Unser Star für Baku comes to its next elimination round today, where one singer has to leave the line-up. Roman has been the favourite from the beginning and is the only man left. However, Yana has also become a top favourite over the last 2 weeks. The next show on Thursday, the “quarter-final”, will eliminate one of the five entrants. The quarter-final will be the first USFB show to be aired on Das Erste, while tonight’s show is again on Pro Sieben.

This Monday
(all times CET)

20:15		Unser Star für Baku Show 5, elimination round
	TV:	Pro Sieben (website)
	stream:	none
	official websites:	Unser Star für Baku NDR eurovision page
	candidates:	Roman Lob Yana Gercke Ornella de Santis Shelly Phillips Céline Huber Katja Petri
	hosts:	Steven Gätjen & Sandra Rieß
	voting:	100% televoting

Join the chat for the full #esc experience.

sources: esc-chat.com , unser-star-fuer-baku.tv , wikipedia.org

Besides the Maltese national final, we also had a couple of semi-finals last night. In total, 14 songs proceeded to the next stages of the preselections in Sweden, Norway, Hungary and Lithuania. In the latter three countries, these qualifiers will all be added to the line-ups for their finals. In Sweden, two songs were sent directly to the final in March, while two more entries will get another shot in the “Andra chansen” (2nd chance) round.

Hungary and Lithuania used a combination of jury and televoting as their voting method, while the qualifiers in Norway and Sweden were selected by 100% televoting.

HUNGARY

A Dal, qualifiers for the final:

• Tibor Gyurcsík - Mozi szélesvásznon
• Nika - This love
• The Kiralys - Untried
• Juli Fábian & Zoohacker - Like a child

LITHUANIA

Qualifiers for the Lithuanian final:

• Beissoul - Why
• The Independent - Baby
• Multiks - Star

NORWAY

MGP, qualifiers for the final:

• Petter Øien & Bobby Bare - Things change (1st)
  
• Tooji - Stay (2nd)
  
• Yaseen & Julie Maria - Sammen (3rd)
  

SWEDEN

Melodifestivalen, qualifiers for the final:

• Loreen – Euphoria
• Dead by April – Mystery

Qualifiers for “Andra Chansen”:

• Sean Banan - Sean den förste banan
• Thorsten Flinck och Revolutionsorkestern - Jag reser mig igen

sources: esc-chat.com , esctoday.com

“This Is The Night” is Malta’s song for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku! The 22-year-old singer Kurt Calleja won last night’s Malta Eurovision 2012 final, ahead of runner-up Claudia Faniello and Amber. In Azerbaijan, he will present his entry in the 2nd semi final.

The chat’s favourite from the semi, Francesca Borg (Take Me Far), finished in joint 11th place – while everyone’s favourite singer named after a German footballer, Klinsmann, ended up last with no points at all.

Full results

1. This is the night – Kurt Calleja
2. Pure - Claudia Faniello
3. Answer with your eyes – Amber
4. Petals on a rose – Gianni
5. Look at me now – Richard Edwards
6. I will fight for you – (Papa’s song) – Fabrizio Faniello
7. In your eyes – Lawrence Gray
8. Autobiography – Dorothy
9. 7Days – Danica Muscat
10. Mystifying eyes – Corazon
11. Time – Wayne Micallef
11. Take me far – Francesca Borg
13. First time – Kaya
14. You are my life – Janvil
15. You make me go uh uh – Deborah C
16. No way back – Klinsmann

sources: esc-chat.com , tvm , esctoday.com

image source: tvm

Tonight sees another song added to the list for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest in Baku as Malta selects its entry. The qualifiers from last night’s semi-final can be seen in the table below – the running order will be announced later today.

Elsewhere, Sweden enters the game with the first semi-final of Melodifestivalen 2012, and Lithuania also holds the first round of its preselection.

And by the end of tonight, we will have seen the entries from Norway and Hungary, with their third and second semi-finals respectively closing out their elimination process with only the grand final to follow.

This Saturday

(all times CET)

