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Around the Continent 2023: Week 7

Doron Lahav

As we continue our weekly series Around The Continent, we will discuss the news and tell the story of each country’s preparation for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

The BBC has released a tender for independent companies to take care of the postcards of Eurovision 2023. The suggestions must include their ideas and the production of them. Each postcard will be 40 seconds in length.
Applications will be open until the 3rd of November 2023.
One of the criteria is to have a successful part in production for the BBC or any big network in the UK.

The list of candidates to compete at “Festivali i Këngës 61” was published:

The list includes 16 established artists (that have already participated in the former editions of the festival), alongside 10 newcomers (young artists and alternative bands):


The identity of the Eurovision representative will be determined by 100% public vote (For the first time in the festival’s history).

However, jury will still be part of the festival and they will grant awards:

Note: The festival winner (awarded by jury) won’t necessarily be the Albanian representative for Eurovision 2023.

Myf Warhurst has been one of the hosts of “Australia Decides” since 2019.
Nowadays she is taking part in the production of “The Rocky Horror Show”.
However, it has been stated that Myf won’t be available between 8th and 12th of March 2023, due to Eurovision related commitments.

Could there be a hint for the range of dates where “Australia Decide 2023” will take place?
Does that mean Australia will choose internally with these dates as a potential show to reveal the act?

Robin Crauwels, who was the runner-up in “The Voice of Vlaanderen 2021” (Flemish version of “The Voice of Belgium”), is now in the mix of rumors to take part in the Belgian “Eurosong 2023”

He recently started following Eurovision-related pages on Instagram.
He joins the following potential names to take part in the national selection:

A total of 7 artists will be part of the line-up.
While other artists ruled out their participation: Laura Tesoro (Belgium 2016), Thijs, Camille.

363 songs were submitted to the Finnish national selection UMK.
Only 7 acts were chosen. This year, choosing the finalists was especially challenging for the jury.

“UMK 2023” will be held on the 25th of February 2023 in Logomo, Turku.

Here are some details on the 7 finalists:

On the 11th of January 2023, the 7 finalists will be revealed.
Starting on the 12th of January 2023, we will get one song per day from the finalists.

Eurovision fans have tried to guess some of the finalists:

Kiki, Pete Parkkonen, Abreu, Diandra, Lost Society & Shiraz Lane, Cledos, Astrid Nicole, Moon Shoort, Eini, and Nelli Matula

Michael Kealy, head of the Irish delegation for Eurovision, has sparked his vision for the Irish selection for Eurovision 2023:

Take a look at last year’s Eurovision top ten and ask yourself if your song is really a contender in the biggest, most competitive music show in the world.
Singers/performers must be outstanding (being good isn’t enough anymore). One bum note on stage and it could be game over.
Your song should be a finished piece of work, recorded professionally, and not more than three minutes long. If your song is five or six minutes long and can’t possibly be shortened, then Eurovision isn’t the place for you.
Don’t try and write a ‘Eurovision’ song. There aren’t a ‘typical’ Eurovision songs and audiences spot songs that lack artistic integrity and are inauthentic.
It’s worth remembering that songs in native languages have done particularly well in recent years.

Currently, the following artists have shown interest in competing in the national selection:

43 artists will be invited to live auditions for “Sanremo Giovanni 2022”. They were chosen among 714 submissions.

43 acts are composed as follows: 35 solo artists (12 female singers and 23 males) and 8 bands.

List as fallows:

At the end of the live auditions, 8 acts will move forward to the final evening of Sanremo Giovani 2022 broadcast on 16th December 2022 תwhere the 4 artists from Sanremo Arena will be added.
12 acts will take participation for the top 3 to forward to Sanremo 2023.

Even though we are still waiting for official information, the Norwegian website ESC Norge supplies some interesting pieces about “Melodi Grand Prix 2023”:

  1. “Melofi Grand Prix 2023” will include 3 semi-finals and a grand final. They will be broadcastered each Saturday:
    • Semi-Final 1 – 14th of January 2023
    • Semi-Final 2 – 21st of January 2023
    • Semi-Final 3 – 28th of January 2023
    • Final – 4th of February 2023
  2. Among the rumored artists, we will be able to find Ulrikke (“MGP 2020” winner) and KEiiNO (“MGP 2019” winners).
  3. Trondheim Spektrum is rumored to be the arena for the shows

As the submission window for “Festival da Canção 2023” closed,
Portuguese broadcaster RTP shared that 667 songs were submitted to the festival.
Last year, more than 600 songs were submitted for the festival.


The festival is divided into 2 groups of submissions:

  1. Free Path – Intended for any musician that wants to apply
  2. Chosen composers – 16 composers received a direct invitation from the broadcaster. Their spot at the festival is guaranteed. They are not necessarily the performers of the songs.

“Festival da Canção 2023” – Recap

According to TVR, “Selecția Națională 2023” will include several changes.
The main is letting the public crown the winner with 100% public vote.

Mihai Predescu, TVR’s Eurovision 2023 project manager, said:

“We are a new team and we propose a different Eurovision contest, based on transparency, professionalism and digitization. We changed the voting system: only the public will choose the piece that will represent Romania. And one more thing: this Eurovision will be on air on TVR and much more present than in the past online, on social media networks”.

The submission window for “Una Voce Per San Marino 2023″ is still open.
However, the first auditions started to take place.
On Friday, 28th of October 2022, the first episode of auditions was cast.
The following candidates performed:

In addition, the established Italian singer Elettra Lamborghini, is considering submitting a song to “Una Voce Per San Marino 2023″

Previously, she competed in “Festival Di Sanremo 2020“.


