Estonia: The results of the first semi-final of Eesti Laul 2023!

The first semi-final of Eesti Laul 2023, the selection process for the next Estonian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest, has just finished. In today’s first semi-final, ten songs competed for the first five tickets leading to the grand final!

The show was hosted at Viimsi Artium in Viimsi by Grete Kuld and Tõnis Niinemets.

The Participants: 

In today’s first Semi-Final, ten songs competed for the first five tickets to the grand final of Eesti Laul 2023. These artists are the following:

  1. JANEK – “House of Glass”
  2. Ellip – “Pretty Girl”
  3. Kaw – “Valik”
  4. MERLYN – “Unicorn Vibes”
  5. MIA – “Üks samm korraga”
  6. Neon Letters & Maiko – “Tokimeki”
  7. OLLIE – “Venom”
  8. Andreas – “Why Do You Love Me”
  9. Bedwetters – “Monsters”
  10. Anett x Fredi – “You Need to Move On”

The Performances:

1. Janek – “House of Glass

Janek opened Eesti Laul 2023 with a powerful ballad. The show starts with the artist in a television box. He then stands on a platform. At the end, there are three-dimensional broken glass effects.

2. Ellip – “Pretty Girl

Following Janek is Ellip. She is accompanied by four dancers. She is dressed in black. Ellip filled the stage with her personality.

3. Kaw – “Valik

Kaw are the first group of the evening. They sing in Estonian. Lots of shot changes and lighting. They’re having vocal issues until up to the third chorus.

4. MERLYN – “Unicorn Vibes

Next up is Merlyn which is accompanied by two dancers. Although her vocals are on point, stage-wise she is “wooden”.

5. MIA – Üks samm korraga

Mia competes with the biggest female power ballad of the Semi-Final. She sings in Estonian while wearing a silver jumpsuit. She is accompanied by a pianist and a dancing couple.

6. Neon Letters & Maiko – “Tokimeki

Neon Letters & Maiko perform in a lighted box. Japanese subtitles accompany a big part of the performance. They are dressed in black and white.

7. OLLIE – “Venom

The first rock song of the night. The performance is very professional. Pink lighting predominates, and Ollie’s vocals are very good.

8. Andreas – “Why Do You Love Me

After Ollie’s bombastic performance, Andreas sings an ethereal ballad accompanied by a female dancer. Low lighting prevails.

9. Bedwetters – “Monsters

The second rock song of the semi-final. The Bedwetters have an eccentric performance reminiscent of Winny Puhh. A freak-show.

10. Anett x Fredi – “You Need to Move On

Anett x Fredi will close the semi-final, an atmospheric and well-staged performance that will get appreciated.

The results

The five artists who qualified for the final of Eesti Laul 2023 were determined after two rounds of voting. In the first round of voting, four qualifiers were determined by a 50% jury and 50% televoting system. In the second round of voting, a new vote was held and one more qualifier was chosen solely by the televoting.

Before announcing the results, the presenters announced the jury’s top four favourites in random order with them being Anett x Fredi, Andreas, ELLIP and OLLIE!

In the first round, the following four songs qualified:

Among the six remaining songs, this is the last song to qualify to the final:

  1. JANEK – “House of Glass”

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news regarding the Estonian participation in Eurovision 2023.

Poland: Extends the deadline for Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję 2023!

Poland’s national broadcaster, TVP, has announced that it will extend the deadline for submitting songs for the country’s national final, Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję. The submission deadline had been set to be open for submissions until January 15th, but will be extended until February 10th!

The names of the participants will be announced soon after the deadline, by February 15th at the latest. TVP intends to reveal this information on the aforementioned date, with the televised Final taking place on February 26th, as previously scheduled.

The Polish site Eurowizja.org has information that the score will be split 50/50 in the jury and public vote. However, in the event of a tie, the jury members’ choice will prevail and thus the Polish representative will be appointed to fly to Liverpool next May.

