Denmark: Listen to the songs of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2023!

The public broadcaster of Denmark, DR, revealed the finalists of the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2023, the national final  of Denmark for Eurovision 2023.

The eight finalists and their songs for DMGP 2023 are:

Søren Torpgaard Lund – “Lige Her”

Nicklas Sonne – “Freedom”

Eyjaa – “I Was Gonna Marry Him”

Frederick Leopold – “Stuck on You”

Maia Maia – “Beautiful Bullshit”

Mariyah Leberg – “Human”

Micky Skeel – “Glansbillede”

Reiley – “Breaking my Heart”

DR will organize and broadcast the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2023, on Saturday, February 11 live from Næstved, with eight finalists. This will be the first time that the contest will take place in Næstved Arena

The hosts of the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix will be Tina Müller and Heino Hansen. This will be the third time in a row that Tina Müller will host the contest.

But until we learn who is going to represent Denmark in Eurovision 2023, lets remember their song for last year’s contest. The previous winners of Dansk Melodi Gran Prix and Denmark’s representatives in Eurovision 2022 were REDDI with the song “The Show“ but they didn’t manage to qualify for the final for the second year in a row, ending up in 13th place in the first semi-final:

https://youtu.be/cVg6MpVR2Pw

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

Source: dr.dk

Finland: Listen to the sixth and penultimate song of UMK 2023!

The finnish broadcaster YLE has released the sixth and penultimate song competing in UMK 2023, the finnish national final for Eurovision 2023.

The song is titled “Ylivoimainen” by KUUMAA and you can listen to it below:

The official Eurovision site presents KUUMAA as follows:

KUUMAA is a fast-rising trio, whose core is catchy tunes and emotions on a grand scale, not to mention the steadfast friendship between the band members. The band’s self-titled debut album KUUMAA was released in 2019. 2022 turned out to be a turning point for the band, whose popularity grew when it took streaming services, radio waves and stages by storm with its hits, including Tulipalo and Oo vielä sekunnin mun.

KUUMAA is formed of singer Johannes Brotherus, drummer Jonttu Luhtavaara and bassist Aarni Soivio. The band got its start in 2016, when the friends wanted to form their own Finnish pop group. Since then, the band has built their career for the long haul. The pandemic years brought them closer to each other, with the members starting to produce even more music together.

‘For us, the band is, above all, a group of friends. We’re united by our ambition. This should be taken seriously, but not too seriously’, says Johannes.

The band’s UMK song Ylivoimainen is a hard-charging pop tune that brings a universal, infectious energy.

The UMK jury had the following to say about the trio and their song:

“KUUMAA sets the tone for how a Finnish band should sound in 2023: it is charismatic, cutting edge and has the ability to make big songs for streaming services and radio, alike. The band’s frontman Johannes Brotherus is charming and the band’s performance at UMK will bring it to a whole new level on its already skyrocketing trajectory. Ylivoimainen is a harder-charging version of KUUMAA that is sure to rock the stage at Logomo and on Finnish television come February.”

We remind you that the competing artists/songs of UMK 2023 are being revealed in different dates in the following order:

  • Thu, 12 January Keira – No Business On The Dancefloor
  • Fri, 13 January Benjamin – Hoida mut
  • Mon, 16 January Robin Packalen – Girls Like You
  • Tue, 17 January Lxandra – Something To Lose
  • Wed, 18 January Käärijä – Cha Cha Cha
  • Thu, 19 January KUUMAA – Ylivoimainen
  • Fri, 20 January Portion Boys – Samaa taivasta katsotaan

The UMK grand final will take place on Saturday, 25 February, 20:00 CET and will be broadcast on Yle TV1, Yle Areena and Yle radio channels.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all news regarding UMK and the finnish representative for Eurovision 2023!

Elsie Bay: “I had no intention of returning to MGP”| Interview | (Video)

Following the announcement of her participation in this year’s Norwegian national final, Melodi Grand Prix 2023, Elsie Bay spoke exclusively to EurovisionFun and Apostolos Bogiannos and Giorgos Zeuteridis.

