Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019

Georgia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The Georgian Public Broadcaster announced that they will choose their entrant and entry through the means of the talent show Georgian Idol.[1][2]

Eurovision Song Contest 2019
Country	Georgia
National selection
Selection process	Georgian Idol
Selection date(s)	Audition shows 5 January 2019 12 January 2019 19 January 2019 Live shows: 26 January 2019 2 February 2019 9 February 16 February 2019 23 February 2019 Final: 3 March 2019
Selected entrant	Oto Nemsadze
Selected song	"Sul tsin iare"
Selected songwriter(s)	Roman Giorgadze
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Failed to qualify (14th, 62 points)
Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2018 • 2019 • 2020►

Background

Prior to the 2019 Contest, Georgia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest ten times since their first entry in 2007.[3] The nation's highest placing in the contest, to this point, has been ninth place, which was achieved on two occasions: in 2010 with the song "Shine" performed by Sofia Nizharadze and in 2011 with the song "One More Day" performed by Eldrine. The nation briefly withdrew from the contest in 2009 after the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) rejected the Georgian entry, "We Don't Wanna Put In", for perceived political references to Vladimir Putin who was the Russian Prime Minister at the time.[4][5] The withdrawal and fallout was tied to tense relations between Georgia and then host country Russia, which stemmed from the 2008 Russo-Georgian War.[6] Following the introduction of semi-finals, Georgia has, to this point, failed to qualify to the final on four occasions. In 2017, Georgia failed to qualify to the final with the song "Keep the Faith" performed by Tamara Gachechiladze. Georgia also failed to qualify in 2018.

The Georgian national broadcaster, Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB), broadcasts the event within Georgia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. GPB confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest on 2 October 2017.[7] Georgia has selected their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest both through national finals and internal selections in the past. In 2013 and 2014, GPB opted to internally select the Georgian entry, in 2015, the Georgian entry was selected via a national final, and in 2016, the artist was internally selected while the song was chosen in a national final. For their 2017 participation, the entry was selected through a national final. In 2018 the artist was internally selected. In 2019, the artist will be selected by "Georgian Idol"

Before Eurovision

Georgian Idol was used to select their artist for 2019. The final was held on the 3rd of March. Songwriters of any nationality were able to submit their song entries from 21 December 2018 to 1 February 2019.[8] GPB received over 200 entries, and a seven-member selection committee cut down all of the submissions to three songs.[9] The selected songs were performed by the final four finalists. From the selected compositions, the candidates will select their respective entries for the national final.[10]

Contestant progress in the live shows

Colour key

–	Contestant was in the bottom two
–	Contestant was in the bottom three
–	Contestant received the fewest public votes and was eliminated
–	Contestant received the most public votes

Contestant	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6
Oto Nemsadze	1st 14.84%	1st 21.90%	2nd 22.57%	2nd 23.09%	2nd 27.23%	1st 44.13%
Liza Kalandadze	3rd 12.97%	2nd 19.42%	1st 24.05%	1st 33.03%	1st 30.18%	2nd 35.51%
Giorgi Nakashidze	7th 7.39%	6th 9.25%	3rd 11.98%	3rd 12.59%	3rd 14.51%	3rd 11.06%
Giorgi Pruidze	6th 8.93%	4th 9.87%	5th 10.96%	4th 10.44%	4th 14.35%	4th 9.30%
Nini Tsnobiladze	8th 7.14%	5th 9.79%	6th 9.93%	5th 10.39%	5th 13.73%	Eliminated (week 5)
Tamar Lachkhepiani	2nd 13.57%	3rd 12.94%	4th 11.59%	6th 9.65%	Eliminated (week 4)
Ikako Aleksidze	5th 11.28%	7th 8.73%	7th 8.92%	Eliminated (week 3)
Dima Kobeshavidze	4th 12.15%	8th 8.10%	Eliminated (week 2)
Mariam Kakhelishvili	9th 6.44%	Eliminated (week 1)
Beso Nemsadze	10th 5.29%	Eliminated (week 1)

