Israel: Is Noa Kirel’s participation in Eurovision 2023 in danger? | The message of EBU’s General Director to the country’s prim minister!

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In a previous article we informed you about Israel’s possible abscence in Eurovision 2023, as the country’s government thinks about shutting down the public broadcaster and specifically its news department.

If this ends up happening, then the channel will not no longer meet its commitment to a full range of programming as public service media, putting in doubt its eligibility for EBU membership and ability to take part in major events such as the Eurovision Song Contest.

The EBU’s Director General, Noel Curran, has expressed his concern about threats to the integrity and independence of Israeli national public broadcaster, KAN, in a letter to the country’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu:

“Independent news and information form an integral component of public service media organizations and make a key contribution to media pluralism in well-functioning democracies…. With the primary interest of the public in mind, that directly funds KAN, we trust the new government will also safeguard the independence of KAN and enable it to continue to fulfil its mission in democratic society.”

General Director Curran, finished his letter by saying:

“The EBU’s responsibility is to ensure that it supports all our Members in their mission to serve the interests of the general public in the best possible manner. These developments risk undermining KAN’s capability to meet its commitments as a member of our international alliance of public service media organizations.”

Causing particular concern were recent remarks by the country’s Communications Minister, Shlomo Karhi, that challenged the freedom of the press and threatened to shut down KAN’s news operation. In a radio interview, he stated that:

“The public shouldn’t fund one particular channel, there should not be public broadcasting.”

Since its creation in 2017, KAN’s television, radio and online offer has included a diverse range of news and information, entertainment, cultural and educational content. Its membership of the EBU also enables the broadcaster to benefit from world-class sports rights, including the 2022 World Cup, and live entertainment, notably the Eurovision Song Contest that was organized by KAN in 2019, following Israel’s win the previous year.

Back in 2017, the then Israeli government had issued statements showing intent to dismantle KAN’s news operation. These were finally abandoned when the EBU insisted on this being a condition of the Israeli broadcaster’s hosting of the 2019 Song Contest.

In the end, we would like to remind you that Israel had already confirmed its taking part in Eurovision 2023 back in March 2022 and has selcted Noa Kirel internally as their representative. Will the young singer be able to perform on Liverpool’s stage?

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

Source: ebu.ch

Estonia: The Semi-Finals Running Order of Eesti Laul 2023 has been revealed!

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A short while ago, the Estonian broadcaster announced the running order of the 20 artists who will compete in the two semi-finals of Eesti Laul 2023!

Janek will open the curtain with House of Glass, while Anett and Fredi will be the last to perform in the first semi-final with You Need to Move On. Inger‘s Awaiting You will be the first song to be heard in the Second Semi-Final, which will end with Alika‘s Bridges.

The running order for the Two Semi-Finals is as follows:
First Semi-Final – January 12
  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”
Second Semi-Final – January 14
  1. Inger – “Awaiting You”
  2. Linalakk & Bonzo – “Aeg” (Time)
  3. Meelik- “Tuju”
  4. Elysa – “Bad Philosophy”
  5. Robin Juhkental – “Kurbuse matused” (Funeral of sorrow)
  6. m els – “So Good At What You Do”
  7. Wiiralt – “Salalik“
  8. Sissi – “Lighthouse”’
  9. Carlos Ukareda – “Whiskey Won’t Forget”
  10. Alika – “Bridges”

Eesti Laul 2023

In the semi-finals, five songs (out of ten) from each show will be selected to advance to the Grand Final. Three songs will be chosen by the audience and two by the jury.

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 .

Eesti Laul 2023 will take place on the following dates:

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

Last year’s winner of Eesti Laul and Estonia’s representative at Eurovision 2022 was Stefan with the song “Hope”. He finished in 13th place in the Grand Final, bringing his country back to the final after an elimination in 2021:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdTpQmMem8U

Stay tuned for all developments about Estonia in Eurovision 2023!

