Euclovision Song Contest 2023

Euclovision Song Contest 2023
File:Euclovision 2023 logo 1.svg
Dates
Semi-final 1	11 April 2023
Semi-final 2	13 April 2023
Final	15 April 2023
Host
Venue	South of Estmere Arena St Avelines, Estmere
Presenter(s)	Alice Wallace Vicki Freeman Harry Taylor
Directed by	Susanna Drake Andrew Bickersley
Executive supervisor	John Yellers-Rowe
Executive producer	David Clarke
Host broadcaster	Estmerish Broadcasting Service (EBS)
Website	euclovision.tv/st-avelines-2023
Participants
Number of entries	45
Debuting countries	Sabaw Carucere
Returning countries	Rwizikuru Aucuria Rizealand
Non-returning countries	Bonaventure
Vote
Voting system	Each country/jury awards 12, 10, 8–1 points to their top 10 songs. Online votes from viewers in non-participating countries are aggregated and awarded as one set of points.
Winning song	Template:Country data Estmere "Hell is Better With You"

The Euclovision Song Contest 2023 was the 65th edition of the Euclovision Song Contest. It took place in St Avelines, Estmere, following the victory of "Sweet Talker" performed by Nico Lumineux on behalf of Estmere at the prior 2022 contest. This was the fifth time that Estmere has hosted the event. The contest was organised by host broadcaster the Estmerish Broadcasting Service (EBS) in conjunction with the Euclean Broadcasters Group (EBG). The primary venue was the South of Estmere Arena. Two semi-finals on 11 and 13 April preceded the final on 15 April 2022.

The contest was won by Chel Sakurai on behalf of Estmere, with the song "Hell is Better With You". This was the first consecutive victory in the 64-year history of the contest, and marked the fifth time in total that Estmere had won the contest. Gaullica, Alsland, Etruria and Tiwura made up the remainder of the top five. This was the fourth year in a row that Estmere and Gaullica had been in the top five.

The unprecedented nature of the victory has meant that the hosting responsibilities of the next context were under discussion until mid 2023, when it was agreed for Estmere to host again.

Location

The South of Estmere Arena in St Avelines, home of the 2023 contest.

Paradise Beach in St Avelines, the location of the 2023 Euclovision Village.

The 2023 contest took place in St Avelines, Estmere, after the country's victory in the 2022 contest with "Sweet Talker" performed by Nico Lumineux. It was the fifth time that Estmere hosted Euclovision, having previously done so in 1966 and 1999 in Morwall, in 1985 in Harbrough, and in 2006 in Morwall on behalf of Satavia. This was the first time the contest was held in St Avelines, which is known as the Sun and Sea City.

The main venue was the South of Estmere Arena, a multi-purpose indoor arena in the coastal St Aubry's district which seats 14,000 people and previously hosted a number of events at the 1950 summer Invictus games. The arena has more recently also hosted a number of events including concerts, exhibitions and sports.

In addition to this main venue was the secondary venue located at Paradise Beach. This was where the Euclovision Village is located, which was the official fan and sponsors area throughout Euclovision 2023. The beach was home to a number of stages where fans can watch performances by contest participants and local artists, in addition to a main stage which broadcasts live shows from the main venue. It was also where the Opening Ceremony events took place. The village was open from 8 to 15 April 2023. The village was free to enter on all days other than the day of the final show, when there was an entry fee. In addition to the stages, there was a number of other attractions at the village as part of a beach party theme, including a friendly match between professional beach volleyball teams (in addition to amateur beach volleyball courts), a peddler's market comprising local businesses and a professional sandcastle competition.

There was also the EucloClub, which was located just off the beach in a private yacht and hosted after-parties and private performances from participating artists. There was a high admission fee to enter the EucloClub, and it was primarily aimed at mega-fans and donors.

