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!

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!

Romania: Listen To The Songs For Selecția Națională 2022!

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TVR has released all of the forty-six songs that are competing in Selecţia Naţională 2022 to represent Romania at Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin. TVR has published a YouTube playlist of all of the studio versions of the songs.

You can listen all songs here:

The songs competing in the Romanian selection are:

  • Alex Parker & Erik Frank & Bastien – “Best of me”
  • Aldo Blaga – “Embers”
  • Alexa – “Hoodies and cold nights”
  • Alina Amon – “Without you”
  • Ana Lazăr – “Youngster”
  • Andra Oproiu – “Younique”
  • Andrea Stocchino – “Avere paura” (To be afraid)
  • Andrei Petruş – “Take me”
  • ARIS – “Do Svidaniya” (Goodbye)
  • Ayona Iordănescu – “Let me come to you”
  • Barbara – “Hypnotized”
  • Bogdan Dumitraş – “Sign”
  • Carmen Trandafir – “Măşti” (Masks)
  • Cezar Ouatu – “For everyone”
  • Ciro De Luca – “Imperdonabile” (Unforgiveable)
  • Claudia, Minodora, Diana – “România mea” (My Romania)
  • Dan Helciug – “241”
  • Dora Gaitanovici – “Ana”
  • E-an-na – “Malere”
  • Eliza G – “The other half of me”
  • Eugenia Nicolae – “Doina”
  • Fabian Ferrara – “That way”
  • Forţele de muncă – “Hai afară, frate!” (Come out brother!)
  • Gabriel Basco – “One night”
  • Giulia-Georgia Beiliciu – “Find your way”
  • Ivelin Trakiyski – “Neverending”
  • Jessie – “Regret”
  • Kyrie Mendél – “Hurricane”
  • Letiţia Moisescu – “Mirunica”
  • Leyah – “I’ll be fine”
  • Mălina – “Prisoner”
  • Miryam – “Top of the rainbow”
  • MOISE – “Guilty”
  • Oana Tabultoc – “Utopia”
  • Olivia Miheţ – “Fragile”
  • Othello – “You’re worthy”
  • Outflow – “Running in circles”
  • Petra – “Ireligios” (Irreligious)
  • Popa Roberta-Maria – “Indigo”
  • Romeo Zaharia – “Until the fight is over”
  • Silvia Costache – “Save me”
  • Sophia – “Beautiful lies”
  • Stelian – “Remember”
  • VANU – “Never give up”
  • Vizi Imre – “Sparrow”
  • WRS – “Llámame” (Call me)

We remind you that a committee of experts will select 15 songs, while the remaining 5 entries will be selected through the Romanian page for Eurovision on Facebook. The songs will be posted after a special recording in the studios of the Romanian public television in early February.

The second phase of the semifinal will take place on February 12, which will also be televised. There, the 20 songs that have been selected, will compete for the ten places of the final and the verdict will belong exclusively to the members of the committee.

In the Grand Final, to be held on March 5, 2022, the 10 best songs will reappear and the winner will be selected by a combination of jury and audience votes. As in previous years, the televoting score will have the same weight as the score given by each member of the jury.

Source: eurovoix

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments related to the Romanian national selection for Eurovision 2022!

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

Romania: Everything that was discussed on the special show about the analysis of the bad results!

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As we informed you in our previous article, the Romanian public television (TVR) organized on July 5 in prime time, a special show, where the series of bad results of the country in the contest were discussed, while solutions were also sought.

Wrong choice of artists and lack of direction the two big thorns

The show presented by the journalist and former head of the Romanian mission in the competition, Marina Almăşan, and participated many people from the music industry, but also former eurostars, such as The Humans, Ovi, Paula Seling, but also Mihai Traistariu , focused mainly on this year ‘s failure of Roxen.

Most of the panel members criticized Roxen for her choice, both on TVR and on the record label Global Music, as they mentioned her complete lack of experience, but also her mediocre vocal skills did not help her to stand out and qualify for final.

Almost everyone agreed that it was wrong for TVR to leave the project entirely to the record company, since while both the guy and the fans pointed out the mistakes, the record company did nothing to correct them (I do not know if this reminds you of something…) .

The other big problem that many were left with was the issue of directing. Mihai Traistariu stated that unfortunately TVR does not seem to be able to successfully undertake the staging of the Romanian entries. What has been suggested by many is the collaboration with foreign directors, something that many countries are already doing. In fact, it is worth noting at this point that the names of Sacha Jean Baptiste were mentioned, but also of Fokas Evangelinos.

Romania will be present in 2022

It seems that Romania will be present in Italy next year, at least that is what was said on the show. The most probable scenario is the return to the national final, the well-known Selectia Nationala and the subsequent support of the song that will be selected by TVR, so that at least in the next competition the country will return to the final. The format supported for the Selectia Nationala is 50% audience – 50% juries.

The observations of the Romanians are correct and we are happy because they largely agree with what we proposed and wrote in our relevant editorial. If the respective national public broadcaster is not interested and does not deal, no external partner and no record company can bring a good result. The examples are endless.

