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Portugal: RTP Confirms Eurovision 2023 Participation and Opens Submissions for Festival da Canção 2023!

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Portugal’s national broadcaster, RTP, confirmed that the country will participate in Eurovision 2023. At the same time, it gave an official announcement regarding the submissions for Festival da Canção 2023. They are opening for the artists that are interested.

Like last year, the Festival will host 20 acts, 16 songs of those being written from songwriters of different genres invited by RTP. The remaining 4 will be selected by the open submission process.

The applications are open from today, September 2nd, until 21st of October under the following rules:

  • Every Portugese resident, regardless of having the Portugese nationality or not, is eligible for competing. This includes the Portugese not residing in Portugal.
  • Those interested must provide their demo song files to RTP at festivaldacancao@rtp.pt, accompanied by various data (specified in the regulation).

Full rules can be read here

In Eurovision Song Contest 2022 Portugal was represented by MARO with the song “saudade, saudade”, finishing at 9th place. This marks the best placing Portugal has had since their only win in 2017, and remains one of the best Portugese results ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQul-rkcGPQ&ab_channel=EurovisionSongContest

Source: Eurovoix

Serbia: the search for the next Serbian representative starts!

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Public broadcaster RTS has officially opened their application process for Eurovision.  The deadline to submit a proposal is the 15th of November.

The rules

According to the rules of the Serbian selection the lyrics of the candidate songs must be written in any of the official languages of the Republic of Serbia.  In addition, the singer must be a Serbian citizen.

  • The submission should include the name of the song, full lyrics, complete information of the author, singer, contact details, social networks, email, etc.
  • Songs shouldn’t be published or performed before 1st of September 2022;
  • Following EBU rules for Eurovision, no more than 6 performers are allowed.  In compliance with the age restriction for Eurovision candidates, the youngest member of an act cannot be younger than 16 by the 1st of May 2023.

The complete rules ara available in the following link.  The candidates can send their applications via online by filling the form available here.

Serbia in Eurovision

Serbia won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007.  The Balkan country has classified to the Grand Final in all but three occasions since it started participating as an independent country in 2007.  Konstrakta represented Serbia in 2022.  She ended in 5th place in the Grand final giving Serbia their best result in a Eurovision Grand Final since Željko Joksimović’s participation in 2012.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBtQj1MfNYA&ab_channel=EurovisionSongContest

San Marino: Artists show remarkable interest for Una Voce per San Marino!

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As we have already reported in our previous article, this year San Marino is following an almost identical course of action to last year’s selection process for its representative in Eurovision 2023, namely through the Competition titled Una Voce per San Marino. And while the application period for said Competition opened just 10 days ago, 80 singers (from all over the world) have already submitted their applications. 

It is reminded that submissions are accepted until January the 20th (with variations in prices depending on the time of submission) as follows:

  • Applications until September 29 will cost 100 euros
  • Applications from October 1 to January 20 will cost 150 euros
  • Applications from San Marino artists will cost 50 euros, but before December the 3rd

It should also be noted that Una Voce per San Marino 2023 is open to citizens from all over the world, regardless of their country of residence and/or citizenship. Last year’s edition of Una Voce Per San Marino attracted the interest of 585 artists, including Achille Lauro, who eventually represented the country in Turin without, however, making it to the ESC Final.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCmX64N_sXM&ab_channel=EurovisionSongContest

Stay tuned for all the updates about national finals, internal procedures and selections on the path of Eurovision 2023!

Eurovision 2023: New Information revealed about the Host City bid race!

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We have already reported that the decision about the Host City Eurovision 2023 will be announced in the Fall. What we didn’t know is how lengthy and elaborative BBC’s process really is. A recent discussion, however, between Liverpool Echo and Cllr Harry Doyle (a Liverpool city official) has shed some light into the procedure and give us a full picture of the BBC’s roadmap.

According to Liverpool Echo, the seven shortlisted cities must now provide BBC with their complete bids until September the 8th.

After an initial examination of the submitted bids, BBC will pay a visit to all the aspirant host cities (during September), in order to inspect the arenas and cities’ infrastructure.

Following the local inspection, BBC will once again deliberate, together with EBU, having this time all the necessary information to make the best choice. As a Liverpool city official maintains the final decision concerning the Eurovision 2023 Host City will be made public in late September or early October.

Stay tuned for all the updates regarding Eurovision 2023 and the Host City bid race!

Eurovision 2023: Glasgow is bookies’ heavy favourite to host the Contest!

