Estonia: The submission platform for Eesti Laul 2024 is open and big changes are coming!

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The platform for submissions for Eesti Laul 2024, through which the country’s representative in Malmö will be chosen, was opened today by the Estonian broadcaster ERR.

In order to create a revitalized and potent Eesti Laul for 2024, many adjustments to the show’s formula were also announced at the same time.

Eesti Laul 2024

Interested artists have until October 23 to submit proposals.

Participation costs till October 21 are 50 euros for songs in Estonian and 100 euros for songs in other languages. The entry cost is doubled during the final two days of submission, rising to €100 for songs in Estonian and €200 for songs in other languages.

Twenty songs will be chosen and five of those songs will advance automatically to the grand final.

15 songs will compete in the semi-final of Eesti Laul 2024, and five of them will advance to the Final where they will join the five already qualified artists.

During the Final, three of the 10 finalists will be chosen by an international jury and TV audience to move on to the Super Final. There, only the audience vote will determine the winner and Estonia’s participation for Eurovision 2024.

Dates for Eesti Laul 2024 are as follows:

The artists that will compete in the Eesti Laul 2024 semi-finals are anticipated to be disclosed by November 8 and all the songs in the competition will be revealed by December 8.

The artist and song representing Estonia in Malmö will be chosen from:

  • The semi-final of Eesti Laul, on Saturday 20 January 2024
  • The grand final of Eesti Laul, on Saturday 17 February 2024

More information about Eesti Laul 2024 can be found here.

Alika’s song “Bridges” was the Eesti Laul winner from the previous year and Estonia’s entry in Eurovision 2023. Alika brought her country up to position eight in the standings:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsbC-OYMA3s&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Feurovisionfun.com%2F&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&feature=emb_title

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Source: err 

Sweden: 2624 songs submitted for Melodifestivalen 2024!

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Today 15/9 was the last day of application for Melodifestivalen 2024. Through the contest’s social media accounts, SVT posted that the submission window had been closed! A total of 2624 songs were submitted, a tad less than the number of submissions SVT received last year!

Last year, around 2824 applications were submitted to the competition. The final list of Melodifestivalen participants will be published later this year, between end of November and beginning of December.  

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”:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE2Fj0W4jP4

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Source: Melodifestivalen/SVT  

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Greece: ERT has confirmed its participation in Eurovision 2024 | EXCLUSIVE

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Since today, September 15, is the final day for countries to confirm their participation in Eurovision 2024, all supporters of the contest in Greece have been wondering if their nation has done so. Eurovisionfun can announce that Greece will participate in Malmö, marking 50 years of participation in the music competition!

Greece is the 32nd country to confirm for Eurovision 2024

Therefore, in accordance with information we obtained exclusively from ERT, the national broadcaster recently sent the necessary documentation to the EBU to confirm Greece’s participation in the 68th Eurovision Song Contest. There is currently no certainty about the selection procudure, but further information is anticipated to be disclosed in the near future.

Greece is the 32nd country to confirm its participation in Eurovision 2024. Therefore, the following nations have thus far indicated in some form that they will compete in Malmö on May 7, 9, and 11:

  • Greece
  • Albania
  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan
  • Belgium
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Iceland
  • Ireland
  • Israel
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Malta
  • Moldova
  • The Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Portugal
  • San Marino
  • Serbia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Ukraine
  • United Kingdom

Which countries are yet to confirm?

The Eurovision 2024 entry puzzle still has a few gaps to be filled in. The biggest question mark among the nations that competed in Liverpool but have not yet publicly announced their participation for next year is Romania, which is very likely to withdraw due to the serious financial difficulties the nation’s public broadcaster is currently experiencing.

While Bulgaria, Montenegro, and North Macedonia are anticipated to make a comeback to the competition after their absence this year, Czechia, Armenia, Poland, and Georgia are expected to take part in 2024.

A special case is that of Monaco, as it recently established a new television station and is a member of the EBU, has the ability to participate, and has not yet made clear its plans.

The ultimate number is expected to be relatively similar to this year’s total of 37 participants.

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

 

Sweden: Submission window for Melodifestivalen 2024 closed!

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As we had already reported in one of our past articles, today 15/9 was the last day of application for Melodifestivalen 2024. SVT now informs all the hopefuls that the submission window had been closed. 15 of the proposals submitted will be selected by a professional jury, while 15 more will be invited by SVT to directy participate at the heats. 

