Iceland - Our Choice - Ari Ólafsson

Picture from digital presskit

19 - 15 pts in semi 1

Ari Ólafsson represented Iceland in Lisbon with his song Our Choice.
The song is written by Þórunn Erna Clausen.
Here's the video of the English version, the Icelandic one (Heim) is here.

Four versions of Our Choice (see below) were released on the digital Söngvakeppnin album(s). The Eurovision version can of course be found on the official All Aboard! 2CD with all this years Eurovision entries.
Update Our Choice was released as a  seperate digital single remix. The release date seems to be May 8 2018, but we missed that at the time. It doesn't mention the song as being a remix at your digital stores and streamers.
But the Youtube version on the composers channel confirms it is made by StopWaitGo, (They also remixed the 2015 Icelandic entry)
(Thanks Rick!)
All promotional material is digital, there is no physical release.

Remix version DRI

Who's Ari?
Ari Olafsson's road to stardom began when he played the title role in the musical Oliver (by the National Theatre Of Iceland) when he was 11 years old.
"Our" Selma Björnsdottir (ESC 1999 and 2005) was the one to discover Ari and he's been busy ever since.
In 2015 he participated in The Voice Iceland and in 2017 he was a backing singer at the Icelandic Eurovision selection Söngvakeppnin.
After Eurovision Ari will continue his musical studies at the London Royal Academy Of Music.

Þórunn Erna Clausen
In 2011 songwriter Þórunn (Thorunn) Erna Clausen wrote the lyrics to Coming Home / Aftur Heim, the song to be performed by her husband Sjonni Brink in the Söngvakeppnin of that year.
You know the sad story: Sjonni died just before the national contest and a group of his friends performed the song and went on to the Eurovision final.
She wrote at least eight Söngvakeppnin from 2011 on.
Þórunn will be on stage with Ari as pianist an backing vocalist. She will also direct the staging.
The CD and cdsingle of Sjonni Brink and Sjonni's Friends are still available here at BeaRecords.

Söngvakeppnin 2018
Iceland's Eurovision entry was selected in the Söngvakeppnin 2018 final on March 3.
12 songs were competing. All have been recorded in Icelandic and 11 of them also in English. You can listen to all songs here at RÚV's Eurovision pages.
All songs have been released through digital sources.
The releases include Icelandic versions, English versions, Icelandic karaokes and English karaokes.

Digital album image

Versions
Our Choice - English version
- also on the official Lisbon 2CD
Our Choice - remix version (by StopWaitGo)
Heim - Icelandic version
Our Choice - karaoke
Heim - Icelandic karaoke
- all digital releases


Links and sources:

Thanks to Davíð Lúther at Ari's HQ. Thanks to Frederick.

Ari Ólafsson: Facebook, Instagram
RÚV Eurovision pages
Icelands recent Eurovision tunes: 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014 - 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010 - 2009

Let's Get Physical

The first cdsingle of 2018

Here's a quick checklist of this year's physical releases (CD's, vinyl) available in the shops.
For promo and digital info please check each country's individual post.

Singles
it's very quiet still, on the cdsingle front but we have a limited edition vinyl: Italy.
Spain's cdsingle is out on March 23. Two of the pre-selection songs were also released as cdsingles.
Australia's cdsingle is expected on May 11. (better late than never)
Germany has a cdsingle planned for May 4.
Switzerland ZiBBZ sell their cdsingle in combination with their CD album It Takes A Village.


National Final Albums
Spain - All Spanish pre-songs are available on a special edition Operacion Triunfo 2CD
Also limited edition CDs of both Alfred and Amaia are released.
Sweden - Melodifestivalen 2018 is out on 2CD
Hungary - A Dal 2018 out on 2CD
Italy - Sanremo 2018 all songs on a 2CD
Portugal: 25 of the 26 Festival da Canção Cançãos are out on one CD



