All the participants • First Semi-Final • Second Semi-Final • Grand Final

🇩🇰 Denmark • 🇦🇲 Armenia • 🇷🇴 Romania • 🇪🇪 Estonia • 🇧🇪 Belgium • 🇨🇾 Cyprus • 🇮🇸Iceland • 🇬🇷 Greece • 🇵🇱 Poland • 🇸🇮 Slovenia • 🇬🇪 Georgia • 🇸🇲 San Marino • 🇦🇹 Austria • 🇦🇱 Albania • 🇱🇹 Lithuania •  🇦🇺 Australia

🇩🇰 Denmark: Reiley – “Breaking my heart” (Bård Bonsaksen / Hilda Stenmalm / Rani Petersen / Sivert Hjeltnes Hagtvet – Bård Bonsaksen / Hilda Stenmalm / Rani Petersen / Sivert Hjeltnes Hagtvet)

• Selected entrant: Rani Petersen (born 24 November 1997), known professionally as Reiley, is a Faroese singer and social media influencer. He is scheduled to represent Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song “Breaking My Heart”.

Career. 

Melodi Grand Prix and Eurovision. Reiley was announced as one of the competitors of the Melodi Grand Prix 2023, the Danish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, with the song “Breaking My Heart”.^[4] However, he was at risk of disqualification from the competition after it was discovered that he performed the song at the “Slow Life Slow Live” festival in Seoul, South Korea in 2022, a violation of the competition’s rules.^[5] Despite this, it was later confirmed that he would not be disqualified and would compete.^[6] He later went on to win the competition and subsequently became the Danish representative. He is the first person from the Faroe Islands to represent Denmark at Eurovision.

Discography.

EP.

• BRB, Having an Identity Crisis (2021)

Singles.

• “Let It Ring” (2021)
• “Superman” (2021)
• “Blah Blah Blah”
• “Moonlight” with AB6IX (2022)
• “Breaking My Heart” (2023)

• Selected song: “Breaking My Heart” is a song by Faroese singer and social media influencer Reiley, released on 19 January 2023.^[2] The song is set to represent Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 after winning Dansk Melodi Grand Prix2023, the Danish national selection for that year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

Background. The song was written and composed by Rani Petersen with Norwegian Bård Mathias Bonsaksen, Sivert Hjeltnes Hagtvet and Swedish Hilda Stenmalm.According to

Reiley, the song was written during a “toxic” romantic relationship that Reiley had faced. In an interview with the Eurovision YouTube fan channel Eurovision Fantasia, Reiley reported that he knew that the person was not good for them, but had still wanted to keep coming back to them regardless. Reiley had put the song in a folder, and decided to make it into a song when he had heard of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2023.

Eurovision Song Contest. 

Melodi Grand Prix 2023. Melodi Grand Prix 2023 was the 53rd edition of Melodi Grand Prix, the music competition that selects Denmark’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The event was held on 11 February 2023.

The final took place over two rounds of voting. In the first round of voting, the top three will advance to the superfinal based on the votes of a public vote. In the second round, the top three entries will perform again and the winner will be determined by a 50/50 combination of jury and public vote. Heading into the final, “Breaking My Heart” was considered one of the favorites to win the competition, coming in second on a poll from Eurovision fan-site Wiwibloggs. At the end of the superfinal voting, it was revealed that “Breaking My Heart” had won the superfinal, earning 28% of the vote from juries and 15% of the vote from the Danish public for a combined percentage of 43%, winning by a margin of 11%, thus earning the Danish spot for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

At Eurovision. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Denmark has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 11 May 2023, and has been scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.

Charts.

Chart performance for “Breaking My Heart”

Chart (2023)	Peak position
Denmark (Tracklisten)	31

🇦🇲 Armenia: Brunette – “Future lover” (Brunette – Brunette)

• Selected entrant: Elen Yeremyan (Armenian: Էլեն Երեմյան, born 27 May 2001), known professionally as Brunette, is an Armenian singer-songwriter. She is set to represent Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song “Future Lover”.

Career. Brunette has been singing since the age of four and writing music since the age of fifteen.

Brunette released her debut single “Love the Way You Feel” at the age of 18 in collaboration with Nvak Foundation in September 2019. She later became a member of Project 12, a Yerevan-based musical collective performing at night clubs. Brunette is also a member of the girl group En aghjiknery (ThoseGirlz), which is known for the 2022 single “Menq”. In 2022, Brunette released the singles “Gisher”, “Smoke Break” and “Bac kapuyt achqerd”; the latter of the two went viral on social media.

On 1 February 2023, it was announced that Brunette was internally chosen to represent Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. Her Eurovision song “Future Lover” was released on 15 March 2023.

Discography. 

Singles.

List of singles as lead artist, showing year released and album name

Title	Year	Album
“Love the Way You Feel”	2019	Non-album singles
“Uzum em urishin”	2020
“Gisher”	2022
“Smoke Break”
“Bac kapuyt achqerd”
“Future Lover”	2023

• Selected song: “Future Lover” is a song by Armenian singer Brunette, released on 15 March 2023. The song is scheduled to represent Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 after Brunette was internally selected by the Public Television Company of Armenia (AMPTV), the Armenian national broadcaster for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Eurovision Song Contest. 

Internal selection. The Armenian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 was internally selected by AMPTV. On 25 January 2023, Armenian media reported that singer Brunette had been selected to represent the country with an R&B style song, though AMPTV did not comment. On 1 February 2023, AMPTV officially confirmed that Brunette would represent Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. The singer stated that “I am happy to share the news with you. I just create music, and this time I will share it with the European audience!”. Her Eurovision song “Future Lover” was released on Eurovision’s YouTube channel on 15 March 2023. It was released on major streaming platforms five days later.

At Eurovision. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top 10 countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held, which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, and determined which half of the show they would perform in. Armenia has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 11 May 2023, and has been scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.

🇷🇴 Romania: Theodor Andrei – “D.G.T. (Off and on)” (Luca De Mezzo / Luca Ştefan Udăţeanu / Mikail Jahed / Theodor-Octavian Andrei – Mikail Jahed / Theodor-Octavian Andrei)

• Selected entrant: Theodor Andrei (born 9 October 2004) is a Romanian singer. He will represent Romania at the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “D.G.T. (Off and On)”.

Biography. Theodor Andrei made himself known by participating in the 2017 talent show Vocea Romaniei Junior, the Romanian version of The Voice Kids, where he reached the semifinal. In 2020, he took part in the local version of The X Factor, where he stopped at bootcamps. His debut album, Fragil, was released in 2022.

In December 2022, Theodor Andrei was confirmed among the 12 participants in Selecția Națională 2023, a festival used to select the Romanian representative in the annual Eurovision Song Contest. D.G.T. (Off and On), his song for the competition, had already been released as a track on his album in collaboration with Luca Udățeanu; for the occasion, a 3-minute solo version was released, the maximum duration for a Eurovision piece. On 11 February 2023, the singer performed at Selecția Națională, where televoting chose him as the winner among the 12 proposals and national representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool.

Awards. In 2022, he received the Myosotis Award at Radar de Media Awards for the best creation of a singer-songwriter, for the song Artist.

Discography.

Albums.

Title	Information
Fragil	Released: 15 October 2022 Publisher: Selective Studio

Singles.

2017 – Young and Sweet
2018 – Și dacă azi zâmbesc
2019 – Stelele de pe cer
2019 – Nu te mira ca nu te place
2020 – Nu le place
2020 – Nu mai vreau sentimente (con Oana Velea)
2020 – Beatu’ asta fire
2020 – Crăciunul ăsta
2021 – Genul meu
2021 – Selectiv
2021 – Tatuaj
2022 – Ţigări mentolate (con Valentina)
2022 – Prigoria Teen Fest (con Shtrood)
2022 – D.G.T. (Off and On)

• Selected song: “D.G.T. (Off and On)” (Fingers) is a song by Romanian singer Theodor Andrei, released on 16 December 2022. The song was originally released as a 2022 song as part of an album with Romanian singer Luca Udățeanu on Andrei’s album, Fragil. After being remade as a solo-version made specifically to enter Selecția Națională2023, the Romanian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, the song would manage to win the competition, therefore earning the Romanian spot for that year’s contest.

Background. In interviews, Theodor Andrei expressed a desire to mix several musical genres that would both appeal to Romanians and foreign listeners, wanting to create a song that Romania had “never sent to the grand final.