Last year, 2824 applications were submitted to the competition. The final list of Melodifestivalen participants will be published later this year, between end of November and beginning of December. 

It seems like Loreen’s success in the contest that brought Sweden their 7th victory, but also post-contest, led so many artist to submit their song for next year’s Melodifestivalen in the hopes of representing Sweden. One of these submissions will be selected next March to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest.

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: Melodifestivalen/SVT 

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Croatia has confirmed its participation in Eurovision 2024!

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Croatia’s participation in the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö was confirmed earlier today when Croatian broadcaster HRT opened the Dora 2024 submission platform.

Particularly, Dora, which has been the process of selecting the Croatian entry for a number of years, is likely to take place in Opatija in February. Proposals from interested artists may be submitted starting tomorrow, September 15, and ending on November 30, 2023.

Croatia was represented last year by Let 3 and the song “Mama ŠČ!”. The band, which is well-known in Croatia, placed 13th overall with a score of 123 points, which is a recent high for the nation. Will Croatia be able to achieve an even better result this year?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPiY1v3EfNc

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Sources: esctoday, HRT 

Germany: Will Melissa Mantzoukis participate at “Das Deutsche Finale 2024”?

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Melissa Mantzoukis did not get to compete in this year’s Eurovision, but she hopes to do so in 2024 through Germany. According to our exclusive information, she has already registered for ‘Das Deutsche Finale 2024’, the national final that will be held by the country’s public television to select the performer and song that will represent the country in Malmö.

The performer, who finished third in the German Idol competition in 2022, came close to representing Greece this year. She won by a wide margin in the voting of the 70-member audience committee, but the 7 members of the ERT panel had a different take, and by ranking her last, they denied her entry into the competition. As a result, the nation was ultimately represented by Victor Vernicos, who failed to advance past the semifinals after scoring just 14 points, 12 of which came from Cyprus. The ERT’s choice issue is currently before the courts because Melissa Mantzoukis’ side considered that the rules of the procedure were broken and that she should ordinarily have won. In the coming year, a decision is anticipated.

Melissa Mantzoukis made the decision to try her luck in Germany by competing in the national final, which will be held on February 16, in order to put all that behind and follow her dream of competing in the Eurovision contest. Our information indicates that the entry she submitted has nothing to do with her participation in this year’s ERT internal selection procedure.

We, for our part, wish Melissa good luck and hope to see her waving the German flag in Malmö!

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

 

 

Eurovision 2024: Did Stig Karlsen succeed in reducing the power of juries?

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As we have previously informed you, the Eurovision Song Contest’s workshop took place today in Berlin.

Eurovision 2024: Eurovision Song Contest Workshop scheduled to take place tonight in Berlin!

During this workshop representatives of the -already confirmed- competing broadcasters had the opportunity to interact and discuss on new ideas regarding the contest.

The attendees of the Eurovision Song Contest Workshop in Berlin.

Stig Karlsen’s “mission”

On behalf of Norway, Stig Karlsen was present. Karlsen serves as the head of the Norwegian delegation to the Eurovision Song Contest. A month prior to the workshop, Karlsen stated that the Norwegian Television is planning on proposing a change of the voting format and specifically a change in the ratio of jury-public voting results. He suggested that a 30% or 40% percent of jury’s participation in the final result would be essential as a balancing factor and a boost for public’s interest, who often sees its favorite entry not winning or placing low.

Karlsen posted earlier on his instagram feed the following story:

Mission accomplished ✔

Does the aforementioned indicate that a discussion regarding a possible change in the voting format has been made? Well, the reduction of jury’s power in the contest for sure would benefit Norway, a country that has experienced conflicting results between jury and public vote for the past years. The highlight was in 2019, when Norway won the public vote only to finish 18th in the jury voting. We can assume that Karlsen brought this topic on today’s meeting and made his proposal among Eurovision executives.

A possible change in the jury-public vote ration is indeed a hot topic among Eurovision fans due to this year’s Finnish entry finishing second overall, regardless taking the first place on public voting with a margin of 133 points. Considering EBU’s approach on the contest, eager to try new ideas and bring changes when needed, it might be the time for this specific change.

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Eurovision 2024: Tomislav Štengl joins the Eurovision Reference Group!

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Through the official website of the Eurovision Song Contest it became known that the Head of the Croatian Delegation Tomislav Štengl is the new member of the Eurovision Reference Group.