Elsie is among one of the finalists of this year’s MGP and will try to represent her country at Eurovision 2023 with the song “Love you in a dream“.

This is her second time participating in the national final and she says that although she enjoyed her experience last year, she had no intention of returning to the competition this year but changed her mind when she wrote her MGP 2023 entry song.

When asked what “Love you in a dream” means to her, she answered:

“I am very proud of this song, which talks about the realization of our dreams which can only be achieved if we ourselves strive for it.”

About her stage performance, she told us:

“My song is a ballad, so don’t expect a ‘party’ on stage. But I won’t be alone on stage”.

When asked which of her two performances she prefers, she answered that her song “Love you in a dream” stands out this year.

In conclusion, she told us that the eurostars she would like to work with are Cornelia Jacobs and Alexander Rybak, while “Hold me closer” is her favorite song for Eurovision 2022.

Just before the end of the interview, Elsie offered us a part of her acapella song.

Watch the interview with Elsie Bay here:

Listen to “Love you in a dream” below:

We would like to thank Εlsie and wish her luck in her Eurovision Journey that has just begun!

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for more interviews and news about Eurovision 2023! 

Lithuania: These are the artists and the running order of Pabandom iš Naujo 2023 Heat 1!

A few hours ago, the public broadcaster of Lithuania, LRT, announced the artists that are going to take part in Pabandom iš Naujo Heat 1, as well as the running order of the qualifying round!

These are the 15 artists that are going to compete in the first Heat of Lithuania’s national final for Eurovision 2023:

  1. Aistė Pilvelytė – “We’re Not Running”
  2. Joseph June – “Vacuum”
  3. Il Senso – “Sparnai”
  4. W.I – “You Can Not”
  5. Multiks – “London”
  6. Luknė – “Paradise”
  7. Gabrielius Vagelis – “Šauksmas”
  8. Alen Chicco – “Do You”
  9. Rūta Mur – “So Low”
  10. Justin 3 feat. Dj AugustYno – “Not Giving Up”
  11. Baiba – “When the Lights Go Out”
  12. Justa Rubežiūtė – “When I’ll Find”
  13. Noy – Destiny’s Child”
  14. Paulina Paukštaitytė – “Let Me Think About Me”
  15. Justė Kraujelytė – “Need More Fun”

The First Heat of Pabandom iš Naujo will be broadcasted in this Saturday, January 21 at 20:00 CET, live from Vilnius.

According to the running order of the first heat, the remaining 15 artists will take part in the second heat of the second final. These are the names of the contestants of the Second Heat of Pabandom iš Naujo:

  1. Agnė –“New Start”
  2. Antikvariniai Kašpirovskio dantys – “Sėdi ir važiuoji”
  3. Beatrich – “Like a Movie”
  4. Donata – “Dreamer”
  5. Gebrasy – “Saw Your Ghost”
  6. I.T. – “Žinau, tai tu”
  7. Mario Junes – “Do What You Do”
  8. Matt Len – “Midnight Train”
  9. Melona – “Song of Whispers”
  10. Monika Linkytė – “Stay”
  11. MoonBee – “Rumor”
  12. Petunija – “Love of My Life”
  13. The Pixls – “Šaukt”
  14. Viktorija Faith – “If You Ever Miss Me”
  15. Voldemars Petersons – “Things”

We remind you that the competing artists in Papandom iš Naujo can release their songs from the moment of their selection up until the day of the first Heat in January 21. Papandom iš Naujo 2023 will take place with two Heats, two semi-finals and the grand final.

The program of Papandom iš Naujo

  • First Heat – January 21
  • Second Heat – January 28
  • First Semi-Final – February 4
  • Second Semi-Final – February 11
  • Grand Final – February 18

But until we learn who is going to represent Lithuania in Eurovision 2023, lets remember their song for last year’s contest. The last winner of Pabandom iš Naujo and Lithuania’s representative in Eurovision 2022 was Monika Liu with the song “Sentimemtai” and ended up in 14th place with 128 points:

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

Source: lrt.lt

Finland: Listen to the fifth song of UMK 2023!

The finnish broadcaster YLE has released the fifth song competing in UMK 2023, the finnish national final for Eurovision 2023.

