News - National final season 2010: What happened last week? | Eurovision Song Contest News - Azerbaijan 2012 

Counting from the first Maltese semi final on 9th December, the 13th week of the national final season for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 has passed. 17 more live shows were held in 13 different countries including nine national finals and two song presentations.

Azerbaijan

The national final that had the biggest surprise in store was probably the Azerbaijani one, which was held on Tuesday: At the end of the show, it was revealed that the song to be performed in Oslo would not be announced before 19th March. A total of three acts had taken part in the national final performing a total of four different songs. The jury decided to send Safura to the Eurovision Song Contest and her entry will be chosen out of the three that she performed in the national final: Drip drop, Soulless and Under my skin. Meanwhile, she performed Drip drop during the Ukrainian national final making it a likely choice.

• Live report of the national final here.
  
• Results of the national final here.
  
• More information about the choice of the song here. 

Germany

The German performer selection Unser Star für Oslo continued on Tuesday with the third elimination round being held. Six acts competed and at the end of the voting it was decided that Leon Taylor was eliminated from the competition. The remaining five acts competed in the quarter final on Friday and this time, Sharyhan Osman had to leave the contest. The remaining four acts to compete in the semi final are Jennifer Braun, Lena Meyer-Landrut, Kerstin Freking and Christian Durstewitz. 

• Live report of the third elimination round here.
  
• Results of the third elimination round here.
  
• Live report of the quarter final here.
  
• Results of the quarter final here. 

Portugal

Portugal's Festival da canção was held over three days. The two semi finals were held on Tuesday and Thursday with twelve contestants taking part in each heat. A total of twelve songs qualified for the national final on Saturday. At the end of the voting, it was decided that Filipa Azevedo will go to Oslo with the song Há dias assim, written by Agusto Madereira. She received twelve points from the jury but only seven points in the televoting while Catarina Pareira, favourite of the televoters, received only six points from the jury. The result was not popular in the hall and led to loud booing. Felipa Azevedo had previously won the online quarter final. 

• Live report of the first semi final here.
  
• Results of the first semi final here.
  
• Live report of the second semi final here.
  
• Results of the second semi final here.
  
• Live report of the final here.
  
• Complete results of the final here. 

Turkey

The Turkish entry for Oslo was presented on Wednesday during the evening news programme. maNga will perform the song We could be the same in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. 

• More information about the song presentation and the press conference here.
  
• Picture gallery from the song presentation here. 

Lithuania

After three semi finals, the Lithuanian national final was held on Thursday. Twelve acts competed and at the end of the voting it was decided that InCulto will represent the country in Oslo with the song East European funk. They were the favourites of both the jury and the televoters. 

• Live report of the national final here.
  
• Complete results of the national final here. 

Croatia

The two shows of Dora 2010 were held on Friday and Saturday. 16 acts competed in the semi final on Friday and eight of them were chosenfor the national final, where they would meet the eight pre-qualified acts. At the end of the voting, jury and televoters agreed to send Feminnem to Oslo with the song Lako je sve. The musc is composed by Branimir Mihaljević and the lyrics are written by group members Pamela Ramljak and Neda Neda Parmać. Feminnem already represented Bosnia & Herzegovina in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song Call me. Back then, they finished 14th in the final. 

• Live report of the semi final here.
  
• Complete results of the semi final here.
  
• Live report of the final here.
  
• Complete results of the final here. 

Ireland

Ireland chose its entry for Oslo on Friday. Five acts were in the running and at the end of the show it was decided that 1993 Eurovision Song Contest winner Niamh Kavanagh will fly to Oslo with her ballad It's for you. She received the maximum of points from both the jury and the televoters. Her song was written by Niall Mooney, Marten Eriksson, Jonas Gladnikoff and Lina Eriksson.

• Live report of the national final here.
  
• Complete results of the national final here.
  

Ukraine

The Ukrainian national final was held on Saturday. Vasyl Lazarovich performed all five songs and at the end of the voting, the song I love you was the clear winner. The song is written by Brandon Stone and Olga Yarynich and it features lyrics in both English and Ukrainian. 

• Live report of the national final here.
  
• Complete results of the national final here. 

Moldova

After two semi finals last weekend, the Moldovan national final was held on Saturday. 14 acts competed and eventually Sunstroke Project & Olia Tira were chosen. Their song is called Run away and it is written by Anton Ragoza and Alina Galitcaia. The group was the favourite of both the jury and the televoters. 

• Complete results of the national final here.

Sweden

The last two acts for the final of Swedish Melodifestivalen were chosen during the second chance round Andra chansen on Saturday. Eight acts competed and at the end of the six duels, it was decided that Pernilla Wahlgren and Jessica Andersson will join the line-up.

• Live report of the second chance round here.
  
• Complete results of the second chance round here. 
• Running order of the final here. 

Romania

Romania's national final Selecţia Naţională 2010 was held on Saturday with 16 acts competing. The jury and the televoters agreed in sending Paula Seling & Ovi to Oslo with the song Playing with fire, written by Ovi himself.

• Live report of the national final here.
  
• Complete results of the national final here. 

Russia

The Russian national final was held on Sunday with no less than 25 acts competing. The winners of the lengthy programme were The Peter Nalitch band with their song Lost and forgotten. Although they can be considered surprise winners among the international fans who followed the show, they were the clear winners ahead of Oleg Bezinskikh and Buranovskiye babushki.

• Live report of the national final here.
  
• Complete results of the national final here. 

Belgium

Tom Dice's song for Oslo was presented during a special programme on Sunday called Eurosong 2010: Een song voor Tom Dice!. His entry is called My guitar and me.

• Live report of the song presentation here.
  
• More information here.

esctoday.com national final awards 2010

The 2010 esctoday.com National Final Awards will be held between April and May, which means between the national final season and the Eurovision Song Contest. We will repeat the same format with two rounds for nominations which was used this year - you can read how it works here. However, this time the individual polls for each country will always be held right after the national final, when the entries are still fresh. You can still vote for your favourites in the national finals that have already been held (the polls for the Azerbaijani national final will be launched after the song has been announced): 

Country	Best performance not to qualify	Best song not to qualify
Albania	here	here
Finland	here	here
Norway	here	here
Denmark	here	here
Iceland	here	here
Cyprus	here	here
Netherlands	here
Armenia	here	here
Poland	here	here
FYR Macedonia	here	here
Malta	here	here
Slovenia	here	here
Spain	here	here
Georgia	here	here
Slovakia	here	here
Latvia	here	here
Bulgaria	here	here
Lithuania	here	here
Ireland	here	here
Ukraine	here	here
Moldova	here	here
Croatia	here	here
Romania	here	here
Portugal	here	here
Russia	here	here

 

 

Preview of week 14

Tuesday, 9th March	Germany	Semi final
Friday, 12th March	United Kingdom	National final
	Estonia	National final
	Greece	National final
	Germany	National final
Saturday, 13th March	Sweden	National final
	Serbia	National final
Sunday, 14th March	Bosnia & Herzegovina	Song presentation

Songs already chosen for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010