Eurovision 2023: 37 countries will join the 67th contest in Liverpool!

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Just moments ago, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced the countries that will take part in the 67th Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool! 37 countries will be present in the contest, with three countries withdrawing, in contrast with the 40 countries last year in Turin.

These countries  withdrawing are Bulgaria, Montenegro and North Macedonia, which after their participation in Eurovision 2022, all three of them withdraw for financial reasons.

Martin Österdahl, Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest, shared his thoughts on the line-up:

“We’re looking forward to welcoming artists from all 37 countries to Liverpool, the city of pop, next May. Next year’s competition promises to be an extra special one and we’re working hard with the BBC right now to ensure that hundreds of millions of viewers will enjoy the best Eurovision Song Contest yet, with Ukraine at the heart of the event.”

In detail, the countries that are going to take part are:

  • Albania – RTSH
  • Australia– SBS
  • Armenia– AMPTV
  • Austria – ORF
  • Azerbaijan – Ictimai TV
  • Belgium – RTBF
  • Croatia – HRT
  • Cyprus – CyBC
  • Czech Republic – CT
  • Denmark – DR
  • Estonia – ERR
  • Finland  – YLE
  • France – FT
  • Georgia – GPB
  • Germany – ARD/NDR
  • Greece – ΕΡΤ
  • Iceland – RUV
  • Ireland– RTE
  • Israel – IPBC/Kan
  • Italy– RAI
  • Latvia – LTV
  • Lithuania – LRT
  • Malta – PBS
  • Moldova – TRM
  • Netherlands – AVROTROS
  • Norway – NRK
  • Poland – TVP
  • Portugal – RTP
  • Romania – TVR
  • San Marino – RTV
  • Serbia – RTS
  • Slovenia ​​- RTVSLO
  • Spain  – TVE
  • Sweden – SVT
  • Switzerland – SRG / SSR
  • Ukraine – UA: PBC
  • United Kingdom – BBC

Martin Green, BBC’s Managing Director of the Eurovision Song Contest added:

“We are incredibly proud to be hosting the Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ukraine and welcoming delegations from 37 countries to Liverpool next year. The BBC is committed to making the event a true reflection of Ukrainian culture and showcasing British creativity to a global audience.”

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, in Liverpool!

Greece: This is the ERT jury for Eurovision 2023!

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The ERT jury for Eurovision 2023 is getting to work in the next few days. The members of the artistic committee of the Greek public television will in the next few days start listening to the 106 songs submitted for the 67th Eurovision Song Contest, in order to initially select the better ones, among which the final choice will be made later.

The members of the ERT committee

The team that wins they say does not change and so this time the committee that has been created to choose the artist, but also the song that will represent Greece at Eurovision 2023 is approximately the same that chose country’s last two entries, both of which they brought Greece to the top 10 of the final standings.

The committee therefore consists of the following:

1. PAPADIMITRIOU DIMITRIS – Composer, Board Member of ERT SA (Chairman)
2. ADAM PETROS – Music Producer (Member)
3. APERGIS FOTIS – Journalist, head of radio broadcasting department of ERA (Member)
4. PETRIDIS YIANNIS – Music Producer (Member)
5. KOZAKOU MARIA – Director of the Second Program of ERA, commentator of the contest (Member)
6. ANTONOPOULOS LEONIDAS – Kosmos Director of ERA (MEMBER)
7. BOUROUNIS KONSTANTINOS – Assoc. ERT General Program Manager (Member)

The schedule of procedures

The committee members are expected to listen individually to the submitted songs. This will be done exclusively at ERT’s headqurters, without the possibility of the songs leaving the building and this to avoid any leakage.

Each member of the jury will choose the songs that considers to be better and deserve as a proposal overall to be in the second phase. Don’t forget that ERT had mentioned in its original announcement-open invitation, that it was looking for complete proposals and not just songs. This includes partners, stage presentation concepts, video clips, promotion, etc.

The songs that receive positive votes from the majority of the jury members will advance to the final stage of the selection. ERT, after the evaluation of the 106 songs by the committee members, will announce the selected artists. Theoretically, an artist can qualify for the next phase with more than one song, since many contestants having the right, submitted two or even three songs.

After the announcement, as happened last year, the artists who have passed to the next phase, will hold meetings with the administration and the committee of ERT, to present their plans. There will of course be interviews on ERT shows so in order the audience can get to know them. The people of Greek public television attach great importance to these meetings, since as they told us last year, the artist who will be selected, represents ERT for months and his or her personality is also important…

After all the above is completed, the announcement of the lucky winner, who will be invited to represent Greece in Liverpool on May 9, 11 and 13, is expected. Last year this was done in mid-December, but this year it might happen even earlier.

