OSLO 2010 SNEAK PEEK Over the last five years "All Kinds Of Everything" has given fans a chance to hear the songs competing for a place on the Eurovision stage, months in advance of the contest. For 2010, we once again look forward to the  competition in Oslo by providing some information on the songs vying for a place in Oslo. With 39 countries expected to compete in May and only six likely to make internal selections, the vast majority of the entrants will be chosen through open national selections of various types. Between now and March, we will be looking at and and listening to the songs in contention for Eurovision 2010. Please remember that any MP3 files will available for a limited period. You can find the previous Sneak Peek here.  APOLOGIES THAT SOME OF THE LINKS WERE POINTING AT THE WRONG FILES, BUT THESE HAVE NOW BEEN CORECTED.
	MALTA "Samsara" - Claudia Faniello
On Saturday January 16th, the 25 songs that progressed to the Maltese national final were revealed on the national news. There were few surprises on the list, although former Eurovision entrants Miriam Christine (1996) and Mike Spiteri (1995) may be among those most disappointed not to have made the cut. Among the finalists is "Samsara" written by Gerard James Borg and Philip Vella, who have written several Maltese Eurovision entries. The song is performed by Claudia Fanielo, the 21 year old sister of Fabrizio Faniello, who sang for Malta in 2001 and 2006. Claudia is a well established performer in her own right, taking part in the Maltese Song For Europe in 2006, where she won "Best Newcomer". She won the Festival Kanzunetta Indipendenza in 2006 with 'Ma Nafx,' but narrowly missed out on the final of the Maltese national selection in the same year. In 2008, Claudia sang two songs in the Maltese final and was unlucky to miss out on the ticket to Belgrade, finishing 2nd and 3rd. In 2008, she tried again, coming 4th. The Maltese have a history of rewarding perseverance, which must give the up-tempo "Samsara" a real chance to get to Oslo. You can find more information on Claudia's website.
	SPAIN "En Un Vida" - Coral
Spanish broadcaster TVE has approved over 400 potential Eurovision entries and on midday on Monday 18th January the second phase of the selection starts, with internet voting. Before the voting begins, a fan campaign has started to get behind 37 year old Coral Segovia and her song "En Un Vida" (In A Lifetime). Like several other countries, Spain hasn't had a particularly successful history of sending ballads to Eurovision and it's ten years since the contest's last Spanish ballad, but Coral's previous entries in the Spanish selection have gathered her something of a fan club. Madrid born Coral is a late bloomer, only signing to the local branch of Sony Music in 2002 and three years later, she enjoyed her biggest success, winning the Benidorm music festival with "Maldito Corazón" (Damed Heart). In 2008, her song "Todo Está En Tu Mente" (It's All In Your Mind") came second to Rodolfo Chikilicuatre, in the Spanish Eurovision selection, but her 2009 entry "Babylon" failed to make the final. This year Coral will be hoping for "third time lucky" with the power ballad "En Un Vida" and with the campaign already gaining momentum, a place in the Spanish final to be staged in March, looks certain. Coral's website is here.
	ICELAND "One More Day" - Jógvan Hansen
The Icelandic Eurovision selection is already in full swing and the second semi-final, staged on Saturday, January 16th, saw another two songs progressing to the final, which will be held on February 6th. One of the latest finalists is "One More Day", co-written by local entertainer Bubbi Morthens and Óskar Páll Sveinsson, who also co-wrote "Is It True?", the 2009 Icelandic entry. The song is performed by 31 year old Jógvan Hansen, who is already well known to the Icelandic public. Jógvan was born and raised in the Faroe Islands, an autonomous part of Denmark, close to Iceland. He was trained in classical violin for nine years and was the lead singer in a band called "Aria" that released a CD in 1998 entitled "After These Messages", which went straight to the top of the charts on the Faroes. In 2001, he was in the band "Kular Røtur" (Cool Roots) and released three CDs, one of which  became the best selling album of the last 20 years in the Faroes. In 2006, while was working as a hairstylist, he took part in the Icelandic "X Factor" competition, eventually winning, taking 70% of the final votes. In 2007, he released the solo album "Rooftop", which became a huge hit in Iceland.
	ESTONIA "Astronaut" - Iiris Vesik
After earlier rumours that they may not be in Oslo, due to financial limitations, on January 11th, ETV revealed the ten songs which will contest Eesti Laul 2010, the Estonian Eurovision selection, which will take place in Tallinn on March 12th. The only former Eurovision entrants in the selection are Violina (aka Daana Ots) who was part of the Suntribe group who represented Estonia in Kyiv in 2005 and Lenna Kuurmaa who was the lead singer of Vanillia Ninja, the Estonian group  who brought Switzerland to the Eurovision final in the same year. Another finalist in this year's Estonian selection is Iiris Vesik, who came second in the 2008 Estonian Eurovision selection, with the song "Ice Cold Story". Iiris can consider herself unlucky not to have made it to Belgrade, because had she achieved the same votes in 2009, she would have won the Estonian final. Iiris's rather unusual vocals  and rather quirky performing style have drawn comparisons to Icelandic singer Bjork and while her 2010 song may not be an instantly catchy as "Ice Cold Story" she is among the favourites to represent Estonia in Oslo. You can find ETV's website for the Estonian selection here.
