Nicolas' Neighbour in the Internatia Song Contest
| Nicolas' Neighbour | |
|---|---|
| |
| Member station | BNN |
| National selection events | Festival di Neighbouria |
| Participation summary | |
| Appearances | 23 |
| First appearance | ISC 1st |
| Best result | 3rd: ISC 7, ISC 23 |
| Worst result | 25th SF: ISC 27 |
'Nicolas' Neighbour (formally Nicolas' Neigbour) is one of eight countries that participated in the very first edition of the Internatia Song Contest Due to internal strugles the country withdrew from 2nd edition, and fall into a Civil War soon after. After the War and due to San Monique's perisistence to make NN rejoin, the country decided to return to the 7th edition. It has taken part ever since. After a very succesful return in ISC 7 , were it achieved a third place, Nicolas Neighbour's has seen mixed results. It qualified 8 out of 12 times for the Final time, but had to settle for a place at the lower part of the table most of the time. It wasn't until 17th edition, 10 editions later, that the country managed to reach the final again. Interest in the contest, from both broadcaster and public however, remains unexpectedly high, with very stable viewing figures.
Contestants
- Table key
| Edition | Artist | Title | Language | Place | Points | Semi | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st |  Keri Hilson
|
"Pretty Girl Rock" | English | 7 | 29 | ||
| 7th |  KOKIA
|
"Follow The Nightingale" | Japanese | 3 | 98 | ||
| 8th |  Despina Vandi
|
"Girismata" | Greek | Failed to qualify | 12 | 47 | |
| 9th |  CHVRCHES
|
"The Mother We Share" | English | 12 | 80 | 6 | 70 |
| 10th |  Sa Dingding
|
"快乐节" | Chinese | 12 | 76 | Qualified1 | |
| 11th |  Imelda May
|
"Mayhem" | English | 22 | 44 | 8 | 63 |
| 12th |  Laura Jansen
|
"Queen Of Elba" | English | 18 | 96 | 8 | 70 |
| 13th | The Killers
|
"Runaways | English | 18 | 85 | 11 | 60 |
| 14th |  Mads Langer
|
"Overgir Mig Langsomt" | Danish | 24 | 56 | 9 | 75 |
| 15th |  Besa Kokedhima
|
"Kalorësi i natës" | Albanian | Failed to qualify | 16 | 49 | |
| 16th |  Eva & The Heartmaker
|
"Signals" | English | 21 | 72 | 5 | 84 |
| 17th | Kalafina
|
"Aria" | Japanese | 8 | 123 | 2 | 102 |
| 18th | Mø
|
"Pilgrim" | English | Failed to qualify | 22 | 41 | |
| 19th | Ilse Delange
|
"Just Kids" | English | Failed to qualify | 17 | 38 | |
| 20th | |||||||
| 21st | Young Wonder
|
"To You" | English | Failed to qualify | 22 | 39 | |
| 22nd |  Janna
|
"Sä Et Ole Hullu" | Finnish | Failed to qualify | 14 | 52 | |
| 23rd | Highasakite
|
"Leaving No Traces" | English | 3 | 142 | 2 | 92 |
| 24th | Alan
|
"Ode To The Himalaya" | Chinese | 23 | 78 | 10 | 61 |
| 25th | HAIM
|
"The Wire" | English | Failed to qualify | 17 | 48 | |
| 26th |  / Andru Donalds & Eugenia Vlasova
|
"Wind Of Hope" | English | Failed to qualify | 19 | 51 | |
| 27th |  Vetusta Morla
|
"Fuego" | Spanish | Failed to qualify | 25 | 18 | |
| 28th |  Sheppard
|
"Geronimo" | English | 5 | 161 | 1 | 93 |
| 29th |  Marlene
|
"Indian Summer" | English | 15 | 120 | 2 | 98 |
| 30th |  Jenifer
|
"Sur Le Fil" | French | ||||
| 31st |
|
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1 The results of SF of ISC 10 are unknown to date.
History
Internatia Song Contest 1
Nicolas' Neighbour joined the very first ISC ever held. The song was internally chosen by the broadcaster, who at that time was under strict control of the Government. The Government decided that the song must represent a feeling of superiority and unity, in line with a far bigger proppaganda program. The Song "Pretty Girl Rock", by Keri Hilson, was chosen. It was made into NN's national anthem, especially beacuse of the sentence: "Dont hate me because I'm Beautiful", which had a double meaning. It intented to tell the people of NN how pretty they were, and at the same time other countries to not judge the political system in NN. After the Revolution the Song was abandoned, and Keri became anonymous. NN takes pride in the fact that they attended the first ISC edition, however.
