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
WHEN?: 12 and 14 January, with a final on 11 February 2023
WHERE?: Tondiraba Ice Hall, Tallinn Watch on ERR
Stefan’s Hope finished 13th in Eurovision 2022 and it was our 3rd favourite in that year’s Eesti Laul with lots of big-hitters to beat.
By Neil Durham
WHEN?: 31 January, 2 and 4 February 2023
WHERE?: Palau Municipal d’Esports l’Illa de Benidorm Watch on TVE
2022 saw the return of Benidorm Fest as the method for Spain to select its Eurovision entry and our choice to win, Chanel with SloMo, finished 3rd in Turin, Spain’s best result since 1995.
It’s been quite the year, it’s almost Christmas and what would the festive season be without some recognition of the best of 2022? Over the next month we’ll shortlist five nominees in each of 16 categories for our 8th annual Oscars, or monstas if you will, of 2022.
By Aline Mahrud and Neil Durham
WHEN?: Saturday 14 May 2022
WHERE?: PalaOlimpico, Turin, Italy
HOW DO I WATCH?: BBC1 8pm (UK time)
Rousing anti-ballad Hold Me Closer by Sweden’s Cornelia Jakobs (pictured) is our pick to take home the 66th Eurovision Song Contest crown on Saturday.
By Aline Mahrud and Neil Durham
WHEN? Thursday 12 May 2022
WHERE? PalaOlimpico, Turin, Italy
HOW DO I WATCH? BBC3 8pm (UK time)
We think the standard of this 2nd semi final is far greater than Tuesday’s 1st and also it will therefore be tougher for the better songs here to advance to Saturday’s final.
By Aline Mahrud
WHEN/WHERE?: 5 March 2022, Paris
HOW DO I WATCH?: France Télévisions
France’s Barbara Pravi was runner-up at last year’s Eurovision Song Contest with Voila and it’s fair to say that the French Eurovision selection procedure in recent years has really upped its game.
WHEN?: Saturday 22 May 2021
WHERE?: Ahoy Rotterdam
HOW TO WATCH?: 8pm UK time BBC1
The 1st 2021 semi final took place on Tuesday night and we now have 10 entries including Cyprus’ Elena Tsagrinou (pictured above) to add to the pre-qualified finalists – but what results will they earn on the all important Saturday night?
Covid-19 caused its cancellation for the 1st time in its 66-year history in 2020 and this year it comes live from the Ahoy in Rotterdam on Saturday 22 May 2021. We’ve previewed semi 1, semi 2 and the pre-qualified finalists. Our pick to win is Iceland’s Daði Freyr (pictured) with hits group Gagnamagnið and entry 10 Years, a song of the week for us in March.
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