Australia: Internal selection announcement attracts famous artists, who’d wish to compete at Eurovision 2023!

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This week, SBS announced that they will be ditching Eurovision – Australia Decides in favour of an internal selection procedure for their representative that will have to travel to Liverpool next May, in the hopes of winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

This will be the first time in four years that Australia would choose an entry internally, since the selection of Jessica Mauboy back in 2018.

It looks like the announcement of the internal selection by SBS made the prospect of representing Australia in 2023 in Liverpool quite appealing for many popular artists, who have already started showing their interest in representing Australia in next year’s contest publicly!

Dami Im

The first artist that showed her interest is Dami Im.

“Was looking forward to competing at Aus decides but in this case I’m super keen”

She would be keen on competing at Australia decides, as she notes, but would be glad if she was given the opportunity to represent Australia in 2023.

“I’m so keen if I get offered the opportunity to return”

Her song “Sound of Silence” is the best known Australia’s entry at the Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, Sweden back in 2016, when it finished 2nd receiving a total of 511 points.

Later in 2021 she had announced that she would compete at Australia Decides, if SBS hadn’t decided to select Montaigne, after being chosen at Australia Decides back in 2020 for the cancelled contest.

Jaguar Jonze

The fan-favourite Jaguar Jonze was urged by many of her fans on Twitter to grab the opportunity of the internal selection! She later on tweeted:

“Just saying @SBSEurovision I’d happily cancel my hair appointment in May to represent Australia on a world stage”

Jaguar Jonze competed in this year’s Australia Decides placing 3nd with the song “Little Fires“!

Sheppard

The band who already got the taste but lost over Kate Miller-Heidke back in 2019, expressed their interest as well, by commenting:

“Consider our hat thrown in the ring! What an honour we’re sure whoever heads to Liverpool will do us all proud x”

Sheppard competed in the very first Australia Decides contest placing 3rd with the song “On My Way”

VOYAGER

The band, who just got back from an international tour, commented on the Aussievision Facebook page:

“Oooooohhhh, consider us interested. We’d be honoured to make the voyage….”

VOYAGER competed in this year’s Australia Decides placing 2nd with the song “Dreamer” and had previously attempted to enter the competition, back in 2020!

Time will tell who will eventually represent Australia at Eurovision Song Contest 2023, after the internal selection procedure of SBS is complete.

This year, Australia was represented by Sheldon Riley with the song “Not The Same”, having previously won Australia Decides. Sheldon placed 15th in the final with 125 points, almost all from the juries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wosfFz2FJPU

Who would you like to represent Australia next year at the contest? Leave a comment below!

Source: Aussievision

Stay tuned at Eurovision Fun for all the latest developments regarding Eurovision 2023!

Australia: SBS confirms internal selection for 2023 and Dami Im declares her interest!

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A few moments ago, the Australian Public Broadcaster SBS confirmed that the show “Australia Decides” will not return for Eurovision 2023, shifting to an internal selection for the artist and the song that will represent Australia at the Eurovision 2023 which will take place in Liverpool on behalf of Ukraine.

We have previously wrote about the change of the selection process, since the show was not included in the schedule of the broadcaster for 2023 as well as the submission period last year opened in August. Some people online rushed to discredit our article but we are happy that once again, Eurovisionfun is proven to be a reliable source for Eurovision news not only for Greece but beyond.

SBS mentions in the statement:

“We are thrilled to confirm that Australia will once again compete in the 67th Eurovision Song Contest next year, with hosts Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey at the helm. However, after three years of celebrating and working with local music artists through our Eurovision selection show, Eurovision – Australia Decides, we’ve made the difficult decision not to go ahead with the program in 2023.”

Over the past few months, we have been exploring ways we could deliver the event to Australian audiences next year however, a variety of factors contributed to us coming to this decision.

We are proud to continue to be the home of the Eurovision Song Contest and we look forward to celebrating 40 years of broadcasting Eurovision to all Australians in the coming year.”

Dami Im, the artist that brought Australia its best result, coming 2nd in Eurovision 2016, was quick to react to the news, stating that she is interested to represent the country one more time:

Australia was represented in Eurovision 2022 by Sheldon Riley and the song “Not the Same”, coming 15th with 125 points, the vast majority of which came from the juries (123) and 2 points came from the televote.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun!

