Eurovision 2023 returns to screens this Tuesday, May 9. Fans of the world’s most watched singing competition will be able to discover the 37 artists. This Tuesday therefore takes place the semi-finals of Eurovision in the city of Liverpool, England. A host city which is the second choice of the organizers of the competition. Indeed, the winning country of the previous edition, Ukraine, cannot host the event due to the invasion of its country by Russian troops.
If Eurovision is a European competition, other countries around the globe have been able to join it. This is the case of Israel, Morocco, or even Australia, a country very fond of the television show and which does not miss any edition. However, the organization can also decide tocancel the participation of certain members of the competition, especially Russia, since 2022 and the war it is pursuing on Ukrainian territory.
For this 2023 edition, Eurovision has the small dishes in the big ones by inviting an iconic actress from the Game of Thrones series on stage. But, what interests fans are the songs and the final ranking. While France has almost no chance to win the competition, according to the bookmakers, disappointment and sadness may well hit the tricolor nation again.
The tragic reason why France abandoned Eurovision
In France, the day of the Eurovision final was also synonym of national mourning. Indeed, in 1974, France was selected, through the singer Dani, to participate in the 19th edition of the competition. The latter is held in April in Brighton in the United Kingdom. If the singer and her song La vie à 25 ans seem to have a chance of placing themselves on the podium, a tragic event will change everything.
Thus, on April 2, 1974, France abandoned the Eurovision contest following on the death of the President of the Republic Georges Pompidou. The country withdraws from the contest which takes place on the day of national mourning and the funeral of the French head of state. The politician was suffering from Waldenstrom’s disease, a form of leukemia that will get the better of him. It will be the first and final time that France will have to abandon at the gates of the final, the Eurovision Song Contest.
This year, nothing so tragic seems to compromise France’s participation in Eurovision 2023. Especially since the Quebec singer La Zarra who represents France with her title Obviously seems ready to fight for break the curse. Since its release, the clip of his song has been viewed more than 1.2 million times, including 803,000 times on the Eurovision Youtube channel, and therefore becomes the fourth most watched video of the competition. Who knows, miracles can happen!
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Eurovision 2023 sees things big for the final
In order to offer an exceptional experience with 200 million viewers, the organizers of the competition have bet on big means. Thus, the main stage where La Zarra and the other artists will perform is 450 m2 large and is decorated with 220 m2 of mobile video screens. There are also 700 video tiles integrated into the floor and 1,500 meters of LED lights to ensure a breathtaking spectacle.
If the semi-final takes place this Tuesday, May 9 and is broadcast live on France 2 from 8:30 p.m., the final takes place Saturday, May 13, 2023. The appointment is therefore made with the two presenters, Laurence Boccolini and Stéphane Bern. THE your playful and piquant of these two lovers of the show will have to provide a good part of the show for French viewers eager to find out who will be the big winner of Eurovision 2023.
