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UPDATE: Today is the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final 2023

By David Laycock • 07 May 2023 • 23:14

The stage is set for the grand final Eurovision 2023

Today is the Eurovision song contest grand final 2023 Credit: BBC Eurovision/Twitter

UPDATED: May 13, 2023, at 10:00 am

The big day is here and it’s May 13, 2023! Today 26 nations compete in Liverpool to see who can win the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

Here are all 26 contestants and the songs that they will perform in their bid for Eurovision glory:

1.  Austria: Teya & Salena – Who The Hell Is Edgar?

2.  Portugal: Mimicat – Ai Coração

3.  Switzerland: Remo Forrer – Watergun

4. Poland: Blanka – Solo

5.  Serbia: Luke Black – Samo Mi Se Spava

6. France: La Zarra – Évidemment

7. Cyprus: Andrew Lambrou – Break A Broken Heart

8. Spain: Blanca Paloma – Eaea

9. Sweden: Loreen – Tattoo

10. Albania: Albina & Familja Kelmendi – Duje

11. Italy: Marco Mengoni – Due Vite

12. Estonia: Alika – Bridges

13. Finland: Käärijä – Cha Cha Cha

14. Czechia: Vesna – My Sister’s Crown

15. Australia: Voyager – Promise

16. Belgium: Gustaph – Because Of You

17.  Armenia: Brunette – Future Lover

18. Moldova: Pasha Parfeni – Soarele şi Luna

19. Ukraine: TVORCHI – Heart of Steel

20. Norway: Alessandra – Queen of Kings

21. Germany: Lord of the Lost – Blood & Glitter

22. Lithuania:  Monika Linkytė – Stay

23. Israel:  Noa Kirel – Unicorn

24. Slovenia:  Joker Out – Carpe Diem

25. Croatia:  Let 3 – Mama ŠČ!

26. United Kingdom: Mae Muller – I Wrote A Song

Sweden’s Loreen lead the booking odds, with Finland and Ukraine coming in second and third respectively. Eurovision Song Contest on Twitter said: “Loreen is back and she’s thinking outside the box by being inside a box #Eurovision“

Spain’s Blanca Paloma is in fifth in the betting odds and the UK’s Mae Muller is down in ninth but as we know, anything can happen on the night. Sweden and Finland are heavy betting favourites though.

The event starts tonight at the Liverpool Arena, with a special fan zone hoping to hold another 25,000 people set up at Liverpool Pier Head.

The show begins at 8 pm (BST) and you will be able to watch in the UK on the BBC, with hosts Graham Norton, Hannah Waddingham, Alesha Dixon and Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina. The coverage will be on TVE in Spain.

UPDATED: May 9, 2023, at 11:30 pm

Frankie Goes To Hollywood were reunited yesterday, May 8, after 36 years  – for one song! They performed their number 2 hit Welcome to the Pleasuredome rather than either of their ginormous number 1 hits Relax or Two Tribes.

But today we got our first taste of the acts as well as special guests in the first semi-final. Here we will take you through some of the highlights of today’s show. Eurovision Song Contest have posted a number of short clips on Twitter.

Serbia’s Luke Black gave us his moody, almost Gary Numan-esque electronica.

While The Busker brought a crazy funky party vibe!

Ok. We may need to revise our definition of unhinged as Croatia’s Let 3 were let loose!

We got big, dramatic pop vocals from Switzerland’s Remo Forrer.

And a brilliant interpolation of Fat Boy Slim’s classic Praise You by special guest Rita Ora.

There is a lot more to see on the Eurovision Song Contest Twitter page but here is a mix of the 10 qualifiers from the first semi-final. We will see you on Thursday for the next show!

UPDATED: May 8, 2023, at 23:17

Ukrainian Eurovision act, Tvorchi, has described the UK as ‘family’ as they arrive in Liverpool to represent their war-torn homeland in this years competition.  Ukraine were last year’s winners but were unable to host this year due to the ongoing war. 

They received a warm welcome at Liverpool John Lennon Airport with dancers and Ukrainian flags waving.

TVORCHI News said on Twitter: “Queen @maemuller_you have to see this! Look how the UK welcomes Ukraine!”

The duo, who consist of producer Andrii Hutsuliak and vocalist Jimoh Augustus Kehinde (alias Jeffrey Kenny), have created quite a reputation for sharp dressing and will perform their song Heart Of Steel at the Eurovision Song Contest this weekend.

Eurovision News posted this shot of the electronic duo on Twitter earlier.

They were reported in the Independent to have called the UK ‘family’ as they arrived in Liverpool to the sight of sunflowers, flags and art installations, as the former UK and European City of Culture looked to flaunt its artistic credentials for all to see.

We will bring you more Eurovision news updates as the competition progresses.

May 7, 2023, 11:14 pm

Eurovision hopefuls strut their stuff on the turquoise carpet ahead of the famous song contest final this coming Saturday, May 13 in Liverpool. 

The finalists have got the chance to show what they are all about and strut their style as the build-up to the Eurovision Song Contest final begins. We are going to take a quick look at the wacky and the wonderful, as the UK hosts the final on behalf of war-torn Ukraine.

The event will take place at the M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool and feature acts from Europe and beyond. Today we have been getting a brief glimpse of what is in store for this ever-flamboyant festival of music.

Steve Holden, the host of the contest’s official podcast, posted some images of these rather eye-wateringly bright outfits on Twitter saying: “Want all the goss from the Turquoise Carpet? Of course you do!”

Spain’s entry Blanca Paloma was seen to make a dramatic and mysterious entrance down the stairs of the Walker Art Gallery, in this Twitter post by ESC Discord: “Spain’s Blanca Paloma has arrived at the #Eurovision Turquoise Carpet opening ceremony.”

Even the ever-affable (unless you are a referee) Liverpool FC manager Jurgen Klopp, found time to leave a goodwill message via the Liverpool FC Twitter account, encouraging artists and punters alike to enjoy themselves:

“It’s all about enjoying your time and having the best time you can. On behalf of all of us, very welcome to Liverpool and have the best time ever.”

With so much glitz and glamour to come, mixed with a little bit of the light-heartedness we all need at the moment we join the BBC in their recent post on Twitter in saying:

“The stage is ready, and so are we”.

Get ready for the weird, wild and the wonderful. We hope to bring you more Eurovision news as the week progresses.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Do remember to come back and check The Euro Weekly News website for all your up-to-date local and international news stories and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Written by

David Laycock

Dave Laycock has always written. Poems, songs, essays, academic papers as well as newspaper articles; the written word has always held a great fascination for him and he is never happier than when being creative. From a musical background, Dave has travelled the world performing and also examining for a British music exam board. He also writes, produces and performs and records music. All this aside, he is currently fully focussed on his journalism and can’t wait to share more stories from around the world and beyond.

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