Internatia Song Contest 7-20
After ISC 1 NN descended into civil war and did not participate for a long time in ISC. It was San Monique that convinced the reborn country to take part. Non other then Kokia, national Legend, opted to go for NN and BNN, Broadcaster of NN did not doubt for a second. Kokia had been at the top of the Music industry for over a decade, but her fame even became bigger after the fall of the Regime. It was announced that she would represent NN with her song "Follow The Nightingale
For ISC 8, BNN selected Despina Vandi internally. Despina comes from the southern province of Azubiwa, known for its folk music, where she is a big star. The song selected is called "Girismata". She did not manage to qualify. After the failure at ISC 8 BNN decided to take a different approach and selected young electro band CHVRCHES to participate in the ISC. Again the song was internally chosen as well, and turned out to be "The Mother We Share" For ISC 10 Sa DingDing was chosen with the song "Xi Carnival". This is actually and old folk song, which has been around for ages and comes from the city of Xi. The city of Xi is the oldest city in NN and has a very big and old cultural history. Biggest Event every year is the Xi Carnival, a festival which last 6 days and which is celebrated trhoughout the country. "Xi carnival" represnts traditional NN music at its best.
After the huge expectations for Sa DingDing her 12th place was a bit of a letdown, and BNN decided to not send huge stars again to the ISC. A variety of artists where sent, and NN managed to qualify 4 more times in a row for the final. Subsequently the entry ended at the bottom of the scoreboard, to the broadcasters' disapointment. It wasnt until ISC 17, when the the broadcaster picked the classy Kalafina trio to represent the country, that succes was finally achieved again. After 10 editions the country was back in the top 10 again.
This succes did not last long though. In the two subsequent contests NN failed to qualify for the final, finishing in 17th and 23rd place, its worst result ever in the contest. Bnn, thereafter decided to take a break from the contest, withdrawing from the 20th edition, in order to reinvent themselves and come up with a good scoring formula. After closely observing other country election procedures, BNN decided to hold an National Final for their fist time ever.
Internatia Song Contest 21
BNN announced that the official name of NF would be the Festival di Neighbouria. It further announced that 5 artists would take part, each with a song. The winner would be decided by the Neighbourian Jury and any guest juries that would vote. In the end 12 guest juries voted, making a total of 13 juries vote. In the end Young Wonder was declared winner, with a small margin over 2nd-placer Burhang G. As such, Young Wonder was sent to the ISC, while it was later announced that Burhan G would participate in ISCC 11.
| Order | Participant | Song | Language | Placing | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burhan G | "Kalder Mig Hjem" | Danish | 2nd | 84 |
| 2 | Young Wonder | "To You" | English | 1st | 88 |
| 3 | Claudia Debreij | "Mag Ik Dan Bij Jou" | Dutch | 5th | 66 |
| 4 | Rasmus Seebach | "Olivia" | Danish | 4th | 74 |
| 5 | Damien Rice | "9 Crimes" | Irish | 3rd | 78 |
At the ISC, Young Wonder did not manage to reach the final, promting BNN to get rid of the National Final immediatly.
Internatia Song Contest 22-25
For Isc 22, Singer Janna was selected. Although she did not manage to qualify, her song received lots of support and the final results showed that Janna was very close to qualifying to the final. This gave BNN hope, yet it had not qualified for the final 4 consecutive times. Relieve finally came with the young indie band Highasakite. Not only did they bring NN to the final, they achieved a 3rd place, with 128 points, the best result of the country in the contest so far, being only 13 points away from actually winning. For Isc 24, BNN relied on the traditional music of NN once again, sending Alan with a classic ethnic ballad. Alan surprised friend and foe be qualifying to the ISC final again. For Isc 25 the Indie girl trio HAIM was selected, after impressing a representative of BNN at a live concert, yet they were not able to qualify.
Internatia Song Contest 26
After an announcement for more cooperation on the national level between Aonach and NN, BNN accepted an invitation by RTVRA to participate in a joint NF. Although hesitant at first due to the bad result achieved by the previous NF winner, BNN saw an oppurtunity to profile itself more on the global field, as well as being able to host a bigger production. 4 artists were sent to Laírge, Aonach, to fight for a ticket to Yottoban in the very first Aobour Fest. In the end Andru Donalds & Evgenia Vlasova were picked for NN, while Aonach won the overall NF.
| Order | Participant | Song | Language | Placing | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Linnea Henriksson
|
"Min Stad" | Swedish | 7th | 68 |
| 2 |  Elena Gheorghe
|
"De Neinlocuit" | Romanian | 5th | 72 |
| 3 | The Common Linnets
|
"Lovers And Liars" | English | 3rd | 85 |
| 4 | Molly Sandén
|
"Spread A Little Light" | English | 6th | 69 |
| 5 | Árstíðir
|
" Ljóð Í Sand" | Icelandic | 4th | 75 |
| 6 | Anna Tsuchiya
|
"Rose" | English | 8th | 62 |
| 7 | Andru Donalds & Evgenia Vlasova
|
"Wind Of Hope" | English | 2nd | 93 |
| 8 | Laura Jansen & Tom Chaplin
|
"Same Heart" | English | 1st | 100 |
At the ISC, the duo did not manage to reach the final, much to the country's dissapointment. The cooperation between RTVRA was deemed a succes though and plans for more Joint NF's were made already.