The song is titled “Cha Cha Cha” by Käärijä and you can listen to it below:

The official Eurovision site presents Käärijä as follows:

Käärijä is an artist who is almost impossible to define. Unabashed and unpredictable, Käärijä loves to break boundaries, follow his own beat and explore new things. Käärijä’s debut album Fantastista was released in 2020. The artist’s music takes on a whole new dimension live – indeed, Käärijä’s unfettered live performances are what he’s known for.

Käärijä’s passion for music started with drumming. In grade school he began taking drum lessons, but when he started middle school his interest turned to rap: Käärijä started to practice his freestyling during English classes.

His debut single Urheilujätkä was released in 2016 and since that time Käärijä has done his own thing. Käärijä hates being confined to a specific genre, preferring to combine elements from, among others, rap, metal and electronic music. His lyrics deal with everyday things, the passage from youth to the threshold of adulthood, from house parties to after-parties.

Käärijä has watched Eurovision since he was a little boy, with Verka Serduchka’s Dancing Lasha Tumbai being an especially memorable performance. He has also been interested in UMK for several years. This year, he was 150% sure that he would be submitting an entry, because when Cha Cha Cha came along, Käärijä knew the time was right.

‘Finland is a party country, a heavy metal country and a pop country – this song brings all of those together,’ he says.

The UMK jury had the following to say about Käärijä and his song: 

“Will this become the afterski hit of Finland for the spring of 2023? In his song Cha Cha Cha, Käärijä combines rap, electronic, rock and pop in a unique way. The end result is truly one-of-a-kind, but also very approachable, like the artist himself. The song’s hook is one that grabs you on the very first listen, and we can say with confidence that this is the hardest rap banger in the history of UMK. At UMK and Eurovision, there is always room for something off the wall, which this song so perfectly offers.”

We remind you that the competing artists/songs of UMK 2023 are being revealed in different dates in the following order:

  • Thu, 12 January Keira – No Business On The Dancefloor
  • Fri, 13 January Benjamin – Hoida mut
  • Mon, 16 January Robin Packalen – Girls Like You
  • Tue, 17 January Lxandra – Something To Lose
  • Wed, 18 January Käärijä – Cha Cha Cha
  • Thu, 19 January KUUMAA – Ylivoimainen
  • Fri, 20 January Portion Boys – Samaa taivasta katsotaan

The UMK grand final will take place on Saturday, 25 February, 20:00 CET and will be broadcast on Yle TV1, Yle Areena and Yle radio channels.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all news regarding UMK and the finnish representative for Eurovision 2023!

Moldova: Listen to the songs competing in the country’s national final!

The public broadcaster of Moldova, namely TRM, has already confirmed that they are going to choose their representative and song for Eurovision 2023 through a national final.

Just some time ago, TRM announced the 33 participants of the national final and revealed their competing songs:

  1. Formaţia Vele – “Jocul neamului moldovenesc”
  2. Corina Ivanov – “When Love’s Real”
  3. NÖRDIKA – “Skueeze Paradise”
  4. Nihilist & Lisa Nicky –  “Final Destination”
  5. NÖRDIKA –  “Damn and down”
  6. Victor Gulick –  ”Let’s Dance”
  7. Donia –  “Red Zone”
  8. Surorile Osoianu –  “Bade, bădişor, bădiţă”
  9. OL –  “Why You Play It Cool”
  10. Adelina Iordachi –  “Deja Vu”
  11. Nikko T. –  “Destiny”
  12. Y-Limit –  “Live in Harmony”
  13. Crista –  “Pădure verde pădure”
  14. Sunstroke Project –  “Yummy Mommy”
  15. NR 11 –  “Adio”
  16. VERA –  “Vremea ta”
  17. Massimo Sinceri –  “In Questo Domani”
  18. Sasha Bognibov –  “My Favourite Schoolgirl”
  19. Rise – “Don’t trumble”
  20. Lisa Volk –  “Scrisoare către ţară”
  21. ADA DEEA – “Mystic Rose”
  22. COSMINA –  “Indestructible”
  23. Angel Kiss –  “Now I Know”
  24. Gesica Sîrbu –  “I’m in love”
  25. Aliona Moon –  “Du-mă”
  26. Tania Pituşcan –  “Mioriţa”
  27. Pasha Parfeni –  “Soarele şi luna”
  28. Ricky Ardezianu –  “Una rosa rossa”
  29. Harmony Scuffle –  “Favourite One”
  30. Valeria Condrea –  “We’re now different”
  31. LOLA –  “Temperatura”
  32. Diana Elmas –  “Miracle”
  33. Nino –  “It would be nice”