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Following the BBC’s announcement of the shortlist of cities on 12th August, one aspirant organising city has become bookies’ absolute favourite to host ESC. Glasgow, albeit being ahead of competition from the very beginning, has now managed to crystallise its position, according to the betting odds, securing an overwhelming 52% chance of holding the event!

Interestingly, Glasgow has more than doubled its chances to host ESC since August the 11th, a day before the official announcement of the shortlisted cities. Birmingham and Manchester are the bookies’ second and third favourite, with 17% and 11% chance of hosting ESC respectively, having no considerable fluctuations in the betting odds over the last three weeks.

However, the Host City bid race is far from over. The seven shortlisted cities have now entered the first stage of the two stage bidding process. In the second stage, the cities will be narrowed down to two, and one will prevail and take over hosting duties from Turin, ESC 2022 Host City.

Have the bookies correctly predicted the Eurovision 2023 Host City? Which other city could possibly intercept Glasgow’s victorious course? 

Georgia: Eurovision 2023 representative will be chosen through The Voice!

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After two consecutive years of internal selections, Georgia decides to chose their next representative for Eurovision Song Contest 2023, by organizing a talent show.

For the  first time since 2020, Georgia decides to once again pick their representative through a TV show. The last Georgian representative to be chosen with this method was Tornike Kipiani from the Georgian Idol 2019, who represented the country in 2021, after the cancellation of the 2020 contest. This time, the selection will be held through The Voice of Georgia, which will return to the first channel of the Georgian television.

Applications for the contest started earlier today and will be open until September 20 and can be submitted to the official website of the Georgian channel

The winner of this year’s The Voice of Georgia, apart from the contest’s prize, wins the coveted ticket of Georgia’s representation to Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

Circus Mircus represented Georgia this year with the song “Lock Me In” and ended up last (18th) in the second semi-final with 22 points.

https://youtu.be/zXiZAbqETvk

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Georgian participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, in the United Kingdom!

Azerbaijan: Nadir Rustamli wants to represent his country once again!

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Nadir Rustamli, the singer who represented Azerbaijan in Eurovision Song Contest 2022, said that he wants to return to the contest.

The latest representative of Azerbaijan in Eurovision has stated in his personal social media that he would like to represent his country again in the future. These are his words:

” My followers started a social media campaign for a new participation in the contest. I didn’t want to represent my country right away the following year. But if my fans want it and the invitation comes through, I would like to participate again because I don’t want to fail my audience and my listeners”.

Nadir Rustamli represented Azerbaijan in Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin with the song “Fade to Black” and ended up in 16th place in the Grand Final with a total of 106 points. On the same time he is the first artist to qualify for the Grand Final while getting zero points from televote in the semi-final.

https://youtu.be/tegPzHEL4ms

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding participation of Azerbaijan in Eurovision Song Contest 2023, in the United Kingdom!

Source: eurovoix.com

Ukraine: Submissions for Vidbir 2023 started | The Final will take place in December!

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The champions of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, Ukraine, announced through their broadcaster’s Eurovision-themed social media, the rules with which their national selection for the 2023 Contest will be held. Ukrainian Television will accept song submissions from today until October 15, 2022. Applications for participation in the national final can be sent through the website www.eurovision.ua.

The rules of the Ukrainian national final, exactly as they were announced are as follows:

  • An online voting will determine the composition of the jury for the National Final and also the Ukrainian jury for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023
  • Both solo performers and bands, already existing or specificially created for this event, are allowed to participate
  • Songs can be submitted in any language, except the language of the aggressor state
  • Personal participation in listening to the longlisted participants is mandatory
  • The final of the National Selection will be held in December 2022 in Kyiv and broadcasted on Suspilne TV channels and digital platforms.

Two of the announced rules are of exceptional interest. First of all, the national final will be held relatively early, in December 2022, whereas previous versions of Vidbir usually determined Ukraine’s representative in February. The Albanian Festivali i Këngës is usually the first national final of each Eurovision season but also the only one to be held so early. So this may result in Ukraine being one of the first countries choosing their song for Eurovision 2023.

The second rule makes a very clear statement. The rule says that every language is allowed except for the language of the aggressor state, meaning obviously Russian.

