Italy: Sanremo Giovani 2023 tonight!

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Italian music lovers will have the opportunity to get a first taste of the upcoming 74th San Remo Festival tonight, as the Sanremo Giovani 2023 will be held in the small town of Liguria, from which three artists will compete in February in the great celebration of Italian music.

For the third consecutive year, Sanremo Giovani is not included in the Festival’s programme, with Amadeus keen to enhance its prestige by giving the new voices of Italian music the opportunity to introduce themselves to the ever-demanding Italian audience.

A total of twelve artists will take part in tonight’s show. The selection of the twelve participants was the result of a very extensive process that involved more than 550 artists until the final twelve were shortlisted.

Finalists

In particular, the artists who will take part tonight in the Sanremo Giovani 2023 Grand Final are:

  • bnkr44 – “Effetti speciali”
  • Clara – “Boulevard”
  • Grenbaud – “Mama”
  • Jacopo Sol – “Cose che non sai”
  • Lor3n – “Fiore d’inverno”
  • Santi Francesi – “Occhi tristi”
  • Tancredi – “Perle”
  • Vale –  “Stronza”
  • Dipinto – “Criminali”
  • Fellow – “Alieno”
  • Nausica – “Favole”
  • Omini – “Mare Forza 9oi”

The selection of the three artists who will participate in February at Sanremo 2024 alongside the big names of Italian music will be determined 50% by the judgement of a jury together with the Festival’s artistic director, Amadeus, and 50% by the popular will of Italian viewers.

The presenter of tonight’s event will, of course, be Amadeus, and the show is expected to start at 21:30 CET. You can watch Sanremo Giovani 2023 through Rai1’s channel by clicking HERE.

This year, Italy was represented for the second time by Marco Mengoni, after winning Sanremo 2023, with the song Due Vite. The song with 350 points won fourth place in the grand final!

https://youtu.be/d6IiOSut_4M

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments!

Albania: Festivali i Këngës 62 begins tonight!

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December cannot be December without Festivali i Këngës and so, tonight, the 62nd edition of the celebration of Albanian music begins in Tirana. Festivali i Këngës 62 kicks off in a few hours from now, being the means to determine Albania’s representative at the 68th Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Malmö in May.

Format

Festivali i Këngës 62 will last four days, with the 31 participants competing over the next four nights for six prizes, one of which is directly related to Albania’s representation at Eurovision in Malmö a few months from now.

On the first (Tuesday) and second (Wednesday) nights will feature the semi-finals of the festival, on the third night (Thursday) the so-called “Nostalgia Night” will take place, while the festival will culminate on Friday with the Grand Final.

Like last year, FiK 62 will have two separate winners. The winner of the jury vote will be crowned as the winner of the festival and the winner of the public vote will be chosen as the country’s representative in Malmö.

The jury will consist of 11 members who will award 6 different prizes based on artistic criteria and the winner of the festival.

First Semi-Final

As mentioned above, the first semi-final of the 62nd great celebration of Albanian music will take place tonight. The artists who will perform tonight on the stage of Pallati i Kongreseve in Tirana are:

  1. Stivi Ushe – «Askush Si Ty»
  2. Besa Kokëdhima – «Zemrën N’dorë»
  3. Mal Retkoceri – «Çmendur»
  4. Eldis Arnjeti – «Një Kujtim»
  5. Shpat Deda – «S’mund T’fitoj Pa Ty»
  6. Jehona Ponari – «Evol»
  7. Peter Pan Quartet – «Edhe Një Herë»
  8. Festina Mejzini – «Melos»
  9. Kastro Zizo – «2073»
  10. Luan Durmishi – «Përsëritja»
  11. Melodajn Mancaku – «Nuk Jemi Ne»
  12. Olsi Ballta – «Unë»
  13. Andi Tanko – «Herë Pas Here»
  14. Sergio Hajdinifdq – «Uragan»
  15. Santino de Bartolo – «Dua Të Rri Me Ty»
  16. Olimpia Smajlaj – «Asaj»

The presenters of FiK 62 will be Adriana Matoshi, Kledi Kadiu, Xhuliano Dule and Krisa Çaushi.

