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Azerbaijan: With Fahree and Ilkin Dovletov to Eurovision 2024!

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Regardless the official Eurovision announcement revealing Fahree as Azerbaijan’s representative in Eurovision 2024, Ictimai Television has a surprise for us.

As Fahree revealed via his official Instagram account, he will not be alone in the Azerbaijani representation in Eurovision 2024. Instead, Ilkin Dovletov will join him. Hence, this year we have two male performers as a duo for Azerbaijan.

 

Δείτε αυτή τη δημοσίευση στο Instagram.

 

Η δημοσίευση κοινοποιήθηκε από το χρήστη Fahree I. (@itsfahree)

 

In his Instagram post, Fahree expressed his gratitude to Ilkin Dovletov for realizing the idea he had in his heart and head by adding “colors” to his rendition of the Mugham section of the song. For those who are not aware, one of Azerbaijan’s numerous classical and traditional musical compositions is Mugham.

In fact, Ilkin Dovletov was a participant of this year’s internal selection for Azerbaijan. Along with Mila Miles and Etibar Asaldi, they were one of the six shortlisted acts for Eurovision 2024.

Who is Ilkin Dovletov?

Ilkin Dovletov was a finalist in the “Voice of Azerbaijan, Native Songs” competition and rose to fame in Azerbaijan as a result of his performances. He toured foreign countries, performed at numerous festivals and concerts, and promoted his country’s national music. It should be noted that Ilkin Dovletov has been a favorite of Eurovision fans since his appearance in “Voice of Azerbaijan”.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news!

Azerbaijan: “You’ll know it when our Eurovision representative is selected”

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Despite the intense preparations in the Land of Fire before the New Year, there is nothing new about the representation of Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024! Read more

Sweden: Hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in a geopolitically-unstable time!

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Sweden is hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in a geopolitically-unstable time.

In Finland, more than 1300 people from the music industry have signed a petition calling for Finland to boycott the contest in Malmö if Israel participates. Similar demands have been made in Iceland in the past.

And recently, demonstrators gathered outside the NRK headquarters in Oslo, demanding the exclusion of Israel from Eurovision because of the war in Gaza.

Ben Robertson, who covers Eurovision for ESCInsight, comments on the Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Malmö this May that it could be the most politically sensitive in Eurovision‘s history:

“It will be very tough to organise the Eurovision Song Contest this year. It demands a lot from Malmö and SVT. It’s not just about Israel. It’s about Sweden too, about the high terrorist threat.”

Ben also notes that this will be another season of Eurovision in the shadow of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. Ukraine is participating in this year’s competition. So does Armenia, which came into focus last autumn due to the conflict with Azerbaijan and also says he will neither be surprised if artists and songwriters choose to address political issues this year nor will he be surprised if fans demand that artists who travel to Malmö take a stand in the Israel – Hamas conflict.

The Eurovision Song Contest is organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The EBU‘s members are public service broadcasters in various countries, especially in Europe. But countries such as Israel, Morocco and Lebanon are also members of the EBU.

In recent years, two countries have been excluded from the EBU and banned from the Eurovision Song Contest. Belarus was expelled because the country violated the rules of the competition and refused to change a song lyric with too political a message. Russia was expelled after the attack on Ukraine, reflecting a concern that, in light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russian entry would bring the competition into disrepute.

Now voices are being raised that Israel should also be expelled. But Paul Jordan, who comments on Eurovision for British media, believes Israel will participate this year. He says the situation is different than when Russia was excluded.

“When Russia was excluded, it had been banned from other international events. The EBU watched the World Cup and others who didn’t want Russia there, and then it would have looked very strange if Russia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest.”

The idea behind Eurovision is that countries should be able to put aside conflicts and bad relations for one night. In the UK, Olly Alexander, who will represent the country in Malmö, has made headlines with his criticism of Israel.

Paul says that there is a risk that Israel, even if it is not excluded, feels that it is not welcome to participate in Malmö.

“If the war is still going on, and we see these horrific images from Gaza, it can also be perceived as distasteful to participate in Eurovision while people are dying.”

At the same time, Eurovision is an important platform for Israel, which has participated in the contest for 45 years.

Karin Karlsson is the project manager for the Eurovision Song Contest, employed by the City of Malmö. She had the same role in 2013.

She notes that many things are different today. The target group of the competition has become younger. Social media plays a very different role than in 2013. The Eurovision Song Contest doesn’t just mean televised stage performances at Malmö Arena. There will also be a week’s festival in different places in the city. At the same time, Sweden has a high terrorist threat. Karin comments on that:

“And it’s much more complicated in terms of security, this year. We work with safety all the time, every day.”

