United Kingdom: Glasgow officialy submitted its bid to host Eurovision 2023!

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The city of Glasgow has officially entered the race to host the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, following the EBU’s announcement yesterday that the UK will host the next event.

Following the EBU’s announcement that the UK will host the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, the city of Glasgow has confirmed that it is officially bidding to host Eurovision 2023. Glasgow is currently the bookies’ leading choice for the host city of the next competition.

The official confirmation of Glasgow’s candidacy comes as no surprise, as since the EBU’s announcement that the 2023 competition will not be held in Ukraine, Glasgow City Council has fully supported the idea of hosting the event. The First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, was also similarly positive about the possibility of hosting the next Eurovision on Scottish soil.

Today the City Council stated that Glasgow meets all the technical requirements needed to host the Eurovision Song Contest and that hosting the event could bring more than £20 million to the local economy.

Since it became a possibility that the UK might host on behalf of Ukraine, we’ve been working hard on our bid. We know we meet all the technical requirements, and we know Glaswegians are desperate to welcome the world with open arms. Time is now really short to organise the contest and, having recently hosted COP, we know Glasgow is the safest of safe pairs of hands.

Should Glasgow be the EBU and BBC’s choice for the next competition, it will be hosted at the OVO Hydro. OVO Hydro is Scotland’s largest indoor stadium, hosting many sporting and cultural events every year and having the capacity to accommodate up to 14,000 spectators. Among others, huge names of the world music scene have passed through the OVO Hydro stage, such as Iron Maiden, Metallica, Muse, Adele, Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, etc.

If Glasgow’s bid is finally selected, it will be the first time a Eurovision event will be held in the city since 2008, when the now-defunct Eurovision Dance Contest took place there.

The following cities have confirmed that they have started working on their bids:

  • Aberdeen
  • Glasgow
  • Liverpool

While the following cities have already stated their intention to submit a bid:

  • Belfast
  • Birmingham
  • Brighton
  • Bristol
  • Cardiff
  • Leeds
  • London
  • Manchester
  • Newcastle
  • Sheffield
  • Sunderland
  • Wolverhampton

Kalush Orchestra won the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin with the song “Stefania”. It was Ukraine’s third victory in the contest’s history, after 2004 and 2016.

Source: Scotsman, Eurovoix

San Marino: Dates for “Una Voce per San Marino” released!

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The official rules for Una voce per San Marino, the national selection of San Marino for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 have been released. today.

Una voce per San Marino 2023 has been launched today with the contest following the same format as last year. The selection will begin in December and San Marino will have a representative after the televised final on February 17 live from the Teatro Titano.

An Academy and Casting stage will be held which will be broadcast as “Aspettando il Festival-Una Voce per San Marino” (Waiting for the Festival – Una Voce per San Marino), this is followed by five Semi-Finals broadcast across three evenings, then the Emerging Artists Category Final will take place and last but not least the Grand Final. As in 2022, there will be a Semi-Final for San Marinese artists as well as a Second Chance show for a final ticket to the Grand Final.

The key dates are:

  • The Academy and Casting – December 13 to 17 and January 3 to January 11.
  • Semi-Finals of Una voce per San Marino – February 12 to 16
  • Final – February 17

Achille Lauro was the first winner of Una Voce per San Marino and  represented the nation in 2022 with his song “Stripper”.

https://youtu.be/vCmX64N_sXM

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the participation of San Marino at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023!

Source: eurovoix.com

Evangelia: “I’m sending in a song for Eurovision 2023”!

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As we have already revealed, the Greek artists’ interest in participating in Eurovision 2023 is particularly strong! And while the first rumours have already begun to spread, we already have the first official confirmation from none other than Evangelia, a promising young artist who came into vogue the last couple of years!

Evangelia, whose music fuses Greek folk sounds, with (mostly American) pop elements, has already pulled of hits, such as “Páme Páme”, “Fotiá”, and “Ónira”. Also, the new video clip for her song, “Paradise”, was recently released.

