San Marino | Meet Serhat From San Marino

This year will mark the 64th Eurovision Song Contest. The contest will be held in Tel Aviv, Israel, and will see 41 countries compete for the honour of being Europe's best. There will be two semi finals taking place on Tuesday 14th May, and Thursday 16th May. Ten artists from each will progress to the final that will be held on Saturday 18th May 2019. A grand total of twenty six countries will compete to be Netta's successor at the competition. With just a short time until this event, Eurovoxx will bring you a series of meet the artist articles, that will introduce you to each country that will be participating. Today's instalment comes from San Marino who will be represented by Serhat.

Who Is Serhat?

Ahmet Serhat Hacıpaşalıoğlu better known as Serhat was born in Instanbul, Turkey, on the 24th October 1964, and is 54 years old. He is better known in Turkey as a singer, and television presenter. He is also a producer too However, his Eurovision appearances have given him a much bigger international following. He is also a graduate of dentistry too, which is something he completed in 1988. He is better known in Turkey as television producer, and host which led to him creating his own company 'End Productions', with his first game show "Rizikol" also making it to fruition that year. He has produced, and sometimes hosted many television programmes in Turkey for well over ten years, with his last enterprise being the "Kalimerhaba" television show that was produced in 2005. At the end of 2009, Serhat created a dance orchestra "Caprice the Show" with 18 musicians and made numerous performances in the following years. He has also won two television awards in Turkey in 1995. One for best male host of the year, whilst the second was best quiz show of the year.

His musical career started back in 1997, when "Rüya" and "Ben Bir Daha" were released. This would be followed up, eight years later with the song, "Total Disguise", dueted with Viktor Lazlo which would be sung in French and English. He would in total release 9 singles, with his latest being his 2019 Eurovision hit, "Say Na, Na, Na", which has seen nearly half a million hits on YouTube. Of these, four would be duets which included one with former Eurovision winner Elena Paparizou with the song, "Total Disguise", that was released last year. Serhat has also been present at the Eurovision Song Contest before, and is no stranger to representing San Marino. Back in 2016 he was chosen to represent the small nation, where his entry would failed to qualify coming 12th with 68 points. He later released this as duet, and disco remix a year later with Martha Wash. The song would end up making the top 25 in America's dance billboard charts. He is the first Turkish performer to ever appear on there.

Check Out Serhat's Eurovision Entry, "Say, Na, Na, Na" Below:

How Was Serhat Chosen?

It was initially expected that the country would, for a second year return with their national final, 1 in 360 that was used the year before. It failed to deliver a qualification, but it was seen as a big change, and outlook for the country in the way it chose its entries. However, this would not be the case when it was announced that San Marino had opted to go internal for the ninth time, when on the 21st January 2019 the public broadcaster revealed that Serhat would once again represent the small nation. The song, "Say Na, Na, Na" was filmed in Turkey, and officially released on the 7th March 2019. It's a fun, fresh disco entry.

Check Out Andy Reacts To "Say Na, Na, Na" Below:

San Marino At The Eurovision Song Contest

San Marino first debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest back in 2008 when Miodo would sing, "Complice". It wasn't the greatest of starts as it ended up coming last in the respective semi final, only scoring 5 points. The country took a two year break, and would later return in 2011 where Senit would sing, "Stand By" , once again failing to qualify. Then came the reign of Valentina Monetta (2012-2014) who would represent San Marino for three consecutive years. She would bring the nation its best ever result when the song, "Maybe" qualified for the grand final of the 2014 contest. However, it would only score 14 points, ending in 24th place. The Eurovision favourite would once again try her luck in 2017 where herself and American Jimmie Wilson would sing, "Spirit Of The Night". It only secured one point, returning the country to last place in that respective semi too. Straight after the contest, it was announced that they would withdraw from Eurovision. However, this did not happen. Of nine attempts the country have only managed to secure one qualification. Serhat too would also make an attempt in 2016 with the song, "I Didn't Know" which resulted in a 12th place finish in the semi final. Despite the lack of results, San Marino is loved at the contest, and is determined to make it to another final.

Last year the country was represented by Jessika feat. Jenifer Brening with the song, "Who Are We". Unfortunately, the same fate befell this pair as they too failed to qualify, and ended up scoring only 28 points resulting in a 17th place finish in their semi final.

Do you like the song? Will it qualify? Please tell us what you think in the comments below. The whole team at Eurovoxx would like to wish Serhat a very big, "İyi şanslar".