Source: ERR

Belgium: The jury of Eurosong 2023 has been announced!

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Less than two weeks before Belgium‘s national final, the names of the 15-member jury which, together with the public, will choose the country’s song for Eurovision 2023 have been announced.

The members of the jury are the following:

Nikkie De Jager aka NikkieTurtorials (presenter of Eurovision 2021 in Rotterdam)
Alexander Rybak (Winner of Eurovision 2009 and representative of Norway in 2018)
Jeremie Makiese (Representative of Belgium in Eurovision 2022)
Laura Tesoro (Representative of Belgium in Eurovision 2016)
Laura Govaerts (Presenter)
Ann Reymen (Radio producer)
Korneel De Clercq (Radio producer)
Thibault Christiaensen (Musician)
Francicso Schuster (Musician)
Leslie Cable (Head of delegation)
Stephan Monsieur (President of OGAE)
André Vermeulen (Journalist and Eurovision expert)
Els Germonpré (Music coordinator)
Manu Lammens (Music director)
Jasper Van Biesen (Author of “65 years of Belgium at Eurovision”)

Eurosong 2023

Belgium’s national final will take place on Saturday, 14 January. The seven artists who will participate in Eurosong 2023 have qualified with two song entries each. A week before the national final, the artists themselves will choose, with the help of a group of other expert Belgian musicians, which of their two entries will be their participation in the national final. The Belgian representative in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest will be determined by both the jury and the TV audience. The candidates are the following:

Ameerah – The Carnival & Armageddon
Cherine – Ca m’ennuie pas & Mon ‘Etoile
Gala Aliaj Dragot – Emotion Ollie & T’lnquiete
Gustaph – Because Of You & The Nail
Hunter Falls – Home & Ooh La La
Loredana De Amicis – You Lift Me Up & Dream in Colors
The Starlings – Oceanside & Rollercoaster

Listen to teasers of all the songs here!

Belgium was represented by Jeremie Makiese in Eurovision 2022 with the song “Miss You”, finishing 19th in the Grand Final:

https://youtu.be/sB09advfF6E

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all news regarding the Belgian entry in Eurovision 2023!

Source: songfestival.be

Azerbaijan: More than 200 songs submitted for Eurovision 2023!

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Some time ago Ictimai, the public broadcaster of Azerbaijan, begun searching for their new representative in Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

After an open call to artists and composers, the country is once again set to choose its representative for the 67th Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool through an internal selection. Those interested could send their performances, their demos or new songs exclusively for Eurovision to the channel, until yesterday, December 31.

The invitation of the public broadcaster, was of great interest to many composers and artists, as more than 200 songs were submitted to represent the country!

Vasif Mammadov, the Head of Delegation of Azerbaijan, spoke about the upcoming contest and mentioned that most of the 200 songs submitted belong to foreign composers:

“Our goal and desire with this is to have local composer’s music featured in competition. Based on the selection process, if local and foreign song meet the same criteria, we will prefer local song. That is, we really want the music of Azerbaijani composer to be played in the competition. Let’s demonstrate that we also have talented composers. I hope this can serve as a stimulus for years to come. Finally, in May we can use the phrase “we did our best” with peace of mind. It should be noted that the choice of song and representative is expected to be completed by the end of January.”

Apparently despite the great interest of foreign composers, the country intends to work with composers from Azerbaijan this year.

Nadir Rustamli represented Azerbaijan in Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin with the song “Fade to Black” and ended up in 16th place in the Grand Final with a total of 106 points. On the same time he is the first artist to qualify for the Grand Final while getting zero points from televote in the semi-final.

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

Germany: New information on the national final “Unser Lied für Liverpool 2023”!

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New information about the German national final for Eurovision 2023 “Unser Lied für Liverpool” (“Our song for Liverpool”) is given to us by Thomas Mohr and Marcel Stober in their podcast “ESC Update“.

