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Eurovision 2023: How to Watch and What to Know

of Eurovision Song Contest It has been a fixture on the global pop calendar since 1956, but this month it will take place in Liverpool, England, except for 2020, which has been forced into a gap year due to the effects of COVID-19.

Organized by a public broadcaster based in Switzerland. European Broadcasting Union, Eurovision is a colorful and fiercely competitive competition in which each participating country sends an act to perform an original song of no more than three minutes. The winner will be decided by voting after the “Grand Final”.

Last year’s competition was watched by more than 160 million viewers from around the world, and Eurovision’s popularity continues to grow steadily. Eurovision is also making inroads into the United States, a country generally unfamiliar with pop music’s extravagant celebrations.

Below is a rundown of this year’s hot acts, advice on how to watch from the US, and why the event is taking place in the UK this year.

Only 7 European countries took part in the competition beginning The Eurovision Song Contest was held as an experiment in live international television broadcasting.

Currently, 52 countries have participated in Eurovision at least once. Two semi-finals have also been played since 2008 to narrow down the field before the grand final. This year, the top 10 nations from each semi-final will advance to the Grand Final.

The 2023 edition of Eurovision will include a total of 37 entries, including the ‘Big 5’ (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), the largest contributors to the EBU. These five nations will skip the perilous qualifiers and advance directly to the final. elimination round.

Bulgaria, Montenegro and North Macedonia will not officially participate this year, citing entry costs. Belarus has been inactive since 2021 following the disputed 2020 elections and the brutal crackdown on dissidents that followed. EBU quote “Suppression of press freedom” in this country.

Eurovision has a history of inviting seemingly unlikely participants on the condition that they are members of the EBU. Morocco, for example, joined the fray in 1980. Israel has won the competition four times since its first appearance in 1973.

These two countries are at least closer to Europe than Australia. However, the Australian has been competing since 2015, having long attracted a great audience, even though the competition airs live at 5am Sydney time. But no one knows, as the current agreement between Australia and the EBU is due to end this year. what next time?

Like in 2022, peacock will host livestreams for both semifinals and will do the same for the grand finals on Saturday at 3pm ET.

The final will also feature commentary by Olympic figure skater and long-time Eurovision fan Johnny Weir. Johnny Weir made a solid debut as host of last year’s livestream.

Traditionally, the country that wins Eurovision hosts the event the following year.Ukraine won last year kalash orchestra‘s track “Stephania” was unveiled, but since the country is still at war, last year’s runner-up, Great Britain, stepped forward to host the event. (This isn’t her first time. Britain has won Eurovision on her five occasions, but she’s hosted it nine times, including this year.)

Russia has been disqualified from the 2022 tournament after invading Ukraine. The EBU has since suspended Russia, so they will not be competing this year.

Overtly political songs are banned in Eurovision, so some artists have used a general message of empowerment, like a song by Ukrainian duo Tvorki.steel heart,” About courage. A more bold statement of disqualification came from Croatia’s entry, Let 3:Mama SCis a highly theatrical anti-war number that uses one of Eurovision’s favorite creative tools: allegorical satire.

Eurovision’s complex and notoriously complex voting rules and protocols have changed many times over the decades and have changed again this year. Previously, countries were awarded points based on a combination of national audience and jury votes from each competing country.

The contest organizer said,voting fraudLast year’s semi-finals saw the rules tweaked between jurors from six countries (many of whom apparently voted for each other), the semi-finals being decided solely by the viewers, and the grand final results being decided by the viewers and the jury. It is a combination of scores from members.

Oh, and all of this voting will be live, which also explains why the Grand Finals broadcast takes about four hours.

Voting has traditionally been limited to viewers in the countries participating in the contest, and viewers could not vote for their own actions. In other words, American Eurovision fans could not vote.

But in a change that demonstrates Eurovision’s global ambitions, non-participating nations will be able to vote for the first time this year. official online hub. This includes US viewers.

The bookmaker wants to win the title becausetattooMr. Lauren from Eurovision’s powerhouse Sweden. Loreen is known for winning the 2012 contest with “”.euphoria– A Eurovision classic for the 21st century. There is no limit to the number of artists who can enter multiple times, and this year other familiar faces such as Italy’s Marco Mengoni and Moldova’s Pasha Parfeni will participate.

If Laurene regains the top spot, she will become only the second player to win the title twice after Johnny Logan, who won with Ireland in 1980 and 1987.

Finland is also a favourite, with Kalya’s “Cha-cha-cha‘ is basically electronic body music and is set in the glittering Thunderdome. For Weir, who introduces Peacock’s Eurovision coverage, all this demonstrates the daring taste of Eurovision viewers. “I was shocked by the fact that the oddsmakers thought Finland would do so well this year because I wasn’t sure anyone could support a wild and over-the-top character like Karliah.” he said in a recent phone call. conversation.

The dark horse of the tournament includes Spain, who have not won the tournament since 1969. This year, book sellers are betting a few euros on Blanca Paloma and her songs.EAEA” sounds like the Cocteau Twins experimenting with flamenco.

Even if they don’t necessarily make it to the semi-finals, the most memorable Eurovision performances are often the countries most Americans have trouble finding on the map.

“The reaction I got last year was how moved people were that there was an act of dancing on the couch for Moldova,” Weir said.

This year, the Austrian song “Who the hell is Edgar?Teya and Sarena sing about being possessed by Edgar Allan Poe and the German out-of-the-box mini rock opera “blood and shine” is the work of Lord of the Lost.

Eurovision’s awkwardest lyric contest is as close as ever, but let’s give Israel’s Noah Kirell a thumbs up for coming up with the jaw-dropping scream in the song “Unicorn.” Phenomenon-Phenomenon/Woman-Woman-Woman. ”

A classic Eurovision poem.

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