Eurovision 2022: Italy at the top of the betting tables!

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The favorite column of many of you is back, as the betting analyzes for the 66th Eurovision Song Contest are here again.

With the puzzle of the 41 songs that will participate in Eurovision 2022 having been completed by a quarter, we will take a look at the odds of the betting companies regarding the chances of victory of each country in this year’s Contest.

In any case, these returns reflect trends and are based on what we know so far in relation to the participation of each country.

Top 5

With the best omens, the host Italy starts its effort for the home competition of Turin. The triumph of Mahmood & Blanco at the 72nd San Remo Festival has brought the organizers to the first place of the betting tables, with a difference from the other contenders. An important role in this development has been played by the response of the Italian participation, which is in the five most popular songs at the moment on Spotify.

Greece is currently in second place among betting companies in the event of victory, with three out of four companies giving single-digit odds on Amanda bringing the second victory in the Mediterranean country. However, as you can see in the table below, the highest country-by-country odd is taken into account in order to rank. This is the reason why Greece is listed as fourth. With the odds in most companies having fallen, it is a matter of hours for Greece to formally rise in this ranking. This is a very promising start for the Greek participation, which is constantly rising in recent days.

Australia and Poland are close by. For Australia, the anticipation of a strong participation by Sheldon Riley and the – so far – level of songs of Australia Decides has played a role in considering the country of Oceania the third favorite. Along with Australia is Poland, which seems to be represented by Krystian Ochman and the song “River”. The release of this song brought the Central European country to the top of the betting tables midweek.

Sweden completes the top five. Belief in an even higher level of songs in the upcoming semifinals of the Melodifestivalen 2022 and the excellent tradition of the Scandinavians in the competition over the last decade, places them – as every year – in the top favorites.

Top 10

The rest of the top ten includes four countries that have so far kept quiet about their participation in Eurovision 2022. It remains unknown for Russia and Armenia who will represent them in the 66th Eurovision Song Contest. For France and Germany we are waiting for details in the next period, regarding the participants of the national finals and their songs.

The only country that is in the Top 10 and we know details about its candidate artists is Norway. Just yesterday, the fourth semifinal of the Melodi Grand Prix 2022 was held and now we know nine out of the ten finalists. The appearances of the MGP 2022 have affected the betting performances of the Scandinavian country, with some favorites underperforming and some surprises impressing on stage.

Conclusions

A lot can change in the next three months. The odds, of course, will go through various ups and downs. With just 9 of the 41 songs available, it’s extremely early to draw any conclusions. Information about the stage presence and of course the appearances at the PalaAlpitour in Turin can change everything at the tables of the betting companies.

Do you think Italy can do the back-to-back and become the first country after Ireland in the early 90’s to achieve consecutive victories in Eurovision?

Greece: In the island of Symi will take place the video clip of the song!

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The choice of ERT and the artistic team for the location where the video clip of the Greek entry will be shot is the beautiful and closed to the borders, Symi.

An end of Greece, in which, however, the heart of Hellenism beats loudly, will be the shooting of the video clip of Amanda’s song for Eurovision 2022. Next week Amanda together with Kostas Karydas (the director), members of the Greek delegation, but also a crew of ERT will travel to Symi in order to film the video clip.

As we revealed to you in our previous article, ERT wanted the Greek element to be seen through the video clip. But do not wait to see a video clip type postcard, in the video there will be a story that will unfold in the beautiful landscapes of Symi. This is the image that Greece will send to millions of viewers this year through the video clip of its participation in the contest. ERT’s message to many recipients is clear. On a remote island that can be just 10 minutes from Turkey and 10 hours from Athens, will shoot the video clip of our nation’s participation in Eurovision 2022.

Amanda arrives in Athens on Sunday and will leave as we mentioned above immediately for Symi, where she will stay for three days. ERT with a crew that will have in Symi and through Studio 4, but also its news bulletins will inform us about the shooting with a rich background and related videos.

Greece continues to be in the top ten of bets, while Amanda is in the highest position in the betting table in relation to the countries that have announced an artist or a song, filling smiles and optimism in ERT’s offices. Despite the positive messages, however, all those involved keep their tones low, but preparing in the background every little detail for the Greek entry this year, hoping that in May the result will justify them.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments regarding the Greek participation in Eurovision 2022!

Eurovision 2022: Here are the results of the allocation draw!

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The Semi-Final Allocation Draw for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 took place in Palazzo Madama in Turin. Find out below in which of the 2 Semi-Finals your country will perform and vote in. The annual event was hosted by Carolina di Domenico and Mario Acampa.

