[P] Eurovision 2023: when it takes place and what the favorites list looks like

The most important music competition in Europe, Eurovision, is hosted this year by Great Britain, from May 9 to 13. In 2022, the Eurovision trophy arrived in Ukraine, but for organizational reasons it was decided that the 2023 edition of the contest would be held in Liverpool.

Ukrainian artist Julia Sanina will present the show alongside Alesha Dixon and Hannah Waddingham. As with the previous edition, Eurovision wants to contribute to the promotion of peace in the European community, beyond the musical spectacle.

The regulations for the Eurovision 2023 competition (67th edition) are different from previous years. Impressive audience gets bigger powers. Thus, the teams qualified for the final will be decided only by the viewers. Moreover, it will be possible to vote online even from countries that do not participate in the contest. The final result will be decided based on an average between the jury’s marks and the public’s votes.

Favorites to win the competition

Odds set by bookmakers generally fairly accurately depict the winning chances of Eurovision participating countries. At the online betting agency Unibet odds are already available for both the winning status and the Top 3, Top 5 or even Top 15 at the show in 2023. Two Nordic countries are the main favourites: Sweden – Loreen, with “ Tattoo” (rate 1.91) and Finland – Käärijä, with “Cha Cha Cha” (rate 2.60). Followed by France (odds 9.00), Spain and Ukraine (both with 17.00 odds).

Romania, last in the ranking of betting favorites

Our country is represented at Eurovision 2023 by Theodor Andrei, semi-finalist of the TV show Vocea României Junior in 2017 and also present at X Factor Romania in 2020. The chances of the 18-year-old are considered almost non-existent. At the betting agencies, Romania is last in terms of odds for winning the competition – 1001.00. Those who want to bet that the Romanian artist will rank in the first 15 can do so at odds of 11.00.

Eurovision 2023 programme

Ukraine (Tvorchi, with “Heart of Steel”), France (La Zarra, with “Evidemment”), Germany (Lord of the Lost, with “Blood and Glitter”), Italy (Marco Mengoni, with “Due vite”), Spain (Bianca Paloma, with “Eaea”) and Great Britain (Mae Muller, with “I Wrote a Song”). A further 31 countries are competing for 14 places in the final act of the competition.

The two semi-finals are scheduled for May 9 and 11. Theodor Andrei, with “DGT (Off & On), represents Romania at Eurovision in the second semi-final. There are European countries that have decided not to participate in the contest: Bulgaria, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Slovakia.

Eurovision, a competition with a rich history

Looking at the history of Eurovision, Ireland has won the competition 7 times and holds the record in this regard. Sweden, the Eurovision 2023 favorite, has won 6 trophies. France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Great Britain follow, each with 4 successes.

Lorine Zineb Nora Talhaoui, known by her stage name Loreen, is already considered an international music star. He also represented Sweden in 2012, which took place in Baku, Azerbaijan. With the song “Euphoria”, he won first place, with 372 points. Since then, her artistic career has developed strongly, so now she is credited with a great chance of winning another trophy.

The Eurovision Song Contest (originally called the Eurovision Grand Prix) was created as an annual competition held between many of the countries that are active members of the European Broadcasting Union. At the first edition, which took place in the city of Lugano in Switzerland, on May 24, 1956, only 7 countries participated, each with two songs.