San Marino 2019: All you need to know about Serhat and his entry “Say Na Na Na”
The Sammarinese national broadcaster, SMRTV, opted for an internal selection and announced that Serhat will be the one to represent the country at the 64th Eurovision Song Contest next May in Tel Aviv. Serhat will perform the song entitled Say Na Na Na
A few words about Serhat
Ahmet Serhat Hacıpaşalıoğlu (aka Serhat) was born 24 October 1964, in Istanbul where he grew up too. He started his song career in 1997 but his involvement in artistic scene begun earlier, as he has his own production company, namely End Productions. He was behind several tv productions among which “Riziko” (the turkish edition of the American show “Jeopardy“) which was hosted by himself (from 1994 to 1996 on TRT and since 1998 until 2000 on Kanal 7). In 2004 he released the duet song with Viktor Lazlo entitled “Total Disguise“ which met success. He released a remastered version of the song last year in collaboration with ESC 2005 winner, Helena Paparizou.
Serhat represented San Marino in Eurovision 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden. His entry entitlted, “I Didn’t Know” ,written by Nektarios Tyrakis, almost made it to the final as it finished 11th in the semi final, due to the jury voting that ranked him second last. Lets remember Serhat’s Eurovision 2016 performance:
The entry “Say Na Na Na”
Serhat himself is behind the song alongside with Mary Susan Applegate. The entry is a dance pop song with strong disco elements. The Cypriot DJ KonCept (Kostas Papadouris) is in the production team while Nikos Marianos will be responsible for the song’s staging in Tel Aviv. Serhat will be closing the first semi final with his performance on May 14.
Lyrics of “Say Na Na Na”
Na-na-na-na-na-na
Na-na-na-na-na-na
Na-na-na-na-na-na
Na-na-na-na-na
Is something wrong tonight?
Why this rush to run away?
Things will be alright
Just be strong and look at me
Hear me when I say
Who cares that you’re out of love?
It happens every day
No matter what you do
Love all colors of this life
And to yourself, be true
Don’t forget my number
Call me anytime
I will always tell you life is beautiful and fine
On a doctor’s order please say na na na
There’s a light for you that waits, it’s na na na
Say na na na, say na na na
You’re not alone, so stand up, na na na
Be a hero, be the rainbow, and say na na na
Say na na na
Na-na-na-na-na-na
Na-na-na-na-na
No matter what you do (Tell me)
Love all colors of this life
And to yourself, be true (Is it true?)
Don’t forget my number
Call me anytime
I will always tell you life is beautiful and fine (Na na na)
On a doctor’s order please say na na na
There’s a light for you that waits, it’s na na na
Say na na na, say na na na
You’re not alone, so stand up, na na na
Be a hero, be the rainbow, and say na na na
Say na na na (Na na na)
We can take it slowly (We can take it slowly)
Think I’m going crazy (Think I’m going crazy)
Yes, I’m going crazy
We can all go crazy
Bir, iki, üç
On a doctor’s order please say na na na
There’s a light for you that waits, it’s na na na
Say na na na, say na na na
You’re not alone, so stand up, na na na
Be a hero, be the rainbow, and say na na na
Say na na na
THE EUROVISION STORY SO FAR
San Marino debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008 with Miodio and is yet to win the event. The landlocked country has participated in Europe’s favorite television show 9 times and has only made it to the Grand Final once, in 2014 when Valentina Monetta placed 24th in the Grand Final.
Valentina has flow the Sammarinese flag at the Eurovision Song Contest four times ( 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017).
In 2018 the Sammarinese broadcaster came up with a fresh and innovative approach to select its Eurovision act and entry for Lisbon, an online international national selection 1 in 360.
Jessika Muscat and Jennifer Brening won the 2018 Sammarinese national final and defended the Sammarinese colours at the Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon with their entry Who we are. Despite a great performance San Marino failed to qualify to the Grand Final for the fourth consecutive time.
