American Song Contest: Watch the rehearsals of the first qualifier round!

A few minutes ago, short clips from the rehearsals of the representatives of each state and region of the first American Song Contest qualifying round were released on the American Song Contest’s social media accounts!

You can check out the participants’ rehearsals below:

  1. Iowa: Alisabeth Von Presley – “Wonder
  2. Arkansas: Kelsey Lamb – “Never Like This
  3. Wisconsin: Jake’O – “Feel Your Love
  4. Wyoming: Ryan Charles – “New Boot Goofin
  5. Indiana: UG skywalkin – “Love For My City
  6. Minnesota: Yam Haus – “Ready To Go
  7. Mississippi: Keyone Starr – “Fire
  8. Oklahoma: AleXa – “Wonderland
  9. Puerto Rico: Christian Pagán – “LOKO
  10. Rhode Island: Hueston – “Held On Too Long

Connecticut’s Michael Bolton rehearsal for “Beautiful World” has not been released, as of now.

The American Song Contest 2021 will begin on Monday, March 21 and will run for 8 weeks, until the grand prize winner is crowned on May 9. The contest will consist of three rounds: the first qualifier round, the semi-finals and the grand finale. In the Grand Final, the finalist states will compete for the title of “Best Original Song” in the United States.

We remind you that the competition will be broadcast on Austria’s and Germany’s ServusTV, Canada’s CHCH-DT, Finland’s YLE TV2, Greece’s ERT, Iceland’s RÚV, Norway’s NRK, Portugal’s RTP, Serbia’s RTS, Slovenia’s RTVSLO 2, Spain’s RTVE Play and Sweden’s SVT.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the American Song Contest 2022!

U.S.A.: Listen to the song snippets of the First Qualifier Round of American Song Contest 2022!

Just a few days before the first ever American Song Contest kicks off,  small snippets from the representatives of each state and region of the First Qualifier Round of the American Song Contest were published on TikTok.

The 11 participants of the First Qualifier Round are as follows:

  1. Arkansas: Kelsey Lamb – “Never Like This”
  2. Connecticut: Michael Bolton – “Beautiful World”
  3. Wyoming: Ryan Charles – “New Boot Goofin”
  4. Indiana : UG skywalkin – “Love For My City”
  5. Iowa : Alisabeth Von Presley – “Wonder”
  6. Minnesota: Yam Haus – “Ready To Go”
  7. Mississippi: Keyone Starr – “Fire”
  8. Oklahoma: AleXa – “Wonderland”
  9. Puerto Rico: Christian Pagán – “LOKO”
  10. Rhode Island: Hueston – “Held On Too Long”
  11. Wisconsin: Jake’O – “Feel Your Love”

The American Song Contest 2022 will start on Monday, March 21 and will last 8 weeks, until the big winner is announced on May 9. The competition will be attended by the 50 US states, the five overseas US possessions and the capital, Washington. Grammy-winning pop superstar Kelly Clarkson and multi-platinum music icon Snoop Dogg will host the show.

The contest will consist of three rounds: the qualifiers, the semifinals and the grand final. In the grand final, the finalist states will compete for the title of “Best Original Song” of the USA.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding American Song Contest!

Ukraine: It is official! Despite the invasion, the country will be present in Turin!

The Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Turin from 10 to 14 May could not be unaffected by the war. Russia has already been excluded, and despite the rumors and the difficulties, the Ukrainian delegation will be there, as the Italian organizers confirmed earlier. Read more

EBU: Russia’s representatives suspended from the European Broadcasting Union!

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has decided to suspend the three main Russian members that were until yesterday members of the union. Three days ago the Russian stations had unofficially announced, as it seems, their membership of the Broadcasting Union.

EBU’s statement on Russian members:

The EBU Executive Board, in light of ongoing events in Ukraine, has decided to suspend representatives from its three Russian Members (RTR, Channel One and RDO) from serving in its governance groups, including the Executive Board and all Statutory Committees. This follows the decision taken last week to exclude Russia from the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest.

In taking this action, the Executive Board took note of the public statement issued by the three Member organizations on 26 February announcing their intention to withdraw from the EBU. A decision taken as a direct result of Russia’s exclusion from the Song Contest. The Members have verbally confirmed to us their intent to leave and we are awaiting their formal confirmation.

The suspension will remain in effect until further notice has been given by the Executive Board.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news!
Source: EBU

Russia: Announces its withdrawal from the EBU!

