Valentina Monetta and Jimmie Wilson, who are the representing San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 have been discussing their entry in a press conference at the Grand Hotel San Marino.
Their song, Spirit of the night, was co-written by Ralph Seigel, the German songwriter who has composed 25 songs for the Eurovision Song Contest including Ein bißchen frieden (A little peace), which won the contest in 1982 for Nicole and Germany. He has also written all the entries for San Marino, excluding 2016, since 2012 when Valentina Monetta performed The social network song.
Staging plans underway
Valentina has said of the song ‘We are two spirits of the night.’ The official video for the song was shot at the P1 nightclub in Monaco which helped with the fun dance vibe of the song.
Alessandro Capicchioni, the head of delegation for San Marino has said of the live performance in Kyiv:
The style chosen for the stage will be that of a live concert, simple choreography but with beautiful strength.
This will be the fourth appearance in seven years by Valentina Monetta for San Marino, which means she is tied for record of most participants in Eurovision by a female with Elisabeth Andreassen and Sue of Peter, Sue & Marc.
Jimmie talks Eurovision!
Valentina’s duet partner, Jimmie Wilson will be making his debut in this years competition, although he has appeared in many theatrical productions in his career.
While it may seem random that a singer from Detroit, US is representing San Marino in Eurovision, Detroit actually has one of the largest Sammarinse populations in the world outside of San Marino. Jimmie himself says:
Finding myself here in San Marino’s fate – I’m from Detroit, the city where there is a huge community of San Marino: nothing happens by chance.
You can see the video of Spirit of the night below.