Eurovision Choir 2019 was the second Eurovision Choir competition for choral singers, organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Interkultur Foundation. It was held on 3 August 2019, at the Partille Arena, in Partille Municipality, Metropolitan Gothenburg, Sweden. The event, presented by Petroc Trelawny and , was produced by Swedish host broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) together with an international team of EBU members, the European Choir Games and the City of Gothenburg.
Ten countries participated, including debutants Norway, Scotland, Switzerland and the hosts Sweden while Austria, Estonia and Hungary decided to withdraw. Three of the ten choirs advanced to the second round: Latvia, Denmark, and Slovenia, all of which took part in the inaugural edition in 2017. Vocal Line of Denmark won the contest, with Latvia and Slovenia placing second and third respectively.
Location After initial reports in February 2018, it was confirmed on 8 July 2018 that the second edition of the Eurovision Choir would be held in the Swedish city of Gothenburg. The proposed venue was the 14,000-seat Scandinavium arena. However, on 18 December 2018, it was confirmed that Partille Arena would host the competition.
Format Competing countries who are members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) are eligible to participate in Eurovision Choir. Ten countries participated at the second edition of the contest. Each competing country was represented by a professional choir, and in the first round each performed a choral piece lasting no more than four minutes in length. Each piece may include singular or several musical works or of a free genre; but must contain national or regional influence from the participating country. Three choirs are invited to perform a second, 3 minute set after which the winner is announced.
The winning choir were presented with a trophy and awarded with a trip to attend the 11th edition of the World Choir Games held in Flanders, Belgium in July 2020.
Performances The show opened with a performance by twenty one choirs from across Västra Götaland County, and all ten participating choirs performed "Mamma Mia" by ABBA during the flag parade. For the two intervals, the mass choir performed "Without You" by Avicii with Madelene Johansson after the first round, followed by 2017 winners Carmen Manet performing alongside Bohuslän Big Band after the second. At the end of the show all the choirs performed two further ABBA songs, "Dancing Queen" and "Thank You for the Music" both with Johansson.
Presenters On 5 April 2019, it was announced that British classical music radio and television broadcaster, Petroc Trelawny and Swedish culture presenter would host the 2019 competition. Trelawny’s career started at BBC Radio Devon in 1989 as a reporter and, since 1998, he has been a presenter at BBC Radio 3. Trelawny hosted the Eurovision Young Musicians 2018 at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh alongside Josie D'Arby. Petersson is currently the presenter of Kulturstudion on SVT2, and on SVT1.
Participating countries The official list of participants was published on 18 December 2018 and included nine countries. Belgium, Germany, Latvia, Slovenia and Wales participated again after making their debuts at the inaugural edition in 2017. Norway, Scotland, host country Sweden and Switzerland took part for the first time, while Austria, Estonia and Hungary withdrew from the competition.
On 20 March 2019, it was announced that Denmark would ultimately participate for a second time, raising the number of participants to ten. Romania and France were originally announced as debut participants but were later removed from the official list published by the EBU. Both Austria and Hungary took part in the 2017 contest, but did not return for 2019.
First round +Participants of first round Country Broadcaster Choir Song(s) Language(s) Conductor 1 SVT Zero8 "Khorumi" Swedish Rasmus Krigström "Hej, dunkom så länge vi levom" 2 RTBF Almakalia "Made in Belgium" (medley) English / French Nicolas Dorian 3 LTV Babīte Municipality Mixed Choir Maska "Pērkontēvs" Latvian / English Jānis Ozols 4 WDR BonnVoice "O Täler weit" German Tono Wissing "Die Gedanken sind frei" 5 NRK Volve Vokal "Ønskediktet" Norwegian Gro Espedal 6 DR Vocal Line "True North" English Jens Johansen 7 BBC Alba Alba "Cumha na Cloinne" Scottish Gaelic Joy Dunlop "Ach a' Mhairead" "Alba" 8 RTVSLO Jazzva "Spomenčice" Slovene Jasna Žitnik 9 RTS Cake O’Phonie "Chante en mon cœur" French / Italian / Swiss German / Romansh / Patois Antoine Krattinger "La sera sper il lag" "Poi" "Le ranz des vaches" "La ticinella" "Beresinaliedet" "Chanson d'ici" 10 S4C Ysgol Gerdd Ceredigion"Cúnla" Irish Islwyn Evans"Ar Lan y Môr" Welsh
Second round Three choirs advanced to the second round and performed a second, 3 minute set, after which the winner was announced.
+Participants of second round and results Country Broadcaster Choir Song Language(s) Conductor 1 LTV Babīte Municipality Mixed Choir Maska "Come, God!" Latvian Jānis Ozols 2 2 DR Vocal Line "Viola" Danish Jens Johansen 1 3 RTVSLO Jazzva "Fly, Little Bird" Slovene Jasna Žitnik 3
Other countries – On 16 November 2018, Estonian broadcaster (ERR) confirmed that they would withdraw from the contest. – French broadcaster was originally announced as a debut participant but later withdrew from the competition due to logistical problems with the selected choir. – Despite their participation being initially confirmed, on 18 December 2018 the final list of countries did not include Romania. It was later revealed that the Romanian broadcaster (TVR) had declined an invitation to participate. – (RTVE) confirmed to news outlet ESCplus España that they would not broadcast the contest in any way, but that they were considering a 2021 debut depending on the time they have to prepare the entry and the interest.
International broadcasts and voting Commentators Most of the participating countries sent commentators to Gothenburg or commentated from their own country, in order to add insight to the participants.
+ Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries Country Broadcaster(s) Commentator(s) Musiq'3, La Trois French: Patrick Leterme DR1 Ole Tøpholm and WDR Fernsehen Peter Urban LTV1 Kristīne Komarovska and NRK1 (delayed); NRK Klassisk (live) BBC Alba Tony Kearney RTV SLO1 Igor Velše SVT2 RTS Un French: Jean-Marc Richard and Philippe Savoy S4C Morgan Jones
+ Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries Country Broadcaster(s) Commentator(s) France 2 (broadcast on 5 August 2020)
Professional jury The winner of the contest was decided upon the votes from a professional jury, which was made up of the following:
– singer and composer, founding member of a cappella ensemble, The Real Group John Rutter – composer and conductor, was also a judge in Deke Sharon – singer, director, producer, composer and arranger
The jury was asked to score on the technical skill and accuracy of the choir, the quality of their sound, their musicianship and interpretation and the communication of the piece they performed.
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