The singer, who grew up in New Jersey, USA, and is originally from Crete, said in an Instagram live on her personal account, talking to Adem Kavaz (a Turkish Cypriot Eurovision fan) that she “wants to represent Greece or Cyprus in ESC” and “she will submit a song for Eurovision 2023”.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Adem Kavaz (@all_about_eurovision_sc)

The Instagram video is not available, but it will be published soon on Adem Kavaz’s blog and youtube channel .

It is not the first time that Evangelia will seek to take part in ESC, since last year she reportedly submitted three songs, (one of which was “Ónira”), to represent Greece, which, however, did not go through the second stage of evaluation by the selection committee. Evangelia also sought to represent Cyprus in the 2022 ESC.

Would you like to see Evangelia at Eurovision 2023? Stay tuned for any updates!

Spain: Benidorm Fest 2023 dates announced!

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A while ago, the dates of Spain’s national final were announced.

Benidorm Fest returns for the second year in a row, as the procedure of selecting the Spanish representative for Eurovision 2023. The national final gave Spain the third place in the Grand Final of this year’s contest, which is their best result since 1995.

In detail, Benidorm Fest 2023 will consist of two semi-finals and a Final:

  • First Semi-Final: Tuesday January 31
  • Second Semi-Final: Thursday February 2
  • Final: Saturday February 4

The famous Spanish singer Mónica Naranjo will ne the host if the national final.

The voting system will remain the same as last year, which means that the final result will ne determined by:

  • 50% jury vote
  • 25% Televote
  • 25% Demoscopic Jury vote

In the end, the price of the tickets was announced which ranges from 20 to 60 euros.

The winner of last year’s Benidorm Fest was Chanel Terrero with the song “SloMo”.

https://youtu.be/4mYBiIO0pfY

Stay tuned at EurovisionFun for everything all the news regarding the participation of Spain in Eurovision 2023!

Israel: Kirel in discussions with the composer of “Toy”!

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Although Noa Kirel has yet to make her final decision on whether to take part in Eurovision 2023, her team appears to be in discussions with composer Doron Medalie.

KAN’s announcement and Kirel’s new statements

As we have informed you in our previous article , KAN had officially announced that the superstar Noa Kirel will represent the country in Eurovision 2023. However, a few hours later the potential representative of Israel made it clear that the decision is not yet final.

In a recent interview with the Israeli newspaper Maariv, Kirel stated that she needs more time to think about a potential Eurovision entry. It is, according to the singer, a Competition which “relies on politics, but at the same time it offers great exposure [to the artist]”. However, she later added that “fear has never stopped [her] from trying new things and life is all about taking risks” .

Kirel in talks with Doron Medalie?

According to Eran Suissa, a journalist for the newspaper Israel Hayom, Kirel’s team has contacted the composer of the song that gave Israel its victory back in 2018, Doron Medalie. It is not clear whether the latter was asked to take on the composition/production of the potential Eurovision song or to have an active role in its selection.

Kirel has already collaborated with Medalie, with the latter having a total of three entries in the Contest on behalf of Israel (“Golden Boy”, “Made of Stars”, “Toy”).

What is certain is that Medalie desires structural changes in the team surrounding Israel’s entries in the Contest, and wants resources to be invested towards different directions. Specifically, he stated that:

“We have to dedicate huge resources to Noa, and to have a professional team made up of the best talents and professionals we have […] To produce such a system will require a real revolution in the attitude [KAN has towards the Competition]. We create the illusion that [the end result] is so simple, but the truth is that it is the most complex undertaking.”

In relation to the financing of a possible Kirel’s participation, the Israeli website EuroMix reports that there are tensions over who could absorb the costs. This is due to the fact that until now the costs were covered entirely by KAN, thanks to the profits generated through advertising during the various talent shows. With the internal selection, however, this source of income is no longer available.

What do you think? Will Kirel join forces with Medalie for Eurovision 2023?

United Kingdom: Newcastle and Bristol want to host Eurovision 2023!

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Two more major UK cities are in the running to host the 67th Eurovision Song Contest next May. Newcastle and Bristol have officially announced their intention to be the host cities for Eurovision 2023, which will apparently be held on British soil.

