Eurovision Song Contest 2006

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Eurovision Song Contest 2006

File:Sublogo02.jpg Official logo and the sub-logo of the Eurovision Song Contest 2006
Date:	May 20, 2006
Presenter:	Sakis Rouvas and Maria Menounos
Host Broadcaster:	ERT
Venue:	Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens, Greece
Winning Song:	To be determined
Voting system:	Each country awards 12, 10, 8-1 points to their 10 favourite songs
Number of Songs:	24 in final, another 13 DNQ from semi-final
Countries Making Debut	Armenia
Nul points:	To be determined
Interval Act:	Elena Paparizou

File:Helena-paparizou.jpg

Table of contents

Final participants - Semi-final participants - Individual Entries - External links Individual Entries Albania - Andorra - Armenia - Belarus - Belgium - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Croatia - Cyprus - Denmark - Estonia - Finland - France - Germany - Greece - Iceland - Ireland - Israel - Latvia - Lithuania - Macedonia - Malta - Moldova - Monaco - Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Portugal - Romania - Russia - Serbia and Montenegro - Slovenia - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - Turkey - Ukraine - United Kingdom

The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 will be the fifty-first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, which will be held at the Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens, Greece. The scheduled dates for the contests are 18 May 2006 for the semi-final and 20 May 2006 for the final. ERT, the host broadcaster of the contest, have already started preparations and are ahead of schedule. The venue for the contest has already been chosen and the stage designs have been finalized.

The official logo of the contest has remained the same from 2004 and 2005 with the country's flag in the heart being changed. The 2006 sub-logo created by the design company Karamela for Greek television is apparently based on the Phaistos Disc which is a popular symbol of ancient Greece. According to ERT, it is "inspired by the wind and the sea, the golden sunlight and the glow of the sand". Following Istanbul's "Under The Same Sky" and Kyiv's "Awakening", the slogan for the 2006 show is "Feel The Rhythm" and is apparently tied into Greek tourism's "Feel The Myth" slogan. This theme will also for the basis for the postcards for the 2006 show, which will apparently emphasize Greece's historical significance as well as being a modern tourist destination.

The hosts of the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens are popular Greek singer Sakis Rouvas and the Greek-American television presenter and actress, Maria Menounos. Elena Paparizou, who performed the winning song in Kyiv, will return to the Eurovision stage in Athens. Following the examples of Sertab Erener and Ruslana in the last two years, Elena will perform the links from the backstage "green room", interviewing the contestants. An official CD and DVD will be released and a new introduction is an official fan book released this year, and every year to come with detailed information of every country.

Fourteen countries were pre-qualified to the final in 2006:

	Nation	Performer(s)	Song	Composer(s)	Lyricist(s)
1	Switzerland	Six4one	If We All Give A Little	Ralph Siegel	Bernd Meinunger
2	Member of the Order of Liberty	Arsenium feat. Natalia Gordienko & Connect-R	Loca (Crazy)	Arsenium	Arsenium
3	Israel	Eddie Butler	Ze Hazman (This Is The Time)	Eddie Butler	Eddite Butler, Osnat Zabag & Galit Burg
4	Latvia	Cosmos	I Hear Your Heart	Reinis Sējāns & Andris Sējāns	Molly-Ann Leikin & Guntars Račs
5	Norway	Christine Guldbrandsen	Alvedansen (The Elf Dance)	Christine Guldbrandsen, Kjetil Fluge & Atle Halstensen	Christine Guldbrandsen, Kjetil Fluge & Atle Halstensen
6	Spain	Las Ketchup	Bloody Mary	Manuel Ruiz Gómez	Manuel Ruiz Gómez
7	Malta	Fabrizio Faniello	I Do	Aldo Spiteri & Fabrizio Faniello	Aldo Spiteri & Fabrizio Faniello
8	Germany	Texas Lightning	No No Never	Jane Comerford	Jane Comerford
9	Denmark	Sidsel Ben Semmane	Twist of Love	Niels Drevsholt	Niels Drevsholt
10	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL
11	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL
12	Romania	Mihai Trăistariu	Tornerò (I Will Return)	Eduard Cârcota	Cristian Hriscu & Mihaela Deac
13	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL
14	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL
15	United Kingdom	Daz Sampson	Teenage Life	Daz Sampson & John Matthews	Daz Sampson & John Matthews
16	Greece	Anna Vissi	Everything	Nikos Karvelas	Anna Vissi
17	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL
18	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL
19	France	Virginie Pouchain	Nous, C'est Vous (We, Are You)	Corneille Nyungura	Corneille Nyungura
20	Croatia	Severina Vučković	Moja štikla (My High Heel Shoe)	Boris Novković & Franjo Valentić	Severina Vučković
21	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL
22	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL
23	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL
24	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL	SEMI-FINAL

Serbia and Montenegro have officially withdrawn from the competition which now leaves eleven empty spots in the final. In the delegations meeting on March 20, it was decided that Croatia will fill the empty spot. Serbia and Montenegro will still be able to vote. The ten highest-scoring participants from the semi-final (see below) will also take part in the final.

The top ten semi-finalists will progress to the final. On 18 June 2005, Austrian newspaper Der Kurier reported that the Austrian broadcaster ORF will not be taking part in the 2006 contest. On 5 October 2005 the managing director of Georgia Television & Radio Broadcasting stated that Georgia would not enter the 2006 contest; on 6 October 2005 Ceská Televize announced that the Czech Republic would not participate; and on 9 December 2005 Hungarian broadcaster Magyar TV announced that Hungary would not participate for financial reasons.

This leaves twenty-four semi-finalists:

Nation	Performer(s)	Song	Composer(s)	Lyricist(s)
Albania	Luiz Ejlli	Zjarr e ftohtë (Fire And Cold)	Klodian Qafoku	Floran Kondi
Andorra	Jenny	Sense tu (Without You)	Rafael Artesero	Rafael Artesero
Armenia	André	Without Your Love	Armen Martirosyan	Catherine Bekian
Belarus	Polina Smolova	Mama	Sergey Sukhomlin	Andrey Kostiugov
Belgium	Kate Ryan	Je t'adore (I Adore You)	Kate Ryan, Niklas Bergwall, Niclas Kings, & Lisa Greene	Kate Ryan, Niklas Bergwall, Niclas Kings, & Lisa Greene
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Hari Varešanović	Lejla	Željko Joksimović	Fahrudin Pecikoza & Dejan Ivanović
Bulgaria	Mariana Popova	Let Me Cry	Dani Milev	Elina Gavrilova
Cyprus	Annette Artani	Why Angels Cry	Petros Yiannaki	Petros Yiannaki
Estonia	Sandra Oxenryd	Through My Window	Pearu Paulus, Ilmar Laisaar, & Alar Kotkas	Jana Hallas
Finland	Lordi	Hard Rock Hallelujah	Mr. Lordi	Mr. Lordi
Iceland	Silvía Nótt	Til hamingju Ísland (Congratulations Iceland)	Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson	Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir & Gaukur Úlfarsson
Ireland	Brian Kennedy	Every Song Is A Cry For Love	Brian Kennedy	Brian Kennedy
Lithuania	LT United	We Are the Winners	LT United	LT United
North Macedonia	Elena Risteska	Ninanajna	Darko Dimitrov	Rade Vrčakovski
Monaco	Séverine Ferrer	La Coco-Dance	J. Woodfeel & Iren Bo	J. Woodfeel & Iren Bo
Netherlands	Treble	Amambanda	Caroline Hoffman, Niña van Dijk, & Djem van Dijk	Caroline Hoffman, Niña van Dijk, & Djem van Dijk
Poland	Ich Troje feat. Real McCoy	Follow My Heart	André Franke	Michał Wiśniewski, Jacek Łągwa, & Real McCoy
Portugal	Nonstop	Coisas de nada (Meaningless Things)	José Manuel Afonso & Elvis Veiguinha	José Manuel Afonso & Elvis Veiguinha
Russia	Dima Bilan	Never Let You Go	Alexandr Lunyov	Karen Kavaleryand & Irina Antonyan
Slovenia	Anžej Dežan	Plan B	Matjaž Vlašič	Urša Vlašič
Sweden	Carola	Invincible	Thomas G:son, Bobby Ljunggren & Henrik Wikström	Thomas G:son & Carola Häggkvist
Turkey	Sibel Tüzün	Superstar	Sibel Tüzün	Sibel Tüzün
Ukraine	Tina Karol	I'm Your Queen	Tina Karol	Tina Karol

