This page will act as an ongoing summary of progress and updates for all the national selections for Eurovision 2023. There are 37 countries participating in Liverpool in May, and you can view the info and news for each country below (in alphabetical order).
Where a song and/or artist has been selected/confirmed as the entry, I will list them and link to the national final performance if it has been a public selection or the music video if internally selected. As and when songs are uploaded to the Eurovision YouTube channel, I will amend the links to go to those.
Albania
Traditionally Albania’s long-running song contest, Festivali i Këngës, would kick off national selection season around Christmas. However, Ukraine held theirs even earlier this year, so the 61st FiK was the second selection of the season.
There were some changes this year with an addition of an extra semi-final (bringing the total to 3). The two big changes were in the final though – firstly, the winner would not necessarily be the selection for Eurovision – that was decided by who wins the public vote. This was separate to the usual jury vote that determines the top 3. In the end, the song that placed second with the jury came a convincing first in the televote, and won the ticket to Liverpool.
Winning artist: Albina and Familja Kelmendi
Song: Duje
Armenia
Armenia is confirmed for Liverpool and have selected their artist internally. The song was released on 15 March.
Selected artist: Brunette
Song: Future Lover
Australia
After a national selection show, Eurovision – Australia Decides, hosted in Gold Coast in 2019, 2020 and 2022, SBS, the Australian broadcaster have returned to an internal selection in 2023. The artist and song were revealed on 21 February.
Selected artist: Voyager
Song: Promise
Austria
The Austrian broadcaster has favoured an internal selection in recent years, and that remained the case for 2023. They changed the internal format to closer to the recent Swiss model, where song recordings from live castings were sent to a jury of Austrian and international Eurovision experts and selected fan clubs across Europe. The feedback from those juries were given to the internal selection panel who made the decision. The song was released on 8 March.
Selected artist: Teya and Salena
Song: Who the Hell is Edgar?
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan issued a call for submissions, initially by end of December but that was extended until mid-January. These were shortlisted to five artists and the final internal selection made. The artist was announced on 9 March and the song will be revealed on 13 March.
Selected artist: TuralTuranX
Song: Tell Me More
Belgium
Belgium had recently favoured internal selections, but brought a national final back for 2023, entitled Eurosong 2023. Seven artists took part, and included previous Belgian entry Tom Dice, now performing as part of a duo with his wife, called The Starlings. Each artist presented two songs, which were released daily from 9 January until the final on 14 January. The artists picked which of their songs will perform in the final, having performed (privately) both their songs to the other competing artists who gave advice on which song to present (though the artist ultimately decided on the song). In the final, the vote was split between an expert jury and a public vote.
Winning artist: Gustaph
Song: Because of You
Croatia
The Croatian artist and song will be selected via Dora 2023. The 18 competing entries have been selected and songs have been released and can be watched on this YouTube playlist. Previous winner (2020) Damir Kedžo is one of the artists – though he never got to compete at Eurovision due the cancellation. The grand final took place on 11 February.
Winning artist: Let 3
Song: Mama ŠČ!
Cyprus
Cyprus announced their selection method for 2024 before they’d even made any comment on 2023. Next year will see a public selection, but for this year they have internally selected, and announced that Australian singer Andrew Lambrou will be the representative this year. Andrew is of Greek-Cypriot descent and was also a contestant in Eurovision – Australia Decides 2022, ultimately finishing 7th of 11. The song (title revealed on 21 February) was released on 2 March.
Selected artist: Andrew Lambrou
Song: Break a Broken Heart
Czechia
Despite fears that the Czechs would pull out for 2023, we will be seeing them in Liverpool. Five acts have been put forward, and for the first time since 2008, this was in the form of a live televised show, that took place on 30 January. Voting was open until 6 February with the result being released on 7 February. International fans could vote via the Eurovision app and the international vote had a far bigger weighting than the Czech public.
Winning artist: Vesna
Song: My Sister’s Crown
Denmark
The Danish national selection, Dansk Melodi Grand Prix (DMGP), running since 1957, returned once more and was held on 11 February. The eight entries can be seen on this YouTube playlist.
Winning artist: Reiley
Song: Breaking My Heart
Estonia
The Estonian national selection since 2009, Eesti Laul returns for another year with 20 entries announced. Videos of all the entries can be found on the broadcaster’s website. There were two semi-finals where the top 6 songs progressed to the grand final. The final had two stages of voting: a 50/50 jury/televote to determine a top 3, and then a pure public vote to decide the winner from the final three. The twelve finalists can be seen on this YouTube playlist.