Source: Eurovoix

 

Australia: Internal selection for Eurovision 2023!

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It looks like Australia Decides, Australia’s national final for the Eurovision Song Contest, will not be returning next year.

SBS has unveiled its schedule for the new TV season and Australia Decides is nowhere to be found. In fact, in the list he published, it is mentioned at the end under the sign “absent”, along with two more television projects.

So far, Australian public television has not officially announced how Australia’s representative in Eurovision 2023 will be selected, although everything now indicates that we are heading for an internal selection.

Last year, SBS opened the deadline for submissions on August 26, closing a month later on September 26. Having already entered November and knowing that at least a month is required for the submission of entries, it seems that Australia will choose internally for Eurovision 2023.

Of course, this won’t be the first time this has happened, since from 2015 to 2018, as well as 2021, SBS selected its representatives for the competition internally.

This year, Australia was represented by Sheldon Riley with the song Not The Same, having previously won Australia Decides. Sheldon placed 15th in the final with 125 points, almost all from the juries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wosfFz2FJPU

Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun for all the updates!

Source: Eurovisionin

Eurovision 2023: 37 countries will join the 67th contest in Liverpool!

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Just moments ago, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced the countries that will take part in the 67th Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool! 37 countries will be present in the contest, with three countries withdrawing, in contrast with the 40 countries last year in Turin.

These countries  withdrawing are Bulgaria, Montenegro and North Macedonia, which after their participation in Eurovision 2022, all three of them withdraw for financial reasons.

Martin Österdahl, Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest, shared his thoughts on the line-up:

“We’re looking forward to welcoming artists from all 37 countries to Liverpool, the city of pop, next May. Next year’s competition promises to be an extra special one and we’re working hard with the BBC right now to ensure that hundreds of millions of viewers will enjoy the best Eurovision Song Contest yet, with Ukraine at the heart of the event.”

In detail, the countries that are going to take part are:

  • Albania – RTSH
  • Australia– SBS
  • Armenia– AMPTV
  • Austria – ORF
  • Azerbaijan – Ictimai TV
  • Belgium – RTBF
  • Croatia – HRT
  • Cyprus – CyBC
  • Czech Republic – CT
  • Denmark – DR
  • Estonia – ERR
  • Finland  – YLE
  • France – FT
  • Georgia – GPB
  • Germany – ARD/NDR
  • Greece – ΕΡΤ
  • Iceland – RUV
  • Ireland– RTE
  • Israel – IPBC/Kan
  • Italy– RAI
  • Latvia – LTV
  • Lithuania – LRT
  • Malta – PBS
  • Moldova – TRM
  • Netherlands – AVROTROS
  • Norway – NRK
  • Poland – TVP
  • Portugal – RTP
  • Romania – TVR
  • San Marino – RTV
  • Serbia – RTS
  • Slovenia ​​- RTVSLO
  • Spain  – TVE
  • Sweden – SVT
  • Switzerland – SRG / SSR
  • Ukraine – UA: PBC
  • United Kingdom – BBC

Martin Green, BBC’s Managing Director of the Eurovision Song Contest added:

“We are incredibly proud to be hosting the Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ukraine and welcoming delegations from 37 countries to Liverpool next year. The BBC is committed to making the event a true reflection of Ukrainian culture and showcasing British creativity to a global audience.”

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

Eurovision 2023: National broadcaster participation window closing today!

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The national broadcasters from the countries having an active EBU membership, have a deadline until today (15/9), in order to confirm their participation in the 67th Eurovision Song Contest.

We might not know the city at United Kingdom that we are going to travel to for Eurovision 2023 yet, but today is the deadline for the national broadcasters-EBU members to confirm their participation in the contest.

Until October 11th, according to the rules, the possibility of withdrawal is provided without the imposition of a fine. From this date on, the broadcasters that applied for participating and are willing to withdraw, are going to face the imposition of a fine, which is varying, depending on the time of withdrawal (before or after the semi-finals draw etc.).