Newcastle

The latest city to enter Eurovision 2023 contention is Newcastle as of yesterday. The city council of the largest city in northern England confirmed yesterday – during its meeting – that it is intensively preparing its bid to host the next competition.

As Chronicle Live reports, the city of Newcastle is working with investment firm Invest Newcastle, the BBC and a previous host city to complete the difficult task of submitting a comprehensive proposal to host the event of Eurovision 2023. In his statements, the member of the City Council, Alex Hay, said:

Obviously it would be wonderful to host Eurovision and we believe that Newcastle would be a perfect host city. We are looking forward to hearing more about the bidding process and are already working with partners to explore the opportunity.

Should Newcastle be given the green light to host the 67th Eurovision Song Contest, the venue will be the 11,000-capacity Utilita Arena. The Utilita Arena has hosted several major sporting events and concerts from time to time, with artists such as Luciano Pavarotti, Rihanna, Robbie Williams and Lady Gaga appearing on the arena’s stage.

Bristol

Another city interested in hosting Eurovision 2023 is Bristol. As the mayor, Marvin Ress, announced during Bristol Pride, the city in the south of England is strongly interested in hosting the next contest.

The venue for Eurovision 2023, should the city of Bristol be chosen, will be the under-construction YTL Arena. Most of the indoor stadium is already ready and despite the fact that it is not expected to be completed until 2024, it is very likely that it will be given the “green light” to open its gates from the beginning of 2023. The YTL Arena will be able to to host up to 17,000 spectators.

https://twitter.com/MarvinJRees/status/1545856166403653633?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1545856166403653633%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Feurovoix.com%2F2022%2F07%2F10%2Feurovision-2023-bristol-bid%2F

Possible host cities

So far, after the official expression of interest from Newcastle and Bristol, the cities wishing to host the 67th Eurovision Song Contest stand at 15. These cities are:

  1. Aberdeen
  2. Belfast
  3. Birmingham
  4. Brighton
  5. Bristol
  6. Cardiff
  7. Glasgow
  8. Leeds
  9. Liverpool
  10. London
  11. Manchester
  12. Newcastle
  13. Sheffield
  14. Sunderland
  15. Wolverhampton

However, it has not yet been clarified whether the usual process will take place with the submission of nominations by the various cities, or whether the BBC and EBU given the special occasion, will directly announce the city that will host Eurovision 2023!

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments!

Source: Chronicle Live

 

Israel: Noa Kirel says her participation is a “maybe”!

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Israel’s Public Corporation KAN announced yesterday that local superstar Noa Kirel will represent Israel in Eurovision 2023, after an internal selection. However, things seem to be not as announced.

In an interview with 103 FM’s Raz Shechnik, the Israeli representative answer that “a decision will be made later on”. She added:

“You’re right, I’m still taking the whole thing in. First of all, it’s a great honor that they chose me. It’s really exciting, and as a kid I always watched [the contest]. So there’s something very grand about it, a lot of responsibility on my shoulders. I’m not taking this whole thing in yet. I’m taking a few days off to understand […] This just happened and we’re still in the middle of this whole thing. My team and I will take some time to figure it all out. Together, we will make a decision, slowly”.

While KAN was the first public broadcaster to announce its representative, it appears that Noa has not yet responded to the offer regardless the positive reaction locally and online.

 

Do you think Noa will represent Israel in the contest? Tell us in the comments!

Source: Raz Shechnik 

 

Switzerland: Internal selection for Eurovision 2023 | Submissions start on August 25th

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As the Swiss German speaking national broadcaster (“SRF”) announced today, Switzerland will participate at Eurovision 2023, and its entry will be chosen through an internal selection procedure. As of 12 July 2022, Switzerland is the 21st country which has publicly confirmed its intention to participate in the 2023 contest.

The internal selection committee

Switzerland is once again relying on a panel consisting of 100 people, and an international jury of 20 music professionals. From August 25th to September 8th, songwriters, producers, artists and lyricists are invited to submit their songs for consideration. The Swiss entry for Eurovision 2023 is scheduled to be announced at the beginning of 2023.