She stated that Eurovision is one of her dreams, but winning “Sanremo” might be hard.

2 artists that have already submitted a song are:

Christopher Grevener from Germany. He took part in the auditions last year and is now trying his luck again.
At this time, his song was written by the Serbian singer Sanja Vucic

Another German singer who submitted a song is Daniel Schuhmacher, who won the 6th edition of the “German Idol“.
A week ago, he released this song (might it be his song for Eurovision?)

Among the creators behind the song are Doron Medalie (composed Israel‘s entries for Eurovision 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2020) and Linnea Deb, who wrote plenty of songs in “Melodifestivalen“.

The confirmation for “EMA 2023” is still underway.
However, Slovenian media suggests singer KIKI might be interested in submitting a song

Another potential artist is Gaja Prestor. She has started working with Zalagasper (Slovenia 2019) recently.

Gaja has already competed in “EMA 2020” where she finished 7th:

Some exciting news: it seems like the huge fan facorite Raiven (“EMA” 2016, 2017, 2019 finalists) and July Jones (“EMA 2022” finalist) might be interested in submitting a song this year

RTVE revealed the 18 artists who will compete in “Benidorm Fest 2023”:

  1. Agoney (Participated at OT 2018)
  2. E’Femme
  3. Fusa Noca
  4. Blanca Paloma (Participated at Benidorm Fest 2022)
  5. Aritz Aren
  6. Rakky
  7. Alfred Garcia (Represented Spain at Eurovision 2018)
  8. Sofia Martin
  9. Alice Wonder
  10. Famous (Participated in OT 2019)
  11. Megara
  12. Vicco
  13. Twin Melody
  14. Jose Otero
  15. Karmeto
  16. Sharonne
  17. Meler
  18. Siderland

“Benidorm Fest 2023” – Recap

  1. The festival will include two semi-finals and a grand final.
  2. The shows will be held on the 31st of January, the 2nd of February, and the 4th of February 2023.
  3. This means that Spain will probably be one of the first countries to reveal its song for Eurovision 2023
  4. 16 artists will be shortlisted to participate. 8 artists will compete in each semi-final, and 4 of them will qualify for the final.
  5. Despite the Eurovision fans’ reviews, the results method will remain the same as it was for 2022. The results will be determined by combining a 50% professional jury, 25% dermoscopic jury, and 25% public vote.
  6. The festival will take place at the Palau d’Esports L’Illa in Benidorm
  7. Mónica Naranjo and Inés Hernand will host the festival.

Anders Bagge (who ended 2nd in “Melodifestivalen 2022”) uploaded a photo with the writers Jimmy Jansson and Thomas G:Son.

Might this be a “Melodifestivalen 2023” hint?

Ukrainian broadcaster Suspline revealed a list of 36 potential artists to represent the country at Eurovision 2023.

  1. 2TONE
  2. Angelina
  3. DAYTON
  4. DEMCHUK
  5. Drevo
  6. Elysees
  7. FIINKA
  8. Havkа
  9. Jerry Heil (participated in “Vidbir 2020“)
  10. Iana Kovaleva
  11. Kozak Siromaha
  12. KRUTЬ (participated in “Vidbir 2020“)
  13. Lue Bason (lead singer of  Cloudles who competed in “Vidbir” in 2020 and 2022)
  14. Moisei
  15. Olivan
  16. OOHLA
  17. Oy Sound System
  18. SASHA
  19. Seréen
  20. sexnesc
  21. Shy
  22. SKYLERR
  23. SOWA
  24. Tember Blanche
  25. Tery
  26. TVORCHI (participated in “Vidbir 2020“)
  27. Victoria Niro
  28. Vynohradova
  29. Zetetics
  30. Lilu45
  31. Maks Ptashnyk
  32. Miya Ramari
  33. Royal’kit
  34. Sasha Fadeyeva
  35. TÓNKA
  36. Tsyferblat

The broadcaster will hold auditions sessions to shortlist 10-12 artists who will compete in the final of “Vidbir 2023”.
The list of finalists will be published by the 17th of November 2022

The national selection is planned to take part on the 17th of December 2022

Timur Miroshnychenko will be one of the hosts.
For the second slot of hosting, there are 2 rumored names: Zlata Ognevich (ESC 2013) or Kateryna Osadcha.

Dmytro Shurov (Pianoboy), the musical producer, reacted:

“I am personally interested in ensuring that Ukrainian music does not freeze and that it develops in all directions, so that we have our heroes in all possible musical niches and styles. In my opinion, now, during the war, and with complete uncertainty in the lives of musicians, this selection takes on a special significance. We not only choose those worthy to represent Ukraine at the competition, but also have the opportunity to hear a wide range of Ukrainian music that is being created here and now, no matter what.

I am glad that during the selection process, many musicians were motivated, inspired, and encouraged to create new songs and interesting ideas. It was difficult for many of them to start writing again. Many musicians are in forced emigration or on the verge of changing professions, or even survival. There are musicians who volunteer and fight. However, we have a 36-song longlist that has everything from dream pop and rock to indie, rap and ethnic. All this speaks of how creative our nation is, how much we strive to create. I am grateful to UA:PBC for the trust to musically produce the selection. I am already personally listening to this longlist in the car, I hope that after the songs are published, you will too.”

ANTSYA probably submitted the song “Любов моя сила” (Eng: Love is my strength)

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