San Marino In The Eurovision Song Contest
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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 ...
has 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 ...
12 times, debuting in the 2008 contest, followed by participation from
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 ...
onward. The nation did not participate in 2009 or 2010, citing financial difficulties. Having failed to qualify in their first four attempts, the nation qualified for the contest's final for the first time in
2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
.
Valentina Monetta Valentina Monetta (born 1 March 1975) is a Sammarinese singer. She is best known for representing in the , , , and Eurovision Song Contests. She also announced the Sammarinese points at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. In the 2014 contest, Mo ...
represented San Marino in , and 2014, making her the first entrant to participate in three consecutive contests since the 1960s. In ,
Serhat Serhat is a Turkish given name for males. People named Serhat include: * Serhat Akın (born 1981), Turkish footballer * Serhat Akyüz (born 1984), Turkish footballer * Serhat Caradee, Turkish-Australian film director * Serhat Çetin (born 1986), T ...
managed to qualify to the final, marking the second appearance of the country in a Eurovision final and achieving their best result to date of 19th place. Following the cancellation due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Europe The global COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe with its first confirmed case in Bordeaux, France, on 24 January 2020, and subsequently spread widely across the continent. By 17 March 2020, every country in Europe had confirmed a case, and all ...
, their 2020 candidate
Senhit The Provinces of Eritrea existed between Eritrea's incorporation as a colony of Italy until the conversion of the provinces into administrative regions. Overview In Italian Eritrea, the Italian colonial administration had divided the colony into e ...
was again selected to represent San Marino in the following contest. She qualified to the final, making it the first time that San Marino made it to two consecutive finals. Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV), the national broadcaster of San Marino, has largely chosen to select their entrant internally, though on three occasions they used national finals: ''1in360'' for , ''Digital Battle'' for 2020, and ''Una voce per San Marino'' for . Unlike other participating countries, San Marino does not organise a televote due to their use of Italy's phone network, and because the small number of potential televoters would not meet the minimum voting threshold set by the
European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...
(EBU).


