EUROVISION 2023. Ukraine, at war with Russia, will not be able to host the next edition of the singing competition. The United Kingdom replaces the last winning country.
[Mis à jour le 25 juillet 2022 à 13h24] Eurovision 2023 will take place in the UK! In any case, this is what the organizers of the competition said on July 25, 2022. After the victory of Kalush Orchestra on May 14, Ukraine should have organized the international singing competition in May 2023. But the conflict between it and Russia is expected to last several more months, which has forced the organizers to think about alternative solutions for several weeks.
For security reasons, Eurovision will therefore not be held in Ukraine. Nevertheless, the winning country will automatically qualify for the final of the singing competition, along with the members of the Big Five. For now, we do not know in which country of the United Kingdom will be organized Eurovision. We also do not know the precise date of the 2023 edition, which should however take place in May, as is usually the case.
On Saturday May 14, 2022, Ukraine was crowned winner of Eurovision 2022. The country represented by the rap group Kalush Orchestra has benefited from significant public mobilization since its invasion by Vladimir Putin’s troops. This victory was expected by the bookmakers. In total, the song “Stefania” ranked at the top of the chart with 631 points.
- Ukraine (631 points)
- United Kingdom (466 points)
- Spain (459 points)
- Sweden (438 points)
- Serbia (312 points)
- Italy (268 points)
- Moldova (253 points)
- Greece (215 points)
- Portugal (207 points)
- Norway (182 points)
- Netherlands (171 points)
- Poland (151 points)
- Estonia (141 points)
- Lithuania (128 points)
- Australia (125 points)
- Azerbaijan (106 points)
- Switzerland (78 points)
- Romania (65 points)
- Belgium (64 points)
- Armenia (61 points)
- Finland (38 points)
- Czech Republic (38 points)
- Iceland (20 points)
- France (17 points)
- Germany (6 points)
Kalush Orchestra, a Ukrainian rap group (three members) formed in 2019 and performed the song “Stefania” during the Eurovision final on May 14, 2022. In parallel, the group released two albums during the year 2021: Hotin and Yo-yo. What is “Stefania”, the title that the Ukrainian group Kalush Orchestra performed at Torino and got the victory at Eurovision 2022? With NME, Oleh Psiuk specifies that this title is a tribute to his mother. But because of the colorful lyrics, it took on a whole new meaning as Ukrainian audiences associate the mother in question with their country at war. After the singing competition, the members of the group will return to their countries to join the forces fighting against Russia. One of them stayed in Kyiv to defend the Ukrainian capital.
On March 5, 2022, it was in the tele-hook “Eurovision France: it’s you who decide” on France 2 that the French candidate was appointed ahead of Eurovision 2022. It is the group Alvan & Ahez , who sings in Breton her title “Fulenn” (which means both “spark” and “young girl”), which was chosen by the jury and the public. France being part of the “Big Five”, that is to say the countries which contribute the most to the organization of the competition from a financial point of view, Alvan & Ahez was automatically qualified for the Eurovision final this Saturday, May 14, 2022. However, the French candidates only obtained the penultimate place, with 17 points, in the final.
Russia is not participating in Eurovision in 2022. The organizers have decided to sanction the country for the invasion of Ukraine by dismissing the Russian candidate from the international singing competition, but also preventing the country led by Vladimir Putin from vote. “In the context of the unprecedented crisis unfolding today in Ukraine, there were fears that a Russian participation this year would bring discredit to the Competition. Before taking its decision, the EBU took the time to carry out a broad consultation with its members”, specified a press release from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), organizer of the event, on February 25, 2022.
Since its creation in 1956, France has won the Eurovision Song Contest five times: in 1958, 1960, 1962, 1969 and 1977. Our country is therefore just behind Ireland, which holds the record with seven victories. In 1958, singer André Claveau won France’s first victory with the title Dors, mon amour. Two years later, in 1960, the artist Jacqueline Boyer won unanimous support with the song Tom Pillibi. In 1962, Isabelle Aubret won Eurovision with the song Un premier amour. Then in 1969, it was Frida Boccara who won the Eurovision Song Contest with the title Un jour, un enfant. Finally, in 1977, the singer Marie Myriam was the last to win by performing The Bird and the Child, a title that has become cult over time for the public.