the three preselections, two more shows will take place on 4th and 11th February in which the best-preselected newcomers will perform, to complete the list of semi-finalists. During these shows, four newcomers will be chosen to participate in the semi-finals.
The following artists are guaranteed a place in the semi-finals:
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kita diena/another day | 4Fun |
| 2 | Just for Fun | Aistė Pilvelytė |
| 3 | The heat | Alanas Chošnau |
| 4 | Madona | Aliukai |
| 5 | Day or night | Amberlife |
| 6 | Wonder who loves you | Artas |
| 7 | If my dream came true | B'Avarija |
| 8 | Pajūrio samba | Bugs Band |
| 9 | Flirtin' on the dance floor | C–Stone ir Favour |
| 10 | Tavo ir mano dalia | Edmundas Kučinskas |
| 11 | Geografias | Eduardo Gimenez |
| 12 | Už lango šventė | Egidijus Sipavičius |
| 13 | Grafiti | Giulija |
| 14 | It's a longest way | Highway |
| 15 | Velkuom | Inculto |
| 16 | We are the winners | LT United |
| 17 | Escape me tonight | Mantas |
| 18 | Alright | N.E.O. |
| 19 | Pavasario lietus | Nacija |
| 20 | I feel so free | Road Band |
| 21 | Lithuanian boy | Rūta Lukoševičiūtė |
| 22 | Back to the future | Saulės Kliošas |
The newcomers have been devided into three heats. During those heats four songs qualify themselves for the semifinals. This is the result of those heats:
Newcomers final - 4th February
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The way to you | Dovilė |
| 2 | Window to the world | Ashtrey |
| 3 | Halo | Colder |
| 4 | Girl you know | Intro's |
| 5 | Pop žvaigždė | Antanas |
| 6 | 4 Ever | Dove |
| 7 | I don't think | Jonas |
| 8 | Falling in love | Robertas Kupstas |
| 9 | Not good to be mad | Eglė |
| 10 | Time to change | Onsa |
| 11 | Make me wanna loose you | Augustė |
| 12 | Round and round | Gravel |
F.Y.R. Macedonia
MKRTV announced during a press conference that FYR Macedonia will select its song for the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest on 26th February. 51 songs were submitted, 20 songs were chosen already and the running order will be decided later on. The winner will be chosen by televoting, a backup jury is present in case of failure. Four of the nine-jury members will represent MKRTV; the other jury members represent a private television network, a radio channel, OGAE Macedonia and SHPATO, the association of songwriters and composers in FYR Macedonia.
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Svetlina | Bojana Atanasovska |
| 2 | Taan i med | Eva Nedinkovska |
| 3 | Mala odmazda | Bagaz |
| 4 | Zemi se | Ibrahim Islamoski |
| 5 | Posle nas | Bojana Atanasovska |
| 6 | Silna | Kaliopi |
| 7 | Podaj raka | Enedin Bisevac & Daria Ilievska |
| 8 | Cvet vo postela | Natasa Mijatovic |
| 9 | Ke blesne zrak za nas | Natasa Gulevska |
| 10 | Vo mojot son | Bojana Atanasovska |
| 11 | Ljubov e... | Adrijan & Esma |
| 12 | Ke prespijam na kauc | Adnan |
| 13 | Bidi diva | Filip Jordanovski |
| 14 | More od solzi | Lambe Alabakovski |
| 15 | Moja najmila | Petar Mehandziski |
| 16 | Zlatni zici | Dzoksi |
| 17 | Ninanajna | Elena Risteska |
| 18 | Koj pat da izberam | Maja Odzaklievska |
| 19 | Skokotkaj me | Arci |
| 20 | Mori mome | Panta Rei |
Malta
The Maltese Final will be held on February 3rd & 4th - two of the finalists will be the first and second placed songs from the "Opportunity 2" show which is for performers who have never taken part in previous Maltese Finals.
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | You too | J. Anvil |
| 2 | Amazing | Anabel Debono |
| 3 | Only till the morning | Ali & Lis |
| 4 | It just comes natural | Josef Tabone & Amanda Farrugia |
| 5 | Echoes of Gaia | Charlene & Natasha |
| 6 | I promise you | Manuel Xuereb |
| 7 | I do | Fabrizio Faniello |
| 8 | Tell me | Eleanor Cassar |
| 9 | This heart of mine | Trilogy |
| 10 | So good | Andreana |
| 11 | Time | Paul Giordimaina & Morena |
| 12 | Reachin' out | Pamela |
| 13 | Stronger | Christian Arding |
| 14 | Waves | Nadine Axisa |
| 15 | Stay with me | Lara Azzopardi |
| 16 | You're my dream | Kevin Borg |
| 17 | High alert | Claudia Faniello |
| 18 | Spare a moment | Olivia Lewis |
Moldova
National broadcaster Teleradio-Moldova (TRM) published the artists and songtitles of the songs submitted for Moldova's national preselection. An internal jury will select 25 or 30 songs to be presented in a television show that will take place on the 5th of February. After that, a jury will pick the 15 songs for the national final to take place on the 25th of February.
The song to represent Moldova at the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, in Athens, will be decided by 50% televoting and 50% jury.
Monaco
Behind closed doors Monaco has chosen its Eurovision entry for 2006. Although the title has not been made public, it is believe to be an up-tempo song, and over the next couple of months, TMC will hold an internal selection to choose the performer.
Netherlands
The Dutch Final will be held on March 12th at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam. Each performer will sing three songs and the winner will be chosen in two rounds of voting. In the first round an expert jury will select the best song by each performer before the eventual winner is chosen by televoting. The three performers are foursome Behave, 2004 Dutch "Pop Idol" runner-up Maud and the female trio Treble.
Norway
The Norwegian final Melodi Grand Prix 2006 will be held on February 4th at the Spektrum in Oslo, hosted by Synnøve Svabø & Stian Barsnes Simonsen. Before the final, there will be 4 semi-finals. The top 2 songs in the first 3 semi-finals will qualify for the final, while the 3rd and 4th placed songs will have a second chance to qualify for the final in the 4th semi-final.
Semi-Final 1 - Alta - January 13th
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lost and found | Jorun Erdal & Geir Rönning |
| 2 | Here for the show | Trine Rein |
| 3 | My dream | Christina Undhjem |
| 4 | Misled | Kirsti Carr |
| 5 | Tonight | Mocci |
| 6 | Sunshine | Arlene Wilkes |
Semi-Final 2 - Bodø - January 20th
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Absolutely fabulous | Queentastic |
| 2 | Heaven's in your eyes | Hanne Haugsand |
| 3 | The better side of me | Ovi Martin |
| 4 | Too much love | Marit Strømøy |
| 5 | I hear music | Hans-Petter Moen & Kim Arne Hagen |
| 6 | I wanna be | Jannicke Abrahamsen |
Semi-Final 3 - Bergen - January 27th
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dreaming of a new tomorrow | Tor Endresen |
| 2 | Paparazzi world | Kathrine Strugstad |
| 3 | Saturday | Birgitte Einarsen |
| 4 | Shut up and kiss me | Phung |
| 5 | Alvedansen | Christine Guldbrandsen |
| 6 | Like a wind | Veronica Akselsen |
Semi-Final 4 - Oslo - February 3rd -Second Chance Round-
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Misled | Kirsti Carr |
| 2 | Sunshine | Arlene Wilkes |
| 3 | The better side of me | Ovi Martin |
| 4 | I wanna be | Jannicke Abrahamsen |
| 5 | Saturday | Birgitte Einarsen |
| 6 | Like a wind | Veronica Akselsen |
Poland
The trio Ich Troje will represent Poland at the Eurovision Song Contest, for the second time following their 7th place finish in Riga in 2003. This time the group will be joined on stage by German dance music producer Olaf Jeglitza a.k.a. The Real McCoy who enjoyed a couple of massive dance hits in the mid 1990's.