Which artists from those who have been known to have submitted participation do you think will be in the final selection phase of ERT? Tell us in the comments below!

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments regarding the Greek participation in Eurovision 2023!

San Marino: Host revealed for Una Voce per San Marino 2023!

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At a press conference in Rome, it was revealed that Senhit who represented San Marino in Eurovision 2011 and 2021 respectively, is going to be the host of the country’s national final Una Voce per San Marino 2023.

The General Manager of national broadcaster San Marino RTV, Ludovico Di Meo, stated:

“Like everything new, we need to grow and we will do it, year after year. We will have to be lucky and also good – he added – to find a new, real talent to bring to Liverpool, the home of the Beatles”

In this conference, it was also revealed that two acts that have represented San Marino in past editions of the Eurovision Song Contest will perform, one of them being the winner of the first edition of Una Voce per San Marino and the country’s represntative in Eurovision 2022, Achille Lauro.

Details about Una voce per San Marino 2023

The Casting stage will be held between October 28, 2022 and January 27, 2023. In the Casting stage, the jury will select 60 or more artists to advance to the next round of San Marinese selection.

After that, a total of five semi-finals will be held in February 2023. From the five semi-finals, approximately 20 artists will be selected by the jury to proceed to the Grand Final. There will be four semi-final performances, one of which will be for artists from San Marino, the fifth in the semi-final stage will be the second chance round.

The Grand Final will be held on February 25, 2023 at Teatro Nuovo in Dogana. The winner will be chosen by a five-member jury, two judges chosen by RTV San Marino, one by the Segreteria di Stato and two by the production company.

As we pointed out before, the country was represented last year by Italian-born Achille Lauro with “Stripper” who took 14th place in the second semi-final with only 50 points.

Will San Marino be able to progress to the Eurovision 2023 Grand Final that will take place in Liverpool?

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the details regarding Una Voce per San Marino 2023!

Source: Eurovoix

Spain: Benidorm Fest 2023 participants will be announced on October 27!

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According to an announcement by the Spanish broadcaster RTVE, a few days remain until the official announcement of the artists who will compete in Benidorm Festival 2023, where they will compete to represent Spain at Eurovision 2023.

On Thursday October 27, in a special program presented by Inés Hernand and Rodrigo Vázquez, we will see the announcement of the 16 artists chosen by RTVE’s team of experts among the 876 proposals submitted in total from September 1 to October 10.

In this show, each one of the 16 lucky candidates will be presented separately, making reference to their career so far, the reasons that led him to apply, and information about their candidate song. The event will also feature last year’s Benidorm Fest winner, Chanel, who dazzled Europe in Turin and will soon be releasing the official song of the World Cup in Qatar.

The next day, Friday October 28, a press conference with the contestants will take place.

We remind you that for Benidorm Fest 2023, songs were submitted by new talents unknown to the general public as well as by emerging artists, with increased interest from established artists, singers from talent shows, and even artists who have participated in Eurovision in the past.

Notable among the proposals is the presence of singers of all ages, from 16 to 76, bands and alternative artists, while a proposal was also submitted by one of last year’s Benidorm Fest contestants. There are also entries of artists with a lot of followers on TikTok, as happened last year with Britain’s Sam Ryder who took second place in Turin. The songs submitted cover a wide musical spectrum, from commercial pop, ballads, folk, flamenco, fusion and rock, to latin, rap and reggaeton.

Eight songs will compete in the first Semi-Final on 31 January and the other eight will compete in the second on 2 February. The top four from each semi-final will advance to the Grand Final on February 4, where eight acts will battle it out to win the second edition of the Benidorm Festival and the golden ticket to represent Spain in Liverpool.

Source: RTVE

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all news regarding Benidorm Fest 2023!

Serbia: After online reactions, RTS added Ukraine’s flag on social media logo!

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We previously reported on the online reactions regarding the social media accounts of Serbia’s Public Broadcaster RTS, updating the Eurovision related accounts without Ukraine’s flag on the logo.

Today, RTS updated the social media account logos and artwork, including this time Ukraine’s flag:

It seems that comments made online regarding the absence of the flag of Ukraine, played a role on changing the images today. It should be noted that Serbia was the country that gave the least amount of points on televote to Kalush Orchestra (7), with many connecting this with the “Pro-Russian” approach of the Serbian Government.