Composition. Andrei describes “D.G.T. (Off and On)” as “a love story where reason is in conflict with instinct, where passion and safety duel.” The song speaks about the good and bad sides of falling in love, including passion, sex, maturity, lies, and other ideas closely related towards love. Andrei reportedly wrote the instrumental “out of boredom”, and with the help of friend Luca De Mezzo, would then write the pre-chorus of the song. It would take around one week for Andrei to complete the instrumental and the first verses of the song.

Eurovision Song Contest. 

Selecția Națională 2023. Selecția Națională 2023 was the national final format developed by TVR in order to select Romania’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 that was held on 11 February 2023, featuring 12 competing songs. At the end of the voting, the song was revealed to have won the competition, thus earning the Romanian spot for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

At Eurovision. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Romania has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 11 May 2023, and has been scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.

🇪🇪 Estonia: ALIKA – “Bridges” (Alika Milova / Nina Sampermans / Wouter Hardy – Alika Milova / Wouter Hardy)

• Selected entrant: Alika Milova (born 5 September 2002), known mononymously as Alika, is an Estonian singer of Russian descent from Narva. She is set to represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song “Bridges”.

Musical career. Milova made her name by participating in various singing competitions and television programs in Estonia and abroad since childhood, including The Baltic Voice, New Wave Junior, Kaunas Talent, Bravo Song Contest and Berlin Perle. She rose to prominence in 2021 with her victory at the eighth edition of the Estonian talent show Eesti otsib superstaari, which earned her a record deal with Universal Music Group.

On 1 November 2022, it was announced that she will participate in Eesti Laul 2023 with the song “Bridges”. She participated in Semi Final 2 and qualified for the final. On 11 February 2023, Milova performed in the final, where televoting chose her as the winner among the 12 participants and became their national representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool.

Personal life. Milova’s sister, Valeria Milova, is a professional dancer and has appeared on the Turkish and Irish versions of Dancing with the Stars.

Discography. 

Singles. 

• 2021 – “Õnnenumber“
• 2022 – “Bon Appetit“
• 2022 – “C’est La Vie“
• 2022 – “Bridges”

• Selected song: “Bridges” is a song by Estonian singer Alika Milova, released on 2 December 2022. The song is set to represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 after winning Eesti Laul 2023, Estonia’s national selection for that year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

Background and composition. In an interview with the Eurovision fansite ESCUnited, “Bridges” was inspired by a recording session that took place in the Netherlands along with fellow songwriter Wouter Hardy. According to Milova, she was feeling “some kind of anxiety”, and proceeded to cry in a nearby bathroom. Hardy would then propose to take Milova out for lunch to vent her anxiety out to Hardy. Although hesitant, she decided to take the offer and afterwards, decided to write some music on Hardy’s piano at his house, composing “Bridges” in the span of three hours.

To Milova, “Bridges” represented the feelings that she had felt during that day in the recording studio. The reason of why she had chosen the title “Bridges” was that she wanted listeners to communicate within themselves and with the others around them, even in a feeling where “[you are] lost in a big world, with a lot of people surrounding you.”

Eurovision Song Contest.

Eesti Laul 2023. Eesti Laul 2023 was the fifteenth edition of the Estonian national selection Eesti Laul, which would select Estonia’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. The competition would consist of twenty entries competing in two semi-finals on 12 and 14 January 2023 culminating to a twelve-song final on 11 February 2023.

“Bridges” would compete in the second semi-final on 14 January, competing last of all ten entries. The results of the semi-finals were determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a professional jury and public televoting for the first four qualifiers, and a second round of public televoting for the fifth qualifier. The public would also select two wildcards out of the remaining non-qualifying acts from both semi-finals to complete the twelve song lineup in the final. “Bridges” would manage to qualify as one of the four songs that qualified from the combination of votes from the juries and the public, moving onto the final.

Heading into the final, “Bridges” was considered one of the favorites to win the competition by Eurovision fansites. In the final, the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a jury (50%) and public televote (50%) determined the top three entries to proceed to the superfinal. After heading to the superfinal, “Bridges” was selected as the winner by a public televote, thus earning the Estonian spot for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

At Eurovision. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Estonia has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 11 May 2023, and has been scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.

🇧🇪 Belgium: Gustaph – “Because of you” (Gustaph / Jaouad Alloul – Gustaph / Jaouad Alloul)

• Selected entrant: Stef Caers (born 5 July 1980), known professionally as Gustaph (stylised as GVSTΛPH), is a Belgian singer-songwriter, producer and vocal coach. He is set to represent Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom with the song “Because of You”.

Biography. Caers was born on 5 July 1980 in Leuven, Flemish Brabant. He started his musical career while studying at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent, initially using the stage name Steffen. In 2000, he scored a hit with his debut single “Gonna Lose You”, which reached number 22 on the Flemish singles chart. He subsequently released a second single, titled “Sweetest Thing”.

Following these releases, Caers began focusing more on songwriting and producing. He also became active as a backing vocalist, providing backing vocals for, among others, Lady Linn and Willy Sommers. In the early 2010s, he joined the band Hercules and Love Affair as one of the lead vocalists.

Caers performed as a backing vocalist for Sennek at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 and for Hooverphonic at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. In addition to his career as a singer, he works as a vocal coach, and as a teacher at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) in Ghent.

In November 2022, Caers was announced as one of seven participants in Eurosong 2023, the Belgian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. His entry “Because of You” won the final on 14 January 2023 and is set to represent Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom.

Discography.

Singles.

As lead artist.

Title	Year	Peak chart positions	Album
		BEL (FL)
“Gonna Lose You”[a]	2000	22	Non-album singles
“Sweetest Thing”[a]		—[A]
“Same Thing”	2011	—
“Jaded”		—
“Second Coming” (with Adam Joseph)	2020	—
“Call” (with Lady Linn)	2022	—
“Because of You”	2023	3
“The Nail”		—

As featured artist

Title	Year	Peak chart positions	Album
		BEL (FL)
“Running” (Blende featuring Gustaph)	2014	—[B]	Non-album single

Notes.

• Selected song: “Because of You” is a song by Belgian singer Gustaph, released as a single on 13 January 2023. The song is scheduled to represent Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 after winning Eurosong 2023, Belgium’s national final for that year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

Background. In an interview with Eurovision fansite ESC Bubble, Gustaph compared both of his songs for Eurosong 2023, “The Nail” and “Because of You”. In the interview, he described both songs as a call for celebrating freedom and “the joy to be yourself”. Gustaph, who is a member of the LGBTQ+ community, said that his experiences of being in the community and wanting to be himself inspired both songs. However, he described “Because of You” as a lighter, “club anthem” song.

Eurovision Song Contest. 

Eurosong 2023. Eurosong 2023 was the national final that was used to select Belgium’s entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. The competition consisted of five pre-recorded songclub shows that were broadcast between 9 and 13 January 2023, followed by a live final on 14 January 2023 where the winning song and artist were selected.

Seven artists were sought to compete in Eurosong. In the five songclub shows, the show featured each artist presenting their two candidate Eurovision songs in front of the six other artists, who provided commentary and feedback on the songs. Based on the feedback, the artist selected one of the two songs to proceed to the final. Gustaph presented his two songs, “The Nail” and “Because of You” on 12 January and 13 January, respectively. On 13 January, Gustaph revealed that he had chosen “Because of You” to take to the final of Eurosong 2023.

Charts. 

Chart performance for “Because of You”

Chart (2023)	Peak position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)	3

🇨🇾 Cyprys: Andrew Lambrou – “Break a broken heart” (Jimmy Jansson / Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt / Marcus Winther-John / Thomas Stengaard – Jimmy Jansson / Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt / Marcus Winther-John / Thomas Stengaard)

• Selected entrant: Andrew Lambrou (Άντριου Λάμπρου, born 25 May 1998) is an Australian-Cypriot singer. He is scheduled to represent Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

Early life. Andrew Lambrou was born in 1998 to a Greek-Cypriot family. One of his grandfathers is from Paphos, Cyprus, while he also has roots from the island of Lemnos, Greece.

At age 5, Lambrou won first place in an eisteddfod held by the school, singing “Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound of Music. The same year, his mother enrolled him in music school, realising he had a musical inclination.

Career. 

2013–2020: Career beginnings and The X Factor. Lambrou first gained attention in 2013 after a uploading a cover of Evanescence’s “My Immortal” to YouTube. A 15-second cover of Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me” uploaded onto Instagram was shared by a music page in Spain and earned Lambrou over 2,000 followers overnight.

In 2015 Lambrou took part in the seventh season of The X Factor Australia. He was eliminated after the super home visits, just prior to the live shows, placing him in the top 20.