Host city selection

Bouley

Colton

Cromley

Damesbridge

Dunwich

Exminster

Grimingham

Hamilton

Harbrough

Knowlesby

Kingchester

Morwall

Sheaford

St Avelines

St Richards

St Johns

Southgate

Solange

Tolbury

Wimney

Location of host city (in blue), shortlisted cities (in green), other bidding cities (in red) and cities that expressed interest but ultimately did not bid (in grey).

The bidding process for host city was announced by host broadcaster EBS on 15 May 2022. There was a list of rigorous minimum standards which potential host city candidates had to meet in order to be considered, including demonstrating the capacity, capability and experience to host Euclovision. Infrastructure connections, the size of potential venues and numbers of accomodations were also taken into account.

There were 38 initial bids from host cities when the first stage of the bidding process was closed. In line with the criteria and considerations listed above, these bids were narrowed down to a shortlist of eight bids which was announced on 20 June 2022, alongside the nicknames used to promote each city's bid. These were Morwall, Harbrough, Tolbury, St Avelines, Sheaford, Damesbridge, Bouley and St Richards.

Those cities then entered discussions with EBS and the Estmerish Euclovision Committee to ensure that their bids were developed in detail further, and were then put to a public vote hosted online from 1 August to 1 September 2022. The public vote was meant to inform discussions, but EBS and the Euclovision Committee reserved the right to set aside the results of the vote. St Avelines was announced by EBS as the chosen host city on 16 September 2022, having come first in the popular vote ahead of Bouley and Tolbury.

Key:
 †  Host venue  ‡  Shortlisted   Submitted a bid

City/town	Nickname	Venue	Notes	Ref.
Bouley	The Gateway to the World	Portside Arena ‡	Supported by Bouley State Council and City of Bouley Council.
Colton	—	Embro-Arucian Stadium	Withdrew its proposal on 22 May 2022, citing unavailability of the proposed venue.
Cromley	The City of Pottery	Cromley Stadium	—
Damesbridge	The House of Knowledge	Damesbridge Arena ‡	Supported by West Counties Assembly and Damesbridge City Council.
Dunwich	The City of Ships	Hargreaves Arena	Supported by Dunwich State Council and City of Dunwich Council.
Exminster	The City of Spires	Exminster Stadium	—
Grimingham	—	—	—
Hamilton	—	—	Withdrew its proposal on 2 June 2022, citing lack of a suitable venue.
Harbrough	The City of a Thousand Trades	Harbrough Arena ‡	Supported by Harbrough City Council.
Knowlesby	The Steel City	Forgemasters Arena	—
Kingchester	—	Kingchester Stadium	Withdrew its proposal on 11 June 2022, citing lack of required infrastructure.
Morwall	The Heart of Estmere	Arena of Light ‡	Supported by Greater Morwall Council and City of Morwall Borough Council.
Sheaford	The Motor City	Sheaford Automotive Arena ‡	Supported by Sheaford City Council.
St Avelines	The Sun and Sea City	South of Estmere Arena †	Supported by Evre State Assembly and St Avelines City Council.
St Richards	The Capital of the South	Mutual Credit Arena ‡	Supported by St Richards City Council.
St Johns	Estmere's Arucian City	—	Withdrew its proposal on 29 May 2022, citing lack of a suitable venue.
Southgate	The Home of the Navy	Southgate Stadium	—
Solange	—	—	Withdrew its proposal on 19 May 2022, in favour of the St Avelines proposal.
Tolbury	The Capital of the North	Haberlin's Arena ‡	Supported by Folkmoot of Swerdia and Tolbury City Council.
Wimney	The Birthplace of Estmere	King's Hall	—

Format

Presenters

Alice Wallace, Vicki Freeman and Harry Taylor were the presenters of the 2023 contest.

