Israel: Noa Kirel will have artistic freedom and a $900,000 budget for Eurovision!

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Noa Kirel has revealed her plans to represent her country in the next Eurovision Song Contest.  Among other details, Kirel revealed that Israeli broadcaster KAN has granted her full artistic freedom for her performance.  She will also have a $900,000 dollars budget to bring her ideas to stage.

Noa Kirel spoke with Mako about representing Israel next year at Eurovision.  She made some interesting revelations about her plans and the next steps to select her song.  These are some of the most remarkable announcements she  made:

  • KAN has granted Kirel total artistic freedom to participate at Eurovision.
  • The song will have an Israeli flavour and identity
  • She will have a $900,000 dollars budget to work
  • She has talked with Eurovision winner Netta

Artistic Freedom

KAN has granted Noa Kirel full artistic freedom to decide the song.  This is understandable given that Kirel is already an international artist with a growing career.  However, not all artists have enjoyed this level of autonomy.  In her interview, Noa says that it was precisely this level of autonomy a crucial factor to accept representing her country at Eurovision:

From the second I entered the first meeting with them, they told me, ‘You have the artistic freedom, and one of the reasons we chose you is that you bring the songs you bring and the language you bring and the work you bring, and we want you to go with it

Nevertheless, Noa said she understands her song has to comply with the Eurovision rules and that the broadcaster is responsible for everything.  Further, the selection of the song is a team work and the people involved will play an important role in the whole process.

A song with an Israeli flavour

According to Noa Kirel she was offered the opportunity to work with songwriters all over the world.  However, her plans are to work with a local Israeli team for Eurovision.  This means that Israeli writers and composers will be in charge of creating the song.

Moreover, during the interview, Noa says the Israeli 2023 song will have a flavour of the country.  This could be present in the lyrics of the song but it could also be a part of the musical production which would bring “all kinds of ethnic, Mediterranean and even Israeli directions”.

Eurovision 2023 budget

The total production budget for Eurovision 2023 will be around 900,000 dollars.  This impressive amount would allow the artists to bring her ideas onstage in the United Kingdom.  In any case, the national broadcaster KAN will not carry the full burden of supporting these costs.  Two-thirds of the budget are covered by Noa Kirel’s team with the remaining part being in charge by the public broadcaster.

According to Noa Kirel’s agent Roberto Ben Shoshan, the amount could increase should Noa require a bigger budget.  In this case, he has already expressed his willingness to support Noa financially in her Eurovision journey.

Noa has stated that she is not planning to make any profit from her Eurovision experience.  On the opposite, the main goal of her participation is to give Israel one of their best results in Eurovision:

As far as I’m concerned, it’s worth it. It’s no secret that the financial side is less interesting to me, maybe because I’m very young and these are still things I’m less concerned with, but when it comes to Eurovision I’m coming to give my million percent, and if it means losing money and adding from myself, I will do it. I will do what is best for my country and for me

Noa meets Netta

Noa Kirel talked with Israeli winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, Netta Barzilai.  According to Noa, the call took place before she confirmed her Eurovision participation.  Noa Kirel asked Netta what she thought about this opportunity.  Netta’s advice to Noa was to accept this offer.  The Eurovision winner encouraged Noa to take this opportunity.  In fact, Netta’s participation and victory has allowed her to continue performing all over the world.

Nevertheless, Netta and Noa music careers were not on the same stage when they were offered to represent Israel.  In the case of Netta, she was still a relatively unknown artist that was starting her career.  On the other hand, Noa released her debut single Medabrim (Talking) in 2015.  Many other successful singles have followed through.  Noa Kirel won the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Israeli Artist several times since 2017.  She also performed at the Miss Universe beauty contest in 2021 held in Israel.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for more news about Israel in Eurovision!

 

Spain: Which artists are rumoured to take part in Benidorm Fest 2023?

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Although the first semi-final of Benidorm Fest 2023 is almost four months away, speculation is thriving as to which artists intend to submit a proposal before the expiration of deadline or will be invited directly by RTVE to take part in the Festival.