The X Factor performances and results (2015)
Episode	Song	Original Artist	Result
Audition	“Chains”	Nick Jonas	Through to bootcamp
Bootcamp and five seat challenge	“Ain’t Nobody”	Rufus & Chaka Khan	Through to super home visits
Super home visits	“Start Again”	Conrad Sewell	Eliminated

After years of posting his viral covers, Lambrou transitioned to writing music of his own building up his ever-growing fan base. He was noticed by Sony ATV and was signed by Maree Hamblion in 2017. This allowed Andrew to develop his own musical ability and collaborate with other artists.

2021–present: Eurovision – Australia Decides and Eurovision 2023. In early 2021, Lambrou signed with Sydney-based label City Pop Records and released his debut single “Throne”. In a feature, Australian Independent Record Labels Association called Throne, “a dark and compelling debut that sees the young singer-songwriter signalling his arrival as an up-and-coming pop heavyweight.”

In July 2021, Lambrou released “Lemonade” to which Lambrou said”] represents knowing that good is around the corner, and that the perfect person is out there for everyone.”

On 24 September 2021, Lambrou released his third single, “Confidence”. Speaking of the track, Lambrou said, “‘Confidence’ is about finding a new confidence in yourself when partnered with the right person. Sometimes that special someone can bring the best out of you, and when you both provide the same feeling for each other, it’s feels unmatchable”.

In February 2022, Lambrou competed in Eurovision – Australia Decides with the song “Electrify”. Lambrou said “The song wants to convey this ‘magical’ moment that you feel when you meet someone and ‘electrifies’ you, makes you believe that you have acquired super powers.” He earned 51 points and finished in 7th place.

On 17 October 2022, Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) announced that Lambrou would represent Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. In the same month, Lambrou signed with Panik Records, the leading label in both Greece and Cyprus, with whom the CyBC maintains an agreement for the Eurovision Song Contest entry and for future releases.

On 2 March 2023, Lambrou released his Eurovision entry, “Break a Broken Heart”.

Discography.

Singles.

List of singles as lead artist

Title	Year	Album
“Throne”	2021	Non-album singles
“Lemonade”
“Confidence”
“Electrify”	2022
“Break a Broken Heart”	2023

• Selected song: “Break a Broken Heart” is a song by Australian-Cypriot singer Andrew Lambrou, released on 2 March 2023. The song is set to represent Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 after being internally selected by CyBC, the Cypriot national broadcaster for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Background and composition. “Break a Broken Heart” was composed by a mix of Danish and Swedish songwriters, namely Jimmy Jansson, Jimmy “Joker” Thornfeldt, Marcus Winther-John, and Thomas Stengaard. The song was described as a ballad “about relationships that end with a broken heart but in the end they might very well push us to rise again from the ashes, even stronger.”

Release. The music video for the song was released on 2 March 2023 on Panik Records’ official YouTube channel. The release on digital platforms was released on the same day.

Eurovision Song Contest. 

Selection. The Cypriot broadcaster CyBC continued to internally select the Cypriot entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, in conjunction with Panik Records. On 17 October 2022, CyBC announced that they had selected Australian-Cypriot singer Andrew Lambrou to represent Cyprus in Liverpool. Lambrou had previously attempted to represent Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2022, placing seventh in the national final Eurovision – Australia Decides 2022 with the song “Electrify.”

At Eurovision. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held, which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, and determined which half of the show they would perform in. Cyprus has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 11 May 2023, and has been scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.

🇮🇸 Iceland: Diljá – “Power” (Diljá Pétursdóttir / Pálmi Ragnar Ásgeirsson – Diljá Pétursdóttir / Pálmi Ragnar Ásgeirsson)

• Selected entrant:  Diljá Pétursdóttir (born 2001), mostly known as Diljá, is an Icelandic singer. She is set to represent Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song “Power”.

Biography. Diljá made her name by participating in the talent show Ísland Got Talent in 2015. In 2020, she moved to Copenhagen, where she alternated her studies in physiotherapy with singing lessons.

In January 2023, Diljá was confirmed among the 10 participants in the annual Söngvakeppnin, a festival used to select the Icelandic representative in the Eurovision Song Contest. On 18 February, she presented her unreleased single Lifandi inni í mér during the first semi-final, and qualified for the final. At the final on 4 March, she presented the English-language Eurovision version of her song, Power. She went on to win the competition, beating Langi Seli og Skuggarnir in the superfinal, making her the Icelandic representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool. Lifandi inní mér reached the 11th position of the Icelandic chart, while Power was placed 29th.

Discography. 

Singles.

• 2023 – “Power”

• Selected song: “Power” is a 2023 song by Icelandic singer-songwriter Diljá Pétursdóttir. The song will represent Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 after winning Söngvakeppnin2023, the Icelandic national final for that year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

Release. The song was released on 28 January 2023, along with all other songs competing in Söngvakeppnin 2023.

Eurovision Song Contest. 

Söngvakeppnin 2023. Between 29 August and 4 October 2022, RÚV opened the period for interested songwriters to submit their entries. Songwriters did not have any particular requirement to meet, and the process was open to all. The broadcaster received 132 submissions at the closing of the deadline. The ten competing entries were revealed on 28 January 2023.

“Power” took place in the first semi-final out of two semi finals, the first one taking place on 18 February 2023. She performed the Icelandic version of the song called “Lifandi inni í mér“, as per contest rules that in the semi-finals, all competing entries were required to be performed in Icelandic. In each semi-final, five of the ten competing acts performed, and the two entries which were determined solely by the viewing public through telephone voting and the newly introduced RÚV Stjörnur app progressed to the final. As per the rules of the competition, an additional optional qualifier could be selected by the contest organisers from among the non-qualifying acts, which would also progress to the final. This option was subsequently invoked by the organisers, meaning that a total of five acts qualified for the final.

The final was held on 4 March 2023. In the first round featuring the five finalists, “Power” qualified as one of two finalists to move on to the final duel to become the winner of the contest. In the final round, “Power” emerged as the winner of Söngvakeppnin 2023, becoming Iceland’s representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

At Eurovision. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held, which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, and determined which half of the show they would perform in. Iceland has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 11 May 2023, and has been scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.

Charts.

Chart performance for “Power”

Chart (2023)	Peak position
Iceland (Plötutíðindi)	1

🇬🇷 Greece: Victor Vernicos – “What they say” (Victor Vernicos Jørgensen – Victor Vernicos Jørgensen)

• Selected entrant: Victor Vernicos Jørgensen (Βίκτορ Βερνίκος Γιούργκενσεν; born 23 October 2006) is a Greek-Danish singer and songwriter. He is set to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song “What They Say”.

Early life and career. Victor Vernicos was born in October 2006 in Athens to a Danish father and a Greek mother. He started piano lessons at the age of four, singing lessons at eight, and guitar lessons at ten. He started writing his own songs at the age of eleven, and has been producing his own music since 2021. In 2021, Vernicos first released a song that was written and produced entirely by himself.

In 2022, Vernicos announced that he had submitted a song to the Greek public broadcaster ERT to be considered as a possible entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 On 28 December 2022, it was revealed that his entry “What They Say” was among the seven shortlisted acts. He subsequently advanced to the final three candidates.

On 30 January 2023, it was announced by ERT that Vernicos had been selected to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. He is set to be the youngest artist to have represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Discography.

Singles.

• 2020 – “Apart”
• 2021 – “Fake Club”
• 2021 – “Hope It’s in Heaven”
• 2022 – “Youthful Eyes”
• 2022 – “Mean To”
• 2022 – “Out of This World”
• 2022 – “Brutally Honest with You”
• 2023 – “What They Say”

• Selected song: “What They Say” is a song by Greek-Danish singer Victor Vernicos, released on 12 March 2023. The song is scheduled to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 after Vernicos was internally selected by the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), the Greek national broadcaster for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Background. On an interview on Greek TV channel Skai TV, Vernicos reported that he had composed “What They Say” at the age of 14, producing the song by himself. Both Vernicos and his father both reported that they felt it was their favorite song that Vernicos had written to this point, and Vernicos eventually released the song by entering it as a potential candidate to represent Greece for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.^[4] The song was written during the COVID-19 lockdown, with Vernicos stating that it was the first time he found himself in a state of stress.

In a press statement given out by Panik Records, the record company Vernicos is signed with and with whom he released the song with, the song is meant to celebrate younger generations “who dare to dream and create despite difficulties.”

Eurovision Song Contest. 