Auditions (5–19 January 2019)

Show 1 (5 January 2019)
Draw	Artist	Song	Result
1	Tamar Lachkhepiani	"Over the Rainbow"	Advanced
		"Ar madzinebs"
2	Mariam Dokvadze	"A Natural Woman"	Advanced
		"Lale"
3	Giorgi Chomakhidze	"Tequila"	Eliminated
4	Santa impersonator	"Let It Snow"	Eliminated
5	Davit Kalandadze	"White Christmas"	Advanced
6	Afik Navruzov	—	Advanced
7	Natia Nanobashvili	"Clown"	Advanced
		"Neta martla gqvarebodi"
8	Giorgi Nakashidze	"Radioactive"	Advanced
		"Natvris khe"
9	Ikako Aleksidze	"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"	Advanced
10	Eto Tskipurishvili	"Can't Help Falling in Love"	Eliminated
11	Avtandil Kukhianidze	"Strangers in the Night"	Eliminated
12	Mariam Zhordania	"Love on the Brain"	Advanced
		"Postalionis simghera"
13	Mariam Goguadze	"Burnin' Up"	Advanced
Show 2 (12 January 2019)
1	Liza Mebonia	"Summertime"	Advanced
2	Pini Kapanadze	"Oh! Darling"	Advanced
3	Giorgi Pruidze	"Kiss from a Rose"	Advanced
		"Sakutari simghera"
4	Gedevan Kevlishvili	"Bebos ajika"	Advanced
5	Imeda Davitadze	"O rakaia"	Eliminated
6	Beso Nemsadze	"Ra ikneba shens makhloblad mets viqo"	Advanced
7	Oto Nemsadze	"Billie Jean"	Advanced
8	Maria Tsimintia	"I Wanna Be Loved by You"	Advanced
		"Highway to Hell"
9	Anastasia Pirveli	"I Wish You Love"	Advanced
10	Iru Khechanovi	"She Wolf (Falling to Pieces)"	Advanced
		"Me Tbilisis kuchebshi"
11	Dima Kobeshavidze	"Sait midikhar"	Advanced
		"Make It Rain"
12	Mariam Buadze	"Simghera dolaris kursze"	Eliminated
13	Aleqsandre Chekunovi	"Because I Got High"	Eliminated
14	Liza Kalandadze	"Kari Kris"	Advanced
		"Nature Boy"
Show 3 (19 January 2019)
1	Bacho Chania	"Numb"	Advanced
2	Isev shen	"Isev shen"	Advanced
3	Dzmadnapitsebi Rustavelis 16-idan	"Havana"	Advanced
4	Levan Morbedadze	"Simghera Rustavze"	Eliminated
5	Barbare Sukhitashvili	"Fallin'"	Eliminated
6	Tamuna Liluashvili	"Reflection"	Advanced
7	Malibu Tughushi	—	Advanced
8	Willie Tyrone	"Drown"	Advanced
9	Nini Tsnobiladze	"I'd Rather Go Blind"	Advanced
10	Sali Mirianashvili	"Do It Like a Dude"	Advanced
11	Mariam Kakhelishvili	"Golden Slumbers"	Advanced

Second qualification round (19 January 2019)