The presenters for the 2023 contest were officially confirmed on 1 April 2023, in a Chirp by EBS. Estmerish-Rizean actress Alice Wallace, Estmerish musician Vicki Freeman and Estmerish journalist Harry Taylor hosted all shows of the event, including the Opening Ceremony. Freeman and Taylor had provided Estmerish language commentary for previous editions of the contest, while Wallace was a new edition but was a fan of the contest and starred in the 2013 musical film Pitched Battle. As is usual, each participating broadcaster also had their own presenters to provide national commentary. Nihteġ Pẹrrocer and Mo Khan provided Swathish language commentary on EBS Svạþiṡc, while David Palmer and Lis Poingdestre did the same for Flurian on EBS Fleuvais.

Entries

EBS and the EBG released the details for the rules of entires in Septemeber 2022, following the precedent set in prior contests. The exact rules included stipulations that live performances could not exceed 3 minutes and 30 seconds in length, and that delegations were limited to a maximum of eight people on stage at one time. Similarly to previous years, delegations were allowed to use a limited amount of pre-recorded backing vocals in addition to the main vocals and any live backing vocals.

Semi-final allocation draw

In order to determine the participating countries' semi-finals, an allocation draw took place on 17 January 2022. The thirty-eight semi-finalists (not including the "Super Cinq" countries, who are guaranteed a place in the final, and Borland, the previous runner-up), were divided into six pots, based on geography, language and historical voting patterns. The purpose of drawing from different pots is to reduce the chance of bloc voting, therefore increasing suspense in the semi-finals. The Super Cinq countries (Estmere, Etruria, Gaullica, Soravia and Werania) were included in a separate draw to determine which of the semi-finals they would vote in. The previous year's winner and current year's host country is also guaranteed a spot, but as Estmere is in the Super Cinq it had already secured a place. As a result, last year's runner-up, Borland, took the host's spot instead. Finally, the allocation draw ceremony also included the handing over of host city insignia from Alikianos to St Avelines.

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4	Pot 5	Pot 6
Carucere Dezevau Imagua and the Assimas Maucha Rwizikuru Sabaw Tiwura	Aucuria Blostland Eldmark Nuvania Rizealand Satavia	Belmonte Cassier Gapolania Garambura Île d'Émeraude Sainte-Chloé	Alsland Azmara Caldia Hennehouwe Kesselbourg Scovern	Amathia Emessa Montecara Paretia Piraea Tsabara	Bistravia Chistovodia East Miersa Ravnia Tengaria Vinalia West Miersa

Drawn to vote in
Semi-final 1	Semi-final 2
Gaullica Werania Etruria	Template:Country data Estmere Soravia Borland

Participating countries

File:Euclovision 2023 map.png

Map of participating countries

  Finalist countries

  Did not qualify from the semi final

  Countries that participated in the past but not in 2023

On 28 November 2022, the EBG announced that 45 countries would participate in the 2023 contest.

Semi-final 1

The first semi-finals took place on 11 April 2023 at 20:00 (EST). Nineteen countries participated in the first semi-final. Those countries plus Gaullica, Werania and Etruria, as well as viewers from non-participating countries under "Rest of the World", voted in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.

  Qualifiers

Draw	Country	Artist	Song	Language(s)	Points	Place
01	Tiwura	Ifeanuli Chi	"Kwa Ubochi"	Estmerish, Mwo	68	9
02	Eldmark	Belle Horne	"Denna Sten"	Blostlandic	125	2
03	Garambura	Marie Marachera	"Rima Rima"	Gaullican, Rwizi	52	10
04	Kesselbourg	Stef	"Jij"	Hoeltish	25	18
05	Piraea	ANDREAS	"Fantasma" (Φάντασμα)	Pirean	78	7
06	Chistovodia	Verlois Zhuravel	"Pratsi" (Праці)	Soravian	107	4
07	Imagua and the Assimas	Iris Boschetto	"Sulla Strada"	Vespasian, Imaguan Creole	115	3
08	Rizealand	Sotrienne Masteno	"Imagination"	Estmerish	46	14
09	Belmonte	Izamena	"Meu coração"	Luzelese	24	19
10	Caldia	Gráda	"Abair le mo Mha"	Ghaillish	50	12
11	Tsabara	Zehava Peltier	"Lève-toi"	Gaullican, Atudaic, Rahelian	105	5
12	East Miersa	Gracze	"Jesteśmy"	Miersan	52	10
13	Sabaw	Ul	"Reggem"	Estmerish, Sabawi	99	6
14	Satavia	Pilgrims	"I Promise"	Estmerish	34	17
15	Sainte-Chloé	Fatima	"Clairement"	Gaullican	45	15
16	Alsland	Jõgi	"Half-way there"	Estmerish	140	1
17	Amathia	Omuldezi	"Zi si Noapte"	Amathian	49	13
18	Tengaria	Luka Zukanska	"Sŭn" (Сън)	Tengarian	42	16
19	Bistravia	Nikita Papita	"Slava Bogu" (Слава Богу)	Bistravian	78	7

Semi-final 2

The second semi-finals took place on 13 April 2023 at 20:00 (EST). Nineteen countries participated in the second semi-final. Those countries plus Estmere, Soravia and Borland, as well as viewers from non-participating countries under "Rest of the World", voted in this semi-final.

  Qualifiers

Draw	Country	Artist	Song	Language(s)	Points	Place
01	Carucere	Trois Gars	"Animale"	Gaullican, Papotement	11	19
02	Blostland	Frederik the Freak	"Brygga Promenad"	Blostlandic	90	6
03	Gapolania	Sanita	"Luci Ambientali"	Vespasian	160	1
04	Azmara	Freija Lorensdohter	"De Maskeraade"	Azmaran	143	2
05	Paretia	Sabor Latão	"Na Festa"	Luzelese, Estmerish	90	6
06	West Miersa	Żartowniś	"Chwytaj Dzień"	Miersan	15	18
07	Maucha	Asanda Ncita	"Tränen"	Weranian	20	15
08	Aucuria	Žydrė Leveckienė	"Likti"	Ruttish	54	13
09	Île d'Émeraude	Dirty Vibe	"Neu Kaa Pa Fè"	Gaullican, Emeraudian Creole	92	5
10	Scovern	Intens	"Tredje Version"	Mescon	97	4
11	Emessa	Noya	"Chadkeren" (חַדקֶרֶן)	Atudite	21	14
12	Ravnia	Tina Nikitovna	"Success" (Эхо)	Ilmenian	16	17
13	Rwizikuru	Praisehim Mwayenga	"Success"	Estmerish, Rwizi	67	11
14	Nuvania	DiscoDaze ft. Sonja	"Serotonin"	Estmerish	142	3
15	Cassier	Jean Beauchamp	"On leur a fait croire"	Gaullican	68	10
16	Hennehouwe	Vance	"Ma Dernière Danse (Lalala)"	Hennish, Gaullican	80	9
17	Montecara	Cònsola	"Graxi Nòna"	Montecaran	20	15
18	Vinalia	Oxana Mazeia	"El Sombreron"	Esmeiran	90	6
19	Dezevau	Les Henris	"Pas de Lait (Aujourd'hui)"	Gaullican	58	12

Final

The final took place on 15 April 2023 at 20:00 (EST). Thirty countries participated in the final, comprising the "Super Cinq" countries (Estmere, Etruria, Gaullica, Soravia and Werania), last year's runner-up Borland, and the twelve best-ranked countries from each of the two semi-finals. All participating countries voted in the final, in addition to viewers from non-participating countries, whose points were aggregated and awarded as one set under "Rest of the World".

Draw	Country	Artist	Song	Language(s)	Points	Place
01	Azmara	Freija Lorensdohter	"De Maskeraade"	Azmaran	65	12
02	Piraea	ANDREAS	"Fantasma" (Φάντασμα)	Pirean	47	17
03	Imagua and the Assimas	Iris Boschetto	"Sulla Strada"	Vespasian, Imaguan Creole	69	11
04	Template:Country data Estmere	Chel Sakurai	"Hell is Better With You"	Estmerish	132	1
05	Scovern	Intens	"Tredje Version"	Mescon	92	6
06	Rwizikuru	Praisehim Mwayenga	"Success"	Estmerish, Rwizi	37	22
07	Alsland	Jõgi	"Half-way there"	Estmerish	100	3
08	Gaullica	Solenne Castex	"Coucher de Soleil"	Gaullican	115	2
09	Chistovodia	Verlois Zhuravel	"Pratsi" (Праці)	Soravian	81	8
10	Tsabara	Zehava Peltier	"Lève-toi"	Gaullican, Atudaic, Rahelian	35	24
11	Hennehouwe	Vance	"Ma Dernière Danse (Lalala)"	Hennish, Gaullican	86	7
12	Etruria	Uomo in Laguna	"Fatto in Etruria"	Vespasian	96	4
13	Garambura	Marie Marachera	"Rima Rima"	Gaullican, Rwizi	63	14
14	Cassier	Jean Beauchamp	"On leur a fait croire"	Gaullican	31	26
15	Eldmark	Belle Horne	"Denna Sten"	Blostlandic	39	20
16	Île d'Émeraude	Dirty Vibe	"Neu Kaa Pa Fè"	Gaullican, Emeraudian Creole	46	18
17	Borland	Alice Luvefrow	"Hertenbrock àn þem dansfloor"	Borish	77	10
18	Blostland	Frederik the Freak	"Brygga Promenad"	Blostlandic	55	15
19	Vinalia	Oxana Mazeia	"El Sombreron"	Esmeiran	38	21
20	Sabaw	Ul	"Reggem"	Estmerish, Sabawi	45	19
21	Nuvania	DiscoDaze ft. Sonja	"Serotonin"	Estmerish	65	12
22	Dezevau	Les Henris	"Pas de Lait (Aujourd'hui)"	Gaullican	32	25
23	Gapolania	Sanita	"Luci Ambientali"	Vespasian	48	16
24	Bistravia	Nikita Papita	"Slava Bogu" (Слава Богу)	Bistravian	80	9
25	Soravia	Georgy Yakunin	"Ni" (Нi)	Soravian	29	27
26	Caldia	Gráda	"Abair le mo Mha"	Ghaillish	36	23
27	Paretia	Sabor Latão	"Na Festa"	Luzelese, Estmerish	23	29
28	Tiwura	Ifeanuli Chi	"Kwa Ubochi"	Estmerish, Mwo	96	4
29	East Miersa	Gracze	"Jesteśmy"	Miersan	14	30
30	Werania	Mira	"Wie ein Blitz"	Weranian	26	28

Other countries

In order to paricipate in the Euclovision Song Contest, a country must have a national broadcaster with active EBG membership; or in special circumstances, associate EBG membership. The EBG issued an invitation to all active EBG member broadcasters to participate in the 2023 contest.

Broadcasters, commentators and spokespersons

Broadcasters and commentators

The following is a list of broadcasters that have confirmed in whole or in part their broadcasting plans and their commentators.

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries

Country	Broadcaster(s)	Channels(s)	Show(s)	Commentator(s)
Alsland	ANS	ANS Ien	All shows	Dellish: Goasling Jaarsma and Ork Monsma
		ANS Üks	All shows	Martish: Viljo Rebane and Eedu Olesk
		ANS Eins	All shows	Weranian: Lara Weisz and Theres Friedemann
Azmara	ARF	ARF-3	All shows	Azmaran: Laana Akselsdohter
Template:Country data Estmere	EBS	EBS One	All shows	Estmerish: Alice Wallace, Vicki Freeman and Harry Taylor
		EBS Svạþiṡc	All shows	Swathish: Nihteġ Pẹrrocer and Mo Khan
		EBS Fleuvais	All shows	Flurian: David Palmer and Lis Poingdestre
Etruria	ARE	ARE Uno	All shows	Vespasian: Enrico Quinto Damiani, Alba Vinaccia
		ARE Jedan	All shows	Novalian: Milan Bosić and Marija Dabro
		ARE Eno	All shows	Carinthian: Ivana Pilon and Alenka Vidmar
Garambura	TéléGaramboure		All shows	Gaullican: Desange Coumbousa
	Arpège (online only)		All shows	Gaullican: Elisé Mjoji, Sïsé Goubouloundou
Hennehouwe	HNO	De Eerste	All shows	Hennish: Sienna Molenaar and Laurens Rosecrans
		HNO Extra	All shows	Hennish Sign Language: Quentin Fremaut
	Nous	Nous	All shows	Gaullican: Beatrice Pronovost and Saeed Karimi
Imagua and the Assimas	ITS	its one	All shows	Estmerish: Kea Duffus and Ezrah Houston
		its due	All shows	Vespasian: Silvia Barsi and Concetto Montella
Piraea	PRT	PRT +	All shows	Piraean: Rania Mouskouri and Alexandros Stavrallis
Scovern	STV		All shows	Mescon: Olivia Hald and Britta Nicolaisen
			All shows	Vestelian: Edvard Nesset and Irene Hoey
			Final	Frellandic: Búri Makansson
Rwizikuru	RIS		All shows	Estmerish: Comfort Mwaruwari and Kuseka Midzi
Sabaw	SNPA	SNPA One	All shows	Sabawi: Ikken Amer, Kellou Hossain, and Tintadêfi Iqbal
Soravia	Telekom 1		All shows	Soravian: Lavrenti Syosyev, Mariya Onipchenko, and Angela Barentseva

Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries

Country	Broadcaster(s)	Channels(s)	Show(s)	Commentator(s)
Aucuria	ANRT	TV Aukurija	All shows	Ruttish: Oljantas Ališauskas and Lidija Pakas
Senria	SHK	SHK TV 2	Semi-finals	Senrian: Naozumi Kusagaya and Itirou Hasegaki
		SHK TV 1	Final	Senrian: Naozumi Kusagaya and Itirou Hasegaki

Controversies

Accusations of linguistic imperialism

On 10 April, the General Secretary of the Presidium of Asase Lewa Ablá Koranten criticised the Euclean Broadcasters Group generally and EBS specifically in a Chirp which accused both bodies of linguistic imperialism, in reference to the long-standing Euclovision policy that all entries had to be majority sung in Euclean languages. The chirp also defended Asase Lewa's policy of boycotting the contest, and argued that since the contest has been open to non-Euclean nations since 2000 that non-Euclean languages, such as indigenous Bahian languages, should be included. Neither EBS nor the Euclean Broadcasters Group issued any full statement in response, but the official Euclovision website continues to state the Euclean language policy as of April 2023.

Accusations of pornographic content

On 16 April, 2022, Garon Ripley, leader of the Movement for a New Imagua published a thread on Chirpr accusing the Euclean Broadcasters Group of broadcasting "pornographic content" during the Euclovision Song Contest. Ripley declared that should the Movement for a New Imagua to form government, Imagua would not compete in Euclovision, and suggested that an alternative song contest that "promotes our shared values" be created.

In response to Ripley's thread, the Imaguan Television Service published an op-ed on 18 April that revealed that the Imaguan Television received 23 complaints concerning "pornographic content" in the 2023 edition of the Euclovision Song Contest, but found that 21 of them were closed due to a lack of a "factual basis" for the complaint. The op-ed also examined the reasons behind the complaints, citing how LGBT people in Imagua continue to face substantial discrimination due to their identity, and citing the influence of far-right movements, such as the Tribune Movement over the Movement for a New Imagua. On 6 July, 2023, the Imaguan Television Service reported that it received 79 complaints, and deemed all of the complaints of pornographic content to lack any factual basis.