Internal selection. On 26 August 2022, ERT opened a submission period where artists and composers were able to submit their proposals for consideration by the broadcaster until 9 October 2022. Seven entries were then shortlisted by a seven-member artistic committee and were announced on 28 December 2022. The seven acts were then evaluated by a public committee consisting of a total of 70 members randomly selected from 2,982 applications based on five age groups: 25 members in the 18 to 24 category, 20 members in the 25 to 34 category, 15 members in the 35 to 44 category and 10 members in the over 45 category. On 19 January 2023, ERT shortlisted three final songs from the seven, which was the outcome of the public committee vote, followed by a respective evaluation by the artistic committee.

The combination of votes from the public committee (50.6%) and the artistic committee (49.4%) then selected the Greek entry. Vernicos would earn 740 artistic committee votes and 509 public committee votes, earning a total of 1,249 votes, winning by a margin of 117 votes over second-place finisher Melissa Mantzoukis. As a result of winning, Vernicos is currently scheduled to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

At Eurovision. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top 10 countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held, which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, and determined which half of the show they would perform in. Greece has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 11 May 2023, and has been scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.

🇵🇱 Poland: BLANKA – “Solo” (Bartłomiej Rzeczycki / Blanka Stajkow / Maciej Puchalski / Marcin Górecki / Mikołaj Trybulec – Bartłomiej Rzeczycki / Blanka Stajkow / Maciej Puchalski / Marcin Górecki / Mikołaj Trybulec)

• Selected entrant: Blanka Stajkow (born 23 May 1999), known mononymously as Blanka, is a Polish singer and model. She is scheduled to represent Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song “Solo”.

Early life. Stajkow was born in Szczecin to a Polish mother who works as a model and a Bulgarian father who works as a rich businessman. According to Stajkow, neither of her parents have a musical background. Her mother encouraged her from an early age to try various activities, including joining disco dance groups and going to music schools. In an interview, Stajkow mentioned that during mornings, her mother would always turn on either MTV or Trace Urban, which encouraged her to go into the music industry.

At the age of 13, she made and released her first single, “Strong Enough”.

Career. 

Top Model and Warner Music Poland (2021–2022). In 2021, she participated in Top Model, a Polish reality television show.^[4] While on the show, she officially released her first official single, “Better”.^[5] The following year, she signed a contract with Warner Music Poland, and released her second single, “Solo”.

Eurovision Song Contest (2023). On 15 February 2023, Stajkow was announced as one of ten competitors to compete on Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję, the Polish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with her song “Solo”. She won the contest, receiving maximum points from the jury and coming second in public voting. As a result, she will represent Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. Her win sparked controversy due to alleged rigged votes and corruption allegations within the jury for the national selection.

Discography. 

Singles. 

As lead artist.

List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name

Title	Year	Peak chart positions		Album
		POL	POL Streaming
“Better”	2021	—	*	Non-album singles
“Solo”	2022	4	34
“—” denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory. “*” denotes the chart did not exist at that time.

Promotional singles

List of songs, showing year released and album name

Title	Year	Album
“All I Want for Christmas Is You”	2022	Non-album singles

• Selected song: “Solo” is a song by Polish singer and model Blanka, released on 23 September 2022. The song is set to represent Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 after winning Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję, Poland’s national final for that year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

Background and composition. According to Blanka, the song is about a relationship that is one-sided and a “sham”, where one loses “their head for someone” yet the other person in the relationship is “playing [with them].” The song represents her belief that “sometimes it’s worth being alone and that’s OK… we can get to know ourselves better and see that the other person may not be the best for us.”

Eurovision Song Contest.

Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję. Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję (“Here beats the heart of Europe! We choose the hit for Eurovision”) was the national final organised by TVP that selected the Polish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. The show will be held on 26 February 2023, with 10 artists and their songs competing. The winner was determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from a five-member professional jury and a public vote. In the event of a tie, the tie would be decided in favour of the jury.

On 15 February 2023, “Solo” was announced as one of the ten songs competing in the contest. Heading into the final, the song wasn’t considered a heavy favorite to win the contest, being beat out by what was considered the favorite according to a Eurovision fan-site poll, Jann’s “Gladiator”. In the final, the song would manage to score 22 points, earning 12 points from the juries and placing second in the public vote. As a result, the song is scheduled to represent Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

At Eurovision. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held, which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, and determined which half of the show they would perform in. Poland has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 11 May 2023, and has been scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

Controversy. The song’s win in Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję sparked controversy in Poland due to alleged rigged votes and corruption within the jury panel for the national selection.

Track listing. 

Charts. 

🇸🇮 Slovenia: Joker Out – “Carpe diem” (Bojan Cjetićanin – Bojan Cjetićanin / Jan Peteh / Jure Maček / Kris Guštin / Nace Jordan)

• Selected entrant: Joker Out are a Slovenian indie rock band. The band is set to represent Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song “Carpe Diem”.^[1] They were formed in 2016 and have released two albums.

Career.

2016–2021: Formation and Umazane misli. The group was formed in May 2016 after the breakup of Apokalipsa, which included Bojan Cvjetićanin, Martin Jurkovič, Matic Kovačič and Luka Škerlep. Three of them (Cvjetićanin, Jurkovič, and Kovačič) were joined by Kris Guštin and Jan Peteh from Buržuazija, and Joker Out was born. In November they released their first single “Kot srce, ki kri poganja”, for which they also recorded their first music video. On June 17, 2017, they became the winners of the 4th season (2016/17) of the Špil league (a competition for student musical groups and soloists). In November they released their second song “Omamljeno telo”.^[6][7] The group also performed at many festivals.

Their next single “Gola”, on which they first collaborated with producer Jaret Pak, was released on September 12, 2019. On November 2, they had their first completely independent concert, held at the Ljubljana Castle. “Gola” was followed by the fourth single “Vem, da greš” in March 2020, followed by “Umazane misli” (October 2020) and “A sem ti povedal” (July 2021). Jure Maček replaced drummer Matic Kovačič between the releases of “Umazane misli” and “A sem ti povedal”. The composition “Umazane misli” was chosen by the audience as the “New Slovenian composition of the last year” at the first edition of the festival Frišno/Fresh – The Day of New Slovenian Music, which took place on October 1, 2021.

Their first album Umazane misli was released in October 2021. It was originally supposed to be released in April 2020, but the release was postponed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was presented at two consecutive concerts on October 20 and 21, 2021 in Cvetličarna, both of which were sold out in 2020. The second concert was recorded by RTV Slovenia. In these two years, they received two Zlata piščal awards: in 2020 for “Newcomers of the Year”, and in 2021 for “Artists of the Year”.

2022–present: Demoni and Eurovision Song Contest. In April 2022, they released the music video for the last single from their first album “Barve Oceana”. On May 12, at the eighth edition of the Zlata piščal Awards, they were nominated for “Artist of the Year” for the second year in a row. On August 31, they released their second album Demoni, which was preceded by the song “Katrina”. They held a presentation concert for the album on September 9 in Ljubljana’s Križanke. On October 10, they announced on Instagram that bassist Martin Jurkovič was leaving the band to study abroad and was being replaced by Nace Jordan, a member of “Diamanti”, the house band of the “V petek zvečer” show. “Katrina” was followed at the end of October by “Demons”, their first Serbian-language single, which represents their first official release for the former Yugoslav market.

On 8 December 2022, RTV Slovenia announced that Joker Out will represent Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool. Recording for their Eurovision song took place within the month of December 2022 in a Hamburg, Germany studio over a 12-day period. The band stated that they wanted to keep the entire song in the Slovene language, saying: “we want to translate Slovenian into a universal language of dance and entertainment that all countries understand.” In January 2023, the band shot their music video in Slovenia’s capital Ljubljana, at the Grand Hotel Union.

On the same day that the band was announced to be internally selected by Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV Slovenija), the broadcaster announced that their song, later revealed to be titled “Carpe Diem”, would premiere on a special Eurovision broadcast on TV SLO 1 called Misija Liverpool on 4 February 2022, along with the Eurovision Song Contest premiering the music video on their YouTube channel. On 31 January, Joker Out was drawn to perform in the second half of the second semi-final on 11 May.

Band members.

Current members.

• Bojan Cvjetićanin (born 6/1/1999) – lead vocals (2016–present)
• Kris Guštin (born 16/1/2000) – guitar, backing vocals (2016–present)
• Jan Peteh (born 1/1/1999) – guitar, backing vocals (2016–present)
• Jure Maček (born 25/5/1996) – drums (2021–present)
• Nace Jordan (born 30/6/1994) – bass, backing vocals (2022–present)

Former members.