This Years Artists Albums

SuRie's Dozen

Poland - Gromee's album Chapter One is out now (March 16)
France - MM's album Vu d'Ici is out on April 20.
Netherlands - Waylons new CD has Outlaw On 'It. (April 13) CD and LP.
Italy - Both Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro have new albums in the shops (both on CD and LP).
Ermal Meta also released a live CDset with two versions of the Eurovision tune.
Germany - Dreamer: The Best Of Michael Schulte is out on May 3, CD and 2LP
Finland - Saara Aalto's CD Wild Wild Wonderland is out on April 27.
United Kingdom - SuRie released her album Dozen in 2019, the CD includes an exclusive new version of Storm.
Croatia - Franka's CD S Tobom has two verions of Crazy
Cyprus - A re-issue of Eleni's album Vasilissa includes three versions of Fuego including the Spanish one.
Sweden - Benjamin Ingrosso has released his CD Identification, also on limited edition vinyl.
Hungary - AWS released a CD Fekete részem including two versions of Viszlát Nyár. A live CD/DVD Madách also includes the Eurovision song.
Lea Sirk (Slovenia) released her album 2018 in 2018

Gromee seems happy with his CD

The Official Album and stuff
The 2CD with all 43 entries of 2018 was released on April 20.
The karaoke versions are available too, but only digital.
I guess the extravagant vinyl 4LP box of 2017 was a difficult seller, as there will be no similar release this year.
However, if you've got too much money, there's all kinds of other Lisbon 2018 stuff, t-shirts, sweaters, coasters, balloons, fridge magnets, still no condoms though, oh well....
The new Eurovision Board Game is not tied to this contest especially and will last a bit longer, so that may be a nice souvenir.
The DVD release is on June 23. It has three discs and will include unseen behind the scenes material (Universal)
The official site has a shop here.


Books
The Essential Lisbon Handbook is out now, read all about it here.

Dos Abba a Salvador Sobral
If you're in Portugal you can check the bookstores for a new book on Eurovision. It's in Portuguese though, but if that doesn't trouble you...
Eurovisão: Dos Abba a Salvador Sobral by Nuno Galopim tells the 63 year old Eurovision story from a Portuguese perspective. If you're not in Portugal you can buy it at Fnac.

Author Nuno Galopim was the Portuguese commentator for the Kyiv contest and is now a creative consultant for the 2018 contest.

The book is available from May 4. (ISBN 9789896268541)

Portugal 12 Pts.
Another book from Portugal is Portugal 12 Pts by João Carlos Callixto and Jorge Mangorrinha. Inspired by the 2017 victory, this is a trip through Eurovision history with a focus on the Portuguese entries. The book is in Portuguese. (ISBN 9789727806423) and is avialable at Fnac from April 30 on.

Hungary - Viszlát Nyár - AWS

Digital Release Image Original version

21 - 93 pts, 10 - 111 in semi 2

AWS, metal band, represented Hungary in Lisbon.
Their song Viszlát Nyár (Goodbye summer) won the 2018 edition of A Dal.
AWS have been around since 2006 and have released three albums and a few EP's.

Viszlát Nyár was already released as a digital single on the 21st of October 2017.
An English version titled Summer Gone was revealed on April 19 (videoclip at AWS Youtube)
English was released to the digital stores on May 10 along with the acoustic version (in Hungarian)

A promo cds includes five versions, see versions below.
A USB stick with photos, mp3's, info and videos was also made for promotion.

A (dubstep-ish) remake / remix by Cloud9+ ft. AWS was released as a digital single on October 18.

Albums
AWS released their album Fekete Részem a few weeks after the contest. (CD: Edge Records EDGECD 282). This includes Viszlát Nyár in the original and acoustic versions.

A live album featuring an acoustic concert from September 27 was released on a CD/DVD set. This includes a live acoustic version of the Eurovision song (Edge Records EDGECDVD 288)

A Dal
Hungary continued their successful A Dal preselections to find a Eurovision entry for Lisbon.
30 songs, 3 heats, 2 semi finals and a final on 24 februari.
The 2CD with all 30 songs is out since February 2. (see picture below for tracklist. (MTVA 1271)

Versions
Viszlát Nyár - Eurovision version
- A Dal 2CD
Viszlát Nyár - original single version
- CD Fekete Részem
Viszlát Nyár - Eurovision karaoke
- all above digital releases
Viszlát Nyár - Acoustic version
- CD Fekete Részem
Viszlát Nyár - English version a.k.a. Summer Gone
- video
- all above on promo cds, all digital releases
Viszlát Nyár - Cloud9+ ft AWS
- digital release 18-10-18
Viszlát Nyár - Live acoustic
- CD/DVD Madách

Links and sources:
Thanks to Thomas.
AWS: Facebook, Instagram
A Dal Website,  Facebook
More about Hungary's entries here: 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014 - 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2009
AWS at BeaRecords

Italy - Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente - Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro

Eurovision version DRI

5 - 308 pts, not in semi

Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro won the 68th Sanremo festival with their song Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente. The song is written by Ermal Meta, Fabrizio Moro and Andrea Febo.