The Eurovision Reference Group was established in 1998 and is the executive committee tasked with overseeing the organisation of the Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Participating Broadcasters. It is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the competition as well managing critical aspects like host city selection, rule development, and dispute resolution.

The Reference Group consists of the following members :

  • The Chairperson
  • Three elected members from among the Heads of Delegations
  • Two Executive Producers from previous host countries, as well as the Executive Producer of the current Host Broadcaster
  • Up to two invited members based on competence and experience
  • The EBU Eurovision Song Contest Executive Supervisor

The Reference Group meets four to five times each year on behalf of all Participating Broadcasters, and is required to take decisions in the general interest of the Contest.

The Eurovision Reference Group Member for the 2024 contest are as per below:

  • Chairman, Bakel Walden from SSR SRG (Switzerland)
  • Ebba Adielsson from SVT (Sweden)
  • Rachel Ashdown from BBC (United Kingdom)
  • Felix Bergsson from RÚV (Iceland)
  • Ana María Bordas from RTVE (Spain)
  • Carla Bugalho from RTP (Portugal)
  • Claudio Fasulo from RAI (Italy)
  • Simona Martorelli from RAI (Italy)
  • Tomislav Štengl from HRT (Croatia)
  • Alexandra Wolfslast from NDR (Germany)
  • Martin Österdahl from the EBU

Source: Eurovision.tv

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Romania: Eurovision 2024 participation lies on the decision of the Minister of Finance!

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Romania’s participation in Eurovision 2024 seems in jeopardy, as the latest developments indicate.

The limited budget allocated to the Romanian Public Broadcaster (TVR), which covers just the minimum necessary expenses, is insufficient for the country’s participation in Malmö. According to information shared on the Twitter account of the Eurovision Romania community, the president of TVR has submitted a revised budget to the Romanian Minister of Finance. If this budget is approved by the Minister of Finance, Romania will be able to participate in the contest. However, if it does not happen, the country will not take part in the 68th Eurovision Song Contest.

Therefore, the decision of the Romanian Public Broadcaster regarding its participation in Eurovision 2024 depends solely on whether the Minister of Finance approves a larger budget for TVR. Based on the currently available finances, participation in the contest is not feasible.

An announcement is expected in the coming days, regarding whether the additional budget requested by the president of TVR has been approved or not.

The last time Romania did not participate in Eurovision was in 2016, when  EBU did not accept the country’s entry, even though it had already been selected, due to  TVR’s non-payment of debts to the organization.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the latest updates on Romania’s Eurovision 2024 participation. 

Eurovision 2024: The goal is to shorten the Eurovision broadcast, Per Blankens confirms!

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As we have previously reported, Christer Björkman returns as competition producer for Eurovision 2024, together with “American Idol” producer Per Blankens, completing now the Eurovision 2024 core team for Malmö.

As reported by Aftonbladet‘s Törbjorn Ek, Björkman is currently in Berlin for meetings with the EBU. On Tuesday, Björkman‘s and Blanken‘s new roles will be presented both to the reference group, which is the competition’s highest decision-making body, and to all the countries’ heads of delegation who are on site to participate in a workshop about the competition, according to the plans.

Back in June, we had reported reveals by Aftonbladet that the Swedish production, led by executive producer Ebba Adielsson, was planning to shorten the Eurovision broadcast by a full hour.

According to Per Blankens, speaking to Aftonbladet, the cut in the duration of the show is high on the agenda of 2024:

“There may be reasons why the competition is so long, you have to have time to collect and compile all the public votes. But it will be late for those who live in the east and also for us who live in central Europe, so the program has everything to gain from being made shorter, but without shredding or just tearing it off.”

Another rumor circulating among Eurovision fans is that SVT is thinking about introducing some form of Second Chance in the European competition as well.

Per Blankens comments:

“I haven’t heard of it at all so I can’t comment on it, it’s nothing I know about”

Christer Björkman laughs when he hears about the rumour:

“I don’t think that’s really what we’re aiming for. We have a format that is very good and alive and many of the big changes happened in 2013 and 2016 in tonality and with the voting. I don’t think a lot of adjustments are needed right now. What we have to work on is trying to make a tight broadcast, efficient good television that doesn’t take up too much time. That is our big goal.”

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 Eurovision Song Contest 2024, in Malmö!

Source: Aftonbladet

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