Greece: More than 5.100 votes in our fan poll | The final results!

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Our website’s big fan poll for Greece’s representative in Eurovision 2023 came to an end. More than 5.100 votes from different IPs and 54 countries took part, with the final result being determined in the last seconds. In first place is Klavdia, with only 16 votes more than Vasilis Kourtis. Many votes below, is Evangelia in third place.

Klavdia in first place with a slight difference

The public seems to be divided, having voted for both Klavdia and Vasilis Kourtis, by a percentage of around 30%, as the artist they want to see on Eurovision’s stage waving the Greek flag. Evangelia follows, then it’s Melissa Mantzoukis and Jimmy Sion that rounded up the Top 5.

Vasilis Kourtis in first place of votes from Greece

The same, but with Vasilis Kourtis first and Klavdia second, happened in the votes that came only from the Greek public. Both of them had a little more than 30%. In third place is Evangelia, fourth is Jimmy Sion and in fifth place is Melissa Mantzoukis.

We remind you that artists that somehow it was clear that they submitted song to ERT for Greece’s representation in Eurovision 2023, took part in our poll 

You can see more of their proposals in out article HERE.

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

Serbia: Social media logo of RTS does not include Ukraine’s flag!

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As it was announced a few days ago, Liverpool will host Eurovision 2023 and EBU has published the logo of the contest, featuring the Ukrainian flag while United Kingdom was written underneath.

However, there have been comments online regarding Serbia’s Public Broadcaster RTS, and the update of the social media pages of the broadcaster which do not include Ukraine’s flag as part of the logo.

Many people claim that this not a coincidence, since Serbian government is being seen as a supporter of Russia during the war with Ukraine, while there have been demonstrations in Belgrade in support of Russia. It should also be mentioned that Serbia gave 7 points to Ukraine in Eurovision 2022, which was the lowest televote score given to Ukraine which scored a record breaking number of points.

Whether this is planned or not, it shows that politics are once again related with the contest.

 

Do you think Ukraine’s flag is not included on purpose? Let us know in the comments!

 

Slovenia: “We shouldn’t even participate in Eurovision for years” says councilor of RTVSLO!

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Sašo Hribar, councilor of Slovenia’s public broadcaster – RTVSLO, caused quite a stir at the last council meeting, by stating that they “should not participate in Eurovision for several years, because no one takes responsibility for poor rankings year after year”.

The Slovene news website novice.svet24 invited Vanja Vardjan, editor-in-chief of RTV Slovenia’s entertainment program, in a conversation about Eurovision and Slovenia’s relationship with it.

Read more

Montenegro: ENISA was in talks with the Dream Team for Eurovision 2023!

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As you were exclusively informed by Eurovisionfun yesterday afternoon, the Public Television of Montenegro (RTCG) confirmed its decision to withdraw from Eurovision 2023.

In fact, RTCG, in its official announcement, states that economic reasons were the ones that dictated this decision. This is not the first time that the small Balkan country will be absent from Eurovision. In 2010, 2011, 2020 and 2021 for similar reasons it was decided not to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest.

But who would be the representative of the country, if the country had been able to financially support its participation and to compete in Liverpool?

ENISA would have been the country’s representative in Liverpool

With a comment on her Twitter account, replying about her country’s withdrawal from the competition, the singer ENISA revealed that she was asked to be the representative of Montenegro in the upcoming Eurovision, but unfortunately there was no financial support to make this possible.

ENISA, a Montenegrin Albanian, is not unknown to fans, as this year she represented New York in the American Song Contest, while many have wished to one day see her compete in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Who was ENISA in talks with to participate in Eurovision 2023?

According to our exclusive information, ENISA and her team had already been in discussions since summer 2022 with the Dream Team (Dimitris Kontopoulos, Fokas Evangelinos, Ilias Kokotos), in order to collaborate in the representation of Montenegro at Eurovision 2023, with a very strong track.

It’s no surprise that so many artists want to collaborate with the Dream Team, taking into account their multiple successes in the contest and their excellent relations with all the artists they have worked with.

ENISA’s hope to be in Eurovision 2023 may have been dashed, but she nevertheless declares that she is ready to represent either Montenegro or Albania, whenever she is asked.

Would you like to see ENISA at Eurovision? Tell us in the comments below! Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments!

San Marino: 402 applications received to date for Una Voce per San Marino 2023!

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To date, 402 singers from 20 countries have registered to compete in San Marinese selection for Eurovision 2023.

Based on the latest information, over 80% of the applications are from Italy with 334 artists having applied, 16 are from Spain, eight from Germany and five from Norway. And  also just three singers from San Marino have applied.

Auditions for Una Voce per San Marino 2023 will be held at the auditorium Little Tony di Serravalle from October 28th to November 4th, November 6th and November 9th to 18th, before a further round of auditions in 2023.

How will Una Voce per San Marino 2023 work?

The Academy and 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.

Unlike last year, there will be no Established Artist section and no artist will be directly invited to the final. Instead, established artists or any other notable artists can be invited directly to the semi-finals and skip the Casting round.

Applications to participate in the selection are open until 20 January 2023. There are fees associated with participation:

  • Applications until September 29th will cost 100 euros
  • Applications from October 1 to January 20th will cost 150 euros
  • Applications from San Marino artists will cost 50 euros before December 3rd.

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.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun, for all the updates!

Source: Eurovoix

 

Bosnia & Herzegovina: The country will not return to Eurovision 2023!

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BHRT, the public broadcaster of Bosnia & Herzegovina, confirmed yesterday, that they are not going to take part in Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

The broadcaster confirmed that there is no chance of returning for next year’s contest. The country had previously taken part in the 2016 contest in Stockholm, but later withdrew in 2017 due to financial problems. BHRT had explained in the past that it’s not likely to return to Eurovision in the near future, unless the method by which it is funded is resolved.