File:Luiz06.jpg

A combination of a public televote and a panel of judges has chosen Luiz Ejlli as Albania's representative in Athens. "Zjarr E Ftohte (Fire And Cold)" was the song performed. The song contains elements of ethnic Albanian folk music, and uses traditional Balkan instruments. The song was composed by Klodian Qafoku and written by Floran Kondi. The song will be performed in Albanian at Athens.

Luiz Ejlli is the first male performer to represent his country. Ejlli has been well-known in Albania since winning the 2004 "Idols" show. He also competed in Festivali I 43-te I Kenges Ne Radio Televizion, the Albanian pre-qualifying national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, finishing second with the song "Hëna Dhe Yjet Dashurojnë" (The Moon And The Stars Are Loving)".

Final - December 18th - Only the top 3 positions were announced:

Position	Singer	Song	Place
14	Evis Mula	E Dua Këngën	3rd
15	Luiz Ejlli	Zjarr E Ftohtë	1st
18	Era Rusi	Nuk Je Ëndërr	2nd

File:Jennifer06.jpg

Andorran television has announced that it has made an internal decision on who will represent the country in Athens and the entrant will be Jenny, who will perform the song Sense Tu. The song is described as a mix between Sam Brown and Anastacia. Jenny was selected out of 44 other possible candidates that submitted a song to RTVA. It is believed that despite two poor results in 2004 and 2005, the song will once again be performed in the Catalan at Eurovision.

Jenny is from Catalunya, Spain and is currently studying music and taking singing and vocal classes with Helen Rowson in Barcelona. Jenny works as a waitress in a well known restaurant. She is a fairly new face both in the Spanish and Andorran music Industry. Rafael Artesero is the man behind the Andorran entry which has been recorded at the Ten Production Studios in Sabadell, Catalunya. Rafael Artesero, who composed 'La Mirada Interior' in 2005, is behind Sense Tu as well.

File:Andreo06.jpg

Armenian broadcaster ARMTV has confirmed that the popular singer André will represent the country with the song "Without Your Love". The song is written by Armen Martirosyan and arranged by Ara Torosyan.

André was born in the city of Stepanakert, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan. In his early years André's family noticed that he was showing interest in music. He started singing being just 3 years old, when his stage was a chair, thermometer as microphone and audience were his family members. When he turned 6, André started attending piano classes at the Komitas School of Music in Stepanakert. After studying for three years André wrote his first song Prayer. André has competed in many music festivals and has released two successful solo albums with many hit singles. Musical achievement of singer include participation in the festivals Voice of Asia, Golden Skif, Shanghai festival, Championship of Performing Arts, he was twice awarded as best Armenian singer of the year.

File:Polina06.jpg

The Belarussian broadcaster BT staged a final which allowed viewers to choose the top 3 songs in the selection. The winner was chosen by a jury behind the scenes and the final result will provide a ticket to Athens for Polina Smolova and her song Mama. The song is an upbeat pop song that resembles the styles of Michael Jackson. Polina attempted to represent Belarus last year, but couldn't manage since she was not selected by the jury.

Polina Smolova started her singing career with participations in children folk bands. She has graduated from music school in the piano department and sang in the children’s folk theater "Gostsitsa" as part of the Byelorussian folk ensemble "Zhavaranachki." Polina later graduated from the Glinka Music College in the department of solo traditional singing from the Belarus State University of Culture and Art. She performed in the State Youth Music Theater as a soloist of the State Department of Internal Affairs Orchestra. She has participated in many song contests such as "Malvy" (Poland), "Galasy radzimy", "Golosa Evropy", and the winner of the contest "Slavyanski Bazar v Vitebske" in 2005.

Position	Song	Singer
1	Mama	Polina Smolova
2	You can't stop this dance	Helena Grišanova
3	Come back	Lyavony

File:Kate06.jpg

Flemish broadcaster VRT staged the Belgian final, Eurosong '06, on February 19th and favourite Kate Ryan managed to win with the song Je t'adore. Kate Ryan’s song is a Swedish dance track that she wrote the lyrics to in collaboration with a Swedish team. Je t’adore was one of the favourites among many others in the Belgian final.

Kate Ryan, born as Katrien Verbeeck, is a Belgian singer-songwriter who gained international prominence with a cover of Mylène Farmer's Désenchantée, which was a hit on European pop charts. Kate Ryan is known internationally after the release of her first album called “Different.” She also extended her fan bases to North America after she released her second album, “Stronger,” in North America in 2005.

Final - February 19

Position	Song	Singer	Belgian Jury	International Jury	Televoters	Total	Place
1	Crazy	Barbara Dex	11	13	9	33	5th
2	P.O.W.E.R	Brahim	17	6	15	38	4th
3	El mundo bailando	Belle Perez	25	20	12	57	3rd
4	Als ik je morgen ergens tegenkom	Els De Schepper	8	9	3	20	7th
5	Wonderland	La Sakhra	27	14	21	62	2nd
6	Profile	Kaye Styles	12	6	6	24	6th
7	Je t'adore	Kate Ryan	24	25	27	76	1st

File:Hariv06.jpg

PBSBiH internally selected Hari Varešanovic and Lejla, which will be composed by Eurovision 2004 runner-up Željko Joksimović from Serbia & Montenegro, while Fahrudin Pecikoza and Dejan Ivanović will write the lyrics that have a "touch of Bosnia & Herzegovina and tell about an unhappy love". Its visual identity will contain elements of ancient national decoration and the rich ethnic tradition of the people of Bosnia & Herzegovina in a modern styled variant.