The Polish song, which will compete in the semi-final on May 18th is very different from Ich Troje's 2003 entry "Keine Grenzen – Żadnych granic" (No Borders) which was a Euro-anthem. "Follow My Heart" is a 1990's style synthesizer led track, but it does have one common trait with Ich Troje's previous entry, it is multi-lingual. The version performed in the Polish final was perforemed in Polish and English, but they are preparing to strike at Eurovision with a French - Russian - German - Hebrew - English version.
Ich Troje was created in 1997 by songwriter Michal Wisniewski and composer Jacek Łągwa. Wisniewski, the charismatic red-haired singer, has been the most popular person in Polish show business for several years. The group's name can be translated as "The Three of Them." Since about 2000, Ich Troje has been the most popular Polish group. Their fans come from different backgrounds: from amused children to pensioners in tears. Their concerts are great shows that combine the power of pop music with the verve of a musical. They talk about love, betrayal, break-ups in a dramatic atmosphere. Now they hope that people from other countries will also enjoy their songs because, as Michal sings, there shouldn’t be any borders between people and it’s time to put that idea into practice.
| Position | Song | Singer | Jury | Televote | Total | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Goodbye | Agata Torzewska | 2 | 0 | 2 | 11th |
| 2 | Undercover | Danzel | 1 | 4 | 5 | =8th |
| 3 | I Wanna Know | Katarzyna Moś | 0 | 0 | 0 | =12th |
| 4 | Za Karę | Maciej Silski | 3 | 1 | 4 | =10th |
| 5 | Love Is What We All Need | Leonie Kuizenga | 0 | 0 | 0 | =12th |
| 6 | Follow My Heart | Ich Troje featuring Real McCoy | 5 | 12 | 17 | 1st |
| 7 | Good Girl | Dezire | 12 | 2 | 14 | 4th |
| 8 | Popatrz Na Mnie | Ha-Dwa-O | 0 | 0 | 0 | =12th |
| 9 | Na Kolana | Katarzyna Cerekwicka | 10 | 7 | 17 | 2nd |
| 10 | Kocham Cię | Sławomir Uniatowski | 7 | 6 | 13 | 5th |
| 11 | Jeżeli Jesteś - Wołam Cię | Mosqitoo | 4 | 0 | 4 | =10th |
| 12 | W Nas Ciepło Wiosen | Brathanki | 0 | 5 | 5 | =8th |
| 13 | How Many People | The Jet Set | 8 | 8 | 16 | 3rd |
| 14 | Zero Do Stracenia | Kto To | 6 | 3 | 9 | 7th |
| 15 | I Fell In Love | Queens | 0 | 10 | 10 | 6th |
Portugal
RTP held a meeting to decide the definitive plans of Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. The broadcaster will organize a preselections show with ten songs, out of which the winner will be chosen by televote and by a jury. The preparations of what will be the return of Festival da Canção are underway. The show is to be broadcasted live from a venue in Lisbon, on March 10th. The songs in the contest will come from music producers invited by RTP. Five producers will come up with two songs performed by singers chosen by them and approved by the Portuguese broadcaster.
RTP will hold a press conference this week or next week to present the name of the invited authors and also the name of some of the singers. It is expected that some artists will be fairly unknown to the Portuguese public. These names are to be approved by the broadcaster.
Romania
TVR announced that the Romanian selection for the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest takes place on 26th February, 12 songs will compete. In two semi-finals, scheduled to take place on 24th and 25th February, 24 songs will take part (12 in each semi-final). The best six of each semi-final proceed to the final.
Russia
From 2006 two Russian broadcasters, Channel One and Channel Russia, are going to join forces to the select future Eurovision participants. Channel One will make the 2006 selection through a national final, while Channel Russia (RTR) will select the 2007 representative.
