Sweden: SVT will announce the host city of next year’s contest, next week!

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As we have already written in many of our past articles about the host city race of next year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden, the announcement is expected to be made on the 7th of July.

Göteborgs-Posten today confirms that, by the end of next week, SVT will announce the city that will get the chance to host the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, following Loreen’s second victory with the song “Tattoo”. That means that in less than a week from now we will know which of the cities that have submitted their bid, will be selected to host next year’s contest!

But how probable is it for each city that has submitted a bid, to host next year’s contest? Read more below!

Four cities in the hopes of hosting next year’s contest

Malmö has always expressed a strong interest in hosting the contest and they have officially submitted their bid to host next year’s contest! Malmö had hosted it back in 1992 and also in 2013 after the first victory of Loreen in 2012 with the iconic Swedish entry “Euphoria“.

Currently, Malmö has the biggest chances to host next year’s contest and less than seven days are left until the announcement which will make it clear if Malmö will get selected to be the host city or not!

As already reported, Stockholm has officially submitted their bid to host the contest that Loreen brought back home with her second victory one month ago.

Stockholm currently faces a few issues, mostly regarding the hosting venue of the contest. Friends Arena is booked for Taylor Swift’s concerts on the 17th and 18th of May and Tele2 Arena is booked throughout May for the football matches of AIK and Hammarby Fotboll respectively.

Another issue that has come up, is the fact that the hosting bid of Stockholm City, includes plans to build a temporary arena from scratch, at Frihamnen port of Stockholm, which will then become the center of the event and the arena, which will hold between 11,000 and 15,000 people, will also remain for a limited time, then it will be removed.

According to Aftonbladet’s Fredrik Björkman, Moderaternas, or Moderates in English, a liberal-conservative party, strongly opposes to the case that such a decision is taken. More specifically, Dennis Wedin, opposition city councillor of the political party, has mentioned:

“It is unacceptable that Stockholm’s taxpayers should be stuck with building a new arena linked to this when we have so many other core municipal activities that need money right now in a tough financial situation. It sounds very tone-deaf!”

Following the submission of Stockholm, Gothenburg wouldn’t miss out on submitting their own bid to host the contest next year. Gothenburg has only hosted the contest back in 1985 and it seem like they are quite eager to host next year’s contest.

However, Scandinavium, which could be the venue to host the contest in case Gothenburggets selected as the host city of 2024, has some accessibility issues that might not allow the city to be selected. For the same reasons Gothenburg bid had gotten rejected by EBU in the recent past.

According to reports from SVT, Gothenburg’s political majority back the city council’s bid to host next year’s contest! This came up from the announcement that the city’s red-green party gave, on Wednesday evening.

Municipal councillor Daniel Bernmar has stated:

”It would benefit both the citizens of Gothenburg and cultural life. We can do this with large international events, so we see it as positive”

Örnsköldsvik has never hosted the Eurovision Song Contest before. Övik is a small city up north in Sweden, in Västernorrland with a little less than 33.000 inhabitants.

Örnsköldsvik had hosted this year’s Melodifestivalen Semifinalen at Hägglunds Arena, where the arena looked a bit tiny compared to other shows of the tour. The municipality in order to tackle any accommodation issues and to be able to welcome all the event visitors, said that cruise ships in the harbor will be used as additional accommodation.

This came as a response to several reports back in the beginning of March, of rip-off prices to a rather limited and not decent enough selection of hotel rooms when the Semi-Final show of Melodifestivalen took place there, making us think that the chances of Örnsköldsvik hosting the contest are a bit tad.

Sweden will host the 68th Eurovision Song Contest after Loreen’s iconic second win with the song “Tattoo“:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, in Sweden!

Sources: Göteborgs-Posten, SVT, Aftonbladet

Sweden: SVT announces format changes for Melodifestivalen 2024!

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More than one month ago Sweden won the Eurovision Song Contest hosted in Liverpool, when Loreen perfmormed the song “Tattoo” and managed to pull off her second victory, rendering her the second person and the first woman to ever score a double victory at the contest!

Sweden knows how to keep our interest warm about their contest that they get to host next year, with several announcements during summer, among which is the announcement of the host city, expected in a bit more than a week from now on the 7th of July.

Same goes for the most loved national selection process, Melodifestivalen, which is highly anticipated this year, following the Swedish victory at the contest. SVT a while ago announced changes in the format of the weekly heats of the show, following the changes that had been announced for the tour of 2023 and 2022 respectively. Project manager of Melodifestivalen, Anders Wistbacka, commented on the announced changes:

“We always want to make Melodifestivalen even better and more exciting for our audience. With this completely new arrangement, we believe we can maintain viewers’ engagement throughout the season. 

