Israel: The search for Eurovision 2024 begins!

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The talent show HaKokhav HaBa (Rising Star) starts its broadcast tonight in Israel. The winner of the show will represent the country in Eurovision 2024.

HaKokhav HaBa returns as a method of selecting the artist representing Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest after 2020. The show was scheduled to start earlier this month, but the armed conflict with Hamas delayed its launch.

Tonight, however, we will watch the first episode of the auditions, which took place a week ago in Jerusalem. The results will be determined by a 60% jury vote and a 40% audience focus group vote. The HaKokhav HaBa jury includes Asaf Amdursky, Itay Levy, Keren Peles, Shiri Maimon, Ran Danker and Eden Hason. The presenters of the show are Assi Azzar and Rotem Sela.

Through HaKokhav HaBa, Israel managed to qualify for the Grand Final every year, and in 2018 Netta won the contest!

This year Israel was represented by the country’s super star Noa Kirel with the song Unicorn, placing third in the Grand Final.

Stay tuned at EurovisionFun for all the latest news regarding our favourite Contest!

 

The Netherlands: Cornald Maas thinks he will know the Dutch entry by mid-December!

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Cornald Maas, who is Dutch Eurovision commentator and selection procedure committee member and almost stepped down hist role due to the controversy that revolved around the Netherlands’ choice of Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper, had a short interview with Shownieuws on Monday and shared a few details regarding the act that will travel to the Eurovision Song Contest held in Malmö, Sweden for the Netherlands in 2024:

“We are dropping more and more songs and then I hope – but that is quite a rich and varied range, also in terms of genres – that we will have it out by mid-December.”

Cornald also coments on the sessions that will take place in the selection process, where the committee will be larger than it used to:

“But we still have a series of sessions to go with a larger committee than before.”

Maas also confirms a few artist names that have submitted songs from the Dutch selection process of 2024:

“Numidia, Joost Klein, April Darby, Caro Emerald – or her name is The Jordan now – they have all said in the media that they want to. They have all submitted songs and I won’t say anything else about it, haha.”

Last year, Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper represented the Netherlands with the song “Burning Daylight”. The entry placed 13th in the semifinals, marking the country’s first elimination since 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOf-oKDlO6A

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Source: Shownieuws
Photo: Corinne Cumming / EBU

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San Marino: The first names of Una Voce per San Marino 2024!

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The first artists who will participate in the first round of auditions for Una Voce per San Marino 2024 have just been announced.

Applications for the “new” artists category are now open and will remain open until 10 January 2024.

The “Academy and Casting” stage will start on 10 November and will conclude ten days after the submission deadline, on 20 January.

Below you can see the first candidates for the first round of auditions:

10 November
  • ATLANTIS
  • WILL ON EARTH
  • ILYTH
  • ELA
  • Sissy
  • UMABE
  • Vincent
  • KARMA
  • Prima
  • Drum N’ Jack
  • Zell
  • HAND ON HEART
  • Laura Pizzicannella
  • DJ Belle
  • Ivan
  • MORENA
  • Francesca Bernardini
  • Elena
  • Alessio’s Mind
  • Gem
  • Gaia Belletti
  • Fab Mayenga
  • Viva
  • The Sidèra
  • Nekò
  • MAURIZIO RASTELLETTI
  • Eklettika
  • fausto rossi
  • Diego Rojas Chaigneau
  • Eki & Katy
11 Νovember
  • Giada Fazi
  • OARA
  • Damiano è una regola
  • GRETEL

How will Una Voce per San Marino 2024 work?

The 2024 edition will include both “new” and “established” artists, as in 2022.

  • Applications for the “new artists” category are now open and will remain open until 10 January 2024. Those interested can register on the corresponding registration site of the event. The “Academy and Casting” stage will start on 10 November and will end ten days after the submission deadline, on 20 January. The aforementioned castings can be carried out online for those who live far from Italy. After this process, 80 artists will qualify for the semi-finals.
  • As for the category of “established artists“, the broadcaster will send out invitations and proposals.

In the Grand Final there will be 16 participants, 8 from each category. Both “established” and “new” artists will compete with only one of their songs.

There are no other specific rules regarding the submitted entries. Language, musical style, as well as the nationality of the artists is completely free.

The Grand Final of Una Voce per San Marino is scheduled for March 2 2024. It will be held at the Teatro Nuovo di Dogana, the same venue that hosted the selection in 2022 and 2023. The winner will be decided by the vote of a special jury.