Russia has announced the launch of preparation stage for national selection. On 26th of January Russian Channel One has begun officially accepting submissions to participation in the National Preselection 2006, submission will be accepted in two weeks time. Advertisements are expected to start rotating at the channel since January 27th
Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro will once again have two separate semi-finals with the best songs progressing to a final to be staged in Serbia. Montenegro's Montevizija will be staged on February 24th in Pogdorica. Serbia's Beovizija on March 10th. With the final Europesma in Belgrade featuring the best ten songs from each territory on March 11th.
Semi-Final 1 - Montevizija - February 24th
| Position | Singer | Song |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bojan Delic | Sudbina |
| 2 | Crveno i Crno | Anđeo u očima |
| 3 | Marija Brajovic | U meni ostao si ti |
| 4 | Perović Krug | Putujem sama |
| 5 | Stefan Filipović | Za nju još vazduh dišem |
| 6 | Dalibor Dado Đurović | Ne postojim |
| 7 | Dan Poslije | Koraci |
| 8 | Danica Krsmanović | Žubor vina |
| 9 | Jelena Kažanegra | Naći ću te |
| 10 | Nela Popović | Kao Feniks |
| 11 | Nikola Karadžić | Hasta la vista |
| 12 | Nina Žižić | Potraži me |
| 13 | Katapult | Kad ljubav pobijedi |
| 14 | Vladana Vučinić & Bojana Nenezić | Željna |
| 15 | Saša Barjaktarević | Budi svoj |
| 16 | Grim | Uspavanka |
| 17 | Milena Vučić | Živa sam |
| 18 | Milica Milić | Ti si mi za sve |
| 19 | Stevan Faddy | Cipele |
| 20 | No Name | Moja ljubavi |
Semi-Final 2 - Beovizija - March 10th
| Position | Singer | Song |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blah, blah bend | Maler |
| 2 | Julija i Julija | Iskrena pesma |
| 3 | Ivana Selakov | Izabran |
| 4 | Biber | Kapija |
| 5 | Mari Mari | Da ti se dlanovi zalede |
| 6 | Zvezde Granda i Šaban Bajramović | Blizina |
| 7 | Tijana Dapčević | Greh |
| 8 | Ivana Jordan | Lazarica |
| 9 | Ana Nikolić | Romale romali |
| 10 | Flamingosi feat. Luis | Ludi letnji ples |
| 11 | Maja Nikolić | Kada ti treba |
| 12 | Nevena | Ništa o njoj |
| 13 | Ivana Knežević | Poruka za ljubav |
| 14 | Propaganda 117 | Bajka |
| 15 | Ana Bekuta | Konak |
| 16 | Koktel bend | Vatrena |
| 17 | Marko Jeftić | Sve ili ništa |
| 18 | Blizanci | Jednom pokidano |
| 19 | Vanja Radovanović | Kad me jednom za te ne bude |
| 20 | Želimir Petrović | Otrezni me |
| 21 | Enes Ukić | Osvoji me |
| 22 | Dejan Vozlić | Nisam kriv |
| 23 | Romana | Kap po kap |
| 24 | Slađa Ivanišević | Neopisivo |
Slovenia
Slovenia chose its Eurovision entry for 2006 on January 29th when 14 songs competed for the votes of the public and a panel of experts. The voting was divided into three sections; a public televote, the jury and SMS (text) votes. As seems to be the norm in Slovenia, the result was once again very controversial. The public in both the televote and the SMS vote chose EMA veteran Saša Lendero and her ethnic dance song "Mandoline", which was extremely well performed on the evening. The quirky and extremely kitsch Atomik Harmonik who have made a name for themselves in Slovenia, Austria and Germany, through their novelty dance pop arrangements to traditional polka rhythms finished second in both the televote and the SMS vote. However when it came to the panel of experts, they completely ignored the public's two favourites and instead voted for Anžej Dežan and his song "Plan B" which had finished 4th in both the public votes. Saša Lendero also finished 2nd in last year's EMA, after originally gaining more televotes than "Stop" the song which went to Kyiv.