 

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the latest updates on Eurovision 2023!

Sweden: The first names of Melodifestivalen 2023!

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Aftonbladet revealed a couple of minutes ago the first three potential Melodifestivalen 2023 contestants!

Usually they manage to guess most of the artists that compete each year in the national selection procedure of Sweden for Eurovision Song Contest.

A few days after the announcement of the two hosts of the show Jesper Rönndahl and Farah Abadi, the first contestant names for Melodifestivalen 2023 have started to emerge. These artists are adding to the potential lineup that will compete in the hopes of getting selected to represent Sweden next year, at the Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Liverpool, UK. The following artists are more or less known to the fanbase, each of them having competed more than once at Melfest in the past.

Nordman

Nordman had split for a while but got reunited during the summer. They started their carrer back in 1994 and had numerous hits such as “Förlist“, “Vandraren” and “Be mig“.

They’ve competed twice in Melodifestivalen, once in 2005 with the song “Ödet var min väg” and once in 2008 with the song “I lågornas sken“. Both their participations gave them a “ticket” directly to the finals of each year. The sources said that they have a great song in hand that they co-wrote with Jimmy Jansson which they will compete with at Melodifestivalen 2023

Loulou Lamotte

Loulou is well known as a member of the group The Mamas. According to Aftonbladet, she will compete at Melodifestivalen 2023, not as a group but as a solo artist, with a song she wrote herself!

As a member of The Mamas, she did backing vocals for John Lundvik who represented Sweden back in 2019 with the song “Too Late For Love” and got selected to represent Sweden at the (cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak) Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song “Move“. The following year, in 2021, the group directly qualified to the finals of Melodifestivalen with the song “In the middle“.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EpSBDPlZn4

Wiktoria Johansson

The fan-favourite Wiktoria Johansson, made her debut at the Melodifestivalen in 2016 with the song “Save me” and then two more participations followed. One in 2017 with the song “As I lay me down” and another one in 2019 with the song “Not with me“. All three times she directly qualified to the finals of Melodifestivalen.

According to industry sources, some artists have already been announced of their participation at Melodifestivalen 2023, but not to all of them, lots of them are still waiting for a definite answer.

We remind you that Melodifestivalen 2023 is scheduled to take place between February 4th to March 11th, while SVT has received 2824 songs. The list of participants will be published in November or December and will be hosted by Jesper Rönndahl and Farah Abadi. The final list of artists will be announced in November or December as usual.

Melodifestivalen 2022 was won by Cornelia Jacobs with the song “Hold Me Closer”, representing Sweden in Eurovision 2022 and coming 4th with 438 points.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i777psA2gP4&feature=emb_title

Source: Aftonbladet

Who do you wanna see taking part in Melodifestivalen 2023? Tell us in the comments!

Eurovision 2023: BBC revealed the production team of the Contest!

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The BBC, United Kingdom’s public broadcaster, which is going to organize the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, revealed the whole production team of the contest!

The team is consisted of:

  • Martin Green CBE

Martbin will lead a team to create, plan and deliver this large-scale, complex and special event. As host broadcaster the BBC will work in partnership with the European Broadcasting Union,  Liverpool as host city and other external partners to deliver The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 to an audience of over one hundred million across the world, involving thousands of people, hundreds of delegates and multiple acts.  Green has over twenty years of experience in major global events, most recently he was the Chief Creative Officer of Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games (where he delivered the opening and closing ceremonies and a major cultural programme), and Chief Creative Officer of Unboxed 2022. Prior to that Martin was CEO of Hull UK City of Culture 2017, a ground-breaking world class arts festival that reinvigorated the city; as well as Head of Ceremonies for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

  • Rachel Ashdown

Rachel has been confirmed as the Lead Commissioner for the BBC on Eurovision 2023. She will work with BBC Studios, who will produce the three live shows, on the overall look and tone of the show and is responsible for commissioning other programming to run across the BBC and work with the independent production companies on their delivery. This will include the Allocation Draw and other Eurovision Song Contest based shows in the weeks leading up to the event. Rachel has been the Commissioner for all Eurovision Song Contest coverage on the BBC since 2018 and she subsequently joined the Reference Group, the Eurovision Song Contest governing body, for the 2019 – 2021 editions.