The decision of Switzerland not to depart from the previous years’ selection procedure shall not come as a surprise. After the very successful performance of Luca Hänni at ESC 2019 and Gjon’s Tears at ESC 2021, as well as Marius Bear’s final qualification again in Turin, it wouldn’t be wise for the national broadcasters to experiment with alternative selection methods.

What song is the committee looking for?

According to the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest Swiss Regulations, the Swiss entry for Eurovision 2023 should be a “contemporary song that has international appeal and will stand out”. The lyrics should have “a strong, clear and easily understood message”.

The composers and songwriters are also encouraged to submit songs about themes that “reflect current events or those whose content will evoke an emotional reaction or a feeling of recognition” in the Eurovision audience.

What’s your take on Swiss internal selection procedure? Will the new Swiss entry do better than Marius Bear?

Israel: Superstar Noa Kirel will represent the country in Eurovision 2023!

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Israel is the first country to choose its representative for Eurovision 2023. Following an internal selection procedure, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (also known as “KAN”) announced today that the professional committee appointed for the selection of the Israeli representative has decided that Noa Kirel (Hebrew: נועה קירל) will represent the country in the Eurovision 2023.

Who is Noa Kirel?

The 21-year-old Kirel became famous seven years ago when she released her first single called “Medabrim” (English meaning – “Talking”). It was followed by successful hits including “Killer”, “”Yesh Bi Ahava” (English meaning – “There’s Love in Me”), “Tikitas” (Hebrew version of “Τι Κοιτάς”, originally by Eleni Foureira), “Million Dollar”(featuring Shahar Saul), “Yahalomim” (English meaning – “Diamonds”) etc.

In addition, she starred in TV shows, in a film, and participated in the Talent Shows in 2019 and 2020. She has won the MTV Europe Music Awards for the best Israeli act between 2017 and 2020.

Since signing with the international record label Atlantic Records, Kirel has released three successful singles; “Please Don’t Suck” which was released in July last year, “Bad Little Thing” and “Thought About That” which was released in February, and which it has already gathered more than 34 million views.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Noa Kirel (@noakirel)

The selection process

Last month, the Broadcasting Corporation announced that Israel’s representative in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest will be selected through a professional committee, for the first time since 2014.

From 2015 to 2020, Israeli representatives were selected to compete in the reality show “The Next Eurovision Star”. This year, Michael Ben David was chosen to represent Israel in Turin, after winning the “X Factor for Eurovision” program that aired on Network 13. Ben David  did not qualify for the finals of the competition.

The committee included ten members, with expertise in culture, music, television and Eurovision. According to the announcement, committee members discussed 78 names of male and female singers “with rich and proven experience in performing before a large audience”.

In the second stage, each member of the committee suggested two names from the list  (up to 20 names in total). Then, the committee discussed the artists appearing on the list and narrowed the list down, in order of priority, with the most suitable artist ranked first on the list and so on.

At the end of the discussion, KAN made an official offer to the artist who was ranked first on the list to represent Israel in the competition, under conditions that will be determined by KAN. Noa Kirel’s representatives said that “Noa will be proud to represent Israel”.

What’s your take on Israel’s representative for Eurovision 2023? Will she do better than Michael Ben David did?

Armenia: Suggestions for ESC 2023!

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Ever since Armenia returned to (Junior) Eurovision Song Contest, it has had unexpectedly fantastic achievements. It won JESC in 2021 with Maléna and her beautiful song ‘Qami Qami’, it qualified to the Grand Final for the first time since 2017 with Rosa Linn and ‘SNAP’, which is also currently storming the charts and is viral on TikTok. This is definitely an unbelievably amazing return, however the delegation should dream bigger!

Armenia has never won Eurovision and has never placed in the top 3 in the contest. Last time the country placed in the top 5 was in 2014 (4th place) and the last top 10 result was in 2016 (7th). Here are some suggestions for Armenia to bring the country back to the top:

Ladanvia

Ladaniva is a multicultural band creating world music with a fresh touch of Armenian folk and other traditional forms, such as maloya, Balkan, reggae, Arabic, African. The group was founded in October 2019 by Armenian singer Jacqueline Baghdasaryan and French multi-instrumentalist Louis Thomas. Ladaniva is very popular among Armenians. During the tough times, the only thing that would bring happiness to Armenians all over the world was their single ‘Kef Chilini’. Europe’s taste has changed a lot and they have started appreciating authentic songs. For the record, Armenia does unexpectedly well when it sends something traditional with ethnic elements.