Drawing on information from Louis Mesa, a journalist with a special interest in Eurovision, we report what has come into light so far, attempting, at the same time, to present briefly the artists in question.

Angy Fernández

Angy is a singer, actress, and presenter, who became famous through her participation in X Factor in 2007. She is also the winner of the Spanish version of the first edition of Your Face Sounds Familiar in the country. In recent years she has mainly focused on her television career . Her last album was published in 2013.

 

Maria Arnal

The second singer rumored to take part in Benidorm Fest is the Catalan-born Maria Arnal. The artist from Bandalona draws on the musical tradition of the Iberian Peninsula, providing a new, freer approach.

 

Hugo Cobo

Hugo is from Córdoba and is 22 years old (born 20/12/1999). He became famous through the music reality show Operación Triunfo in 2020 (which was also the means of selecting the representative of Spain at Eurovision), and since then he has released several songs, some of which have become hits.

 

Abraham Mateo

The biggest name on our list is Abraham Mateo. He is one of the most popular young singers in Spain and Latin America. He has collaborated with Jenifer Lopez, 50 Cent and others, and his songs have billions of views and streams on Youtube and Spotify. His carreer is mostly comprised of Latin pop and reggaeton tracks, although in recent years he has also experimented with trap music.

 

Borja Escalona

The case of Borja Escalona is extremely interesting! The previously unknown singer found himself in the spotlight due to the threatening messages he received from social media users. These messages, however, were not actually addressed to the singer Borja Escalona, ​​but to his namesake, a well-known Spanish YouTuber, whose views (justifiably) caused a huge backlash in Spain. Due to the unjustified hate he received, a campaign has started, at the initiative of his promotion company, to represent Spain at Eurovision 2023.

Celtian

Celtian, who have confirmed their intention to take part in Benidorm Fest 2023, are a Spanish symphonic folk metal band, formed in 2017 by flutist Diego Palacio. With obvious influences from Nightwish, Eluveitie and Mägo de Oz, the band experiments with new sounds and folk metal.

 

Durability

The singer from Galicia has also expressed her intention to participate in Benidorm Fest 2023. She is a new indie pop artist who sings mainly in English language.

 

Megara

The band Megara tried their luck at Benidorm Fest last year as well, without notable success. However, as the members of the rock group have said, they intend to give it another go this year.

 

Viva Suecia

Another group has expressed its interest in participating in Benidorm Fest. Viva Suecia is a band that moves in indie rock, pop rock, and alternative rock music roads, and has released four albums so far; the last one with the record label Universal Music UK.

Pupi Poisson

Pupi Poisson (stage name of Alberto Zimmer) is a Spanish drag performer who became well-known through Drag Race España. She has hinted that she is taking part in the upcoming Benidorm Fest.

Alfred Garcia Castillo

An old friend of the Contest is not ruling out a return to Eurovision via Benidorm Fest. The 25-year-old Alfred García Castillo, Spanish singer and songwriter who became well-known in Spain when he took part in the ninth edition of Operación Triunfo, finishing in fourth place. Alfred García represented Spain at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon, together with Amaia Romero, and the song “Tu canción”, finishing in the twenty-third place.

Delaporte Music

Another band that looks set to join Benidorm Fest is Delaporte Music. Delaporte Music is mainly focused on Spanish indie pop, with the majority of their songs being up-tempo.

The Prodigious Decade

La Década Prodigiosa (also known as La Década) are a Spanish music group formed in the mid-1980s who participated in the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, finishing in the eleventh place. The band has since changed members, but has retained the original (cheesy) pop sounds they are known for.

Trovadorum

The next band comes from Cuenca. Trovadorum, who have already submitted their proposal for Benidorm Fest. Their song is titled “You are not only ready”, and it’s heavily influenced by Celtic music. According to an interview with Trovadorum, the music video of the song has been shot in Cuenca in places like La Toba and Nohales, and will be released on September 30.

Siderland

Another group that confirmed their intention to participate in Benidorm Fest 2023 is Sideland, a Catalan pop group, consisting of young members..