Hajrudin "Hari" Varešanović was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1961, is a famous and popular singer in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Varešanović is best known as the vocal soloist, composer and leader of the musical group Hari Mata Hari. This is not the first time he has tried to reach Eurovision. In 1999, Hari Mata Hari won the Bosnian selection with the song "Starac i More" but were disqualified because the song had been released in Finland. Hari Varešanovic has lots of experience with a career that has lasted over 20 years.

File:Mariana06.jpg

Bulgaria chose its second Eurovision entry in a national final on March 11th. The TV viewers had 10 minutes to vote by phone calls and SMS for the song to represent Bulgaria at Eurovision 2006 and have chosen the dynamic song Let Me Cry performed by Mariana Popova.

Mariana Popova was born in Sofia and has been studying music since she was 11, and later she studied also modern and jazz ballet. From 1996 untill 2000, she was part of the group Cocomania. In 2005 she won the first prize at the “Burgas and the Sea” Festival with the song "Dream About Me," which she performed in a duet with Dani Milev. Mariana says that she dreams of never to stop dreaming, that she appreciates the really talented people, that she believes in herself and in reincarnation and that she would like to have a dinner with the singer Marc Anthony.

Final - March 11

Position	Song	Singer	Points	Place
1	Karmic Love	Stoyan Zakhariev	3.37%	9th
2	Let me Live Again	Vesela Boneva	7.36%	5th
3	Let me Cry	Mariana Popova	24.05%	1st
4	Wish	Neda Karova & Da	3.67%	8th
5	Trust Yourself	Sonya Todorova	0.89%	11th
6	Sche te zapalya	Ani Lozanova	1.30%	10th
7	Every Dream at Night	Ivailo Kolev	20.40%	3rd
8	Next to You	Mastilo	20.47%	2nd
9	That’s Me	Vesela Boneva and Plamen P'tov	5.08%	6th
10	Love That You Can’t See	Melody Тraffic	8.61%	4th
11	A Matter Of Time	GEPPY	3.96%	7th
12	All This Time	Big Mama Scandal	0.84%	12th

File:Severina06.jpg

The Croatian entry was chosen on March 4 at the Dora competition in the seaside resort of Opatija - the site where the first Dora took place. Severina Vučković was chosen with the song Moja štikla, which is a powerful turbo-folk song with humorous lyrics. The lyrics were written by Severina, and music by Boris Novković (2005 Croatian representative) and Franjo Valentić, and arrangement by popular Bosnian-born musician Goran Bregović. Since Serbia & Montenegro withdrew from the contest this year, Croatia will automaticly be in the final.

Severina was born 21 April 1972 in Split, Croatia. As a child she took part in numerous children festivals and musicals. When she was 17, she recorded her first album Severina for Croatian record company Orfej. In 1991 she started recording for “Tutico” and became one of the greatest stars of Croatian music. She won many festival awards and her albums achieved high sales. She achieved international fame when her home porn video was published on the Internet in 2004. Severina previously attempted to reach Eurovision in 2000.

Final - March 4

Position	Song	Singer	Jury	Televote	Total	Place
1	Party djevojka	Angels	5	9	14	10th
2	Umrijeti s osmjehom	Jacques Houdek	6	3	9	15th
3	Oprosti, mala	Magazin	8	8	16	8th
4	Škifo	Alen Vitasović	3	1	4	16th
5	U tebi tražim spas	Raspashow	7	4	11	13th
6	Oči od safira	Danijela Martinović	4	6	10	14th
7	Nježne riječi	Ibrica Jusić	11	2	13	11th
8	Pusti da te vodi ritam	Karma	1	12	13	12th
9	Il treno per Genova	Tina Vukov	14	13	27	3rd
10	Prokleto sam	Petar Grašo	13	5	18	7th
11	Najbolje glumica	Lana Jurčević	2	14	16	9th
12	Moja štikla	Severina Vučković	15	15	30	1st
13	Ne zovi me Marija	Jelena Rozga	9	10	19	6th
14	Tu na mojim rukama	Massimo	16	7	23	4th
15	Kad se sklope kazaljke	Ivana Banfić	10	11	21	5th
16	Kao san	Kraljevi ulice	12	16	28	2nd

File:Annetteartani06.jpg

The Cypriot public selected its entry from ten songs on February 22 during a show entitled, "Song For Europe" where Annette Artani won the majority of the votes with her ballad "Why Angels Cry" Her song was a favourite after the semi-finals took place a week before the final.

Annette Artani was born in New York City to Greek immigrants. At a young age, Annette expressed her interest and love for music. She gained more experience by being a backing vocal for the Britney Spears "Dream Within a Dream" tour. She collaborated with Britney Spears and wrote the song "Everytime", which became an international hit. True to her roots, Annette's songs fuse the oud and bouzouki laced instrumentations of her Greek culture with a modern, city-wise pop, rock, and blues sound. She participated on the third edition of the Greek show Fame Story and although she did not win, she went on to release a single called "Amor", which quickly became popular.(*Note*, her real name is Annette Stamatelatos.)

Final - February 22

Position	Song	Singer	Points	Place
1	Play that melody to me	Eleftheria featuring Maria Zorli	32	7th
2	I’m A Fighter	Marina Solonos	23	9th
3	Why Angels Cry	Annette Artani	51	1st
4	Land of Yesterday	Evagoras Evagorou & Chrisi Antreou	44	3rd
5	Love on the Weekend	Andreas Konstantinidis	35	5th
6	Congratulations	Marios Tofis	46	2nd
7	Everytime I Close My Eyes	Kostas Andronikou	25	8th
8	Just Your Smile	Eleni Andreou	17	10th
9	Funky	Nick Nikolaou & Vicky Anastassiou	34	6th
10	After You	Valanto Trifonos	41	4th

File:Sidsel06.jpg

The Danish Final was held on February 11 at the Gigantium Arena in Aalborg and Sidsel Ben Semmane has been unanimously selected to represent Denmark in Athens with the song "Twist of love." Sidsel had a good presentation of her song which is a mix of elements from country and rock 'n' roll. Twist of Love picked up top marks from all four regional juries.

The youngest artist this year is 17-year old Sidsel who comes from Århus, Denmark. Her talent was discovered recently by composer Niels Drevsholt who wrote also the song. During her leisure time she likes to perform with the party band Satzmo. Niels Drevsholt has already taken part as composer in the MGP four times. The 2006 song “Twist of love” tells the story of a young girl like Sidsel that falls in love.

Superfinal:

Position	Song	Singer	Points	Place
1	En som dig	Søren Poppe & Lene Matthiesen Nørrelykke	30	3rd
2	Je ne regrette rien	Neighbours	20	5th
3	Twist of love	Sidsel Ben Semmane	48	1st
4	Åh amore	Kim Schwartz	26	4th
5	2 in 1	Danni Elmo	36	2nd

File:Sandra06.jpg

An international jury decided that Sandra Oxenryd will represent Estonia at Eurovision 2006 with the song “Through my window”, a song with up-tempo country-soul music. The song is written by Pearu Paulus, Ilmar Laisaar, Alar Kotkas (composers) and Jana Hallas (lyricist), the same authors who wrote the Estonian entries for 2000 ("Once in a lifetime") and 2002 ("Runaway"), which came 4th and 3rd, respectively.