The Semi-Final Allocation Draw and Host City Insignia Exchange are key milestones on the path to the Eurovision Song Contest each year.

During the ceremony, Ahmed Aboutaleb, Mayor of Rotterdam, passed on the Host City Insignia to Stefano Lo Russo, Mayor of Turin. The insignia key chain, weighing over 30 kilograms with the new addition of Rotterdam’s insignia, was handed over to Turin. The Italian city is now officially the Host City of the Eurovision Song Contest 2022.

Draw Procedure

The 36 countries competing in the semifinals were divided into six pots, based on the points they have exchanged in recent years. This is done in order to avoid, as much as possible, the alliances and bloc voting that appear every year in the voting.

Allocation Pots

Big 5

With the host Italy, directly in the final, along with the rest of the Big 5 (UK, France, Germany, Spain), the first part of the draw determined the semifinal that the direct finalists will vote.

Will vote in the 1st Semi-Final:

  • France
  • Italy

Will vote in the 2nd Semi-Final:

  • Spain
  • Germany
  • United Kingdom

Their performance in the dress rehearsal will be shown in the semifinals where the six aforementioned countries were drawn to broadcast and vote. This was done at Eurovision 2016 for the first time, for reasons of equal visibility of the countries that are directly in the final and the countries that compete in the semifinals. Essentially, viewers watch each entry twice during the shows.

Allocation Draw

The draw of the countries for the two semifinals had two parts. In the first part, the 36 countries that participate in the semifinals, were drawn in which of the two will compete. 18 countries will compete in both the first and the second semifinal.

In the second part each country found out if it will appear in the first or in the second half of the semifinal that will compete. The exact order of appearance will be determined by the EBU and the producers of the show at a later time.

First Semi-Final (10 May):

1st Half

  • Albania
  • Switzerland
  • Latvia
  • Slovenia
  • Moldova
  • Bulgaria
  • Ukraine
  • Lithuania
  • Netherlands

2nd Half

  • Norway
  • Russia
  • Portugal
  • Denmark
  • Armenia
  • Austria
  • Croatia
  • Iceland
  • Greece

Second Semi-Final (12 May):

1st Half

  • Australia
  • Georgia
  • Cyprus
  • Serbia
  • Finland
  • Azerbaijan
  • San Marino
  • Israel
  • Malta

2nd Half

  • Montenegro
  • Romania
  • Czech Republic
  • Poland
  • Belgium
  • North Macedonia
  • Sweden
  • Estonia
  • Ireland

Turin will host the 66th Eurovision Song Contest from May 10th to 14th at the Pala Alpitour. The motto of this year’s event, as chosen by the organizers, is “The Sound of Beauty”.

You can see the draw again through the following link:

 

 

 

EXCLUSIVE: Why did ERT not hold a national final for Eurovision 2022?

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It was a keen desire of most of the fans that ERT would be holding a national final giving the public the opportunity to choose the Greek representative for Eurovision 2022. What did occur and a national final never happened? What stopped the Greek national broadcaster’s administration from fullfilling an intention they indeed had?

Procedure beggins with no chance of a national final

As you might remember we had already informed you about ERT having a national final out of their plans, at least for this year. That was the information we had at this very point and this is the reason we were so definite about it. But let’s start from the beggining.

At early September ERT initiates the call for participations, giving that way officialy the opportunity to any artist, creator, company, records label who is interested submitting their suggestion. At that time, a national final was not even a thought. The reason is simple. No one expected the interest people showed, that got translated into entries, NOR the  high quality of the songs submitted.

On October 10th the deadline for the submitions is over and ERT now has to choose between more than 40 songs. The procedure has already been announced by Dimitris Papadimitriou. The jury members would hear the songs, rate them individually and the top 5 would be moving onto the second and final phase of the selection.

Thoughts about a TV show

At this point the ERT administratives start thinking about a possible national final, as they think they have 5 songs that could fit such a concept and hold a decent show. For that reason the head of delegation gets the permission to ask all the finalists whether they would be interested in such a show. Keep in mind that this was essential as the earliest ERT’s proclamation did not refer to that at all.

After communicating with all the 5 finalists (still not publically known), the HoD received 3 negative answers, 1 positive and 1 “maybe”. The doubts of the artists, and their labels, did mostly refer to the on-screen result, the televoting transparency, and their personal style that could possibly not fit to such an event.