The deadline for the submission of proposals to RTVE expires on October 10, while based on the relevant regulations issued by RTVE, the latter reserves the right to directly invite singers and composers to take part in the Festival.

Could any of the above artists represent Spain at Eurovision? Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all developments regarding Benidorm Fest 2023!

Greece: More than 40 songs have been submitted to ERT so far for Eurovision 2023!

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The songs that are so far submitted to ERT for Eurovision 2023 have already surpassed the total number of songs submitted in last year’s selection process, and thus, there are lots of smiles in the public broadcaster in advance for the next Greek participant, the selection of whom is expected to be a hard one.

Last year, 43 songs were submitted to ERT, to claim the Greek representation in the contest, a number already surpassed this year, even if there are already two weeks until the deadline of the selection process, which is in October 9.

As we have said right from the beginning, the interest is really high this year and that is something even we in Eurovisionfun receive everyday, since we get messages from artists telling us that they have, or are planning to submit their songs soon.

The submission period ends within 15 days, and thinking that most artists will submit their songs in the last days, the total number of songs is expected to be much higher than last year. This is something that makes ERT’s team happy, because it really proves that their choices are more than welcomed by more and more artists each year, but also by the recording companies, as they are not afraid to “use” their roster in this music battle.

We remind you that in 2018, in ERT’s selection process, 18 songs were submitted, last year this number was increased to 43 and now there are already more than 40 songs and 15 days still left until the deadline of the submission process.

Everything we know so far about the candidates interested in representing Greece at Eurovision 2023!

The artists that have somehow confirmed that they have or are going to submit their songs to ERT for Eurovision 2023 are:

  • Antonia Kaouri
  • Melissa Mantzoukis
  • Leon of Athens
  • Operatical
  • Klavdia
  • Evangelia
  • Vasilis Kourtis
  • Aretha
  • Artemis Matafia
  • Joanne
  • Cynthia Verazie

New names will be added to the list as the deadline is coming closer and closer in October 9. We think you understand that Eurovisionfun follows the process very closely and informs you of every new thing that we learn.

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

UK: Liverpool backed to host by Eurovision 1993 runner up Sonia!

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POP icon Sonia’s voice will be instantly recognisable to music fans of a certain age, thanks to her hits throughout the 80s and 90s. Decades on, you might not instantly recognise her at first glance – though she looks far younger than her 51 years. After Immani who was also a Eurovision runner up and supports Birmingham for hosting the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, now Sonia another runner up of the contest, reveals her wish for the host city of Eurovision 2023, which is Liverpool!

Pop legend Sonia was interviewed 29 years after her Eurovision success
Pop legend Sonia was interviewed 29 years after her Eurovision success
The singer found global fame when she came runner-up in 1993
The singer found global fame when she came runner-up in 1993

The star recently appeared on BBC Breakfast to campaign for Liverpool to bag the job of hosting Eurovision. It comes just shy of three decades after her own storming run in the competition. The singer – whose full name is Sonia Evans – shot to fame in 1989 with No1 hit You’ll Never Stop Me Loving You. She also came second at Eurovision in 1993 with Better the Devil You Know and was the first female artist to achieve five Top 20 singles from one album.

Sonia also appeared with Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Bananarama and Cliff Richard in the Band Aid II version of charity single Do They Know It’s Christmas? These days she still performs, taking to the stage at several retro festivals, and makes personalised messages for fans on CelebVM. She can also be seen on TV, appearing on BBC Breakfast last month live from Liverpool.

Sonia insisted her home city should be the location for Eurovision 2023 after the UK took on hosting duties from war-torn Ukraine. Sonia said: “I’m absolutely over the moon, it’s going to be fab. We tick all the boxes don’t we? You’ve got to come and see our beautiful, beautiful city. We’ve got the arena. We’ve got all the criteria – the atmosphere, the buzz. It’ll be one big massive party, it would be absolutely brilliant.”

Sonia was second at Eurovision 1993 only behind the irish entry.

Source: The Sun

UK: Birmingham backed to host by Imaani!

