San Marino
San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...
participated in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2011
The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song "Satellite" by Lena. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union ...
, held in
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. The Sammarinese national broadcaster
Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV) confirmed the country's second participation in the contest on 22 November 2010, marking their return after not participating in and . Italian singer
Senhit Zadik Zadik, under the stage name Senit, was internally selected by SMRTV to represent San Marino with the song "Stand By". The entry was promoted through the creation of a
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
, a promotional tour throughout Europe and an interview to the press in the lead up to the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. San Marino performed 12th in the
first semi-final, held on 10 May 2011, and placed 16th, receiving 34 points and failing to qualify for the
grand final
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...
.
Background
Prior to the 2011 contest, San Marino had participated in the
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
once, when it debuted at the
2008 contest.
Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV) had first announced the nation's debut in late November 2007. For their first appearance, SMRTV hosted an internal selection process, choosing the band
Miodio with the song "Complice".
At the contest, San Marino finished last with five points in the
first semi-final, failing to qualify for the
grand final
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...
.
San Marino did not return to the
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
or
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
contests, citing financial difficulties.
On 10 December 2010, it was announced that the nation was on the provisional list of countries seeking to take part in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2011
The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song "Satellite" by Lena. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union ...
in
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
, Germany. On 22 December, San Marino's Head of Delegation Alessandro Capicchioni confirmed the country's intent to take part, marking their return to the contest after a two-year absence.
Before Eurovision
Internal selection
![Senhit](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Senhit.jpg)
On 3 February 2011, SMRTV held a press conference at their headquarters where they announced that they had internally selected Italian singer
Senit
Senhit Zadik Zadik (born 1 October 1979), known professionally as simply Senhit (formerly written as Senit), is an Italian singer. She represented San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Düsseldorf with " Stand By", but failed to quali ...
to represent San Marino at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011.
Senit was selected to represent San Marino by the broadcaster and a selection committee which included project manager Eddy Anselmi.
SMRTV stated in a press release: "As well as a good placement in the contest, our goals are to have our entry in the European airplays and charts. Senit will represent the international and open-minded side of our Republic, following the path of other small countries like and , who have achieved great results in the Eurovision History".
A special presentation programme to reveal Senit's song was held on 11 March 2011 at the broadcaster's studio, hosted by Emanuela Rossi and broadcast on SMRTV as well as online via the official Eurovision Song Contest website ''eurovision.tv''.
At the programme, "Stand By" was presented as the song to represent San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. The song was written and composed by Radiosa Romani with production by German music producer Christian Lohr.
In regards to the song, Senit stated that she opted to perform in English as it would be better suited for an international audience, while also letting them differentiate themselves from Italy who would be performing in Italian.
Promotion
To promote the entry, a
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
for "Stand By" was filmed in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and San Marino and released as part of the song's presentation on 11 March 2011.
A promotional tour saw Senit performing in nearly 40 countries including Albania, Malta, Greece, Turkey, Georgia and the United Kingdom.
On 9 April, Senit was one of several participants of 2011 who participated in the third annual ''Eurovision in Concert'' series, an event held at Club Air in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, Netherlands staged to serve as a preview party for the year's entries. She and her
backing vocalist
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...
s were interviewed by website ESCToday on 2 May 2011 after their first technical rehearsal, speaking about their experiences performing the song and what viewers could expect for their final performance.
In the lead up to the contest, the delegation hosted a Eurovision-themed party on 8 May, where Senit performed the song live. Invitations to the event were also extended to contestants from other countries competing that year, encouraging them to perform as well.
At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 took place at the
Düsseldorf Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany. It consisted of two semi-finals held on 10 and 12 May, respectively, and the
grand final
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...
on 14 May 2011. According to the
Eurovision rules, all participating countries, except the host nation and the "
Big Five", consisting of , , , and the , were required to qualify from one of the two semi-finals to compete for the grand final; the top 10 countries from the respective semi-finals would proceed to the final.
On 17 January 2011, an allocation draw was held that placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, with San Marino being placed into the
first semi-final, to be held on 10 May.
Once all the competing songs for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by another draw, which was held on 15 March in Düsseldorf.
The nation was assigned to perform at position 12, following and preceding .
Lia Fiorio and Gigi Restivo served as commentators for the television and radio broadcasts, which were also streamed online.
Senit competed 12th in the first semi-final of the contest on 10 May 2011. Flanked by two guitar players and three backing vocalists, she appeared on stage wearing a tight fitting dress designed by British designer
Elizabeth Emanuel
Elizabeth Florence Emanuel (née Weiner, born 5 July 1953) is a British fashion designer who is best known for designing, with her former husband David Emanuel, the wedding dress worn by Lady Diana Spencer on her wedding to Prince Charles in ...
, who had also designed
Princess Diana
Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
's wedding dress.
In a press release, SMRTV described the stage presence as a club-like atmosphere featuring smoke fountains and spotlights surrounded by black
LED
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...
screens.
Susan Duncan Smith served as Senit's production manager,
while the performance's choreography was created by Shaun Fernandes, who had previously contributed to the contest for the UK's , and entries.
Fernandes also served as
stage director
A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...
, managing camera angles and the overall positioning of the ensemble on the stage.
Voting
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to San Marino in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, as well as by the country in the semi-final and grand final, respectively. In the first semi-final, San Marino came 16th with 34 points; the nation was awarded 19th place with 8 points by the public and awarded 8th place with 74 points by the jury.
Nicola Della Valle, a group member of San Marino's
2008 entrants Miodio, was the Sammarinese spokesperson announcing the country's voting results.
Points awarded to San Marino
Points awarded by San Marino
References
External links
SMRTV's official Eurovision site
{{Eurovision Song Contest 2011
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011
Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...