Ralph Siegel's Micronation Eurovision Project

MAY 15 2013 · 12:40

Valentina Monetta · "Crisalide (Vola)" · San Marino · 2013 Placement: 11 · Score: 47 · Language: Italian · Composers: Ralph Siegel, Mauro Balestri · Venue: Malmö Arena · Host: Malmö, Sweden · Type: deep cut · Broadcast: streaming era Valentina Monetta — from San Marino, a nation of 33,000 people — delivers Ralph Siegel's composition 'Crisalide' in Italian from the Malmö stage. It is her second of five Eurovision appearances, all for San Marino, all composed by Siegel. The staging is conservative, the vocal is professional, the result is San Marino's first-ever qualifier to the grand final. 11th place with 47 points. Context Ralph Siegel had dominated German Eurovision for decades but transitioned to San Marino as a personal project after Germany's selection apparatus moved beyond him. He treated San Marino's broadcaster SMTV as an artist-development platform, commissioning entries and recruiting Monetta as the vehicle. Monetta's five appearances broke Fud Leclerc's four-entry record. Legacy The Siegel-Monetta-San Marino arrangement is now a case study in how a single composer can effectively acquire a small-nation broadcaster's Eurovision pipeline. Monetta continued performing after her final 2017 entry. Siegel has continued submitting to San Marino into the 2020s. The five-entries record still stands.