Draw	Artist	Song	Result
1	Gedevan Kevlishvili	"Born This Way" (Lady Gaga)	Eliminated
2	Liza Mebonia	"When We Were Young"	Eliminated
3	Willie Tyrone	"Faith"	Eliminated
4	Oto Ghurtskaia	"Wander This World"	Eliminated
5	Mariam Kakhelishvili	"One Moment in Time"	Advanced
6	Mariam Dokvadze	"You Got to Love Me"	Eliminated
7	Ikako Aleksidze	"Never Enough"	Advanced
8	Sali Mirianashvili	"Runnin' (Lose It All)"	Eliminated
9	Eto Tskipurishvili	"I Will"	Eliminated
10	Dima Kobeshavidze	"Let It Be"	Advanced
11	Mariam Goguadze	"We Found Love"	Eliminated
12	Liza Kalandadze	"You Only Live Twice"	Advanced
13	Nini Tsnobiladze	"Golden"	Advanced
14	Giorgi Pruidze	"A Song for You"	Advanced
15	Natia Nanobashvili	"What a Girl Wants"	Eliminated
16	Giorgi Nakashidze	"Enter Sandman"	Advanced
17	Malibu Tugushi	"Hello"	Eliminated
18	Beso Nemsadze	"Ya ne sdamsya bez boyu"	Advanced
19	Tamuna Liluashvili	"It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World"	Eliminated
20	Oto Nemsadze	"Heaven on Their Minds"	Advanced
21	Tamar Lachkhepiani	"That's Life"	Advanced
22	Mariam Zhordania	"Rolling on the River"	Eliminated

Live show 1 (26 January 2019)

Draw	Artist	Song	Televote	Result
1	Giorgi Pruidze	"Somebody to Love"	8.93%	Advanced
2	Nini Tsnobiladze	"These Are the Days of Our Lives"	7.14%	Advanced
3	Oto Nemsadze	"We Will Rock You"	14.84%	Advanced
		"We Are the Champions"
4	Ikako Aleksidze	"Under Pressure"	11.28%	Advanced
5	Beso Nemsadze	"Fat Bottomed Girls"	5.29%	Eliminated
6	Tamar Lachkhepiani	"Radio Gaga"	13.57%	Advanced
7	Giorgi Nakashidze	"The Show Must Go On"	7.39%	Advanced
8	Liza Kalandadze	"Who Wants to Live Forever"	12.97%	Advanced
9	Dima Kobeshavidze	"Love of My Life"	12.15%	Advanced
10	Mariam Kakhelishvili	"I Want to Break Free"	6.44%	Eliminated

Live show 2 (2 February 2019)

Draw	Artist	Song	Televote	Result
1	Giorgi Pruidze	"Naiarevs"	9.87%	Advanced
2	Ikako Aleksidze	"Silent Swim"	8.73%	Advanced
		"Zghvas gavkhar"
3	Tamar Lachkhepiani	"Miqvarkhar"	12.94%	Advanced
		"Istorias darcheba"
4	Dima Kobeshavidze	"Mango"	8.10%	Eliminated
5	Nini Tsnobiladze	"Menatreba"	9.79%	Advanced
6	Giorgi Nakashidze	"Modi ak"	9.25%	Advanced
7	Liza Kalandadze	"Orghani 78"	19.42%	Advanced
8	Oto Nemsadze	"Sakartvelo"	21.90%	Advanced

Live show 3 (9 February 2019)

Draw	Artist	Song	Televote	Result
1	Tamar Lachkhepiani	"Lale"	11.59%	Advanced
2	Nini Tsnobiladze	"Kuchashi ertkhel"	9.93%	Advanced
3	Giorgi Nakashidze	"Natvris khe"	11.98%	Advanced
4	Giorgi Pruidze	"Mze da shokoladebi"	10.96%	Advanced
5	Ikako Aleksidze	"Didkhans gelodi"	8.92%	Eliminated
6	Oto Nemsadze	"Nami vels"	22.57%	Advanced
7	Liza Kalandadze	"Artificial Love"	24.05%	Advanced

Live show 4 (16 February 2019)

Draw	Artist	Song	Televote	Result
1	Tamar Lachkhepiani	"Serenada"	9.65%	Eliminated
2	Giorgi Pruidze	"Me saidumlos shenakhva vitsi"	10.44%	Advanced
3	Liza Kalandadze	"Shemodgomis qvavilebs"	33.03%	Advanced
4	Giorgi Nakashidze	"Kari Kris"	12.59%	Advanced
5	Nini Tsnobiladze	"Qviteli potlebi"	10.39%	Advanced
6	Oto Nemsadze	"Tselitsadis 4 dro"	23.09%	Advanced

Semi-final (23 February 2019)