With the Sanremo victory the wond the right to go to Lisbon and they took the ticket.

The Sanremo winner was released as a limited edition vinyl single on Februari 28. See below for all vinyl releases of this years Sanremo entries. A second batch of the vinyl was expected in April, but it seems there's nothing yet.....

The Eurovision version (edit) was released as a digital single on March 30. A 1-track promo cds with the ESC version was made.

Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente can also be found on Ermal Meta's new album Non Abbiamo Armi (out now on Mescal records on CD and LP) and on Fabrizio Moro's new "best of" album Parole Rumori E Anni. (RCA CD and 2LP). The latter also includes Moro's Sanremo songs of 2007, 2008 and 2017 as well as his own version of the Noemi song Sono Solo Parole from from Sanremo 2012. (see Chi sono... below).

The live album

Non abbiamo armi - Il concerto
A live verion will be released in Januari 2019 on a CD/DVD box set Non abbiamo armi - Il concerto
More details later....

Versions
Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente - Eurovision version
- digital release, promo cds, Lisbon 2CD
Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente - single version
- various albums, vinyl single
Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente - instrumental version
- b-side vinyl single
Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente - Eurovision karaoke

- digital on the official karaoke album

Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente - Live
- forthcoming CD/DVD Non Abbiamo Armi - Il concerto

Digital release image

Chi sono...
Fabrizio Moro has released 11 albums since 1996. His first Sanremo was in 2000 with the song Un Giorno Senza Fine (13th in the newcomers section).
In 2007 he still had to go through the newcomers section (now named Sezione giovani) and ended at #1 with the song Pensa, which became a #1 hit in the Italian charts.
In 2008 he finished 3rd in the Big section with Eppure Mi Hai Cambiato La Vita. In 2010 his Non è Una Canzone didn't make it to the final 10 and 2017 he ended 7th with Portami Via.

Moro also participated in Sanremo as a songwriter. He wrote Sono Solo Parole for Noemi in 2012 (3rd place) and Finalmente Piove for Valerio Scanu in 2016 (13th place).

Ermal Meta first competed solo at Sanremo in the 2016 newcomers section Nuove proposte) with the song Odio Le Favole placing 3rd. But his earliest Sanremo appearance was with the band La Fame Di Camilla. With their song Buio E Luce they entered the newcomers section (Nuovo generazione) but didn't proceed to the final four.

In 2017 he ended 3rd in the big artsist Sanremo with Vietato Morire.

The Sanremo 2CD

The Italian Sanremo festival took place from February 6 to February 10.

Some familiar names were in the contest: Riccardo Fogli (Eurovision 1983), Luca Barbarossa (1988), Decibel with Enrico Ruggeri (1993) and Nina Zilli (2012)

The 2CD with all Sanremo 2018 songs incl. all songs from the new artists section (Nuove proposte) was released on Februari 9. (RCA)

Sanremo Vinili
Last year the Sanremo contest produced six vinyl 7" inch singles for the collectors. (Including the winner by Francesco Gabbani) (list here)
It must have been a success as this year there are many vinyl Sanremo singles on the calender. Will the winner be among them?
Most are limited editions on coloured vinyl. All release dates between Februari 9 and Februari 28.

Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro - Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente (Columbia)
Red Canzian - Ognuna Ha Il Suo Racconto (BMG)
Mudimbi - Il Mago (Warner)
Diodato e Roy Paci - Adesso (Carosello records)
Renzo Rubino - Custodire (Warner)
Noemi - Non Smettere Mai Di Cercarmi (Red Sap)
Roby Facchinetti & Roccardo Fogli - Il Segreto Del Tempo (RCA)
Decibel - Lettera Dal Duca (RCA)
Ornella Vanoni - Imparare Ad Amarsi (RCA)
Mario Biondi - Rivederti (Columbia)
Ron - Almeno Pensami (RCA)
Annalisa - Il Mondo Prima Di Te (Warner)
Enzo Avitabile - Il Corraggio Di Ogni Giorno (RCA)

And then there's another interesting vinilo out now, the 1958 Italian classic entry Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu get a limited edition 60th anniversary re-issue. Read more about that here at Eurocovers.

