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 making of the revamped version of “Duje” is underway.
According to local media, it is possible to have Turkish string elements in the new version:
Salena and Teya will record a video-clip for their Eurovision 2023‘s song in Prague, Czechia.
According to 12xal, 4 of the 5 shortlisted songs have Azerbaijani writers, while one of them has an international composer.
However, each one of the songs will be produced by an Azerbaijani producer.
The final 5 artists are:
- Mamagama group
- Humay Aslanova and Amrah Musayev
- Turan and Tural Bagmanovlar
- Azer Nasibov
- Leyla Izzatova
The professional committee will listen to their live performances, and will decide who should represent the country. You can read more about them here
Let 3 won “Dora 2023” with the song “Mama Šč!”.
They won both the public vote and the regional jury:
The controversial song has already achieved millions of views:
Andrew recorded a video clip of his Eurovision 2023 in Athens, Greece.
The song is expected to be released on the 2nd of March 2023 (hopefully, won’t be postponed again).
The art directors for Cyprus will be Ross Nicholson and Marvin Dietmann.
Marvin will be the art-director for Cyprus for the 3rd time in a row.
Reiley won “Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2023″ and therefore will represent Denmark at Eurovision 2023 with the song “Breaking My Heart“.
Super-final split results:
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Combined | Place |
| 3 | Reiley | Breaking My Heart | 28% | 15% | 43% | 1 |
| 2 | Nicklas Sonne | Freedom | 14% | 20% | 34% | 2 |
| 1 | Micky Skeel | Glansbillede | 8% | 19% | 27% | 3 |
You can watch his live performance here:
You can listen to his performance (without vocoder):
Alika Milova won “Eesti Laul 2023” with the song “Bridges“.
She won both the international jury and the public vote.
Semi-Final 1 Results
| # | Artist | Song | Jury Votes | Jury Points | Public Votes | Public Points | Total | Place | Round 2: Points | Round 2: Place |
| 7 | Ollie | Venom | 115 | 12 | 1,397 | 12 | 24 | 1 | – | – |
| 9 | Bedwetters | Monsters | 73 | 6 | 1,335 | 10 | 16 | 2 | – | – |
| 10 | Anett and Fredi | You Need to Move On | 99 | 10 | 742 | 6 | 16 | 3 | – | – |
| 8 | Andreas | Why Do You Love Me? | 81 | 7 | 555 | 5 | 12 | 4 | – | – |
| 5 | Mia | Üks samm korraga | 29 | 2 | 1,326 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 971 | 2 |
| 1 | Janek | House of Glass | 33 | 3 | 1,134 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 1,535 | 1 |
| 2 | Eliip | Pretty Girl | 91 | 8 | 502 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 285 | 5 |
| 6 | Neon Letters ft. Maiko | Tokimeki | 61 | 5 | 520 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 434 | 4 |
| 4 | Merlyn | Unicorn Vibes | 14 | 1 | 529 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 497 | 3 |
| 3 | Kaw | Valik | 42 | 4 | 269 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 265 | 6 |
Semi-Final 2 Results
| # | Artist | Song | Jury Votes | Jury Points | Public Votes | Public Points | Total | Place | Round 2: Points | Round 2: Place |
| 10 | Alika | Bridges | 111 | 10 | 4,364 | 12 | 22 | 1 | – | – |
| 9 | Bedwetters | Monsters | 73 | 6 | 1,335 | 10 | 16 | 2 | – | – |
| 10 | Anett and Fredi | You Need to Move On | 99 | 10 | 742 | 6 | 16 | 3 | – | – |
| 8 | Sissi | Lighthouse | 114 | 12 | 890 | 7 | 19 | 2 | – | – |
| 1 | Inger | Awaiting You | 58 | 6 | 918 | 8 | 14 | 3 | – | – |
| 1 | Janek | House of Glass | 33 | 3 | 1,134 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 1,535 | 1 |
| 2 | Eliip | Pretty Girl | 91 | 8 | 502 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 285 | 5 |
| 3 | Meelik | Tuju | 85 | 8 | 775 | 6 | 14 | 4 | – | – |