The first night of Festivali i Këngës 62 starts at 20:30 (CET) and you can watch it by clicking HERE.

Last year’s winners of the public vote were Albina & Familja Kelmendi with their song “Duje“, earning the right to represent Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool. Albina & Familja Kelmendi again brought their country to the Grand Final, finishing in tenth place in the public vote and in twenty-second place overall.

https://youtu.be/TI9rSDhXwyc

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news!

Iceland: Protest against Israel’s participation at Eurovision 2024 outside the Public Broadcaster offices!

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Earlier today, protesters gathered in front of the offices of the Icelandic Public Broadcaster RUV, calling for the disqualification of Israel from Eurovision 2024 due to the Israel-Gaza conflict. Around 50 people assembled in Reykjavik,  in support of Gaza and with one of their main demands to Israel’s withdrawal from the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest which will be held in Malmö, Sweden.

Stefan Eiríksson, the director of Icelandic Public Radio, met with a delegation of protesters who handed him a petition with 9,500 signatures calling for withdrawal from the 68th Eurovision Song Contest if Israel takes part. They urged RUV to put pressure on both the EBU and other public broadcasters to prevent Israel’s participation in the competition.

Sama Arla, the spokesperson of the protesters, stated that if Israel participates in Eurovision 2024, then RUV should withdraw Iceland’s participation.

“Iceland, like all the other countries competing in the Eurovision Song Contest, has the power to demand that Israel’s participation is re-examined in light of the fact that Israel is committing genocide. We know that there is usually a lot of controversy about RÚV’s lack of action on the matter. We want to see more action from RÚV. Also in the case of Russia, it was initially not expelled from the competition until the Finns threatened to withdraw. Anyone can take that first step and we want Iceland to do so.”

When asked whether they will be any further action if RUV  does not boycott the contest the reply was:

“This is a Public Television Network that should listen to the voices of the people in the country. It will be unusual if the decision to boycott the competition is not accepted.”

A few days ago, RUV, through Stefan Eiríksson, announced that Iceland would participate in Eurovision 2024. He stated that Iceland would not ask for the disqualification of Israel from the contest, emphasizing that the event should remain separate from political matters.

So far, no EBU member has officially asked the disqualification of Israel from Eurovision 2024.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the latest updates!

Source: Euromix

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United Kingdom: Olly Alexander’s song for Eurovision 2024 is finished!

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Former Years & Years frontman Olly Alexander revealed during the Grand Final of BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing that he will represent the United Kingdom at Eurovision 2024, causing excitement to the delighted studio audience and the millions of viewers watching at home. He has been on the Wishlist of many fans to represent the UK, being the lead singer of one of the most successful groups and winning multiple awards.

Olly was a guest on the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show on Monday and revealed that he was close to taking part in Eurovision a few years ago:

“I’ve wanted to do it for a long, long time since I was a kid. I almost did it a couple of years back but it didn’t work out – I didn’t have the right song – but this time it feels like the right time”

He also added that the song has been completed, but when asked by host Matt Edmondson when it will be released, he only replied “soon”.

The song is being co-written with Danny L Harle, who is one of the most successful music producers in the UK and the man behind Dua Lipa’s recent single “Houdini”.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 is organized in collaboration with the city of Malmö and will be broadcast from Malmö Arena on Tuesday 7 May (semi-final 1), Thursday 9 May (semi-final 2) and Saturday 11 May (final) after Loreen won for a second time in Liverpool with the song “Tattoo“.

Stay tuned at EurovisionFun for all the latest news regarding the Eurovision Song Contest!

Source: BBC Radio 1

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Luxembourg: “Luxembourg Song Contest” ticket sale started | The pre-sale is sold out!

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A few hours ago, the pre-sale for the Luxembourgish national final, namely Luxembourg Song Contest, started. Via the site of of Rockhal, those interested had the opportunity to purchase tickets for the spectacular show -as expected- organized by RTL not only to select the first Luxembourgish Eurovision act in thirty years but also as a showcase of the national music scene to a global audience.

