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!

Greece: Joanne talks about her participation in Eurovision 2022!

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Joanne is the candidate of the record company MINOS EMI for the representation of Greece in Eurovision 2022. She spoke about her participation when she was interviewed by the TV show of OPEN “Ποιός είναι πρωινιάτικα;” In the interview, she revealed some things about her song and she referred to the other candidates as well. She specifically stated:

My company and I submitted a pop song in English, with ethnic elements hoping for the best. Competition doesn’t have to exist in music. Between the other candidates, good job nicky is my weakness.

 

 

Joanne cooperated with very well-known people in order to achieve the best possible proposal for ERT. Dj Michael Tsaousopoulos and ARCADE (Eurovision 2020 and 2021) are some of them. The last ones, took also part in her first single “Twist in my Sobriety”.

In the same group of people, the famous singer and composer Sarah De Warren, who has collaborated with great DJs such as Kaskade, Martin Jensen and Mike Perry, exceeding 50 million streams, takes place.

Finally, her “The Voice” coach Helena Paparizou and her vocal coach, Mando (Eurovision 2003) are really supportive of her in order for Joanne to represent Greece in Turin.

Would you like to see Joanne as the Greece’s representative at Eurovision 2022? Tell us in the comments below!

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

 

Sietse Bakker: ”In 2005 I was in the Greek National Selection jury and I didnt vote for My Number One”!

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Sietse Bakker the producer of Eurovision 2021 and member of the Reference Group of the competition, made an exciting revelation.

The occasion was a video on Tik-Tok by the most famous Eurofan and Youtuber of America, Alesia Michelle, in which she humorously criticizes the members of the juries in Eurovision, for the fact that they do not vote the winning songs every year, in high place.

Seeing Alesia’s post on Instagram, Sieste Bakker wanted to take a stand, revealing something that no one knew until now and concerns the Greek participation in Eurovision 2005, saying:

I was in the Greek National Selection jury in 2005 and had the chance to pick ‘My Number One’. I didn’t, ranked it second and ranked ‘OK’ on top as it stuck with me since the dress rehearsal, the day before. Epic fail! Thankfully the other judges had a better vision. I never dared to predict a Eurovision winner again ever since.

In 2005, ERT internally selected Elena Paparizou to represent our country in Kiev. The song was chosen through a national final in which the greek audience and a jury decide between three songs, the greek entrance for Eurovision 2005. These were the songs My Number One, OK και Let’s Get Wild, with the first won not only the the National Final but the one and only victory of Greece in Eurovision.

You? What was your favorite song from our national final in 2005? Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments regarding the Greek participation in Eurovision 2022!

Israel: 130 songs were submitted for Turin 2022!

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About 130 songs will take part in the process of choosing Israel’s participation in Eurovision 2022, which will be selected through the X Factor format.

As it has been known for months, X Factor will be the successor to Rising Star as the format of choice for the artist who will represent Israel in Eurovision 2022 in Turin next May.

Exclusive information from Euromix states that only 130 songs were submitted to the committee that will select the eight songs, which will be performed by the final four that will compete for the ticket to Italy. This is the smallest number from 2018 onwards. 220 songs participated in last year’s selection, 250 in the 2020 one and 200 in that of 2019.

IPBC officials believe that the number of songs is explained by the strict requirements they have set, as well as the ignorance of the creators about the contestants who will perform their songs.

This was the reason why they invited the creators during the semifinals, in order to get to know the artists. Nevertheless, their response was small, as only ten of them watched the semifinals that have already been filmed.

The format

The song submission process was completed this morning, one month after its official opening on September 19th. The 130 songs submitted will be examined by a panel of 11 people.

This committee will assign two songs to each of the four finalists of the X Factor grand final. In the first phase, one of the two songs of each finalist will be selected through the voting of the audience and the jury.

The song that will be selected will be the one with which each participant will claim the representation of Israel for Eurovision 2022. Four songs and four artists will compete in the X Factor Grand Final. Then, the audience and the jury will jointly choose the artist and the song who will represent the country in Turin.

We remind you that the popular talent show will be presented by Liron Weizman. According to domestic media, X Factor Israel judges will include Netta Barzilai, Aviv Geffen, Margalit Tzan’ani, Ran Danker and Miri Mesika.