Some of the names that have already submitted proposals have also been announced, such as that of Kuba Szmajkowski, who came fourth place in last year’s edition of the national final.

At Eurovision 2022, Poland was represented by Krystian Ochman with “River”, and he placed 12th in the Grand Final, achieving the best result for the country since 2016.

https://youtu.be/jRVDZ6446eM

Source: ESC Bubble

Croatia: Listen to the songs of Dora 2023!

Today is the day that Croatia will publish the songs that are competing in Dora 2023. The publication of the songs took place at the radio programm The World of Discography and then uploaded on the official YouTube channel of Dora.

You can listen to the full songs here:

Dora 2023

From Saturday January 14th and for four weeks, the show Ususret Dori 2023 with Mija Negovetić will be broadcasted , during which this year’s finalists will present themselves, sing and answer questions from the audience.

Guests on the first show will be DetourTajana BelinaThe SplittersPatricia Gašparini and Harmonija dissonance .

The final of Dora 2023 will take place on Saturday, February 11, with the voting process not showing any changes. The winner will be determined by both the jury and the television audience with a percentage of 50% each.

Last year, Mia Dimšić with the song “Guilty Pleasure” won the national final, but didn’t manage to qualify to the Grand Final of Eurovision 2022.

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

Who should represent Croatia at Eurovision Song Contest 2023?

France: La Zarra will raise the French flag in Liverpool!

Through a special press conference, the French national broadcaster France Télévisions has announced the French representative at Eurovision 2023.

After two years of Eurovision France: C’est vous qui décidez, the French broadcaster has decided to take another way for 2023 by choosing internally the artist that will represent France in Liverpool.

The 25-year-old Canadian-Moroccan singer, La Zarra, will raise the French flag high in the United Kingdom, claiming victory for the French.

La Zarra has been one of the names strongly rumored for the representation of the country since last year. By returning to social media, she has once again emerged as a possible representative of France at Eurovision 2023.

Through a story, it was revealed that La Zarra participated in the casting of Eurovision France in 2021, because the stage of the Apollo Theater with the colors of the national selection could be seen from behind.

Her music is a mix of french pop and urban sounds and she became widely known in 2016 through an artistic collaboration with Niro. During the NRJ Music Awards 2021, she was nominated for the French-speaking revelation award of the year.

In spring 2021, La Zarra unveils “Tu t’en iras” accompanied by a clip which was a rapid success on YouTube (nearly one million views in just 15 days after being uploaded). In the specialized press, many underline the arrival of La Zarra on the scene of musical revelations. Many also highlight the Canadian’s ability to mix genres and hypnotize her audience with her timbre of voice and her sense of interpretation.

What do you think of La Zarra as the next representative of France in Eurovision 2023? Leave your thoughts on the comments below.

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

France: The country’s plans on Eurovision 2023 will be announced today!

France’s public broadcaster, France Télévisions, has already announced that after their win in Junior Eurovision 2022, they are now planning on winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2023!

As of now, the French public television has not made any announcement on how they are going to select their representative or song, while in comparisonn with other years, in this period of time last year, the submission deadline had already been completed and in the end of 2020, we knew all twelve contestants of Eurovision France: C’est vous qui décidez 2021.

However, a few minutes ago, there was an announcement that later today, and to be exact on 15:00 CET, France Télévisions will reveal the plans for Eurovision 2023!

 

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A post shared by Eurovision France (@eurovisionfrance)

It is not known yet, if France will make an internal selection or a national final, as they have not made any specific announcement for song submission or any information on the selection process.

Last year, France organized the national final C’est vous qui décidez and the winners were Alvan & Ahez with their song “Fulenn”, ending up in 24th place in the Grand Final:

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

Germany: Unser Lied für Liverpool will take place on March 3!

As recently announced by ARD, the German national broadcaster, Unser Lied für Liverpool, the country’s national final for Eurovision 2023, will be broadcast on 3 March at 22.20 CET.

