Eurovision 2020: Azerbaijan, Romania and Ireland confirm Eurovision 2020 participation
Another set of three countries have confirmed that they will be present in the forthcomig Eurovision song contest as Azerbaijan, Romania and Ireland have confirmed their Eurovision 2020 participation.
Azerbaijan
The Azerbaiajani national broadcaster, has confirmed to ESCToday that Azerbaijan will compete at the forthcoming 2020 Eurovision Song Contest . However Ictimai will reveal the national selection format in due course.
The Eurovision Story so Far
The Land of fire debuted in the contest in 2008 and since then they have been present in every single edition of it. In 2011 The duo Eldar & Nikki gave the country its one and only victory with their entry Running scared, leading the Eurovision event next year in the capital city of Baku. The country counts 11 participations and hasn’t missed a year since its debut.
In 2018 Azerbaijan was represented by Aisel and her entry X my heart, despite a dynamic performance she failed to qualify to the Grand Final. In 2019 Azerbaijan chose Chingiz through an internal selection to represent the country in Tel Aviv with his entry Truth, which finished 8th in the Grand final scoreboard.
Romania
The Romanian broadcaster has confirmed that it will be participating in the the next edition of the Eurovision song contest in Rotterdam next May. TVR has confirmed to ESCToday that it will be joining the party in The Netherlands as its board approved the participation in the nex competition. However the broadcaster hasn’t yet revealed the format it will be following to determine its Eurovision 2020 entry.
The Eurovision Story so Far
Romania made its first attempt to compete in the contest back in 1993 for the Eurovision Song Contest. After competing in the preliminary semi-final in Slovenia with Dida Dragan, failed to win one of the three spots that led to the Eurovision stage in Millstreet, Ireland
Romania officially debuted at the the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994 with Dan Bitman and has participatted a total of 23 times since then. Its best reuslts were scored in 2005 with Luminita Anghel and in 2010 with the duo Paula Seling & Ovi achieving in both cases the honorable 3rd place in the Grand Final. In 2016 the country received a penalty by the EBU due to its broadcaster’s overdue debt and was forced to withdraw from the contest, although it had chosen its Eurovision entry and act for Stockholm.
In 2018 Romanian band The Humans won the Selecţia Naţională and performed Goodbye on the stage of Altice Arena in Lisbon. For the first time in its history the country didn’t make it to the final, breaking a record of qualifying to each grand final since the semi finals were introduced. This year the country was represented by Ester Peony with her entry On a Sunday but failed to reach the grand final.
Ireland
The Irish national broadcaster confirmed to ESCToday that Ireland will be present in the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest in The Netherlands. RTE has cleared out that the most winning country in Eurovision will be joining the list of countries that will be present in Rotterdam next May. However, the broadcaster will reveal more details on the method it will use to select its representative in the near future.
The Irish Eurovision Story so far
Ireland is a country of records when it comes to the Eurovison Song Contest. It participated for the first time in 1965 and has won the competition 7 times, more than any other country. (1970, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996).
It is the only country that has won the contest three successive years (1992, 1993, 1994) while Dublin is the only city to have hosted the event two consecutive years. (1994,1995). During the decade of 90’s the country had a row of 4 vicotries in a 5 year time (1993, 1994, 1995 and 1997) and Dublin became host city three times.Irish act Johnny Logan is the only one to have won the contest twice (1980, 1987).
In 2018 the country selected internally Ryan O’Shaughnessy to represent the country with his song Together, which finished 16th in the grand final. This year internally selected Sarah McTernan represented the country with her entry “22” which failed to qualify to the grand final.