• Martin Jurkovič – bass (2016–2022)
• Matic Kovačič – drums (2016–2021)

Timeline.

Discography.

Albums.

Title	Details
Umazane misli	Released: 18 October 2021 Label: Self-released Formats: CD, Digital download, Streaming
Demoni	Released: 31 August 2022 Label: Self-released Formats: CD, Digital download, Streaming

Singles.

Title	Year	Peak chart positions	Album
		SLO
“Kot srce, ki kri poganja”	2016	—	—
“Omamljeno telo”	2017	—	Umazane misli
“Gola”	2019	—
“Vem, da greš”	2020	—
“Umazane misli”		—
“A sem ti povedal”	2021	—
“Barve oceana”	2022	—
“Katrina”		—	Demoni
“Demoni”		—
“Carpe Diem”	2023	—	—
“—” denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released.

Awards and nominations.

Award	Year	Category	Nominated work	Result
Zlata piščal (The Golden Whistle)	2020	Song of the Year	“Gola”	Nomination
		Newcomer of the Year	Joker Out	Won
	2021	Artist of the Year		Won
	2022	Artist of the Year		Won
		Song of the Year	“Umazane misli”	Nomination
			“A sem ti povedal”	Nomination
		Album of the Year	“Umazane misli”	Nomination
	2023	Artist of the Year	Joker Out	Pending
		Album of the Year	“Demoni”	Pending

• Selected song: “Carpe Diem” (Seize the day) is a song by Slovene pop rock band Joker Out, released on 4 February 2023. The song is scheduled to represent Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, after the band was internally selected on 8 December 2022 by Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV Slovenija), Slovenia’s broadcaster for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Production and release. Recording for the song took place within the month of December 2022 in a Hamburg, Germany studio over a 12-day period, according to an Instagram post that the band had posted. The band had stated that they had wanted to keep the entire song in the Slovene language, saying that “we want to translate Slovenian into a universal language of dance and entertainment that all countries understand.” In January 2023, the band would film their music video, shot in Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana at the Grand Hotel Union.

On the same day that the band had been announced to be internally selected by Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV Slovenija), the broadcaster would announce that the song would premiere on a special Eurovision broadcast on TV SLO 1 called Misija Liverpool on 4 February 2023, along with the Eurovision Song Contest premiering the music video on their YouTube channel.

Eurovision Song Contest. 

At Eurovision. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Slovenia has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 11 May 2023, and has been scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

🇬🇪 Georgia: Iru – “Echo” (Beni Kadagidze / Iru Khechanovi – George Kukhianidze)

• Selected entrant: Irina “Iru” Khechanovi (ირინა “ირუ” ხეჩანოვი; born 3 December 2000), also known mononymously as Iru (stylised in all caps), is a Georgian singer and songwriter. As a member of the girl group Candy, she won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song “Candy Music”. In 2023, she won the fifth season of The Voice Georgia, therefore winning the right to represent Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, to be held in Liverpool, United Kingdom.

Biography. Khechanovi was born on 3 December 2000 in Tbilisi. She is of Armenian descent. As a child, she took part in various singing competitions. In 2011, on her eleventh birthday, she represented Georgia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Yerevan, Armenia as a member of the girl group Candy. The group won the competition with 108 points.

In 2019, Khechanovi was a participant in Georgian Idol. In 2021, she released her debut solo single “No Jerk Around Me”.

In 2022, Khechanovi performed at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022 as part of a previous winners’ medley. She had also co-written the song “I Believe” by Mariam Bigvava, the Georgian entry for that year’s contest.^[3] The entry finished in third place.

Later that year, Khechanovi was a participant in the fifth season of The Voice Georgia. She went on to win the competition on 2 February 2023, thereby winning the right to represent Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. Her entry “Echo” was released on 16 March 2023, and she is set to perform in the second semi-final on 11 May 2023.

The Voice Georgia performances and results
Round	Song	Original artist	Result
Blind Auditions	“Never Enough”	Loren Allred	Joined Team Dato Porchkhidze
The Battles	“Leave the Door Open”	Silk Sonic	Advanced
Quarter-finals	“Smells Like Teen Spirit” / “Around The World”	Nirvana / Daft Punk	Advanced
Semi-final	“Rise Like a Phoenix”	Conchita Wurst	Advanced
Final	“Euphoria”	Loreen	Winner

Discography.

Singles.

• 2021 – “No Jerk Around Me”
• 2022 – “Not Like Today”
• 2022 – “Tu mama”
• 2023 – “Idea”
• 2023 – “Echo”

• Selected song: “Echo” is a song by Georgian singer Iru Khechanovi, released on 16 March 2023. The song is set to represent Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 after Khechanovi won the fifth season of The Voice Georgia, Georgia’s national selection to choose their artist for that year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

Eurovision Song Contest.

The Voice Georgia. The Georgian representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 was selected through the fifth season of The Voice Georgia, the Georgian version of the reality television singing competition format The Voice. The competition commenced on 8 December 2022 and concluded with a final on 2 February 2023.

In the final of the show, eight artists would compete, with Iru being drawn to perform last. Singing Loreen’s “Euphoria”, she would emerge victorious with a total of 21.88% of the televote. With the victory, she was selected to represent Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. “Echo”, however, was internally selected by Georgian Public Broadcasting (GPB) after Khechanovi had won the competition, and was announced to release on 16 March by GPB.

At Eurovision. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held, which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, and determined which half of the show they would perform in. Georgia has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 11 May 2023, and has been scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

🇸🇲 San Marino: Piqued Jacks – “Like an animal” (Andrea Lazzeretti / Francesco Bini / Marco Sgaramella / Tommaso Oliveri – Andrea Lazzeretti / Francesco Bini / Marco Sgaramella / Tommaso Oliveri)

• Selected entrant: The Piqued Jacks are an Italian rock band formed in 2006 in Buggiano, consisting of Andrea Lazzeretti, Francesco Bini, Tommaso Oliveri and Marco Sgaramella. They are set to represent San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song “Like an Animal”.

History. The Piqued Jacks were formed in 2006 in Buggiano, Tuscany, Italy.

In 2010 and 2011, the Piqued Jacks released their first two extended plays. In 2012, they worked with Los Angeles-based producer Brian Lanese on their third EP, titled Just a Machine, which was released in January 2013. In March 2014, they worked with Matt Noveskey on the singles “Upturned Perspectives” and “No Bazooka”. The band’s debut studio album Climb Like Ivy Does was released in 2015. An acoustic version of the album, titled Aerial Roots, was released in 2016.

In 2016, drummer Matteo Cugia left the band and was replaced Damiano Beritelli, who in turn was replaced by Tommaso Oliveri in 2017. In June 2018, the single “Wildly Shine” was released, which was pre-produced by Michael Beinhorn. Four months later, the band released their second studio album, The Living Past, which was produced by Dan Weller. In April 2019, guitarist Francesco Cugia was replaced by Marco Sgaramella.

In 2019, the Piqued Jacks won the award for the Rock category at Sanremo Rock.^[1] In May 2020, they became part of the MTV New Generation music container.^[2] In September 2020, the single “Safety Distance” was released, their first work with Brett Shaw. In March 2021, they released their third studio album Synchronizer, produced by Julian Emery, Brett Shaw and Dan Weller.

In 2023, the band participated in the second edition of Una voce per San Marino with their unpublished song “Like an Animal”. They went on to win the competition, and are therefore set to represent San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 held in Liverpool, United Kingdom.

Members.

Current members.

• Andrea “E-King” Lazzeretti (2006–present) – vocals, keyboards
• Francesco “littleladle” Bini (2006–present) – bass, backing vocals
• Tommaso “HolyHargot” Oliveri (2017–present) – drums
• Marco “Majic-o” Sgaramella (2019–present) – guitar, backing vocals

Former members.

• Francesco “Penguinsane” Cugia (2006–2019) – guitar
• Matteo “ThEd0g” Cugia (2006–2016) – drums
• Damiano Beritelli (2016–2017) – drums

Discography.

Studio albums.

• 2015 – Climb like Ivy Does
• 2016 – Aerial Roots
• 2018 – The Living Past
• 2021 – Synchronizer

Extended plays.

• 2010 – Momo the Monkey
• 2011 – Brotherhoods
• 2013 – Just a Machine

Singles.