Sandra Oxenryd is from Kristinehamn, Sweden and was the winner of the Swedish Fame Factory. She had great success with her album, "All There Is." Sandra is not the first Swede to represent Estonia, as Anna Sahlene represented Estonia in 2002 with ”Runaway.”

Position	Song	Singer	Points	Place
1	It was you	Carola Szücs	56	5th
2	Open up your heart	Sofia Rubina	51	7th
3	Everytime I tell you	Reverend B & Crux	30	10th
4	Iseendale	Ines	84	2nd
5	Sweet separation	Aphro Tito	33	9th
6	Through my window	Sandra Oxenryd	90	1st
7	Higher	Glow	73	3rd
8	Be 1st	Marilin	41	8th
9	Friends will be friends	Noorkuu	55	6th
10	Mr Right	Meribel	67	4th

File:Lordi06.jpg

The Finnish Final was held on March 10 at the Caribia hall in Turku, hosted by Heikki Paasonen & Jaana Pelkonen. The Finnish viewers chose the band Lordi to perform Hard Rock Hallelujah at Eurovision. The song was a favourite before the competition and also scored major success when released as a single. Hard Rock Hallelujah is a rock anthem with sophisticated lyrics.

Lordi is a melodic theatrical heavy-rock band, mostly known for their unusual monster costumes and lyrical themes. The members are Lordi, Amen, Ox, Awa, and Kita who together have released four albums with many hit songs. The members have never shown in public without their masks. Lordi itself says the band doesn't exist without the masks.

The selection of such an unusual style of music and stage theatrics has caused a small controversy in Finland and there have been calls for a reconsideration of the choice.

Final Round - Turku - March 10

Position	Song	Singer	Points	Place
1	Shanghain valot	Annika Eklund	19565	3rd
2	Katharsis	Kilpi	4685	6th
3	V.I.P.	Jane	6308	5th
4	Hard rock hallelujah	Lordi	67369	1st
5	Take me higher	Jennie	15138	4th
6	Eternamente Maria	Tomi Metsäketo	45431	2nd

A national final consisting of talent search performers, was held on March 14 and the public and a panel of experts, presided by Charles Aznavour, combined to select the winner. Before that there were seven regional auditions including some in France's overseas territories. Virginie Pouchin will represent France at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Nous, c'est vous". The song was especially written to defend the colours of France by the singer of Rwandan origin. Corneille Nyungura, who stated that he was "proud" to take part in this adventure, putting forward the artists who are ready and who do not have access to the media.

Virginie Pouchin is a 26 years old hairdresser, who decided to take part in ‘Entrée des Artistes’, a musical show hosted by Pascal Sevran. Virginie won that competition and along with three other particpants, she entered "Et si c'était vous?", the French broadcaster's national final for Eurovision, which was intended to have new talents emerge. Out of 21 participants, she was chosen to move on to the next round of the competition along with two others after she interpreted Celine Dion's French hit, "Pour que tu m'aimes encore". She conquered the final gaining the jury's and televoter's support for her journey to Athens.

Final - March 14

Position	Performer	Points	Place
1	Virginie Pouchin	42.5%	1st
2	Fabien Incardone	34.2%	2nd
3	Julien Lamassone	23.3%	3rd

File:Texaslightning06.jpg

The German selection was on March 9, with only three performers and songs as part of a special show celebrating 50 years of Eurovision. Singer/comedian Olli Dittrich with his country/pop band Texas Lightning beat former Modern Talking singer Thomas Anders and 1972 Eurovision winner Vicky Leandros to represent Germany at Eurovision. Texas Lightning will be representing Germany this year with the song No No Never.

Texas Lightning is a quartet that describes itself as hip and old fashioned. The group consists of Olli Dittrich, Jon Flemming Olsen, Markus Schmidt, Uwe Frenzel, and Jane Comerford. They have remade songs by country singers such as Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline, but have also recorded hit songs such as "Highway to Hell" and "Like a Virgin" with a country twist. They also recentently covered "Waterloo", ABBA's 1974 Eurovision hit.

Position	Song	Singer	Points	Place
1	Songs that live forever	Thomas Anders	216457	2nd
2	No No Never	Texas Lightning	365361	1st
3	Don't Break My Heart	Vicky Leandros	213139	3rd

File:Anna Eurovision Press.jpg

Greek television ERT once again selected the performer internally, choosing Anna Vissi to represent Greece in Athens. Vissi will perform the song "Everything", which is composed by Nikos Karvelas and written by Vissi, in the final. The song was selected on March 14, 2006 by a combination of a public telephone/SMS vote (60%) and expert jury (40%).

Anna Vissi was born in Larnaca, Cyprus, but moved to Greece at the age of 16 to pursue a singing career. She has previously participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twice, for Greece in 1980 and Cyprus in 1982. She has also entered pre-selections for the contest in 1986 and 1989 (for Cyprus and Greece respectively), finishing runner-up both times. Anna Vissi has also had a long and successful domestic and international singing career, with several chart albums and hits, whilst collaborating with her former husband Nikos Karvelas. Her current release is a DualDisc called "Nylon".

Position	Song	Composer	Televoting (60%)	Jury (40%)	Total	Place
01	Beautiful Night	Pegasos (Antonis & Dimitris Papavomvolakis)	16.32%	9.39%	12.16%	4th
02	Who Cares About Love	Nikos Karvelas	7.25%	24.43%	13.72%	3rd
03	Welcome To The Party	Dimitris Kontopoulos (Lyrics by: Dimitris S.)	27.69%	24.27%	26.32%	2nd
04	Everything	Nikos Karvelas (Lyrics by: Anna Vissi)	55.66%	35.98%	47.9%	1st

File:Silvianott.jpg

Iceland had its national final on February 18 in Reykjavík and has chosen Silvía Nótt to represent the nation in Athens with the song Til hamingju Ísland. The song tells the story of how Silvía will win the Eurovision Song Contest and how she is better than everyone else. Til hamingju Ísland was considered a favourite ever since the competing songs were announced.

Silvía Nótt is a fictional character in Sjáumst með Silvíu Nótt, an extremely popular Icelandic semi-reality show on the TV channel Skjár 1. Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir, singer for band Ske and a young and unknown actress, and Gaukur Úlfarsson decided to invent a character that brought out all the worst things in human behaviour in modern society. Silvía's personality is highly affected by narcissism and she sees herself as the most famous and talented person walking on the planet Earth. Her name is Silvía Nótt Sæmundsdóttir and she is 22 years old.

Final - Reykjavík - February 18 - Only the top 3 were announced:

Position	Song	Singer	Televote	Place
5	Það sem verður	Friðrik Ómar	9942	3rd
11	Til hamingju Ísland	Silvía Nótt	70190	1st
15	Þér við hlið	Regína Ósk	30018	2nd

===Ireland===

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Brian Kennedy will sing the Irish entry in Athens. Irish television viewers selected his entry during a special edition of The Late Late Show on 17 February. Kennedy's own composition, Every Song Is A Cry For Love was tipped as the winner by the jury members and the audience on the show and, in the end, was triumphant in the public vote. The song is a ballad in the traditional Irish style.