Draw	Artist	Song	Televote	Result
1	Oto Nemsadze	"Come Together"	27.23%	Advanced
		"Rats am kveqnad siqvaruli mefods"
2	Giorgi Pruidze	"Feeling Good"	14.35%	Advanced
		"Emotions"
3	Nini Tsnobiladze	"Am I The One"	13.73%	Eliminated
		"Chemtan aghar"
4	Liza Kalandadze	"I Put a Spell on You"	30.18%	Advanced
		"Nu medzakhi"
5	Giorgi Nakashidze	"Sweet Dreams"	14.51%	Advanced
		"Petkavs"

Final (3 March 2019)

Draw	Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)	Televote[lower-alpha 1]	Place
1	Giorgi Nakashidze	"Sul tsin iare"	Roman Giorgadze	13,483 (11.06%)	3
2	Liza Kalandadze	"Sevdisperi zgva"	Levan Basharuli	43,289 (35.51%)	2
3	Oto Nemsadze	"Sul tsin iare"	Roman Giorgadze	53,798 (44.13%)	1
4	Giorgi Pruidze	"Me mjera"	Tamar Babilua	11,337 (9.30%)	4

1. These are approximate figures derived from the total number of votes[11] received through Facebook Messenger, 121,908, and the percentages revealed after the final.

Promotion

Nemsadze made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Sul Tsin Iare" as the Georgian Eurovision entry. On 6 April, he performed during the Eurovision in Concert event at the AFAS Live venue in Amsterdam, hosted by Cornald Maas and Marlayne, to over 4500 spectators.[12]

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2019, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Georgia was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2019, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[13]

Once all the competing songs for the 2019 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Georgia was set to perform in position 11, following the entry from Belgium and preceding the entry from Australia.[14]

Semi-final

Georgia performed eleventh in the first semi-final, following the entry from Belgium and preceding the entry from Australia. At the end of the show, Georgia was not announced among the top 10 entries in the first semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Georgia placed fourteenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 62 points: 33 points from the televoting and 29 points from the juries.

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results will be released shortly after the grand final.[15]

Points awarded to Georgia

Points awarded to Georgia (Semi-final 1)
Televote
12 points	10 points	8 points	7 points	6 points
	Cyprus  Greece		Israel
5 points	4 points	3 points	2 points	1 point
	France			Belarus  San Marino
Jury
12 points	10 points	8 points	7 points	6 points
	Belarus		Cyprus
5 points	4 points	3 points	2 points	1 point
Australia			France  Hungary  Montenegro	Czech Republic

Points awarded by Georgia

Semi-final 1 Score Televote Jury 12 points  San Marino  Czech Republic 10 points  Cyprus  Greece 8 points  Estonia  Estonia 7 points  Belarus  Slovenia 6 points  Iceland  Serbia 5 points  Slovenia  Cyprus 4 points  Greece  Australia 3 points  Serbia  Belarus 2 points  Portugal  Belgium 1 point  Czech Republic  Hungary

Final Score Televote Jury 12 points  Cyprus  Czech Republic 10 points  San Marino  Azerbaijan 8 points  Russia  Netherlands 7 points  Azerbaijan  Denmark 6 points  Sweden  Cyprus 5 points  Netherlands  France 4 points  Israel  Slovenia 3 points  Iceland   Switzerland 2 points  North Macedonia  Sweden 1 point  Italy  United Kingdom

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Georgian jury:[15]

• Khatuna Koberidze – Chairperson – radio musical program producer
• Mariko Lezhava – singer, vocal coach (Georgian National Final 2017)
• Boris Shkhiani – musical producer
• Levan Abshilava – singer (member of Iriao)
• Lado