18 year old Anžej Dežan born on 17. June 1987 in Celje, will be one of the youngest performers in Athens and he was one of the few newcomers to this year's E.M.A. He originally came to fame in the same talent show which discovered Slovenia's 2005 Eurovision singer Omar Naber. Interesting Anžej has already recorded a track with EMA runner-up Saša Lendero. Anžej is a very style conscious young man, and goes through more image and hairstyle changes in a couple of years, than most people manage in a lifetime.
An investigation on the song "Plan B" will happen very soon since it has been discovered that it has plagarized the whole instrumental part of the song "Santa Maria" sung by Simone from Austria.
| Position | Song | Singer | Televote | Jury | SMS | Total | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nora sem, da te ljubim | Nuška Drašček | 0 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 9th |
| 2 | SOS | Natalija Verboten | 6 | 1 | 6 | 13 | 6th |
| 3 | Noro se ujameva | Rebeka Dremelj & Domen Kumer | 8 | 2 | 8 | 18 | =4th |
| 4 | Tu da du | Sergeja | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | =13th |
| 5 | Mandoline | Saša Lendero | 12 | 0 | 12 | 24 | 2nd |
| 6 | Rapad tepe ipi mapam | Andraž Hribar | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | =11th |
| 7 | V mojih dlaneh | Marijan Novina | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | =13th |
| 8 | Polkaholik | Atomik Harmonik | 10 | 0 | 10 | 20 | 3rd |
| 9 | Vihar | Maja Slatinšek | 1 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 10th |
| 10 | Hokus pokus | Ylenia | 2 | 10 | 0 | 12 | =7th |
| 11 | Plan B | Anžej Dežan | 7 | 12 | 7 | 26 | 1st |
| 12 | Najdi me | Katrinas | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 | =7th |
| 13 | Ostani z mano | Monika Pučelj | 5 | 8 | 5 | 18 | =4th |
| 14 | Hočem stran | Alenka Godec | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | =11th |
Spain
Spanish broadcaster TVE is currently accepting potential Eurovision entries with a submission deadline of January 31st. It is now believed that Spanish broadcaster TVE favours a national final to select their entry. Artist that have confirmed an entry in the Spanish selection are Triunviratum, Arkaitz, Las Supremas de Mostoles, Jhona, Key Echavaria, Anabel Conde, Julia, Kike & Kyke, Silvia Fedriani, and Mikel Herzog.
Sweden
"Melodifestivalen", the Swedish Final, will be held at the Globe Theatre in Stockholm on March 18th, hosted by Lena Philipsson who represented Sweden in ESC 2004. Before the final there will be 4 semi-finals and a second-chance round. The top 2 songs in each semi-final will qualify for the final, while the 3rd and 4th placed songs will go forward to the second-chance round.
