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Sweden: How will Malmö’s budget of 30 million Swedish crowns be used for Eurovision?

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A bit more than six months have passed since SVT revealed that Malmö will be the host city for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, on July 7.

There will be televised semi-finals on 7 and 9 May. On Saturday 11 May, the final will be broadcast all over the world from Malmö Arena.

This week, Malmö‘s top politicians hammered out how Malmö‘s taxpayers’ money should be used around the giant event. The Chair of the Municipal Executive Board Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh said on the matter:

“A completely unanimous municipal executive board supported the distribution. Much of the work will be done out in the committees and therefore we set aside money there.”

Already last autumn, in last year’s budget, agreements were signed for around SEK 10 million – including with Malmö Arena, Malmömässan and Malmö Live.

The rest of the money that is supposed to be used for the music festival was invested by the municipal board this week:

  • The Technical Committee will receive SEK 6.6 million for the work on Eurovision Park and Eurovillage at Folkets Park.
  • The Culture Committee will receive SEK 1.8 million for its work on programmes and communication.
  • The Recreation Committee will receive SEK 3.3 million for the work with 600 unpaid volunteers and for city decoration, such as flags and banners that will fill Malmö.
  • The Municipal Executive Board is also allocating SEK 6.3 million to a wide range of general extra costs linked to the giant event.

Despite galloping inflation, this year’s Eurovision Song Contest will not be more expensive for Malmö‘s taxpayers than the contests ten years ago says the city of Malmö‘s project manager Karin Karlsson:

“More people are contributing content than they did ten years ago. We are trying to work with the business community in a much more comprehensive way than we did then.”

Already in a couple of weeks, on January 30, Farah Abadi and Pernilla Månsson Colt will lead the draw for places in the two semi-finals. At the same time, the world is under pressure from major international conflicts, such as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

Shortly after the announcement that Malmö will be the host of the Eurovision Song Contest, the Swedish Security Service raised the terrorist threat level in Sweden. On 1 November, a total bag ban was introduced at major events. It is still unclear what additional and stricter security measures may be required ahead of the giant competition in Malmö. But politicians know that it could lead to new costs for the city. Karin comments:

“As far as security is concerned, we are waiting for information from the police. This will have consequences for the centre of Malmö as a whole. We are already working preventively by trying to choose places with perimeter protection and places we are used to working with.”

“In the first instance, public transport will be offered.” says the municipal board’s decision document. One can assume that this will be offered to the volunteers and press that are attending to work on the contest. But would that also mean that the artists will also travel by bus or train to the competition arena in Hyllie? Karin Karlsson responds:

“No, that’s where the line is drawn. We have a special responsibility to ensure that they arrive on time. The participants will travel in rented buses or electric cars. It’s Malmö’s advantage that we have such good public transport. It’s also a way to save money. We want the whole event to be used by public transport.”

Source: Sydsvenskan
Photo: Martin Meissner

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Ukraine: The voting for Vidbir 2024 jurors has begun!

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Vidbir will be used as Ukraine’s national Eurovision selection format in 2024. Following the announcement of the eleven finalists, the voting process for the three jury members who will determine fifty percent of the total outcome has just begun.

Specifically, UA:PBC, Ukraine’s national broadcaster, began the voting a few hours ago in order to determine which judges the audience wants on the national final jury. Hence, the decision of who will consist the national selection’s jury is up to the public. Moreover, the choice will be made among the following nine music specialists, while the list includes three former Eurovision contestants:

  1. Oleksandr Varenytsia (PR specialist, co-founder of Go West, an agency for the promotion of Ukrainian music on the international market)
  2. Andriy Danylko – VERKA SERDUCHKA (Representative of Ukraine at Eurovision 2007)
  3. Jamala (Eurovision 2016 Winner)
  4. Olena Koliadenko (choreographer)
  5. Kateryna Pavlenko – Member of GO_A  (Representative of Ukraine at Eurovision 2020 and 2021)
  6. Serhiy Tanchynets (singer, musician, producer and leader of the rock band BEZ LIMITATIONS.)
  7. Yevhen Triplov (writer and music producer)
  8. Yevhen Khmara (Composer, Jury Member of Ukraine at Eurovision 2023)
  9. Pavlo Shilko (TV and radio presenter, known as DJ Pasha)

The voting window is now open and will remain open for one week, until January 22 at 10:00 a.m. The three candidates who will receive the most votes will form the jury for the Ukrainian selection. In case one of the three voted is unable to sign the agreement for legitimate reasons, the candidate with the next highest number of votes will replace him in the jury panel.