In the the 33 participants we can see well-known names such as previous representatives of Moldova, Pasha Parfeni (Eurovision 2012), Aliona Moon (Eurovision 2013) and Sunstroke Project (Eurovision 2010, 2017) as well as previous contestants of Moldovan national finals such as VERA (O melodie pentru Europa 2019).

Another interesting information, is that Mike Connaris’ song, with which Cynthia Verazie submitted to the Greek broadcaster ERT for Eurovision 2023, will now take part in Moldova’s national final, performed by Corina Ivanov!

Some of the songs have already being released, however you can listen to all of them in the official Moldovan website about Eurovision Song Contest, by clicking HERE.

What’s next for the Moldovan national final

  1. Examination of submissions 
  2. The live auditions of the artists
  3. The final audition
  4. The National Final

The Live Auditions will take place on January 28 ,in the studios of the Moldovan Public Television. The auditions will be broadcasted live on the television channel Moldova 2 and on its website, as well as on www.eurovision.md

The score of the audition will be decided solely by the jury. The composition of the judging team will be made public only on the day of the respective stage. The jury will consist of an odd number of members (minimum 3, maximum 5) and will be different from the one in the National Final.  

Likewise, on January 28, Moldova 1 television station will host a special edition about the live auditions with the participation of experts in the field and members of the jury. In this edition, the list of finalists will be announced. In accordance with the rules, the first 10 contestants, who will accumulate the highest score in the live auditions, will compete in the National Final.

But until we learn who is going to represent Moldova in Eurovision 2023, lets remember their song for last year’s contest.  Last year, Moldova was represented by Zdob şi Zdub and the Advahov Brothers for the first time with the song “Trenuleţul” which finished in 7th place in the Grand Final while also managing to secure the 2nd place in the televote:

https://youtu.be/DUqf_zO2QaI

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

Source: trm.md

Germany: “Unser Lied für Liverpool” artists revealed on January 27th!

As recently announced by ARD, the German national broadcaster, the artists and songs of Unser Lied für Liverpool, the country’s national final for Eurovision 2023, will be revealed on January 27th.

 

Δείτε αυτή τη δημοσίευση στο Instagram.

 

Η δημοσίευση κοινοποιήθηκε από το χρήστη Eurovision.de (@eurovision_de)

The exact number of songs that will compete in Unser Lied für Liverpool has not yet been announced, although ESC Kompakt reports that nine songs have been selected by the team of experts assembled by the channel. The only certainty is that one additional entry will be selected as a TikTok wildcard. The wildcard will be selected through a public vote, which will run from 27 January to 3 February. The result of the voting for the TikTok wildcard will be revealed live on the first broadcast of the new Alles Eurovision online show with Alina Stiegler and Stefan Spiegel on 4 February at 18:00 CET live on eurovision.de.

We remind you that  Unser Lied für Liverpool will be broadcast on 3 March at 22.20 CET.

Live from MMC Studios in Cologne and hosted by Barbara SchönebergerUnser Lied für Liverpool (Our Song for Liverpool) will be broadcast live on Das Erste and online on ARD Mediathek and eurovision.de.

Last year, Malik Harris represented Germany at the contest in Turin, Italy, with the song “Rockstars”. He came last in the Grand Final with only 6 points, all from the televoting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BYIou-oWXA

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments!

Source: ARD

BREAKING NEWS: The Israeli song for Eurovision 2023 has been chosen! | Noa Kirel will sing “Unicorn” in Liverpool!