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

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

Estonia: Eesti Laul 2023 First Semi-Final tonight!

The nationa final season of Eurovision 2023, continues tonight with the first semi-final of Eesti Laul 2023, the third national final to take place after that of Ukraine and Albania.

ERR, Estonia’s public broadcaster, decided to remove the qualifying rounds after a year of use, back in the 2022 edition. So this year’s Eesti Laul will begin right from the two semi-finals and then the Grand Final, where the representative of Estonia will be decided.

Τhe hosts for this year’s edition will be Grete Kuld and Tõnis Niinemets who are going to host the show once again, two years later, after successfully hosting Eesti Laul 2021.

The first semi-final of Eesti Laul 2023 will be broadcasted this evening at 18:30 CET and will last about three hours. You can the show through the official website of ERR, by clicking HERE.

The Participants of the first semi-final of Eesti Laul 2023:

In the list below, you can see the ten artists and the songs, competing in the first semi-final Eesti Laul 2023 (You can listen to each song by clicking on their title):

  1. JANEK – “House of Glass”
  2. Ellip – “Pretty Girl”
  3. Kaw – “Valik”
  4. MERLYN – “Unicorn Vibes”
  5. MIA – “Üks samm korraga” (One step at a time)
  6. Neon Letters & Maiko – “Tokimeki” (Palpitation)
  7. OLLIE – “Venom”
  8. Andreas – “Why Do You Love Me”
  9. Bedwetters – “Monsters”
  10. Anett x Fredi – “You Need to Move On”

Eesti Laul 2023

In total, 20 songs are going to take part in Eesti Laul 2023, after being selected by ERR’s competent jury. Ten song will compete in each of the two semi-finals, with the six best songs advancing for the Final.

Each semi-final has two rounds of voting. In the first voting round, five songs will be selected by the jury vote combined with the public vote, while in the second round, one song will qualify for the final solely based on the televote.

In the Grand Final the show will have two rounds of voting. The first round will determine the entries that will advance to the Super Final, 50% by the jury and 50% by the TV audience. There the Estonian representative is selected by 100% televoting .

The program of Eesti Laul 2023

  • First Semi-Final – Thursday January 12
  • Second Semi-final – Saturday  January 14
  • Grand Final – Saturday February 11

Until we learn who is going to represent Estonia in Eurovision 2023, lets remember their song for last year’s contest. The previous winner of Eesti Laul and Estonia’s representative in Eurovision 2022 was Stefan with the song “Hope“,  who ended up in 13th place in the Grand Final, while on the same time he brough his country back to the final after a non-qualification in 2021:

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

Norway: The running order of Semi-Final One of Melodi Grand Prix 2023 released!

Norway’s public television, NRK, is once again organizing the national final Melodi Grand Prix for the selection of its Eurovision entry in Liverpool this May. NRK has today revealed the running order for Semi-Final One of Melodi Grand Prix 2023, which will take place on January 14.

The running order

  1. Alessandra Mele – “Queen Of Kings”
  2. Eirik Næss – “Wave”
  3. Rasmus Thall – “TRESKO”
  4. Kate Gulbrandsen – “Tårer i paradis”
  5. Umami Tsunami feat. Kyle Alessandro, Kristian Haugstøyl & Magnus Winjum – “Geronimo”
  6. Ulrikke Brandstorp – “Honestly”
  7. Byron Williams Jr & Jowst – “Freaky For The Weekend”

Listen to the 7 songs of the first semi final HERE.

Timetable

  • Saturday, 14 January: First Semi-Final (Song Announcement on Monday, 9 January)
  • Saturday, 21 January: Second Semi-Final (Song Announcement on Monday, 16 January)
  • Saturday, 28 January: Third Semi-Final (Song Announcement on Monday, 23 January)
  • Saturday, 4 February: Grand Final

We remind you that this year’s Melodi Gran Prix will be quite different from the previous ones, as there will be no duels or second chance round. In each semi-final, only the Norwegian televisionaudience will be able to vote, while in the final, for the first time since 2019, there will also be an international jury that will determine 50% of the result.

