Poland, Slovenia and Ukraine all selected their Eurovision entries in another busy week for the Song Contest.
At Vidbir 2020, the Ukrainian national selection competition, Go_A came out on top, achieving the maximum six points from both the televote and the jury.
The band will be heading to Rotterdam with their song Solovey (Nightingale), an eclectic mix of traditional panpipes and electronic music.
This will mark the first ever Ukrainian entry to be sung entirely in Ukrainian.
Go_A will compete in the second semi-final on 14 May for a place in the grand final.
Ukraine has a great track record at Eurovision, qualifying for the final every year they have entered and winning twice, with Ruslana’s Wild Dances in 2004 and Jamala’s 1944 in 2016.
Go_A’s participation marks Ukraine’s return to the Eurovision Song Contest after missing last year’s contest in Tel Aviv.
The nation withdrew after disagreements with their selected entry Maruv.
The Voice of Poland winner Alicja Szemplińska will be representing her country in Rotterdam, after beating Kasia Dereń and Albert Černý – who you may remember from Czech Republic’s 2019 entry Lake Malawi – in the Polish national selection.
Alicja, 17, impressed the jury and viewers with her performances of Loreen’s Euphoria and original song Empires, and will be taking the latter to Rotterdam this May.
A booming ballad, the song is all about Alicja’s voice and will likely feature minimal staging in the first semi-final.
Alicja will be hoping to turn around Poland’s luck, after Gromee ft Lukas Meijer and Tulia failed to qualify in the last two years.
Poland has never won at Eurovision, with its highest ranking coming in its very first contest in 1994, when Edyta Gorniak came second to Ireland.
And Slovenia chose Ana Soklič for Rotterdam, with the singer beating 11 other finalists to win the EMA national selection.
Facing off against former Junior Eurovision star Lina Kuduzović in a ‘superfinal, Ana was named victor by the televote.
She will be taking her ballad Voda (Water) to Rotterdam, where she will compete in the first semi-final.
Slovenia has a mixed bag when it comes to qualifying for the grand final, but real life couple Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl managed it last year, eventually coming 15th with their song Sebi.
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 participants
ALBANIA: Arilena Ara – Shaj
ARMENIA: Athena Manoukian – Chains On You
AUSTRALIA: Montaigne – Don’t Break Me
AUSTRIA: Vincent Bueno – Alive
BELGIUM: Hooverphonic – Release Me
BULGARIA: Victoria (song TBA)
CYPRUS: Sandro – Running
CZECH REPUBLIC: Benny Cristo – Kemama
FRANCE: Tom Leeb – The Best In Me
GEORGIA: Tornike Kipiani (song TBA)
GREECE: Stefania – SUPERG!RL
ISRAEL: Eden Alene (song TBA)
ITALY: Diodato – Fai rumore
LATVIA: Samanta Tina – Still Breathing
LITHUANIA: The Roop – On Fire
MALTA: Destiny Chukunyere
NORTH MACEDONIA: Vasil (song TBA)
NORWAY: Ulrikke – Attention
POLAND: Alicja Szemplińska – Empires
ROMANIA: Roxen (song TBA)
SLOVENIA: Ana Soklič – Voda
SPAIN: Blas Cantó – Universo
THE NETHERLANDS: Jeangu Macrooy (song TBA)
UKRAINE: Go_A – Solovey
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