Eurovision 2023

Albania: Albina & Familja Kelmendi go to Liverpool

Albina & Familja Kelmendi have won the televote of Festivali i Këngës 61, and thus will represent Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool next year. The song “Duje” () is written by Eriona Rushiti and composed by Enis Mullaj. Here is the full list of participants: 2 Farm, “Atornike” Sergio Hajdini, “Vështirë” Gjergj Kaçinari, “Dje” Alban Kondi & Lorela Karoshi, “Melodi” Vanessa Sono, “Aroma jonë” Elsa Lila, “Evita” Erma Mici, “Kozmosi i dashurisë” Franc Koruni, “Në pritje” Gent Hoxha, “Ajër” Petrit Çarkaxhiu, “Emri yt mirësi” Melodajna Mancaku, “Gjysma e zemrës sime” Manjola Nalbani, “Dua” Urban Band, “Në çdo hap” Enxhi Nasufi, “Burrë” Rovena Dilo,“Motit” Fifi, “Stop” Rezarta Smaja, “N’Eden” Evi Reçi, “Ma khte” Fabian Basha, “Një gotë” Albina & Familja Kelmendi,“Duje” LYNX, “Nëse ke besim” The expert jury had no vote in who is going to Eurovision. Their top-3 was: Elsa Lila,“Evita” Albina & Familja Kelmendi, “Duje” 2 Farm, “Atornike” Therefore, Elsa Lila became the overall winner for a 3rd time. However, she never represented Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest, while the previous two times where before 2004, Albania’s debut.

Albania: Festivali i Këngës 61, final

Tonight is the night: Albania will select it’s Eurovision entry. After two semifinals and a night with duets, the country will make a final decision. The show can be watched at 21.00 CET here and here and on Youtube. 21 songs are left. These are the titles: Enxhi Nasufi sings “Burrë” Erma Mici sings “Kozmosi i dashurisë” Fabian Basha sings “Një gotë” Fifi sings “Stop” Urban Band sings “Në çdo hap” 2 Farm sing “Atornike” Rezarta Smaja sings “N’Eden” Albina & Familja Kelmendi sing “Duje” Sergio Hajdini sings “Vështirë” Rovena Dilo sings “Motit” Melodajna Mancaku sings “Gjysma e zemrës sime” Gjergj Kaçinari sings “Dje” Franc Koruni sings “Në pritje” Petrit Çarkaxhiu sings “Emri yt mirësi” Elsa Lila sings “Evita” Genti Hoxha sings “Ajër” Evi Reçi sings “Ma khte” Manjola Nalbani sings “Dua” LYNX sings “Nëse ke besim” Alban Kondi & Lorela Karoshi sing “Melodi” Vanessa Sono sings “Aroma jonë” Enxhi Nasufi took part in the 2016 final and became 6th.Fabian Basha took part in 2008 and became 15th in the final as a member of the group Produkt 28.The Urban Band reached the final last year.Rezarta Smaja took part in 2013 (7th), in 2014 (7th), in 2015 (7th), in 2016 (with Klodian Kaçani, 4th), in 2017 (7th), in 2018 (with Luiz Ejlli, final), and in 2022 (final).Rovena Dilo took part in 2004 (final), in 2008 (semifinal), in 2009 (with Eugent Bushpepa, 12th) and in 2010 (10th).Gjergj Kaçinari took part last year and reached the final.Franc Koruni took part in 2017 (11th) and 2021 (semifinal).Evi Reçi participated in 2021 and 2022, both times finalist.Manjola Nalbani took part in 2006 (final), 2008 (6th), 2018 (final). Due to a positive Corona test, she had to withdraw in 2021.LYNX took part in 2013 (14th), 2014 (15th), 2017 (10th) and 2018 (semifinal).Alban Kondi took part in 2008 as a member of Produkt 28 (15th).Lorela Karoshi took part in 2017 (12th).