Source: Svenska Dagbladet

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Azerbaijan: Aisel claims to represent the country in Malmö!

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In our previous article, we mentioned that Azerbaijan will choose its participation for the 68th Eurovision Song Contest with an internal selection, through the “Live Auditions” process.

As is known, the submission process turned out to be successful enough, as İTV announced that 214 entries were submitted in total with 16 artists qualifying for the final stage. According to the national broadcaster, the process is still in full swing, with the Live Auditions underway.

Among the final contestants, there is a old acquaintance of the contest which is Aisel, who represnted the country at Eurovision 2018 in Lisbon, with the song “X My Heart“.

Aisel who had failed to qualify for the Grand Final, finishing 11th at the First Semi-Final, stated that she was not satisfied with her participation back in 2018, returns to pay off the score.

The sixteen artists from the “Live Auditions“ are:

  • Emy Lia
  • Tofiq Hacıyev & Camal Qurbanov
  • Aisel
  • Rilaya
  • Mari
  • İlkin Dövlətov & Mila Miles & Etibar Əsədli
  • Sabina Beyli
  • Lexa
  • Edgar Ravinov
  • Əmrah Musayev
  • Alesker
  • Rahib Mirzəyev & Tofiq Yadigar
  • Səbinə Quluzadə
  • Qorqud
  • Fahree

Finally, among the jury members are Aysel Teymurzadə (Azerbaijan 2009) and Eldar Qasımov & Nigar Camal (Azerbaijan 2011).

Although, it has not been made completely clear the closed selection process that is being condected, it appears from the reel that the national broadcaster post in its social media. İTV aims to test the vocal and the performance skills of every candidate. The candidate who has the best song and can deliver both conditions, will be the one to represent the country to Malmö.

This year, Azerbaijan failed to qualify for the Grand Final for the second time in its short history in Eurovision Song Contest. The sibling duo TuralTuranX with their song “Tell Me More” managed to finish second to last in their Semi-Final.

https://youtu.be/8BNtaW1IEtA

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the latest developments according Azebaijan’s participation in Eurovision Song Contest!

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Azerbaijan: 214 songs submitted for Eurovision 2024!

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Earlier today, İTV, the public broadcaster of Azerbaijan, announced the closing of their submission window, as well as the number of proposals they received for Eurovision 2024.

İTV announced through their Eurovision-themed accounts that they received 214 proposals to represent Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. Out of the 214 songs, 88 of them are from local composers, while the remaining 126 are from foreign composers. As in previous year’s, the country will choose its representative once again through an internal selection process.

No further information has been released regarding the announcement of the artist or the release of the song.

TuralTuranX represented Azerbaijan at Eurovision 2023, with the song “Tell Me More”, finishing in 14th place in the semi-final, giving the country its second non-qualification:

https://youtu.be/8BNtaW1IEtA

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Azeri participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, in Malmö!

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Azerbaijan: The search of the representative for Eurovision 2024 is on!

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iTV, the public broadcaster of Azerbaijan, has now confirmed their participation in Eurovision Song Contest 2024, while on the same time they commenced the search for their next representative for the coming contest.

Those interested will be able to send their proposals until the deadline on September 30, on the specified email adress, song@eurovision.az.

The conditions for taking part are:

  • The songs must be in MP3 format, 192 kbps
  • There must be a sort bio of the performer, a photo and info on the composers of the song
  • The song must not be longer than three (3) minutes
  • The songs must not be published before September 1, 2023
  • The public broadcaster of the country has the right to make changes to the submitted songs

The representatives of Azerbaijan in Eurovision 2023, were the twins TuralTuranX with their song “Tell Me More”, ending up in 14th place of the First Semi-Final, getting Azerbaijan’s worst result in the contest and also their second non-qualification:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Azerbaijani participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, in Malmö!

Source: İTV

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Azerbaijan: Listen to the piano version of “Tell Me More” by TuralTuranX!

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TuralTuranX, the representatives of Azerbaijan for Eurovision 2023, released a new version of their song “Tell Me More”.

The new version is performance of their song with a piano in the backround:

TuralTuranX had their first rehearsal today and they received really positive comments. You can watch our article on it HERE.

Βelow you can enjoy the Eurovisionfun team reacting to the Azerbaijani entry for Eurovision 2023:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Azerbaijani participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, in Liverpool!

INFE Poll 2023: The results from Azerbaijan!

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For the seventh consecutive year, the second Eurovision Song Contest fan network, the INFE Network, in collaboration with the website ESCToday, conducts the INFE Poll.

Network members in 21 local fan clubs have already voted for their favourite songs from Eurovision 2023 and through ESCToday, they announce their scores.