Semi-Final 1 - Ejendahls Arena, Leksand -18th February
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aiayeh (The Music Of The Samba) | Simone Moreno |
| 2 | Kameleont | Electric Banana Band |
| 3 | This woman | Anna Sahlene |
| 4 | The name of love | Magnus Bäcklund |
| 5 | Jag ljuger så bra | Linda Bengtzing |
| 6 | Kuddkrig | Pandang |
| 7 | Naughty boy | Hannah Graaf |
| 8 | Sing For Me | Andreas Johnson |
Semi-Final 2 - Löfbergs Lila, Karlstad - 25th February
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lev livet | Magnus Carlsson |
| 2 | Oh Yeah | The Elephantz |
| 3 | Etymon | Sonja |
| 4 | Ge mig en kaka till kaffet | Östen med Resten |
| 5 | La chica de la copa | Pablo Cepeda |
| 6 | Idag & imorgon | Kikki Danielsson |
| 7 | En droppe regn | Niklas Wahlgren |
| 8 | Mi Amore | Velvet |
Semi-Final 3 - Rosenholm Arena, Karlskrona - 4th March
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Temple Of Love | Bodies Without Organs |
| 2 | When love's comin' back again | Jessica Folker |
| 3 | Mi amor | Gregor Michaj |
| 4 | Kalla nätter | Jessica Andersson |
| 5 | Nights of passion | The Poodles |
| 6 | Golden star | Elysion |
| 7 | Faller du så faller jag | Patrik Isaksson |
| 8 | Innan natten är över | Kayo |
Semi-Final 4 - Scandinavium, Gothenburg - 11th March
| Position | Song | Singer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Silverland | Roger Pontare |
| 2 | Don't try to stop me | Laila Adéle |
| 3 | Like fire tonight | Günther & The Sunshine Girls |
| 4 | Jag tar det jag vill ha | Sandra Dahlberg |
| 5 | Under your spell | Evan |
| 6 | Mama take me home | Rednex |
| 7 | Älskar du livet | Björn Kjellmann |
| 8 | Evighet | Carola |
Following their best Eurovision result in years, Switzerland will be represented in the final with a song by Eurovision stalwarts Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger. A group named six4one, who have been formed especially for the contest, will perform it. The group consists of Andreas Lundstedt, Tinka Milinovic, Claudia D'Addio, Marco Matias, Liel Colette, and Keith Camilleri. Six4One will sing the song If we all give a little in the final of the 51st Eurovision Song Contest. The song will officially be presented on Marth 18th.
Andreas Lundstedt comes from Sweden and is a member of the universally known band Alcazar. In 2000, the second single of Alcazar “Crying at the Discotheque” became popular throughout Europe. Andreas Lundstedt has been active in show business since childhood. Already at five years of age, he came second at a talent competition. At age 15, he sang in the children’s band Stage Four and appeared on television shows. After a two-year stay in New York, he attempted to reach the Eurovision Song Contest through Melodifestivalen. The song ”Driver dagg faller regn” placed Andreas in the second place. It became a giant hit in Sweden. In the following years, he sang in different musicals, among other things in Grease and Chicago (musical). He just completed the final performances of Saturday Night Live.
===Switzerland===
Following their best Eurovision result in years, Switzerland will be represented in the final with a song by Eurovision stalwarts Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger. A group named six4one, who have been formed especially for the contest, will perform it. The group consists of Andreas Lundstedt, Tinka Milinovic, Claudia D'Addio, Marco Matias, Liel Colette, and Keith Camilleri. Six4One will sing the song If we all give a little in the final of the 51st Eurovision Song Contest. The song will officially be presented on Marth 18th.
Andreas Lundstedt comes from Sweden and is a member of the universally known band Alcazar. In 2000, the second single of Alcazar “Crying at the Discotheque” became popular throughout Europe. Andreas Lundstedt has been active in show business since childhood. Already at five years of age, he came second at a talent competition. At age 15, he sang in the children’s band Stage Four and appeared on television shows. After a two-year stay in New York, he attempted to reach the Eurovision Song Contest through Melodifestivalen. The song ”Driver dagg faller regn” placed Andreas in the second place. It became a giant hit in Sweden. In the following years, he sang in different musicals, among other things in Grease and Chicago. He just completed the final performances of Saturday Night Live.
Participating as well is the Swiss Claudia D'Addio. Since the Casting-show «MusicStar» Claudia D'Addio is known as “The Voice”. Together with the other MusicStars, she had two Nr.1-Hits. She undoubtedly belongs to the best singers of Switzerland. Claudia proves her talent with an incredible voice and cannot deny her Italian roots.
From Malta comes another well-known singer. Keith Camilleri is known in his homeland for his passionate voice and his regular guest appearance on Maltese shows. He travels through the world in order to become and to fulfill itself his dream, of becoming an international superstar. In February 2004, he took part at the Malta Song For Europe for the Eurovision Song Contest and placed fourth with “Tango for two”. In 2005, Keith placed high with another hit song “Sunshine in your eyes”.
