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Eurovision 2023: The first Dress Rehearsal of the Grand Final!

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Just a few minuts ago, the first dress rehearsal of the Grand Final, which is going to take place tomorrow night, took place. Eurovisionfun, was present in the M&S Bank Arena and is here to offer you a small glimpse of the rehearsals of the performances of tomorrow’s Grand Final.

🇫🇷 France – La Zarra – “Évidement”

🇨🇾Cyprus– Andrew Lambrou – “Break A Broken Heart”

🇪🇸Spain– Blanca Paloma – “EaEa” 

🇸🇪Sweden– Loreen – “Tattoo”

🇫🇮Finland – Käärijä – “Cha Cha Cha”

🇮🇱 Israel – Noa Kirel – “Unicorn”

What’s next today, is the Jury Rehearsal and as a matter of fact, it will be the first time in this year’s contest, that the jury vote will count, as in the semi-finals, it was the public alone that decided the result.

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Stay tuned at Eurovisionfun for all the latest developments regarding the the 67th Eurovision Song Contest, that is held in Liverpool!

Eurovision 2023: Watch video of the BIG 5 and Ukraine’s rehearsals!

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The preparations on Liverpool for the 67th Eurovision Song Contest are on fire and it’s now a wrap for the seventh and last day of the technical rehearsals. After their first technical rehearsals, the representatives of the BIG 5 and Ukraine took the stage of the M&S Bank Arena for their second rehearsals.

The second rehearsals gave the opportunity to the delegations to fix any mistakes spotted on the first rehearsals and help the artists feel more safe and familiar with the Eurovision big stage.

Because accredited journalists are not allowed to watch both the first and second rehearsals this year, we have very little information about what this year’s artists have prepared for the Eurovision stage. EBU has just uploaded through the official Eurovision channel in YouTube a recap of today’s rehearsals. More specifically, we will have the chance to watch exclusive TV footage of today’s rehearsals.

The countries that had their second rehearsals today were the following:

  1. Germany
  2. France
  3. Italy
  4. Spain
  5. Ukraine
  6. United Kingdom

You can watch the recap of today’s rehearsals below:

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

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Stay tuned at EurovisionFun for all news about Eurovision 2023!

INFE Poll 2023: The results from France!

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For the seventh consecutive year, the second fan network of the Eurovision Song Contest, the INFE Network, in collaboration with the website EscToday, is conducting the INFE Poll.

Network members in the 21 local fan clubs have already voted for their favorite songs from Eurovision 2023 and via ESCToday, they are announcing their scores.

Here are the results of INFE France:

  • Switzerland – 1 point
  • Moldova – 2 points
  • Israel – 3 points
  • Czechia – 4 points
  • Spain – 5 points
  • Ireland – 6 points
  • Italy – 7 points
  • Sweden – 8 points
  • Norway – 10 points
  • Finland – 12 points

After adding the votes from France, our updated scoreboard reads as follows:

  1. Sweden – 186 points
  2. Finland – 155 points
  3. Norway – 144 points
  4. Italy – 91 points
  5. Austria – 81 points
  6. France – 80 points
  7. Spain – 68 points
  8. Czechia – 65 points
  9. Israel – 63 points
  10. Moldova – 36 points
  11. United Kingdom – 28 points
  12. Armenia – 25 points
  13. Slovenia – 17 points
  14. Croatia – 12 points
  15. Georgia – 12 points
  16. Ireland – 12 points
  17. Germany – 10 points
  18. Cyprus – 9 points
  19. Switzerland – 9 points
  20. Greece – 8 points
  21. Serbia – 8 points
  22. Albania – 7 points
  23. Ukraine – 6 points
  24. Iceland – 5 points
  25. Denmark – 4 points
  26. Romania – 4 points
  27. Latvia – 3 points
  28. Australia – 2 points
  29. Estonia – 2 points
  30. Netherlands – 2 points
  31. Portugal – 2 points
  32. Belgium – 1 points
  33. Malta – 1 points
  34. Poland – 1 points
  35. San Marino – 1 points
  36. Azerbaijan – 0 points
  37. Lithuania – 0 points

Follow us on all social media, so you do not miss a moment of what will happen in Liverpool:

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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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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!

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!

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!

France: From Zero to Hero. The interview of the Head of the French delegation

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A very interesting interview was recently given by Alexandra Redde-Amiel, head of the French Eurovision delegation, to the French podcast “12points-le podcast qui décrypte l’Eurovision”.  During this interview Alexandra showcased how France managed to escape from last places and mobilise the local and international interest on its participations.

France-Head-delegation-interview

Let’s start from the beginning.

The time France used to be the queen of Eurovision finished in 1977 with the victory of the “L’oiseau et l’enfant” by Marie Myriam. Since then Eurovision suffers from a growing depreciation by the French people, and its participations, though sometimes promising, rarely can they compete on dynamism, originality and freshness those of other, more competitive countries.

Alexandra Redde-Amiel is nominated Director of Entertainment and Games of France Televisions and at the same time Head of the French delegation of Eurovision in 2018. With a long experience on the production of the French Star Academy and as an enthusiast for big shows like the SuperBowl and the Victoria Secret Shows, she starts her mission with only one goal: reverse the depreciation atmosphere and bring Eurovision back to France after more than 40 years!

The turning is immediate. French participations get bigger communicative promotion, stagings are prepared by experts, internationally appealing elements are added and in 2021 France is back on the podium with Barbara Pravi and “Voilà”.

The success recipe, according to Alexandra, is multi-layered. Everything starts from the determination of those taking the decision to provide good participations to the contest so that they will eventually win.

