Eurovision Season Begins: Our 2016 Eurovision Wish List!

To anyone else, the 1^st of September isn’t all that special (unless you have a birthday on the 1^st, and in that case, happy birthday!) but to us Eurovision fanatics, the 1^st of September signals one thing – The start of Eurovision season!

So you’re a Eurovision beginner, what does this mean? Well this essentially means that any song from now till mid-March could potentially be our 2016 Eurovision winner. Well, kind of. Any song released from this day onwards could be the winner. That’s not to say the winner hasn’t already been written and recorded, and just waiting for a release.

Eurovision season is what we call the period where things really start to pick up. For now, it will still be a bit slow, but as we progress and more countries confirm, we will start to see dates for national finals and internal selections, and then slowly but surely the table on Wikipedia fills up with artists and songs (my favourite part), until eventually, it’s all done for the year, and Europe picks their winner!

So with the start of the season comes the rumours of who is going to participate, and each person has their own wish list and we are no exceptions. Here are our top 5 artists that we hope will enter Europe’s favourite contest!

Mia Diekow – Germany

As soon as I heard Mia Diekow was going to be a part of the German national selection in 2013, I was all over YouTube checking out what she could bring to the contest – and I fell in love! Mia is the funkiest artist since Lena, and if Lena did it, so could Mia. I could imagine her on stage with a song similar to Black Beauty – sung in German, naturally, but appealing to a large audience of upbeat pop lovers. I am so hoping we see her face pop up again this year, or in years to come! Here is the video for her awesome tune, Black Beauty:

Max Milner – UK

The UK needs a shake up and we all know it. Electro Velvet was a whole new low for the country, and it’s about time they sent something reasonable. They were on the right track by sending Molly, an indie artist with a cool hippie vibe. The UK should send Max Milner. Just a man and his guitar, but not just a regular man, and man with an incredible voice. He actually came to fame on the Voice UK, and since then has created a number of EP’s with incredible tracks. Max could most definitely pull a desperately needed win for the UK after losing almost all credibility. Here’s hoping, and here’s his original song, Sex Sheets sung acoustically:

Mikael Saari – Finland

This guy should have won UMK 2013. Hands down. Krista should not have been competition. Such a lost opportunity, but stop it Anita, let’s not be bitter. This guy is ridiculously talented, and fits into the new surge of indie music. His voice is unique, and the music original. I can just imagine it now, Mikael with a piano on stage, singing a slow song which builds into a huge ending, much like We Should Be Through, his UMK 2013 song for Finland. His music is also quite reminiscent of something we might hear from Ireland – which could play to their benefit! But for now, let’s look back on where Mikael’s Eurovision journey started – and for now – ended – but who knows, maybe we will see him on the Eurovision stage soon enough…

Natan Goshen – Israel

Natan Goshen is love. His voice is the smoothest I may have ever heard, and his music is just so calming. Goshen has released a number of singles, and so far, two albums, and I suspect, another one real soon. Maybe a new single could be his Eurovision song? Israel was great in sending an awesome party track in a ballad filled year, but I think Natan’s ballads could easily put him as a front runner. There’s something so intimate about his voice, and with the right staging, his performance will win over Europe, even in Hebrew – and Eurovision desperately needs a native language winner! Here’s one of his latest songs, sit back and enjoy that voice!

Annalisa – Italy

An absolute star from Italy, Annalisa’s most recent album continues to amaze me. It’s one of those albums that you can listen to on repeat for weeks upon weeks. Annalisa is different to most of the previous artists on the wish list in the sense that she would need a HUGE song for Eurovision. Her voice is quite similar to Emma from 2014, but I think Annalisa’s voice is less rock chick and more power. I would happily use all 20 votes on Annalisa if she did end up in Eurovision, no doubt! Here’s the opening track of her newest album, and for sure the style I see her singing at Eurovision!