A few moments earlier the Israeli public broadcaster KAN revealed through their official Twitter account that the song which Noa Kirel is going to perform in Liverpool in May for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 has the title “Unicorn”

A few days ago the Israeli representative had revealed the final decision would be made between two songs that she and her team had prepared for the European song contest. (read more here)

The chosen song “Unicorn” was written by Noa Kirel herself and Doron Medley, the producer of song “Toy” that brought to Israel the third and most recent victory in Eurovision, in 2018 in Lisbon. The composition team also includes May Sepadia and the the very famous DJ Yinon Yahel Emonim.

The song talks about the women empowerment and most of the lyrics are written in English with a few words in Hebrew as well.

Noa Kirel herself said that:

“I’m very excited about our song choice.. the choice marks the first significant step towards Eurovision in May. We wrote a song which personally moves me every time I sing it or listen to it, and I can’t wait until you get to listen to the song”

The 2023 Eurovision entry for Israel is expected to be published in March and is about to get through some more adjustements.

Last year Israel was represented in Eurovision 2022 of Turin by Michael Ben David and his song I.M. which failed to qualify from the Second Semi-Final.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgXjPUsjx4Y

Stay tuned on Eurovision Fun for all the news regarding the entry of Israel and the rest of the 36 nation competing in the upcoming 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool United Kingdom.

San Marino: More than 1000 submissions for Una Voce per San Marino! | From which countries do the contestants come from?

The submissions window of Una Voce per San Marino, the national final of San Marino for Eurovision 2023, will be open for artists from around the world for a few more days, until January 20.

As we have previously said, despite their non-qualification in 2022, San Marino gets keeps making preparations for Eurovision 2023, in Liverpool. In detail, the selection process consists of the castings, four semi-finals, one second chance round and the Grand Final that will take place in February 25, 2023.

The countries from which the artists come from, were revealed through their Instagram account. The artists come from the countries below:

  • Albania
  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Croatia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Ireland
  • Israel
  • Italy
  • Latvia
  • Luxembourg
  • Malta
  • Mexico
  • North Macedonia
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Romania
  • Russia
  • San Marino
  • Serbia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Ukraine
  • United Kingdom
  • United States of America

As of now, more than 1000 songs have been submitted to the country’s national final.

Those interested have a few more days to submit their proposals through the contest’s official website.

The first winner of Una Voce per San Marino and San Marino’s representative in Eurovision 2022 was Achille Lauro with the song “Stripper“ but he didn’t mange to bring the country to the final for the third time in a row and the fourth time overall, ending up in 14th place of the second semi-final:

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, in Liverpool!

Greece: ERT announces its representative for Liverpool in the coming days!

ERT is now in the final stretch for the selection of the artist and the song that will represent Greece at the 67th Eurovision Song Contest, which will take place next May in Liverpool, United Kingdom.

After the vote of the Public Jury, the Christmas break, the time has come for the big decision.

Based on what ERT followed last year, the meetings of the artists and their teams, with the artistic committee and the management of the Greek public television, are now expected, so that the final selection can then be made. In these meetings, the artists gets to know the people of ERT for the first time, while their teams present any plans they have for the stage appearance, promotion abroad, etc.

We remind you that the Greek representative this year will be chose through a 70-member Audience Committee that will determine 50.6% of the verdict, with the remaining 49.4% belonging to the Artistic Committee.

As revealed by Eurovisionfun and subsequently reproduced by all the country’s media, the ranking of the Audience Committee was as follows:

1. Melissa Mantzoukis – Liar

……
2.Victor Vernicos – What They Say

…….

3. Klavdia – Holy Water
4. Leon of Athens – Somewhere to Go

…….

5/6. Monika – I’m Proud/ Antonia Kaouri & Maria Maragou – Shout Out
7. Konstantina Iosifidou – We are Young

Similar results to those of the Audience Committee were also given by our readers, where with more than 2,000 different votes, they have approximately the same ranking in their preferences. You can see the results of our Poll HERE.

The fluid political scene and the upcoming national elections with all that this entails for the extra workload of ERT, was also the reason for the slight delay in the announcement of the Greek representative, since according to the original plan this was expected in mid-January and not at the end of it, as it will eventually be.

Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun for all the updates!