Israel was represented by Eden Alene in Eurovision 2021 with the song Set Me Free, finishing 17th in the grand final on May 22nd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y-blG5ptwo

Source: Euromix

Greece: Constantinos Christoforou speaks to Europhoria, about his song for Eurovision 2022!

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Last Saturday, Constantinos Christoforou was a guest on CyBC’s radio show Europhoria, hosted by Melina Karageorgiou. Among other things, he gave more details about the song with which he claims the Greek representation for Eurovision 2022!

Memories of the previous three entries

Constantinos Christoforou, who twice represented as a solo (1996 and 2005) and once with the band ONE (2002) his homeland, talked about all three of his previous participations, while of course he commented on his effort this year to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest for a fourth time, this time with the Greek colors.

About 1996 and “Mono Yia Emas“, which he described it as his favorite of his three entries, he stated that it was essentially the occasion for the beginning of his career, since he had the opportunity to introduce himself to such a large audience.

1996 was followed by “Gimme” and the participation with ONE in 2002. Constantinos reveals that the second candidate song was “Matia Mou“, with English lyrics, which was included in their album that was released later. He considers the sixth place an injustice one, since everyone believed that they would be at least in the Top 3.

Making his self-criticism for 2005, Constantinos Christoforou comments that perhaps the choice of “Ela Ela” was wrong, since in now he believes that the song She’s No Fool, written by Mike Connaris, would have achieved a better result, as it was very ahead of its time.

In fact, Constantinos Christoforou does not hesitate to say that RIK should have made an internal choice then and chosen this song, without holding a national final with the participation of the public, who voted in the vast majority of “Ela Ela“.

The song he submitted to ERT for Eurovision 2022

Melina Karageorgiou asked Constantinos Christoforou about the song he submitted to ERT, for the internal selection of the Greek entry in Eurovision 2022.

It’s a song I love very much. It is a ballad. A Mediterranean ballad, not ethnic, Mediterranean… There are two versions. One in Greek and English and one in Italian, which I love as a language despite not speaking it. The Greek lyrics are by Gioula Georgiou, the English are by Stefanos, my brother, the Italian ones are a surprise, you will see it when I release it.

Constantinos Christoforou states that it was a decision of his record label (MINOS EMI), to send the song to ERT for Eurovision, something of course that he immediately agreed with. All he asked was that they not bother him about anything other than telling him the result of the internal choice.

The above practically means that Constantinos Christoforou was not positive either in the participation in a national final, fully confirming everything we told you, for the refusal of most of the 25 artists participating in the ERT process to compete in an open television national final.

Concluding his interview with Europhoria, Constantinos Christoforou states that he will not speak publicly again about the effort to claim Greek participation in Eurovision 2022, since his decision is to keep a low profile, simply talking with his work, when and if needed.

You can listen the interview HERE (In Greek).

Would you like to see Konstantinos Christophorou representing Greece in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest?

Ilias Kozas: “Last year I was in talks about a Eurovision return – This year I sent three songs to ERT”

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Ilias Kozas confirmed what was written during last year’s Eurovision Song Contest about RIK’s proposal in his person for the representation of Cyprus in Eurovision 2021. The experienced singer referred, also, to all three songs he submitted to ERT in view of the internal selection for Eurovision 2022.

The 37-year-old singer was in contact with RIK last year, discussing his return to the competition as a solo artist and without his band, the Koza Mostra. Kozas together with his band and Agathon in 2013 brought Greece for the last time in the top 10 of the final ranking, with the song of Alcohol Is Free, until last May and the 10th place of Stefania.

In an interview on Katerina Karavatou’s show on Mega, he spoke about RIK’s approach, his desire to try out a solo career and his effort this year:

In general, with all the quarantine and everything we experience, I cleared my mind and began to expand on other sounds. I decided to do something solo. On this solo that has nothing to do with KOZA MOSTRA, I said why not?

A proposal was made to me last year but I was hesitant. I did not feel like going again and in the middle of covid. For those who have experienced it, Eurovision is a party. It is a pity to go and have quarantines, masks, vaccines.

I submitted three songs that were ready in advance, I did not write them for Eurovision, and they were not written exclusively for Eurovision.