	LITHUANIA "Eastern European Funk" - Inculto
Lithuania is another country who's participation in this year's Eurovision Song Contest was under question because of the economic crisis hitting the Baltic states, but LRT has found the funding to have an entry in Oslo and local artists have until January 24th to submit their entries. The finalists will be announced in early February and the final selection is likely to take place in late February or early March. It is already confirmed that 2009 Lithuanian performer Sasha Son will be trying to return to the contest and his main opposition may come from the quirky five man group Inculto, formed in 2003. Fronted by charismatic singer Jurgis Didžiulis, the group which combines, latin, folk and ska music and have already released two successful albums in Lithuania. In 2006, they were they early favourites to get the Lithuanian ticket to Athens, before the campaign of LT United swept "We Are The Winners" to Eurovision. Inculto have already started promoting their instantly catchy 2010 entry on local radio and are seen as virtually certain to make the national final, and could bring the kazoo to the Eurovision stage, for the first time. You can fin out more about the band on their website.
	MOLDOVA "Run Away" - Sunstroke Project & Olia Tira
Moldovan broadcaster TRM has now released the names of the 25 entries that will contest their national final, to be staged in Chisinau on February 25th. If history is anything to go by, this will be the longest national final of the year and a combination of a public televote, a panel of music professionals and a jury of TRM representatives will select the entry for Oslo.  One of the favourites to fly Moldova's flag in May is the uptempo summer dance song "Run Away" performed by a combination of two popular local acts coming together especially for Eurovision, after missing as separate acts last year. Olia Tira was born is the daughter of a former Soviet army member and was born in Potsdam in Germany. As well as performing in many international music contests,  she hosts a morning TV show and her pictures are on the covers of many popular magazines, while her songs are popular on TV and radio stations in Moldova. She came 2nd in the Moldovan final in 2008 and 4th in 2009. This year Olia has teamed up with the popular local dance act The Sunstroke Project who have had several radio hits in Moldova and finished 3rd in the 2009 Moldovan final.
	FINLAND "Love At The First Sight" - Sister Twister
While the national final season can best be described as a "labour of love" for most most Eurovision fans, this year's Finnish selection is something more resembling "hard labour". With no live streams, we have to depend on YouTube to give us a taste of the semi-final shows and so far the standard has been pretty poor. With two semi-finals already completed, it now appears that the bookmakers favourites oompah-band Eläkeläiset, who perform in the third semi-final, to be staged on Friday January 22nd,  already have one foot in Oslo. If there is to be a big upset it could come from the all girl group Sister Twister who qualified from the second semi-final on January 15th. Complete with hairstyles, not dissimilar to X Factor's John & Edward and vocal skills that wouldn't be too different than the Dublin twosome, Sister Twister aren't obvious candidates to get to Eurovision, but their song is very commercial and at least in the studio version, very radio friendly. Finland is the next country to stage their national final and on January 30th, we will know who the Finnish public has chosen to go to Oslo, and it isn't too late to put your money on Eläkeläiset.
	POLAND "Mysl O Tobie" - Aneta Figiel
Poland has had a pretty poor record in he Eurovision Song Contest, since its spectacular debut in Dublin in 1994, when the finished second but only one Polish entry has qualified from the semi-finals in the last five years. This year nine songs will compete in the Polish final, which will be staged in Warsaw on February 13th and with four songs in Polish, there's a very good chance we will have a Polish entry in their national language in Oslo. 29 year old Aneta Figiel is a singer, musician and songwriter who hails from Wroclaw in south-west Poland. Her ten year musical career includes starring in local productions of "Grease" and "Chicago" and she has also made several appearances on television and in concert, performing her own songs. Aneta's Eurovision entry is the piano ballad "Mysl O Tobie" (A Thought Of You) and the song was written and composed by Aneta. With no big names from the local music scene contesting the Polish final, it is one of the most open national finals of the year, but if Aneta's live performance is as strong as the studio version of the song, then she could make it to Oslo. Aneta's website (in Polish) can be found here.
	NORWAY "The Touch" - Maria Arredondo
Norway's national selection is now in full swing, with four songs qualified for the Melodi Grand Prix final which will be staged in Oslo's Spektrum Arena on February 6th. Four other songs have been given a second chance, through a fourth semi-final for "lucky losers".  One of the songs that qualified automatically from the second semi-final staged in Bodo on January 16th is the Disney-style ballad "The Touch" sung by Maria Arredondo. 24 year old Maria was born in Vennesla and gets her exotic surname from her Chilean step-father.Maria has already released five albums and her ten singles include a duet with Christian Ingebrigtsen, the songwriting member of a1, who Maria is likely to face in the Norwegian final. Maria has also starred in a successful Norwegian production of the stage musical "The Sound Of Music". The songwriter of "The Touch" is Rolf Lovland, who has already written two Norwegian Eurovision winners; "La Det Swinge" in 1985 and "Nocturne", ten years later. Rolf remains a member of Secret Garden, but is now trying to enter the record books as the writer of three Eurovision winners. Maria Arredondo's website is here.
	SLOVAKIA "Na Strechách Domov" - Tomáš Bezdeda
The biggest of this year's national selections begins on Friday January 22nd, when a massive sixty songs begin the lengthy process of trying to represent Slovakia in Oslo. The Slovakian Final will eventually be held on February 28th in Bratislava. However, before the final there will be six quarter-finals, with the top four songs in each (chosen by televoting) qualifying for the semi-finals on February 14th and 21st. The top six songs in each semi-final will qualify for the final. The voting in the semi-finals and final will be a combination of televoting and a jury.  Picking a potential winner in Slovakia may be like finding a needle in a haystack, but the very first song could well be the one that makes it all the way to Eurovision. 24 year old Tomáš Bezdeda came to national attention in 2005 through the local edition of "Pop Idol", where he finished third. In 2006, he competed in the television show "Let's Dance"and in 2009, Tomáš finished 3rd in the Slovak national final. This year his rock song "Na Strechách Domov" (Home, By Rooftops) is one of the best entries to leak on the internet. Tomáš's website (in Slovak) can be found here.