The 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest takes place in May from Liverpool, but there’s much more in the world of Eurovision than just the final on May 13.
Eurovision 2023 Selection Season – January to March
The 2023 selection season is already well underway and two countries have already selected their songs for the contest in the United Kingdom. While four more have already announced their artists for the contest, the current confirmed line-up for May is:
- Albania: Albina & Familja Kelmendi – “Duje”
- Cyprus: Andrew Lambrou
- Israel: Noa Kirel
- Netherlands: Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper
- Slovenia: Joker Out
- Ukraine: TVORCHI – “Heart of Steel”
The next three months will see all thirty-seven competing countries selected their entries for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. As of December 31, twenty-three entries will be selected by national selections, ten are being internally selected while Armenia and France have yet to state how they are selecting for Liverpool.
The key dates of the finals of each selection announced to date is as follows:
- Belgium: Eurosong 2023 – January 14
- Latvia: Supernova 2023 – TBC February
- Ireland: Eurosong 2023 – February 3
- Norway: Melodi Grand Prix 2023 – February 4
- Spain: Benidorm Fest 2023 – February 4
- Croatia: Dora 2023 – February 11
- Malta: Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2023 – February 11
- Denmark: Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2023 – February 11
- Estonia: Eesti Laul 2023 – February 11
- Italy: Festival della Canzone Italiana di Sanremo 2023 – February 11
- Romania: Selecția Națională 2023 – February 11
- Lithuania: Pabandom iš naujo! 2023 – February 18
- Finland: Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2023 – February 25
- San Marino: Una voce per San Marino 2023 – February 25
- Moldova: Selecția Națională – TBC between February 25 and March 5
- Poland – Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję – February 26
- Germany – Unser lied für Liverpool – TBC March
- Iceland – Söngvakeppnin 2023 – March 4
- Portugal – Festival da Canção 2023 – March 11
- Sweden – Melodifestivalen 2023 – March 11
While song reveals are expected for:
- Cyprus – Andrew Lambrou – January
- Slovenia – Joker Out – February 4
Keep up to date with all of the key dates throughout the coming year below:
Semi-Final Allocation Draw – January/February
The Semi-Final Allocation Draw for the Eurovision Song Contest is traditionally held between January and February.
After the Host City Insignia Exchange, the host nation United Kingdom and the remaining Big Five countries (France, Germany, Spain and Italy), as well as Ukraine who have automatically qualified for the final, will each be allocated a Semi-Final in which they must vote.
Following this, the thirty-one semi-finalists will each be allocated a semi-final, along with which half of their semi-final they will perform. Once all of the entries have been selected, the Eurovision production team will decide the running order of the semi-finals.
The thirty-one semi-finalists have been divided into six pots based on historical voting patterns as calculated by Digame, the official televoting partner of Eurovision. This is done to reduce the effect of neighbour voting and to increase suspense in the semi-finals.
Eurovision 2023 Pre-Parties – March/April
Once all of the thirty-seven entries competing in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 are selected, the promotional season commences. Pre-Parties are held across Europe to promote the participants and their songs to audiences and fans.
The following Pre-Parties have already been announced:
- Barcelona Eurovision Party 2023 – Barcelona, Spain – March 23 to 25
- PrePartyESC 2023 – Madrid, Spain – April 7 to 8
- Eurovision in Concert 2023 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – April 15
- London Eurovision Party 2023 – London, United Kingdom – April 16
Eurovision 2023 – Rehearsals and Live Shows – May
Rehearsals for the 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest are expected to commence on the final weekend in April, with artists from across Europe and Australia traveling to Liverpool, United Kingdom.
The Eurovision Song Contest returns to the United Kingdom for the first time since 1998. The 2023 contest will be the first contest since 1979 in which the winning nation was unable to host the following contest. It is the sixth occasion overall on which a different country has hosted after the original host nation was unable to, following the Netherlands in 1960, France in 1963, Monaco in 1972, Luxembourg in 1974, Israel in 1980 and Ukraine in 2023. The 2023 contest will also extend the United Kingdom’s record of hosting Eurovision to nine times.