Contest history

Participation 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 ...
is open to members of the
European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...
(EBU), of which San Marino has been a member since 1995 through Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV). On 11 November 2007, an email from an SMRTV representative to the
OGAE The (OGAE) () is a non-governmental and non-profit international organisation, consisting of 42 Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs from across Europe and beyond. It was founded in 1984 in Savonlinna, Finland by Jaripekka Koikkalainen. Four non-p ...
Italy stated that they were considering entering the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in , pending approval by their board members. A decision would have to be made by 15 November, the deadline for interested broadcasters to submit an application for participation in the 2008 contest. At the time, half of the financing of SMRTV was by Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI), the broadcaster of , which had last participated in
1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
; the two entities also shared board members. Despite this, SMRTV received approval to take part and officially announced their participation on 21 November 2007. SMRTV Head of Delegation Alessandro Capicchioni stated that San Marino's motivation for entering the contest was to promote tourism and to bring attention to the nation, as " lot of the world knows neither where San Marino is or if it even exists". For their first Eurovision appearance, SMRTV sought to host an internal selection process, choosing
Miodio Miodio () is a band that consists of three Italian and two Sammarinese members. They represented San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, performing the song Complice. This was the first time San Marino had entered the competition. They ...
with the
Italian language Italian (''italiano'' or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Together with Sardinian, Italian is the least divergent language from Latin. Spoken by about 85 m ...
song "Complice". The nation's first entry did not fare well, placing last in the first semi-final, receiving just five points in total and not qualifying to the final. In June 2008, the Sammarinese Minister of Culture announced that they had good hopes to return to the next year's edition. After initially applying to take part in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2009 The Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was the 54th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Moscow, Russia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Believe (Dima Bilan song), Believe" by Dima Bilan. Organised by the Euro ...
in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, Russia, SMRTV ultimately opted to not return, citing financial difficulties. San Marino did not return for the
Eurovision Song Contest 2010 The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the 55th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Oslo, Norway, following the country's victory at the with the song "Fairytale (Alexander Rybak song), Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak. Organise ...
either, again stating financial reasons as preventing participation. Had they obtained state or private funding for an entry, SMRTV had agreed to send the Italian duo
Paola e Chiara Paola e Chiara is an Italian pop music duo consisting of Paola Iezzi and Chiara Iezzi, two sisters, born in Milan. They are the best selling female Italian group with over 35 million records sold. Their national career began when the manager o ...
to the contest, held in
Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
, Norway that year. After a two-year absence from the contest, San Marino returned in with 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 ...
performing " Stand By", which failed to take the nation to the final. From 2012 to 2014, the nation sent
Valentina Monetta Valentina Monetta (born 1 March 1975) is a Sammarinese singer. She is best known for representing in the , , , and Eurovision Song Contests. She also announced the Sammarinese points at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. In the 2014 contest, Mo ...
to the contest on three consecutive occasions, which made her the first singer to participate in three consecutive contests since
Udo Jürgens Udo Jürgens (born Jürgen Udo Bockelmann; 30 September 1934 – 21 December 2014) was an Austrian composer and singer of popular music whose career spanned over 50 years. He won the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 for Austria, composed close ...
, who competed in , and for . Monetta's entries in ("
The Social Network Song "The Social Network Song (OH OH - Uh - OH OH)" (originally titled "Facebook Uh, Oh, Oh (A Satirical Song)") is a song by singer Valentina Monetta which was the Sammarinese entrant at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. At the Eurovision Song Conte ...
") and ("
Crisalide (Vola) San Marino participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, held in Malmö, Sweden. The Sammarinese national broadcaster Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV) internally selected Valentina Monetta with "Crisalide (Vola)" to r ...
") respectively failed to qualify San Marino for the final. However, in , Monetta managed to bring the nation to the final for the first time, where she placed 24th with the song " Maybe". San Marino's subsequent three entries: "
Chain of Lights San Marino participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, held in Vienna, Austria. The Sammarinese national broadcaster Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV) internally selected Anita Simoncini and Michele Perniola with "C ...
" performed by
Anita Simoncini Anita Simoncini (born 14 April 1999) is a Sammarinese singer who represented San Marino in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014 as a member of the girl group The Peppermints with the song " Breaking My Heart". She also represented San Mari ...
and
Michele Perniola Michele Perniola (born 6 September 1998), known also as 3x3n, is an Italian singer, best known for representing San Marino at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with his song "O-o-O Sole Intorno a Me" (O-o-O Sunlight all around me). He also r ...
(), " I Didn't Know" by Turkish performer
Serhat Serhat is a Turkish given name for males. People named Serhat include: * Serhat Akın (born 1981), Turkish footballer * Serhat Akyüz (born 1984), Turkish footballer * Serhat Caradee, Turkish-Australian film director * Serhat Çetin (born 1986), T ...
() and "
Spirit of the Night San Marino participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, held in Kyiv, Ukraine. The Sammarinese national broadcaster San Marino RTV, Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV) internally selected Sammarinese singer Valentina Mon ...
" by Jimmie Wilson and Monetta (), all failed to qualify to the final. The 2017 entry marked Monetta's fourth appearance at the contest as well as the nation's second last place finish in the semi-final. This was only slightly improved upon in with Jessika and
Jenifer Brening Jenifer Brening (born 15 December 1996 in Berlin, Germany) is a German singer and songwriter who represented San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contes ...
's second to last place finish with " Who We Are". In , San Marino sent Serhat for a second time, with the song "
Say Na Na Na "Say Na Na Na" is a 2019 single by Turkish singer Serhat. The song represented San Marino after being internally selected by (SMRTV), the Sanmarinese national broadcaster. The song was released on 7 March 2019. It finished 19th in the Grand Fina ...
", finishing in 19th place with 77 points, giving them their best result to this point. The nation planned to take part in the with Senhit and her song "
Freaky! "Freaky!" is a song by Italian singer Senhit. It was selected to be the entrant for San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 on 9 March 2020, after Senhit was internally selected to represent the country. Background The song was written by ...
", however, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Europe The global COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe with its first confirmed case in Bordeaux, France, on 24 January 2020, and subsequently spread widely across the continent. By 17 March 2020, every country in Europe had confirmed a case, and all ...
, the contest was cancelled on 18 March 2020. The EBU announced soon after that entries intended for 2020 would not be eligible for the following year, though each broadcaster would be able to send either their 2020 representative or a new one. Senhit later revealed that she would return to represent San Marino for the
Eurovision Song Contest 2021 The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 was the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's win at the with the song "Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. The Netherlands was set to host the , ...
. Her
2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
entry " Adrenalina" featuring
Flo Rida Tramar Lacel Dillard (born September 16, 1979), better known by his stage name Flo Rida (, ), is an American rapper and singer. His 2007 breakout single " Low" was number one for 10 weeks in the United States and broke the record for digital dow ...
managed to qualify the nation to the final the third time in its history, eventually placing 22nd of the 26 finalists with 50 points. For the nation's
2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
appearance, Italian singer Achille Lauro was selected with the song "
Stripper A stripper or exotic dancer is a person whose occupation involves performing striptease in a public adult entertainment venue such as a strip club. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at a bachelor party or other private event. M ...
", however, the nation failed to qualify for the final, finishing in 14th place in the semi-final.


