Under the slogan “United By Music”, Liverpool hosts the 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, with the first semifinal tonight.
British singer Alesha Dixon, British actor Hannah Waddingham and Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina will present the semifinals, with Irish television presenter Graham Norton joining for the final.
15 countries will perform in the opening night, but only 10 of them will have the chance to advance to the final. The first three countries to perform in the first semifinal are Norway, Malta and Serbia. According to bookmakers, Finland is this year’s favorite to win the contest.
Albania will perform in the second night of the semifinals. The country is represented by the Kelmendi Family and their song “Duje”. There will be 16 performances in the second night, and the same formula of the first semifinal will apply to decide which of them will have a chance at performing in the final.
France, Germany, Spain, Italy, United Kingdom are automatically qualified, as the five biggest contributors of the festival, joined by Ukraine, as the winner of the 2022 contest.
Kalush Orchestra and their song “Stefania” was voted the winner last year. However, Ukraine was deemed unable to meet the demands of hosting the event due to security concerns caused by the Russian invasion, so the contest is taking place in the United Kingdom.
