San Marino: Get to know Jessika and Jenifer Brening

San Marino will be represented in the 63rd Eurovision song Contest by Jessika and Jenifer Brening. This year, the country’s national broadcaster SMRTV decided to organize the national final 1in360 and collaborated with the British company with the same name. On the 23rd of December SMRTV announced that eleven candidates will compete in this year’s national final from different countries: the eight of them were chosen by a jury in collaboration with the national broadcaster while the other three were chosen through an on-line contest. The candidates uploaded a video in which they were singing a cover from any song they wanted. After this procedure,  three live shows took place and by the combination of jury votes and televoting Jessika and Jenifer won with their entry “Who We Are“.

Who are Jessika and Jenifer?

Jessika Muscat was born on the 27th of February 1989. She is a Maltese singer and actress. She is very popular in her country as she had participated in Maltese national final for eight consecutive years from 2009 to 2016 (2009-Smoke-screen, 2010-Fake, 2011-Down Down Down, 2012-Dace Romance, 2013-Ultraviolet, 2014-Hypnotica, 2015-Fandango, 2016-The Flame). Her first tries led to very bad results but in 2014 she came first in televoting. However, all these years the juries were not favorable with her entries. Furthermore, in 2004 she tried to represent her country in Junior Eurovision with the song “Precious Time“. This year she plays in a daily Maltese soap opera Ħbieb u Għedewwa too.

Jenifer Berning was born on the 15th of December 1996. She is a German singer who became popular with her imminent participation in Eurovision. On March 21 it was announced that Basti (Sebastian Schmidt) will join the team as back vocalist. Basti took part in this year’s national final with the song Stay too and participated in the second X-Factor of Germany.

San Marino has been participating in Eurovision since 2008. Its first entry was  group Miodio with the song Complice. After a two-year hiatus it came back in 2011 with Senit and the song Stand by. It has failed to qualify all the times apart from Valentina Monetta’s participation in 2014 with the song Maybe which placed 24th in the Grand Final. Last year, the country was represented by Valentina Monetta again and Jimmie Wilson who failed to qualify with only one point with the song The Spirit Of The Night.

Listen to this year’s entry

Read the lyrics below

[Verse 1: Jessika]
Bullied from the moment we were born
We were always on our own
No one ever said we should be proud
Or embrace the fact of standing out
Forward too long, we just played along
Always putting up a show
But that was then, look at us now
All we want is for them to know

[Pre-Chorus 1: Jessika]
We are who we are
And who we are is who we want to be
We don’t have to listen
‘Cause all that counts is you and me

[Chorus: Jessika]
And then we’re rising when we fall, oh, oh
In the middle of storm we’re standing tall, oh, standing tall
And if they tell us why we’re wrong, oh, oh
Then the love in our hearts will keep us strong, oh, oh

[Verse 2: Jenifer Brening]
Uh listen up. listen up
It’s me, Jenny B, what you get is what you see
As for Jess over here, she’s a special VIP
So you better listen carefully
If they dissin’ you on Twitter
Don’t get sad, don’t be bitter, don’t give up or be a quitter
Show them you’re better (Yeah, hell no)
If they say so, get in the car, rev it up, and be it a star
‘Cause you know who exactly who we are
Give it to ’em, Jess

[Pre-Chorus 2: Jessika & Jenifer Brening]
We are who we are (yeah)
And who we are is who we want to be
We don’t have to listen (don’t listen)
‘Cause all that counts is you and me (hey, hey, hey, hey)

[Chorus 2: Jessika & Jenifer Brening]
And then we’re rising when we fall, oh, oh
In the middle of storm we’re standing tall
Oh, standing tall (this is who we are)
And if they tell us why we’re wrong, oh, oh (we will march onward, spreading the love)
Then the love in our hearts will keep us strong, oh, oh (yeah, yeah, yeah)

[Bridge: Jessika]
They can make it silent
But in our hearts we’ll never be

[Outro: Jessika & Jenifer Brening]
And then we’re rising when we fall, oh, yeah (yeah, yeah)
In the middle of storm we’re standing tall, oh, standing tall
And if they tell us why we’re wrong, oh, oh, yeah
Then the love in our hearts will keep us strong, oh, oh