Specifically, the selection process takes place in three stages, in the first of which the candidate songs for participation in the national final have already been evaluated by a jury made up of the ARD-ESC close team as well as other experts. Therefore, in addition to the editorial team for Eurovision with members, among others, the head of the German mission Alexandra Wolfslast and the editor Stefan Leidner, the committee also included representatives of eurovision.de (eg Marcel Stober) and representatives of the radio (eg Thomas Mohr ). The purpose of this committee was to involve people who deal with Eurovision and have the necessary knowledge about it. The jury heard and selected the best from around 600 entries at its meeting on December 9, with the exact number of entries not yet known.

In the second stage of the selection process, the songs selected by the jury will be presented to a second international panel of experts, whose members and selection criteria remain unknown. A similar international committee was used, however, in the process of selecting the country from 2018 until 2021, which did not vote but expressed its opinion regarding the candidate songs.

In the third and final stage of the process, the closest editorial team, the aforementioned ARD-ESC will select which (possibly seven) entries will participate in the national final, along with one entry that will be determined by a vote on TikTok.

Regarding the date and venue of the national final, which channel will broadcast it and who will be the presenters, relevant announcements are expected to be made in early January, according to the NRD press office.

Germany was represented at Eurovision 2022 by Malik Harris, who took last place in the final with the song Rockstars.

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

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

source: ESC Kompakt

Albania: “Duje” to remain in Albanian for Eurovision 2023!

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A few days ago, Festivali i Këngës 61 ended with Albina & Familja Kelmendi being the ones who received the ticket to represent Albania in the Eurovision 2023 contest, with the song “Duje“.

Speaking to RTSH, Albina made revelations about the song “Duje” in Eurovision 2023. In an interview with Albania’s public broadcaster, Albina confirmed that “Duje” will remain in Albanian, meaning that Albania is one of the countries that chooses its own language in Eurovision every year since 2018.

However, one more tradition of the country that will continue in 2023 is that the song will be revamped ahead of the competition this May in Liverpool as she revealed.

Below, watch the winning performance of Albina & Familja Kelmendi, with the song “Duje” that will represent Albania at Eurovision 2023:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZxe3Ce6yEI

Watch the Eurovisionfun team react to Albina & Familja Kelmendi with the song  “Duje”, Albania’s entry for Eurovision 2023!

Source: Eurovision Albania

What do you think will be the fate of Albania in Eurovision 2023? Tell us in the comments below!

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all developments regarding Albania’s participation in Eurovision 2023!

Romania: Listen to the songs for Selecţia Naţională 2023!

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The songs that will represent Romania in this year‘s Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool have just been released!

You can listen to the nominated songs below:

  1. Adriana Moraru – “Faralaes”
  2. Aledaida – “Bla Bla Bla”
  3. AMIA – “Puppet”
  4. Andrada Popa – “No time for me”
  5. Andreea D Folclor Orchestra – “Periniţa mea”
  6. Deiona – “Call on me”
  7. Erin Dăneţ – “Bad & cool”
  8. Maryliss – “Hai Vino”
  9. Ocean Drive – “Take you home”
  10. Andrei Duțu – “Statues”
  11. Steven Roho x Gabriella x Formaţia Albatros – “Lele”
  12. Theodor Andrei – “D.G.T. (Off and on)”

The Selecţia Nacională 2023 final will take place on February 11, 2023 and will be broadcast live from TVR‘s studios. The winner will be decided solely by audience vote, with voting opening during the show.

Last year‘s Selecţia Nţională winner was WRS who with “Llamame” brought Romania to the final for the first time since 2017!

https://youtu.be/nPpuwy79sHs

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the latest new regarding your favourite song contest!

Slovenia: Joker Out! recorded their entry for Eurovision 2023!