Albania: Festivali i Këngës 61, semifinal 2

The Albanian national selection starts tonight. In four evenings, Albania will make a choice. Tonight, the second semifinal will be held. It starts at 21.00 CET and you can watch it here and here and on Youtube. Albania usually is the first country to select an entry. Not this year, as we already know Ukraine’s entry. The Albanians will select through four evenings. The seminfinals will be held on Monday and Tuesday, another show, not with the participating songs, will be on Wednesday. Thhe final will be on Thursday. These are tonight’s entries: Melodajna Mancaku sings “Gjysma e zemrës sime” Permit of Stay sings “Fobia” Arsi Bako sings “Sonte dua të jem me ty” Gjergj Kaçinari sings “Dje” Franc Koruni sings “Në pritje” Petrit Çarkaxhiu sings “Emri yt mirësi” Elsa Lila sings “Evita” Genti Hoxha sings “Ajër” Evi Reçi sings “Ma khte” Manjola Nalbani sings “Dua” LYNX sings “Nëse ke besim” Alban Kondi & Lorela Karoshi sing “Melodi” Vanessa Sono sings “Aroma jonë” Gjergj Kaçinari took part last year and reached the final.Franc Koruni took part in 2017 (11th) and 2021 (semifinal).Evi Reçi participated in 2021 and 2022, both times finalist.Manjola Nalbani took part in 2006 (final), 2008 (6th), 2018 (final). Due to a positive Corona test, she had to withdraw in 2021.LYNX took part in 2013 (14th), 2014 (15th), 2017 (10th) and 2018 (semifinal).Alban Kondi took part in 2008 as a member of Produkt 28 (15th).Lorela Karoshi took part in 2017 (12th).

Albania: Festivali i Këngës 61, semifinal 1

The Albanian national selection starts tonight. In four evenings, Albania will make a choice. Tonight, the first semifinal will be held. It starts at 21.00 CET and you can watch it here and here. Albania usually is the first country to select an entry. Not this year, as we already know Ukraine’s entry. The Albanians will select through four evenings. The seminfinals will be held on Monday and Tuesday, another show (we don’t have more information on that one yet) on Wednesday, while the final will be on Thursday. These are the entries: Enxhi Nasufi sings “Burrë” Erma Mici sings “Kozmosi i dashurisë” Fabian Basha sings “Një gotë” Anduel Kovaçi sings “Malli” Fifi sings “Stop” Urban Band sings “Në çdo hap” 2 Farm sing “Atornike” Sara Kapo sings “Para teje” Rezarta Smaja sings “N’Eden” Albina & Familja Kelmendi sing “Duje” Sergio Hajdini sings “Vështirë” Luna Causholli sings “Jetën ta fal” Rovena Dilo sings “Motit” Enxhi Nasufi took part in the 2016 final and became 6th.Fabian Basha took part in 2008 and became 15th in the final as a member of the group Produkt 28.The Urban Band reached the final last year.Rezarta Smaja took part in 2013 (7th), in 2014 (7th), in 2015 (7th), in 2016 (with Klodian Kaçani, 4th), in 2017 (7th), in 2018 (with Luiz Ejlli, final), and in 2022 (final).Rovena Dilo took part in 2004 (final), in 2008 (semifinal), in 2009 (with Eugent Bushpepa, 12th) and in 2010 (10th).

Tvorchi wins Vidbir 2023

Tvorchi has won Vidbir 2023! The group will represent Ukraine in Liverpool next year with their song “Heart Of Steel” The Jury gave them 9 points, while they won the public vote with 10 points. Tvorchi are the lucky ones to follow up Eurovision winners ‘Kalush Orchestra’, and therefore Ukraine has already granted itself a spot in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 finals watch the performance of “Heart Of Steel” here: Tvorchi isn’t new to the Eurovision family, as they have participated in Vidbir 2020 with “Bonfire”. They went on to finals, but only ended up fourth. In 2018 producer Andriy Gutsulyak (Andrew Hutsuliak) and Vocalist Jeffery Kenny doubled up to form the musical group. Jeffery was born in Nigeria, but later on moved to Ukraine where he studied at the Ukrainian Medical University. This is where the duo met, and shared the same passion for music. Eventually they’ve loved it so much, that they started making their owns beats together.

Joker Out represents Slovenia

Today, Slovenian TV station RTVSLO announced it: the band Joker Out will represent Slovenia. After years of EMA, the Slovenian national final, RTVSLO decided not to have a national final. Joker Out is quite a famous band in Slovenia. The band started their carreer in 2016 as a combination of two other bands. Their breakthrough came a year later, when they won Špil Ige, a talent show. Their song “Omamljeno telo” became a hit. It was followed by songs as “Gola”, “Vem da greš” and “Umazane misli”. The band released two full albums so far. Their most recent album and it’s title song are “Demoni”. About Eurovision, a statement was brought by the band: ‘All members in the band are big fans of the Eurovision. It is our wish to perform there for some time now, but we were waiting for the right moment. Although we are young, the fast progress of our career has brought us loads of experience, motivation and creative energy: we are ready for this challenge. Regarding the style of music present at the Eurovision Song Contest – we need to say that it is well past being defined or limited to just one genre. We are staying true to our distinctive Joker Out sound, no matter where and when we perform.’ On February 4th, the Slovenian entry will be presented in a television show.