Split voting results from Georgia (Semi-final 1)
Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		K. Koberidze	M. Lezhava	B. Shkhiani	L. Abshilava	Lado	Average Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Cyprus	8	4	5	8	9	6	5	2	10
02	Montenegro	6	15	14	12	14	13		12
03	Finland	12	9	15	13	16	15		14
04	Poland	7	13	11	16	13	14		16
05	Slovenia	2	2	8	10	11	4	7	6	5
06	Czech Republic	3	1	1	1	1	1	12	10	1
07	Hungary	14	12	9	3	12	10	1	15
08	Belarus	9	6	4	9	10	8	3	4	7
09	Serbia	10	7	3	5	8	5	6	8	3
10	Belgium	13	8	12	6	4	9	2	13
11	Georgia
12	Australia	5	11	7	7	6	7	4	11
13	Iceland	15	14	10	11	7	12		5	6
14	Estonia	4	5	2	4	2	3	8	3	8
15	Portugal	16	10	13	14	5	11		9	2
16	Greece	1	3	6	2	3	2	10	7	4
17	San Marino	11	16	16	15	15	16		1	12

Split voting results from Georgia (final)
Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		K. Koberidze	M. Lezhava	B. Shkhiani	L. Abshilava	Lado	Average Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Malta	7	16	8	9	22	12		24
02	Albania	16	15	20	19	23	21		21
03	Czech Republic	2	3	1	1	1	1	12	17
04	Germany	5	19	23	22	20	16		25
05	Russia	26	26	26	26	26	26		3	8
06	Denmark	1	17	9	10	3	4	7	22
07	San Marino	21	25	25	24	25	25		2	10
08	North Macedonia	9	10	15	16	21	17		9	2
09	Sweden	17	6	6	7	19	9	2	5	6
10	Slovenia	4	9	10	5	18	7	4	15
11	Cyprus	8	4	4	14	6	5	6	1	12
12	Netherlands	18	1	3	4	4	3	8	6	5
13	Greece	6	18	12	13	7	11		20
14	Israel	23	23	24	25	17	24		7	4
15	Norway	24	20	21	21	16	23		18
16	United Kingdom	10	12	5	8	13	10	1	26
17	Iceland	25	24	19	20	12	20		8	3
18	Estonia	19	13	11	12	5	13		14
19	Belarus	11	14	17	18	24	19		11
20	Azerbaijan	3	2	2	3	2	2	10	4	7
21	France	14	5	7	6	9	6	5	12
22	Italy	20	7	14	17	8	14		10	1
23	Serbia	12	11	13	15	11	15		23
24	Switzerland	15	8	18	2	10	8	3	13
25	Australia	13	22	16	11	14	18		16
26	Spain	22	21	22	23	15	22		19

References

1. Granger, Anthony (1 December 2018). "Georgia: Georgian Idol Final to Take Place on 2 March".
2. eurovisiontj (22 October 2018). "Georgia Idol to select both Artist and Song for Tel Aviv!".
3. "Georgia Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
4. Bakker, Sietse (10 March 2009). "Georgian song lyrics do not comply with Rules". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
5. Jonze, Tim (11 March 2009). "Eurovision 2009: Georgia pulls out of contest over 'Putin song'". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
6. "Putin jibe picked for Eurovision". BBC News. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
7. "Georgia: GPB confirms participation in Eurovision 2018". esctoday.com. Esctoday. 2 October 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
8. Granger, Anthony (21 December 2018). "Georgia: GPB Launches Search for Eurovision 2019 Song". Eurovoix.
9. Granger, Anthony (16 February 2018). "Georgia: Evaluation of Songs For Eurovision 2019 Underway". Eurovoix.
10. Jiandani, Sanjay (18 February 2019). "Georgia: GPB to present Georgian song in Eurovision 2019". esctoday.
11. "Georgia: Over 120,000 Messenger votes". 4 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
12. "This was Eurovision in Concert 2019 in Amsterdam". Eurovision.tv. 6 April 2019.
13. Jordan, Paul (28 January 2019). "Eurovision 2019: Which country takes part in which Semi-Final?". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
14. "Exclusive: This is the Eurovision 2019 Semi-Final running order!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
15. Groot, Evert (30 April 2019). "Exclusive: They are the judges who will vote in Eurovision 2019!". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2019.