Shooting star Liel comes from Israel. The 16-year-old Liel performed with international stars Elton John, Bono and the Scorpions on stage. In the past two years she has given more than 100 concerts around the world. In USA and Germany, Liel is said to be the new Céline Dion. With her songs, she advocates peace in the world.
Marco Matias’ has a Portuguese background. His parents migrated to Germany, but again and again he goes back to his homeland. In 2000, Marco with his band in Portugal took part in the Grand Prix of the Portuguese World and came in third place. Three years later, he took part in the star search casting “Die deutsche Stimme 2003”. Marco was selected as one of the nine candidates from the 12,000 applications. In 2005, he reached second place along with his singing partner Nicole Süssmilch in the German “12 Points!” which selected a song for Eurovision.
Tinka Milinovic comes from Bosnia and Hercegovina. Born in Sarajevo in 1973, where she acquired elementary music education, in the flute department. In 1991, she left for the USA, and in 1992 she is accepted at Louisiana College, to study solo singing. She graduated in 1996 with honours and continued her graduate studies as an assistant and a scholarship recipient in the School of Music at University of Louisiana. In 1998 she earned a Master's degree in opera, solo singing and pedagogy. Tinka proved herself academically and artistically. She later took part in BH Eurosong with the song "Sve sto imas ti" in a very noticed stage performance of musical theatre. At BH Eurosong 2003, she represented herself with the song 'I'm Never Gonna Fall" where she repeated the stage success. In 2005, Tinka reached 2nd place at the BH Eurosong with her ballad “Sometimes I Wish I Were A Child Again”. For three years now, Tinka has held the position as the host of the most popular show on Federal TV, "TV Bingo Show."
Turkey
Experienced artist Sibel Tüzün will represent Turkey in Athens. She started her singing career already in 1971 when she joined broadcaster TRT's child choir. She went on studying classical music and opera. Though lately she is most famous for being a pop and rock artist. Sibel Tüzün will represent Turkey not only as a singer but also as a songwriter and a composer. "I will prepare 3 songs according to TRT's demands. And the committee will indicate the song to join to Eurovision. The song will be Turkish according to TRT's decision. In my CD, there will also be the English and Greek versions. Now my aim is to be in first 3 by presenting a super song, a wonderful performance and a great show." said Sibel Tüzün about the song she will sing in Athens.
Ukraine
This year, Ukraine is using the same formula that Ireland has previously used, known as "You're A Star”, to select its 2006 entry. In this Ukrainian version, known as "Ti-Zirka", auditions will take place in six regions. From each audition, a panel of judges will select two to go forward as finalists. The 12 selected will then go to an academy where they will work with composers, stylists and choreographers. In early 2006, eight televised shows will eliminate the finalists and select the singer and song. The Eurovision entry will be chosen on March 11th by a mixture of televoting and expert jury.
First Round Elimination:
| Position | Singer |
|---|---|
| 1 | Evgenia Saharova |
| 2 | Anastasia Luzhnikova |
| 3 | Daria Mineeva |
Second Round:
| Position | Singer |
|---|---|
| 1 | Kirill Turichenko |
| 2 | Tina Karol |
| 3 | Irina Rosenfeld |
| 4 | Natalia Volkova |
| 5 | Stanislav Konkin |
| 6 | Taras Dobrovolskiy |
| 7 | Vladimir Tkachenko |
| 8 | Hanna Kohanchik |
| 9 | Olga Sviridenko |
United Kingdom
Five songs compete in the third edition of "Making Your Mind Up" - tentatively scheduled for 4 March 2006 - which selects the U.K. entry. Four will be commissioned by the BBC and a fifth through the song writing initiative "Sold on Song".
External Links
| Eurovision Song Contest 2005 | Eurovision Song Contest 2006 | Eurovision Song Contest 2007 |