Vidbir 2024

We remind you that the national final of Ukraine for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 will be held on February 03 at 18:00 CET, live on the UA public TV channel (UA:First). The result will be decided both by the TV audience and the expert jury, on a 50-50 proportion.

The eleven finalists of Vidbir 2024 are:
  1. YAKTAK  —  “Lalala”
  2. INGRET  —  “Keeper”
  3. NAZVA  —  “Slavic English”
  4. ANKA  —  “Palala”
  5. Drevo  —  “Endless chain”
  6. alyona alyona & Jerry Heil  —  “Teresa & Maria”
  7. MÉLOVIN  —  “DREAMER”
  8. SKYLERR  —  “Time is running out”
  9. Ziferblat  —  “Place I Call Home”
  10. YAGODY  —  “Tsunamia”
  11. NAHABA  —  “GLASS”

You can also check out the reaction video of the EurovisionFun team on Vidbir 2024 finalists:

The winners of Vidbir 2023 and hence the representatives of the country in Liverpool were TVORCHI with their song “Heart of Steel”, finishing in the sixth place of the scoreboard.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news!
Source: suspilne

San Marino: Third phase of castings continues! | A big name to sing a song composed by AI!

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From January 12th, the third phase of the auditions of Una Voce per San Marino, the national final with which the state of San Marino will choose its participation for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, has officially started!

As we previously informed you, the semi-finals will take place in February, while on February 24, the Grand Final will take place at Teatro Nuovo.

Already almost 100 artists have presented themselves in front of the jury, with auditions continuing from 18 to 20 January.

Mimmo Paganelli, member of the jury states:

“Their emotion is ours. The artists are bringing good material and quality, even better than last year”

You can watch the interviews of some artists HERE.

As was previously announced, SMRTV is working with the company  Casperaki aiming to create an entry for Una Voce Per San Marino 2024 which will be made with the help of artificial intelligence (AI).

So a while ago, public television announced that this year there will be many changes in the national final, the biggest of which is that a big name, selected to compete directly in the final, is going to perform a song written by artificial intelligence!

Piqued Jacks, were the previous winners of UVPSM, representing the country in Eurovision 2023, ending up in last place of the second semi-final:

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

Moldova: The results of the auditions are OUT!

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The live stream of the Etapa Națională 2024 Live Auditions, the process through which Moldova is choosing the country’s entry for the upcoming Eurovision contest, ended a while ago.

Here is the running order of the auditions:

  1. Maria Ciolac – “Break free”
  2. DPSTP – “RISE UP”
  3. Oliv Sky – “Another Universe”
  4. Victor Gulick – “Fever”
  5. Formația „Vele” – “Carnaval”
  6. Sasha Bognibov – “Married To Twins”
  7. Denis Midone – “Back To Me”
  8. Y-Limit – “REVOLUTION”
  9. Oliv Sky – “Loud and clear”
  10. Victor Lozinsky – “Dirty Wind/Joker and Harley move”
  11. Bumbac Tudor – “Tudorel”
  12. LAURA – “Spune-mi”
  13. POLI – “Lui”
  14. Iulia Teleucă – “Runaway”
  15. Viola Julea – “Light up!”
  16. Sasha Letty – “DNA”
  17. Max Cara – “Broke the chain”
  18. Reghina Alexandrina – “Contrasens”
  19. Valleria – “Run”
  20. Valleria – “RULE (Rai di ri di)”
  21. Natalia Barbu – “In the middle”
  22. Anna Gulko –“Perfect Place”
  23. OL – “No Time No Space”
  24. Cătălina Solomac – “Fever”
  25. Anna G – “Ay ay ay”
  26. Valeria Pasha – “Anti-Princess”
  27. Spînu Oleg – “Jungle”
  28. Y-Limit – “What’s the Fun”
  29. Nicoleta Sava – “Bravo”
  30. Nino – “Up again”

A panel of experts evaluated the song alone, its originality, the vocal range and capability of the performer, but also the interpretation. Candidates’ attire and stage appearance were not judged, while contestants were given time for the necessary sound adjustments. The panel of the national final will be different from that of the Auditions.