“I am very lucky that my supervisors have never set limits on me about Eurovision”

she says, pointing out the fact that French Tv not only passionately supports the country’s participations, but even more, it encourages them to overpass the limits. At the same time, the post of head of the french delegation is held by a woman believing in the country’s abilities to win, has a strong experience, music and television knowledge and believes that everything is possible, you just need the means to succeed.

Then Alexandra underlines the importance of the song’s and its performance’s quality. The French participation should first of all be loved by the French people and contain elements representing today’s tendencies.

“If we include everyone, subsequently the participation will be supported and with international appeal”

she notes. Following this opinion, France dares to try different ideas these last years. About this year’s choice of La Zarra she says:

“Combines the big French song, a Eurovision style, an artist with character and complete artistic view”

France-Participations

 

Finally, decisive for the contest’s revitalization will be a victory. As French have gradually depreciated the contest due to the country’s bad results, so they will show their support to Eurovision once France steps up again to the highest rank.

It’s obvious that the French tv is following a complete and not at all random strategy in order to bring back Eurovision on the limelight. All efforts are concentrated to the country’s next victory, and when that happens, the spontaneous interest will grown in France and will take to a higher level the next participations.

“The more France is loved by Europe, the more French will feel proud and motivated”

It’s worth mentioning that this strategy is not limited in the song selection. It includes a full communication plan in order to promote the song, the artist’s preparation for his staging, cooperation with various artists and artisans, and mostly a well prepared and explained with all the details stage direction in order to avoid any problems during the rehearsals. Nevertheless, the artist keeps the liberty of his artistic expression and is the one to take most of the decisions.

Everything Alexandra Redde-Amiel mentioned on her interview may look evident, but they actually compact all those success factors that could lead a country to the victory. France does not just wish to win but is indeed determined to win, and they will do it one day. Not because a random song will be loved, but because the responsible people have the knowledge and the will to give Europe a song that will deserve the victory.

 

You can listen to the complete interview in french here.

Watch La Zarra’s interview to EurovisionFun:

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for more news about France’s participation in Eurovision 2023!

OGAE Poll 2023: France’s results!

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OGAE‘s fan clubs have already started to announce their results, while the very first fun club is the one from France.

OGAE France’s members have casted their votes and the final results are the following:

 

  • 12 ponits: Sweden
  • 10 points: Norway
  • 8 points: Finland
  • 7 points: Austria
  • 6 points: Italy
  • 5 points: Belgium
  • 4 ponits: Israel
  • 3 points: Czechia
  • 2 points: Slovenia
  • 1 point: Estonia

Seven out of ten countries from bookmakers’ odds are present while Ukraine did not receive any points.

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for even more results from OGAE Poll 2023!

France: More than four million viewers watched the presentation of La Zarra’s song!

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More than four million viewers wathced the premier of La Zarra’s song for Eurovision 2023, called “Évidemment”, that took place through the TV show 20h30 Le Dimanche, of the French public television.

In total, 4.3 million French viewers tuned in to watch the presentation of the song that will represnt the country in Eurovision 2023. The highest amount of viewers for the show, was 4.5 million. In accordance to that number, 20.2% of the viewers in France watched the show.

This is the first time since 2020 that France, chose both its representative and song internally for the contest. La Zarra’s participation in the contest, was already confirmed back in January.

The long-awaited, “Évidemment”, with which La Zarra will represent France in Eurovision 2023 was released just yesterday. For rhose who didn’t het the chance to listen to it on its premier, you can watch it below:

https://youtu.be/GWfbEFH9NvQ

What do you think of La Zarra as the next representative of France in Eurovision 2023? Leave your thoughts on the comments below.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the updates about France in Eurovision 2023!

France: “Évidemment” by La Zarra is out now! | Listen to it here!

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On January 12, through a special press conference, the French national broadcaster France Télévisions announced its representative for Eurovision 2023.

The 25-year-old singer, La Zarra, will raise the French flag in the United Kingdom, claiming the coveted victory for the French.

As we have already informed you in a previous article, the song that La Zarra will have to perform in Liverpool, at Eurovision Song Contest 2023, was expected to be released today, Sunday February 19. The song “Évidemment” is already out and you can listen to it below:

Who is La Zarra;

Fatima Zahra Hafdi, better known as La Zarra, was born in Montreal, Canada.  She got notoriety for her collaboration with rapper Niro in 2016 with the song “Printemps blanc”.  She debut as a solo singer in 2021 with the song “Tu t’en iras” (You’ll go away) in 2021. La Zarra received a nomination at the 2021 NRJ Awards in the category “Francophone Revelation”. She has also topped playlist in various streaming platforms such as Apple Music, Deezer and Spotify.

Did you like the French entry song “Évidemment” that will be performed by La Zarra at the Eurovision song contest this year, held in Liverpool? Leave your comment below!

France: The country’s plans on Eurovision 2023 will be announced today!

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France’s public broadcaster, France Télévisions, has already announced that after their win in Junior Eurovision 2022, they are now planning on winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2023!

As of now, the French public television has not made any announcement on how they are going to select their representative or song, while in comparisonn with other years, in this period of time last year, the submission deadline had already been completed and in the end of 2020, we knew all twelve contestants of Eurovision France: C’est vous qui décidez 2021.

However, a few minutes ago, there was an announcement that later today, and to be exact on 15:00 CET, France Télévisions will reveal the plans for Eurovision 2023!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Eurovision France (@eurovisionfrance)

It is not known yet, if France will make an internal selection or a national final, as they have not made any specific announcement for song submission or any information on the selection process.

Last year, France organized the national final C’est vous qui décidez and the winners were Alvan & Ahez with their song “Fulenn”, ending up in 24th place in the Grand Final:

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