Eurovision Eurovision 2023 United Kingdom

ESCplus column: Dress rehearsal of the Grand Final

Today I got the chance to see the first dress rehearsal of this year’s Grand Final, and I have to say that I was impressed by how the United Kingdom has managed to incorporate all things Ukraine in there, without forgetting that the contest is organized in the UK, and that this matter should not be blocked out. I was also mesmerized by one of the interval acts, read on to find out more.
All the contestants we have seen before in the past couple of months on all sorts of media, but obviously also during the two Semi-finals that were battled out this week. Most amazed I am in the most positive way possible about Albania and Estonia progressing to the Grand Final. In the case of Albania, I have to say that this is “Eurovision” for me, an ethnic song, sung by a whole family, and in their own language; love it or hate it, but this is ultimately one of the reasons why the contest came to being in the first place, and I feel strongly that songs like this should cherished in the contest, because they are real and sincere. Next to this, I am giving a shout-out to Alika, because there are not many ballads in the contest this year, and “Bridges” is not a love ballad, it discusses difficult topics, like self-love and getting your life back together after negative things have happened to you; I like that the audience could relate and found the beauty in Estonia’s entry.
One of the interval acts of the Grand Final is numerous Eurovision all-stars singing well-known British pop songs, like: Sweden’s Cornelia Jakobs singing Mel C’s “I Turn to you” and Israel’s Netta singing Dear or Alive’s “You spin me round (like a record)”. I was blown away by this interval act; so simple, yet so effective and gripping. Honestly loved it.
Who is going to be the winner of this year’s contest? Hard to say, it is everybody’s game really. The things is though, on a “personal” level, I do not see Slovenia, Serbia, or Germany winning. Some songs are pretty neat on their own, but in a mix with many others, these are the ones that do not really work for me.

EUROVISION 2023

The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 will take place on May 9th, 11th, and 13th 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. 37 countries will compete for the crown. This year’s Eurovision Song Contest will be a joint venture, since last year’s winner Ukraine cannot organize the contest on home soil because of the ongoing war with Russia.



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