The eleven finalists who will compete to represent Moldova at Eurovision 2024 are:

  1. Natalia Barbu – “In the middle”
  2. Valeria Pasha – “Anti-Princess”
  3. Iulia Teleucă – “Runaway”
  4. Cătălina Solomac – “Fever”
  5. OL – “No Time No Space”
  6. Viola Julea – “Light up!”
  7. Reghina Alexandrina – “Contrasens”
  8. Victor Gulick – “Fever”
  9. Nicoleta Sava – “Bravo”
  10. Sasha Letty – “DNA”
  11. Y-Limit – “What’s the Fun”

The Etapa Națională 2024 final will take place on February 17, where these artists will compete against each other to determine the representative who will represent Moldova at Eurovision 2024!

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments regarding Eurovision 2024!

Moldova: Watch the auditions of Etapa National 2024!

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The Moldovan Public Broadcaster annually hosts Etapa Națională auditions in January, where it either determines the winner immediately (2022) or selects the 10 best acts which will later perform in a National Selection where a group of professional jurors and the Moldovan audience can decide on the winner together. This year we also had 30 candidates performing their songs in front of the experts who have the absolute power to decide.

The Etapa Națională 2024 auditions ended a while ago and here is the running order of the event together with embedded performances:

  1. Maria Ciolac – “Break free”
  2. DPSTP – “RISE UP”
  3. Oliv Sky – “Another Universe”
  4. Victor Gulick – “Fever”
  5. Formația „Vele” – “Carnaval”
  6. Sasha Bognibov – “Married To Twins”
  7. Denis Midone – “Back To Me”
  8. Y-Limit – “REVOLUTION”
  9. Oliv Sky – “Loud and clear”
  10. Victor Lozinsky – “Dirty Wind/Joker and Harley move”
  11. Bumbac Tudor – “Tudorel”
  12. LAURA – “Spune-mi”
  13. POLI – “Lui”
  14. Iulia Teleucă – “Runaway”
  15. Viola Julea – “Light up!”
  16.  Sasha Letty – “DNA”
  17.  Max Cara – “Broke the chain”
  18. Reghina Alexandrina – “Contrasens”
  19. Valleria – “Run”
  20. Valleria – “RULE (Rai di ri di)”
  21. Natalia Barbu – “In the middle”
  22. Anna Gulko –“Perfect Place”
  23. OL – “No Time No Space”
  24. Cătălina Solomac – “Fever”
  25. Anna G – “Ay ay ay”
  26. Valeria Pasha – “Anti-Princess”
  27.  Spînu Oleg – “Jungle”
  28. Y-Limit – “What’s the Fun”
  29. Nicoleta Sava – “Bravo”
  30. Nino – “Up again”

Let’s once again remember last year’s Moldovan entry which placed in the top 10 in televote and 18th in the final standing. Pasha Parfeni represented Moldova at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with his song “Soarele si Luna“.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for the final results of Etapa Nationala!

Marina Satti comes back from the USA, Silia Kapsis is on her way there | All the updates!

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A trip to the United States of America appears to be a turning point for both Marina Satti and Silia Kapsis on their journey towards Malmö and the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. The Greek and Cypriot representative respectively are approaching the homestretch of their preparations for the upcoming Contest!

 

After the US, Marina Satti focuses on Malmö

Marina Satti, had visited the USA the previous days for business and personal affairs. She had the opportunity to refresh and get some rest, since from now on, her main focus turns to Eurovision exclusively.

As we enter the middle of January, her team in collaboration with the Greek national broadcaster (ERT) have concluded to the song which Marina will perform on the Eurovision stage. The clock is ticking and understandably, the next step is for the shootings of the music video to begin,

Both ERT officials and Marina’s coworkers keep a secretive profile, because they do not want to ruin the surprise leading up to the song reveal. The enthusiasm around the Greek entry is big and along with the country’s ninth place on the betting odds, the people working for Marina and her song are filled with optimism, with hopes of ending up on a high placement of the scoreboard, making last year’s low result a memory.

Silia Kapsis starts her preparations for Eurovision 2024 from Los Angeles

With a reversed course but the same goal, Silia Kapsis, who will wave the cypriot flag, begins her Eurovision journey. Today she departed from Sydney in order to arrive to Los Angeles, where, as we have previously informed you, she is going to rehearse the choreography she will present to the upcoming Contest. Her choreography is supervised and guided by Kelly Sweeney and Guy Groove.