Liverpool is known globally as the birthplace of the Beatles, as well as music events such as Africa Oyé, Liverpool International Music Festival and Sound City. The city is home to just under 500,000 people and is known for its iconic music venues and cultural events. The city is connected to the world via Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 is being held on:
- Semi-Final One – May 9
- Semi-Final Two – May 11
- Grand Final – May 13
Rule Changes for Eurovision 2023
The 2023 contest will see a number of changes to the rules which have the potential to shake up the songs that we see competing in the Grand Final.
Semi-Final Televote Only
Only viewers’ votes will decide countries qualifying from Semi-Finals, viewers in participating countries can vote as well as viewers in non-participating countries voting online.
This is a reversal of the system in place since 2009 where both the public and the jury have determined the qualifiers and a return to a televote only system last seen in 2007.
Non-Participating Countries Can Vote
For the first time ever, those watching in countries not taking part in the competition will also be able to vote for their favoruites in the contest. Viewers outside the participating countries can vote via a secure online platform using a credit card from their country.
The use of an online platform follows a trial in Australia in 2022, which saw the removal of a text and phone lines. The votes from non-participating countries will be the equivalent of one country’s votes.
Jury Remains for the Final
Professional juries, made up of those working in the music industry, will continue to contribute to the result of the Grand Final along with viewers in each country taking part and those voting internationally.
Return of Eurovision Choir
Once the Eurovision Song Contest has been held in Liverpool, there are still two further Eurovision family of events shows planned to take place in 2023. The first is the return of Eurovision Choir for the first time since 2019.
Eurovision Choir was first held in 2017 and is held every two years. The competition sees each broadcaster represented by a choir who performs unaccompanied for up to six minutes. A jury in the venue selects a top three, before then selecting the winner after a final round of performances.
To date the following broadcasters have confirmed participation:
- Belgium (RTBF)
- Lithuania (LRT)
Since it was first held the following countries have participated:
- Austria (ORF) – 2017
- Belgium (RTBF) – 2017, 2019
- Denmark (DR) – 2017, 2019
- Estonia (ERR) – 2017
- Germany (WDR) – 2017, 2019
- Hungary (MTVA) – 2017
- Latvia (LTV) – 2017, 2019
- Norway (NRK) – 2019
- Scotland (BBC Alba) – 2019
- Slovenia (RTVSLO)– 2017, 2019
- Sweden (SVT) – 2019
- Switzerland (RTS) – 2019
- Wales (S4C) – 2017, 2019
Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in France
Having won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2022 represented by Lissandro with “Oh Maman!”, the Junior Eurovision Song Contest is set to return to France for the second time in three years. The date and host city for the 2023 contest will be confirmed in the first half of 2023.
The 2023 edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest will be the 21st edition of the competition which was first held in 2003. In recent years between 12 and 20 countries have competed in the contest. At the 2022 contest in Yerevan, Armenia the following countries participated:
- Albania
- Armenia
- France
- Georgia
- Ireland
- Italy
- Kazakhstan
- Malta
- Netherlands
- North Macedonia
- Poland
- Portugal
- Serbia
- Spain
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
Already indicating that they will participate in 2023 are:
- France
- Georgia
- Germany
- Netherlands
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest selection season traditionally takes place between August and November. In 2022 eight countries held televised selections to determine their entries for the competition in Armenia.
Another Eurovision Format Internationally?
The last thing to keep a watch for in 2023 is the potential for another international version of the Eurovision Song Contest to be launched. In 2022 the American Song Contest was held for the first time in the United States, with the second season still in discussions.
Three further international formats are also known to be in discussion:
- Eurovision Asia – The rights to the Asia-Pacific contest are owned by Blink TV who stated in December that they are still working to bring the contest to the region. Eurovision Asia has been in discussions since 2016.
- Eurovision Canada – Artists from each of the 10 provinces and 3 territories of Canada will compete in a series of Qualification shows, Semi-Finals and a Grand Final.
- Eurovision Latin America – Discussions are underway between RTVE, the EBU and Voxovation about a contest after RTVE had originally announced Hispavisión to be held in 2023.
Image Source: EBU / Corinne Cumming