Website Altro Spettacolo has a list and lots of info on all Sanremo artists new albums. Find it here.

Charts
Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente climbs the Italian charts to #2, pipped to the post by Sanremo's #2 Una Vita In Vacanza by Lo Stato Sociale. Non Mi Fatto gained platinum status in Italy.
Italy top 20: 19, 2, 2, 7, 11, 15, 20, -
Switzerland top 100: 16, 65, -
France top 200 (Ifop): 134
Spain Physical+Digital sales top 50: 33

Links and sources
Ermal Meta: Facebook, Page at Mescal records, Instagram
Fabrizio Moro: Website, Facebook, Instagram
RAI Sanremo pages.
Altro Spettacolo
Italy's entries since they came back from a very long break: 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014 - 2013 - 2012 - 2011

Sweden - Dance You Off - Benjamin Ingrosso

Digital Release Image

7 - 274 pts, 2 - 254 pts in semi 2

Benjamin Ingrosso won the 17th edition of the "modern" Melodifestivalen.
His song Dance You Off is the Swedish entry for the Lisbon contest.
Dance You Off is written by Benjamin Ingrosso, MAG, Louis Schoorl and K Nita.
The song was released as a digital single on February 24 and can also be found on the Melodifestivalen 2CD (see below).

The Litek Remix was released on May 4. (digital release).
The Galavant mix was released on May 11
The extended version (also on the promo) is released on May 18 in the digital stores.

A promo cd has the Eurovision version and the extended version.

Identification
Dance You Off is also out on the Benjamin Ingrosso album Identification. CD out on October 19.
The digital version was released on September 28.
There's also a vinyl LP but that appears to be promo only.

Dance You Off was Ingrosso's second MF entry. In 2017 his Good Lovin' ended 5th in the final.

Benjamin is only 20 but he's been a singer and recording artist for over half his life. In 2006 he won Lilla Melodifestivalen (kids MF) with Hey Sofia and in 2007 he had a No. 2 hit with Jag Är En Astronaut, a coverversion of Ricky Wildes (Kim's bro) 1972 single I Am An Astronaut.
He starred in several musicals but decided to focus on his solo work in 2014.

MF entry Good Lovin' was a No. 10 hit in Sweden and he scored two minor hits after that.
Benjamin Ingrosso is a prolific songwriter and he wrote most his singles himself.  (and a few for other artists as well).
An album is in the making and is planned for release later this year.
See below for his singles discography.

Of course we have to mention the family ties here because we, the Eurovision fans, love that kind of trivia. Benjamin's mom is Pernilla Wahlgren who entered the Swedish Melodifestival five times, but never made it to the Eurovision stage.
Her Piccadilly Circus (MF 1985) became a Swedish classic. Pernilla currently has a real life TV show Wahlgrens Värld (Wahgrens world) where Benjamin drops by from time to time.
Dad is Emilio Ingrosso, songwriter and dancer. Sebastian Ingrosso (of Axwell Λ Ingrosso) is his cousin and Charlotte Perrelli néé Nilsson is (or rather was I guess) his aunty.

Remix DRI

Versions
Dance You Off - Eurovision/MF version
- Melodifestivalen 2CD, digital single
Dance You Off - extended
- promo cds, digital release
Dance You Off - Litek remix
- digital release
Dance You Off - Galavant remix
- digital release
Dance You Off - karaoke
- digital on the official karaoke album
The official videoclip has a longer intro.

Charts:
Swedish top 100: 17, 7, 2, 3, 7, 10, 16, 19, 47, 50, 44, 11, 32, 50, 65, 79
France top 200 (Ifop): 78, -
Spain Physical+Digital sales top 50: 7, -
Spain top 100: 69, -

Melodifestivalen 
You know the recipe by now, four heats and a second chance round all in different cities culminating in a final on in Stockholm. 28 songs in all.
The Melodifestivalen 2018 2CD with all songs was released on February 25.

The official Melodifestivalen album has been the #1 selling album of the year in Sweden every year since 2007 but the 2016 edition got stuck at #3 and it got even worse in 2017 when it ended at #7. 
In 2004, 2005 and 2006 it was #2, in 2003 it was #4, in 2002 it was #13.