The ticket prizes started from 40 euros(without fees) extending to 80 euros(without fees) and were available via Rockhal.

The pre-sale was a massive success

The public’s reaction was enormous and just within a few hours, all tickets went sold out. Those who did not manage to find a ticket today, should not worry yet! A waiting list will be established on the website in case there is another sale.

Luxembourg Song Contest 2024

RTL promises us a spectacular show with the best that the Luxembourgish scene has to offer. Following an extensive selection and the involvement of an international experts’ committee, these eight artists will compete for the Luxembourgish representation in Malmö:

  1. Joel Marques
  2. Naomi Ayé
  3. EDSUN
  4. Krick
  5. One Last Time
  6. TALI
  7. Angy & Rafa Ela
  8. CHAiLD

 

The winner will be decided with a combination of jury and public vote (50%/50%).

Luxembourg Song Contest will take place on January 27 at the Rockhal in Esch/Alzette. More details are expected to be revealed at a later stage, while the participating songs will be made public in early January.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all news!

Source: RTL

Israel: Everything that happened in the sixth HaKokhav Haba episode!

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The sixth episode of HaKokhav Haba (special edition), the talent show through which Israel‘s representative for Eurovision 2024 will be selected, aired on Sunday, December 17!

Three more artists qualified for the next phase of HaKokhav Haba.

In episode six, four auditions aired and three more artists went through to the next round. Assi Azar and Rotem Sela, who have been hosting HaKokhav Haba since 2014, are the show’s presenters. The jury is made up of Eden Hasson, Shiri Maimon, Itay Levy, Assaf Amdorsky, Ran Dankar, and Keren Pels.

Noa Aharon

Noa registered to participate in the show unaware that the winner of HaKokhav Haba would represent Israel in the 2024 Eurovision contest. Though she said prior to the audition that she is really stressed out and worries that this will show in her appearance, she received votes from both the judges and audience, and with 94% of the vote, she advanced to the next round.


Zohar Zakharov

Zohar turns eighteen in a few months. He put in an emotional performance and received favorable feedback from most judges. Zohar advanced to the next round with 81% .

Livy Naftali

Livy is an eighteen-year-old actress and singer. Although she was born in the US, she later moved back to Israel with her parents. She made another attempt to represent the country in 2022, this time on X Factor, where she showed up right before the teams were formed. Livy earned an 82% rating, earning praise from all but one of the judges. She will return in the next phase of the competition.

In the upcoming episode—the airdate of which is still unknown— additional auditions will be broadcasted. Israel qualified for the finals every year from 2015 to 2020 through HaKokhav HaBa, and Netta won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2018 with the song “Toy”.

Israel was represented this year by Noa Kirel and the song “Unicorn”, which came in third place with 362 points overall.

Stay tuned on EurovisionFun to stay up to date on all the latest news about the world’s largest music competition!

Source: euromix 

Greece: Eurovision 2010 entrant Giorgos Alkaios praises the selection of Marina Satti!

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Following ERT‘s announcement in October that Marina Satti will represent Greece in Eurovision 2024, a number of Greek musicians expressed their satisfaction with this choice. Among these artists is Giorgos Alkaios, who, through the Mega show “Akoma den eides tipota” described the choice of Marina Satti as “excellent”.

More specifically, he stated:

Marina Satti is great.

Well done to ERT for their excellent choice.

It’s one of the few occasions in the past few years that ERT has shown that it can finish in the top three or even take the first place. Marina is going to do extremely well, in my opinion.

Giorgos Alkaios represented Greece in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest in Olso, Norway. His song “Opa” placed eighth overall.

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun to stay up to date on all the latest news about the world’s largest music competition!

 

Italy: The press will listen to all the Sanremo songs on January 15!

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On January 15th, several members of the press are going to listen to all the Sanremo 2024 songs! During that day, music journalists and music blogs will publish their initial reviews and reactions to all 30 songs that will compete in the 74th edition of the Italian music festival. 