  • Andrew Cartmell

Leading the BBC Studios team is Andrew Cartmell – appointed Executive Producer of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, and taking overall responsibility for the Semi-Finals and the Grand Final. Andrew has more than a decade’s experience as an Executive Producer making entertainment shows and large scale live events for the likes of BBC Studios, Done & Dusted, and Hungry Bear Media. He was the Head of Delegation for the United Kingdom in Turin earlier this year. Past credits include the Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony, Children in Need & Sport Relief.

  • Lee Smithurst

Lee Smithurst joins the BBC Studios team as Head of Show for Eurovision 2023. As Head of Show he will be responsible for the editorial content and take the creative lead for the three live shows. Lee was Assistant Head of Delegation for the United Kingdom in Turin this year, and will be Executive Producer and Head of Delegation for the United Kingdom at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Yerevan in December. Lee’s recent credits include I Can See Your Voice, Kylie Minogue’s Secret Night and Soccer Aid.

  • Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen

Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen makes a very welcome return, who has been re-appointed as Head of Contest, the role he successfully delivered at both the 2021 & 2022 Eurovision Song Contests in Rotterdam and Turin. Twan will have specific responsibility working with the national delegations to deliver the creative, on stage ambitions of their artists. Twan is a hugely experienced television producer in the Netherlands, and has been Editor in Chief on many programmes and live events.

  • James O’ Brien

Finally, James O’ Brien joins BBC Studios as the Executive in Charge of Production. James comes to Eurovision with huge experience working on large scale events such as MTV Europe Music Awards, the London 2012 Olympics and this year’s Commonwealth Games. James will oversee a team that is responsible for the technical delivery of both the Eurovision live shows and broadcast, and all other elements within the venue precinct.

We remind you that the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 will take place in Liverpool. The semi-finals will take place in May 9 and May 11 and the Grand Final on May 13th, live from Liverpool Arena.

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, in Liverpool!

Source: eurovision.tv

San Marino: The participants of Una Voce per San Marino 2023 Casting Round!

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A little while ago, the first names of artists who will participate in the first round of auditions for Una Voce per San Marino 2023 were announced.

91 singers have been announced by the organizers as participants in the first round of casting on October 28, 29 and 30. Auditions for Una Voce per San Marino 2023 will be held at the Little Tony di Serravalle amphitheater.

Below you can see the complete list of candidates for the first casting round :

October 28
  1. KIDA
  2. Giada Pintori
  3. Gianfranco Lo Schiavo
  4. CHIMERICO
  5. Noemi Castiello
  6. Francesca Monte & Kevan
  7. Mariafrancesca
  8. JAMAX
  9. MORENA
  10. Stil Novo
  11. DASCAR
  12. Tyrone
  13. Lorenzo Iuracà
  14. Maikol Arcarisi
  15. Acousticouple
  16. Supernova Universe
  17. Sølk
  18. Morgana
  19. Massimo Bertacci
  20. Davide Zamma
  21. Daudia
  22. Anna Cucchi
  23. Nati Miele
  24. Marco Spiezia
  25. Kiens
  26. Jack
  27. Bea
  28. Giorgia Mancini
  29. Adriana Sardano
  30. Doc
  31. Agatha
  32. Andrea Licciardo
  33. Martina Guerra
  34. Roundeep
  35. MALADIE DES IF
  36. Messyah
October 29
  1. Giorgio Solitro
  2. ELIN
  3. EGO59
  4. MoTs
  5. Samuele Tognini
  6. ALAN
  7. Dionysian
  8. Santo
  9. Ester Canepa
  10. Marta Tronci
  11. Gaia Belletti
  12. ISMAELE
  13. MATE
  14. Myky
  15. Caravaggio
  16. Only Sara
  17. Brenda Novella
  18. Arsenico
  19. V3N3R3
  20. Mad
  21. Julia
  22. MadMars
  23. Pjero
  24. GLADIAH
  25. Camelia Redox Brity Bluzu Band & Iannetti
  26. Massimo Galfano
  27. Marie Nicole
  28. Angela Nobile
  29. Silver
  30. Out Offline
  31. Freakybea
  32. Dimy Place
  33. Blonde Brothers
  34. ARTIKA
  35. La Luce di Daphne
  36. Crasti Peter
October 30
  1. Moore
  2. Alessio D.
  3. Melissa Perilli
  4. Daniel Schuhmacher
  5. CHRISTOPHER
  6. Domi
  7. Daniele Nicolò
  8. Saemon Vega
  9. Lost City feat Emerique
  10. March.
  11. Leonor
  12. Con Amore
  13. PAUSA
  14. Rudge S. Feat Neela Quinn
  15. The DaniPhils
  16. Noelia Mora
  17. DRE’
  18. HANIA
  19. Diamante Denardi

Details about Una voce per San Marino 2023

The Casting stage will be held between October 28, 2022 and January 27, 2023. In the Casting stage, the jury will select 60 or more artists to advance to the next round of San Marinese selection.

