Spain’s Eurovision 1992 and 2000 representative, Serafin Zubiri, will be auditioned this month to potentially compete in San Marino’s national selection for Eurovision 2025. The selection process continues to attract various artists across Europe.

San Marino’s National Broadcaster SMRTV is continuing the casting and screening phase for their national selection, San Marino Song Contest, scheduled for March 8th. The event will determine the country’s representative and song for Eurovision 2025 in Basel. One of the contestants slated for auditions is none other than Serafin Zubiri, Spain’s representative at Eurovision 1992 and 2000.




The 60-year-old singer represented Spain in the contest held about 33 years ago in Malmö, which hosted the competition in its territory just a year ago. Serafin brought Spain to 14th place in the competition with the song “Todo Esto Es La Música” (in English: “All This Is Music”). Eight years later, he again represented Spain at Eurovision 2000 with the song “Colgado de un sueño” (in English: “Hanging from a Dream”). Serafin’s registration and bid to represent San Marino at Eurovision and return to the competition after 33 years are undoubtedly surprising news. If Serafin wins San Marino’s national selection, he will be the second consecutive Spanish artist to raise the San Marino flag at Eurovision, after the Spanish band Megara represented the country at the last Eurovision 2024 but failed to qualify for the final for San Marino.

Serafin will be auditioned in the casting stage of San Marino’s national selection on Thursday, January 23rd, at noon virtually (online, according to San Marino’s National Broadcaster website). It’s important to note that San Marino is known for its “ingathering of exiles” at Eurovision, and due to its small size, it allows many artists across Europe interested in competing in Eurovision to do so by representing San Marino in the competition. For example, many non-Italian or non-San Marino artists apply for San Marino’s national selection, such as: Megara band, Serafin, Ukrainian singer TESLENKO, who withdrew from the Ukrainian national selection, and Albania’s Eurovision 2024 representative Besa Kokëdhima, who is also applying this year to represent San Marino and return to Eurovision 2025.




New Schedule and Format

The casting stage for San Marino’s national selection will continue until January 14th, 2025. A total of 11 contestants will compete in the final, advancing from six semi-finals – four regular semi-finals, an additional special semi-final for local artists that will also include a “second chance” round.

The grand final of the “San Marino Song Contest” was initially planned for February 22nd, then pushed to February 23rd. Now it’s revealed to be postponed to March 8th, competing with other countries broadcasting their pre-selections on the same date, such as Sweden and Portugal. Over 200 contestants submitted applications to represent the country in the competition, and 80 artists will continue to the semi-final stages. The winner of the selection will be chosen by a panel of five judges.

San Marino has used a national selection process to choose its Eurovision representatives since 2022 and has so far failed to qualify for the final. The country’s confirmation of participation in Eurovision came after a statement by San Marino’s Secretary of State, Federico Pedini Amati, in which he indicated there was a reasonable chance the country would withdraw from the competition and complained about unfairness:

“There’s something that doesn’t add up for me. Three years in a row we’re out of the final. First Achille Lauro, then Piqued Jacks, and now Megara. It almost seems like small countries are being punished too much. The game can’t be just for big countries.”

Fortunately, the country confirmed its participation in the competition and will continue to bring its music to the contest.

Here’s the complete list of performance dates for the San Marino Eurovision pre-selection “San Marino Song Contest!”:

  • The First Semi-Final will be held on Monday, February 17th, from which two contestants will advance to the final.
  • The Second Semi-Final will be held on Tuesday, February 18th, from which two contestants will advance to the final.
  • The Third Semi-Final will be held on Wednesday, February 19th, from which two contestants will advance to the final.
  • The Fourth Semi-Final will be held on Thursday, February 20th, from which two contestants will advance to the final.
  • The Fifth Semi-Final will be held on Friday, February 21st. Its first part will be dedicated to local artists only, from which one contestant will advance. The second part will be dedicated to the “Second Chance” stage, from which two more contestants will advance to the final.
  • The Grand Final will be held on Saturday, March 8th, where the winner will receive the coveted ticket to Basel, Switzerland, and represent San Marino at Eurovision 2025.




San Marino in Eurovision 2024:

“11:11” is the name of the song performed by the band Megara, which represented San Marino at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 held in Malmö, Sweden. The band participated in the second semi-final of Eurovision 2024 but did not advance to the grand final, finishing in 14th place in the semi-final with only 16 points, 10 of which came from Spain.

Source: SMRTV.

Eurovision 2025: This will be San Marino’s 15th participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. San Marino joined the competition in 2008 and achieved its best result in Eurovision 2019 when the singer Serhat finished in 19th place with the song “Say Na Na Na” .