39-year-old Brian Edward Patrick Kennedy is an Irish singer-songwriter and author. He was born and grew up on the Falls Road in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He performed on the original Secret Garden version of the song You Raise Me Up and was performer in Riverdance on Broadway in New York. He also wrote two novels titled, The Arrival of Feargal Flynn and Roman Song.

Position	Song	Position
1	The Greatest Song Of All	3rd
2	All Over The World	2nd
3	Every Song Is A Cry For Love	1st

The Israeli Kdam took place on March 15, 2005. The voting was divided up as follows: televoting (50%), 4 regional juries: Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv, Haifa and Be'er Sheva (10% each) and the studio audience (10%). Eddie Butler won with the song "Ze Hazman" with 99 points. Butler has previously participated in the Eurovision as a part of the group Eden, which represented Israel in 1999 and finished fifth. After the group's breakup in 2001, Butler launched a solo career. In 2002 he got the Special Audience Prize of the international music competition New Wave in Jurmala, Latvia.

Position	Singer	Song	Points	Place
1	Shlomo Gronich, Lubna Salame & Michal Adler	Ima Adama	40 pts	6th
2	Aviva & Maya Avidan	Yalda Sheli	30 pts	8th
3	Avi Peretz	Bo'u Nirkod	19 pts	11th
4	GameBoys	Kama Ahava	78 pts	3rd
5	Oren Hen & Stalos	Chalomot Mizrachiyim	29 pts	9th
6	Guy Harari	Tnu La'ahava	28 pts	10th
7	Eddie Butler	Ze Hazman	99 pts	1st
8	Tzipi Mash'hid	Tzipor Stav	71 pts	4th
9	Svika Pick	Lifney She Nifradim	38 pts	7th
10	Michael Kirkilan	Nishbar	68 pts	5th
11	Diamondz	Ata Hakochav	80 pts	2nd

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The Latvian final, Eirodziesma, was held on March 11 following 2 semi-finals in February. The winning entry was the group Cosmos with the song I Hear Your Heart.

Cosmos is a group of six young Latvian performers who sing a capella. They are Jānis Šipkēvics, Andris Sējans, Juris Lisenko, Jānis Ozols, Jānis Strazdiņš and Reinis Sējāns joining in 2004. Their first album sold 12,000 copies and reaching gold status as well as gaining the title of the best pop-album in Latvia of 2003. They were also triumphant in winning the third international song contest "New Wave 2004." In 2005, Cosmos released their second album "Pa un Par", presenting 16 tracks of Latvian and international songs, as wells as original compositions.

Super Final - March 11

Position	Song	Singer	Points	Place
1	I Hear Your Heart	Cosmos	27740	1st
2	Say It Is	Marts Kristiāns Kalniņš & Melo-Mania	23948	2nd
3	I'm Alone	Jenny May	10925	3rd

Lithuanian broadcaster LRT announced 21 of the 'big names' for the three semi-finals, which have taken place on 11, 18 and 25 of February. Lithuania picked its 2006 Eurovision Song Contest representative at March 4. So-called newcomers could earn a ticket for the semi-finals in three preselections. After the three preselections, a final show took place on 4 February in which the best-preselected newcomers performed, to complete the list of semi-finalists. During these shows, six newcomers were chosen to participate in the semi-finals. In the third semi-final, two competing songs have withdrawn and will not pursue a possible spot in the final or representation of Lithuania in Athens, because of this only four (instead of six) semi-final participants were selected to the final. This caused two free places in the final and LRT selected B'Avarija and Dove to fill these places.

Final - March 4

Position	Song	Singer	Points	Place
1	Flirtin' on the dance floor	C–Stones & Favour	1689	11th
2	Wonder who loves you	Artas	1625	12th
3	Falling in love	Robertas Kupstas	2681	8th
4	Make me wanna loose you	Augustė	1959	10th
5	If my dream came true	Bavarija	765	15th
6	Welcome to Lithuania	Inculto	16451	2nd
7	4 Ever	Dove	1361	13th
8	Time to change	Onsa	699	16th
9	Alright	N.E.O.	2735	7th
10	Back to the future	Saulės Kliošas	1084	14th
11	Just for Fun	Aistė Pilvelytė	4307	6th
12	Pavasario lietus	Nacija & Rasa Juzukonytė	2017	9th
13	We are the winners	LT United	32669	1st
14	The heat	Alanas Chošnau	9249	3rd
15	Round and round	Gravel	6462	4th
16	Tavo ir mano dalia	Edmundas Kučinskas	4912	5th

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Republic of Macedonia selected its song for the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest on March 4, where Elena Risteska triumphed over all the other competitors with the song Ninanajna. The national selection was held at the MKTV studios and the winner was selected by televoting to avoid any possible mistakes and set-ups. Ninanajna is an uptempo RnB pop song that contains some disco/dance elements. The music/arrangement is done by Darko Dimitrov with lyrics by Rade Vrchakovski.

Elena Risteska was born in Skopje and besides music, she enjoys drawing and design. She rose to fame when she took part in the talent search competition "Play - Search For A Star" and was one of the favourites and sang the song "Ona drugoto" (That Other One), which became a hit in Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. She released her first album titled "Den i nokj" (Night and Day) which contained hit songs that made Elena Risteska a well-known singer across Republic of Macedonia and in some Balkan countries. She also writes lyrics, including the ones for the hit single "Te molam ne plachi" (Please Don't Cry) for the group 4Play.

Position	Song	Singer	Points	Place
1	Svetlina	Bojana Atanasovska	435	14th
2	Taan i med	Eva Nedinkovska	631	10th
3	Mala odmazda	Bagaz	189	19th
4	Zemi se	Ibrahim Islamoski	1976	5th
5	Posle nas	Bojana Atanasovska	204	17th
6	Silna	Kaliopi	1700	6th
7	Podaj raka	Enedin Bisevac & Daria Ilievska	456	13th
8	Cvet vo postela	Natasa Mijatovic	1052	8th
9	Ke blesne zrak za nas	Natasa Gulevska	164	20th
10	Vo mojot son	Bojana Atanasovska	473	12th
11	Ljubov e...	Adrijan & Esma	6866	2nd
12	Ke prespijam na kauc	Adnan	316	16th
13	Bidi diva	Filip Jordanovski	202	18th
14	More od solzi	Lambe Alabakovski	5282	3rd
15	Moja najmila	Petar Mehandziski	616	11th
16	Zlatni zici	Dzoksi	2348	4th
17	Ninanajna	Elena Risteska	6999	1st
18	Koj pat da izberam	Maja Odzaklievska	982	9th
19	Skokotkaj me	Arci	528	15th
20	Mori mome	Panta Rei	1105	7th

File:Fabrizioofficial06.jpg

The Maltese public chose Fabrizio Faniello to go to Eurovision in Athens with the song "I Do,” a very up-tempo pop song that contains Swedish sounds. Fabrizio’s song was a favourite to win the contest however the high quality of the songs in the Malta Song For Europe Festival made it a tough decision on who should represent the tiny island. He wrote and composed the song himself along with Aldo Spiteri.

