2023 NF Review & Preview: March, Week 1

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.

No video this week I'm afraid; I've got two assignments to rush. Maybe I'll do one on or after Thursday, but no promises.

Review

Finland

UMK took place on the 25th. BESS opened the show performing a new song plus her UMK classic "Ram Pam Pam", while The Rasmus and Samu Haber (the host) also acted as the interval acts for the show. Commentary was 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 was decided via a combination of 25% international jury and 75% televote. The overwhelming favourite was Käärijä, real name Jere Pöyhönen, with "Cha Cha Cha", and the Finnish public did not disappoint, rewarding Cha Cha Cha a whopping *467* points. Portion Boys, who were second in the televote, only got *124*. Käärijä, who had already won the international jury, therefore won the national final by a landslide, and will now represent Finland in Eurovision 2023.

Finland starts off very strong in the Eurovision 2023 odds, having already risen to 3rd place before the national final took place, and will perform in the second half of the first semi-final.

Iceland

The second semi-final of Söngvakeppnin took place on the 25th. Sigga Ózk and Langi Seli & Skuggarnir qualified for the final, decided solely by televote. Afterwards, Celebs, who turned out to be the most highly voted non-qualifier, were chosen 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 took place on the 26thas, at the Studio Transcolor in Warsaw. It will be hosted by Aleksander Sikora, Ida Nowakowska, and Małgorzata Tomaszewska. Kalush Orchestra performed "Stefania" as an interval act, and interestingly, Stefania from Greece 2020 and 2021 also performed "Last Dance". Efendi also sang Mata Hari as an interval act, as well as former Junior Eurovision acts Sara James and Roksana Wegiel.

10 acts took part, and Jann with "Gladiator" was the favourite, both with Eurofans and with many Polish locals. However, Jann was rated poorly by the jury, which took up 50% of the vote. So in the end, the winner was revealed to be Blanka with the song "Solo" - a song which had already gained by far the most streams and views before its taking part in the national final. She will now represent Poland in Eurovision 2023, in the second half of the second semi-final.

Portugal

The first semi-final of Festival Da Canção took place on the 25th. Ana Bacalhau, HMB, Fernando Tordo, 2023 Spanish representative Blanca Paloma, and Nena performed as interval acts.

Initially, it was announced that 5 acts would qualify from a combination of jury and televote, and then a extra wildcard would qualify via only televote. However, soon it was reported that there were technical issues with Esse Povo's voting line, and they were given a free pass to the final. There were thus 7 qualifiers from a semi-final of 10, among which were Claudia Pascoal, Mimicat, and You Can't Win Charlie Brown.

San Marino

Ahead of the show, SMRTV announced the "Fox Must Go On" initiative, which would encourage other broadcasters to ban the use of products involving animal cruelty for Eurovision. This initiative was devised by Ersin Parlak.

The televised final of Una Voce Per San Marino took place at the Teatro Nuovo in Dogana on the 25th, and it was hosted by Senhit and Jonathan Kashanian. During the show, reigning UVPSM winner Achille Lauro performed as an interval act, as well as Senhit herself (multiple times). The show went on far longer than expected, with little segments here and there between the different acts performing and before the results were revealed.

The winner was decided solely by a jury, which consisted of Al Bano, Antonio Rospini, Charlotte Davis, Dino Steward, Steve Lyon, and Clarissa Martinelli. At the end, only the top 10 were revealed. Ronela Hajati did not make this top 10 despite closing the show, but Eiffel 65 placed 5th, while fan favourites Le Deva and XGiove came 2nd and 3rd respectively. The winner was revealed to be Piqued Jacks with the song "Like An Animal". The group will now represent San Marino in the second half of the second semi-final.

Sweden

The final heat for Melodifestivalen took 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 Malmö.

Despite a stage invader and protester causing Loreen to have to restart her performance, she sailed through this heat, having been the first contestant to be announced direkt till final. The other direct finalist, after a second round of voting, was revealed to be Smash Into Pieces. Kiana and Mariette will take part in the semi-final.

Due to Loreen's song and performance, Sweden has now risen to *number 1* in the Eurovision 2023 odds, with Ukraine finally dethroned from the top spot for the first time since late February of 2022.

Preview

Here's what you need to know for the first week of March:

Germany

Unser Lied Für Liverpool, the German national final, takes place on the *3th*, not the 4th, of March. Online voting had started on the 24th of February, and ends basically shortly before the show. The winner will be decided by 50% international jury and 50% televote. That televote is a combination of the online voting with a live televote that happens during the national final itself. The show will be hosted by Barbara Schöneberger, long-time German national final host as well as German jury spokesperson.

Current fan favourites include Patty Gurdy, Lord Of The Lost, and Frida Gold; however Ikke Hüftgold is a massively popular figure in Germany with what many view to be an inferior song, and could also win the national final since he had previously already won the TikTok wildcard.

Iceland

Söngvakeppnin 2023 concludes on the 4th, with 5 acts taking part in the final. Current favourites, both fan and local Icelandic, include Diljá, Celebs (who only qualified for the final via a wildcard), and Bragi.

Moldova

Etapa Națională takes place on the 4th, with 10 acts competing to represent Moldova. The three main favourites are the three returnees: Aliona Moon (2013), SunStroke Project (2010, 2017), and Pasha Parfeni (2012). The broadcaster TRM has invited confirmed Eurovision 2023 representatives from other countries to perform at the national final, although it is not yet known how many, if any, will attend.

Portugal

Festival Da Canção continues on the 4th of March with the second semi-final. Barring any technical mishaps, there will be 6 qualifiers: 5 from a combination of jury and televote, and 1 more from just the televote. Some favourites include Barbara Tinoco, Ivandro, and Edmundo Inacio. Carlos Mendes, Nicolas Alves, and Filipe Sambado will perform as interval acts.

Serbia

The Serbian national final, Pesma Za Evroviziju, will commence on the 1st of March with the first semi-final, and the second semi-final the day after that. The final takes place two days after the second semi-final, that is the 4th. Milan Marić and Dragana Kosjerina will host the main show, while Kristina Radenković and Stefan Popović will be the green room hosts.

Current favourites include Luke Black, the rebooted Hurricane, Filip Baloš, and Zejna.

Sweden

The semi-final will take place in Örnsköldsvik on the 4th of March. (Yes, I wrote Örnsköldsvik last week, but it turns out I got my locations confused, and Loreen sang in Malmö, not Örnsköldsvik.)

The running order was revealed on the 25th, almost right after the final heat. Theoz will open the show, while Kiana will close it. The other participants are Mariette, Victor Crone, Tennessee Tears, Elov & Beny, Melanie Wehbe, and Nordman.

Four of these participants will qualify for the final, and the semi-final will be a simple vote where the 4 most voted entries out of the 8 will get to progress to the final. However, halfway through the voting, the four highest ranked as well as lowest ranked will be displayed separately (in no particular order within each group), and viewers will get to vote again for their favourites. At the end, for the first time, the scores will be presented live and the viewers will be able to see which of the four finalists were comfortably voted the highest and which ones had to fight for the final.

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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, but this is a REALLY busy week in terms of my school work. I'll see if I can scramble something together by Thursday or some such.