Major changes in Eurovision voting

Some major changes in the Eurovision 2023 voting are announced. That was announced by EBU in a press release today. Only viewer votes will decide countries qualifying from Semi-Finals The Semi-Final results will be decided by televoting only. No expert jury will be involved. With that decision, the Semi-Finals will go back to the 2007 system. The main reason to get an expert jury involved was the diaspora vote. Several countries were succesful thanks to their diaspora. According to the results of the 2007 backup jury, for example Turkey would not have done that well. Germany however, would have reached a 4th place, while the entry “Frauen regier’n die Welt” became 19th with televoting only. Viewers in non-participating countries will be able to vote online There will be a ‘rest of the world’ jury, built up just like the other juries. That makes it possible for viewers from for example Canada or South Africa to vote in the contest as well. This jury can vote in both the Semi-Finals and the Grand Final. Jury votes will, as before, be combined with viewer votes to decide final result The way the results in the Grand Final will be decided, does not change; the only difference will be the ‘rest of the world’ jury.

Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper are the Dutch representatives

On November first, it was announced that Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper will travel to Liverpool to represent The Netherlands at the 67th Eurovision Song Contest. The 26-year-old Mia and 28-year-old Dion met about two years ago, when Duncan Laurence, Eurovision 2019 winner brought them together. Their voices blended well together, and they wanted to share the same musical message: “music that allows room for showing vulnerability and emotion. Laurence recommended the two artists to the Dutch selection committee and they unanimously selected the yet to be announced song. There’s still much speculation about the song. The general director at AvroTros said “their voices work beautifully together”. At least there’s one small hint: Duncan Laurence, and his partner Jordan Garfield, wrote the song together with the duo. Their song will be released on a later point in time.

Andrew Lambrou for Cyprus

This afternoon it has been announced that Andrew Lambrou will follow up Andromache as the Cypriot entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 which is to be held in Liverpool. Andrew’s past Andrew was born in Australia but is a descent of a Greek-Cypriot family. He began his musical career by learning piano at a young age, which was later followed by covering songs and uploading them on YouTube. After he gained some fame on social media, Andrew later decided to take part in The X-Factor where Eurovision star Guy Sebastian was one of the judges. His Eurovision journey Even though it’s Andrew’s first time competing at Eurovision, this isn’t his first time trying to enter. In 2022 Andrew tried to represent Australia by taking part in Australia Decides with his song “Electrify”. The song for Liverpool however will be presented at a later date.

3 withdrawals in one day: what’s happening!?

Two more countries announced that they would not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest: North Macedonia and Bulgaria. The news came after the Eurovision community woke up this morning with the withdrawal of Montenegro. North Macedonia North Macedonia issued a statement this afternoon: “Such a decision is in the best interest of the citizens, taking into account the increased costs due to the energy crisis, which occupy a large part of the budget of the Public Service, as well as the increased registration fee for the participation in Eurovision 2023. This decision will enable the saving of funds that would have been set aside for the Macedonian delegation’s stay in Liverpool, where Eurovision 2023 is being held.” The North Macedonian broadcaster MRT has announced that they will broadcast the festival. North Macedonia has not been very successful in the past two years. They did not make the final. There was a riot around a flag in both 2021 and 2022. However, in 2019 North Macedonia still won the jury vote. “Proud”, the entry sung by Tamara Todevska, was the country’s most successful ever. Bulgaria The Bulgarian withdrawal was different. In a personal message from the Instagram account @bg_eurovision to OGAE Greece, it was announced that Bulgaria was no longer interested in the Eurovision Song Contest. BG Eurovision announces that no Bulgarian entry should be expected in the coming years. Bulgaria has been very successful in the Eurovision Song Contest in recent years. The country was almost the winner in 2017 with Kristian Kostov and his “Beautiful mess”. Conclusion? Twice (Montenegro and North Macedonia) it is a financial reason that is indicated. It is not clear what is really behind the Bulgarian withdrawal. We can only guess. Both Montenegro (2021) and Bulgaria (2019) have recently skipped a year. Immediately after the most recent Eurovision song contest, North Macedonia already expressed its doubts about participation.