See the case of France. From the moment the external partner they had for both the Junior Eurovision and the regular Eurovision contest left, they won and took second place respectively. See the case of Switzerland, which with a stable team in recent years manages to star. On the other hand, see what happened in the United Kingdom, the BBC’s complete indifference, brought BMG to things as a machine god…. The result is one last place with an absolute 0 in the audience and juries! Of course, there is also the example of ERT, which since 2019 has taken the project in its hands and has literally achieved leaps in relation to the recent past.

The secret recipe for success by Christer Bjorkman

This is the solution for Romania and for all the other countries that have bad results. A conscious group, which will aim not just to participate, but the good result and which of course will methodize and organize everything related to the selection of the song, whether it is through a national final or through an assignment, aiming at its 3 minutes May and nothing else. Far from meaningless comments and complaints of the fans, without looking at bets and without being influenced by record and external factors.

In this year’s interview, Christer Bjorkman “revealed” the secret for a successful participation in the competition:

“Three things must have a participation to go well. A good song, a bright and good performer and a careful stage presence. The first is the hardest to find. But if you have the other two, then you can do very well. ”

So the choice of the right artist, as well as the careful stage presence, are two elements that every broadcaster can work and carefully build, so that it has more chances of success in the competition. ERT has understood it very well and the Romanians probably seemed to understand it. What do you say, will they go better next year?

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Romania: “Maybe, it is healthier to stay out for a year or two…”!

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Third disqualification in a row for Romania was this year, after Roxen failed to qualify for the first semifinal. The reasons for the continuous bad results in the contest will be discussed by the country’s public television, in a two-hour live show, on July 5 at 9 pm.

The former head of the Romanian mission and TVR journalist, Marina Almăşan, is editing and will present the relevant show, called Eurovision, pe şleau! (Eurovision by the way).

The panel of the show will include composers, music producers, fans of the contest, but also three former eurostars of the country, The Humans (2018), Ovi and Paula Seling (2010, 2014). The public can also intervene in the discussion by phone.

The questions that the show panel will be asked to answer are:

  • “Why don’t Romania’s big voices participate in Eurovision?”
  • “Why has Romanian interest in Eurovision decreased so much?”
  • “What are the solutions to deal with the situation?”

Marina Almăşan reports:

It has been 11 years since I was at the helm of one of the most successful versions of Eurovision. In 2010, the wonderful Paula and Ovi brought Romania a third place in the Grand Final in Oslo, the artists surpassed the performance of Luminiţa Anghel.

I was at that time, the head of the Romanian delegation, and my team was on the buttons, in all these preparatory work – internal and external. Of course, without the two great voices, without the song, without the talent of the two talented artists, we would not have gotten here. There were, therefore, years during which Romanian Television (through my other valuable colleagues) did a very good job in the European competition.

Then, suddenly, the movie broke. And in recent years they have brought a lot of frown and sadness on the faces of Romanian Eurovision fans. On Monday, July 5, TVR finally wants to put its finger on the wound: find the weaknesses (but also the strengths, because they also exist) of our participation in Eurovision, propose solutions to rectify the situation and wash away shame .

I will coordinate an intense discussion, on the afternoon of the 5th of July, on TVR 1, with selected and specialized guests and even if it comes out with tensions and disagreements, it is important that things go smoothly. And in the next edition, Romania must reach the top 10! … If, after discussions, it does not turn out that, perhaps, it is healthier to stay out for a year or two…! Thanks to Romanian Television for entrusting this event to my team and I hope we will not disappoint you!

It is striking that the possibility of Romania abstaining from the contest for one or two years is mentioned, in order for them to regroup and come back stronger afterwards. Greece followed the same tactic in 2000, when it voluntarily withdrew, to return in 2001 with a third place and Antique.

We will look forward to the conclusions from this show!

What do you think are the reasons for Romania’s failure in the Eurovision Song Contest?

Source: paginademedia

Romania: Roxen has found her song for Eurovision 2021!

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On March 25, Roxen confirmed through her Instagram profile that she will represent her country at Eurovision 2021.

Today, posting in the flow of her stories on Instagram, she revealed that she has found the song with which she will represent Romania in Eurovision 2021.

Roxen reports:

It seems that Roxen’s song is ready and will be selected by internal selection, but something is still to be official.

Until then, enjoy Alcohol You, the song with which Roxen would participate in Eurovision 2020!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmqSU3v_Mtw

Editorial: How fair will the “live on tape video” be for Eurovision 2021?

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The announcement of the EBU and the Dutch organizers for the live on tape video that will be made by the 41 participants of Eurovision 2021, although it ensures that the contest will take place even in the worst case scenario regarding the course of the pandemic, but leaves many questions in the part of justice and equal conditions that should govern the competition.

What exactly is live on tape video?

According to what was announced, all participating broadcasters were asked to record a live performance of their entry in their country. This recording will be delivered before the contest and will take place in a studio. The recording will take place in real time (as it would in the Contest) without making changes to the vocals or any part of the show itself after the recording.

