Austria: With internal selection in Eurovision 2023!

ORF, Austria‘s public broadcaster , has already started the search for a representative for Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool. For another year, Austria will select its representative by internal selection, as has been the practice in recent years.

Last weekend, ORF invited 15 artists who were found through internal live casting , either through the two producers Eberhard Forcher and Lukas Hillebrand . The recorded videos will be rated by the jury of the Austrian channel and some international experts of the Contest (about 25 people) and also by Eurovision fan clubs in several countries.

From those selected so far, ORF program director Stefanie Groiss-Horowitz and entertainment program manager Alexander Hofer will choose who will fly Austria’s flag in Liverpool next May. After three consecutive eliminations , the country seems determined to return to the Final .

Last year’s representatives of Austria were LUM!X and Pia Maria with the song “Halo” who, despite the great interest of the fans in their song, ultimately failed to make it to the Grand Final, finishing 15th  in the  first semi-final :

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

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news about Austria’s participation in Eurovision 2023, in Liverpool!

Source: kleinezeitung.a

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

Just moments ago, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced the countries that will take part in the 67th Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool37 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!

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!

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:

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

YouTube

TikTok

Spotify

 

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

 

 

 

The most successful Eurovision countries in the 20s!

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!

Eurovision 2022: Watch the Live-on-Tape videos of Denmark, Austria and Iceland!

The live-on-tape of the countries that participated in the 66th Eurovision Song Contest in May in Turin will be shown this year through the official Eurovision channel on YouTube.

From June 14 to 23, Eurofans will have the opportunity to watch the live-on-tape appearances of about thirty of the forty countries that took part in this year’s contest.

Today, it is the turn of three other countries of the first semi-final. Since the EBU decided to show the live-on-tapes based on the running order of the first semifinal, this means that today it is the turn of Denmark, Austria and Iceland.

🇩🇰 Watch the Live-on-Tape performance of “The Show” by REDDI:

🇦🇹 Watch the Live-on-Tape performance of “Halo” by LUM!X and Pia Maria:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YeTB9HX4NU

🇮🇸 Watch the Live-on-Tape performance of “Með Hækkandi Sòl” by Systur:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ-UZRfMHXU

What do you think about the first Live-on-Tape videos of Eurovision 2022? Do you like them or do you prefer the live performances?

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

Eurovision 2022: See the results of Press Poll just before the grand final!

As we informed you in our article, Press Poll 2022 has begun. After all countries have had all technical rehearsals, it is now time for the accredited to vote for the country that believes she will be the winner of the 66th Eurovision Song Contest.

Below are the results of the final of today’s 14/5 at 20:30:

In the vote for the winner, UK leads, Sweden is second, and Spain is third!


Follow us on all social media, so you do not miss a moment of what will happen in Turin:

Source: Ogae International

Eurovision 2022: See the results of the fifth day of Press Poll!

As we informed you in our article, Press Poll 2022 has begun. After all countries have had their three technical rehearsals, it is now time for the accredited to vote for the countries that will advance to the two semifinals, as well as the country that believes she will be the winner of the 66th Eurovision Song Contest.

Below are the results of the semifinals and finals of today’s 13/5 at 21:00:
First Semifinal

Second Semifinal

Grand Final

In the vote for the winner, UK leads, Sweden is second, and Greece is third!


Follow us on all social media, so you do not miss a moment of what will happen in Turin:


Stay tuned to Eurovision Fun for daily updates on Press Poll 2022!
Source: Ogae International

Eurovision 2022: See the results of the fourth day of Press Poll!

As we informed you in our article, Press Poll 2022 has begun. After all countries have had their three technical rehearsals, it is now time for the accredited to vote for the countries that will advance to the two semifinals, as well as the country that believes she will be the winner of the 66th Eurovision Song Contest.

Below are the results of the semifinals and finals of today’s 12/5 at 21:00:
First Semifinal

Second Semifinal

Grand Final

In the vote for the winner, UK leads, Sweden is second, and Greece is third! Greece is ranked first among the accredited journalists here in Turin.


Follow us on all social media, so you do not miss a moment of what will happen in Turin:


Stay tuned to Eurovision Fun for daily updates on Press Poll 2022!
Source: Ogae International

Austria: ORF will decide their selection method for Eurovision 2023 during June!

A few days after Austria’s non-qualification with Lumix and Pia Maria at Eurovision 2022, the head of the Austrian delegation, Stefan Zecher spoke about the possible ways of selecting the Austrian entry from Eurovision 2023 and on!

The head of the Austrian delegation from 2011, Stefan Zechner said:

The disappointment is huge, of course, because it’s the third time in a row that we haven’t reached the final. We just have to analyze how it is possible that a song that has done extremely well on YouTube and Spotify doesn’t get enough votes to make it to the final.

When asked why other countries always have a guaranteed ticket to the final while Austria always has to “fight”, he gave the following answer:

Countries like Sweden, for example, which usually always reach the final, are more positive about the competition. In Italy, the country’s best-known artists try to take part in Eurovision. In our country, on the other hand, people continue mocking Eurovision, even though the quality of the music has clearly improved.

When asked if the country’s representative could be chosen from a music show like Starmania, Zechner said:

This could be one of the many possibilities. “Starmania” could be won by someone who wouldn’t actually be suitable for Eurovision. If, on the other hand, we have our own national final, there’s the problem of finding artists who are willing to be exposed to the antagonism. Many established musicians don’t want to do that.

Right now we have a new program director, Stefanie Groiss-Horowitz. We will jointly consider how to approach the Song Contest. I think we need to ask ourselves what needs to change, what new approaches there are.

A decision on our selection method should be made in June, because if a new system is implemented, we will have to prepare it during the summer.

Lumix and Pia Maria represented Austria at Eurovision 2022 with “Halo”, you can watch their performance from the first semi-final here:

https://youtu.be/dMgjHYwXSuo

Follow us on all social media, so you do not miss a moment of what will happen in Turin:

Stay tuned to Eurovision Fun for daily updates of Eurovision 2022!