Fabrizio Faniello is a popular Maltese pop singer, who was born on the April 27, 1981 and showed an interest in music at a young age by performing at festivals. His incredible talent and determination brought him to the Malta Song For Europe Festival in 1998 where he placed 2nd with the song “More Than Just A Game.” One of his biggest career highlights was when he reached 9th place at the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 with his hit “Another Summer Night.” Since then Fabrizio has had many successful albums and singles in Malta and internationally. Fabrizio’s current release is entitled “Believe” which contains the successful single, “Love on the Radio.”

Position	Song	Singer	Points	Place
1	You too	J. Anvil	4933	4th
2	Amazing	Anabel Debono	2107	14th
3	Only till the morning	Ali & Lis	3907	6th
4	It just comes natural	Josef Tabone & Amanda Farrugia	1980	15th
5	Echoes of Gaia	Charlene & Natasha	2836	10th
6	I promise you	Manuel Xuereb	3782	7th
7	I do	Fabrizio Faniello	7729	1st
8	Tell me	Eleanor Cassar	2646	11th
9	This heart of mine	Trilogy	4954	3rd
10	So good	Andreana	635	18th
11	Time	Paul Giordimaina & Morena	3046	9th
12	Reachin' out	Pamela	2371	13th
13	Stronger	Christian Arding	4075	5th
14	Waves	Nadine Axisa	1680	16th
15	Stay with me	Lara Azzopardi	1637	17th
16	You're my dream	Kevin Borg	3590	8th
17	High alert	Claudia Faniello	2416	12th
18	Spare a moment	Olivia Lewis	7623	2nd

National broadcaster Teleradio-Moldova (TRM) organized a national final that toke place on the February 25 and in the end reached no result. A new national final will take place on March 15 that will have brand new songs competing. In the new final, Arsenium feat. Natalia Gordienko & Connect-R singing 'Loca' was successfully chosen to represent Moldova in Athens.

Arsenie Todiras (Arsenium) was born on 22 July 1983 in Chişinău, Moldova and is a Moldovan singer who was part of the boyband O-Zone. When he was 17, the famous opera singer Larisa Shulga taught him singing lessons, which led him to Dan Balan who invited him to become a new member of “O-Zone”. The band had many hits and became successful domestically and internationally. After the band broke up Arsenie started his solo career and his first single “Love Me, Love Me” was released in 2005. Popular Romanian rapper Connect-R and the former lead singer of the Moldovan group Millenium, Natalia Gordienko, will join Arsenium to perform the song.

Final - March 15

Position	Song	Singer	Televote	Jury	Total	Place
1	Something About Love	Ludmila Znamenskaia	7	7	14	4th
2	The Games of Night	Svetlana Sertzova & Vadim Luchin	5	5	10	5th
3	Made in Moldova	Serj Cuzencoff	10	10	20	2nd
4	Loca	Arsenium feat. Natalia Gordienko & Connect-R	12	12	24	1st
5	I've Never Thought	Marcella	8	8	16	3rd

File:Severine06.jpg

Behind closed doors Monaco has chosen its Eurovision entry for 2006. Séverine Ferrer will represent the principality with the song "La coco-dance", which will be sang in French and Tahitian. "La Coco-Dance" was written by J. Woodfeel and Iren Bo, and will be choreographed by Bruno Vandelli. Although the song and singer have been announced in March, they were picked by the delegation before Christmas.

Séverine Ferrer was born on October 31, 1977 in Montpellier. She grew up on the island of Réunion and became a local celebrity. In 1991, Severine and her family moved to Paris where she was certain that she wanted to be an artist. Severine started her career by starring in television series. In 2004, Severine Ferrer's career picked up with the release of a new album and her clothing line for pregnant women.

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The Dutch Final was held on March 12 at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam. Each performer sang three songs and the winner was chosen in two rounds of voting. In the first round an expert jury selected the best song by each performer before the eventual winner was chosen by televoting. The jury chose "Heaven Knows," performed by the foursome Behave, "I'm Alive," performed by 2004 Dutch "Pop Idol" runner-up Maud and "Amambanda," performed by the female trio Treble. The girl group Treble recieved 72% of the televote which provides them with the ticket to Athens along with the song Amambanda, which contains imaginary lyrics.

The group Treble comprises Caroline Hoffman (29) and sisters Niña (19) and Djem (17) van Dijk. In 2004, they had number one hit single with Ramaganana. The girls are experienced percussionists and vocalists. After three singles and an album, 2005 was a silent year for Treble. Treble also performed two other songs in the Dutch National Final called "Lama Gaia" and "Make your choice."

Position	Singer	Song	Points	Place
1	Treble	Amambanda	90720	1st
2	Behave	Heaven knows	18900	2nd
3	Maud	I’m alive	16380	3rd

File:Christine06.jpg

The Norwegian final Melodi Grand Prix 2006 was held on February 4 at the Spektrum in Oslo, and after four semi-finals and a final, Norway will be represented by Christine Guldbrandsen with the song “Alvedansen.” At the final eight songs were performed of which four moved on the super final. Christine delivered a powerful performance with a top quality voice, which went perfectly with the ethnic Norwegian fiddle and harmonica music.

Christine Guldbrandsen was born in 1985 in Bergen and immediately showed an interest for music when she joined the child choir at the age of 3. In 2003 she became known in Norway with her debut album “Surfing in the air” that sold over 30.000 copies across Scandinavia. Since then she has become a popular singer across the country and successfully managed many hits. Christine's musical expression and style is still inspired by Norwegian and Nordic folk music, though this came a bit clearer to mind on her debut piece. Folk-ballads or folk-pop could be a good description of her music.

Super Final:

Position	Song	Singer	Points	Place
1	I hear music	Hans-Petter Moen & Kim Arne Hagen	67223	2nd
2	Absolutely fabulous	Queentastic	61997	3rd
3	Alvedansen	Christine Guldbrandsen	77568	1st
4	Lost and found	Jorun Erdal & Geir Rönning	57905	4th

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The trio Ich Troje will represent Poland at the Eurovision Song Contest, for the second time following their 7th place finish in Riga in 2003. This time the group will be joined on stage by German dance music producer Olaf Jeglitza a.k.a. The Real McCoy who enjoyed a couple of massive dance hits in the mid 1990's. "Follow My Heart" is a 1990's style synthesizer led track and also multi-lingual. The version performed in the Polish final was perforemed in Polish and English, but they are preparing to strike at Eurovision with a French - Russian - German - Hebrew - English version.

Ich Troje was created in 1997 by songwriter Michal Wisniewski and composer Jacek Łągwa. Wisniewski, the charismatic red-haired singer, has been the most popular person in Polish show business for several years. The group's name can be translated as "The Three of Them." Since about 2000, Ich Troje has been the most popular Polish group. Their fans come from different backgrounds: from amused children to pensioners in tears. Their concerts are great shows that combine the power of pop music with the verve of a musical. They talk about love, betrayal, break-ups in a dramatic atmosphere. Now they hope that people from other countries will also enjoy their songs because, as Michal sings, there shouldn’t be any borders between people and it’s time to put that idea into practice.

