With the first national final just a month away, Eurovision season really is just around the corner, and the delegations are busy preparing. Two artists have already been revealed- Hooverphonic for Belgium and Blas Canto for Spain- and Bulgaria are revealing their artist next week. But how are the other countries selecting their entrant? Here’s what we know so far, and all the important dates for your diaries!
INTERNAL SELECTION: These countries won’t be hosting a national final, but their delegations will be choosing both the artist and the song in time, so we’ll have to stay tuned for updates.
- Austria- confirmed internal selection.
- Belgium- Hooverphonic were the first artist to be announced by VRT, yet we are still eagerly awaiting their song.
- Bulgaria- the artist will be revealed next Monday, on 25th November.
- Cyprus- confirmed internal selection.
- Greece- despite initially opting for a national final, the broadcaster ERT have confirmed that their act will be chosen by internal selection.
- Ireland- although the broadcaster RTE have not explicitly ruled out a national selection, they have called for songs to be submitted to them to choose from, so presumably the selection will be internal.
- Moldova- again, a national final hasn’t been ruled out completely, but word has it that broadcaster TRM has reached out to a well-known singer and composer to write their song for Rotterdam.
- Netherlands- confirmed internal selection.
- San Marino- confirmed internal selection.
- Spain- Blas Canto will be representing Spain, but his song is yet to be released.
- Switzerland- confirmed internal selection.
- United Kingdom- confirmed internal selection.
NATIONAL FINALS: A number of countries will be using a national final- where the proposed songs are put to the public to vote on.
Albania- Festival i Kenges. The first national final will take place in December, with the semi finals running from the 19th to the 20th December, before the final on the 22nd, where Albania’s song and artist will be decided. The list of artists was revealed last week (more to follow!) and the songs will be released this Tuesday 19th November (so hopefully very soon!).
Armenia- Depi Evratesil is back for 2020! After Srbuk was picked internally last year, the Armenian broadcaster AMPTV announced an exciting return to their national final for 2020. The exact format and dates are still to be released, as are the artists and songs, so watch this space for details
Australia- After Kate Miller-Heidke’s victory last year, Australia will be using Australia Decides again to determine their Eurovision artist and song. The first two artists- Vanessa Amorosi and Casey Donovan- have been announced, and we’re eagerly waiting on the rest to follow. The final will be held on February 8th. As I write, two more artists have just been announced- Mitch Tambo and iOTA.
Czech Republic- The public will be able to vote on the Czech artist and song to send to Rotterdam, however the voting will all take place online. The artists will be released on 6th January, and the songs a week later on 13th. This is when the voting window will open, although the exact details of how this will work have not been confirmed yet. Voting will close on 26th January, and the winner will presumably be announced later that day.
Croatia- DORA will once again be the national final through which Croatia choose their Eurovision entry. Unfortunately, there aren’t any further details at the moment, but hopefully we will find out more soon.
Denmark- Dansk Melodi Grand Prix will be returning next year. 10 artists will compete, and the final will be on Saturday 7th March.
Estonia- Eesti Laul will return next year to choose the Estonian entry. The artists have just been revealed (reaction coming soon), and the songs will follow on November 30th. The semi finals will take place on Thursday 13th and Saturday 15th February, before the final on the 29th.
Finland- UMK 2020 will be the show that decides who Finland sends to Rotterdam. The details haven’t been confirmed entirely yet, but what we do know is that 4-10 artists will compete in one live final on Saturday 7th March, and the acts will be announced in the run-up to the live show.
France- despite speculation as to whether France was going to opt for an internal selection, the broadcaster has announced that a national final will be used once again next year. However, the format and dates are still being worked out, so it will be a while before any artists or songs are revealed.
Georgia- The winner of Georgian Idol will once again take to the Eurovision stage to represent the country. The 10 finalists going through to the live shows have been revealed, and it will be an exciting few weeks to see who will win. However, only the artist will be decided by the program- the song will be decided separately.
Germany- Unser Lied fur Rotterdam will be used to decide the German representative next year. Between 10-20 artists will compete, but they haven’t been announced just yet, nor have the dates.
Iceland- Songvakeppnin will be used again next year and 10 artists will participate. Semi One is on 8th February, Semi Two on 15th, and the final will be held on 29th.
Israel- After using HaKokhav HaBa last year, Israel will be going back to The Next Star in 2020. The winner will represent Israel in Rotterdam, but the public will only vote on the artist first. After the artist has been selected, there will be a song selection show where the song is chosen.
Italy- Sanremo is set to return in 2020, and with Francesco Gabbani rumoured to be taking part, the competition is already heating up! 20 artists will compete in the Big Artists category. On 4th and 5th February, the 10 songs will perform in each show before receiving points from a demoscopic jury vote, before the orchestra night on the 6th. The press will vote on the 7th before the Grand Finale on the 8th, where the press, jury, and public votes will be combined to calculate the top 3 artists, who will then be voted on again to decide the winner.
Latvia- Supernova is coming back next year, with the grand final taking place on February 8th (this is looking to be a megabusy night for national finals!). The artists and songs are still to be confirmed.
Lithuania- Eurovizija will once again be used to decide Lithuania’s representative at Rotterdam next year. It will consist of 6 shows, the dates of which are still to be confirmed, as are the songs and artists.
Malta- Just like last year, The X Factor Malta will be used to select their Eurovision contestant. We’re at the bootcamp stage right now, and have a while to wait until the final on February 8th.
Norway- Melodi Grand Prix is back next year to determine Norway’s artist and song. There will be five regional shows- North Norway on 11th January, Central Norway on 18th January, Western Norway on 25th January, Eastern Norway on 1st Feb, Southern Norway on 8th Feb- consisting of 4 songs each. The public will vote in one show, and the winner of each public vote will go through to the final on 20th Feb. There will be another 5 songs in the final picked by a a jury from the whole song selection, and the public will vote in the final for their winner.
Portugal- Festival da Cancao will be used next year, and the line up of artists has been released, but we are still waiting on the songs. Semi One is on the 22nd Feb, before Semi Two on 29th. The final will be on 7th March.
Serbia- Beovizia will be used once again next year, although the dates, artists and songs are still TBC.
Slovenia- EMA will return next year, although we are still waiting for news on the dates, artists and songs.
Sweden- Of course, Melodifestivalen is returning next year to decide the Swedish artist and song, and a number of names (including some former Eurovision contestants!) have been released, with all 28 of them to be out by 26th December, with the songs to follow later. There are four semi-finals based on geographical region- Linkoping on 1st Feb, Gothenburg on 8th Feb, Lulea on 15th, Malmo on 22nd- with seven songs each. The second-chance night will occur on 29th Feb, before the big final on 7th March (another busy night for Eurofans).
Ukraine- After their withdrawal last year, Ukraine is back, and so is Vidbir, their national final, with new rules as to who is eligible to enter. Semi One is on 8th Feb, Semi Two is on 15th Feb, before the final on 22nd Feb. Artists and songs are still unknown.
The Unknowns- Some countries haven’t indicated whether they are using a national final or going internal. I will update the blog as soon as we hear more, but right now (19th November) these countries are:
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- North Macedonia
- Poland
- Romania
- Russia
Another important date to note is 9th March- this is when all the songs should be received by the EBU. We have 4 national finals (MelFest, Festival da Cancao, Dansk Melodi Grand Pric, and UMK) on the 7th, so we may be waiting a while for the internal selections to be announced. Additionally, for those lamenting Hungary’s departure from the contest, A Dal will take place in 2020, but the winner won’t take their song to Rotterdam.
The Euro-Vine 