Selection process

Prior to the 2018 contest, SMRTV had selected their Eurovision Song Contest entry internally for all of their appearances in the contest. Their first experience with a national final type process came in where SMRTV opted to organise the online talent show ''1in360'' to select the entry. After a brief return to an internal selection for , the 2020 contest saw the nation's entry selected through ''Digital Battle''. As part of that process, 2011 entrant Senhit was selected internally, while her song was selected through an online poll. For 2021, SMRTV continued their cooperation with Senhit, returning to an internal selection for the year's contest. The 2022 contest saw SMRTV opting to organise a singing competition entitled '' Una voce per San Marino'' to select their entry, returning a public process for a third time. In February 2022, following the success of the first edition, the Sammarinese Secretary of State for Tourism, Postal Services, Economic Cooperation and the World Expo Federico Pedini Amati announced that the format had been confirmed for 2023.


Voting

Voting at the Eurovision Song Contest typically consists of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent jury deliberation. From 2009 to 2015, the jury and public votes were combined and presented as one. San Marino does not organise a televote, however, due to their use of Italy's phone network, and because the small number of potential televoters would not meet the minimum voting threshold set by the EBU. As such, the Sammarinese vote was based solely on their jury during these contests. For the 2016 contest, the EBU introduced a new voting system where the jury and televoting points would be presented separately. If no televote was available, they would instead simulate a composite score using average televoting results from an undisclosed pre-selected group of countries. SMRTV objected to this format, particularly because the EBU would not divulge which countries they would use to create the result and because half of San Marino's points would be determined by others. For the 2017 contest, SMRTV proposed to enable televoting by Sammarinese residents through the use of a statistically representative panel of viewers, similar to the process used at the time in Italy's
Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longest-running annual ...
. The panel would watch the shows of the contest live and vote during the normal televoting period; their vote would then be used as the country's televote. If any issues arose, the old format could be used as a backup. However, the EBU denied this request in March 2017, and the rules had since remained unchanged in this regard. At the 2022 contest, San Marino's jury vote was found to have irregular voting patterns during the second semi-final, along with five other nations. Consequently, these countries were given substitute aggregated jury scores for both the second semi-final and the final, calculated from the corresponding jury scores of countries with historically similar voting patterns as determined by the pots for the semi-final allocation draw for that contest. Their televoting scores were unaffected. The Flemish broadcaster VRT later reported that the juries involved had made agreements to vote for each others' entries to secure qualification to the final. For the 2023 contest, the voting system underwent several changes, including a return of full televoting to determine the qualifiers from the semi-finals. In the event that a country cannot deliver a televoting result, a backup jury result would be used, with the jury points doubled for the final. This change allowed for the Sammarinese vote to be based solely on their jury for the first time since 2015, however, the procedure of using calculated scores would still be used in the event that the Sammarinese jury is disqualified.