| 4 | Elysa | Bad Philosophy | 30 | 1 | 1,464 | 10 | 11 | 5 | 731 | 2 |
| 7 | M els | So Good (At What You Do) | 65 | 7 | 414 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 872 | 1 |
| 6 | Wiiralt | Salalik | 50 | 4 | 611 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 464 | 4 |
| 9 | Carlos Ukareda | Whiskey Won’t Forget | 51 | 5 | 606 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 665 | 3 |
| 2 | Linalakk and Bonzo | Aeg | 30 | 2 | 393 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 270 | 5 |
| 5 | Robin Juhkental | Kurbuse matused | 44 | 3 | 317 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 265 | 3 |
Final Results
| # | Artist | Song | Jury Votes | Jury Points | Public Votes | Public Points | Total | Place | Round 2: Votes | Round 2: Place |
| 8 | Alika | Bridges | 85 | 12 | 8,514 | 12 | 24 | 1 | 13,141 | |
| 10 | Ollie | Venom | 67 | 8 | 6,832 | 10 | 18 | 2 | 10,280 | |
| 6 | Bedwetters | Monsters | 67 | 10 | 4,685 | 8 | 18 | 3 | 7,991 | |
| 1 | Meelik | Tuju | 61 | 7 | 3,048 | 6 | 13 | 4 | – | – |
| 3 | Janek | House of Glass | 56 | 5 | 3,051 | 7 | 12 | 5 | – | – |
| 12 | Sissi | Lighthouse | 57 | 6 | 2,130 | 5 | 11 | 6 | – | – |
| 2 | Inger | Awaiting You | 52 | 4 | 1,107 | 4 | 8 | 7 | – | – |
| 7 | Andreas | Why Do You Love Me? | 51 | 3 | 752 | 2 | 5 | 8 | – | – |
| 5 | M Els | So Good (At What You Do) | 40 | 1 | 1,046 | 3 | 4 | 9 | – | – |
| 9 | Anett and Fredi | You Need to Move On | 41 | 2 | 593 | 0 | 2 | 10 | – | – |
| 4 | Eylsa | Bad Philosophy | 36 | 0 | 694 | 1 | 1 | 11 | – | – |
| 11 | Mia | Üks samm korraga | 25 | 0 | 372 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
“UMK 2023” will be held next Saturday, the 25th of February 2023.
The running order will be as follows:
- Robin Packalen – Girls Like You
- KUUMAA – Ylivoimainen
- Käärijä – Cha Cha Cha
- Keira – No Business On The Dancefloor
- Benjamin Peltonen – Hoida mut
- Lxandra – Something To Lose
- Portion Boys – Samaa taivasta katsotaan
You can find the full playlists here:
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Music
The results will be determined by a combination of a 75% public voting and a 25% international jury.
Special guests who will perform as interval acts will be: The Rasmus and Bess
La Zarra will reveal her song for Eurovision 2023 on Sunday, the 19th of February 2023 at 20:30 CET. The title of the song will be “Évidemment” (Eng: Obviously).
“Söngvakeppnin 2023” will begin tonight (Saturday, 18th of February 2023).
Here are the main details:
- 5 songs will compete in each semi-final.
- 2 songs will qualify from each semi-final.
- The jury will have the right to grant a 5th wildcard to another semi-finalist.
- The semi-final results will be determined by 100% public vote.
- The artists perform their songs in Icelandic language in the semi-finals.
- In the final, the results will be determined by 2 rounds:
- Round 1 – 50% public vote and 50% jury voting.
- Round 2 – Top 2 artists will face an additional public vote
Semi Final 1 (February 18, 2023):
- Bragi – Stundum snýst heimurinn gegn þér / Sometimes the World’s Against Us
- Móa – Glötuð ást / Lose This Dream
- Benedikt – Þora / Brave Face
- Celebs – Dómsdags dans / Doomsday Dancing
- Diljá – Lifandi inni í mér / Power
Semi Final 2 (February 25, 2023):
- Kristín Sesselja – Óbyggðir / Terrified
- Langi Seli og Skuggarnir – OK
- Silja Rós & Kjalar – Ég styð þína braut / Together We Grow
- Úlfar – Betri maður / Impossible
- Sigga Ózk – Gleyma þér og dansa / Dancing Lonely
Playlists can be found here:
Spotify
AppleMusic
YouTube (Icelandic Versions)
English Versions
You can read Doron‘s review of the songs here
Ian Banham will be the creative director for the Irish performance at Eurovision 2023.