There will be freedom in the delegations, to present as they consider their entries better, but instructions will be given which will ensure the fairness and integrity of the competition. There will be no audience and the recording should be unique and not be published before the event in May.

Delegations are allowed to use similar technical capabilities and dimensions that would be available on stage in Rotterdam, but are also free to choose a more limited production facility. Video recordings must not contain augmented or virtual reality, overlays, confetti, drone shots, water, color use or green screen.

How to ensure meritocracy and fairness in the contest?

In addition to the above, the EBU also announced a series of safety valves, which will ensure that the 41 live video tapes will have been made under the same conditions. Indicatively, we mention that those present in the video recording will be a representative of the Dutch public broadcaster, while the shooting will be watched by the executive supervisor of the contest, as well as a representative from an independent voting observer (E&Y). The duration of the shooting will be one hour and at this time the participants will be able to videotape up to three times their appearance. The selection of the shot will be made by the Head of Delegation and another authorized representative.

Our doubts about live on tape video

First of all, let’s say that even under normal conditions, not everyone competes on equal terms. What do we mean by that? We see in recent years on the eurovision stage, impressive appearances, with the help of the use of technology. Technology that not all broadcasters can use. Fro example Serbian public broadcaster cannot spend the money that Swedish public broadcaster spends. Albanian television cannot spend the money spent by Russian or Azerbaijani television and so on.

So, many times the countries participating in the contest can start from different points of view, but what mitigates the above a bit is that they share the same stage and it is ensured that everyone sings live. With the advancement of technology, and given that each country can use any studio it wants, even that is in question.

We read that Russia uses virtual reality in its appearance for Junior Eurovision 2020, where the contest will take place via live on tape video. An effect that other countries probably will not have at their disposal, for economic and technical reasons.

Of course for the live on tape videos of Eurovision 2021 the EBU has banned such special effects. However, LEDs are not prohibited and it is possible for different sized scenes, something that, as you understand, will differentiate the final result.

What we all hope is that everything you read remains on a theoretical level only. The situation with the pandemic to improve and to have a Eurovision as close to normal as possible, with the 41 artists performing their songs on the stage of the Ahoy Arena!

What is your opinion about the live on tape video? Are equal conditions guaranteed for all?

Eurovision 2021: Participants will record their songs “live-on-tape” to ensure Contest will happen!

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The EBU recently revealed how to ensure that Eurovision 2021 will happen, even in the worst case scenario with the course of the coronary pandemic.

Eurovision 2021 will take place in every way

After yesterday’s announcement that the distribution of countries in the two semifinals remains the same as that of Eurovision 2020, but also the presentation of the four possible scenarios for the conduct of Eurovision 2021, now another detail is given, concerning scenario D. In the new announcement of the EBU, concern the case in which in May the situation with the pandemic will be such that it will not allow air travel and reconnaissance, having a contest as Junior Eurovision 2020 will happen in a few days . With video appearances of the participants!

What is the process

All participating broadcasters were asked to record a live performance of their entries in their country. This recording will be delivered before the contest and will take place in a studio. The recording will take place in real time (as it would in the contest) without making changes to the vocals or any part of the show itself after the recording.

There will be freedom in the delegations, to present as they consider their participations better, but instructions will be given which will ensure the fairness and integrity of the competition. There will be no audience and the recording should be unique and not be published before the event in May.

Delegations are allowed to use similar technical capabilities and dimensions that would be available on stage in Rotterdam, but are also free to choose a more limited production facility. Video recordings must not contain augmented or virtual reality, overlays, confetti, drone shots, water, color use or green screen.

How will it be fair?

Normally in the Eurovision Song Contest all the artists would appear on the same stage under the same conditions giving everyone the same opportunity to shine. For the live recordings, the Reference Group of the Eurovision Song Contest approved additional measures to guarantee the fairness of the contest.

Prior to the recording, each participating broadcaster will meet with a representative from Host Broadcasters and submit a recording session schedule, studio setup and camera schedule.

The Head of Delegation will be on site during the registration period of 60 minutes and up to three authorized expirations, either alone or with an appropriate mandate, to make the final decision on the selection of the final receipt (from three).

A live link will be created during the recording to allow the Eurovision Executive Supervisor and a representative from an independent voting observer (E&Y) and Host Broadcaster to monitor the recording, provide assistance and support, and ensure the integrity and fairness of the contest.

No videos of the appearances from the national finals can be submitted, but each country can record on the same stage. The “live-on-tape” recordings must be delivered by the end of March.

Of course, as we mentioned at the beginning of the article, all of the above will apply in the case of contestants who will not be able to attend Rotterdam in May. The 65th Eurovision Song Contest will take place anyway!

Source: Eurovision.tv

Eurovision 2021: Allocation draw in semi-finals remains the same as in 2020!

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A little while ago through the official social networks of the contest, it was announced that the draw of the semi-finals of this year’s contest will also apply to Eurovision 2021. Read more