ERT, however, kept on trying by suggesting a national final in which the jury vote would be more powerful than televoting, as happens in Romania or Malta. They also suggested the national final taking place on Kostis Maravegias’ show (“Dynata“), which is closer to the 5 finalists musical profile but even then the objections were not avoided.

One-way decision

Under the fear of people suddenly withdrawing, ERT decided to go on with the internal selection publishing the top 5 artists. Still wanting to somehow keep the public involved, they suggested assuming the production of their tracks and releasing them through their radio in order to get a feedback from the public before the commitee gets their final decision. The finalists and their labels did not accept that either, as they insisted on keeping the songs and releasing them the way they wanted to.

More or less this was the background of the previous months and we can now, almost a month after Amanda has officialy been announced as the Greek representative, reveal it to you.

What about the future?

We, as Eurovisionfun, are wondering whether the artists this year would bother submitting their entries if they had been aware of a national final from the start. Based on the previous facts, probably not.

The decision ERT has to take for the future is exactly what type of entries do they want. This question is already being discussed in ERT’s offices, while their goal is keeping the quality high while also keeping the public and eurofans involved to the selection. However a national final is not the only way to do so, and this is exactly what the greek delegation is lately working on.

Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun for all the latest news regarding Greece’s participation in Eurovision 2022!

Eurovision 2022: Pots and Participants of Semifinals Allocation Draw revealed!

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The semi-finals draw will take place on Tuesday 25 January at 12:00 CET, from the Palazzo Madama e Casaforte degli Acaja in Turin. At the same time there will be a ceremony of handing over the keys of the contest or as it is widely known, the Host City Insignia from the previous hosts Rotterdam to the Italian organizers.

The allocation draw will determine whether the countries will participate in the First Semifinal (Tuesday, May 10) or the Second Semifinal (Thursday, May 12). Also, again based on the draw it will be determined if they appear in the first or second half of the semifinal. We remind you that the exact order of appearance is announced later by the organizers and after it has first been approved by the EBU.

The draw will be presented by TV presenters Carolina di Domenico and Gabriele Corsi. Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb and Turin Mayor Stefano Lo Russo will be present.

Friends of the contest will be able to watch the draw on Eurovision’s YouTube channel or on Rai’s streaming service.

Semi-final draw: How does it work?

Italy, as the host country, together with the other 4 members of the so-called “Big 5” (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) do not compete in the Semifinals, but vote in one of them… so before the competing countries in Semifinals, it will be determined at random which of the Semifinals the Big 5 will be allowed to vote for.

The next part of the draw will determine in which Semifinal and in which half of the respective Semifinal the remaining 36 participating countries will appear.

The 36 countries of the semifinals are selected from 6 different pots:

Pot 1

  • Albania
  • Croatia
  • Montenegro
  • North Macedonia
  • Serbia
  • Slovenia

Pot 2

  • Denmark
  • Australia
  • Finland
  • Iceland
  • Norway
  • Sweden

Pot 3

  • Armenia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Georgia
  • Israel
  • Russia
  • Ukraine

Pot 4

  • Cyprus
  • Greece
  • Malta
  • Bulgaria
  • Portugal
  • San Marino

Pot 5

  • Estonia
  • Lithuania
  • Latvia
  • Moldova
  • Poland
  • Romania

Pot 6

  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Switzerland
  • Czech Republic
  • Ireland
  • Netherlands

Drawing countries from different pots helps to reduce the chance of so-called neighbourly voting and increases suspense in the Semi-Finals.

Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the 66th Eurovision Song Contest!

Exclusive: Dream Team arrives in Moscow for the final preparations before Eurovision 2022

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Dimitris Kontopoulos is in Moscow today, together with Elias Kokotos. There they will of course meet Philipp Kirkorov, while they will spend a lot of time in the studio, completing or preparing the projects that they will present at Eurovision 2022.

Russia

It is no secret, Philipp Kirkorov has said on various occasions, that the Dream Team will represent Russia in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, except for a shocking surprise. So, at a time when Russian public television is still silent about its intentions in relation to the contest, this trip could not be unrelated to the country’s representation in Turin.

Various names are already rumored, with Klava Koka and Alexander Panayotov at the top of the discussion and scripts. Eurovisionfun is able to know that Dream Team has submitted more than one song to Russia 1 channel and is now in the waiting phase of decisions.

In Russia, which is Christmas today, they like last minute announcements. We remind you that last year it was literally announced that a national final will be held in the last minute, without the participation of the Little Big, something that you first read through Eurovisionfun.

