While Turkey won’t be competing in Eurovision this year, San Marino broadcaster SMRTV today announced that their act for Stockholm will be the gravelly voiced Turkish singer Serhat. His song has not been released yet.

There were strong rumours that San Marino would be looking abroad for their act, with Russia and Greece being among the rumours, and in the end, the artist turned out to be Turkish. This is the first time since 2011 that Ralph Siegel did not write or produce the song.

At a press conference today, Serhat wasn’t saying which language he’d be singing, but said he loved singing in different languages and promised that there would be at least an Italian version of the song. He also spoke about having to get the right song for the right year.

Who is Serhat?

Born Ahmet Serhat Hacipasalioglu in 1964, Serhat is well known in Turkey as a singer, television presenter and producer. He runs his own television production company, and has hosts shows such as the Turkish version of the quiz show Jeopardy!.

Serhat launched his music career in the late 1990s. He has worked with the French-Belgium singer and 1987 Eurovision presenter Viktor Lazlo, duetting with her on “Total Disguise” in 2004.

He says he’s watched Eurovision since 1974, and has been in the audience a few time. While Serhat doesn’t consider himself a Eurofan, he does follow the show and is especially interested in technological advances.

His latest single is “Je M’adore” (I love me), which was also featured at the San Marino press conference. While this is not his song for Stockholm, it does give an idea of his style, with shades of Sebastien Tellier, Rambo Amadeus and even a bit of Electro Velvet in there.

Are you happy with the choice? Do you think San Marino will qualify to the final again? Share your thoughts below.