Wild Youth will perform “We Are One” at Eurovision 2023.
He is a Creative and Choreographer on Dancing With The Stars Ireland.
Noa Kirel will reveal her Eurovision 2023 entry, “Unicorn“, on Wednesday, the 8th of March 2023.
The song premiere will be part of a special show on KAN 11, with some special guests included.
This isn’t a coincidence that it will happen on International Women’s Day.
Marco Mengoni is the winner of “Festival Di Sanremo 2023“.
After winning each night where he participated in, he managed to win the super-final as well.
Marco has already confirmed he will represent Italy.
However, it is still unknown whether he will perform “Due Vite” at Eurovision or will choose another song:
Sudden Lights won “Supernova 2023″ with the song “Aija”
Lithuania will hold its national final “Pabandom iš Naujo 2023” tonight.
The running order will be as follows:
- Mario Junes – Do What You Do
- Moon Bee – Rumor
- Justė Kraujelytė – Need More Fun
- Paulina Paukštaitytė – Let Me Think About Me
- Beatrich – Like a Movie
- Rūta MUR – So Low
- Il Senso – Sparnai
- Petunija – Love of my life
- Gabrielius Vagelis – Šauksmas
- Monika Linkytė – Stay
Playlists can be found here:
Spotify
AppleMusic
YouTube
Special guests in the final will be Duncan Laurence (The Netherlands, Eurovision 2019) and Tvorchi, who will represent Ukraine at Eurovision 2023.
The results will be determined by a 50% public vote and a 50% jury voting.
The jury panel will consist of 9 members:
- Ramūnas Zilnys – LRT Chief Music Editor
- Vaidotas Valiukevičius – The lead singer of The Roop (Lithuania, Eurovision 2020-2021)
- Monika Liu – Represented Lithuania at Eurovision 2022
- Vytautas Bikus – Music Producer, who composed Lithuania’s entries for Eurovision 2015 and 2018
- Ieva Narkutė – Singer-songwriter
- Raminta Naujalytė-Bjelle – Singer
- Gerūta Griniūtė – Radio host
- Stanislavas Stavickis-Stano – Singer and composer
- Jievaras Jasinskis – Composer
You can read Doron‘s review of the songs here:
The Busker won “MESC 2023″ with the song “Dance (Our Own Party)“
According to an interview they gave to local media, the song won’t be replaced for Eurovision. However, they will revamp the song a little bit.
As we all know, Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper will represent The Netherlands.
The Dutch entry for Eurovision 2023 will probably be released on the 2nd of March 2023.
The name of the song is rumored to be “Chasing Highs“.
Duncan Laurence, Jordan Garfiel, Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper craeted the song.
TVP revealed the 10 artists who will compete in the national selection “Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hity na Eurowizję 2023″ (Eng: The heart of Europe beat here – we choose a hit for Eurovision).
The 10 acts will be:
- Ahlena – Booty
- Blanka – Solo
- Dominik Dudek – Be Good
- Felivers – Never Back Down
- Jan Majewski – Champion
- Maja Hyzy – Never Hide
- Jann – Gladiator
- Natasza – LIFT U UP
- Alicja Szemplinska – New Home
- Kuba – You Do Me
Playlists can be found here:
YouTube
Spotify
Apple Music
The final will be held on Sunday, the 26th of February 2023.
The results will be determined by 2 rounds.
The top 3 songs will qualify for the second round.
Each round will be determined by a 50% national jury and a 50% public vote.
This is what a beautiful stage of “Festival da Canção 2023” will look like:
Semi-Final 1 (February 25, 2023)
- MoYah – Too Much Sauce
- BOLHA – Sonhos de Liberdade
- April Ivy – Modo Voo
- Churky – Encruzilhada
- Cláudia Pascoal – Nasci Maria
- SAL – Viver
- Mimicat – Ai Coração
- You Can’t Win, Charlie Brown – Contraste Mudo
- Neon Soho – Endless
- Esse Povo – Sapatos de Cimento
Semi-Final 2 (March 4, 2023):
- Edmundo Inácio – A Festa
- The Happy Mess – O Impossível
- Teresinha Landeiro – Enquanto é tempo
- Bandua – Bandeiras
- Bárbara Tinoco – Goodnight
- INÊS APENAS – Fim do Mundo
- Ivandro – Povo
- DAPUNKSPORTIF – World Needs Therapy
- Lara Li – Funâmbula
- Voodoo Marmalade – Tormento
The playlists can be found here:
Spotify
AppleMusic
YouTube
The grand final of will take place on March 11th, 2023 and will be hosted by Filomena Cautela and Vasco Palmeirim. This will also be the date when we will reveal who will represent Portugal in Liverpool.
