2023 NF Review & Preview: February, Week 4

So I'm doing a new little series called Review & Preview, where I'll look at the national finals that happened the week gone by, and also check out the national finals that will take place the next week. To be clear, this will NOT replace What We Know So Far; this blog series will not get updated once released, nor does it concern itself with internal selections. It will talk about televised national finals, and ONLY televised national finals. It will end on the week of the Melodifestivalen grand final, and possibly return next year if I can be bothered.

This is a quieter week, but I had an assignment to rush over the weekend, so I do apologize for being late with this episode. I've still got assignments to rush, but I'll get this out ASAP, and hope to do the same next week.

Review

Poland

The ten participants for the Polish national final, named "Tu Bije Serce Europy! Wybieramy Hit Na Eurowizję" were announced on the 15th. Kuba Szmajkowski returns from last year, although it is not entirely certain which of his two new songs he will sing at the national final. Alicja from Eurovision 2020 also returns, with a new song named "New Home". The fan favourite however is Jann, with a song named "Gladiator". The running order was also revealed on the 20th, and Jann is third to last in the RO. Kuba will be second, and Alicja will be the fifth to perform.

Iceland

The 18th saw the commencement of the Icelandic selection Söngvakeppnin, which saw two artists out of the five in the first semi-final qualify for the final. The qualifiers were Diljá, one of the fan favourites, and Bragi, with a Swedish-penned song. Celebs with "Dómsdags Dans" were an initial fan favourite, however they failed to qualify (for now), with some observers chalking it down to a somewhat chaotic performance.

The reason I mention for now, is because once the two semi-finals are over, there will be a wildcard which will get selected for the final, hence making 5 entries in the final. Celebs may get selected there, but we don't know yet.

Lithuania

The final of Pabandom Iš Naujo took place on the 18th, with 10 acts competing to represent Lithuania in Liverpool. Monika Liu performed as an interval act during the show while voting was taking place, as did Duncan Laurence, who had been a guest juror during the second semi-final.

Initial Lithuanian public favourites included Rūta Mur and Beatrich, but interestingly it was Monika Linkytė who emerged victorious. Some had already been speculating a shock result when Linkytė was placed last in the running order, and sure enough, she tied with Rūta Mur, both receiving 12 points and 10 points respectively. While Rūta Mur had gotten 12 from the televote, Monika Linkytė had gotten 12 from the jury. Ultimately, it was decided that the jury vote would be the tiebreaker, and Linkytė was announced as the Lithuanian representative in Liverpool, with her song "Stay".

Monika Linkytė had already gone to Eurovision for Lithuania before, back in 2015 with Vaidotas Baumila. This will be her second time at Eurovision, and she will be performing in the second half of the second semi-final, alongside Joker Out, Iru Khechanovi, Albina and Familja Kelmendi, Teya and Salena, as well as the representatives from Australia, Poland and San Marino. Speaking of San Marino...

San Marino

SMRTV announced on the 20th the *106* semi-finalists taking part in the Sammarinese national final, Una Voce Per San Marino. A wide variety of artists were featured, such as Nicole Hammett from MESC2022 where she placed 8/17; Alfie Arcuri who had been in Australia Decides 2019 with the song "To Myself"; CHRISTOPHER (aka Christopher Grevener) who had been in last year's edition of UVPSM with a sensational performance of Loco Loco; Ronela Hajati, the very same one from Albania just last year; and probably the biggest name of all: Eiffel 65, the group which created the worldwide hit "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" back in 1998. Despite initial rumours, Elettra Lamborghini did not finally enter the national selection for San Marino.

The vast majority of the contestants are from Italy (shocker), but there are also contestants from the UK, US, Finland, Latvia, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Croatia, Albania (i.e. Ronela), Iceland, Romania, Australia (i.e. Alfie Arcuri), and Malta. Just *2* of the 106 semi-finalists come from San Marino proper.

Sweden

The third heat of Melodifestivalen took place on the 18th in Lidköping. Marcus & Martinus won the heat, and Paul Rey also went direkt till final. Melanie Wehbe and Nordman will take part in the semi-final, while Casanovas, Ida-Lova, and Laurell did not qualify.

