2021

The Black Mamba

© EBU/Andres Putting About Quick Facts MembersPedro TatankaMiguel CasaisMarco PombinhoRui Pedro “Pity” VazGuilherme “Gui” Salgueiro Established2010 Nationality🇵🇹 Porutgese National SelectionFestival da Canção 2021 In EurovisionRotterdam 2021 SongLove is on my side (2021) Biography In May 2010, Pedro Taborda ( aka Tatanka), Ciro Cruz and Miguel Casais formed The Black Mamba. They soon released their first album with the same name. In just over a year, they passed through London, Philadelphia, Luanda, Madrid and Seville on their debut tour, having also visited Brazil in 2013. In 2014, the band released their second album, “Dirty Little Brother”, after which a new national and international tour followed. In 2016, the band presented a series of concerts in acoustic format. In October 2018, the band presented the third album, “The Mamba King“. The next year, the Good Times Tour tour celebrated the band’s 10-year career, ending at the end of February 2020. In 2021, the band participated in Festival da Canção, the Portuguese national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. They won and represented Portugal in the contest in Rotterdam. Entries Love is on my side Country🇵🇹 Country Year2021 LanguageEnglish LyricsTATANKA MusicTATANKA Backings– Results Semi Points: 239Position: 4Running order: 12 Results Finals Points: 153Position: 12Running order: 7 https://youtu.be/qq9SceXaukA

We saw the Australian entry!

So far we had not been able to admire an entire performance from Australia. The story is known: Montaigne could not leave the country to be present in Rotterdam itself. Therefore the live recording was used that each country has made just in case … Dark is the magic word in Montaigne’s performance. She wears black clothes and performs against a black background. The only thing that is brightly colored is Montaigne’s hair. Where there had been quite a few doubts about Montaigne’s vocal performance, she takes those doubts away completely.

Road to Rotterdam: Denmark

The Danish duo Fyr og Flamme, consisting of Jesper Groth and Laurits Emanuel, was the surprise of the Danish national final. The two rose to fame in 2020 with two hits. That was enough to be the favorite during the Danish preselection Melodi Grand Prix. Their song “Øve os på hinande” therefore won. It is the first time since 1998 that a Eurovision song is sung entirely in Danish.

Australia: Montaigne releases new video

So far, the official video of the Australian entry, supported by eurovision.tv, is a performance of Montaigne at Mardi Grass. However, today Montaigne released a new video of “Technicolour”. Montaigne will not be able to attend the Eurovision Song Contest in person as she can not travel to Rotterdam. Therefore, the prerecorded performance Australia submitted to the EBU will be used.

Road to Rotterdam: Switzerland

The Swiss contestant Gjon’s Tears is actually called Gjon Muharremaj. He is a Kosovar Albanian, but born in Friborg, Switzerland. When he was 12 he took part in Albanians Got Talent, a year later in the show’s Swiss sister. In 2019 he participated in The Voice. Gjon’s Tears would participate in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2020 with “Répondez-moi”. The Swiss broadcaster again chose Gjon’s Tears in 2021. Dutchman Wouter Hardy, jointly responsible for “Arcade” in 2019, co-wrote the song “Tout l’Univers”.

Road to Rotterdam: Latvia

Samanta Tīna had already taken part in the Latvian preselections five times, and she tried once in Lithuania. In 2020, her persistence finally seemed to be rewarded. We all know how that turned out. Anyone who sees the video of “I’m still breathing” will be amazed: with background singers with splash screens, Samanta seemed to know what was going to happen in the near future.Unlike many other countries, Latvia did not have a national final for 2021 and gave Samanta Tīna carte blanche to submit a song. That will be “The moon is rising”.

Road to Rotterdam: Finland

Blind Channel is the band that represents Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest. The band has been active since 2013 and has now released three albums. Of the many singles they released, none of them became a hit so far. That changed after they won the Finnish preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest with “Dark side”: rightaway the group was at 1. Angry metal fans stated that the music of Blind Channel is absolutely not metal. Okay…. photo credits: Stefan Bollmann, Wikimedia Commons

Road to Rotterdam: Bulgaria

When the Eurovision song contest was canceled last year, Bulgaria was number 1 at the bookmakers. Victoria Georgieva seemed to be heading for the first Bulgarian victory with “Tears getting sober”. It was not going to happen, but the Bulgarians were of course happy to work with this former X-Factor participant for another year. The audience was allowed to choose one out of five songs. It became this “Growing up is getting old”. photo credits: © Lora Musheva

Road to Rotterdam: Albania

Traditionally, the national song contest Festival i Këngës is the preselection for Albania in the ESC. This year it was won by Anxhela Peristeri. This singer already participated in Festival i Këngës in 2001, released a number of singles, entered a beauty pageant did not manage to remain succesful… until she made a comeback in 2014. She participated in several shows, and with this “Karma” she finally won Festival i Këngës.

Road to Rotterdam: Estonia

Uku Suviste was supposed to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest last year. Because the contest was canceled, he could not perform his song “What love is”. The Estonian broadcaster did not immediately show confidence for the 2021 contest. Suviste simply had to participate in a national final with no fewer than 20 songs. He managed to win it with “The lucky one”.