Semi-finals for Eesti Laul 2023 took place on 11 and 14 January and the grand final on 11 February.
Winning artist: Alika
Song: Bridges
Finland
The Finnish national selection, Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), has been running since 2012 and returns again for 2023. Seven artists competed and the songs can be viewed on this YouTube playlist. The UMK23 final took place on 25 February.
Winning artist: Käärijä
Song: Cha Cha Cha
France
In July, it was announced that France’s recent national selection format, Eurovision France: C’est vous qui décidez, would return again in 2023. However in early January, an internally selected artist was announced – French Canadian La Zarra. The song was revealed on 19 February on French television.
Selected artist: La Zarra
Song: Évidemment
Georgia
Georgia returned to a public selection after a couple of years of internal selections. The Voice Georgia was used to determine the artist (with the winner being the 2011 Junior Eurovision winner) and the song was revealed on 16 March.
Germany
After a rather too hopeful “Germany 12 points” as their national selection name last year, Germany returned to the “Unser Lied” format. Unser Lied für Liverpool took place on 3 March and there were 9 entries, with one entry which was chosen via a TikTok open submission route. As well as an international jury and show viewers, online voting was open in advance of the show. The songs can viewed on this YouTube playlist.
Winning artist: Lord of the Lost
Song: Blood and Glitter
Greece
Greece has not had a proper public selection since 2015, and while there was not a televised national selection this year either, the public did have a form of say – the entry was selected by two committees – one of music professionals and one made up of 70 members of the public. The song title has been released with the actual song to come at a later date.
Selected artist: Victor Vernicos
Song: What They Say
Iceland
Iceland’s national selection, Söngvakeppnin, returns for 2023. 10 songs will compete in two semi-finals before a final of 5 songs. The songs can be seen on this YouTube playlist. The semi-finals of Söngvakeppnin 2023 took place on 18 and 25 February and the final on 4 March.
Winning artist: Diljá
Song: Power
Ireland
For the first time in several years, Ireland held a national selection in 2022, and continued with that format in 2023, with another special edition of the Late Late Show called the Late Late Eurosong Special. That took place on 3 February. The artists included former Sex Pistol John Lydon with his band Public Image Ltd.
Winning artist: Wild Youth
Song: We Are One
Israel
Israel has gone back to an internal selection this year, and the artist, Noa Kirel was selected and announced all the way back in the summer. The song was written via a songwriting camp by Israeli writers, though only the title has been released so far. The song itself was released on 8 March in a special broadcast on Israeli TV.
Selected artist: Noa Kirel
Song: Unicorn
Italy
The winner of the Festival di Sanremo 2023 will, as has been usual of late, represent Italy at the next Eurovision Song Contest. The show ran from 7 to 11 February, with 28 artists in contention.
Winning artist: Marco Mengoni
Song: Due vite
Latvia
The Latvian national selection since 2015, Supernova, returned for 2023. The final was held on 11 February (after a single semi-final on 4 February). All the songs can be seen on the broadcaster’s own YouTube playlist.
Winning artist: Sudden Lights
Song: Aijā
Lithuania
The Lithuanian national selection, Pabandom iš naujo!, is once again in use for 2023. There were 5 shows in total – two heats, two semi-finals and a grand final that took place on 18 February. The songs can be seen on the broadcaster’s YouTube playlist for the shows.
Winning artist: Monika Linkytė
Song: Stay
Malta
2023 marks a change of selection show for Malta, with Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2023 consisting of four quarter-finals, a semi-final and a final between 13 January and 11 February. Snippets of the 40 competing songs can be seen on this YouTube playlist.
Winning artist: The Busker
Song: Dance (Our Own Party)
Moldova
Moldova held auditions for a national final show, Etapa Națională 2023, which took place on 4 March. Ten acts competed, including three former Eurovision participants, Aliona Moon, Pasha Parfeny and Sunstroke Project. Voting was split 50-50 between jury and televote. The songs of the ten finalists can been seen on this YouTube playlist.
Winning artist: Pasha Parfeny
Song: Soarele și luna
Netherlands
The Dutch broadcaster has selected internally again, with the duo of Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper being announced at the start of November. The song was released on 1 March.
Selected artists: Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper
Song: Burning Daylight
Norway
2023 saw the 61st edition of Melodi Grand Prix (MGP), Norway’s national selection show for Eurovision. Some welcome (in my view) format changes came this year – gone are the pre-qualified (for final) entries, semi-finals were reduced to three shows (with 21 artists competing) and the top 3 in each show going through (rather than as a series of duels). The final changes format too with the re-introduction of an international jury and an end to the duel/super final format within the show.