Another announcement was made by the Ukrainian broadcaster, saying that Dmitry Šurov (also known as Pianoboy) will be the official music producer of the Ukrainian team for Eurovision. This is what he said:

“I’m glad to have the opportunity to work as a music producer of this year’s selection. I want Europe to hear and see a modern Ukrainian musician who is part of the global musical context.I know that we have such people, and although it is very difficult to create now, I invite and urge musicians of all styles and genres to urgently pick up their favorite instrument and join the selection.Acceptance of applications will last until October 15, so you have almost two months to create your winning song that breathes new Ukraine, a song that will touch and inspire the world”
Kalush Orchestra won Eurovision Song Contest 2022 for Ukraine, setting a new record of winning 28 sets of twelve points from the other cometing countries ans 439 televote points. Due to the ongoing war, the EBU decided that the contest can’t be held in Ukraine, but in the United Kingdom instead. However the Ukrainian entry will automatically qualify for the final to defend their title, while the EBU has promised that the contest will have many influences from Ukrainian style.

https://youtu.be/F1fl60ypdLs

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Ukrainian participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, in the United Kingdom!

Spain: Soraya is open to a possible participation in the next Benidorm Fest!

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Soraya Arnelas considers a possible participation at the next Benidorm Fest after finishing the recording of her new single. The representative of Spain in the 2009 contest will release a song with its own music video in September, entitled “Segunda parte”, a dance song written among others, by Ander Pérez, one of the creators, of  “Dime” by Beth. In an interview with Semana magazine, Soraya explained that current circumstances make her think about a possible participation in RTVE’s selection process.

“We don’t know what is going to happen. We’ll see… Let’s see what happens, let’s see if we can surprise you. I’m not saying no, but I’m not saying yes either.”

These are the words of the artist who performed “La Noche es para mí”, which became a big hit not only among the fans of the contest, even though the final result in the competition in Moscow was not what they expected (24th place with 23 points ). Although Soraya herself has always been somewhat reluctant to repeat the process, she now says that “there are things that are decided instantly and doors close, but there are other moments that open”, so she no longer rules out a second representation of Spain.

Soraya represented Spain in Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song “La Noche es para mí”:

The composer himself, Ander Pérez, posted on his social media that he already has a song ready to send to RTVE, and that the singer is very happy that they worked together. “The new single is at a high level, it’s true. We’re preparing new music” the singer says in between concerts and fulfilling her role as an ambassador for her country, which she’s proud of, also supporting areas affected by the fires. Soraya recently visited Las Hurdes (Cáceres) and showed the different parts of her town to her followers on social media, urging them to visit this “natural paradise”. So maybe we’ll see the singer at the next Benidorm Fest, with hopes for the next Eurovision Song Contest.

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Spanish participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, in the United Kingdom!

Source: eurovision-spain.com

Israel: Noa has confirmed her participation in Eurovision 2023!

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It might have taken about a month, but now it’s official! Noa Kirel will represent Israel at Eurovision 2023, as it was officially announced hours ago in a press conference held in Tel Aviv.

Noa Kirel scores for Israel

The superstar of Israel’s pop music scene noted that her fans were one of the main reasons she accepted the offer by the country’s Public Broadcaster to participate in Eurovision 2023.

I think I said everything I had to say about my excitement, the weight on my shoulders and the pride I feel. Thank you for all the love you have given me, the immense support you have provided me with, since I was selected, as well as for the privilege of representing my country (in ESC).

The Israeli Eurovision Committee, consisting of ten experts from KAN radio and Galats, chose Kirel from among 78 renowned artists and gave her the right to be the first one to either refuse or accept said offer. Kirel accepted the offer, after protracted discussions over the past few weeks.

On Monday, Noa revealed in an  interview with  Bequest 12 that she has made specific demands regarding her participation, including being involved in writing and choosing the song, as well as in the direction of the performance at Eurovision stage in May.

 

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A post shared by Noa Kirel (@noakirel)

Who is Noa Kirel?

Her birth-name was  Noya, but after she was diagnosed with a severe kidney disease when she was three months old, a rabbi suggested her parents to change her name to  Noa, so she could heal and walk. The rabbi also predicted that she would become a dancer. 

In March 2020, she enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and served in a military band. In February 2022, Kirel completed her service in the IDF.

She is Israel’s biggest pop star of recent years, dominating the country’s charts since the release of her #1 hit ‘Killer’ when she was just 14 years old. He was a judge on the X Factor for years, while she stars in dozens of commercials, series and movies, making her one of the most popular celebrities in the country. Noa belongs to Atlantic Records and has released 41 singles.

Listen to her biggest hit below:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the developments!