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Around the Continent 2023: Week 10

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.

General

The Reference Group for the Eurovision Song Contest travelled to Liverpool.
The members of the group are:

Australia will select internally an artist and a song for Eurovision 2023.
SBS has tried to advance with the negotiations to hold “Australia Decides“.
However, for unknown reasons, things couldn’t be fulfilled.

In the meantime, several Australian artists have shown interest in representing Australia at Eurovision 2023:

Singer Dihaj, who represented Azerbaijan at Eurovision 2017, has expressed her interest in being involved in Eurovision 2023.
She is interested in returning as a songwriter, or even as a performer

Members of the Mamagama band have also expressed their willingness to represent Azerbaijan at Eurovision 2023

The submission window for “Dora 2023” will close on the 20th of November 2022.
In the meantime, around 70 songs were submitted.

Erik Struve Hansen. the producer of “Dansk Grand Prix 2023” has promissed a strong line-up for the national selection:

Tõnis Niinemets and Grete Kuld will host “Eesti Laul 2023“

The songs of “Eesti Laul 2023″ will be revealed on the 2nd of December 2022 in a special program – “Eesti Laul 2023. Start“. The show will be broadcast on ETV and will be hosted by the same duo

More About “Eesti Laul 2023”

Georgia will select an artist for Eurovision 2023 via “The Voice of Georgia“.
Georgian broadcaster GPB reveals the 4 mentors:

Greek broadcaster ERT still hasn’t shortlisted a list of artists for internal selection.
106 songs were submitted for the national selection

Singer Blanka submitted the song “Solo” for the Polish selection

TVR will choose a professional jury of up to 7 members.
The professional jury will rank the songs based on auditions that will be held between the 14th and 16th of December 2022.
The professional committee will listen to the submitted songs in the middle of December. The list of finalists and songs is planned to be released on the 19th of December 2022.
12 songs will be part of the final line-up

The final of “Selecția Națională 2023″ will be held on the 11th of February 2023. The final results will be determined by a 100% public vote

RTS, Serbian broadcaster postpones deadline for submission window from 15th of November to 1st of December 2022:

As per the tickets for “Benidorm Fest 2023” were suggested to the public, they sold out after a few minutes.
Rodrigo Vázquez will join Mónica Naranjo for the hosting, while Inés Hernand will accompany the artists in the green room:

Swedish magazine Aftonbaldet keeps revealing potential artists to participate in “Melodifestivalen 2023″.
The names are:

#1. Loreen

One of the well-known Swedish Eurovision stars is Loreen.
She won Eurovision 2012, and has also participated in “Melodifestivalen” in the years 2011 and 2017. Her Eurovision song “Euphoria” is considered to be one of the all-time fans favorite.


Loreen has had many doubts about returning to “Melodifestivalen“, especially due to the fact she failed to qualify for the final of “Melodifestivalen 2017“.
SVT has had to invest a lot of time persuading the singer to participate again.
However, when she listened to the intended song, she loved it immediately.
Some of the song writers are the writers “Euphoria“: Peter Boströ, Thomas G:son and Jimmy “Joker” “Thörnfeld.

#2. Paul Ray

Paul Ray is expected to return to “Melodifestivalen” for the 3rd time.
He made his debut in “Melodifestivalen 2020” with “Talking In My Sleep“. Paul qualified for the final through the “second chance” round and ended 6th in the final


Paul participated in “Melodifestivalen 2021” with the song “The Missing Piece“.
Once again, he made his way to the final through the “second chance” round.
In the end, he finished 12th in the final:

#3. Victor Crone

Victor Crone is expected to return for “Melodifestivalen” this year.
He made his debut in 2015 in collaboration with Behrang Miri on the song “Det Rår Vi Inte För“. They finished 4th in semi-final 1 and didn’t get a final ticket for the “second chance“.

In 2019, he particiapted in the Estonian selection for Eurovision 2019 – “Eesti Laul 2019“.
Victor performed the song “Strom” and won the selection.
He represented Estonia at Eurovision 2019 and finished 20th in the final

In 2020, he returned to “Melodifestivalen 2020” with the song “Troubled Waters” and finished 9th in the final:

#4. Elov & Beny

The duo, consisting of Mattias Elovsson and Oscar Kilenius, formed in 2008.
They conquered the Swedish charts and Tik-Tok with hits like

SVT has shown an interest in the duo, due to their unique music style (raggar pop) which can barely be seen in “Melodifestivalen”.

#5. Tennessee Tears

The duo, consisting of Jonas Hermansson and Tilda Feuk, mainly create country music.
They recorded most of their music in the USA.
However, they recently signed a contract with a Swedish label and were mentored by Eurovision 1998 act – Jill Johnson

You can listen to one of their songs:

#6. Ida-Lova Lind

Ida-Lova Lind is an 18 year-old Swedish singer, at the beginning of her career.
She is expected to participate in “Melodifestivalen” for the first time this year.
She’s the daughter of “Melodifestivalen 2010” host Christine Meltzer.
In 2013, she made her first live performance in front of the public.
Earlier this year, she released her debut EP – “Hallå världen kan du stanna“

You can listen to one of her songs:

#7. Maria Sur

Maria Sur is a 17 year-old Ukrainian refugee who moved (together with her mother) to Sweden.
It will be her debut in “Melodifestivalen“.
Before the Russia-Ukraine war, she participated in “The Voice of Ukraine“, in order to make her first steps in the Ukrainian music industry.
Sarah Dawn Finer, a former “Melodifestivalen” participant, helped her make her first public appearance at a Swedish gala for Ukraine.

You can listen to one of her songs:


“Melodifestivalen 2023” artists will be officially revealed on the 29th and 30th of November 2022.

They are joining the former names:

  1. Wiktoria Johansson
  2. Nordman
  3. Loulou LaMotte (The Mamas)
  4. Anders Bagge – not confirmed
  5. Emil Henrohn
  6. Theoz
  7. Marcus & Martinus
  8. Melanie Wehbe
  9. Smash Into Pieces
  10. Panetoz

Suspline published a list of 10 finalists for “Vidbir 2023″:

  1. 2TONE – Квітка (Eng: Flower)
  2. Angelina – Stronger
  3. DEMCHUK – Alive
  4. FIINKA – Довбуш
  5. Jerry Heil – WHEN GOD SHUT THE DOOR
  6. KRUTЬ – Колискова (Eng: Lullaby)
  7. Moisei – I’m Not Alone
  8. OY Sound System – Ой, тужу (Eng: Oh, I miss you)
  9. Tember Blanche – Я вдома (Eng: I’m at home)
  10. TVORCHI – Heart Of Steel

The songs will be released on the 1st of December 2022!

The public has voted for 3 musicians to be part of the jury panel in “Vidbir 2023”:

The results will be based on a combination of a national jury and a public vote.
The national selection is planned to take part on the 17th of December 2022.
The venue for the “Vidbir 2023” is Kyiv, Maidan Nezalezhnosti metro station. In the recent months, several TV productions took place in this place. The aim is to reduce the risk of potential air strikes during the show

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