Despite this lengthy national selection process, the Piqued Jacks, winners of UVPSM 2023, failed to qualify for the Grand Final last year, placing last in the semi-final with zero points.

 

Source: RTV San Marino

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Australia: Discussions are underway for its Eurovision 2024 participation!

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The decision about Australia’s participation in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest is still pending, according to information obtained by TV Tonight Australia, as talks are still going on between EBU and SBS, the nation’s public broadcaster.

According to SBS sources, the broadcaster will air Eurovision 2024 as usual. However, the country’s participation is still up for negotiation. Nonetheless, the aim of the country’s public television is to be present in Malmö.

Eurovision is a cherished part of the SBS family, our intention is for Australia to remain in the competition and we are currently in discussions. We’ll confirm details as soon as we are able.

Since 1983, Australia has televised Eurovision, which has garnered immense popularity. As part of the celebration of the contest’s 60th anniversary, the country took part for the first time in 2015, with the intention of this happening just once. However, EBU kept issuing invitations to Australia in the years that followed, until 2019 when the country signed a five-year contract with the organization that allowed it to compete in the contest without a formal invitation. This contract expired in 2023, therefore it’s unclear whether the country will participate in the competition going forward.

Australia was represented last year by Voyager with the song “Promise”, finishing in 9th place in the final, having previously won the 2nd Semi-Final!

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

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Source: TV Tonight 

Sweden: One debutant and two more artists return at Melodifestivalen 2024!

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Aftonbladet’s Torbjörn Ek and Stina Dahlgren just added up to the list of Melodifestivalen 2024 participants with new potential acts! We remind you that last year, Aftonbladet revealed 24 out of the 28 acts of Melodifestivalen 2023, even before SVT announced the line-up officially.

After Samir & Viktor, we have two more returns and a Drag Race Sweden artist that will come in next year’s version of Melodifestivalen! Fans are already familiar with Lisa Ajax, the four-times Melodifestivalen contestant and Cazzi Opeia, who debuted in 2022 with the song “I Can’t Get Enough” and co-wrote “Tattoo” that gave this year’s second victory to Loreen and seventh victory to Sweden! Drag Race Sverige star Elecktra is also added to the list.

Who is Elecktra?

In the SVT series “Drag Race Sweden“, based on Ru Paul’s cult American competition program, Elecktra broke through at the 1st season of the show and placed 4th. Now, according to sources, she has been given a place in Melodifestivalen 2024 and according to sources she is completely ready!

Who is Lisa Ajax?

It will be the former “Idol” winner’s fifth time in the competition, three times she has reached the final, either directly or via the second chance, in 2016 with “My heart wants me dead“, in 2017 with “I don’t give a” and in 2019 with “Torn“. In 2022, she finished last in her heat with ”Tror du att jag bryr mig”, a duet with Niello.

Who is Cazzi Opeia?

Cazzi Opeia (stage name of Moa Carlebecker) debuted in Melodifestivalen 2022, where she finished ninth in the final. Later that spring, she won the American Song Contest, as one of the songwriters for the entry “Wonderland“, performed by the artist AleXa.

In 2023, she returned to Melodifestivalen as one of the songwriters for Loreen‘s “Tattoo“, with which she won the Eurovision Song Contest.

Many artists are still waiting!

The new format of Melodifestivalen starting from 2024, with five sub-competitions and a total of 30 competing artists, is said to be the reason why this year there is a little delay in the announcements. Things are going a little slower this year after the reshuffle, there is probably a risk that some won’t be informed until just days before the press conference. According to sources, there is no deadline. This is how it always is. People feel stressed and wonder when the news will come. But there is no deadline, except for the day when all the names are presented. It’s just for everyone to wait.

We remind you that Melodifestivalen 2023 is scheduled to take place between February 3rd to March 9th, while SVT has received 2624 songs. The final list of Melodifestivalen participants will be published later this year, between end of November and beginning of December.