The 74th Sanremo Music Festival will take place from February 6 to February 10. The songs will be performed live for the first time during the festival, but, like every year, members of the italian press will have the opportunity to listen to the songs and publish their reviews. The results of those reviews are usually very close to the final results, predicting both the winner and the songs that will finish high in the top 10.

The participants of Sanremo 2024

  • Fiorella Mannoia
  • Geolier
  • Dargen d’Amico
  • Emma (  ESC 2014)
  • Fred de Palma
  • Angelina Mango
  • La Sad
  • Diodato (  ESC 2020)
  • Il Tre
  • Francesco Renga & Nek
  • Sangiovanni
  • Alfa
  • Il Volo (  ESC 2015)
  • Alessandra Amoroso
  • Gazzelle
  • Negramaro
  • Irama
  • Rose Ville
  • Mahmood (  ESC 2019/2022)
  • Loredana Bertè
  • The Kolors
  • Big Mama
  • Ghali
  • Annalisa
  • Mr. Rain
  • Maninni
  • Ricchi e Poveri (  ESC 1978)

We remind you that the three winners of Sanremo Giovani, which is set to take place in December 19, will be added to this cast but with a whole new song.

The Program of Sanremo 2024

1ST DAY – TUESDAY, 6TH FEBRUARY 2024

The 30 songs will be performed for the first time, with the results of that day being 100% determined by the press, TV and web jury – no elimination

2ND DAY – WEDNESDAY, 7TH FEBRUARY 2024

The first 15 songs will be performed again, with the results of that day being determined by a dual voting: 50% televoting and 50% radio jury – no elimination

3RD DAY – THURSDAY, 8TH FEBRUARY 2024

The last 15 songs will be performed again, with the results of that day being determined by a dual voting: 50% televoting and 50% radio jury – no elimination

4TH DAY – FRIDAY, 9TH FEBRUARY 2024 – COVER DAY

The 30 acts will perform (alongside a guest act or acts of their choice) a cover version of either an italian or an non-italian song with the result of that day being determined a threesome voting: 34% televoting, 33% press, TV and web jury and 33% radio jury – no elimination

5TH DAY – SATURDAY, 10TH FEBRUARY 2024

The 30 songs will be performed again, with the results of that day being 100% determined by the televoting After that, the results of the day will join those of Sanremo 2024’s previous 4 days.

The sum of all those results will then determine the top-5 (even the 4th day will count, despite the fact the acts sing covers as opposed to their original songs) (Note that during each show, they reveal a part of the results from those days just before the end of the current show… and they show only a part of the provisory general results either just before the end of the current show or at the start of the following show) – The top-5 will either perform their entries again or a recap will be shown and then the winner will be determined by a threesome voting: 34% televoting, 33% press, TV and web jury and 33% radio jury

POST SANREMO 2024 – EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

Any of the 30 acts (and its respective record labels) who are interested in going to the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 will have to fill a special form concerning ESC – The winning act of Sanremo 2024 is automatically considered to be the Eurovision 2024 act. The winning act also has first refusal on that matter, though – in case it doesn’t accept going to Eurovision at all, the show’s organizing committee will then pick the Eurovision 2024 act according to their own criteria (this is especially important to those who have filled the form that determines its interest in going to ESC)

Sanremo 2024, will have different hosts every night alongside Amadeus:

  • Marco Mengoni, the Italian representative for Eurovision 2023 will be the co-host of Night 1.
  • Giorgia, a well-known Italian singer who has participated in Sanremo four times and was crowned its winner in 1995, will be the co-host of Night 2.
  • Teressa Mannino, Italian actress and comedian, will co-host Night 3.
  • Lorella Cuccarini, Italian dancer, TV presenter, singer and actress, will co-host Night 4.
  • Fiorello, Italian actor, will co-host among with Amadeus the big night of the Festival’s Final.

So for those who are fans of the Italian music scene, are not bored of the endless TV shows and are ready for a week of night and day, we at Eurovisionfun will keep you the best company!

