Today, it has been confirmed by the Sammarinese broadcaster SMRTV that Serhat has been chosen to represent San Marino at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in the host city of Stockholm, Sweden.

During this morning’s press conference which took place at the national broadcaster’s television studios, SMRTV revealed that Serhat will represent the Sammarinese nation at the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest following an internal selection. Serhat will follow in the footsteps of last year’s Sammarinese representatives, Michele Perniola and Anita Simoncini.

Serhat is a Turkish singer, producer and television presenter who was born and raised in Istanbul. In 1994, Serhat established his own company entitled End Productions and in the same year went on to host and produce the Turkish television show, Riziko!.

Serhat released his first single, Rüya-ben bir daha, in 1997, which was the year the Turkish singer’s music career began. Serhat has released singles in a number of different languages including Turkish, English, French and Russian. In recent years, Serhat has worked in both France and Germany with his most recent single being released in 2014 entitled Je m’adore which charted in a number of different charts around Europe.

Serhat becomes the tenth confirmed artist to date in the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, joining fellow confirmed artists from Albania, Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cyprus, FYR Macedonia, Georgia, Montenegro, the Netherlands and Russia. The Sammarinese entry is expected to be released in the coming months.

During the press conference, Serhat teased that he likes to perform in different languages hinting that, although the entry has been been written or produced yet, the 2016 Sammarinese entry could be recorded in a variety of languages including the country’s official language, Italian. Serhat also believes that the upcoming entry should have an international flavour.

The 2016 competition marks San Marino’s seventh appearance at the contest since their debut in 2008, having only missed out on competing in the 2009 and 2010 editions. To date, all of the Sammarinese acts have been internally selected by the national broadcaster with this year being no exception.

The microstate’s best result was in 2014 following Valentina Monetta’s third participation at the contest. With the entry Maybe, San Marino finished in 24th position in the grand final and is currently the country’s only appearance in the grand final to date.

How do you think Serhat will fare at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm?

Stay tuned to esctoday.com for the latest news on Serhat, San Marino and the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest