Georgia: GPB confirms Eurovision 2022 participation

Georgia: GPB confirms Eurovision 2022 participation
Monday, 20 September 2021

  • The Georgian national broadcaster, GPB, has confirmed the country's participation in the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest next year in Italy. 

    Georgia will be present at another edition of the Eurovision Song Contest as PBS confirmed to ESCToday that the nation will be competing in the contest next May in Italy, marking its 14th appearance in the contest since their debut back in 2007.

    The country has used in the past year both internal and national selections to determine their Eurovision hopeful. Since 2019 the country has been selecting the ESC representative via the Georgian Idol show, whilst last year they internally selected Tornike Kipiani after the cancellation of Eurovision 2020. 

    Over the following weeks GPB will shed more light on the selection format that will be chosen to determine next year's ESC representative and entry. 

     

    Georgia in Eurovision

    Georgia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest first time in 2007 with Sopho Khalvashi and her song Visionary dream . Since then it has competed 11 times missing out only the 2009 edition of the contest, when they chose to withdraw. Its best results were scored in Oslo with Sofia Nizharadze and her song Shine (2010) and Dusseldorf with Eldrine and the entry One More Day (2011) when both achieved a 9th placing in the Grand Final.

    In 2018 the Ethno Jazz Band Iriao were internally selected to represent the country in Lisbon with their entry For you. For a second year in a row Georgia failed to qualify to the grand final. In 2019 in Tel Aviv the nation was Oto Nemsadze with his song "Keep on Going" which didn't make it either to the final. 

    In 2020, won the Georgian Idol and was set  to represent Georgia at the 65th Eurovision Song Contestin Rotterdam with his song  “Take me as i am.  Unfortunately, the contest was cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak depriving Kipiani of the chance to perform on Rotterdam Ahoy’s stage.

    In 2021 Tornike was selected internally for Eurovision 2021 in Rotterdam where he competed in the second semi final with the ballad song "You" , which sadly didn't qualify to the final.

     

    News Source: ESCToday

    Image:  EBU / THOMAS HANSES