Here are the results of INFE Azerbaijan:

  1. France– 1 point
  2. Israel – 2 points
  3. Italy – 3 points
  4. Austria – 4 points
  5. United Kingdom – 5 points
  6. Spain – 6 points
  7. Norway – 7 points
  8. Czechia – 8 points
  9. Finland – 10 points
  10. Sweden – 12 points

With INFE Azerbaijan’s votes added, the updated scoreboard now stands as:

  1. Norway – 33 points
  2. Sweden – 29 points
  3. Israel – 24 points
  4. Finland – 20 points
  5. Czechia – 19 points
  6. Austria – 16 points
  7. Spain – 16 points
  8. Italy – 14 points
  9. United Kingdom – 12 points
  10. France – 12 points
  11. Moldova – 11 points
  12. Georgia – 9 points
  13. Greece – 8 points
  14. Albania – 5 points
  15. Australia – 2 points
  16. The Netherlands – 2 points

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, in Liverpool!

Source: esctoday.com

The Netherlands: All the performances of “Eurovision in Concert 2023”!

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Eurovision in Concert 2023 took place in AFAS Live in Amsterdam, last night, with 29 of this year’s entrants performing live.

The concert was hosted by Cornald Maas and Hila Noorzai. Cornald has been the Dutch Eurovision commentator since 2006. Hila is a radio DJ and member of the committee that selected this year’s Dutch representatives (Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper). She also hosted the Eurovision 2021 press conference in Rotterdam.

The artists that performed last night were the following:

Albania – Albina & Kelmendi Familija

Balcan sounds and consistent vocals is what we got from Albina and the Kelmendi Family! Might be the suprise entry of this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UKBP_v3BPY

Armenia – Brunette

Brunette singing about her Future Lover with ethereal vocals and the crowds singing along. Beautiful performance!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KspC8I7MXl0

Australia – Voyager

Voyager give what they promise! Rock and electronic sounds, so 2025! What is concerning though, is that even though their song is supposed to be very uplifting, the crowd was too static. Also falsetto was not always on point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx73Q68eWwU

Austria – Teya & Salena

That’s not a song where you can show off some unreal vocals, however it’s the song that will definitely make you dance! And Teya & Salena deliver, solid vocals and much much fun! One of my personal favourites and if you ask me, a finalist and highly likely a Top5 entry!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdh6cFfcfKo

Azerbaijan – TuralTuranX

TuralTuranX “tell us more” about their entry this year, however I’m still not getting it. A song that I could listen to the radio without complaining, but wouldn’t catch my eye/ear at the contest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XiT0RvJPn0

Belgium – Gustaph

The queerest entry of the year! His vocals are as good as the studio version! He is a fun guy! This is the kind of entries that I would like to qualify, even though that’s not the style of songs that I normally listen to!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgx-CPHRx5A

Czechia – Vesna

I can only comment on their vocals. They were okay. However, this entry started off as a potential winner, but I’m not getting that vibe, at least not yet. But hey! It’s just a party performance! Let’s wait for their contest rehearsals!

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

Denmark – Reiley

Danish heart-throb Reiley, had his best performance to date. Some minor vocal issues, but overall a nice performance!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuT–QEIyag

Estonia – Alika

Nice song and great vocals! But for me, it’s no more than just that. I wouldn’t be surprised if Estonia got disqualified.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UKYFFFWjgU

Finland – Käärijä

Normally, that’s a song that I can’t stand listening to for more than 10 seconds. Strangely, combined to his eccentric looks and his super nice personality, I could now handle listening to his entire Amsterdam performance! Personal opinion aside, I can totally see why this is a contender for the win.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd0n_sNDiAo

France – La Zarra

Unfortunately, after a statement in her personal Twitter account, La Zarra announced that she has to cancel her appearance in Amsterdam, due to personal circumstances.

Germany – Lord of the Lost

I can’t be objective, I don’t like this style of music. I can only be objective about their vocal abilities, which are on point I must admit!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmPSRnNpd0A

Iceland – Diljá

That’s a song that I would add to my daily playlist, however, this song lacks something that I still don’t know what it is! Diljá’s voice is great admitedly!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjjsWy1R93k

Ireland – Wild Youth

“Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall” x “Ritmo De La Noche” x “We Are One” would be a great mashup! I low-key like this song and I loved their Amsterdam performance. But something tells me that they will struggle to qualify this year. Let’s see what happens!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NY6OODALZU

Latvia – Sudden Lights

Another performance that sounds exactly like the recorded version of their song! I didn’t see the love from the AFAS Live crowd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1qFm5Wtkgg

Lithuania – Monika Linkytė

Monika definitely sounds even better than the studio version of the song. She will try to claim a high placement in the rankings of the jury voting in this year’s contest! In the beginning I didn’t quite like “Stay“, I can now say that I love her vocals on this track!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSO-3m9J1js