• 2013 – “My Kite”
• 2013 – “Youphoric?!”
• 2013 – “Amusement Park”
• 2014 – “Upturned Perspectives’
• 2014 – “No Bazooka”
• 2015 – “Romantic Soldier”
• 2016 – “Shyest Kindred Spirit (Acoustic)”
• 2018 – “Eternal Ride of a Heartful Mind”
• 2018 – “Loner vs Lover”
• 2018 – “Wildly Shine”
• 2020 – “Safety Distance”
• 2020 – “Every Day Special”
• 2020 – “Golden Mine”
• 2021 – “Elephant”
• 2021 – “Mysterious Equations”
• 2021 – “Fire Brigade”
• 2022 – “Everything South”
• 2022 – “Particles”
• 2022 – “Sunflower”
• 2023 – “Like an Animal”

• Selected song: “Like an Animal” is a song by Italian alternative rock band Piqued Jacks, set to be released on 5 April 2023. The song is set to represent San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 after winning Una voce per San Marino, the Sammarinese national final for that year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

Eurovision Song Contest.

Una voce per San Marino. Una voce per San Marino was the national selection used by San Marino RTV (SMRTV), the Sammarinese broadcaster for the Eurovision Song Contest to select the Eurovision entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. A submission period was opened by SMRTV on 20 August 2022 for emerging artists and composers to submit their entries. Near the close of the submission period, SMRTV reported that they had received over 1,000 applications overall, out of which 299 were selected to take part in the emerging acts round. The emerging acts auditions took place during scheduled dates between 28 October 2022 and 27 January 2023. From 20 to 24 February 2022, a series of four semi-finals would decide the 22 acts that will move on to the final.

As an emerging artist, Piqued Jacks would audition to earn a spot in the semi-finals. On 20 February, they were announced as one of 104 artists that had made the cutoff for the semi-finals. “Like an Animal” was placed into the third semi-final, where it would perform last out of 23 songs in the semi-final. The song was voted to advance directly to the final.

In the final, the song was drawn to perform sixth in the final out of 21 entries. At the end of the show’s voting, it was revealed that the song had won, thus earning a spot as the Sammarinese representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

At Eurovision. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into five different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, and determined which half of the show they would perform in. San Marino was placed into the second semi-final, which will be held on 11 May 2023, and has been scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

🇦🇹 Austria: Teya & Salena – “Who the hell is Edgar?” (Pele Loriano / Ronald Janeček / Selina Maria Edbauer / Teodora Spiric – Pele Loriano / Ronald Janeček / Selina Maria Edbauer / Teodora Spiric)

• Selected entrant: 

• Teodora Špirić (Теодора Шпирић; born 12 April 2000), known professionally as Teya (stylised in all caps) and formerly as Thea Devy, is an Austrian singer and songwriter. She is set to represent Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 alongside Salena with the song “Who the Hell Is Edgar?”.

Biography. Teodora Špirić was born on 12 April 2000 in Vienna, Austria to Serbian parents. She spent part of her childhood in Kladovo, Serbia, but later returned to Vienna with her family. She has cited Adele and Amy Winehouse as her main artistic influences.

In 2018, Špirić released her debut single “Waiting For”. At the end of 2019, she applied to represent Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song “Judgement Day”. She was among the three shortlisted acts, but was not selected as the Austrian representative. She subsequently submitted the song to Beovizija 2020, the Serbian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, under the title “Sudnji dan“. The song had been translated into Serbian by Špirić’s parents. On 9 January 2020, it was announced that she was selected to participate in the competition. She qualified for the final, where she finished in tenth place with 4 points.

In 2021, Špirić was a participant in the fifth season of the Austrian talent show Starmania. She made it to the top eight contestants, but was eliminated before the final. Later that year, she released the single “Runaway (Stay)” with Croatian singer Ninski, using the stage name Teya.

On 31 January 2023, it was announced that Špirić had been selected to represent Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 together with Salena, whom she met during her participation in Starmania. Their entry, named “Who the Hell Is Edgar?”, was written at a songwriting camp in the Czech Republic and was released on 8 March 2023.

Discography.

Singles.

• 2018 – “Waiting For”
• 2018 – “What Christmas Is About”
• 2018 – “Collide”
• 2020 – “Sudnji dan“
• 2021 – “Runaway (Stay)” (Ninski featuring Teya)
• 2022 – “Ex Me”
• 2022 – “Mirror Mirror” (with Truu)
• 2022 – “Criminal” (with Bermuda and DJ Spicy)
• 2023 – “Who the Hell Is Edgar?” (with Salena)

• Selina-Maria Edbauer (born 11 March 1998), known professionally as Salena, is an Austrian singer and songwriter. She is set to represent Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 alongside Teya with the song “Who the Hell Is Edgar?”.

Biography. Selina-Maria Edbauer was born in 1998 in Leoben, Styria.

In 2017, Salena participated in the seventh season of The Voice of Germany, where she reached the dueling rounds. In the show, Samu Haber was her coach. In 2019, she attempted represent Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest with her song “Behind the Waterfall”, but ORF did not select her. In 2021, she competed in the Austrian talent show Starmania, where she reached the top 32.

On 31 January 2023, it was announced that Salena had been selected to represent Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 together with Teya, whom she met during her participation in Starmania. Their entry, named “Who the Hell Is Edgar?”, was written at a songwriting camp in the Czech Republic and was released on 8 March 2023.

Discography.

Singles.

As lead artist.

• 2019 – “Pretty Imperfection”
• 2023 – “Who the Hell Is Edgar?” (with Teya)

As featured artist.

• 2020 – “Lying Still” (J.K. feat. Salena)
• 2021 – “Walking On Clouds ” (7YFN feat. Salena)

• Selected song: “Who the Hell Is Edgar?” is a song by Austrian singers Teya and Salena, released on 8 March 2023. The song is set to represent Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 after it was internally selected by ORF, the Austrian broadcaster for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Eurovision Song Contest.

Internal selection. On 31 January 2023, ORF announced during the radio show Ö3-Wecker, aired on Ö3, that they had internally selected Teya and Salena to represent Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with a song written by the singers themselves at a songwriting camp in the Czech Republic.

On 7 March, both artists announced that the title of their entry was “Who the Hell Is Edgar?”, a reference to American writer and literary critic Edgar Allan Poe.

At Eurovision. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held, which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, and determined which half of the show they would perform in. Austria has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 11 May 2023, and has been scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

🇦🇱 Albania: Albina & Familja Kelmendi – “Duje” (Eriona Rushiti – Enis Mullaj)

• Selected entrant: Albina Kelmendi (born 27 January 1998) is a Kosovo-Albanian singer and songwriter. She rose to fame after placing as the runner-up on the fourth series of The Voice of Albania in 2014. Kelmendi and her family are set to represent Albania at Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song Duje.

Early life. Albina Kelmendi was born in Pejë, Kosovo (then part of FR Yugoslavia). She studied clarinet and piano at the Halit Kasapolli music school in her hometown, and started performing together with her family under the name Family Band.

Career. 

2014–2021: The Voice of Albania and Top Fest. In 2014, she auditioned for the fourth series of The Voice of Albania. After getting chair turns from all four coaches, she joined Team Elsa. She finished as the runner-up of the season.

The Voice of Albania performances

Round	Song	Original artist(s)	Notes
Blind auditions	“Something’s Got a Hold on Me”	Etta James	Four-chair turn, joined Team Elsa
Battle	“Run Baby Run”	Sheryl Crow	Won against Nilsa Hysi
Knock Out	“Suus”	Rona Nishliu	Won against Xhejni Memlikaj
Live shows	“Tomlin e nanës”	Jericho
	“Serenata e Shubertit”	Frederik Ndoci
	“All for Love”	Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, Sting	With Team Elsa
Semi-final	“It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World”	James Brown
Final	“Zgjohu”	Jericho
	“Unchain My Heart”	Ray Charles
	“Tomlin e nanës”	Jericho	With Jericho

The following year, she took part in the twelfth edition of Top Fest, where she presented the song “Nuk ka ma mire”.

2022–present: Nana loke, Festivali i Këngës, and Eurovision Song Contest. In June 2022, Albina Kelmendi released her debut album, Nana loke. In December of the same year, she and five members of her family took part in the Festivali i Këngës 61 as Albina & Familja Kelmendi, where they presented the song “Duje”. While coming in second place on the final night, the result of which was decided by a jury, the public vote chose her as the Albanian representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom.

Discography.

Studio albums.

List of studio albums with album details

Title	Album details
Nana loke	Released: 25 June 2022 Label: Fole Publishing

Singles.

As lead artist.