31 countries, with one way or another, have announced their will to participate in Eurovision 2023. Among them there’s Greece, and Cyprus too. Those countries are:

  • Albania
  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Cyprus
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Georgia
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Iceland
  • Ireland
  • Israel
  • Italy
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Malta
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • San Marino
  • Serbia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • The Netherlands
  • Ukraine
  • United Kingdom

The number from the countries above is expected to grow, because nine countries that participated in this year’s contest, haven’t clarified their intentions yet. Those are:

  • Armenia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Czech Republic
  • Moldova
  • Montenegro
  • North Macedonia
  • Slovenia

There’s always a chance, although slight, for a country to return or for another one to debut. The participating countries and their exact number will be confirmed through EBU’s official announcement. The respective announcement for Eurovision 2022 was made on October 20th.

 

Eurovision 2023: The new season has just started!

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For many, including us on Eurovisionfun, Eurovision never ends! However, September 1st is a special date. Any song that is released after that date is eligible to be chosen to take part in the next years contest. Therefore, any song from now on can be a potential Eurovision 2o23 entry!

What we know so far

After the landslide victory of Ukraine and Kalush Orchestra in Turin, EBU has already announced that due to the ongoing war since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the contest will be held in the United Kingdom instead, to ensure safety of everyone involved in the production.

During August, BBC announced a shortlist of seven cities that will compete to host the contest next year, while the deadline to submit the finalized bids is set for September 8th. BBC and EBU representatives will visit these cities to inspect the facilities and discuss with local authorities on the proposed bids.

Around late September/early October and after there is potentially a dialogue with the British government, BBC and EBU will announce the Eurovision 2023 hosting city.

The shortlisted cities are:

  • Birmingham
  • Glasgow
  • Leeds
  • Liverpool
  • Manchester
  • Newcastle
  • Sheffield

Betting odds are every year a topic of discussion within and outside the Eurovision fandom. As of the time of writing, the odds about which city will host Eurovision 2023 predict Glasgow as the hosting city, with 65% chances, indicating a one-horse race for the hosting of the contest next year.

Participating countries

As of now, 27 countries have officially or unofficially confirmed that they will take part in Eurovision 2023. These are:

  • Albania
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Cyprus
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Georgia
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Iceland
  • Israel
  • Italy
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Romania
  • San Marino
  • Serbia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Ukraine
  • United Kingdom

Within the next months more countries are expected to confirm their participation, with the goal to have 40 countries as in 2022. Russia and Belarus are not eligible to take part in the contest, since their broadcasters are not EBU members anymore.

Certain countries have already announced that they will not take part in Eurovision 2023, with some of them extending their long-lasting absence from the contest. Andorra, Monaco, Luxemburg, Liechtenstein, Slovakia, Maroco and Hungary will not be present in the 67th Eurovision Song Contest, while Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina are yet to announce their plans but the chances to see them returning are low for various reasons.

Until March 14th the announcement of all the entries

It won’t be before March 14th until we know all competing artists and entries for 2023, since on that day is the meeting of the Head of Delegations where all entries will be officially submitted. However, Israel has already selected its artist and its Noa Kirel, a local superstar with many of her songs conquering the charts.

Albania and Ukraine will be the next to select their entries before the end of 2022, unless there is a surprise as with Czech Republic last year.

Join us on the road to Eurovision 2023!

Eurovisionfun will bring you Eurofun-tastic news throughout the season, while you should be ready for exclusives and surprises! Our 24/7 coverage in Greek and English includes articles, reactions, discussions and many more!

Don’t forget to follow us on our social media, we are always online and we love interacting with you! You can check us out on:

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Let the Eurovision 2023 season begin! Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun!

 

 

 

Andrew Lambrou: With which country is the singer in discussions for Eurovision 2023?

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We promised you last night, through our social media, some really interesting news! And we aspire to always deliver! So, here it is: Andrew Lambrou, an Australian singer of Cypriot origin, is in discussions with a country for Eurovision 2023.

“Until we know what’s happening with Eurovision”

Due to the summer idleness and lack of news, we decided to get in touch with artists who were candidates for this year’s national finals, to see where they are now, what they are up to or if they would be interested in participating again in ESC.

One of the artists we interviewed was Andrew Lambrou, who attempted to represent Australia at Eurovision 2022, taking part in the national final Australia Decides with the song Electrify – eventually coming seventh out of eleven candidates.