Internatia Song Contest 27-28
Over the summer, Vetusta Morla, comming from the ethnically different Azubiwa, scored a monster hit with their album "Deriva". BNN, impressed with their succes and hungry for some succes again contracted Vetusta Morla to go to ISC. THey were given free pick to choose the song and choose "Fuego". Although becomming platinum within no-time in NN, Vetusta Morla failed to make any impression at the Semi-final, getting NN's worst placing yet. BNN however, used the same method to select the artist for isc 28, the band Sheppard, who, accorinding to BNN, had more accesable songs. Though the Neighbourian public were sceptic about their participation, Sheppard finally brought NN back into the ISC final.
Internatia Song Contest 29
For ISC 29, BNN hosted the second Aobour Fest. This time held in Nan'ji, NN, 8 songs again battled for a ticket to ISC and the victory. This time NN was more succesful. grabbing 1st and 2nd place in the NF. Marlene was selected to go for Kosma, just in front of Hannah Pakarinen.
| Order | Participant | Song | Language | Placing | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2ne1
|
"Come Back" | Korean | 5th | 69 |
| 2 | MØ
|
""Walk This Way" | English | 7th | 63 |
| 3 | Hannah Pakarinen
|
"Go Go" | English | 2nd | 80 |
| 4 | Marlene
|
"Indian Summer" | English | 1st | 82 |
| 5 | The Coronas
|
"All The Others" | English | 8th | 58 |
| 6 | Kim-Lian
|
"Garden Of Love" | English | 3rd | 79 |
| 7 | Inna Voronova
|
"Ty Ne Moj"" | Ukranian | 6th | 64 |
| 8 | Natalie
|
"Nello Spechhio" | Italian | 4th | 74 |
Internatia Song Contest 30
Due to the succes of the joint NF's of Aonach and NN, BNN came up with the idea to use this format on a bigger scale. 4 befriended broadcasters were invited for a so-called super-NF (RTK, RTVA, HBC & ITVR). Response from all broadcasters was very positive and it was decided to hold a joint NF for ISC 30 with 5 countries. BNN, a small broadcaster itself, happily passed the hosting over to RTK from Kaledonii, who hosted the NF in the city of Tamar.
| Order | Participant | Song | Language | Placing | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M83
|
"Midnight City" | English | 5 | 92 |
| 2 | Gabrielle Aplin
|
"Salvation" | English | 4 | 100 |
| 3 |  Shawn Mendes
|
"Life Of The Party" | English | 6 | 54 |
| 4 | Brigitte Boisjoli
|
"Mes Jambes à Ton Cou" | French | 9 | 36 |
| 5 |  Stina Girs
|
"Mä tahdon tietää mitä rakkaus on" | Finnish | 3 | 102 |
| 6 | Poe
|
"Haunted" | English | 8 | 40 |
| 7 |  Zhana Bergendorff
|
"Samuray"" | Bulgarian | 1 | 112 |
| 8 | Sunidhi Chauhan
|
" Aaja Nachle" | Hindi | 7 | 42 |
| 9 | Jenifer
|
"Sur Le Fil" | French | 2 | 102 |
| 10 | Kensington
|
""War" | English | 10 | 34 |
A total of 17 countries voted. Jenifer ended in a very respectable 2nd place, on 10 points from the winner from Kaledonii. Kensington fared much worse and ended last in the NF. Obviously, Jenifer won the right to go to ISC 30. After some concerns about their potential flop at ISCC, BNN still granted Kensington the right to go to ISSC, as "ISSC isnt as much about succes as about just participating", according to sources in BNN.
Voting History
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ISC Spinoffs
ISSC
Due to selecting their candidate via internal selection, NN was not eligible for the ISSC. After holding their first National final for ISC 21, BNN started considering participating in ISSC. It was not until edition 10 though, which was hosted by brother nation Aonach, that BNN sent runner-up Burhan G to participate. BNN stated that their intention is to take part in future editions.
Junior Internatia Song Contest
NN participatd in the very first Jisc, and has taken part in every most editions so far. NN had a very good start in Jisc, ending in the top 10 4 out of 5 times, but results started to dissapoint in later editions. Because BNN's involvement in other spinoff contests, the partcipation in Jisc has become of lesser priority. According to an official BNN statement, there will be only a song sent when a good enough candidate is found. "NN wont participate for the sake of participating." After the Result in Jisc 9, BNN announced that it will no longer take part in jisc
ISC Does Eurovision
BNN took part in the Eurovision Spin-off, finishing 18th
| Country | Artist | Song | Place | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicolas' Neighbour
|
Iva Zanicchi | "Due grosse lacrime bianche" | 18 | 49 |
ISC-1
NN joined this contest for the first at the 3rd edition.
| Edition | Artist | Song | Langauge | Place | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3rd | Anita Meijer | "Why Tell Me Why" | English | 5 | 103 |
| 4th | The Crystals | "Da Doo Ron Ron" | English |
References