San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016

Eurovision Song Contest 2016
Country	San Marino
National selection
Selection process	Internal Selection
Selection date(s)	Artist: 12 January 2016 Song: 9 March 2016
Selected entrant	Serhat
Selected song	"I Didn't Know"
Selected songwriter(s)	Olcayto Ahmet Tuğsuz Nektarios Tyrakis
San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2015 • 2016

San Marino will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "I Didn't Know" written by Olcayto Ahmet Tuğsuz and Nektarios Tyrakis. The song will be performed by Turkish singer Serhat, who was internally selected by the Sammarinese broadcaster San Marino RTV (SMRTV) to represent the nation in the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. Serhat's appointment as the Sammarinese representative was announced on 12 January 2016, while the song, "I Didn't Know", was presented to the public on 9 March 2016.

Background

Prior to the 2016 Contest, San Marino had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest six times since its first entry in 2008.^[1] Their debut entry in 2008, "Complice" performed by Miodio, failed to qualify to the final and placed last in the semi-final it competed in. San Marino subsequently withdrew from the contest in 2009 and 2010, returning in 2011 with Italian singer Senit performing "Stand By", which also failed to take the nation to the final. Between 2012 and 2014, San Marino sent Valentina Monetta to the contest on three consecutive occasions, which made her the first singer to participate in three consecutive contests since Udo Jürgens, who competed in 1964, 1965 and 1966 for Austria. Her entries in 2012 ("The Social Network Song") and 2013 ("Crisalide (Vola)") also failed to qualify San Marino to the final. However, in 2014, Monetta managed to bring San Marino to the final for the first time where she placed 24th with the song "Maybe". In 2015, the nation once again failed to qualify to the final with the song "Chain of Lights" performed by Anita Simoncini and Michele Perniola.

The Sammarinese national broadcaster, San Marino RTV (SMRTV), broadcasts the event within San Marino and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. SMRTV confirmed San Marino's participation at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest on 24 September 2015.^[2] All of San Marino's entries at the Eurovision Song Contest have, to this point, been selected via internal selection, a procedure which the broadcaster opted for once again to select their 2016 entry.^[3]

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

On 12 January 2016, SMRTV held a press conference at SMRTV studios where they announced that they had internally selected Turkish singer Serhat to represent San Marino at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest. The SMRTV Director, Carlo Romeo, and the Sammarinese Head of Delegation, Alessandro Capicchioni, were also in attendance.^[3][4] Serhat was selected to represent San Marino after the broadcaster received a proposal from the Italian agency 23 Music.^[5]

The song that Serhat will perform in the Eurovision Song Contest, "I Didn't Know", was presented on 9 March 2016 during a press conference held at the InterContinental Le Grand Hotel in Paris.^[6][7] The song was composed by Olcayto Ahmet Tuğsuz with lyrics by Nektarios Tyrakis. Tuğsuz had previously composed two Eurovision entries for Turkey, "Hani?" (1982) and "Şarkım Sevgi Üstüne" (1987), while Tyrakis was the lyricist for "Shake It", the Greek entry in 2004, and "Love Me Tonight", the Belarusian entry in 2005. The song was recorded at the Piste Rouge Studios in Brussels and was arranged by the French musician Cyril Orcel and Belgian-African musician Guy Waku. The song was recorded in English, French and Italian.^[6] The lyricist for the Italian version, "Non ero io", was Mariella Nava while the lyricist for the French version, "Comment savoir", was Stéphane Laporte.^[8] The concept and creative director for the Sammarinese entry was Manfred Thierry Mugler; Mugler also directed the official music video for the song, which was filmed in Paris.^[6]

Preparation

On 21 March 2016, the Sammarinese delegation announced that their request to change the official contest version of "I Didn't Know" had been approved by the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group. The song was changed from the ballad version, which was originally presented on 9 March 2016, to the disco version, which was released earlier as part of the EP for the song. The decision was made in response to positive reactions that the disco version received on YouTube and social media.^[9]

Promotion

Serhat completed an extensive promotional tour in the lead up the Eurovision Song Contest to specifically promote "I Didn't Know" as the Sammarinese entry. Serhat appeared in television talk shows and radio shows in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malta, Greece, Macedonia and Albania.^[10] Among his appearances, Serhat performed "I Didn't Know" during the E Channel programme Bravo Roula in Greece and during the TVM programme Xarabank in Malta.^[11][12]

