Diversity through Music: A final “note” on the Eurovision Song Contest 2023
April 30, 2023
Back in the March 2023 issue, I wrote about the 67th Eurovision Song Contest, hosted this year in Liverpool, United Kingdom, on behalf of Ukraine. There have been some updates since the article was written, including the announcement of the running order for the two semi-finals and who the hosts are for the semi-finals on May 9 and 11, and the grand final on May 13!
Firstly, however, the contest could not happen without the support of the official partners and sponsors. Moroccanoil, a european hair care brand, returns as the official presenting partner, for the second year in a row, along with popular social media service, TIKTOK, marking their second year as the official entertainment partner. In a statement by Rich Waterworth, the General Operations Manager for Europe, he reaffirmed the connection between the two organizations, stating, “Entertainment is at the heart of TikTok, and we’re excited to partner with the Eurovision Song Contest once again to bring the magic of the world’s largest live music event to our community. We’ve seen Eurovision legends start their journeys on TikTok and Eurovision songs thrive on the platform well beyond the contest itself. We can’t wait to see what Eurovision 2023 has in store.”
Additionally, the hosting duties have been assigned for this year’s contest. Presenting the Grand Final on May 13 are Eurovision legend and United Kingdom commentator, Graham Norton (The Graham Norton Show), award-winning Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina, Emmy Award-winning actress Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso) and singer-songwriter Alesha Dixon. Presenting the semi-finals on May 9 and 11 will be Sanina, Waddingham and Dixon. Ukrainian broadcaster and host of the 2017 show in Kyiv, Timur Miroschnychenko will act as the Eurovision correspondent in Liverpool and, alongside Liverpool native, Sam Quek, will host the Opening Ceremony live-stream on Sunday, May 7.
Finally, the official song order of each of the semi-finals was released on March 22, during a live-stream on the official Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel. You can listen to them on the same YouTube channel listed above, or listen to the official Eurovision playlist on Spotify.