Eurovision 2022: Two scenarios are being considered for Turin!

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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

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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!

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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: L‘Observateur de Monaco

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

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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!

Eurovision 2022: 41 countries joining the 66th contest in Turin!

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Public broadcasters from 41 countries will take part in the Eurovision Song Contest when it returns to our screens next May.

Fans of the Contest will welcome back ARMTV from Armenia and RTCG from Montenegro, both taking to the stage for the first time since Tel Aviv in 2019.

It’s also a special year for Norwegian broadcaster NRK as they will be celebrating the selection of their 60th Eurovision entry during the Melodi Grand Prix grand final on Saturday 19 February.

We will also witness the 300th ‘Big Five’ performance – that’s a song from one of either France, Germany, Italy, Spain or United Kingdom.

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

‘We are so excited that we once again have over 40 broadcasters competing to win the iconic Eurovision trophy in Turin next May.

The team from Rai are working hard on preparations to welcome all the delegations to a new Host City and ensuring the Eurovision Song Contest will provide the excitement and state-of-the-art spectacle expected by nearly 200 million viewers.’

On the announcement of the 41 participants, Simona Martorelli and Claudio Fasulo from Italian broadcaster Rai added:

‘After 31 years, Italy is proud to host the Eurovision Song Contest again! As Executive Producers, we are incredibly excited to set up this amazing event and welcome delegations from 41 nations to Turin next year.

Above all, we strongly believe the Eurovision Song Contest will allow us to showcase and share the beauty of Italy with a global audience via the elements that unite us all: music and harmony.’

The Italian city of Turin won the race to become the Host City of the 66th Eurovision Song Contest, setting Saturday 14 May as the date of the Grand Final, which will be held in PalaOlimpico along with two Semi-Finals on 10 and 12 May.

Source: Eurovision.tv

Eurovision 2022: More than 40 countries will compete in Turin!

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Through the official account of the Eurovision Contest on Twitter, a few minutes ago we had an important piece of information. The countries that will take part in Eurovision 2022, will be more than 40!

A few days ago again through Twitter, the Eurovision account asked fans how many countries they think will take part in Turin.

About 62% answered more than 40 countries and today we learned that this answer was the right one!

The above practically means that apart from Montenegro, which has already announced its return to Eurovision 2022, but also Armenia, which, although it has not yet opened its papers, its participation in Junior Eurovision in December makes us almost sure that the Caucasian country will return. We may have other countries that will either return or make their debut in the contest that will take place next May in Turin.

Andorra, Monaco, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovakia and Hungary do not seem willing to return. On the other hand, Turkey has so far kept a low profile. However, the EBU’s announcement this summer, for discussions with the country’s public broadcaster regarding the possibility of its return, leaves some hope.

Soon, however, we will find out the full list of countries that will compete in the 66th Eurovision Song Contest and all our questions will be answered!

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments related to our favorite contest!

Eurovision 2022: The decision for the city that will host the contest has not been made yet!

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Our friends from the always valid Eurofestivalnews in their exclusive article, state that the decision for the city that will host the 66th Eurovision Song Contest has not yet been made by RAI and the EBU.

The five cities vying for Eurovision 2022 will have to worry for an unknown period of time, as Italian public television has not yet reached its final selection. Milan, Turin, Bologna, Pesaro and Rimini each hope for their own reasons that she has submitted the most complete proposal to host this important event next May. The truth is, however, that despite the announcement from the official Eurovision account that we will soon have the announcement (posting a pizza that was baked), it seems that we will wait a few more days.

Eurofestivalnews reveals that the reason for this delay is the fact that RAI started the procedures for the selection of the city, publishing the relevant announcement for the submission of candidacies in mid-July, while this is usually done at the end of June. This practically means that we are two weeks behind.

In addition, the RAI team continues to visit the five cities and there is still a joint meeting of the RAI people with the EBU, before the announcement is made.

What is certain is that all five candidate cities have the same chances and what has been said from time to time about supposed favorites has nothing to do with reality. RAI keeps its mouth shut and refers the interested parties to the official announcements, which, although they are not late, will not be made immediately.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments related to the 66th Eurovision Song Contest!

Italy: The race to host the Eurovision 2022 starts!

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The race to host the Eurovision Song Contest has officially begun.  Today Italian broadcaster RAI announced the requirements candidate cities must meet in order to compete to be the host city of the Eurovision Song Contest.  In the following weeks we will get the exact list of candidate cities that meet the official requirements and are willing to host the event.