At the end of this page you can find statistics of all the chart activity of MF entries since the 'modern' MF was introduced.

Links and sources:
Thanks to Johanna and Therese at TEN records
Benjamin Ingrosso: Facebook, Instagram, Page at Ten Music Group
SVT Melodifestivalen pages.
Charts at Sverige Topplistan.
Find out more about these Swedish entries: 2017 -  2016 - 2015 - 2014 - 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010 - 2009

Benjamin Ingrosso Singles Discography

2017 hit Good Lovin' (DRI)

2018 Dance You Off (MF winner, #2 on the Swedish charts)
2017 One More Time (#79 on the Swedish charts)
2017 Do You Think About Me (#87)
2017 Good Lovin' (MF 2017, #10)
2016 Love You Again
2015 Home For Christmas
2015 Crystal Clear
2015 Fall In Love (#56)
All the above are still available at your favorite digitessen and streaming services.
and the early ones...
2007 Jag Är En Astronaut (cdsingle, #2 hit in Sweden)
2006 Hej Sofia


MF In the charts

So Melodifestivalen is big business and it makes Lotta Svenska Kronor, but it's good to see a good part of money going to good production of both the TV shows and the records. And a large part of the often recordbreaking televoting revenue always goes to charity, åååååh....

Below are the chart results of Melodifestivalen and Eurovision hits in the Swedish top 60 since 2002, when the 32 song MF was introduced.
In a sudden change, 2010 saw only a few entries released on cdsingle, and it showed decline in the number of MF hits.
Since a few years downloads are the main factor in  the Swedish charts so several Eurovision hits chart without being released on cdsingle. Some only chart one or two weeks just after the contest.

Melodifestivalen (and Eurovision) in the Swedish charts
2018 top 100: 21 MF hits - 7 top 10 hits - 1 #1 hit - 1 Eurovision hit
2017 top 100: 21 MF hits - 6 top 10 hits - 0 #1 hits - 9 Eurovision hits

2016 top 100: 26 MF hits - 9 top 10 hits - 2 #1 hits - 12 Eurovision hits

* 2016 Digilistan top 60 - 17 MF hits - 9 top 10 hits - 2 #1 hits

2015 top 100: 19 MF hits - 6 top 10 hits - 1 #1 hit - 6 Eurovision hits

* 2015 Digilistan top 60: 22 MF hits - 9 top 10 hits - 1 #1 hit - 14 Eurovision hits

2014: 17 MF hits - 5 top 10 hits - 1 #1 hit - 6 Eurovision hits

* 2014 Digilistan top 60 2014: 22 MF hits - 10 top 10 hits - 2 #1 hits - 18 Eurovision hits

2013: 22 MF hits - 6 top 10 hits - 1 #1 hit - 4 Eurovision hits

2012: 17 MF hits - 7 top 10 hits - 1 #1 hit - 4 Eurovision hits

2011: 18 MF hits - 7 top 10 hits - 1 #1 hit - 2 Eurovision hits

2010: 28 MF hits - 10 top 10 hits - 3 #1 hits - 9 Eurovision hits

2009: 28 MF hits - 12 top 10 hits - 2 # 1 hits - 16 Eurovision hits

A record breaking 15 Eurovision hits in the week after the contest, most on downloads alone

2008: 30 MF hits - 14 top 10 hits - 1 #1 hit - 9 Eurovision hits

2007: 28 MF hits - 10 top 10 hits - 2 #1 hits - 7 Eurovision hits

2006: 23 MF hits -10 top 10 hits - 3 #1 hits - 6 Eurovision hits

2005: 23 MF hits - 9 top 10 hits - 4 #1 hits - 3 Eurovision hits

2004: 22 MF hits - 8 top 10 hits - 1 #1 hit - 3 Eurovision hits

2003 : 17 MF hits - 8 top 10 hits - 3 #1 hits - 2 Eurovision hits

2002 : 13 MF hits - 4 top 10 hits - 1 #1 hit - 3 Eurovision hits

* 2014: The official charts in Sweden have gone a bit crap, with Spotify and other steamers as a much too infuential source. This list is still the 'official chart' but we'll feature the digilistan as well.
The Digilistan is now the main (digital) sales based Swedish chart.
Changes in 2015: The MF has only 28 entries and the official charts have gone up to a top 100.
Changes in 2016: The method for the official Swedish charts has changed again, now it is almost the same as the digilistan.