Position	Song	Singer	Jury	Televote	Total	Place
1	Goodbye	Agata Torzewska	2	0	2	11th
2	Undercover	Danzel	1	4	5	=8th
3	I Wanna Know	Katarzyna Moś	0	0	0	=12th
4	Za Karę	Maciej Silski	3	1	4	=10th
5	Love Is What We All Need	Leonie Kuizenga	0	0	0	=12th
6	Follow My Heart	Ich Troje featuring Real McCoy	5	12	17	1st
7	Good Girl	Dezire	12	2	14	4th
8	Popatrz Na Mnie	Ha-Dwa-O	0	0	0	=12th
9	Na Kolana	Katarzyna Cerekwicka	10	7	17	2nd
10	Kocham Cię	Sławomir Uniatowski	7	6	13	5th
11	Jeżeli Jesteś - Wołam Cię	Mosqitoo	4	0	4	=10th
12	W Nas Ciepło Wiosen	Brathanki	0	5	5	=8th
13	How Many People	The Jet Set	8	8	16	3rd
14	Zero Do Stracenia	Kto To	6	3	9	7th
15	I Fell In Love	Queens	0	10	10	6th

File:Nonstop 01.jpg

RTP organized a preselections show with ten songs, on March 10 where Nonstop triumphed with the song Coisas de nada. There were many good songs in this years Portuguese Final, however only a few stood out and Nonstop along with Vânia Olveira were the ones that were noticed. The jury decided the outcome when a tie took place between these two songs.

In 2001, the TV Show POPSTARS, created the girl group Nonstop consisting of Andrea, Katia, Fatima, Liliana and Rita. Together they released their first album and had huge success with their first single "Ao Limite Eu Vou" and their second single "Basta Um Sorriso." One of the members, Fatima, decided to leave the group after they began singing songs in English to appeal to a boader audience. In 2004 they released their second album, which contained the singles "E Tudo Vai Mudar" and "Play-back", a cover of a Portuguese hit from the eighties.

Position	Singer	Song	Jury	Televote	Total	Place
1	Bruno Nicolau	Um dia direi	5	3	8	6th
2	Lara Afonso	Alma nova	6	2	8	5th
3	Madison Lucia	Na noite és tu e eu	4	1	5	10th
4	Mariafolia	Bem mais além	1	7	8	9th
5	Ricardo Moraes	Nunca mais te digo adeus	3	5	8	7th
6	Vânia Olveira	Sei quem sou (Portugal)	10	12	22	2nd
7	Natalie Insoandé	Durmo com pedras na cama	8	4	12	4th
8	Nonstop	Coisas de nada	12	10	22	1st
9	Beto	O amor é uma fonte	2	6	8	8th
10	Cuca	As minhas guitarras	7	8	15	3rd

File:Mihai06.jpg

TVR held the Romanian selection for the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest on 26 February and Mihai Trăistariu with the song Tornero will represent the country. Tornero is a dance song not unlike last years song Let Me Try which started off with a calm tone and picked up with several key changes and a climax at the end. The song is performed in both English and Italian.

Mihai Trăistariu was born in Piatra Neamţ and is a 25 year old singer currently residing in Constanţa. He has participated in many international festivals and competitions including five participations in the Romanian National Selection for Eurovision. He released his debut album in 2005 called "Altceva".

Final - February 26

Position	Singer	Song	Televote	Jury	Total	Place
1	Gina Pop Band	Hey A Hey	1	3	4	=10th
2	Linda Valori	Se Tu Vuoi		10	10	6th
3	Maria Radu & Mike Peterson	It's Our World	3	2	5	=8th
4	Jasmine	Sunshine		5	5	=8th
5	Akcent feat. Nico	Jokero	12	8	20	2nd
6	Dora	Brand New Feelings	7	6	13	3rd
7	Mi Do	Sagapo	2	1	3	12th
8	Mihai Trăistariu	Tornero	10	12	22	1st
9	Indiggo	Be My Boyfriend	6		6	7th
10	Laurenţiu Cazan	I Believe In My Stars	5	7	12	=4th
11	Delia	Gândeşti Prea High	4		4	=10th
12	Tony Pop Tamas & Desperado	The Universe	8	4	12	=4th

Channel One chose the 2006 representative who was internally selected. The top favourites in the selection were Jasmin, Dima Bilan, and Varvara, but it was decided that Dima Bilan will represent Russia this year. The song has not been chosen yet, but it will most likely be between the two songs Dima Bilan submitted, which are titled "Never Let You Go" and "Lady Flame".

Dima Bilan (real name Viktor Belan) was born on December 24, 1981 in Karachay-Cherkessia and graduated from Gnesinyh musical college as a classical vocal performer. Dima made his debut when he reached 4th place at the Russian/Latvian festival "New Wave" in 2002. In 2003, Dima Bilan released his debut album titled "Nochnoy Huligan," which included covers of "Caruso" by Lucio Dalla and "Fever" by Elvis. In 2004, he released his successful single "Na beregu neba," which was also the title of his second album. Dima Bilan attempted to reach Eurovision previously with the song "Ty dolzhna ryadom byt" in 2005 and came in 2nd place at the Russian national selection.

Serbia and Montenegro have agreed to withdraw from the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. A scandal in the nation final caused tensions between the Serbian broadcaster, RTS, and the Montenegrin broadcaster, RTCG. For more details on the scandal, read Evropesma.

File:Anzejd06.jpg

Slovenia chose its Eurovision entry for 2006 on January 29 when 14 songs competed for the votes of the public and a panel of experts. The three voting stages would determine the winner. EMA veteran Saša Lendero and her ethnic dance song "Mandoline", won both the televoting and SMS votes while in the end, the jury decided the outcome and Anžej Dežan with the song "Plan B" won the competition. In Athens, Anžej will participate with a translation of the song in english called Mr.Nobody.

18 year old Anžej Dežan born on the 17 June 1987 in Celje, will be one of the youngest performers in Athens. He was a newcomer to this year EMA, but has past experience by providing the backing vocals to Slovenian superstar Nuša Derenda's song in 2005. He originally came to fame on 'Bitka talentov,' the same talent show which discovered Slovenia's 2005 Eurovision singer Omar Naber. Anžej has already recorded a duet with EMA runner-up Saša Lendero. Anžej is a very style conscious young man, and goes through more image and hairstyle changes in a couple of years, than most people manage in a lifetime.