 

Candidate cities must have:

  • An international airport no more than 90 minutes from the city.
  • Over 2,000 hotel rooms in the area close to the event.
  • An infrastructure (stadium/venue/centre) capable of hosting a large-scale live broadcast with the minimum requirements listed below.

Moreover, the potential arena should have an audience capacity in the main hall of around 8,000 – 10,000 during the event, be indoors with air-conditioning and have a well defined perimeter, have a main hall with the capacity to house the set and all other requirements needed to produce a high level broadcast production, have ample space within easy access of the main hall to support additional production needs, such as: a press centre, delegation spaces, dressing rooms, artist facilities, staff facilities, hospitality, audience facilities, etc.

 

In addition to this, the arena has to be available for 6 weeks before the event, 2 weeks during the show (which will take place in May) and a week after the end of the event for dismantling.  Accordingly, fans can start discounting from the bidding process arenas that have scheduled events taking place during the weeks surrounding the Eurovision Song Contest.  Before this announcement different cities had announced their interest to host the song contest.  The list of potential hosts includes Turin, Rome, Milan and Bologna.

Are you excited about the Eurovision Song Contest 2022? Which city would you like to see hosting the shows?

Source: Eurovision.tv

 

Sergey Lavrov: “The EBU decision on Belarus was disgusting and pure censorship”!

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized the Eurovision Song Contest and EBU’s decision for banning the Belarusian entry from the upcoming contest in Rotterdam.

Organizers of the contest disqualified Belarus from the contest last week after deeming their songs too political.

Speaking in Thursday’s televised comments, Lavrov called the decision “disgusting” and “pure censorship”.

The decision to ban Belarus from the Eurovision Song Contest was really disgusting. An act of clear censorship!

Sergey Lavrov

The first song submitted to the contest called “I’ll teach you” allegedly mocked protesters who disputed the results of the Presidential elections last summer.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said the country would submit another song, but the organizers said the replacement was also breaching the rules and that Belarus would be disqualified.

Armenia’s withdrawal due to the Nagorno-Karabakh war and the blockade of Belarus reduced the number of countries participating in this year’s competition from 41 to 39, while proving beyond doubt that those who believe that politics has nothing to do with the contest, are watching something different.

Listen to the song that would represent Belarus at Eurovision 2021 below:

Do you agree with Sergey Lavrov or do you consider the exclusion of Belarus fair?

Source: Associated Press

Eurovision 2021: No COVID-19 infection was detected in the first mass event tests in the Netherlands!

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Pilot mass tests in the Netherlands began a few weeks ago, of course under strict health protocols and safety measures. In this first test that involved a theatrical performance, with 500 spectators present, as announced today, there was no case of COVID-19 detected.

The news was happily published on social media by the executive producer of this year’s Eurovision song contest, Sietse Bakker. Of course, as he says, this means absolutely nothing, but it is a first optimistic step for the whole field of mass events and of course Eurovision 2021 itself.

The Dutch Ministry of Health, since last year, had announced the holding of a series of pilot mass events, in order to investigate whether there is a spread of coronavirus in these events, when they take place under specific safety measures of the attendees.

The first pilot test took place in a theatrical performance, which was attended by 500 spectators. Of course as you will see in the photos that follow, everyone wore masks etc.

Of course, as Sietse Bakker rightly states in his post, although the above is a very positive development, it is the first step for holding mass events during the pandemic, and of course this also concerns the Eurovision song contest.

The Dutch will continue the pilot events until mid-March and any conclusions will be used and evaluated, in the decision of the government and the organizers, in the presence or absence of the public in May, at the Ahoy Arena.

The Test Schedule:

February 28: football match (1500 spectators)
March 6: dance event at Ziggo Dome (1300 attendees)
March 7: concert at the Ziggo Dome (1300 spectators)
March 13: dance festival (1500 attendees)
March 14: pop festival (1500 attendees)

In early March, the EBU and the Dutch organizers will announce the scenario according to which the 65th Eurovision Song Contest will be held. In other words, we will know if the artists will compete live on stage or through the recorded live on tape videos. Any decisions regarding the presence of the public will be taken later, specifically until April 15.

The course of the pandemic in the Netherlands, but also the latest news from these pilot trials at mass events, leave many smiles of optimism, for a contest, which at least in terms of artists, it will be with them competing and singing on stage and not through videos.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news related to the Eurovision 2021 song contest!