The list of artist that are reportedly participating at Melodifestivalen 2024 are:

  1. Lasse Stefanz
  2. Smash into pieces
  3. Dotter
  4. Liamoo
  5. Samir & Viktor
  6. Elecktra
  7. Cazzi Opeia
  8. Lisa Ajax

This is the schedule of the six shows of the Melodifestivalen 2024 tour:

  • Heat 1: Saturday 3 February 2024, Malmö Arena, Malmö
  • Heat 2: Saturday 10 February 2024, Scandinavium, Göteborg
  • Heat 3: Saturday 17 February 2024, Vida Arena, Växjö
  • Heat 4: Saturday 24 February 2024, Stiga Sports Arena, Eskiltuna
  • Heat 5: Saturday 2 March 2024, Löfbergs Arena, Karlstad
  • Final: Saturday 9 March 2024, Friends Arena, Stockholm – Solna

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Malmö, Sweden in 7, 9 and 11th of May 2024, after the second win of Loreen in Liverpool, with her song “Tattoo”:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the most loved Eurovision national final!

Source: Aftonbladet
Photo: Oscar Appelgren

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Azerbaijan: Aisel claims to represent the country in Malmö!

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In our previous article, we mentioned that Azerbaijan will choose its participation for the 68th Eurovision Song Contest with an internal selection, through the “Live Auditions” process.

As is known, the submission process turned out to be successful enough, as İTV announced that 214 entries were submitted in total with 16 artists qualifying for the final stage. According to the national broadcaster, the process is still in full swing, with the Live Auditions underway.

Among the final contestants, there is a old acquaintance of the contest which is Aisel, who represnted the country at Eurovision 2018 in Lisbon, with the song “X My Heart“.

Aisel who had failed to qualify for the Grand Final, finishing 11th at the First Semi-Final, stated that she was not satisfied with her participation back in 2018, returns to pay off the score.

The sixteen artists from the “Live Auditions“ are:

  • Emy Lia
  • Tofiq Hacıyev & Camal Qurbanov
  • Aisel
  • Rilaya
  • Mari
  • İlkin Dövlətov & Mila Miles & Etibar Əsədli
  • Sabina Beyli
  • Lexa
  • Edgar Ravinov
  • Əmrah Musayev
  • Alesker
  • Rahib Mirzəyev & Tofiq Yadigar
  • Səbinə Quluzadə
  • Qorqud
  • Fahree

Finally, among the jury members are Aysel Teymurzadə (Azerbaijan 2009) and Eldar Qasımov & Nigar Camal (Azerbaijan 2011).

Although, it has not been made completely clear the closed selection process that is being condected, it appears from the reel that the national broadcaster post in its social media. İTV aims to test the vocal and the performance skills of every candidate. The candidate who has the best song and can deliver both conditions, will be the one to represent the country to Malmö.

This year, Azerbaijan failed to qualify for the Grand Final for the second time in its short history in Eurovision Song Contest. The sibling duo TuralTuranX with their song “Tell Me More” managed to finish second to last in their Semi-Final.

https://youtu.be/8BNtaW1IEtA

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Sweden: Jessica Andersson has submitted a song for Melodifestivalen 2024!

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In an interview to Anna & Hans Shimoda and Aftonbladet, Jessica Andersson revealed that she has submitted an entry for Melodifestivalen 2024, in the hopes of getting selected to become next years Swedish representative at Eurovision Song Contest 2024 to be held in Malmö, Sweden! Among others she mentions:

“I have actually sent in a song, but have not been informed whether it has been included or not. I can’t tear myself away from Mello, it’s so much fun. If it came, I would be very happy.”

Who is Jessica Andersson?

She appeared in TV3‘s talent show “Fame Factory” in 2002, but the big breakthrough came the following year when Jessica Andersson together with Magnus Bäcklund as the duo Fame won the Melodifestivalen with “Give me your love“.

She has competed at Melodifestivalen eight times in total, twice as a member of the duo Fame and six times as a solo artist, making it her ninth time, should she get selected by SVT to compete at next years version of the Swedish national final.

The list of artist that are reportedly participating at Melodifestivalen 2024 are:

  1. Lasse Stefanz
  2. Smash into pieces
  3. Dotter
  4. Liamoo
  5. Samir & Viktor

This is the schedule of the six shows of the Melodifestivalen 2024 tour:

  • Heat 1: Saturday 3 February 2024, Malmö Arena, Malmö
  • Heat 2: Saturday 10 February 2024, Scandinavium, Göteborg
  • Heat 3: Saturday 17 February 2024, Vida Arena, Växjö
  • Heat 4: Saturday 24 February 2024, Stiga Sports Arena, Eskiltuna
  • Heat 5: Saturday 2 March 2024, Löfbergs Arena, Karlstad
  • Final: Saturday 9 March 2024, Friends Arena, Stockholm – Solna

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Malmö, Sweden in 7, 9 and 11th of May 2024, after the second win of Loreen in Liverpool, with her song “Tattoo”:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the most loved Eurovision national final!