All Russian state media that were members of the EBU (VGTRK, Channel One and Radiodom Ostankino) announced their withdrawal from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in response to Russia’s removal from Eurovision 2022.

The announcement of the Russian broadcasters states:

Broadcasters see Russia’s withdrawal from the competition as an “inappropriate political sacrifice” in a music forum that has always emphasized its non-political status.
Russia’s ouster is the latest, but it is far from the first of such Eurovision-related decisions. So in 2016 Ukraine won with the song “1944”, which is an open political manifesto. At the same time, a few years later, the organizers of the competition excluded Belarus, saying that their song had political messages.
These are just two examples of the many, where the organizers of the competition approached the interpretation of the term “politics” “biased and selective”. According to the All-Russian State Television and Radio Company, the EBU is fulfilling the will of the European Union, although half of the members of the European Broadcasting Union are television channels and radio stations from outside the EU.

In our previous article, we told you that Russia’s reaction to the EBU’s decision to expel the country from the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest was expected. The reaction came a while ago and is the most intense that could happen.

It remains to be seen whether Russia’s withdrawal will be permanent or only this year. Of course, the above development means that Russia will not be present at Junior Eurovision 2021 in Armenia either.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the updates!

Source: RIA

EBU: Rule of song release after the 1st of September toughens!

EBU toughens the rule that states that songs should not have been released before the 1st of September, starting Eurovision Song Contest 2022, said the Ukrainian public TV broadcaster, earlier today.

A representative of the Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne, announced that the rule, that already exists, and limits the release of the candidate songs of each year’s contest to a release date after the 1st of September of the previous year, now toughens, closing any loopholes that might existed.

There had been a restriction regarding commercial releases, but starting from 2022 this clause had changed: release is not implied as commercial anymore, so as to emphasise on the release in any sense, excluding any release prior to 01/09/2021, which is not allowed. According to the rules of the contest, the national selection is implemented by each of the participating broadcasters and they are responsible to ensure that the rules of the contest are applied.

Thus, ANY RELEASE of songs prior to the 1st of September of the previous year is strictly forbidden. If this rule was to be applied in older contests, for example, neither Jamala with 1944 nor Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro with Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente could have participated with their countries.

Source: KP

Eurovision 2022: Two scenarios are being considered for Turin!

An important revelation in view of Eurovision 2022 was made by the Executive Supervisor of our favorite competition, Martin Österdahl. Speaking on the sidelines of Junior Eurovision 2021 on the OGAE Sweden channel, Österdahl revealed that there are two scenarios on the table in view of the 66th Eurovision Song Contest.

Occasioned by the second Junior Eurovision since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Swedish Executive Producer of Eurovision Song Contest answered about the differences between Warsaw 2020 and Paris 2021:

There were definitely differences. Every year has its challenges, as we say with my team. In Warsaw, last year, we were fortunate that TVP had hosted the 2019 competition and had the necessary experience to host an event like that. Also, the pandemic was at a much earlier stage than now. It was different than this year. Today we know more about the pandemic, but we saw that three or four weeks ago we had the appearance of the Omicron variant that caused a lot of concern to all of us. The point is, when it comes to producing live TV shows, you have to be prepared for the worst and have an alternative scenario ready. But the pandemic complicates the situation.

Scenarios

Asked about the four scenarios that were used for Rotterdam 2021 and whether they would be kept in view of Turin 2022, Martin Österdahl replied:

We have more or less the same mindset that we are still in the middle of the pandemic. We have to prepare in the same way for the competition here in Paris but also for the Eurovision in the spring in Turin. Hopefully, we do not have to continue working with four different scenarios for Turin, as we did for a long time in Rotterdam. Maybe two is the realistic development for Turin. We hope that as the temperature rises, the pandemic will be less complicated.

Live-On-Tape

At the same time, the Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest explained the EBU’s decision to maintain the use of live-on-tape as an alternative in case something goes wrong:

We have now seen how the new variant affected travel instructions and led to the application of new restrictions. We can not take the risk of this happening again. It is a huge production. There are 41 countries that are going to participate in Eurovision Song Contest in the spring. It is a huge investment on the part of RAI, the organizers of the competition. We must ensure that there is a competition and live-on-tape is the last guarantee that we will have a competition.
With the Omicron mutation spreading rapidly across the length and breadth of the Old Continent, Martin Österdahl’s responses give us a first taste of the EBU and RAI plans for Turin. In any case, the evolution of the pandemic is so unpredictable that any prediction of how Eurovision 2022 will be conducted is risky.