19:55		Norway, semi-final 3/3 Melodi Grand Prix
	TV:	NRK1 (website)
	stream:	click here
	entries:	Tooji – Stay Marthe Valle – Si Petter Øien & Bobby Bare – Things change Yaseen & Julie Maria – Sammen Håvard Lothe Band – The greatest day SiLyA – Euphoria The Canoes – Seemed like a good idea Lise Karlsnes – Sailors
	voting:	100% televoting
	hosts:	Per Sundnes & Marte Stokstad
	subchat:	type /join #norway
20:00		Sweden, semi-final 1/4 Melodifestivalen
	TV:	SVT (website)
	stream:	click here
	entries:	Sean Banan – Sean den förste banan Abalone Dots – På väg The Moniker – I want to be Chris Isaak (This is just the beginning) Afro-Dite – The boy can dance Dead by April – Mystery Marie Serneholt – Salt and pepper Thorsten Flinck och Revolutionsorkestern – Jag reser mig igen Loreen – Euphoria
	voting:	100% televoting
	hosts:	Sarah Dawn Finer, Gina Dirawi & Helena Bergström
	subchat:	type /join #sweden
20:00		Lithuania, semi-final 1/4 Lithuanian National Final
	TV:	eurovizija.lt (website)
	stream:	click here
	entries:	The Independent – Baby Kamile Kielaite – Try Multiks – Star Valdas Maksvytis – Dar laiko yra Chill Out, Have No Doubt – Until the end The Artrace – Fly LT Indigo – Sugrizk Laisva – Nutolk Beissoul – Why
	voting:	50% jury, 50% televoting
	hosts:	Darius Užkuraitis & Liepa Kiauleikytė
	subchat:	type /join #lithuania
20:15		Hungary, semi-final 2/2 A Dal
	TV:	M1 (website)
	stream:	click here
	entries:	Tibi Gyurcsík – Back in place Gina Kiss – Chasing dreams Péter Puskás – Csillagok Monsoon – Dance Renáta Tolvai – Élek a szemeidben Anti Fitness Club – Lesz, ami lesz Juli Fábián & Zoohacker – Like a child Mónika Veres – This love The Királys – Untried Sophistic – Yeah OK!
	voting:	Three qualifiers selected by jury, one qualifier selected by televote
	hosts:	Kapocs Zsóka & Gundel Takács Gábor
	subchat:	type /join #hungary
20:40		Malta, final Malta Eurovision 2012
	TV:	TVM (website)
	stream:	click here
	entries:	Amber – Answer with your eyes Claudia Faniello – Pure Corazon – Mystifying eyes Danica Muscat – Seven Days Deborah C ft. Leila James – You make me go uh uh Dorothy Bezzina – Autobiography Gianni Zammit – Petals on a rose Fabrizio Faniello – I will fight for you (Papa’s song) Francesca Borg – Take me far J. Anvil – You are my life Kaya – First time Klinsmann – No way back Kurt Calleja – This is the night Lawrence Gray – In your eyes Richard Edwards – Look at me now Wayne Micallef – Time
	voting:	75% jury, 25% televoting
	hosts:	Ronald Briffa & Elaine Saliba
	subchat:	type /join #malta

Join the chat for the full #esc experience.
Sources: esc-chat.com, escdaily.com, nrk.no, svt.se, tvm.com.mt

Malta Eurovision will be held over two days, beginning today with its semi, and ending tomorrow with the final. Tonight, 16 entries will be chosen, the finalists will be announced in a random order.

The second show of UMK will be aired tonight in Finland, where the artists will perform live in front of the jury for the first time. No details about the further selection process are known yet.

This Friday

(all times CET)

20:00		Finland, show 2/5 Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu
	TV:	YLE TV2 (website)
	stream:	click here
	subchat:	type /join #finland
20:30		Malta, semi-final 1/1 Malta Eurovision 2012
	TV:	tvm (website)
	stream:	click here
	entries:	01. Seven Days – Danica Muscat 02. You Are My Life – J. Anvil 03. Walk On Water – Isabelle Zammit 04. Take Me Far – Francesca Borg 05. No Way Back – Klinsmann 06. Look At Me Now – Richard Edwards 07. Whoop It Up – Annalise Ellul 08. This is the Night – Kurt Calleja 09. DNA – Romina Mamo 10. Can’t Get Away – Nadine Bartolo 11. In Your Eyes – Lawrence Gray 12. First Time – Kaya 13. Pure – Claudia Faniello 14. Dance Romance – Jessica Muscat 15. Time – Wayne Micallef 16. Autobiography – Dorothy Bezzina 17. Petals On A Rose – Gianni Zammit 18. I Will Fight For You (Papa’s Song) – Fabrizio Faniello 19. While Her Eyes Still Glow – Janice Mangion 20. I Want To Run Away – Eleanor Cassar 21. Mystifying Eyes – Corazon 22. You Make Me Go Uh Uh – Deborah Cft. Leila James 23. Still Waiting – Anna Azzopardi 24. Answer With Your Eyes – Amber
	voting:	jury / televote
	hosts:	Ronald Briffa & Elaine Saliba
	subchat:	type /join #malta

Join the chat for the full #esc experience.
Sources: esc-chat.com, esctoday.com, escdaily.com

Six entrants qualified from today’s elimination round in Germany. There was a change to the voting system, as step by step, the artists with the most votes – minute by minute – got saved for the next round.

Tonight, Sebastian Dey and Umut Anil had to leave the show.

The next show of “Unser Star für Baku” will be held on Monday already, where only one singer will be eliminated.

The qualifiers

1. Roman
2. Yana
3. Ornella
4. Shelly
5. Céline
6. Katja

sources: esc-chat.com

Unser Star Für Baku is one of the 8 remaining singers that will compete in tonight’s second elimination round. Last week, Leonie and Rachel had to leave the show. Today, another two singers will be kicked out by the televoters. In the meantime, the show might have to face legal consequences because of the voting system, as it’s suspected of creating artificial pressure on the televoter. However, a Pro7 spokesman commented that the show is within the legal boundaries.