Malta – The Busker

They were not bad, not at all sounding bad live, but were they as good as it needs to be to qualify to the final show of Eurovision Song Contest? Song-wise I think not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIswu3YrrfU

Moldova – Pasha Parfeni

Despite the technical issues with his Madrid performance, Pasha, the Moldovan 2012 representative and returning artist of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, managed to pull off his performance. Great vocals and energy overall!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7LsW-dA_0U

Netherlands – Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper

It’s really sad to see my 2nd place to perform questionably in their own country’s party concert. Their vocals sound a bit off at times and as a duo their vocals don’t seem to connect on their live performance. I hope they fix it till their semi-final, I don’t want to see them become the shocking non-qualifier of the year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toUGDak3o1Y

Norway – Alessandra

Very much improved vocally, Alessandra, gets carried away by the strength of her song and her fans are absolutely loving it! The whistle note was so-so. She will improve, I am sure!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F97_a4eMpK0

Romania – Theodor Andrei

Theodor has a nice voice, but this song is totally “Off and On” so one would either like it or not. I don’t.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gyin57pzpcc

San Marino – Piqued Jacks

Their are very very good vocally. Their lead vocalist sounds like Klaus Meine, frontman of Scorpions band. Their song is not at all bad after all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqne0dGawhQ

Slovenia – Joker Out

I simply love this band and this song! One of my favourites! I love how they sound in each and every appearance they make before the contest. I hope they continue delivering up until the Eurovision finals!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7brJYVqqgZc

Spain – Blanca Paloma

A blend of flamenco and modern sounds, bringing Spanish tradition to 2023. Her vocals are absolutely amazing. I just don’t get the hype around this entry, it is a great entry for Spain, but definitely not a top 3 entry as many fans are claiming over at social media!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ycUxy4l00M

Sweden – Loreen

Her vocals are out of this world! Another amazing performance of the former Eurovision 2012 winner and potential 2023 winner! And for those that claim that she sings with the assistance of an Auto-Tune device, I can assure you that even when she rehearsed in the corridors of Malmö Arena or Friends Arena during the Melodifestivalen season, she sounded exactly the same, or even better than the studio version! My winner for sure!

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

Switzerland – Remo Forrer

I absolutely love his Amsterdam (and every single one of his) live performance! I can’t wait to see this song complete and staged and Remo joined by his four dancers! I think he will qualify! But let’s wait and see!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGsRTZ5sPcA

Ukraine – TVORCHI

I love TVORCHI and their song and their Amsterdam performance. They sounded really really good, I am a fan of their style of music, but I don’t see this entry winning. Let’s see another country winning this year!

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

United Kingdom – Mae Muller

Come on, she doesn’t sound as atrocious as most of the Twitter people claim. And at least she enjoys it and the crowd loves her! I hope she will do much better in Liverpool!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EMepsNxZUU

 

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news about the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool!

Photo: EurovisionInConcert

Netherlands: Eurovision in Concert 2023 takes place tonight in Amsterdam!

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Eurovision in Concert 2023 takes place in The Netherlands tonight , with 29 of this year’s entrants performing live.

The concert will be hosted by Cornald Maas and Hila Noorzai. Cornald has been the Dutch Eurovision commentator since 2006. Hila is a radio DJ and member of the committee that selected this year’s Dutch representatives (Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper). She also hosted the Eurovision 2021 press conference in Rotterdam.

The full line-up is as follows:

  1. Albania – Albina & Kelmendi Familija
  2. Armenia – Brunette
  3. Australia – Voyager
  4. Austria – Teya & Salena
  5. Azerbaijan – TuralTuranX
  6. Belgium – Gustaph
  7. Czechia – Vesna
  8. Denmark – Reiley
  9. Estonia – Alika
  10. Finland – Käärijä
  11. France – La Zarra
  12. Germany – Lord of the Lost
  13. Iceland – Diljá
  14. Ireland – Wild Youth
  15. Latvia – Sudden Lights
  16. Lithuania – Monika Linkytė
  17. Malta – The Busker
  18. Moldova – Pasha Parfeni
  19. The Netherlands – Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper
  20. Norway – Alessandra
  21. Romania – Theodor Andrei
  22. San Marino – Piqued Jacks
  23. Slovenia – Joker Out
  24. Spain – Blanca Paloma
  25. Sweden – Loreen
  26. Switzerland – Remo Forrer
  27. Ukraine – TVORCHI
  28. United Kingdom – Mae Muller

In addition, Katrina Leskanich (Eurovision 1997, UK, winner, “Love Shine a Light“) will  appear as a special guest.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news about the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool!