Imaani sung in Birmingham...
Could we return there for Eurovision 2023?
And the news about Eurovision 2023, the season for which doesn't officially start until September 1st, keeps coming on in! We all know it is to do with an announcement that came out of the blue last Friday as to where the Contest will be held - that led to a segment of the show being dedicated to that, so sit back and listen to that first:
And the all important playlist...
"Après Toi" - Vicky Leandros
"Calm After The Storm" - The Common Linnets
"Hold Me Now" - Johnny Logan
"Where Are You?" (single version) - Imaani
"Long Live Love" - Olivia Newton-John
"Beg, Steal or Borrow" - The New Seekers
"Rock Bottom" - Lynsey de Paul & Mike Moran
"Let's Count The Smiles" - Niko Kajaia
"Рано-раненько" - Go_A
"Hunter Of Stars" - SEBalter
"Let It Swing" - Bobbysocks!
"I Can't Get Enough" - Cazzi Opeia
"Undo" - Sanna Nielsen
"Rijeka" - Alkonost Of Balkan
"No Stress" - Marco Mengoni
"One More Day" - Jógvan Hansen
"Radio" - Emily Roberts
"Nova Glória" (Finale Live Version) - Viva La Diva
"Don't Change" - Anouk
"Superman" - Lara Lee
"If I Can Dream" - Måneskin
"One Love" - Malcolm Roberts
"Ge upp" - lovad
So you will have noticed that there was a four song section connected to UK host entries - those were specifically chosen as they match cities that have expressed an interest in hosting Eurovision 2023. Why not Ukraine? That question was answered in a straight forward way on Friday 17th June:
Not much in the way of detail but most observers thought that as the war with Russia was still going on and had no obvious signs of ending, a decision had to be made now by the EBU as to whether they could wait for that to change or ask another broadcaster to host. As runners-up, the BBC had been approached as to whether they could help - the following statement was fairly neutral in its commitment:
It still meant that the Eurovision world went into meltdown with anyone to do with Ukraine being upset and annoyed that they hadn't been given more time to sort things out themselves, their Polish neighbours agreeing with that, whilst everyone from local councillors to the First Minister of Scotland were throwing their hats into the ring and pushing their city forward for next year. Thank you to ESCXtra for the map of the current state of play, pre-bid book stage:
Realistically the ones on that map who could meet all the criteria at this stage are Manchester, London, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, Belfast, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Cardiff (if the roof of the Principality Stadium is load baring). Now all of that is not yet cast in stone, what with UK PM Boris Johnson and Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries both giving the impression with their comments that Eurovision should be staged in Ukraine, rather than the UK. Because of their comments plus the continued upset by Ukraine themselves, the EBU felt it necessary to issue the following statement on Thursday 23rd June:
They clearly don't want themselves, the production team, media and fans being in danger in an active war zone in 2023. The fact that no other musicians are touring, that the official advice from all nations to their nationals is 'don't travel there' and that the head of NATO sees no quick end to the conflict, along with the information provided by UA:PBC themselves that they felt there would be a major risk of attack on any venue in Ukraine, has really put a lid on things as far as that nation could host there. The fact that the UK is no longer mentioned may or may not be significant - Spain have already decided not to offer, so Sweden would theoretically be the next candidate IF the BBC decline to stage Eurovision 2023. "Watch this space"...
Apart from that section on who might be hosting Eurovision, you got to hear a lot of favourite songs from fans of LMBTO Eurovision Facebook Group - three Eurovision classics and five National Final tracks. ESC first:
Vicky Leandros with "Après toi" for Roger...
The Common Linnets with "Calm After The Storm" for Steve...
and Johnny Logan and "Hold Me Now" for Jason! As for the National Finals picks?
Alkonost Of Balkan with "Rijeka" for Lisa-Jayne...
Jógvan Hansen singing "One More Day" for Halla...
Viva La Diva with "Nova Glória" for Tim...
Lara Lee and "Superman" for Stelios...
and Malcolm Roberts with "One Love" for Heather! There are now twelve favourite National Final songs left outstanding, so hopefully we will have a summer to play catch-up with them! I promised you some information about links to Scandi tv shows and pictures of Bobbysocks! singing at Sam Fox's wedding, so here you go:
So that was this week's show, onto what to expect for show 203. At some point over the next week or so I will start my annual play of the entries for the OGAE Second Chance Contest 2022 - twenty seven songs this year which will obviously not all fit in one show of two hours though! I have yet to decide whether to play the list over two shows or three - as long as I start in the next week or two, there will still be plenty of time before voting closes for most OGAE clubs. The one definite for next week will be a report on the gig that I (and Ellen) will be going to this Sunday at The Lanes in Bristol...
Fresh from their Glastonbury experience this Friday,
Go_A will be performing their fundraising gig at The Lanes.