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Imaani who nearly won the Eurovision Song Contest says she is “backing Birmingham” to host the 2023 event.

Imaani finished as runner-up to Dana International when the competition was last held in the city in 1998.

The winning city is expected to be announced by the BBC and Eurovision organisers in the next few weeks.

Imaani finished seven points behind the Israeli winner 24 years ago, the year after Katrina and the Waves won with their UK entry Love Shine A Light. Until Sam Ryder’s stellar performance at this year’s contest in Turin, Italy, she was the UK’s most recent runner-up.

A woman sitting in a street

Imaani remembers her “absolute terror” preparing for the 1998 contest in Birmingham

She remembers feeling “absolute terror” during the dress rehearsal for her song Where Are You?, at the city’s National Indoor Arena.

“My management team drew lots over who was going to come down and tell me off for crying,” she told the BBC. “I was just so scared.”

Despite this, the singer has fond memories of the atmosphere in Birmingham during the live show.

“It was massive. Amazing band and the crowd was incredible. Such a huge building, it was amazing, a phenomenal experience,” she said.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that Birmingham could do it again. And a thousand times better than they did it before – and they did a pretty damn good job when I was there. I’m backing Birmingham.”

If it wins, Birmingham will host the event at the 15,685-capacity Resorts World Arena.

Cllr Ian Ward in front of Birmingham City Council House

Cllr Ian Ward said the 1998 contest was a turning point for public perception of the city

Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield are also hoping to stage the event, in May.

Birmingham City Council leader Ian Ward said the summer’s Commonwealth Games proved the city’s ability to be the host.

“We saw during the Commonwealth Games people here in Birmingham rediscovering their pride and their confidence in their city and realising that Birmingham can do these major international events as well as any other city anywhere in the world,” he said.

Two men holding European flags in front of a flag backdropBRYAN AND KEVIN MANLEY-GREEN

Kevin and Bryan Manley-Green said they were confident the competition they “absolutely loved “would return to Birmingham

Eurovision super-fan Bryan Manley-Green, from Birmingham, said the city “blossomed” during Eurovision 1998.

“The city just came to life, it came to life for the whole month because we had the G8 just afterwards… so it was just a wonderful month,” he said.

“He likes Eurovision more than me,” joked partner Kevin.

Source: BBC

San Marino: From where are the, so far, participating artists coming from?

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The registration window inviting artists from all over the world to participate to Una Voce per San Marino, the country’s national final, is still open.

As we have previously written, despite the country’s disqualification in 2022, San Marino has already started prepearing, since the summer, for Eurovision Song Contest in the United Kingdom. Specifically, the process includes the castings, five semi-finals and the grand final that will take place in February 17th 2023.

Through the Twitter account, the countries that the participanting artists are coming from have been made public. Each performer comes from one of the countries in the list below:

  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Belarus
  • France
  • Germany
  • Italy
  • Luxemburg
  • Malta
  • Poland
  • Russia
  • San Marino
  • Serbia
  • Spain
  • Switzerland
  • United Kingdom
  • United States

As we observed, there is still no proposal having been submitted from a Greek artist, unlike last year with Panagiotis Tsakalakos and Artemis Matafia, the candidate trying to represent Greece in Eurovision 2023.

Of course, there is still plenty of time for the artists to submit their proposals to the channel until January 20th 2023, with additional cost, for which you can read here.

Last year, the country was represented by the italian Achille Lauro with “Stripper”, and managed to finish 14th in the Second Semi-Final with only 50 points.

https://youtu.be/vCmX64N_sXM

Latvia: Supernova confirmed as national selection with final in February 2023!

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Latvia’s public broadcaster LTV has confirmed the return of the program Supernova next year. The winner of the show will represent Latvia in Eurovision 2023.

Submissions for songs open on September 22nd at 9:00 CET and close December 1st at 22:59 CET. The selected songs as well as details of the process will be revealed in January 2023. The final of the show will take place in February and the winner will represent Latvia in Eurovision 2023, which will take place in United Kingdom

Belgium: VRT is going to select the national final participants, no open registration!