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Slovenia was the fourth country to announce its representative for Eurovision 2023. Pop/rock band Joker Out! were internally selected by  Slovenia’s public television RTVSLO, something that came as a surprise since the country has selected Eurovision entries through national finals, apart from once.

Joker Out! consists of Bojan Cvjetićanin, Kris Guštin, Jan Peteh, Jure Maček and Martin Jurkovič . They have already released four singles and a full length album since 2016 when they were formed. They are one of the most popular Slovenian artists in recent years. In 2020 they won the award for the best new artist, and in 2021 for the artist of the year! All their concerts are sold out, while they recently released a single in Serbian, aiming to target a broader market in the former Yugoslavia region.

Through an Instagram post, the band announced that they have finished recording their Eurovision entry. The song was recorded in Hamburg at the Cloud Hills Studio. Lyrics will be in Slovenian and the entry will be released on February 4th.

 

Δείτε αυτή τη δημοσίευση στο Instagram.

 

Η δημοσίευση κοινοποιήθηκε από το χρήστη Joker Out (@joker_out_official)

Are you excited to hear the Slovenian entry for Eurovision 2023? Let us know in the comments!

Greece: These are the results of the vote of the Audience Jury!

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Yesterday, Wednesday 28/12, the 70 members of the Audience Jury heard for the first time the 7 candidate songs of ERT for Eurovision 2023. In a well-organized process by all accounts, we also have a first fairly reliable picture of the voting results. Eurovisionfun having contacted many of the committee members, but also from social media posts, related forums and groups dealing with the Eurovision contest, we are able to reveal to you the results of the voting.

So, based on all the above, the three songs that are leading in the Audience Jury’s rating are the following:

  • Melissa Mantzoukis – Liar
  • Klavdia – Holy Water
  • Victor Vernicos – What they say

We may not know the exact order of the above three songs, but without any doubt they are the three songs that the Audience Committee singled out and were first in their preferences.

On the other hand, the three songs that seem to be in the last three places of preference of the Audience Committee are the following:

  • Monika – I’m Proud
  • Konstantina Iosifidou – We’re young
  • Antonia Kaouri & Maria Maragou – Shout out

Right in the middle of the preferences, it seems, is the participation of Leon of Athens – Somewhere to go.

Η επιτροπή κοινού κατά τη διάρκεια της ακρόασης των 7 τραγουδιών

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.

We remind you that the vote of the Audience Jury constitutes 50.6% of the final result, with 49.4% determined by the seven-member jury of ERT.

Immediately after the New Year, the artists and their groups will meet the artistic committee and the management of ERT in separate appointments, in order to present their plans for the stage appearance, the promotion of the song, etc., if they are selected. The artistic committee will then give their own score, where combined with the score of the Audience Committee, they will determine the artist and the song that will represent Greece in Liverpool. The announcement is expected by mid-January.

Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun for all the updates!

Greece: These are the titles of the 7 shortlisted songs for Eurovision 2023!

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The titles of the 7 shortlisted songs have been announced today by the Greek Public Broadcaster ERT. One of these will represent Greece at Eurovision 2023.

The titles are:

  • Antonia Kaouri & Maria Maragkou – Shout Out! 
  • Konstantina Iosifidou – We are Young
  • Klavdia – Holy Water
  • Leon of Athens – Somewhere to Go
  • Melissa Mantzoukis – Liar
  • Monika – I’ m Proud
  • Victor Vernicos – What They Say

Greece: The 7 artists of ERT’s shortlist have been revealed!

The Greek entry for Eurovision 2023 will be selected by a combined vote of a demoscopic jury counting for 50,6% and a professional jury counting for 49,4%, a voting pattern similar to the new system which was announced a few months ago by EBU, to be used at the Grand Final of Eurovision 2023.

Don’t miss our YouTube live at 20.00 Greek Time, where we’ll be talking all about everything, commenting on today’s announcements and the voting process of the public committee!

 

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the latest updates on the Greek entry and more!

source: ΕΡΤ