THIS YEAR'S ENTRY

 SELECTION
With a series of good results behind them, Turkish broadcaster TRT once again opted for an internal selection to choose its 2010 Eurovision entrants. TRT negotiated with three potential acts, before announcing in early January that they had agreed a contract with the top Turkish rock band MaNga, to go to Oslo. The group would choose their entry and MaNga announced hat they would write and perform a song in English in Oslo.

On 11th February, TRT and MaNga agreed on the song that the band would perform at Eurovision and on March 3rd, "We Could Be The Same", written by the band's lead singer  Ferman Akgül was presented for the first time, in a special show on Turkish television.

 BIOGRAPHY
MaNga’s story began when Yağmur Sarıgül “Yamyam” (Guitar) separated his ways with the cover band he played with at local bars. His plan for his new band was to combine rock music and electronic music bringing hard guitar riffs and rap vocals together. maNga began to form when Özgür Can Öney (Drums), Efe Yılmaz (Turntable),Ferman Akgül (Vocals) and Cem Bahtiyar (Bass Guitar) joined the new band. The band began playing “nu metal” and “hard rock” songs. As a result the band was named maNga after the traditional Japanese cartoon art, bringing five different characters, five different music styles and five different world views together. From 2001 onwards, the band released several highly successful albums which all became top sellers in their native country of Turkey. maNga won the Best European Act award at the MTV Europe Music Awards in November 2009. That was not the only award the band won in 2009 though, maNga has taken numerous other awards as well, including for the best video, the best band, the best song, the best album and the best performance.

 REACTION
Since the song was originally presented in early March, a professional preview video has been released and a new arrangement of the song has been recorded. MaNga have also done a considerable amount of international promotion, in the run-up to the contest. While it's far from being a typical Eurovision entry, "We Could Be The Same" is rated as the favourite to qualify from the second semi-final and is among the Top 10 favourites to win the contest, at 40/1. Internet polls have also been positive, with the song featured in the Top 10.

 INTERVIEW

BROADCASTER

RATINGS