Ilias Kokotos and Dimitris Kontopoulos are also expected to fly to Los Angeles during this week, in order to watch the rehearsals in person. Right after Los Angeles, Silia will go back to Cyprus, where she will get interviewed by the island’s media, as they are waiting for her anxiously. Then, she will shoot the music video for her song and lastly, she will stay in Athens, Greece until it is time for her to fly to Malmö in May.

Silia’s song title is already public and it is called “Liar”, by Dimitris Kontopoulos and Elke Tiel. However, its final form will not be the exact same as the leaked demo version. RIK, the cypriot broadcaster hold their hopes high, believing that Cyprus can achieve an even higher result than Andew Lambrou’s 12th place in Liverpool last year.

Stay tuned at EurovisionFun for all the updates!

Portugal: These are the dates for the three shows of Festival da Canção 2024!

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A couple of hours ago, RTP announced the dates of all three shows of this year’s Festival da Canção, on a post on the official Instagram account of the Portuguese national selection process!

On the 18th of January there would be a livestream on TikTok where the Portuguese national broadcaster will reveal more details on this year’s Festival da Canção and the competing songs! The livestream will start from 12:10 UTC.

This is the schedule of the three shows of Festival da Canção:

  • Semi Final 1: Saturday 24 February 2023
  • Semi Final 2: Saturday 2 March 2023
  • Grand Final: Saturday 9 March 2023

Last year’s Festival da Canção winner and ultimately, the Portuguese representative for Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, UK was Mimicat with the song “Ai coração“, that placed 23rd on the Grand Final, continuing the Portuguese three-year qualification streak.

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Portuguese national final!  

Source: RTP / Festival da Canção Instagram Account

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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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Mileo: I watch the contest every year! | Interview

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Mileo from Norway gave an interview to Eurovisionfun’s Apostolis and Paschalis and said that he is a true Eurovision fan and really wants to represent Norway in Eurovision 2024!

How’s the whole MGP experience so far?

A lot of stuff is going on, a lot of rehearsals, so many people messaging me. It’s way better than I had expected it to be.

Some things about him

I’m Australian-Norwegian, my dad comes from Oslo and I grew up half time here half time there. When you live in Sydney, which is incredibly multicultural, you end up with a group of people from somewhere else, so you never feel out of place.

The message of the song

When you like someone but they are with someone else and then you think how can I get rid of them? The character is crazy and wants to do whatever it takes to be with that person.
I wrote the song just for my project, the character of Mileo, who is a likable villain character. We sent the song and it was selected. It stands out and it’s great that they liked it enough so it is there.

What will we see on stage?

It’s very crazy. The character is insane and the staging shows that. He’s a little loopy and the whole stage reflects that. You’re gonna see the villain on stage. I can’t reveal more though.

Does he watch Eurovision?

I watch the contest every year. I drag my family and friends to watch it. I watch it almost every year. It’s always interesting. It’s a fantastic platform. 2012 is my favorite edition.

Which eurostars he would like to work with

I would like to work with Luke Black from Serbia and Jann from Poland.

Mileo’s message to our readers and viewers

Thank you so much, stream it. If you can vote for me! I really want to go there so badly. I love you and thank you so much!

We wish Mileo best of luck and we hope to see him in Malmo!

Sweden: The aim is a back-to-back victory, according to project manager Anders Wistbacka!

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Today morning, SVT unveiled Carina Berg as the host of this year’s shows of Melodifestivalen, on a press conference at the headquarters of SVT in Stockholm, Sweden!

Melodifestivalen’s project manager Anders Wistbacka made the announcement of the presenter, but before doing so he made quite an interesting statement:

“For the first time for Sweden, we want to win this contest twice in a row!”

This of course creates high expectations in the fanbase about the selection of the thirty songs that will compete in this year’s heats in the hopes of representing Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden.

He then commented on the selection of Carina as this year’s host of Melodifestivalen:

“For this year’s Melodifestivalen, we wanted a presenter with a capital P. We wanted a professional, experienced and loved by the viewers. Someone who can lead the show with warm, glamorous and humorous tone. We put the question to Carina Berg and she said yes! I am very happy and proud and know that we have found the right one.”

Do you believe that Sweden can manage to win back-to-back and surpass Ireland in number of victories? Let us know in the comments section below!

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