San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Country | San Marino | |||
National selection | ||||
Selection process | Artist: Internal selection Song: Digital Battle | |||
Selection date(s) | Artist: 6 March 2020 Song: 9 March 2020 | |||
Selected entrant | Senhit | |||
Selected song | "Freaky!" | |||
Selected songwriter(s) |
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Finals performance | ||||
Final result | Contest cancelled | |||
San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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San Marino planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, which was scheduled to be held in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Italian singer Senhit was chosen to represent the nation with her song "Freaky!". Sammarinese broadcaster San Marino RTV (SMRTV) internally selected the singer, while her song was selected through a national final entitled Digital Battle. Senhit previously represented San Marino in the 2011 contest, but failed to qualify for the final. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe during 2020, the Eurovision Song Contest was cancelled in mid-March 2020. "Freaky!" was subsequently an entry for several replacement events including Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light, Der kleine Song Contest and Sveriges 12:a. Senhit announced during the former of the three that she would return to represent the nation at the 2021 contest the following year.
Background
Prior to the 2020 contest, San Marino had participated in the
Before Eurovision
Digital Battle
On 6 March 2020, SMRTV announced that they had internally selected Senhit once again to represent San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020.[6] Senhit previously represented San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 under the pseudonym Senit, placing 16th in the first semi-final with the song "Stand By", failing to qualify for the final.[1] Sammarinese Head of Delegation Alessandro Capicchioni cited the success of her single "Dark Room" as the impetus behind his decision to bring her back to the contest. To select her song for 2020, it was announced that an online contest entitled Digital Battle would be organised where the public would vote for the song.[6]
Two candidate songs produced by Gianluigi Fazio took part in Digital Battle: "Freaky!" and "Obsessed".[7] "Freaky!", co-written by Danish songwriters Henrik Steen Hansen and Nanna Bottos, was described by Cristian Scarpone of Wiwibloggs as being a fun disco track following in the tradition of San Marino's recent disco entries from Serhat, as well as Valentina Monetta and Jimmy Wilson.[8][9] "Obsessed" is a revamped English-language production of Senhit's single "Un bel niente" (2019) with additional songwriting credits for Charli Taft and Olivier Nordh.[7][9] Both songs were described by the media as being electropop.[9][10] Voting was made available through Senhit's official website between 7 and 8 March 2020 and the winning song, "Freaky!", was announced on 9 March 2020.[11][12] SMRTV reported that the event received 31,846 votes from over 200,000 unique visitors to the website during the voting period.[8] "Freaky!" received 16,433 votes (52%), while "Obsessed" received 15,413 votes (48%).[13] Luca Tommassini, who directed the music video for "Dark Room", served as artistic director for the nation's preparations for the 2020 contest.[6]
At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was originally scheduled to take place at
Alternative song contests
Some of the broadcasters scheduled to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 organised alternative competitions. Austria's ORF broadcast Der kleine Song Contest in April 2020, which saw every entry being assigned to one of three semi-finals. A jury consisting of 10 singers that had represented Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest were tasked with ranking each song; the best-placed entry in each semi-final advanced to the final round.[22] In the first semi-final on 14 April 2020, San Marino placed 13th in a field of 14 participants, achieving 35 points.[23] San Marino's song also partook in Sveriges Television's Sveriges 12:a in May,[24] though it failed to qualify for the final round.[25]
References
- ^ a b c d e "San Marino - Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 3 August 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
- ^ Viniker, Barry (18 December 2008). "San Marino leaves Eurovision Song Contest". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
- ^ Floras, Stella (15 December 2009). "No San Marino either for Eurovision 2010". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
- ^ "Tonight San Marino present their entry". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 14 March 2014. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
- ^ Christou, Costa (25 May 2019). "San Marino: RTV confirm 2020 participation!". ESCXtra. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
- ^ a b c "Senhit in gara all'Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in rappresentanza di San Marino!" (in Italian). San Marino RTV (SMRTV). 6 March 2020. Archived from the original on 15 July 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ a b "National Finals 2020". Oikotimes. 2020. Archived from the original on 29 March 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
- ^ a b "Senhit sul palco di Rotterdam con 'Freaky!'" (in Italian). San Marino RTV (SMRTV). 9 March 2020. Archived from the original on 13 March 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ a b c Scarpone, Cristian (7 March 2020). "San Marino: Senhit releases 'Freaky!' and 'Obsessed' and opens online vote to select song for Eurovision". Wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ "San Marino Esc 2020: scegli la canzone di Senhit" (in Italian). San Marino RTV (SMRTV). 7 March 2020. Archived from the original on 8 March 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ "Senhit to represent San Marino again!". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 6 March 2020. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
- ^ Scarpone, Cristian (6 March 2020). "Senhit will represent San Marino at Eurovision 2020 and fans will choose her song in a 'digital battle'". Wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
- ^ Granger, Anthony (10 March 2020). "San Marino: 'Freaky!' Won Online Selection By Just Over 3% Of The Vote". Eurovoix. Archived from the original on 23 December 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest Rotterdam 2020". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 2020. Archived from the original on 6 March 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
- ^ "Rules – Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 20 June 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2020 – First Semi-Final". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 2020. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2020 – Second Semi-Final". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 2020. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
- ^ Groot, Evert (28 January 2020). "Which country performs in which Eurovision 2020 Semi-Final". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 21 April 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ "Eurovision 2020 in Rotterdam is cancelled". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 18 March 2020. Archived from the original on 18 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
- ^ "Intention to honour Eurovision 2020 songs and artists". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 20 March 2020. Archived from the original on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
- ^ "ESC 2021: Senhit tornerà a rappresentare San Marino a Rotterdam" (in Italian). San Marino RTV (SMRTV). 17 May 2020. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
- ^ "Mr. Song Contest proudly presents – Der kleine Song Contest am 14., 16. und 18. April in ORF 1" (in German). ORF. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
- ^ Vautrey, Jonathan (16 April 2020). "Der kleine Song Contest: Iceland and Malta win the first two episodes". Wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
- ^ Dahlander, Gustav (3 April 2020). "Klart för Eurovision-vecka i SVT" (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
- ^ Ek, Torbjörn (11 May 2020). "De röstades vidare i svenska Eurovision-tävlingen". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.