You can check your Swedish charts weekly at Sverige Topplistan. 

Greece - Oneiro Mou - Yianna Terzi

Digital release image

14 - 81 pts in semi 1

Gianna (or Yianna*) Terzi (Γιάννα Τερζή) represented Greece in the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest.
A National Final with five songs was planned but after two disqualifications and two not paying the contribution only Terzi was left.

The song is Oneiro Mou ( Όνειρο μου, My dream) written by Aris Kalimeris, Dimitris Stamatiou, Mihalis Papathanasiou and Gianna Terzi herself.
Listen here at Panik records Youtube

Oneiro Mou was a released as a digital single on Februari 16.
*The digital stores use the name Gianna, her own website and FB say Yianna.

A promo cds was issued, it features the Eurovision version, karaoke and instrumental.
The digital release writes the title as Oneiro Mou, the promo reads Oniro Mou.

An English version, Eternity, was released on June 6 as a digital single.

On june 16 a Remix pack with seven remixes was released through all your favorite digital sources.

Remixes DRI

Versions
Oniro Mou - single version
- digital release, Lisbon 2CD
Eternity - English version
- digital release
Oniro Mou - karaoke
- digital on the official karaoke album
Oniro Mou - instrumental
- promo cds

Oniro Mou - AzeR remix
Oniro Mou - Jasmin's Club mix
Oniro Mou - PADE Remix
Oniro Mou - DJ Piko & Giannoussis remix
Oniro Mou - Pilarinos & Karipidis remix
Oniro Mou - T-Bat deep mashup
Oniro Mou - V Koutonias - DJ Pitsi remix
- all remixes are digital releases. 
Oniro Mou - Anestis menexes remix

- digitalMenexes album Live Mix (Panik, 2028)

English version DRI

Links and sources:
Thanks to Frederick
Yianna Terzi: Website, Facebook, Instagram
The recent entries from Greece are here:
2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014 - 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010 - 2009

Czech Republic - Lie To Me - Mikolas Josef

New version DRI

6 - 281 pts, 3 - 232 pts in semi 1

Lie To Me by Mikolas Josef is the Czech entry for the 2018 contest. He wrote the song himself.
The original official video is here at MJ's Youtube.

Lie To Me was released as a digital single on November 19.
The lyrics are pretty raunchy and contain the occasional F-bombs so I'm pretty sure we'll see another version for the Eurovision contest and CD. (current lyrics at Musixmatch)
The videoclip has the F-words faded out a bit, but doesn't leave much to the imagination...
On March 11 the Eurovision version was released, fixing all the explicit issues.

A Spanish/English version was revealed on July 20, it was released as a digital single on July 27. You can listen here at Mikolas' Youtube channel.

No cdsingle or promo cd was issued. For promotion a USB stick with a pair of glasses was used. The USB features audio (Eurovision version), video and info.

The Czech Republic selected their Lisbon entry through an online National Final thingy.
The songs were voted for for two weeks (until January 22) with the official Eurovision.tv Voting app. The final reveal, including a jury vote, was on Januari 29.
You can listen to all six finalists here.

First Digital release image

Versions
Lie To Me - new single version / Eurovision version
Lie To Me - Original single version (Explicit)
Lie To Me - Instrumental
- digital releases
Lie To Me - censored version of original
- videoclip only
Lie To Me - Spanish/English version
- to be released, audio-video already out now

Charts
Sweden top 100: 21, 24, 51, 97, -
Germany top 100: 29, 61, 83, 96, -
France top 200 (Ifop): 122, -
Austria top 75: 9, 14, 24, 23, 50, -
Spain Physical+Digital sales top 50: 19, -
Spain top 100: 39, 58, -
Portugal top 100: 82, -

Links and sources:
Thanks to Frank
Mikolas Josef: Website,  Facebook, Soundcloud, Instagram
CTV Eurovision Pages, Facebook
Some more Czech Eurovision efforts: 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2011

Austria - Nobody But You - Cesár Sampson

promo cds

3 - 342 pts, 4 - 231 pts in semi 1

César Sampson's Nobody But You was the winner of the jury in the Lisbon final.