The previous winner of Sanremo and Italy’s representative at Eurovision 2024, was Marco Mengoni, with his song “Due Vite”, ending up in fourth place of the Grand Final with 350 points:

https://youtu.be/d6IiOSut_4M

What do you think of the finalists of Festival di Sanremo 2024? Write us in the comments below!

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Italian  participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, in Malmö!

Czechia: Over 45.000 viewers watched ESCZ 2024!

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This year ESCZ, the national final through which Czechia’s entry for the 68th Eurovision Song Contest was selected, was broadcast live on TV by Czech broadcaster ČT art instead of being streamed online for the first time in fifteen years. This move was well received by the television audience, as ESCZ drew in over 45,000 viewers.

This number corresponds to 1.22% of the total viewers.

Aiko, with the song “Pedestal”, was the ESCZ winner and, as a result, the Czech representative in Eurovision 2024.

By collecting nearly twice as many votes as Elly, who came in second in the final rankings, Aiko was able to get the ticket for Malmö through the voting of the international audience rather than the Czech one.

The detailed results of ESCZ 2024:
  1. Aiko – 23.898
  2. Elly – 12.876
  3. MYDY – 7.031
  4. Tom Sean – 3.500
  5. Lenny – 2.375
  6. Tomas Robin – 1.313
  7. Gianna Lei – 653

Below you can watch the Eurovisionfun team’s reaction video to the Czech entry:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun to stay up to date on all the latest news about the world’s largest music competition!

Source: ESCplus

Sweden: A collaboration Smash Into Pieces made might be in breach of SVT rules?

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“Smash Into Pieces initiates a collaboration with Keep Sweden Tidy“. That was a press release that the sanitation organization sent out recently. The press release also mentioned that the band has participated in this year’s Melodifestivalen and “finished in an impressive third place” and since then “continued to make an impression”.

This may be in conflict with SVT‘s rules for how artists may use the Melodifestivalen brand in other contexts. Earlier this year, the project manager for Melodifestivalen, Anders Wistbacka, says to Resumé after they asked questions about Smash Into Pieces‘ collaboration with Keep Sweden Tidy:

“The participants have the right to do whatever they want, as long as there is no connection to Melodifestivalen. Any violations must be examined on a case-by-case basis and we will now contact the parties concerned to investigate this case”

What is a connection to Melodifestivalen? Is a mention in a press release enough? It has become increasingly difficult for SVT to stick to its original rule that artists in Melodifestivalen are not allowed to engage commercially in connection with the festival. Prior to this year’s Melodifestivalen, SVT itself wrote that: “SVT seems to have become more generous in its interpretation of the regulations for Melodifestivalen artists’ advertising assignments.” Then Aftonbladet‘s reporter Tobbe Ek explained the change as follows:

“20 years ago, artists’ advertising collaborations were a controversial topic. SVT was careful not to mix with companies with Melodifestvialen’s participating artists. Nowadays, there are many artists who get their main income through commercial collaborations and since Melodifestivalen wants to have the hottest artists, the regulations have had to be interpreted more openly.”

For Resumé, Anders Wistbacka clarifies the relaxed rules:

“Participating artists are not under a waiting period for their participation in Melodifestivalen. This means that it’s okay to do advertising collaborations. However, the artists are not allowed to link their participation in Melodifestivalen to commercial contexts. The song itself is under a 30-day waiting period after the last participation in Melodifestivalen. It is impossible for us to continuously control all artists’ activities outside Melodifestivalen, but we always act when situations come to our attention.”

Lisa Possne Frisell, Head of Communications at Keep Sweden Tidy, writes in an email to Resumé:

“We have been in dialogue with SVT and understood our miswording in the message as the partnership is not dependent or should be reflected in their participation in Melodifestivalen. So we would like to correct the design.”

Smash Into Pieces will take part in Heat 1, Saturday 3 February 2024, in Malmö Arena, with the song“Heroes Are Calling”. In 2023, they participated with the song “Six Feet Under” and placed third.

Source: Resumé

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