After the announcement of San Marino RTV on January 21st, Serhat held a press conference for the Turkish media, in the heart of Istanbul at The Marmara Hotel, where he announced his participation in Eurovision 2019, with San Marino. It is the 10th anniversary of the participation of San Marino at the Eurovision Song Contest and Serhat proudly accepted the proposal of SMRTV, to represent the country, this year in Tel Aviv.
Serhat stated that it’s a great honour for him to represent San Marino, as the experience he lived back in 2016 was one of his best memories, and because of his trust and the strong friendship that was born with the sammarinese Eurovision team, he is back to celebrate the 10th anniversary of San Marino’s participation at the contest.
Serhat had a very warm welcome in San Marino, while he’s fully embraced by the Turkish people as well. This year, he reveals that his song is full of positive energy, »a song that is ‘an open hug’ to the world, to people, beyond borders«. Having started the shootings for the music video of his song, the journey to Eurovision for Serhat, has already begun!
The Director General of SMRTV, Mr. Carlo Romeo, during his honorable presence at the press conference, underlined that Eurovision is important for San Marino: “Even though San Marino is a small country, we participate to Eurovision with a very big heart. The Republic of San Marino, despites its small territory, is standing strong and we are still among the Eurovision competitors. It is our 10th participating year, a round number, so we have evaluated thoroughly our Eurovision entries, and we realised that we try hard thus deserve an equal treatment. So this year, we ‘press the button of new decade’ and we participate with a very talented singer, who we really believe in, and with a good song. As I said, Serhat has a particular emotional tie with San Marino. He is also a citizen of the world, and binding Istanbul, London and Paris to San Marino, is an additional value for a small reality as ours. Tel Aviv as a location, in a country which has always been friend to, points out the importance of the public broadcasters in the intercultural Dialogue for the culture of Peace.«
Mr. Romeo also added: »Another considerable element was Serhat’s commitment for a kind of television able to promote the dialogue among communities with strong tensions inside. He was able to do it and to do it very good in a delicate reality like the Greek and Turkish ones, underlining once again the crucial role of the broadcasters in this particular issue. Eurovision Song Contest 2019 is a choice for friendship and Serhat’s choice proves it. Friend, arkadas, amico, ami, freund in all languages that Serhat, with my humble envy, knows and uses.«
Serhat will represent San Marino at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, which will take place in Tel Aviv, Israel later this year. This is his second participation for SMRTV – he represented a microstate back in 2016, with a disco number I Didn’t Know. Check his performance from the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest below.