The songs will be published every Monday before the semi-final in which they will compete. Melodi Grand Prix 2023 will take place at the Spectrum in Trondheim and will be hosted by Arian Engebø and Stian Thorbjørnsen.

Source: NRK

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the updates about Melodi Grand Prix 2023!

San Marino: Semi Final dates for Una Voce per San Marino revealed!

New details have been revealed about the San Marino national selection for Eurovision.  The organizers have further revealed the dates for the national final.

The first major change is that some of the deadlines changed:

The application deadline has moved to January 27, 2023.

The registration period has moved from January 15, 2023 to February 13, 2023.

Una Voce per San Marino 2023

The second edition of Una Voce per San Marino will have five Semi Finals and a Grand Final.  However, the selection started with a number of casting rounds.  Two casting rounds took place between October and December 2022.  The last casting round is scheduled for January 27, 2023.   For the 2023 edition there was not a Established artist casting selection and no artist was invited directly to the final.  On the other hand, established artists could go directly in the semi-finals.

The five semi-finals will be held between 18-20 February, 2023.  Broadcaster SMRTV will broadcast the shows on delay.  For the Semi-Finals the contestants will sing a cover song and an unreleased song of their own.

The Grand Final will take place on February 25, 2023 at the Teatro Nuovo in Dogana.  Senhit (San Marino 2021, 2011) will host the final.  A panel of five jurors will chose the winner.  Two jurors from San Marino RTV, one from the Segreteria di Stato and two from the production company will make the jury vote.

Achille Lauro won Una Voce per San Marino 2023.  He represented San Marino in Eurovision 2022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCmX64N_sXM&ab_channel=EurovisionSongContest

Source: Una Voce per San Marino

 

Ammerah: I love the Eurovision Community | Exclusive Interview

After the announcement of her participation in this year’s national final of Belgium, Eurosong 2023, Ameerah gave an exclusive interview to EurovisionFun‘s Paschalis.

Ameerah is among the finalists of this year’s Eurosong and will try to represent her country at Eurovision 2023 with one of her two songs, “The Carnival” and “Armageddon“.

Preselecties voor het Eurovisiesongfestival 2023 in Liverpool. Wie gaat voor België naar het Eurovisiesongfestival?

 

I was born in Belgium and I have been living in the US for the last ten years. I write music for other artists and myself.

I hadn’t realised that people outside Belgium knew my song (The Sound of Missing You) and I was surprised to listen to it in other countries!

I’d like to come sing in Greece since I’ve never been there!

Thanks to a friend who is a singer and actor who told me that there was a call for songs. I love Eurovision and decided to participate! I worked with Zach Poor and Morgan Taylor Reid, we sent the songs and they were selected!

About her two songs

They were written for Eurovision. Eurovision isn’t that known in America, so I showed them videos of past winners so that we could create a song that would convince everyone within three minutes. 

It’s hard to choose a song. Carnival is an earworm, while Armageddon is something different, it starts as a ballad and afterwards it goes to a completely different direction. If I myself had to choose I wouldn’t be able to do it!

You are going to see a lot of wow-factor!

About the other Eurosong participants

I like a lot of songs! When we listened to the other artists’ songs they were all good. No matter who wins, we are going to have a very good song at Eurovision this year!

Her favorite past Eurovision entries

Sandra Kim since she won! I also like Loic Nottet, Tom Dice and Jeremie Makiese as well. 

Euphoria for sure, ABBA’s Waterloo and Volare.

I’d love to collaborate with ABBA who are legends, though I know that this is impossible.

Her message to Eurovisionfun

I love the Eurovision Community! You are die-hard fans, you look for the voice, the act, how everything looks and for me as an artist that’s what’s all about! Thank you for your love and I hope to meet you soon!

Watch the interview with Ameerah here:

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

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