List of singles as lead artist, showing year released and album name

Title	Year	Album
“Ëndrrën mos ma merr”	2015	Non-album singles
“Hera e parë”	2016
“Denim” (with Sinan Vllasaliu)	2018
“Shko”	2020
“Një takim” (with Taulant Bajraliu)
“Ishim”
“Mos më lini vet”
“Ta fali zemra”
“Vjet e mija po kalojn”
“Hallakam” (with Labinot Tahiri)
“Ç’ka don tash prej meje” (with Ymer Bajrami)
“Mirazh”	2021
“Kur ta ktheva Kosovë shpinën”
“Vullkan”
“Zot mos e bo”
“E kom prej teje”
“Pa mu”
“Çikë e bukur”
“Moj e mira te pojata”
“Jetoj me shpresë”	2022
“Nanë moj kom gabu”
“Sytë e tu”
“Duje”[a]

Annotations.

• ^ The political status of Kosovo is disputed. Having unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, Kosovo is formally recognised as an independent state by 101 out of 193 (52.3%) UN member states (with another 13 recognising it at some point but then withdrawing their recognition), while Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own territory.

• Selected song: “Duje” (Love it) is a song by Kosovo-Albanian singer Albina Kelmendi and five members of her family, released on 19 December 2022.^[1] The song is scheduled to represent Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 after winning the televote of Festivali i Këngës 61, Albania’s selection for that year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

Eurovision Song Contest.

Festivali i Këngës 61. The 61st edition of Festivali i Këngës was organised by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) in order to determine Albania’s representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. In early September 2022 it was reported that RTSH had decided to select the winner of the festival using a system containing a public vote. On 28 October 2022, the voting system of Festivali i Këngës was confirmed: the top 3 and two prizes would be, as usual, selected by the jury, but the winner of the festival would not receive an official invitation to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, as in the previous years. Instead, the Albanian Eurovision representative will be selected by a separate televoting system.

“Duje” competed in the first semi-final of that year’s contest. As Albina was considered an Established artist, she would automatically move onto the final of the contest. Heading into the final, the song was a fan favorite to win the televoting, winning fan polls on Eurovision fansites Wiwibloggs and ESCUnited. In the final, “Duje” would come second in the jury voting, being beaten by Elsa Lila’s song, “Evita” as the overall winner of Festivali i Këngës 61. However, “Duje” would come first overall in the televote, earning the Albanian spot for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

At Eurovision. According to Eurovision rules, all participating countries, with the exception of the host nation and the “Big Five”, consisting of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final.

🇱🇹 Lituania: Monika Linkytė – “Stay” (Krists Indrišonoks / Monika Linkytė – Krists Indrišonoks / Monika Linkytė)

• Selected entrant: Monika Linkytė (born 3 June 1992) is a Lithuanian singer and songwriter. She represented Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 along with Vaidas Baumila with the song “This Time”, placing 18th. She also represented Lithuania in the New Wave 2014 competition and was a finalist on season two of Lietuvos Balsas. She will represent Lithuania again in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song “Stay”.

Linkytė has previously attempted to represent Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2007.

Early life and education. Linkytė was born on 3 June 1992 in Gargždai. After completing gymnasium, she moved to Vilnius to attend Vilnius University, studying public health, but left after three semesters. In 2014, she began studying law at Vilnius University, but in 2016 left to study music education at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute in London.

Career. In 2007, Linkytė competed in the Lithuanian national selection for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007 when she was 15 years old. She later returned to Eurovision in 2010 when she competed in Eurovizija 2010 with the song “Give Away”. She qualified from the first semi-final and placed tenth in the final. Subsequently, she competed in Eurovizija 2011 and 2012, placing fourth and third in the finals with the songs “Days Go By” and “Happy”, respectively. She went on to place second on the second season of Lietuvos Balsas, the Lithuanian version of The Voice.

After the Eurovizija national final was scrapped in favor of Eurovizijos Atranka 2013, Linkytė continued to take part, competing with the song “Baby Boy”, written by Sasha Son. She was forced to withdraw from the competition following the second semi-final due to contracting laryngitis. The next year, she competed in Eurovizijos Atranka 2014 and placed fourth. Afterwards, she represented Lithuania in the New Wave 2014 competition, placing fourth. The following year, she competed in Eurovizijos Atranka 2015 and also submitted the self-penned song “Skęstu” to the competition. While the song was eliminated during the sixth show, she went on to win the competition performing the song “This Time” with Vaidas Baumila. Linkytė and Baumila went on to represent Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Vienna, where they qualified from the second semi-final in seventh place, and went on to place 18th in the final.

After Eurovision, Linkytė released the single “Po dangum”, which went on to be certified platinum in Lithuania. Her debut studio album Walk with Me was released on 17 September 2015, and was also certified platinum. She went on to win Best Album for Walk with Me, Best Song for “Po dangum”, and Best Female Act at the 2015 M.A.M.A. Awards, the largest music awards ceremony in Lithuania. She was nominated for Best Female Act once again at the 2016 awards.

Discography.

Studio albums. 

Title	Details	Certification
Walk with Me	Released: 17 September 2015 Label: Gyva Muzika Format: Digital download, CD	LIT: Platinum

Extended plays.

• Old Love (2018)

Singles.

Title	Year	Peak chart positions		Certification	Album
		AUT	LIT
“Give Away”	2010	—	—		Non-album singles
“Days Go By”	2011	—	—
“Happy”	2012	—	—
“Baby Boy”	2013	—	—
“Skęstu”	2014	—	—		Walk with Me
“This Time” (with Vaidas Baumila)	2015	59	—
“Po dangum”		—	—	LIT: Platinum
Žodžių nereikia”		—	—
“Krentu žemyn”	2016	—	—
“Padovanojau”		—	—	LIT: Gold	Non-album singles
“Šviesõs”		—	—
“Prisimink mane”		—	—
“Leisk man pasiklyst”	2017	—	—
“Gal tai meilė?”		—	—
“O tu?”	2018	—	—
“Šilkas”	2020	—	—
“Visada šalia”		—	—
“Degtukas”	2022	—	—
“Stay”	2023	—	5

Awards and nominations:

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref
2015	M.A.M.A Awards	Best Pop Act	—	Nominated	–
		Best Album	Walk with Me	Won
		Best Song	Po dangum	Won
		Best Female Act	—	Won
2016		Best Female Act	—	Nominated	–

• Selected song: “Stay”, also known as “Stay – Čiūto tūto”, is a song by Lithuanian singer Monika Linkytė, released on 14 February 2023. The song is set to represent Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 after winning Pabandom iš naujo! 2023, Lithuania’s national selection for that year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

Background and composition. In press statements given out to Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT), Monika reported that she, along with Latvian songwriter Chris Noah, had written “Stay” during an unplanned writing session. According to Monika, she wanted to write about “how important it is to pause and come back to yourself.” Some lines in the song relate to Lithuanian folk sutras, speaking about a yearning for hearing the voice of “our heart more and more.”

Eurovision Song Contest.

Pabandom iš naujo! 2023. Pabandom iš naujo! 2023 (“Let’s try again! 2023”) is the national final format developed by LRT in order to select Lithuania’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. For the 2023 competition, two heats consisting of fifteen entries each were held on 21 and 28, January where five entries from each heat were eliminated, while the remaining twenty entries participated in the competition’s two semi-finals, taking place on 4 and 11 February. In each semi-final, ten entries participated and the top five proceeded to the final. In the final, the winner would be selected from the remaining ten entries. The results of each of the six shows were determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and public televoting.

“Stay” was chosen to compete in the second heat, qualifying by finishing second out of 15 entries in the heat. In the second semi-final, the song performed fifth, finishing third, and qualifying for the grand final of the contest. In the final, the song received 12 points from the juries and 10 points from televoting, earning a total of 22 points. The song tied with Rūta Mur’s song “So Low”; however, as “Stay” managed to earn a higher jury score, it won the competition and the Lithuanian spot for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

At Eurovision. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held, which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, and determined which half of the show they would perform in. Lithuania has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 11 May 2023, and has been scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

Charts.

Chart performance for “Stay”

Chart (2023)	Peak position
Lithuania (AGATA)	5

🇦🇺 Australia: Voyager – “Promise” (Daniel Estrin – Alex Canion / Ashley Doodkorte / Daniel Estrin / Scott Kay /Simone Dow)

• Selected entrant: Voyager is a progressive metal band from Perth, Western Australia, formed in 1999. The band has released seven full-length albums. Their seventh full-length studio album, Colours in the Sun, was released worldwide on 1 November 2019 on the French American metal record label Season of Mist. They will represent Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song “Promise”.

History. 