Participation overview


Related involvement


Heads of delegation

The public broadcaster of each participating country in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the contestants, songwriters, composers and backing vocalists, among others.


Jury members

A five-member jury panel consisting of music industry professionals is made up for every participating country for the semi-finals and final of the Eurovision Song Contest, ranking all entries except for their own country's contribution. The juries' votes constitute 50% of the overall result alongside televoting. The modern incarnation of jury voting was introduced beginning with the .


Commentators and spokespersons

For the show's broadcast on SMRTV, various commentators have provided comment on the contest in the local language. At the Eurovision Song Contest after all points are calculated, the presenters of the show call upon each voting country to invite each respective spokesperson to announce the results of their vote on-screen. In 2014, San Marino RTV also provided an English commentary for their internet streaming, with John Kennedy O'Connor and Jamarie Milkovic. O'Connor reprised this role for both the 2015 and 2016 contests.


Gallery

File:ESC2014 - San Marino 01.jpg,
Valentina Monetta Valentina Monetta (born 1 March 1975) is a Sammarinese singer. She is best known for representing in the , , , and Eurovision Song Contests. She also announced the Sammarinese points at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. In the 2014 contest, Mo ...
in Copenhagen (
2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
) File:20150516 ESC 2015 Michele Perniola & Anita Simoncini 8632.jpg,
Michele Perniola Michele Perniola (born 6 September 1998), known also as 3x3n, is an Italian singer, best known for representing San Marino at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with his song "O-o-O Sole Intorno a Me" (O-o-O Sunlight all around me). He also r ...
&
Anita Simoncini Anita Simoncini (born 14 April 1999) is a Sammarinese singer who represented San Marino in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014 as a member of the girl group The Peppermints with the song " Breaking My Heart". She also represented San Mari ...
in Vienna (
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
) File:ESC2016 - San Marino 09.jpg,
Serhat Serhat is a Turkish given name for males. People named Serhat include: * Serhat Akın (born 1981), Turkish footballer * Serhat Akyüz (born 1984), Turkish footballer * Serhat Caradee, Turkish-Australian film director * Serhat Çetin (born 1986), T ...
in Stockholm (
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
) File:Eurovision Song Contest 2017, Semi Final 2 Rehearsals. Photo 228.jpg,
Valentina Monetta Valentina Monetta (born 1 March 1975) is a Sammarinese singer. She is best known for representing in the , , , and Eurovision Song Contests. She also announced the Sammarinese points at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. In the 2014 contest, Mo ...
& Jimmie Wilson in Kyiv (
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
) File:ESC2018 - San Marino 05.jpg, Jessika and
Jenifer Brening Jenifer Brening (born 15 December 1996 in Berlin, Germany) is a German singer and songwriter who represented San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contes ...
in Lisbon (
2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
) File:San Marino Eurovision 2019.jpg,
Serhat Serhat is a Turkish given name for males. People named Serhat include: * Serhat Akın (born 1981), Turkish footballer * Serhat Akyüz (born 1984), Turkish footballer * Serhat Caradee, Turkish-Australian film director * Serhat Çetin (born 1986), T ...
in Tel Aviv (
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
) File:Eurovision 2022 - Semi-final 2 - San Marino - Achille Lauro (01).jpg, Achille Lauro in Turin ()


See also

*
San Marino in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest San Marino has participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest three times since their debut in the contest. San Marino RTV (SMRTV), a member organisation of the European Broadcasting Union, is responsible for San Marino's participation. Hist ...


Notes


References

{{Eurovision Song Contest
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 ...