This Thursday
(all times CET)

20:15		Unser Star für Baku Show 4, elimination round
	TV:	Pro Sieben (website)
	stream:	none
	official websites:	Unser Star für Baku NDR eurovision page
	candidates:	Yana Gercke Sebastian Dey Umut Anil Ornella de Santis Shelly Phillips Roman Lob Céline Huber Katja Petri
	hosts:	Steven Gätjen & Sandra Rieß

Join the chat for the full #esc experience.
Sources: esc-chat.com , unser-star-fuer-baku.tv , tagesspiegel.de

It took us one more day than usual, but anyway: the third edition of “This Week” is online!

As the season gets closer and closer to its climax, the show gains more and more content. For the first time, we have a fellow chatter as guest judge for his home country.

We cover a lot of things that have happened and look ahead to the many things happening in the near future – but don’t just take our word for it, see for yourself!

The January action in this year’s Eurovision national final season came to a close on Saturday night with three semi-finals, in Norway, Iceland and Hungary.

The latter was perhaps the most intriguing, as the interest, fan hype and (relatively!) good result enjoyed by the country last year seems to have paid dividends. Broadcaster MT1 trailed the preselection show all day and, with two semi-finals featuring a decent number of well-known local artists, will be hoping for another qualification in Baku. Meanwhile, the seven songs that will participate in the Icelandic final are now known, and Norway moved closer to completing its line-up.

HUNGARY

As the ten entries in the first Hungarian semi-final were performed, an expert jury – including former Eurovision participants Kati Wolf (2011) and Viktor Rakonczai (1997, 2008 and 2011) – gave its points in “Strictly Come Dancing” style after each song was performed.

The top three with the jury duly moved on to the final:

3rd Caramel – Vízió
2nd Gábor Heincz – Learning to let go
1st Compact Disco – Sound of our hearts

A televote was then held to select one more finalist – which, as it happens, was also the song that placed 4th with the jury:

Gabi Tóth – Nem kell végszó

The second semi-final in Hungary will take place next Saturday.

NORWAY

Further north in Norway, there were no great shocks as the bookmakers’ hot favourite to win the entire Melodi Grand Prix, Plumbo, triumphed in the second semi-final. The positions of the three qualifiers were announced as follows:

3rd Malin – Crush
2nd Tommy Fredvang – Make it better
1st Plumbo – Ola Nordmann

ICELAND

In the last event of the night, the Icelandic final line-up was completed as televoters selected two qualifiers from the third semi to compete on February 11th. They were:

Magni Ásgeirsson – Hugarró
Greta Salóme, Heiða & Guðrún Árný – Aldrei sleppir mér

And it turns out that the final will, in fact, consist of seven songs – with a jury wildcard also being announced tonight. The lucky candidate comes from last week’s second semi-final and is:

Rósa Birgitta Ísfeld – Stund með þér

Sources: mtv.hu, nrk.no, ruv.is

Despite the ever-hectic schedule during the on-season, there are no finals tonight – but three countries will hold semi-finals on their search for an entry for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest in Baku.

The new player this weekend is Hungary, where the first of two semi-finals in “A Dal” will be held. Four songs will qualify from tonight’s show.

Meanwhile, the selection process in Norway and Iceland continues in the same vein as last week. By the end of tonight, we will have seen the Icelandic entry for Baku – whatever it ends up being! – while Norway has one more semi-final to get through before the grand final.

This Saturday

(all times CET)

19:55		Norway, semi-final 2/3 Melodi Grand Prix
	TV:	NRK1 (website)
	stream:	click here
	entries:	Cocktail Slippers – Keeps on dancing Isabel Ødegård – I’ve got you Tommy Fredvang – Make it better Rikke Lie – Another heartache Malin – Crush Plumbo – Ola Nordmann Minnie-Oh – You and I Rikke Normann – Shapeshifter
	voting:	100% televoting
	hosts:	Per Sundnes & Marte Stokstad
	subchat:	type /join #norway
20:15		Hungary, semi-final 1/2 A Dal
	TV:	M1 (website)
	stream:	click here
	entries:	Rudi Krisz – A fél veled egész Attila Kökény & Tamara Bencsik – Állítsd meg ad idöt Niki Gallusz & Márton Vizy – Európa, egy a szívunk Annamari Dancs – Feel Barna Pély, Eszter Pál & István Pál “Szalonna” – Hangok a szívekért András Kállay-Saunders – I love you Gábor Heincz – Learning to let go Gabi Tóth – Nem kell végszó Compact Disco – Sound of our hearts Caramel – Vízió
	voting:	Three qualifiers selected by jury, one qualifier selected by televote
	hosts:
	subchat:	type /join #hungary
21:30		Iceland, semi-final 3/3 Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2012
	TV:	RÚV (website)
	stream:	click here
	entries:	Herbert Guðmundsson – Eilíf ást Magni Ásgeirsson – Hugarró Greta Salóme, Heiða & Guðrún Árný – Aldrei sleppir mér Svenni Þór – Augun þín Íris Lind Verudóttir – Aldrei segja aldrei
	voting:	100% televoting
	host:	Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir
	subchat:	type /join #iceland

Join the chat for the full #esc experience.
Sources: esc-chat.com, esctoday.com, escdaily.com, nrk.no