Preview

We're starting to get into what one might call "internals season" now, but this Saturday is hardly a quiet one. Here's what you need to know for week 4 of February:

Finland

The Finnish national final, Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu, also known as UMK, will take place on the 25th. The overwhelming favourite is Käärijä with "Cha Cha Cha", although KUUMAA have also proven very popular on streaming platforms with their song. "Ylivoimainen", their UMK entry, is in fact charting at #1 in Spotify Finland's top 50, while Cha Cha Cha is at 4th. The next highest entry is "Samaa Taivasta Katsotaan" by Portion Boys, at #21.

BESS, The Rasmus, and Samu Haber (the host) will be the interval acts for the show. Commentary will be provided in a record-breaking *eight* languages: Finnish, Swedish, Northern Sami, Inari Sami, Russian, English, and newly introduced for 2023: Finnish Sign Language, and Ukrainian. The winner will be decided by 75% televote and 25% international jury.

Germany

Online voting for the songs in Unser Lied Fur Liverpool begins on the 24th. It had been announced earlier on the 20th that The BossHoss and Ilse DeLange will be the interval acts for the national final, performing their new song named "You".

Iceland

The second semi-final of Söngvakeppnin takes place on the 25th. Some fan favourites include Kristín Sesselja, Silja Rós & Kjalar, and Sigga Ózk. Two acts out of the five will qualify for the final, decided solely by televote, although afterwards a wildcard will be chosen from either of the semi-finals to participate in the final.

In the semi-final, all participants are required to sing the Icelandic version of their song, while they are free to sing the English version in the final if they so wish and if they get there.

Poland

Tu Bije Serce Europy! Wybieramy Hit Na Eurowizję will take place on the *26th*, not 25th, at the Studio Transcolor in Warsaw. It will be hosted by Aleksander Sikora, Ida Nowakowska, and Małgorzata Tomaszewska. As mentioned previously, 10 acts will take part, and Jann is the favourite. Allegedly it is possible for a wildcard to be added to the lineup, but it seems unlikely at this point given the confirmed running order from TVP.

Kalush Orchestra will perform "Stefania" as an interval act, and interestingly, Stefania from Greece 2020 and 2021 will also perform "Last Dance".

There will be two rounds of voting during the show: an initial round where the jury and televote rate all 10 songs. Then, the 3 most voted songs will enter a superfinal, where those 3 will be voted on again. The winner of that is thus the winner of the national final, and will represent Poland in Eurovision 2023.

Portugal

The first semi-final of Festival Da Canção, Portugal's national final, takes place on the 25th. Initially, 5 acts from the 10 will qualify for the final based on voting by both a jury and the televote; after which, one more act will qualify as a televote wildcard.

During this semi-final, Ana Bacalhau, HMB, Fernando Tordo, 2023 Spanish representative Blanca Paloma, and Nena will perform as interval acts. Some fan favourites from this semi-final include Claudia Pascoal, Mimicat, and You Can't Win Charlie Brown.

San Marino

Throughout this whole week, the pre-recorded semi-finals for Una Voce Per San Marino will be broadcasted on SMRTV, including the Second Chance round. We will only find out the finalists during these broadcasts. The televised final will take place at the Teatro Nuovo in Dogana on the 25th, and it will be hosted by Senhit and Jonathan Kashanian. During the show, reigning UVPSM winner Achille Lauro will perform as an interval act. The winner will be decided solely by a 5-person jury.

Sweden

The final heat for Melodifestivalen will take place on the 25th, with Kiana, Signe & Hjördis, Smash Into Pieces, Mariette, Emil Henrohn, Axel Schylström, and most importantly, Loreen, taking part in this heat taking place in Örnsköldsvik.

For those wondering, Loreen describes her song, "Tattoo", as being closer to "Euphoria" than to "Statements", the latter of which saw her fail at the Andra Chansen round in Melodifestivalen 2017. Sources also indicate that she will be alone onstage for her performance, with no dancers or backing singers and such.

On Tuesday, accredited press will get to hear all the songs, and you can stay tuned to Twitter for more info on that; on Thursday, a 60-second snippet of the studio cuts will be released; and on Friday, a 30-second snippet of the live rehearsals will be released.

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So that's a round-up of the national finals that happened this week, and the national finals that will happen next week! Do let me know what you think of these national finals. Hope to record this as a video tomorrow, but no promises - I've still got two assignments to rush.