JINJ

Just like Ladaniva, JINJ is also Armenian-French duo. Sourcing inspiration from majestic green mountains to the pulsing beat of the city, from liturgical chants to underground rap, in a nonconventional mixture of 808s and shepherd’s flutes, JINJ is the rhythmic manifestation of the diversity of the Armenian landscape and culture. Their style is reminiscent of Go_A’s who came top 5 last year. Extraordinary, unique, authentic and ethnic – it definitely should work for Armenia!

yellowheart.

A new artist in Armenian music industry! Her actual name is Lily, however her stage name is yellowheart due to the fact that her brother used to tell her that ‘she has a yellow heart’. She lately released an EP with her own original arrangements of Armenian folk songs and five singles in Armenian. Her style is reminiscent of Maro who placed 9th for Portugal this year with the song ‘saudade, saudade’. Lily’s songs are authentic, breathtaking, magical and easy to listen to. If she creates an atmospheric song for Eurovision with an astounding melody and production, it will definitely do great!

Ani Christy

Ani Christy was born on March 15, 1986 in Armenia, Yerevan into a musical family. Her father is an actor and her mother is a violist, concertmaster. Ani has many accomplishments and credits to her name, among them the following:

She has taken part in many singing contests and won first place.
She was invited to have a world-tour with Indian Oscar-winning producer-composer A.R. Rahman.
She was the first Armenian singer to sing as a soprano in the Oakland East Bay Symphony, in a performance at Paramount Pictures Theatre.

One of the strongest vocalists in Armenia and undoubtedly with the right song has all the chances to do very well and even be a fan favourite!

Garik&Sona

Sona Rubenyan is an Armenian singer and songwriter. She is best known for winning the fifth edition of Hay Superstar. Since 2016, Rubenyan has been collaborating with Garik Papoyan (co-writer of Not Alone (2014, (4th place), 2019, (16th in semi, 37th overall), Armenia’s spokesperson at ESC 2022) as a duo under the name Garik & Sona, releasing several singles including “Lusin”, “Esor Urbat e”, “Nino” and more. In November 2020, amid the Nagorno-Karabakh war she was featured on a charity single titled “Mez vochinch chi haghti” (Nothing Will Win Us) along with four Eurovision previous entrants Srbuk, Gor Sujyan, Iveta Mukuchyan, Sevak Khanagyan, also Arthur Khachents and Sevak Amroyan. Sona is one of the strongest vocalist in Armenia (if not the best) with a magnificent timbre. Garik is an incredible lyricst and also does fantastic productions and arrangements. Excellent duo for ESC, and diaspora loves them a lot and will support them across Europe if they’re given the chance to wave the colours of Armenian flag. 

Lilit Hovhannisyan

Lilit Hovhannisyan is one of the most popular Armenian singers. She became famous in 2006 after participating in the first season of the TV project “Hay Superstar”, where she took the 4th place. She released her debut studio album in 2011. Lilit has released plenty of music videos, some of which have garnered millions of views on YouTube. Her video with Nanul has passed the hundred million milestone. Lilit is very charismatic and energetic, with a great ethno-pop and experienced stage director (such as Sacha Jean Baptiste, Marvin Dietmann, Fokas Evangelinos and etc.) she has all chances for the best possible result at ESC.

Returnees

Speaking of possible returnees, then it definitely should be Srbuk. Unfortunately, she didn’t succeed at ESC 2019 and moreover got the worst result for Armenia throughout the history of the entire contest. Nevertheless, she can do much more. She has a fantastic voice and she can show it if given the right and most importantly, authentic, song (several performances of hers proved that before). You can listen to her latest release ‘Siro Ritm'(Love’s Rhythm) here:

 

These were the suggestions for ESC 2023! Armenia hasn’t confirmed its participation in the contest.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun and follow the news regarding Armenia at Eurovision 2023!