At Eurovision

Serhat during a press meet and greet

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.^[13] On 25 January 2016, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. San Marino was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2016, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.^[14]

Once all the competing songs for the 2016 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. San Marino was set to perform in position 8, following the entry from Armenia and before the entry from Russia.^[15]

The two semi-finals and the final will be broadcast in San Marino on SMtv San Marino and Radio San Marino with commentary by Lia Fiorio and Gigi Restivo.^[16] The Sammarinese spokesperson, who will announce the top 12-point score awarded by the Sammarinese jury during the final, will be Irol MC.^[17]

Semi-final

Serhat will take part in technical rehearsals on 2 and 6 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 9 and 10 May.^[18] This includes the jury show on 9 May where the professional juries of each country will watch and vote on the competing entries.

The Sammarinese performance features Serhat dressed in a burgundy crimson suit performing together with five female backing vocalists and dancers dressed in silver-coloured costumes.^[19] The stage presentation features raised see-through platforms that project images of male and female dancers while the LED screens project red, white and blue effects with disco balls and falling stars. The five backing vocalists and dancers on stage with Serhat are Caroline Hauwel, Ellia Palazzi, EmilIe Weber, Jessica Fagniot and Ophelie Crispin.^[20]

Voting

Voting during the three shows will be conducted under a new system that will involve each country now awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury will consist of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury will judge each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.^[21] In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results will be released shortly after the grand final.^[22]

Split voting results

The following five members will comprise the Sammarinese jury:^[21]

• Monica Moroni – Chairperson – flute soloist, teacher
• Leonardo Bollini – musician, guitarist
• Gea Gasperoni – pianist, teacher
• Edoardo Monti – musician, beat creator
• Carlo Chiaruzzi – audio engineer

References

1. "San Marino Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
2. Jiandani, Sanjay (24 November 2015). "San Marino: Has SMRTV confirmed participation in Eurovision 2016?". ESCToday. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
3. Weaver, Jessica (9 January 2016). "San Marino: Artist announcement on 12 January". ESCToday. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
4. "Eurofestival 2016: San Marino RTV presenta l'artista" (in Italian). SMRTV. 9 January 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
5. Roxburgh, Gordon (12 January 2016). "Serhat to represent San Marino". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
6. Roxburgh, Gordon (9 March 2016). "San Marino: Serhat presents "I Didn't Know"". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
7. Roxburgh, Gordon (1 March 2016). "San Marino: Serhat to present song on 9th March". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
8. Weaver, Jessica (18 February 2016). "San Marino: Multinational team behind Eurovision entry". esctoday.com. ESCToday.com. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
9. Roxburgh, Gordon (21 March 2016). "San Marino changes to disco version of "I Didn't Know" for contest". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
10. Roxburgh, Gordon (25 April 2016). "Serhat concludes European promotional tour". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
11. Laufer, Gil (17 April 2016). "Eurovision 2016: First live TV performances for Serhat, Ira and Nina Kraljić". esctoday.com. Esctoday.com. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
12. "Serhat f'Xarabank". facebook.com (in Maltese). Xarabank. 19 April 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
13. Jordan, Paul (21 January 2016). "Semi-Final Allocation Draw on Monday, pots revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
14. Jordan, Paul (25 January 2016). "Allocation Draw: The results!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
15. Jordan, Paul (8 April 2016). "Running order of the Semi-Finals revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
16. "Eurovision 2016: San Marino RTV conferma al commento il duo Fiorio-Restivo". eurofestivalnews.com (in Italian) (Eurofestival News). 13 January 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
17. Granger, Anthony (2 April 2016). "San Marino: Irol MC announced as Eurovision 2016 spokesperson". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
18. "Media Activities" (PDF). eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
19. Nilsson, Helena (6 May 2016). "Day 5 at the Globe Arena". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
20. Roxburgh, Gordon (2 May 2016). "First day of rehearsals at the Globe Arena". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
21. "Here are the judges for Eurovision 2016!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 29 April 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
22. Jordan, Paul (18 February 2016). "Biggest change to Eurovision Song Contest voting since 1975". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 18 February 2016.