Semi finals took place on 9, 21 and 28 January. The grand final of Melodi Grand Prix 2023 was on 4 February.
Winning artist: Alessandra
Song: Queen of Kings
Poland
Poland returned to a national final in 2022, and have retained the public selection for 2023. The final took place on 26 February with a 50/50 jury and public vote.
Winning artist: Blanka
Song: Solo
Portugal
The Portuguese national selection show, Festival da Canção reaches its 57th edition in 2023. Twenty songs will compete across two semi-finals, with 5 songs going through to the final from each semi. The songs can be seen on this YouTube playlist.
The semi-finals of Festival da Canção 2023 took place on 25 February and 4 March, and the final on 11 March, marking the end of the national final season.
Winning artist: Mimicat
Song: Ai Coração
Romania
The usual Romanian national selection show, Selecția Națională, will be used for 2023. Twelve songs competed in the final on 11 February, with voting coming from both a public vote and online vote. The finalists were revealed in mid-December and the songs released in early January. The full songs can be seen on this YouTube playlist.
Winning artist: Theodor Andrei
Song: D.G.T. (Off and On)
San Marino
Eurovision’s smallest country once again held one of the more extensive national selections. Una voce per San Marino was made up of multiple stages, with submissions received from across Europe. An audition and casting stage lasting from October to January narrowed the list to 104 songs to go to a set of 5 semi-finals in February. From those, 22 artists were selected for the grand final on 25 February, held in San Marino, where the winner was chosen by jury panel.
Winning artist: Piqued Jacks
Song: Like an Animal
Serbia
A public selection, Pesma za Evroviziju 23, took place with two semi-finals followed by a final on 4 March. The songs can be seen on these YouTube playlists: semi-final 1 songs and semi-final 2 songs.
Winning artist: Luke Black
Song: Samo mi se spava
Slovenia
Slovenia had used the national selection show, EMA, since 1996, and had been expected to again this year, but then came a surprise announcement in December… For only the second time in their Eurovision history, Slovenia have internally selected their artist.
Selected artist: Joker Out
Song: Carpe Diem
Spain
Spain introduced a new national selection show, Benidorm Fest in 2002, and with the huge success of the show’s winning entry at the contest, Benidorm Fest 2023 was the second edition of the show. The 18 candidate artists were revealed in October with the competing songs released on 18 December. There were once again two-semi finals where the top 4 songs in each went to the final. Voting for all three shows was by public vote (25%), demographic panel (25%) and professional jury (50%).
Winning artist: Blanca Paloma
Song: Eaea
Sweden
As ever, Sweden’s Eurovision choice came from the ever popular Melodifestivalen (widely known as Melfest). There were some format changes this year with the removal of Andra Chansen, where the third and fourth placed songs in each of the four heats competed against each other in a series of duels. This year, it was a plain semi-final made up of the third and fourth place songs, and all songs were voted on together, with the top 4 going to join the winners and runners up of the four heats in the final. Several previous Melfest participants took part in 2023, including Eurovision winner from 2012, Loreen.
The four heats of Melodifestivalen 2023 took place between 4 and 25 February, the semi-final on 4 March and the final on 11 March.
Winning artist: Loreen
Song: Tattoo
Switzerland
Switzerland retained the selection method they have used (with success) since 2019 – although internal, the selection was made by two juries – one of twenty music professionals and the other made up of 100 Swiss TV viewers. There were several stages in the process, but the two juries were used throughout. The artist was announced on 20 February with the song released on 7 March.
Selected artist: Remo Forrer
Song: Watergun
Ukraine
Last year’s winners, despite the criminal attacks on their civilian infrastructure, held their usual national selection, Vidbir. The show was broadcast from the Maidan Nezalezhnosti metro station in Kyiv, that has acted as a bomb shelter and an impromptu TV studio. The show was remarkable as high quality and professional as we’ve come to expect from Ukraine when circumstances were very different. The show took place on 17 December and gave us the very first entry of Eurovision 2023.
Winning artist: Tvorchi
Song: Heart of Steel
United Kingdom
Having finished as runners up in 2022, the UK are taking on hosting duties on Ukraine’s behalf in 2023. The new approach to selecting the UK entry that was adopted in 2022 and led to the UK’s best result since 1998 will be continued for 2023. TaP Music once again helped the BBC in the search for the artist and song. They were revealed on 9 March.
Selected artist: Mae Muller
Song: I Wrote a Song
It’s beginning to look a lot like… Eurovision season!