We remind you that the 66th Eurovision Song Contest will take place at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, on 10, 12 and 14 May 2022, with 41 participating countries.Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news related to the 66th Eurovision Song Contest!

 

Monaco 2023? Country gets a new public broadcaster

New developments on a potential Monegasque return to Eurovision have emerged.  In 2022, Monte-Carlo Riviera will start operations as the new public broadcaster of the country.  Thanks to this new development, Monaco can apply again for a EBU membership.

Previously, Monaco’s public broadcaster was Téle-Montecarlo.  However, French TF1 bought the channel in 2016 making a return for the small nation a distant possibility.  Téle-Montecarlo was the only Monegasque broadcaster with an EBU membership.

Therefore the brand-new broadcaster can become a EBU member and path the way for a Monaco return to Eurovision.  Nevertheless, this is only the first step towards their participation.  Monte-Carlo Rivera will need to apply for a EBU membership in order to participate in 2023.  This possibility seems likely considering that Monaco allocated 100000 euros on its budget for a 2023 bid.

Monaco in Eurovision

Monaco participated in Eurovision from 1959 until 1979.  During this period they won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1971 with the song Un banc, un arbre, une rue.  They also achieved a second place and three third places in the competition.  In 2004 Monaco returned to Eurovision.  They competed for three years in a row.  Unfortunately, they failed to qualify to the Grand Final.  Monaco participated in 2006 for the last time until now.

Are you excited about a potential Monaco return to Eurovision?

Monaco: Returns in Eurovision 2023!

A very important news saw the light of day a little while ago. According to Monaco’s largest news site, L’Observateur de Monaco, the Principality is expected to return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023.

Monaco has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 24 times since its debut in 1959. The country’s only win in the contest came in 1971 when Séverine performed “Un banc, un arbre, une rue”. As a result, Monaco was expected to host the contest in 1972, but declined. As of 2021, Monaco is the only microstate which has won the contest.

The news of Monaco’s return to the Eurovision Song Contest came all of a sudden, as nothing had been heard in the past. The last participation of the state in the competition was in 2006, in Athens. Monaco was represented by Séverine Ferrer with the song “La Coco-Dance”, having been left out of the final. 

According to L’Observateur de Monaco, the country’s annual budget for 2022 refers to a budget of 100,000 euros for the preparation of Monaco’s participation in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest.

While it is not yet clear which singer could represent Monaco in 2023, several artists, more or less known, have already represented the colors of the Principality in recent decades.

In any case, this news is very pleasant, as one of the first countries to ever participate in the Eurovision Song Contest is going to return to our favorite competition after 17 years. More details are expected to be known in the near future.

Even more skeptics can see the relevant reference in the preliminary draft budget, on pages 83-84 HERE

Source: LObservateur de Monaco

EBU uploaded again the “How To Eurovision – Greece” video, after ERT’s protest!

The video “How To Eurovision – Greece” is back on YouTube, having removed the points for which ERT sent an official protest to the EBU.

First through Eurovisionfun you read about the strange video, which both we and many other fans characterized, the EBU posted on YouTube and the rest of the social media and supposedly honored the Greek presence in the contest.

Specifically, in the original video, apart from a brief review of Greece in Eurovision Song Contest, there was an extensive tribute to the 12 points of Cyprus to Greece, while it was mentioned that in 1998 the Greek entry saved from the last place and the 0 points, thanks to the 12 points of Cyprus. As if that were not enough, the video even included the mocking of the Greek participation that year by the audience.

Of course, in similar videos from other countries, we did not see anything like that, because of course it is not only Greece and Cyprus that, for well-known reasons, exchange high scores every year. Denmark does the same with Iceland, but so do the other Nordic countries, as do Poland and Ukraine, Estonia and Latvia, Belarus and Russia, as well as the countries of the former Yugoslavia.

After the dynamic intervention of ERT, which made it understandable to those involved that the issue would go to extremes as it was a matter of dignity, the problematic points were removed from social media, and then the video was completely downloaded from YouTube.

As of yesterday afternoon, the video is again on YouTube, without the audience’s mocking, with a clearly shorter and more diplomatic reference to the 12 points of Cyprus, while the saxophonist’s “out of tune” solo in Anixi of Sofia Vossou no longer exists.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2E0tEpVPuE

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