So what is expected is the final recording of these songs submitted by Dream Team on Russia 1 channel, so that everything is ready to move on, as soon as the official announcement is made.

Armenia

Also not a secret is Philipp Kirkorov’s support for Saro Gevorgyan, winner of the last New Wave Festival. Saro, who is at the peak of his career, is considered one of the favorites to represent Armenia at Eurovision 2022.

 

Δείτε αυτή τη δημοσίευση στο Instagram.

 

Η δημοσίευση κοινοποιήθηκε από το χρήστη Saro (@sarogevorgyan)

Armenian public television, after its recent victory in Junior Eurovision, has not yet announced that it will choose its representative in the competition, although most information states that it will make an internal selection, according to the standards followed by ERT.

According to the information on our website, Saro is expected to meet in Moscow with Philipp Kirkorov, Dimitris Kontopoulos and Elias Kokotos, in order to work on the song with which the young artist will claim the representation of Armenia in Turin.

Greece

Finally, it is now a habit for Dimitris Kontopoulos to do the final mixing of the Eurovision songs in which he participates in any way, in one of the best recording studios in Moscow, VI Sound Studios, always with the assistance of Andrey Konoplev, a top sound engineer in Russia.

Given the fact that Amanda will soon be coming to Greece for the shooting of the video clip of the Greek participation and that it should have been completed, you understand that the possibility, the final mix of the Greek entry to take place at VI Sound Studios, is something more than likely.

With a lot of work ahead of them, in view of Eurovision 2022, the Dream Team is preparing for another Eurovision Song Contest.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the information about the Dream Team at Eurovision 2022!

Дрим Тим: Все о подготовке команды к конкурсу в Турине!

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Димитрис Контопулос сегодня уже в Москве вместе с Илиасом Кокотосом. Там они, конечно же, встретятся с Филиппом Киркоровым и проведут много времени в студии, доделывая или готовя заявки, которые будут представлены на Евровидении в этом году.

Россия

Как уже неоднократно заявлял Филипп Киркоров, Dream Team будет представлять Россию на предстоящем конкурсе. Общественное российское телевидение пока хранит молчание о своих намерениях, однако эта поездка не может не иметь отношения к подготовке страны к Евровидению.

Уже ходят слухи о различных именах, среди которых присутствуют такие артисты, как Клава Кока и Александр Панайотов. Eurovisionfun стало известно, что Dream Team отправила более одной песни каналу “Россия 1” и сейчас ожидает ответа от них.

В России, где сегодня празднуется Рождество, любят объявлять все в последнюю минуту. Напоминаем, что в прошлом году буквально в пять часов было объявлено о проведении национального финала, без участия Little Big, о чем вы впервые прочитали на Eurovisionfun.

Пока ожидается окончательная запись этих песен. Все начнет двигаться вперед, как только будет сделано официальное объявление.

Армения

Саро Геворкян, который находится на пике своей карьеры, является одним из фаворитов, чтобы представить Армению на масштабном песенном конкурсе. Недавно он стал победителем “Новой волны”, где удивил членов жюри вокальными способностями.

 

Δείτε αυτή τη δημοσίευση στο Instagram.

 

Η δημοσίευση κοινοποιήθηκε από το χρήστη Saro (@sarogevorgyan)

Общественное телевидение Армении после недавней победы на Детском Евровидении еще ничего не объявило, однако по слухам из Еревана, страна проведет внутренний отбор, аналогичный тому, что было у ERT.

Согласно информации на нашем сайте, ожидается встреча Саро в Москве с Филиппом Киркоровым, Димитрисом Контопулосом и Элиасом Кокотосом для работы над песней, с которой молодой артист будет претендовать на то, чтобы представить Армению в Турине.

Греция

Димитрис Контопулос любит делать окончательное сведение(микширование) песен в одной из лучших студий звукозаписи в Москве, VI Sound Studios, при содействии Андрея Коноплева.

Учитывая тот факт, что Аманда скоро поедет в Грецию для съемок видеоклипа, можно утверждать, что окончательный микс песни Греции возможно состоится именно в VI Sound Studios.

Оставайтесь с нами на Eurovisionfun, чтобы узнать всю информацию о Dream Team и их подготовке к Евровидению 2022!

Eurovision 2022: Semi Final Allocation Draw to take place on January 25!

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One of the most important dates of the 66th Eurovision Song Contest was revealed a few hours ago, as the draw for the Eurovision 2022 semi-finals will take place on January 25th.