We remind you that Ilias Kozas is one of the candidates to represent Greece at Eurovision 2022 next May in Turin.

It comes out as a surprise the fact that Ilias Kozas has submitted three songs, all of them with English lyrics and not with Greek. His proposed entries are of rock style, a genre he has served in his recent work both as solo artist and together with Koza Mostra band.

Sweden: The first names of Melodifestivalen 2022!

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Aftonbladet today reveals the first artists to take part in Melodifestivalen 2022. This year, it has managed to predict 26 of the 28 names that took part in Sweden’s national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. So the first two candidates are two veterans of the competition, they are Robin Bengtsson and Liamoo.

Following the announcement of the change of regulations in the upcoming Melodifestivalen, we now have the first names of Sweden’s prospective representatives in the competition.

Robin Benggtson

Robin Bengtsson is now 31 years old. Won the Melodifestivalen τ0 2017 with the song I Can’t Go On, occupying the fifth place in the Eurovision contest. In Melodifestivalen he has competed a total of three times (2016, 2017, 2020)

At Melodifestivalen 2022 he returns with a pop song, in his familiar style. In fact, Aftonbladet states that this is a strong participation, which will bring him back to the final.

Liamoo

Liamoo has won Idol in 2016, while he participated twice in the Melodifestivalen, but so far he has not managed to win.

For his participation in Melodifestivalen 2022 he has collaborated with many songwriters, who have experience in the competition, in order to record his song.

Melodifestivalen 2002 kicks off on February 5 in Malmo, hosted by Oscar Zia.

Sweden was represented this year by Tusse, with the song Voices, occupying the 14th place in the final:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyJRyif6_kk

Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding Melodifestivalen 2022!

Source: Aftonbladet

Cyprus: The scenario “Kalomira” seems to fade out!

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As it has already become known in the last few days, Kalomira did not submit to ERT the long-awaited participation for the Eurovision 2022 competition! However, according to recent reports, Kalomira’s team was considering the scenario of the favorite singer being on the stage of the competition with the colors of Cyprus for the second time.

Greece: Kalomira did not finally submit her proposal!

 

However, according to today’s report of SKAI‘s morning show “Love it”, this scenario seems to be moving away. Specifically, a journalist of the show stated:

Kalomira approached  RIK, to give there the song she prepared with Mohombi and Claydee! However, RIK decided after years to put a Cypriot color in their participation and to have a Cypriot artist as a composer! In recent years, foreign composers have been participating with Cyprus and the artists have come from Greece and this has created reactions.

According to this information, Kalomira does not seem to have agreed with RIK, refuting the reports that have been circulating on the internet in recent days.

Finally, in the show they mentioned the fact that it will not be a surprise to see Cypriot artists of great scope undertake the composition of the Cypriot participation!

It seems that this year we will be late to find out who will be the 38th representative of the island of Aphrodite, in contrast to previous years. What do you think? Will we see a Cypriot artist representing Cyprus this year?

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun.com to learn all the news about Cyprus and other countries on the trip to Turin!

Czech Republic: Mikolas Josef submitted a song for ESCZ 2022! EXCLUSIVE

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Mikolas Josef, who holds the record for the best place of the Czech Republic in the competition, is claiming another participation in Eurovision, since according to our exclusive information, the 26-year-old singer submitted a participation in the national final of the country ESCZ 2022!

In 2018 Mikolas Josef took sixth place in the final of the competition with the song Lie To Me. Since then, his career has been on the rise, achieving even No. 1 in the domestic charts with the song Acapella.

After four years, Mikolas Josef is preparing to return to the competition, having already submitted a song for ESCZ 2022, the online national final of the Czech Republic for the selection of its representative in the next contest.

About 150 entries were sent to ESCZ 2022, six to eight of which will take part in the show, which will take place in December. Each candidate must submit a recorded live version of the song, which will be used as a basis for voting on the show. The finalists of the national final, are going to be presented at the beginning of December! ESCZ 2022 will be the first national final of the season, since according to what was announced on Czech public television, it will take place in December.

What remains to be seen is whether Mikolas Josef’s song is selected among the finalists of ESCZ 2022 and whether, of course, he manages to win the Czech ticket again for the Eurovision Song Contest!

Until then, however, let us enjoy once again his previous entry:

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