Eurovision Song Contest Weekly Update 15/03/2016

This weekly update for the Eurovision Song Contest, published on March 15, 2016, provides a detailed breakdown of the final stages of the national selection season and key administrative milestones for the 2016 competition in Stockholm.

1. Conclusion of the National Final Season

The national final season, which originally commenced in December with Albania, officially concluded on the Saturday preceding this update [00:13]. The final two countries to select their entries via national finals were Lithuania and Sweden.

Lithuania: Donnie Montel won the selection with his song "I've Been Waiting for This Night" [00:22]. This marked his second time representing Lithuania, having previously competed at the 2016 contest in Baku in 2012 [00:36]. He noted that returning for a second time presents a greater challenge due to elevated public expectations, but stated he felt ready [00:43].

Sweden: In a sold-out Friends Arena locat

ed in Stockholm, the artist Frans won Melodifestivalen with his entry "If I Were Sorry" [00:55]. He expressed excitement about traveling to the Globen arena for the contest, noting it is a significant journey from where he lives [01:02].

2. New Song Announcements & Language Changes

During the week, multiple songs and music videos from participating nations across Europe and Australia were officially unveiled [01:16]:

Australia: Dami Im's entry "Sound of Silence" is featured among the newly announced tracks [01:30].

Albania: It was announced that Albania officially altered their entry by switching the lyrics to English. The revised title of the track is "Fairy Tale" [03:02].

3. Head of Delegation Meeting in Stockholm

A major operational milestone took place on the Monday prior to the update [03:12].

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| HEAD OF DELEGATION MEETING

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| [43 Countries Gathered] ---> [Official Entry Handover to EBU] |

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| [SVT Briefing] ---------> [Creative & Technical Plans Shared] |

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Heads of Delegations from all 43 participating countries met in Stockholm [03:12]. During this annual meeting:

The official entries of all participating countries were formally handed over to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) [03:20].

The Swedish host broadcaster, SVT, briefed the delegations regarding their creative and production plans for the live shows [03:29].

Delegations received critical operational updates concerning logistics and scheduling for the upcoming contest [03:35].

Eurovision Song Contest Weekly Update 15/03/2016

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