Already in December ORF introduced Cesár Sampson as the singer of the Austrian Eurovision entry for Lisbon.
Singer and songwriter Sampson already had a little Eurovision experience: He was a backing vocalist for the Bulgarian entries of 2016 and 2017.

Nobody But You is written by Boris Milanov, Sebastian Arman, Joacim Persson and Johan Alkenäs.
Milanov and Persson were also behind the Bulgarian entries of 2018, 2017 and 2016.
(Arman was a co-writer in 2016 too)

The video was revealed on March 9, the digital single was released on March 10.
Karaoke and instrumental were added on March 28.
Watch and listen here.
Remixes will be released soon, watch this space.....

A promo cds is issued. It has the original, instrumental and karaoke versions.
The picture discs offered at e-bay are counterfeit, unofficial, without permission, illegal etc. Don't buy them.

Nobody But You - The EP
A digital EP was released on June 29. It has three previously unreleased versions plus the original karaoke and instrumental.

Digital Release Image

Versions
Nobody But You - single version
Nobody But You - karaoke version
Nobody But You - instrumental version
- digital releases, all on promo
At the contest the intro was cut and it opens with the vocals.
Nobody But You - blues version
Nobody But You - acoustic version
Nobody But You - DJ Burlak remix
- digital releases


Charts
Austria top 75: 64, 1, 13, 41, 45, -
Sweden top 100: 55, -
Germany top 100: 93, -
France top 200 (Ifop): 97, -
Switzerland top 100: 45, -
Spain Physical+Digital sales top 50: 16, -
Spain top 100: 80, -

Alternate Digital Release Image

Links and sources:
Thanks to ORF for the prize!, Thanks to Marek.
Cesár Sampson: Facebook, Instagram
Austria's Eurovision glory: 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014 - 2013 - 2012 - 2011

At the end of the 2014 Conchita post at the Copenhagen Collection you can find a list with all charts results of Austrian entries in the home charts. (1965 to 2017)

Boarding essentials: The Handbook for Lisbon

The Handbook For Lisbon
Like every year, OGAE have published their yearly guide to the Eurovision Song Contest.

If you want to find out about all the artists of the Lisbon contest, this is the book to get.

The full colour 160-page, A5 size handbook is a wonderful companion to your Eurovision nights and beyond.
You'll find backgrounds on all the artists and their songs and the National Selections and other many of them had to conquer to get the ticket to Lisbon.
All is illustrated with pictures of the artists.
The foreword is by Jon Ola Sand.

Special thanks to Ivor Lyttle.
The 160 page booklet is also available here through BeaRecords.

Contact your local OGAE club: List of OGAE NationalFan Clubs.

Belgium - A Matter Of Time - Sennek

Digital Release Image

12 - 91 pts in semi 1

Sennek a.k.a. Laura Groeseneken represented Belgium in the 2018 contest. This year it was the Flemish broadcaster VRT who took care of the Belgian Eurovision entry.
The song, A Matter Of Time was leaked before the official reveal.
Listen here at the VRT news site.

A Matter Of Time is written by Alex Callier (of Hooverphonic fame) and Maxime Tribeche.
A digital single was released on March 6.
An acoustic version was released on May 25.

No physical release or promo was made.

Here's a nice clip of Laura performing her (English) version of the 2017 winner Amar Pelos Dois on Flemish TV.

Versions
A matter Of Time - single version
- digital release
A Matter Of Time - acoustic
- digital release
A Matter Of Time - karaoke
- digital on the official karaoke album

Charts
Belgium top 50 (Flanders): 33, 26, 19, 23, 24, 24, 27, 23, 11, 13, 9, 46, -

Links and sources:
Laura Groeseneken/Sennek: Website, Facebook, Instagram
More Belgium in recent contests: 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014 - 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010 - 2009

Slovenia - Hvala, Ne! - Lea Sirk

Promo cds

22 - 64 pts, 8 - 131 pts in semi 2

Lea Sirk won EMA 2018 and represented Slovenia in Lisbon with the song Hvala, Ne! (Thanks, No!).
The song is written by Lea Sirk, Anej Sirk and DJ Tomy DeClerque.
Watch and listen here at the EMA youtube channel.

All songs in the EMA were performed in Slovenian and Hvala, Ne! was performed in Slovenian in Lisbon.