So, we contacted him and he agreed to do the interview, referring us to his manager to arrange the details of the interview. After having agreed on day and time with his manager, Timothy Youngson, we were waiting for the final “ok”.

However, on Sunday evening, we received an e-mail in which it was essentially confirmed that the artist is in discussions for Eurovision 2023, and that his team decided to wait for the final outcome of these discussions, before giving an interview!

Which country is Andrew Lambrou in discussions with?

Of course, the question that arises now is which country is Andrew Lambrou in discussions with. There are, we believe, two possible scenarios.

Australia

The first possible scenario is that the young expatriate artist is discussing a return to Australia Decides, the country’s national final for the ESC.

He might not have managed to get the ticket for the Competition this year, but Andrew Lambrou left a positive impression upon the eurofans, and not a few of them would like to see him try again.

Cyprus

The second possible scenario is of course Cyprus. CYBC very recently signed a new agreement with PANIK, according to which their cooperation in Eurovision is extended for at least two more years. In fact, it was announced that for 2023 they will once again select the artist internally, while for 2024 they will hold ,together with Nikos Kokloni’s production company, “All Together Now”, for the selection of the country’s representative.

So, it would not come as a surprise if the Cypriot delegation and PANIK are already in discussion with the artist’s team, in order for the latter to represent the country in the next competition. Andrew Lambrou may not be part of PANIK’s team (after all he lives and works in Australia), but this is not a problem since something similar happened back in 2020, with PANIK records taking over Sandro merely for the Eurovision project.

Who is Andrew Lambrou

Andrew Lambrou is 24 years old, who lives and works in Sydney. He performs and writes his own songs since the age of five.

At the age of just 17, he impressed all four X Factor judges, who easily got him through to the next stage. Having received great feedback from the four big names sitting in the judges’ seats  (Danii Minogue, James Blunt, Chris Isaak, Guy Sebastian). Andrew got through the first round with four ‘YES’, performing his rendition of Nick Jonas’ song “Chains”.

In the second phase, the 5 seat challenge, the coach of the Boys under 25 team, Chris Isaak, was asked to choose only five out of the boys to go through. Andrew sang “Ain’t nobody” by Chaka Khan and achieved a Top 5 spot.

It is worth noting that Andrew Lambrou became known well before his participation on X-Factor, due to his YouTube Channel, where he uploads various covers of popular (mostly pop) songs.

Unfortunately, Andrew was not as lucky in the next phase, the Super Home Visits phase, as he did not manage to make it to the top 3 and enter the live shows. This is attributed mostly to his musical inexperience at the time. However, experts in the field, like Simon Cowell, remarked upon Andrew’s promising career in the industry.

It now remains to be seen if Andrew Lambrou will try again for the Australian national final despite his recent disappointing results or whether CYBC, after this year’s non-qualification, will follow on the ERT’s footsteps and send an expatriate artist to the ESC.

Check out his performance at Australia Decides 2022 below:

Would you like to see Andrew Lambrou at Eurovision 2023 with Australia or with Cyprus? Stay tuned for all the updates on the matter!

The most successful Eurovision countries in the 20s!

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Eurovision is heading to the third decade of the 21st century and it has clearly changed not only in comparison with the past, but also with the recent years. In this article we investigate how countries scored during the first 2 years of the 20s, as well as their average score.

As you can see below, we cannot identify a group of 5-6 performing performing always well, as it used to happen the last years. Only a few countries are consistently doing well, despite the fact that the scores studied are only of the last 2 years. Tougher competition, the success of the contest on social media (TikTok had a business partnership with the contest this year featuring exclusive clips of the first rehearsals on the platform), as well as the high interest by record labels are only some of the reasons why it is harder to perform consistently well, since entries are of higher lever than the past.