It’s no secret that we’ve lost audiences in the semi-finals. Now we hope to keep the excitement up through all the programs”

What are next year’s changes in the format of Melodifestivalen?

Now a total of 30 acts will compete throughout the Melodifestivalen tour, which will be split into five groups of six acts which will compete in each of the five heats of the tour. That is the first change, compared to this years format, where there were four groups of seven acts, 28 in total, which competed in four heats.

In each of the heats, two acts qualify directly to the final, two remain at the competition and two are disqualified. The final show remains the same, will still have twelve competing entries and the final score is calculated 50% by the public vote via the app or sms and 50% of an international jury.

How are the two remaining finalists announced?

SVT has created a completely new program, which will be broadcast live from the arena directly after the 5th heat ends! All the competing artists are in place and the viewers get to see a quick recap of all the ten performances. The result is based on an aggregate score of the number of votes in the heats and the number of votes of the new program.

The entry submission window for Melodifestivalen 2024 opens on the 25th of August at 09:00 CET and ends on the 15th of September at 11:59 CET, when the hopefuls will get the chance to submit their entries at melodifestivalen.se.

Sweden will host the 68th Eurovision Song Contest after Loreen’s iconic second win with the song “Tattoo“:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, in Sweden!

Source: SVT

Luxembourg: Ready to host Eurovision 2025!

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A few days before the Eurovision 2024 selection process announcement, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg again commented on the return of the Grand Duchy to the contest.

Xavier Bettel who is in addition to Prime Minister and Minister of Media and Communications gave an interview to RTL about the return of this small nation of Central Western Europe to the Eurovision Song Contest. He believes that Eurovision offers the possibility for Luxembourg to increase its international visibility and develop its creative and music industry.

In addition, Mr. Bettel confirmed that in the event of Luxembourg winning by returning in 2024, the country is ready to host the contest in 2025. For Xavier Bettel, hosting the Eurovision Song Contest would be positive for Luxembourg as it would offer huge opportunities for the touristic industry in the country.

Regarding participation in Eurovision 2024, the Prime Minister revealed additional details ahead of the official announcements expected on 3 July. He explained that the representative should have a “Luxembourgish cultural background”. This comment implies that artists from outside Luxembourg’s borders can also represent the country in Sweden.

The last participation of Luxembourg was in 1993 in Millstreet of Ireland when the small nation was represented by the group Modern Times and the song “Donne-moi une chance”sung in French and Luxembourgish. At the end of the show the country finished 20th with only 11 points.

 

Source: RTL

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Eurovision 2024 Luxembourg: Details about the upcoming preselection!

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After the shocking announcement of Luxembourg’s long-awaited return to the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 30 years,the country’s public broadcaster RTL seems to be more invested in the contest than ever,with the preselection process starting on the 3rd of July.

Aspiring contestants and songwriters may check the broadcaster’s official website www.eurovision.lu for all the steps required for their candidate song’s submission.

Luxembourg in the Contest

Luxembourg was one of the seven countries that took part in the inaugural song contest in 1956 and managed to win the contest five times within 37 years.They last took part in 1993 when they reached the 20th place.

Stay tuned at Eurovisonfun, for more news regarding your favourite contest and the Eurovision music scene!

source:escxtra

 

Sweden: Plans to build a temporary arena for Eurovision 2024?

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Four cities are competing to host Eurovision 2024, including the capital city of Stockholm, which is the favorite to host the next competition. While the selection process is underway and the candidate cities Stockholm, Malmö, Gothenburg, and Örnsköldsvik have received documents outlining the necessary requirements, an article in the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter is stirring things up regarding the venue of next year’s competition.

As mentioned, Stockholm is the frontrunner to organize the competition as it has all the necessary infrastructure. However, the main issue revolves around the stadium where Eurovision 2024 will take place. While  Friends Arena was the preferred choice, it appears that Taylor Swift’s concert on May 17th in Stockholm, a date within a possible week of the Eurovision according to a leaked confidential document from SVT, and moreover, at a stadium included in the city’s proposal, is changing the plans of the organizers.

According to the latest publication in Dagens Nyheter, there are plans to construct an arena specifically for hosting Eurovision 2024. Due to the increased requirements of the event, this proposal aims to solve the problem of finding a suitable venue for a significant period of time, at least six weeks, which has been one of the main problems for the organizers every year.

The proposal includes the construction of a temporary arena with a capacity ranging from 11,180 to 14,700 spectators in the Frihamnen area of Stockholm. The article adds that the venue will remain operational for a certain period of time after the competition. The proposal is supported by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce, the Property Owners’ Association, as well as the tourism organization “Visit Stockholm.”