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Through the summer, Belgian national broadcaster VRT has shown its intention for selecting the country’s representative for Eurovision 2023 through a TV national final. However, today it was confirmed that there will be no open registration for the interested artists but VRT is going to choose the participants of its national final!

Gerrit Kerremans, music coordinator at VRT, has revealed at songfestival.be that due to the late decision for a national final – Eurosong 2023, there won’t be an open registration for those interested. Instead, the competing participants for Belgium’s representation at the 67th Eurovision Song Contest will be directly selected by the Flemish-speaking Belgian national broadcaster VRT, which has already came into contact with record labels and artists that it wants to attend Eurosong 2023.

The dates are still unknown, along with the remaining information for the national final, because all those are going to be clarified through official announcements. The widely known newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws has mentioned that Eurosong 2023 is going to take about five to seven weeks, but this hasn’t been confirmed yet.

This is the first time since 2016 that Belgium will hold a national final for selecting its representative at the contest. “The Voice Belgique” winner Jérémie Makiese represented Belgium in Eurovision 2022 with the song “Miss You” that finished 19th at the Grand Final with 64 points in total.

https://youtu.be/GZ3mLO4uFjY

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news!

Source: songfestival.be

North Macedonia: MRT Considering Withdrawal From Eurovision 2023?

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North Macedonia‘s participation in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest 2023, which will take place in May in the United Kingdom, seems to be uncertain.

With the rumors of the last few days, that they want the country to withdraw from the competition and the negative situation begun months ago, the country’s public television, MRT seems to be facing some serious problems.

According to the channel’s budget, which was made public today, participation in Eurovision 2023 is not mentioned anywhere, only in Junior Eurovision 2022.

This announcement of course brings confusion to the fans of the competition, but nothing is certain yet.

We remind you that the situation was already negative since last May, when the representative of the country, Andrea, threw the country’s flag on the ground, on the turquoise carpet, to the point where it was even requested to block her from the competition.

Finally, over the summer, the MRT Planning Board heard Head of Mission (HoD) Meri Popova’s proposal to improve the country’s image in the competition, results and preparations for the future.

After reviewing the report, the council tasked the MRT management to provide its own report on how the recommendations have been implemented, documents showing revenue generated from Eurovision advertising over the past 4 years, and also asked the MRT general manager a final decision on disciplinary actions for the 2022 delegation. At the end of the discussion, the report was approved by the council unanimously.

North Macedonia: MRT considering changes and improvements for upcoming contests!

In 2022 North Macedonia was represented by Andrea and “Circles”, finishing on the 11th place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvOihqB4eKk

Stay tuned in Eurovisionfun for all the updates regarding Eurovision!

 

 

 

 

Croatia: Song submission window opened – changes in the national final!

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Croatian national broadcaster HRT confirmed Croatia’s participation in Eurovision 2023 and simultaneously it is in search of Croatia’s next representative that is going to travel to the United Kingdom.

It will choose its representative again through Dora 2023, while the song submission window opened for those interested, until November 20th.

Compared to past editions, the national final is going to face several changes. Firstly, 14 to 28 songs will be selected, along with four backups, while it’s very possible for a Semi-final to happen. The decision for the number of the semi-finals and the night of the final will be taken by HRT until January 10th.

Six people at max are going to be allowed on stage during the act (recorded backing vocals are allowed) and the staging plans should be submitted until December 10th.

Also, until December 20th, the performer should submit the official music video or a lyric video of their song. The Dora performance will be used as the official video at the Eurovision channel. However, if the performer submits the official music video on time, HRT will report this at EBU as the official video.

Dora 2023 is expected to happen in February, as usual.

This year Croatia was represented by Mia Dimšić and the song “Guilty Pleasure” and couldn’t progress to the Eurovision 2022 final, finishing at the 11th place of its Semi-Final for the second year in a row.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vBQdtW3mJE

Will Croatia be able to break the 11th place curse this time? Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun to be updated for all the news!

Source: eurosong.hr