A digital single was released on March 2.
A promo cds is made for Lisbon, it has the single version, karaoke and instrumental.

A jazzy version featuring the Tomi Purich Trio was released on May 14.

2018 CD
on 12-12-18 Lea Sirk released her CD album 2018. It includes Hvala, Ne and 9 other tracks (Sazas)

Slovenia selected the 2018 Eurovision entry through the 2 round EMA 2018.
16 in the first round from which eight proceded to the final on February 24.
The line up included previous Eurovision singers Tanja Ribič (1997) and ManuElla (2016)

Digital Release Image

Versions
Hvala, Ne! - single version
- digital release
Hvala, Ne! - Eurovision karaoke
- digital on the official karaoke album
Hvala, Ne! - Eurovision instrumental
- all on promo cds
Hvala, Ne! - TrapJazz version ft, Tomi Purich Trio
- digital release
The Eurovision version is different from any of the released versions. Obviously there's the break, but also the intro is cut and some beats are changed.

Picture from Lea Sirk's Facebook

Lea's EMA's
Lea Sirk attempted to get to Eurovision on three previous occasions but she didn't get very far:

2009 Znamenje Iz Sanj (Sign of dreams, 9th)

2010 Vampir Je Moj Poet (The vampire is my poet, 10th)

2017 Freedom (4th in semi final)

In 2014 Lea was a backing singer for Tinkara Kovač at the Copenhagen Eurovision.

So far Lea Sirk has released one album, Roža from 2014.

2014 CD Roža 

Links and sources:
Thanks to Marek.
Lea Sirk: Facebook, Website (new), Instagram
EMA Evrovizija Facebook
Slovenia in recent Eurovisions: 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014 - 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010 - 2009

Australia - We Got Love - Jessica Mauboy

Cd single cover

20 - 99 pts, 4 - 212 in semi 2

Jessica Mauboy represented Australia in the 2018 contest. It was the 2nd time we saw her on the Eurovision stage: She performed her single Sea Of Flags in Copenhagen (2014) when she presented Australia in the interval of the 2nd Semifinal.

The song We Got Love is released as a digital single on March 10. (Sony)
A cdsingle is out now (May 11). The single version is longer than the Eurovision version. (see versions below).
The cdsingle is still available at BeaRecords
(Sony Music Australia 19075837742)

7th Heaven DRI

Four remixes were released (digital) on May 18, see versions below.
A Video edit of the 7th Heaven remix can be found here (video only)

We Got Love is written by David Musumeci and Anthony Egizii (both of DNA Music) with Jessica Mauboy herself.
Musumeci & Egizii also wrote the Australian songs of 2016 and 2017 so they're fast becoming the Ralph Siegel or Thomas G:Son of Australia.

Jessica Mauboy scored 25 times on the Australian charts (9 top 10 hits) since her debut in Australian Idol in 2006.
She currently stars in the TV series The Secret Daughter for which she also recorded two albums with music from the shows. The first Secret Daughter album reached No. 1 in the Australian album charts, the 2nd one got to No. 2. Both albums feature mostly coverversions of well known hits.(but no Eurovision tune in sight).

Tobtok remix DRI

Versions
We Got Love - Eurovision edit
- official Lisbon 2CD
We Got Love - single version (3:22)
- digital release, (forthcoming) cdsingle
We Got Love - 7th Heaven remix 
We Got Love - Tobtok remix
We Got Love - Glammstar remix
We Got Love - Country Club martini Crew remix
- remixes digital releases, all are radio edits
We Got Love - 7th Heaven remix *
We Got Love - Tobtok remix *
We Got Love - Glammstar remix *
- * these three remixes are the full mixes only distributed to DJ's
We Got Love - karaoke version
- digital on the official karaoke album
A Video edit of the 7th Heaven remix can be found here (video only)

Charts
Australian top 100 (Aria): 47, -, 31, -
Sweden top 100: 86, -
France top 200 (Ifop): 148, -
Spain Physical+Digital sales top 50: 44, -

Digital Release Image

Links and sources:
Thanks to Marsman and to Frederick
Jessica Mauboy: Website, Facebook, Instagram
More Australia: 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - (2014)

You'll find details on all Eurovision remixes made by 7th Heaven at the end of the 2017 U.K. post about Lucie Jones