As revealed by the Montenegrin state radio, RTCG, in the context of the announcement of Vladana Vučinić as the representative of the Balkan country in Turin, the draw of the semi-finals will take place in exactly three weeks from today.

During the ceremony, the emblem of the event will be handed over from the city of Rotterdam to the Mayor of Turin. The draw will take place either at the Mole Antonelliana, the tallest building in Turin, or at the Palazzo Madama, which housed the first Senate of the Italian Kingdom.

The draw

The first part of the draw will determine the semi-final that will be broadcasted and voted by each of the five countries that are directly in the final (Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom).

The second part of the draw will determine in which semi-final and in which half the other 36 participating countries will compete. As in recent years, the exact order of appearance will be determined by the producers of the event at a later time.

The 36 countries will be distributed in five or six pots, based on historical voting patterns as calculated by the official television partner Digame. This separation is done in order to avoid the gathering of many neighboring countries in a semifinal that would significantly affect the final result.

We remind you that Eurovision 2022 will be held on May 10, 12 and 14 at the PalaOlimpico in the capital of Piedmont. Thus, Turin will become the third city in Italy where the Eurovision Song Contest will be held. The previous two were Naples in 1965 and Rome in 1991.

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!

Kalomira: “I have a song ready for Eurovision”!

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Kalomira wished all Greeks a happy new year, through the show “What do you say now!” , live from Washington, DC, United States.

The famous snger who brought Greece a respectable third place at Eurovision 2008, wished for the new year, talked about her career in singing and her life in the USA. She was moved by the tribute video prepared by the show’s hosts and talked about her past in Greece and the effort she made to fulfill her dream: to become a singer.

“I have missed Greece a lot, the job, the people, the backstage” she noted and added: “I want to come to Greece, but it is difficult with the children, because they are young and all our relatives are in the USA. I feel that I will not be a good mom, if I do what I want and they do not see any of their relatives “.

“I live another life here, I am 100% Greek, but I was born here and I have a normal daily life. I live another life in Greece “, added Kalomira, emphasizing that her children have not seen her sing live. “My children ask me why they want an interview from you” .

Speaking about her husband, she noted that she is very busy with the children, while she stressed that she does gymnastics every day from 06:00 to 07:00. “It’s the only time I can, because then I have to make them breakfast,” she said.

Kalomira and Eurovision

Of course, she was asked about Eurovision, a story that lasts at least from 2018, when her name was first heard as a possible representative of Greece or Cyprus in the contest.

I have five songs ready, one of which is for Eurovision which I keep if I happen to go again. I keep it if something happens. It’s awesome, it’s the most beautiful song, I wrote it with Claydee, Mohombi and very successful people.

Kalomira also answers the question whether she would represent a country other than Greece.

I have been offered, but I think how I will keep another flag!

Finally, she added about her future in the field of music, emphasizing that she has collaborated with successful producers and is looking for a way to release them in Greece.

We remind you that through Eurovisionfun in August, you were informed about Kalomira’s interest in representing Greece at Eurovision 2022. Finally, for unknown reasons, she did not submit her participation to ERT, although she was indeed in Greece for the recording of these songs, with the assistance of Claydee, but also of Mohombi, while she had made an appointment in ERT in early September for this purpose.

Would you like to see Kalomira, returns at the Eurovision Song Contest?

Norway: Amanda Tenfjord on the Headline of the Norwegian media!!

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Since 15:00 CET, Amanda Georgiadis Tenfjord has been announced as the Greek representative at Eurovision Song Contest 2022, the upcoming May, at Turin Italy.

The big news had an imminent impact that reached media abroad, including Norway, the country where Amanda lives in and pursues her carrer.

In particular, the news made headlines on Norway’s largest news sites, from NRK‘s public broadcaster to Dagbladet, one of Norway’s largest tabloids, with 1,400,000 daily mobile readers.

  • Norway’s public broadcaster NRK

  • Trodheim biggest news site, where Amanda attends Medical School

  • Norway’s biggest Eurovision site

  • The biggest newspaper of Norway, based in Oslo

  • One of Norway’s biggest tabloids with over 1,4 million readers

  • The biggest newspaper and site of Norway

  • Ålesund local newspaper

 

The aforementioned headlines show that the interest of the Norwegian media about Amanda is already significant, making us already hoping for a high point from the public televoting of Norway, at least.

Stay focused on  Eurovisionfun.com for the latest news regarding Greece and the rest of the 40 nations competing at the upcoming contest in Turin Italy 2022.