After that, a total of five semi-finals will be held in February 2023. From the five semi-finals, approximately 20 artists will be selected by the jury to proceed to the Grand Final. There will be four semi-final performances, one of which will be for artists from San Marino, the fifth in the semi-final stage will be the second chance round.

The Grand Final will be held on February 25, 2023 at Teatro Nuovo in Dogana. The winner will be chosen by a five-member jury, two judges chosen by RTV San Marino, one by the Segreteria di Stato and two by the production company.

The country was represented last year by Italian-born Achille Lauro with “Stripper” who took 14th place in the second semi-final with only 50 points.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCmX64N_sXM&feature=emb_title

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun, for all the updates about Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool!

Source: Eurovoix

Malta: Submission window for MESC 2023 is now open!

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Earlier today PBS, Malta’s national broadcaster, opened the submission window for the Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2023 (MESC).

With the submission window for the MESC now open those interested in representing Malta in the contest must apply on the official PBS Eurovision site. Some rules of the selection are as follows:

  • All performers must be at least 16 years old by May 2023.
  • Performers must have Maltese nationality while the Songwriters and composers can be of any nationality.
  • An artist may submit multiple songs to the selection.
  • Songs must not have been released or publicly performed before October 15 2022.
  • Songs must not be longer than three minutes.

You can find the application form here.

Through the selection process, a jury will choose the 40 songs that will compete at Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2023. In each quarterfinals, 10 songs will compete with 6 of them being able to progress through the Semi-Final. At all the shows, the voting will consist of both jury voting and public televote.

The dates of MESC 2023 are as follows:

  • Quarterfinal One – January 13th
  • Quarterfinal Two – January 20th
  • Quarterfinal Three – January 27th
  • Quarterfinal Four – February 3rd
  • Semi-Final – February 9th
  • Grand Final – February 11th

Emma Muscat was the winner of MESC 2022 with the song “Out of Sight”. In the end she represented Malta in Eurovision 2022 with the song “I Am what I Am” ending up in 16th place of the Second Semi-final:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Maltese participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, in Liverpool!

Breaking news: Andrew Lamprou is representing Cyprus in Eurovision 2023!

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Τhe rumours about the entry of Cyprus in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest were true! A little while ago, the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (RIK) has announced Andrew Lambrou as their representative for the 67th Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool next May.

The official announcement of RΙΚ:

The Cyprus Radio Foundation announces that, following the agreement signed with Panik Records and in collaboration with Australia’s City Pop Records, Cyprus will be represented at the 67th Eurovision Song Contest by Cypriot-born, popular singer Andrew Lambrou, represented by Saiko Management of New York.

As recently announced, the 2023 competition will take place in Liverpool, UK next May.

More information on participation will be announced later.

Everything about Andrew Lamprou

Andrew Lamprou is 24 years old, lives and works in Sydney. He performs and writes his own songs since he has been involved in music since the age of five.

At the age of just 17, he impressed all four X Factor judges, who easily passed him through to the next stage. Gathering excellent feedback from the four big names sitting in the judges’ seats – Danii Minogue, James Blunt, Chris Isaak, Guy Sebastian – Andrew got through the first round with four YESes performing Nick Jonas’ ‘Chains’.

In the second phase, that of the 5 seat challenge, the coach of the Boys under 25 team, Chris Isaak, was asked to select only five of the boys to continue. Andrew sang “Ain’t nobody” by Chaka Khan and took a place in the Top 5.

It is worth noting that Andrew Lambrou became known well before his participation in X-Factor, due to the YouTube Channel which he maintains and uploads there various covers of well-known songs worldwide.

Unfortunately, the Super Home Visits phase was not as lucky for the Cypriot expatriate singer as he did not manage to make it to the top 3 and enter the live shows. The cause was his musical inexperience due to his young age, however people who know the world music industry inside and out like Simon Cowell spoke very hopeful words about Andrew and his future.

Check out his appearance at Australia Decides 2022 below:

We wish Cuprus and Andrew the best of luck in Eurovision 2023!

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Cypriot  participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, in Liverpool!