BHRT is a member of the European Broadcasting Union but as of now it is denied access to all of its services due to unpaid debts. That means that since December 2016, BHRT can’t take part in Eurovion and Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

The channel is in great econimic pressure and is on the verge of closing. Since 2017 the public TV of the Republic of Serpska has failed to provide BHRT with its allocation of the feeds collected in the region and as a result triggered a funding shortfall of over 32 million euros as of the end of 2021.

Bosnia & Herzegovina’s last participation was in 2016 with the song “Ljubav Je” by Dalan & Deen feat. Ana Rucner:

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

Source: eurovoix.com 

Belgium: “Eurosong 2023” in February with 7 participants and 14 songs!

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According to the Dutch-speaking Belgian news website Het Laatste Nieuws, the public broadcaster, VRT, is aiming for a new format for Eurosong 2023. Specifically, seven artists are to participate with each competing with two songs.

Mid-February final?

It is not yet known how many shows will make up the Belgian national selection process. Although Het Laatse Nieuws stated that the final is expected to take place mid-February, Belgian website Songfestival.be replied that the process will start in spring 2023 with the final taking place at Palais 12 in Brussels.

This year Belgium competed in Turin, Italy with Jérémie Makiese and the song Miss You which came 8th from the second semi-final and in the grand final they finished in the 19th place with 64 points

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB09advfF6E&feature=emb_title

Source: Songfestival.be

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news about Belgium and Eurosong 2023!

North Macedonia: The country will NOT participate in Eurovision 2023!

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It seems that yet another Balkan country, North Macedonia, will not take part in Eurovision 2023, that is set to take place in Liverpool, in May 2023.

According to a tweet by North Macedonia’s most popular Eurovision fan site, which was retweeted by ESC Discord, North Macedonia withdraws from the Contest due to financial reasons. This revelation comes as no surprise, given that as it transpired some weeks ago no budget whatsoever was allocated for the Contest by MRT.

However, MRT will broadcast the two nights of the semi-finals and the grand final of this year’s Eurovision on it’s platforms. MRT hopes that the economic situation will improve and the country will return to Eurovision 2024!

As we exclusively revealed yesterday, both Bulgaria and Montenegro will ALSO not take part in the 67th ESC. As of this time, only the following 34 countries have publicly confirmed their intentions to participate in the 2023 ESC:

Semi-finals (28 countries)

Albania
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belgium
Croatia
Cyprus
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
Georgia
Greece
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Latvia
Lithuania
Malta
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
San Marino
Serbia
Slovenia
Sweden
Switzerland

Final (Big Five & Ukraine)

France
Germany
Italy
Spain
Ukraine
United Kingdom

Countries that took part in ESC 2022 but have not expressed any intention about ESC 2023

Armenia
Czech Republic
Moldova

If the above three countries do not enter the Contest, ESC 2023 is set to become the ESC edition with the fewer participants since 2003. Semi-final(s) format was introduced in 2004 with just one semi-final, and was replaced with the two semi-finals’ setting in 2008 and onwards.

Source: MRT

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the details about the upcoming ESC!

Montenegro: RTCG withdraws from Eurovision!

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As you have exclusively read through Eurovisionfun this morning, a while ago the Public Television of Montenegro (RTCG) confirmed that it would not participate in Eurovision 2023!

Montenegro was represented by Vladana Vucic with the song “Breathe” in 2022. It scored 33 points in the semi-final placing 15th there.

In fact, RTCG, in its official announcement, states that economic reasons were the ones that impacted this decision. This will not be the first time that the small Balkan country will be absent from Eurovision. In 2010, 2011, 2014, 2020 and 2021 for similar reasons it decided not to compete in the contest.

We remind you that as we have revealed earlier, Bulgaria will not take part in Eurovision 2023 either. So the situation with the confirmations of the countries is as follows:

Countries that have confirmed:
Semi-finals (28 countries)
Albania
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belgium
Croatia
Cyprus
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
Georgia
Greece
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Latvia
Lithuania
Malta
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
San Marino
Serbia
Slovenia
Sweden
Switzerland

Final (Big Five & Ukraine):
France
Germany
Italy
Spain
Ukraine
United Kingdom

Withdrawn countries:
Bulgaria
Montenegro

Still yet to make an announcement:
Armenia
Czech Republic
Moldova
North Macedonia

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun regarding the information about ESC!

Spain: The participants of Benidorm Fest 2023 will be announced by the end of October!

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Benidorm Fest 2023 will take place with the 16 participations that will be announced by the end of the month.

María Eizaguirre, the Director of Communication and Participation of RTVE, said in an interview that the artists that are going to participate in the national selection will all be announced by the end of October. This means that the announcment will come before that start of the tickets sale and thus, fans will know which artists will participate before bying them.

A total of 876 songs have been submitted to represent Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. The number of submissions is  12 songs down from 2022, however, the number of songs from record labels and publishers has increased considerably. To be exact, 455 songs were submited through the online form, 27 through email, while the 394 songs left were submitted directly from record labels, double the amount of songs than last year. For the 2022 festival, 886 songs were submitted, 692 through the online form and 194 from recording labels.

The team at RTVE is currently listening to all of the songs submitted for the selection and will pick the best 16 to go through to the national final. Benidorm Fest will tak place with two semi-finals in January 31 and February 2 and the Grand Final on February 4. The songs submitted vary a lot from each other, as there pop songs, ballads, folk, flamenco, fusion, rock even latin, rap and reggaeton.

Chanel won the first edition of Benidorm Fest.  She represented Spain in Turin with the song “Slomo” finishing in third place.  This is one of the best results for Spain in recent times setting the bar high for her successor!

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