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun.com for all the developments regarding the organization of Eurovision 2024!

Source: Dagens Nyheter

Eurovision 2024: Eurovision week possible dates clash with announced date of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Stockholm!

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SVT is already in the process of evaluating all host city bids for next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, after submission window closed on the 12th of June, while Stockholm, Malmö, Göteborg and Örksöldsvik are crossing their fingers to be selected to host the contest.

This was how things were, up until today 6pm CET, when global megastar Taylor Swift announced the dates of her Eras Tour! Someone with hawk eyes could easily notice that there’s a date announced for Stockholm, Sweden and that is on the 17th of May, 2024! This is a date right within a potential Eurovision week, according to leaked SVT document with host-city prerequisites and details of the contest to be held in Sweden next year!

So, is Stockholm now completely out of the game? I would say not really. Let’s see how things could possibly shape up with the potential host-cities of next year’s contest:

  • Stockholm Live, the company behind the management of Friends Arena (Nationalarenan), Tele2 Arena (Stockholmsarenan), Annexet etc. when events take place there, could potentially relocate Taylor Swift’s concert to Tele2 Arena instead of Friends Arena, in case Stockholm and Friends are to be selected as the host city and contest venue respectively. However, this is a multi-million tour, it is highly unlikely for changes to be made, dates
  • Stockholm could still be selected and the contest could be hosted in Tele2 Arena, but under the de-branded name Stockholmsarenan. This could comply to the rules and prerequisites set for the host-city by SVT and there would also not be any conflicts with the Taylor Swift Stockholm concert.
  • Stockholm Live events for 2024 are only a Niall Horan concert, but to be held at Hovet which is not a venue where a Eurovision Song Contest could be held and the Taylor Swift concert at Friends Arena.

  • I would already rule out the contest final to be held on the 11th of May, 2024. Orthodox Easter is on the 5th of May, so that means that all Orthodox competing countries would have to be in Eurovision-mode and have to rehearse during their Holy Week. In such a case, it wouldn’t surprise me if we had some withdrawals from the respective countries.
  • Then there is the (highly unlikely) case of the (already scheduled) renovation of Globen Arena (Avicii Arena) to be postponed for about 5 months.
  • If nothing from the above works or if the football teams AIK and Hammarby Fotboll refuse to move from their arena for several weeks, then that would mean that Stockholm could miss the opportunity to host the Eurovsion Song Contest 2024!
  • All this hassle could make way for Malmö to host the contest, once more after a Loreen victory, who are more than eager to host! It’s worth noting that even Melodifestivalen is a big thing for the city of Malmö.
  • Malmö Arena has a few events a month before the potential Eurovision weeks, which could be rescheduled.
  • Göteborg and Örnsköldsvik in my opinion do not cover main points of the requirements set by SVT.

Only a few days left till July, when SVT is rumoured to be announcing their decision on the Swedish city that will get the honour to host the 7th Swedish contest, next year!

Sweden will host the 68th Eurovision Song Contest after Loreen’s iconic second win with the song “Tattoo“:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Sweden and the announcement of next year’s contest host city!

Italy: Changes for Sanremo 2024 rules!

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The artistic director for the Festival di Sanremo announced incoming changes for the 2024 edition of the festival.  This will be the last year for Amadeus in this position.

During RAI’s TG1 Mattina Estate, Amadeus announced that we will see changes in the rules that will affect the setup of the shows.  However, as the rules have to be approved by RAI, the artistic director did not go into details about the specific changes we will see next year.  In the same interview he talked about the preparations that are already going on for the 2024 edition of the Festival di Sanremo and here are some of the major developments:

Stage design

Amadeus is working on the scenography of Sanremo 2024.  Once again he is working with Gaetano Castelli and his daughter Maria Chiara Castelli

Song Selection

Amadeus mentioned that he is already working in the selection process of the competing songs.  During his interview, he mentioned that the 2024 edition of the Festival has already received hundreds of song proposals.  The selection process will go around this summer.  Amadeus stressed out that it is very important for him that the competing songs are contemporary:

It is unthinkable that the songs of Sanremo are not in the top 10 in the charts after a week

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6IiOSut_4M&ab_channel=EurovisionSongContest

According to Radio Italia, the Sanremo Festival 2024 will take place from February 6th to February 10th, 2024

Stay tuned at EurovisionFun for all the latest news about Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024!

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Eurovision 2024: The renewed Reference Group of the contest!

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EBU has announced the new Reference Group for the Eurovision Song Contest. There are several changes with departures as well as new appointments.