Position	Song	Singer	Televote	Jury	SMS	Total	Place
1	Nora sem, da te ljubim	Nuška Drašček	0	8	3	11	9th
2	SOS	Natalija Verboten	6	1	6	13	6th
3	Noro se ujameva	Rebeka Dremelj & Domen Kumer	8	2	8	18	=4th
4	Tu da du	Sergeja	0	0	0	0	=13th
5	Mandoline	Saša Lendero	12	0	12	24	2nd
6	Rapad tepe ipi mapam	Andraž Hribar	0	7	0	7	=11th
7	V mojih dlaneh	Marijan Novina	0	0	0	0	=13th
8	Polkaholik	Atomik Harmonik	10	0	10	20	3rd
9	Vihar	Maja Slatinšek	1	5	2	8	10th
10	Hokus pokus	Ylenia	2	10	0	12	=7th
11	Plan B	Anžej Dežan	7	12	7	26	1st
12	Najdi me	Katrinas	4	4	4	12	=7th
13	Ostani z mano	Monika Pučelj	5	8	5	18	=4th
14	Hočem stran	Alenka Godec	3	3	1	7	=11th

File:LasKetchup2006.jpg

After much spectulation from Spanish Media, it was revealed officially from Spanish broadcaster TVE that Las Ketchup will represent Spain with the song "Bloody Mary", also the name of their next album. Bloody Mary has a calm rhythm with the Spanish Flamenco elements. The song is written and composed by Manuel Ruiz Gómez (Queco), the man who also composed the 2005 Spanish entry "Brujeria" performed by Son de Sol.

Las Ketchup is a Spanish group that now consists of four sisters called Pilar, Dolores, Lucía and Rocío Muñoz. Hailing from Córdoba, Las Ketchup are the four daughters of El Tomate, the Flamenco guitarist. Their first album was titled "Las Hijas del Tomate" {Daughters of the Tomato), which contained their international hit, The Ketchup Song (Aserejé).

Melodifestivalen 2006, the Swedish final, will be held at the Globe Arena in Stockholm on March 18, hosted by Lena Philipsson who represented Sweden in ESC 2004. Before the final there were 4 semi-finals and a second-chance round. The top 2 songs in each semi-final qualified for the final, while the 3rd and 4th placed songs went forward to the second-chance round. With the votes from the jury and televote, Carola will go to Athens for Sweden singing the song Evighet.

Carola started her career in 1977 after winning a talent show. She went on to participate in Melodifestivalen for the first time in 1983 with the song Främling which went on to reach 3rd place at the Eurovision Song Contest in Munich. She released many albums, had a number of hits, and even collaborated with the Bee Gees. In 1990 she became the runner-up in Melodifestivalen, but in 1991 she won both Melodifestivalen and the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Fångad av en stormvind. Carola is praised in Sweden and has become a huge celebrity.

Final - Globe Arena, Stockholm - March 18

Position	Song	Singer	Jury	Televote	Total	Place
1	Sing For Me	Andreas Johnson	112	88	200	3rd
2	Älskar du livet	Björn Kjellmann	6	0	6	9th
3	Jag ljuger så bra	Linda Bengtzing	34	22	56	7th
4	Nights of passion	The Poodles	32	66	98	4th
5	Lev livet	Magnus Carlsson	19	0	19	8th
6	Mama take me home	Rednex	17	44	61	6th
7	Evighet	Carola	102	132	234	1st
8	The name of love	Magnus Bäcklund	57	11	68	5th
9	Idag & imorgon	Kikki Danielsson	2	0	2	10th
10	Temple Of Love	Bodies Without Organs	92	110	202	2nd

File:Six4one06.jpg

Six4one, with the song If We All Give A Little, is the group that will represent Switzerland in Athens. The six members are Andreas Lundstedt, Liel, Tinka Milinovic, Claudia D'Addio, Keith Camilleri and Marco Matias. The song has been written by Eurovision foxes Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger. The song will be officially presented at the end of March.

Andreas Lundstedt comes from Sweden and is a member of the universally known band Alcazar. Claudia D'Addio comes from Switzerland is known as “The Voice” and earned her fame from the casting-show "MusicStar." Keith Camilleri come from Malta and is known in his homeland for his passionate voice and his regular guest appearance on Maltese shows. Shooting star Liel comes from Israel and with her songs, she advocates peace in the world. Marco Matias has a Portuguese background, but comes from Germany and in 2005, he reached second place along with his singing partner Nicole Süssmilch in the German “12 Points!” which selected a song for Eurovision. Tinka Milinovic comes from Bosnia-Herzegovina and is a very popular performer and radio/television host.

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Sibel Tüzün has been internally selected by TRT to represent Turkey at Eurovision with the song Superstar. Sibel Tüzün is planning a wonderful performance and a great show. She has high hopes for success and created a goal to reach the top three in Athens. TRT has chosen the song that Sibel will sing, and presented the video clip which involves Sibel wearing a red hat with the Turkish flag. The song is modern disco with oriental elements.

Sibel Tüzün was born on September 29, 1971 in Istanbul, Turkey. She began her music education by joining TRT’s Istanbul Children’s Choir. She was interested in pop and rock music during her high school years. Sibel sang with well known artists such as Ajda Pekkan and Nukhet Duru. In 1990 she participated in the Turkish Eurosong selection with the song “Kime Ne” and came in ninth place. In 1992 she released her first album Ah Biz Kizlar which brought her fame and success and led to the high popularity in her forthcoming albums and songs. 2003 brought Sibel to the peak of her career with her highly popular and successful album Red. Her last album to date is a compilation of remixes of her successful singles and versions of her songs in English and Greek.

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The final of "Ti-Zirka", the Ukrainian version of the Irish show "You're A Star”, took placeon March 11 and both the televoters and jury agreed that Tina Karol should represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song I'm Your Queen. Both Kirill Turichenko and Irina Rosenfeld accumulated 21 points, but the televoters placed Irina in 2nd place. The song has an uptempo pop rhythm.

Tina Karol is 20 years old and was born in Magadan Oblast, Russia. She has graduated from music school and Kiev music institute. Tina has participated in numerous different youth, regional and Jewish singing contests amd was the soloist of the national ensemble of Military Forces of Ukraine. She also took part in different musicals and theatrical shows. She reached 2nd place at the Russian/Latvia festival "New Wave" and is considered one of the most successful Ukrainian singers. Tina Karol, under the name Tatiana Liberman, tried to reach Eurovision in 2005, but did not progress from the semi-finals.

Final - March 11

Position	Singer	Song	Televote	Jury	Total	Place
1	Kirill Turichenko	Boombox	10	11	21	3rd
2	Tina Karol	I'm Your Queen	12	12	24	1st
3	Irina Rosenfeld	You Give Me Your Love	11	10	21	2nd

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Six artists competed in the third edition of the pre-selection contest "Making Your Mind Up", broadcast on BBC 1 and online on March 4, 2006. Antony Costa and Kym Marsh have had some chart success, while the other three entrants to Making Your Mind Up had not had any real previous chart success in the UK. The contest was won by Daz Sampson, a veteran member of dance act Uniting Nations, with the song "Teenage Life".

Daz Sampson (DJ Daz) is a British dance DJ and singer. He started his music careers as a mobile DJ, but became more successful when he joined the group "Bus Stop". Daz Sampson is known for remixing popular music. His credits include the hit songs “Out of Touch” and “Kung-Fu Fighting”.

Final - March 4

Position	Song	Singer	Points	Place
1	Play Your Game	Goran Kay	14	6th
2	Whisper To Me	Kym Marsh	53	4th
3	Teenage Life	Daz Sampson	121	1st
4	All About You	City Chix	55	3rd
5	Hand On My Heart	Four Story	17	5th
6	Beautiful Thing	Antony Costa	96	2nd

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