GPB, the Georgian national broadcaster, has confirmed that the 2019 Georgian Eurovision entry for Tel Aviv will be in Georgian.

The Georgian national broadcaster has opted for a song in Georgian to represent the country at the forthcoming 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv. Currently only five hopefuls remain in the Georgian Idol 2019 in their quest to represent Georgia in ESC 2019, with one more hopeful set to be evicted this Saturday.

During last Saturday’s show Ms. Tinatin Berdzenishvilli revealed that Georgia will be sending a song in Georgian to Tel Aviv.

Ms. Tinatin Berdzenishvili (Georgian Idol jury member)  says:

Eurovision tries to have as many songs as possible performed in the native language in the competition. That’s why Georgia will present a Georgian song at the contest.

Song selection process

The submission period for composers to submit their songs in order to represent Georgia in Eurovision 2019  concluded on 1 February. GPB has received more than 200 songs from both foreign and local composers.

Now a special jury consisting of Davit Evgenidze, Nodiko Tatishvili, Zura Ramishvili, Giorgi Asanishvili, Manana Morchiladze, Lana Kutateladze and Khatuna Koberidze will be responsible to shortlist the songs and choose the entries for the national final.

The process for selecting the 2019 Georgian Eurovision entry consists of three stages:

• Firs round- 50 songs shorlisted from 200 entries
• Second round- 12 songs shorlisted from 50 entries
• Final round- jury will select final set of songs from 12 entries

The selected songs will be performed by the final four finalists. From the selected compositions, the candidates  will select their respective entries for the national final.

A total of 4 candidates will battle for the golden ticket to Tel Aviv in the Grand Final  of Georgian Idol 2019 set to be held in Tblisi on 3 March.

Georgian Idol

GPB has opted to select its Eurovision 2019 entry and act via Georgian Idol 2019. The Georgian version of the internationally acclaimed talent show kicked off last month on GP1 and this week sees its 8th show (5th live show).

The 2019 Georgian candidate will be determined via a 100% public deliberation.

Georgia in Eurovision

Georgia debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007 with Sopho Khalvashi’s Visionary dream and is yet to win the competition. The country achieved its best results in the contest in Oslo (2010) and Dusseldorf (2011) when it placed 9th in the Grand Final.

Georgia has competed 11 times in Europe’s favorite television show, the country has partaken in the event every year since their debut in 2007 with the exception of 2009 when the nation opted to stay out of the competition.

In 2018 the Georgians opted for an internal selection and selected the Ethno Jazz Band Iriao to fly the Georgian flag at the Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon with their entry For you. Despite a great performance the country failed to qualify to the Grand Final for the second consecutive year.