The winner of the Una voce per San Marino contest will represent San Marino at Eurovision. Jouko Enkelnotko decided to participate in the battle after watching videos from the previous year’s final.
The Eurovision Song Contest is approaching, and the participating countries are feverishly looking for their representative through the qualifying competitions.
In the San Marino qualifying competition Una voce per San Marino, Finnish colors were also surprisingly seen.
The Eurovision rules do not specify that the performing artist should be a citizen of the country he represents in the competition.
However, the different participating countries have their own guidelines regarding their internal qualifying competitions. Many participating countries, such as San Marino, allow citizens of other countries to qualify.
Another chance
The pre-version of Enkelnotko’s song *Hard To Be an Angel* was completed only two days after the deadline for the New Music Competition, so competing for a place in the Eurovision Song Contest in Finland was not an option.
Thus, the idea of \u200b\u200ban alternative route to the Eurovision limelight came to Enkelnotko’s mind.
Enkelnotko initially sought to participate in Eurovision through the Swiss qualifying competition, but he did not progress beyond the first stage in the process after sending a preview of his song to the jury.
In the end, Southern Europe and San Marino were selected as destinations, and in the qualifying competition, Enkelnotko, who plays the drag character Angel Dell, made it out of hundreds of applicants all the way to the semi-finals.
– I watched their final last year and thought that I might have a chance. They are quite open-minded. I thought that participating as a drag character could work, Enkelnotko recalls.
Fate was decided
Although the competitors in the San Marino qualifying competition and UMK have the same goal, there are big differences between the events, according to Enkelnotko.
– In the semifinals of San Marino, Rivakka had the pace. They grabbed the microphone and pushed it onto the stage. The show wasn’t terribly structured or soundchecked.
During the past weekend, dozens of artists appeared before the jury. Enkelnotko did not make it to the finals.
– There’s no need to be ashamed, but in slightly better conditions I could have done even better.
Enkelnotko says that he reflected that the content of his presentation did not necessarily open up to the jury in the desired way.
– Angel has many levels. For example, comics, which may not open if you are not good at English. In Liverpool, the gang would have understood, Enkelnotko laughs, referring to the Eurovision Song Contest held in England.