Theodor Adrei is the winner of “Selecția Națională 2023“.
He will represent Romania with the song “D.G.T (off and on)“:
The casting list for the last 2 days of “Una Voce Per San Marino” was published:
Among the names, we can recognize 2 Norwegian artists: Farida (“MGP 2022”) and Rasmus Thall “MGP 2023”).
- “Una Voce Per San Marino 2023” semi-finals will feature 80 artists who will compete in 5 semi-finals.
- The semi-finals will be held between 18th and 20th of February 2023.
- They will be broadcast between the 20th and the 24th of February 2023.
- The final will be held on the 25th of February 2023
News reporter Ilenia De Sena will host the show:
Among the rumored known artists, we can find:
- BLIND
- Irol MC – San Marinese rapper who participated in the national selection for Eurovision 2018
- Burak Yeter and Carlito Olivero (the first was a finalist in “Una Voca Per San Marino 2022”)
- Elettra Lamborghini (Italian TV personality, participated in “Sanremo 2020”)
- Aaron Sibley (3rd place in “Una Voca Per San Marino 2022”)
- Kazna (submitted a song for the Belarussian selection for Eurovision 2021)
- La Rappresentante di Lista (“Sanremo 2022”, 7th place)
- Tolmachevy Sisters (represented Russia at JESC 2006 and Eurovision 2014)
Tonight, Sweden will hold the 3rd heat of “Melodifestivalen 2023“.
The line-up will be:
- Paul Rey – Royals [audio snippet] [video snippet]
- Casanovas – Så Kommer Känslorna Tillbaka
(Eng: So The Feelings Come Back) [audio snippet] [video snippet] - Melanie Wehbe – For The Show [audio snippet] [video snippet]
- Nordman – Släpp Alla Sorger (Eng: Let Go of All Sorrows) [audio snippet]
- Laurell – Sober [audio snippet] [video snippet] [snippet]
- Ida-Lova – Låt Hela Stan Se På (Eng: Let The Whole Towe Watch) [audio snippet] [video snippet]
- Marcus & Martinus – Air [audio snippet] [video snippet]
The first 2 places will get a direct path for the final, while the 3rd and 4th places will get another chance in the semi-final.
Recent weeks results are:
Finalists
- Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Arc North feat. Adam Woods – Where You Are (Sávečan)
- Tone Sekelius – Rhythm Of My Show
- Maria Sur – “Never Give Up”
- Panetoz – “On My Way”
Semi-Finalists
- Victor Crone – Diamonds
- Elov & Beny – Raggen Går
- Theoz – Mer Av Dig
- Tennessee Tears – Now I Know
Eliminated
- Rejhan – Haunted
- Loulou LaMotte – Inga Sorger
- Eva Rydberg & Ewa Roos – Länge Leve Livet
- Wiktoria – All My Life (Where Have You Been)
- Eden – Comfortable
- Uje Brandelius – Grytan
Switzerland will reveal the Eurovision 2023 song and artist on Tuesday, the 7th of March 2023
Here are the main details:
- Around 500 songs were submitted for Eurovision 2023.
- Music experts from different Swiss TV stations evaluated the songs and reduced the list ot 50 songs.
- 2 jury panels evaluated the songs:
- A panel consisting of 100 people from the Swiss public
- The second one consists of international music experts who were involved in Eurovision as participants, composers, Eurovision jury or national seletcion jury.
- These 2 panels, each one with a eaight of 50% of the final decision, picked 6 songs of this list.
- 6 songs were reworked and then performed live in SF studios.
- The 2 mentioned panels reduced the list to 2 songs only.
- After some studio improvement and sharpening of the production, the 2 final songs faced another round of voting by the 2 panels.
