On January 12th, the representative for Georgia for Eurovision 2024 was announced, after being internally selected by the Georgian public broadcaster. The chosen artist is Nutsa Buzaladze, an international singer who has participated in and even won various music competitions in different countries.
Nutsa will be the one attempting to surpass her semifinal after Georgia last year with Iru Khechanovi and his song “Echo” failed to qualify for the grand final of Eurovision 2023.
At ESCplus, we continue to delve into the background of each Eurovision 2024 representative. This time, we travel to Georgia to discover the life and professional experience of Nutsa Buzaladze.
Who is Nutsa Buzaladze?
Nutsa Buzaladze was born on January 28, 1997, in Tbilisi, Georgia. She comes from a family deeply rooted in the world of music, inspired by her father, musician Nino Buzaladze, and her mother, singer and songwriter Gia Buzaladze. From an early age, she showed an innate talent for music. At the age of 5, she was already participating in a children’s band, and at 8, she began taking piano lessons, thus expanding her musical prowess.
Her career took off in 2011 when she participated in Georgia’s Got Talent, where she reached the semifinals. In 2013, she was a finalist on Your Face Sounds Familiar in Georgia. International recognition came in 2014 when she won the New Wave competition in Latvia, representing Georgia. Additionally, in 2015, she was a semifinalist on Dancing with the Stars in her homeland. Her talent transcended Georgian borders, as she was a semifinalist on The Voice of Turkey in 2015, where her brilliant rendition of “Lady Marmalade” impressed judges and audiences alike.
In 2020, she participated in the Russian All Together Now, advancing to the final and further solidifying her popularity when she recorded a song with Sony that topped the charts in the country. She participated in American Idol in 2023, where her talent was recognized by the famous singer Katy Perry, who compared her to Jennifer Lopez.
In 2023, she had the honor of sharing the stage with Kylie Minogue during the American Idol final, performing the hit “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head.” Her musical career has taken her from Georgia to Russia, Turkey, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates, where she is known as a prominent singer-songwriter.
“Firefighter” the Georgian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024
The English pop-style song is composed by Darko Dimitrov, a renowned North Macedonian composer and producer who has previously worked on the composition and/or production of several Eurovision songs, including “Lost and Found” by Eye Cue (Eurovision 2018), “Proud” by Tamara Todevska (Eurovision 2019), “Loco Loco” by Hurricane (Eurovision 2021), and Ada Skidka.
The director of the music video of the song is Zaza Orashvili, a Georgian director who also directed the video for the song “Echo,” with which Iru represented Georgia last year. Alongside Shako Popiashvili, the artistic director, they were also responsible for the music video of the song “Over the Sky” by Anastasia & Ranina, Georgia’s entry in Eurovision Junior 2023.
Sagiv Karpel, a renowned actor and producer who has worked on programs such as America’s Got Talent or American Idol, will be the creative director for Nutsa’s stage performance at Eurovision. The choreography will be handled by Italian Luigi Alocca.
Lyrics of «Firefighter»
I see it in the air, I see it in the air
I’m running through these ashes like a firefighter
Put out the fire, put out the fire.
Did we build empires just to watch them burn?
My heart’s beating louder, I’m running like tigers.
No fear in my eyes though.
I will save this love.
The ceiling is falling, the windows are burning.
It’s getting harder to breathe.
Can you hear me calling?
I see ashes falling.
I’m down on my knees.
But I will save this love.
I see it in the air, I see it in the air.
I’m rising from these ashes like a phoenix, yeah.
You know I’ll be there.
You know that I’ll be there.
I’m running through these ashes like a firefighter.
Put out the fire, put out the fire.
Put out the fire, put out the fire.
Put out the fire.
Come dance with the thunder,
Cause love makes us stronger.
We’re not here forever.
So can we save this love?
From lovers to fighters,
Oh, why do we do this?
We’re meant to rise higher and higher and higher.
The ceiling is falling, the windows are burning.
It’s getting harder to breathe.
Can you hear me calling?
I see ashes falling, falling, falling.
I see it in the air, I see it in the air.
I’m rising from these ashes like a phoenix, yeah.
You know that I’ll be there.
You know that I’ll be there.
I’ll be there, I’ll be there.
I see it in the air, I see it in the air.
I’m rising from these ashes like a phoenix, yeah.
You know I’ll be there.
You know that I’ll be there.
We’re running through these ashes like a firefighter.
I see it in the air, I see it in the air.
We’re rising from these ashes like a phoenix, yeah.
You know I’ll be there.
You know that I’ll be there.
We’re rising from these ashes like a phoenix, yeah.
Georgia: ’s participation in Eurovision
Georgia made its Eurovision debut in 2007 in Helsinki, with Sopho Khalvashi and her song “Visionary Dream,” which finished in twelfth place with 97 points. Since then, the Caucasian country has participated in every edition of the contest except for 2009.
Out of the country’s 17 participations, it has only advanced to the final 7 times, with its best result being ninth place in Oslo 2010 with Sopho Nizharadze and her song “Shine,” and in Düsseldorf 2011 with Eldrine and their song “One More Day.” Out of the 8 times Georgia has failed to qualify for the final, 6 of them occurred consecutively between 2017 and 2023.
Georgia has alternated between national finals of various formats, with internal selections or a combination of both year after year. In 2019 and 2020, GPB chose to revive Georgian Idol and select its winners as representatives at the festival. Thus, Oto Nemsadze and Tornike Kipiani went to Eurovision but without much luck, as neither made it to the final. Circus Mircus was internally selected in 2022 but was eliminated in the second semifinal, finishing last with 22 points.
In 2023, Georgia was represented by Iru Khechanovi, who was internally selected with the song “Echo.” This time, Iru did not have the same luck as in 2011 when representing Georgia as part of the group Candy, achieving victory for the country in the Junior Eurovision, as they did not reach the final and remained in twelfth place in the second semifinal with 33 points.