The tasks of the Reference Group are to approve the development and future format of the contest, to secure its funding, to modernize the contest’s brand and attract the public, to oversee the annual preperation ofthe country where the competition will take place.

All of the above takes place at meeting of the Reference Group, where on behalf of all Participating National Broadcasting Services they are called upon to take decisions for the general interest of the competition. Meetings do not exceed five per year.

As we reported in a previous article, Bakel Walden is the new Chairman of the Reference Group on the contest, where he stated that he is excited to participate in this iconic event.

The remaining members are divided into following categories:

  • Three elected members from among the Heads of Delegations of the countries
  • Two Executive Producers from countries that have hosted the contest in the past, as well as the Executive Producer of the current Host Broadcaster
  • Up to two invited members based on competence and experience
  • The EBU Executive Supervisor for the contest

Therefore, the new Reference Group consists of:

  • Bakel Walden (SSR SRG, Chair)
  • Ebba Adielsson (SVT)
  • Rachel Ashdown (BBC)
  • Felix Bergsson (RÚV)
  • Ana Maria Bordas (RTVE)
  • Carla Bugalho (RTP)
  • Claudio Fasulo (RAI)
  • Simona Martorelli (RAI)
  • Alexandra Wolfslast (NDR)
  • Martin Österdahl (EBU)

Ebba Adielsson and Ana Maria Bordas are new appointmets, while the following have left the Reference Group:

  • Sietse Bakker (NPO)
  • Yuval Cohen (KAN)
  • Astrid Dutrenit (NPO)
  • David Tserunyan (AMPTV)

Sweden has won the 67th Eurovision Song Contest, marking its seventh victory in the contest with 583 points. Below you can watch the performance after Loreen’s victory was announced:

https://youtu.be/Vul5zgC5Yvg

Source: EBU

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Netherlands: Armin Van Buuren rules out Eurovision participation!

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Armin van Buuren is not planning to send another entry for the Eurovision Netherlands selection.  The acclaimed DJ sent a song during the 2022 selection process together with singer Jaap Reesema which was rejected by the Dutch public broadcaster.

Furthermore, van Buuren explained that he feels he was mistreated by the Eurovision Selection Committee:

“We didn’t even hear whether it was a yes or a no.  In the end it wasn’t us, okay. But then we had to call someone to find out that it wasn’t us. That’s very strange, when I think they really wanted me to do it

AVROTROS responds

Dutch broadcaster has replied to the allegations made by Armin Van Buuren.  According to the public broadcaster spokeswoman, there was a communication problem between the parties involved and that AVROTROS talked with the DJ’s management in due time

At the time, his management was informed by Eric van Stade (General Director of AVROTROS)

In the end the Netherlands internally selected S10 with her song De Diepte.  S10 ended in 11th place in the Grand Final

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgOnu7ux2-k&ab_channel=EurovisionSongContest

Source: NU

Stay tuned at EurovisionFun for all the latest news about the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024!

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Eurovision 2024: SVT wants to reduce Eurovision airtime by a full hour!

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As we have already reported, cities around Sweden which wish to host the Eurovision Song Contest of 2024, have all received an extensive confidential list of 123 points of prerequisites by SVT, that the city that receives the task of hosting the world’s largest live music competition should make sure are in place!

This extensive document has covered literally everything! From the audience capacity that the proposed arena can take in, seated and standed, that needs to be reported by each applicant city, to the ability of the roof to hold suspended loads and by how much weight! This is something that was relevant for Loreen this year and is usually a recurring question for the delegations that want to hang scenography on the ceiling.

What is really interesting is, as Aftonbladet journalist Torbjörn Ek has revealed, that there is actually time/duration indication mentioned to the confidential document Sweden’s largest daily has in their hands! Under the item “Important dates“, as previously reported, SVT lists which two weeks may be relevant to carry out the three Eurovision broadcasts. It states that the semi-finals and finals will either be broadcast on 7, 9 and 11 May or 14, 16 and 18 May. But also that the semi-finals are expected to be broadcast between 21:00 and 23:00 and the final between 21:00 and 00:15! In Liverpool the broadcast was scheduled for four hours, 21:00 to 01:00, but it dragged on and on Youtube you can see that the broadcast was 4 hours 14 minutes and 45 seconds long.

It seems that this is also something that has been discussed among broadcasting TV companies and now SVT seems to be set on shortening the broadcast by a full hour. Let’s see if this will eventually be implemented, in what way and to what cost!

Sweden will host the 68th Eurovision Song Contest after Loreen’s iconic second win with the song “Tattoo“:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, in Sweden!

Source: Aftonbladet