1999–2003: Formation and Element V. Voyager formed in 1999 at the University of Western Australia by Daniel Estrin, Mark Baker, and Adam Lovkis. The band saw a few lineup changes before recording the album Element V in 2003 with Aidan Barton at Sovereign Studios, Willetton, Western Australia. The lineup for Element V consisted of Daniel Estrin (keyboards, vocals), Mark De Vattimo (guitar), Jennah Graieg (bass), Geoff Callaghan (drums) and Emanuel Rudnicki (guitar), in 2002.

The album Element V was released in Australia in 2003, and then picked up by Dutch label DVS Records and released in Europe the following year. Japanese label Woodbell/Experience licensed the album for Japanese distribution in the same year and released it with a bonus track, “Now and Forever”.

Voyager’s popularity increased rapidly following the European release of Element V and the band secured its first major support, opening for Steve Vai in Perth in July 2004.

After the release of Element V, Melissa Fiocco replaced Jennah on bass. Voyager performed at Melbourne’s Corner Hotel in late 2005 as part of a Screaming Symphony radio benefit concert, playing for the first time out of their home state of Western Australia. Towards the end of 2006, Emanuel and Geoff departed the band and were replaced by Simone Dow and Mark Boeijen respectively, just prior to the recording of the follow up album, uniVers.

2006–2007: UniVers and ProgPower Europe. In early 2006, Voyager entered Sovereign studios to record “uniVers”, with Boeijen and Dow as firm members of the band. Voyager shot a video clip to the radio edit version of the song “Sober” and released this as a limited edition single in 2006.

The band performed at the ProgPower Europe Festival in the Netherlands in 2006 and received positive responses from the media. As a result of this performance, Voyager were invited to ProgPower UK in 2008. In late 2006, Voyager were due to perform with Nevermore, whose Perth leg of the show was ultimately cancelled. Voyager were also due to support Yngwie Malmsteen following their return from the first European Tour, but were struck from the show at the last minute because Malmsteen did not want any support acts for his Australian tour.

In early 2007, DVS Records announced its closure and Voyager had no label to release their album uniVers, which was fully recorded at that stage.

In October 2007, the band signed to German label Dockyard 1 Records in Hamburg, who released uniVers worldwide,^[10] with the USA receiving the album for distribution in January 2008 through Locomotive Records. uniVers received critical acclaim throughout the world, being voted album of the month by Belgium’s Mindview magazine and album of the week in Finland’s Imperiumi magazine. It was named as #7 of the Full Metal Racket albums of 2007 by Australia’s national alternative broadcasting station Triple J. The band was nominated in the Top 10 of the MusicOz Awards.

The band parted ways with bass player Melissa Fiocco shortly after the release of uniVers, a split which was not without controversy. Fiocco was replaced by Alex Canion, who was 18 years old. Shortly after Canion’s first appearance with Voyager in Perth, Western Australia, the band embarked on a mini-tour to Sydney and Melbourne with labelmates Eyefear, to promote uniVers.

In January 2008, Voyager performed with Nightwish in Perth. The band’s scheduled Australian tour with Toto in March 2008 was cancelled, apparently due to Toto’s stage requirements. In late February 2008, ProgPower UK was also cancelled due to poor ticket sales.

Voyager indicated that they would continue their European tour of Denmark, Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland in spite of the cancellation. Their tour included a performance with 1980s arena rock band House of Lords at the Ballroom Hamburg.

In June 2008, guitarist Mark De Vattimo quit Voyager due to personal and professional differences.

Voyager performed together with Queensrÿche in August 2009 and with Deathstars from Sweden in September 2009.

2009–2011: I Am the Revolution. After recording new songs with Adam Round at Kingdom Studios in Maylands, Western Australia and having the tracks mastered by Sterling Sound in New York City, Voyager released their album I Am the ReVolution on 20 September 2009 through Dockyard 1 Records in Germany and Riot Entertainment in Australia. The album was immediately received with critical acclaim, including the popular Vampster website, although some critics were skeptical about the band’s strong melodic influences and their “pop” sound.

The album was named album of the week by Romania’s MetalFan website^[19] and the song “Total Existence Failure” picked up the Song of the Year from the West Australian Music Industry Awards.

Voyager released a new video for the song “The Devil in Me” in October 2009.

In 2010, Voyager was nominated three times as a top 10 finalist at the Australian MusicOz Awards for “Lost”, “The Devil in Me” and the video for the latter. The band also picked up a nomination for 2010 WAMI “Best hard rock/metal act” presented by the West Australian Music Industry.

Chris Hanssen and Voyager parted ways in 2010, with Scott Kay taking over guitar duties. Kay’s first tour was with Scottish pirate metal band Alestorm in May 2011, during which the band received critical acclaim.

2011–2013: The Meaning of I. After recording new songs in April/May 2011, Voyager signed a deal with New Jersey-based label Sensory. In October 2011 the band released The Meaning of I. The album is the first to feature new guitarist Scott Kay and the last to feature Mark Boeijen on drums who left shortly after the recording to focus on his family. The album features guest vocal performances by DC Cooper (Royal Hunt) and Daniel Tompkins (Tesseract, ex-Skyharbor). It was released worldwide on 11 October 2011, but was released early in the US at the ProgPower festival in September 2011.

Voyager were also announced for a show with Creation’s End in Brooklyn on 11 September 2011. After returning from the US, Voyager toured with popular Finnish metal band Children of Bodom.

Voyager was one of the opening bands for Epica when they played in Perth on 23 April 2013.

2013–2017: V. At the end of 2013, Voyager unveiled a crowdfunding campaign for their album V and unveiled clips of pre-production recordings of new songs. The campaign’s goal was reached within three days of its launch. “Breaking Down” was the first single from the album.

In May 2015, Voyager toured nationally, supported by French progressive rock band Klone. They returned to North America in September for the US ProgPower event and a national tour.

2017–2019: Ghost Mile.  Ghost Mile was released on 12 May 2017.

2019–present: Colours in the Sun and Eurovision Song Contest. On September 21, 2018 Voyager performed at the o2 Indigo, London, UK as part of the European Space Agency’s Space Rocks exhibition/concert, giving them the chance to play “Colours” and “Brightstar” from the forthcoming album. They also performed at the 229 the following evening as part of a short seven date European tour.

Voyager were shortlisted to the Australian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with “Runaway”, but were ultimately not chosen as one of the ten acts to compete in the final of the selection.

The band were selected to take part in the Australian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, Eurovision – Australia Decides, in 2022. They placed second with “Dreamer”. Following its performance on Eurovision – Australia Decides, “Dreamer” debuted at number 6 on the Australian Independent Label Singles chart.

On 21 February 2023, it was announced that Voyager were internally selected to represent Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song “Promise”. The band is the first group to represent the country. “Promise” debuted at number 3 on the Australian Independent Label Singles chart.

Band members. 

Timeline.

Endorsements. The following members of Voyager currently have instrument endorsements:

• Danny – KORG/Musiclink Australia, DSL straps
• Simone – Mesa Boogie, Music Man Guitars, Ernie Ball strings
• Scott – Mayones Guitars, Ernie Ball strings
• Alex – David Eden amps, Ernie Ball strings, Mayones Bass guitars
• Ashley Doodkorte – Tama drums, Sabian cymbals

Discography.

Studio albums.

Title	Album details
Element V	Release date: 2003 Label: V Music (VM 1X6V)
UniVers	Release date: 2007 Label: Dockyard1 (DY100572)
I Am the Revolution	Release date: 2009 Label: Riot! Entertainment (RIOT050CD)
The Meaning of I	Release date: 2011 Label: Riot! Entertainment (RIOTCD081)
V	Release date: 2013 Label: Iav Records (IAV1401)
Ghost Mile	Release date: 2017 Label: Iav Records (IAV1701)
Colours in the Sun	Release date: 2019 Label: Season of Mist (SOM 533D)

• Selected song: “Promise” is a song by Australian progressive rock band Voyager, released on 21 February 2023. The song is scheduled to represent Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 after the band was internally selected by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), Australia’s broadcaster for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Eurovision Song Contest.

Internal selection. On 14 November 2022, the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) announced that it would internally select the Australian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, foregoing the Eurovision – Australia Decides selection show the broadcaster had organised since 2019.

On 20 February 2023, SBS prepared a premiere for the official release of the song and the music video the following day, along with the artist reveal, which was later confirmed to be Voyager with “Promise”.

At Eurovision. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the “Big Five” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held, which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, and determined which half of the show they would perform in. Australia has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 11 May 2023, and has been scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

Charts. 

Chart performance for “Promise”

Chart (2023)	Peak position
Australia Independent (AIR)	3