Photo: Jonas Ekströmer/TT
Source: Aftonbladet

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North Macedonia: Discussions are underway for its return to the competition!

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The state broadcaster of North Macedonia, MRT, has not yet made a definitive decision on whether or not the country would compete in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. Conversely, discussions over the country’s return are still going on.

The topic of participating in Eurovision was also discussed at the TV station’s recent planning meetings for the upcoming year. Smilka Janeska Sarkanjac, the MRT planning project chairman, stated the following in this regard:

The fact that Eurovision is on the proposed 2024 MRT schedule is good news.

During the meetings in October, Sarkanjac recommended that the country’s participation be confirmed immediately and that the search for the North Macedonian artist in Malmö be started promptly as well.

A national final to choose the country’s representative was also suggested during the talks. However, because of the short time frame, this idea was finally deemed unfeasible.

In conclusion, Sarkanjac emphasized the significance of North Macedonia’s participation in Eurovision:

With our absence from Eurovision, we are missing the opportunity to be represented on the international stage.

Future competition participation is contingent upon the government’s approval of the budget. North Macedonia’s decision to compete in Eurovision 2024—or not—will be made public in the coming days upon the official announcement of the countries that will compete in Malmö, Sweden, in May of next year.

North Macedonia withdrew from the competition in 2023 because it was unable to match the increased financial requirements following Russia’s disqualification. The country’s last representative was Andrea, whose song “Circles” placed 11th in the semi-final. Would you like to see North Macedonia return to the contest?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvOihqB4eKk&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Feurovisionfun.com%2F&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&feature=emb_title

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Source: MRT 

Sweden: Liverpool inspires Malmö on how Eurovision 2024 should be hosted, Karin Karlsson says!

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Karin Karlsson, who’s in charge of organising the event for Malmö municipality, was part of a group of people representing Malmö who travelled to Liverpool earlier this week, to discuss and evaluate the financial impact on Liverpool, after its hosting of the competition this year. As we had reported in one of our past articles, Liverpool grossed £55 million of profit, that was injected into the local economy and the numbers of visitors exceeded all expectations.

In an interview of Karin with Sveriges Radio, she gave her insight on how Liverpool and their hosting can inspire Malmö next year:

“It’s really inspiring how they worked to develop the brand in the whole city, that is a very very important learning for us to bring in this time. It was really strict last time we co-operated with the EBU and the broadcaster, Liverpool seemed to have pushed it a bit forward and used it more freely which had a marvelous affect on the city and the whole event.”

Malmö has been allocated with the same budget as the one they had back in 2013, a budget of just over €2.5 million for hosting and all the related activities, however, in real numbers this is a smaller budget than a decade ago, Karin comments on that:

“We will have exactly, almost the same budget this time, so with all the inflation the money is actually smaller this time. We will have to cooperate, this is the key factor for us this time, cooperate with companies in the city, all organisers. I think it’s going to be tough for us, we will make it but we need to do exactly the same as Liverpool has done.”

Despite all the challenges posed by the current worldwide inflation, Karin believes that they are in a better position than where they were the last time Malmö hosted the contest:

“We already know what this is, we are in a much better position than we were in last time. We can do it in another way from last time.”

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Malmö, Sweden in 7, 9 and 11th of May 2024, after the second win of Loreen in Liverpool, with her song “Tattoo”:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the most loved contest!

Source: Sveriges Radio

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The song that would represent Kosovo if it participated in Eurovision 2024!

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A few hours ago, the final of the first Festivali i Këngës në RTK was held in Pristina. The winner of the music festival, which is similar to the Albanian Festivali i Këngës, would have the opportunity to represent Kosovo in the Eurovision Song Contest, if the country was allowed to participate.

Since Kosovo’s public broadcaster, RTK, is not an EBU member, participation in the competition is not possible at the moment. But as evidenced by its choice to host the festival, RTK is seeking to participate in the competition.

The first FiKRTK was won by La Fazani, whose song “Oj Kosova” speaks about the performer’s love for his country.

Following his victory, La Fazani said:

I know I can’t go to Eurovision, but I love you Kosovo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOgcsrU2KE8

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Source: Wiwibloggs