By Neil Durham
WHEN?: 8pm 9 May 2023
WHERE?: Liverpool Arena
HOW DO I WATCH?: BBC
‘Irregular voting paterns’ in 6 jury votes last year means this year’s semi finals will be televote only with this being the toughest semi and tasked with finding 10 finalists from a field of 15.
By Neil Durham
WHEN?: Saturday 13 May 2023 8pm (GMT)
WHERE?: Liverpool Arena
HOW DO I WATCH?: BBC1
We’ve now heard all the songs by the 6 countries pre-qualified for May’s Eurovision Song Contest final and below we predict where we think they will finish there.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN?: evening 7 March 2023
WHERE?: C. de Villarroel, 163, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
Last night I had the best meal of my life.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHEN?: 25 February (matinee) and runs through 22 April 2023 RUNTIME: 90 minutes (no interval)
We’re in the front row of this intimate venue and Okonedo’s Medea points at us, locks eyes with us and asserts: ‘Watch and keep silent.’
WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2
Leeds-born Woolford had a top 5 hit in 2020 with Looking For Me with Diplo featuring vocals from Kareen Lomax – and this new single feels far more current than Alison Goldfrapp’s recent collaboration.
By Carron Stacey, A Humdrum Mum
congratulations (sic): a wall of Rage Against the Machine sound, with vocals from Siouxsie Sioux, production by Sparks and styled by (boilersuited) Warmduscher.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN?: 3 March, opens 13 March and runs through 2 September 2023 RUNTIME: 160 minutes (including a 15-minute interval) UPDATE: This production is now booking through 31 August 2024 Tickets
Marisha Wallace is scene-stealingly sensational in this revival of a musical theatre classic as nightclub singer Miss Adelaide, a role often played for laughs rather than deploying the killer voice Wallace has.
By Aline Mahrud
WHEN? 7pm UK time Saturday 11 March 2023
WHERE? Avicii Arena, Stockholm
WHERE DO I WATCH? SVT Play
2024 will be the 50th anniversary of ABBA‘s Eurovision win and we would imagine Sweden would be quite keen to host – and therefore win in 2023.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
We’ve only ever seen Depeche Mode gig at Wembley Arena and we were at the very same venue on the night news broke of the death of the band’s keyboardist Andy Fletcher last year.
By Aline Mahrud
WHEN? 7pm UK time Saturday 4 March 2023
WHERE? Hägglunds Arena, Örnsköldsvik
WHERE DO I WATCH? SVT Play
We’ve now seen the performances, all the songs are available and below we predict how each of the songs in Saturday’s semi final – or andra chansen as we prefer to call it – would fare in May in Liverpool at the Eurovision Song Contest itself.