Lets see in detail the average score of the countries during this decade:

Country        2022   2021    Average

  1. Ukraine           1          5             3
  2. Italy                 6          1            3,5
  3. Greece             8         10            9
  4. Sweden           4         14             9
  5. Russia             –           9             9
  6. Switzerland    17        3             10
  7. Moldova          7        13            10
  8. Serbia              5         15            10
  9. Portugal          9         12           10.5
  10. Lithuania       14         8             11
  11. France            24         2             13
  12. Spain               3         24           13.5
  13. Iceland          23          4            13.5
  14. Finland          21          6            13.5
  15. United Kingdom 2     26           14
  16. Norway           10         18            14
  17. The Netherlands 11     23          17
  18. Azerbaijan     16          20            18
  19. Belgium          19         19             19
  20. Armenia         20          –              20
  21. Malta               35          7             21
  22. Estonia           13         31             22
  23. Poland            12         33            22.5
  24. Cyprus            29         16            22.5
  25. Romania        18          28            23
  26. Israel              30          17           23.5
  27. Albania          28          21           24.5
  28. Australia        15          34           24.5
  29. Bulgaria         38          11           24.5
  30. Germany        25          25            25
  31. Croatia           26          27           26.5
  32. St. Marino     33          22           27.5
  33. Czech Republic 22     36             29
  34. Denmark        31         29             30
  35. North Macedonia 27 35             31
  36. Austria           36         30             33
  37. Ireland           34         37            35.5
  38. Latvia             32         39            35.5
  39. Slovenia         40        32              36
  40. Montenegro   37         –                37
  41. Georgia           39       38             38.5

As you can see in the table above, there are very few countries where the average of their positions in these two years is below 10. This proves how difficult it has become to be in the top ten. It is even more difficult to have continuous results within top 10, since only three countries have achieved this, Ukraine, Italy and Greece!

It is evident that Italy and Ukraine are the two powerhouses of the competition for this decade (so far). Sweden remains high on the list, but far from the first place it was in the last decade. Greece is recovering dynamically since it is in third place, when in the previous decade it was out of the 20s. Cyprus gets lower scores year by year, unfortunately making us believe that 2018 was just a coincidence and is currently in 24th place!

Regardless of personal taste and opinions, the numbers speak themselves and is clear that Ukraine, Italy and Greece are doing great during this decade. The new strategy of the management of ERT to chose the artist and the song internally, is proven to be successful, after years of bad results and 2 NQ (2016,2018).

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun because the journey to Eurovision 2023 has already begun!

Australia: Sheldon Riley wins the brand new “You’re a Vision” award!

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Australia wins the new You’re A Vision Award! According to the Eurovision fans, participant Sheldon Riley wore the most remarkable outfit on the 2022 Eurovision stage. The You’re A Vision Award aims to celebrate the creativity and diversity that embody the Eurovision spirit.

Sheldon Riley finished 15th in the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin. In his striking and remarkable white gown, which weighs 40 kgs, he performed his song “Not the Same”. According to the fans who voted, that was enough to win the new and positively spirited You’re A Vision Award. Australia had a big lead over numbers 2 and 3, Spain and Norway. San Marino just missed out on a place in the top 3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wosfFz2FJPU

The top 3:

  1. Australia
  2. Spain
  3. Norway

The new You’re A Vision Award was announced on April 29. Striking pantsuits, dresses, costumes and other creations will forever play a crucial part of the magic of Eurovision. As a participating artist, this occasionally means taking risks and standing out involuntarily, or standing in the spotlights with a dashing fashion choice. The You’re a Vision Award celebrates this inspiring diversity and creativity. Of course it is up to the real Eurovision fans to determine whose outfit was the most notable of them all.

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news about Eurovision Song Contest!

Source: songfestival.be

Australia: Confident of staying in Eurovision

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Next year is the last in which Australia is guaranteed a place in the Eurovision Song Contest.

The largest country on the continent of Oceania was invited to participate for the first time in 2015 through SBS, which is an associated member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), and in 2019 their participation was extended until 2023.

But Paul Clarke, Creative Director of Eurovision: Australia Decides and Director of Blink TV is convinced Australia has proven it belongs on the stage.

A week ago in Turin, Paul Clarke said:

“Another part (of being here) is doing a little bit of lobbying. Working around the soft political power. The embers are always burning at Eurovision. I’m really confident that will be extended. I think they like our sense of a irreverence and we’ll have a crack with some wild prop. The Kate Miller-Heidke performance is remembered as one of the absolute greatest moments of props they’ve ever seen!”

Would you like Australia to participate in the Competition indefinitely? What do you think will be the fate of the country? Tell us your opinion in the comments.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all developments around Australia’s participation in the contest.

Source: TVTonight