Did you stay up until midnight to hear the bells ring in New Year? Of course, I don’t mean in January – heck, that’s a distant memory by now! No, in September?
It’s time to dig out your diaries folks!
The Countdown Is Now (And Has Been Ticking For A While)
Any song that has been released since September 1st, Eurovision New Year, is eligible to participate in the contest. This means several delegations will have been in full swing beginning to organise their plans for the upcoming contest. Of course, it is November now and all we have is one artist, broadcasters aren’t exactly rushing to reveal their hands just yet but that chaos is coming! As the days get darker and colder, the warmth that is our over-excitement for a random televised song contest, is kindling.
Out Of The Embers
As Jérémie Makiese gets ready to fly the Belgian flag in May, other broadcasters of course have been making smaller announcements as to what exactly their plans are to elevate their performance. Many of the usual national finals are back – I will aim to consolidate a list of what is going on, some time soon – and Armenia and Montenegro are returning too. With most of the 2020 artists having had their shot of course, we can expect significantly more new artists to look forward to in the coming years,
First Songs?
For those of you who just want music, the wait also isn’t that long. Without even mentioning the upcoming Junior Eurovision contest, the dates for Festivali i Këngës 60 are out. This annual music contest has been consistently used to pick the Albanian Eurovision entry and this year will be no exception. Running from the 27th-29th of December, right amongst many festivities we will hear what is likely the first song of Eurovision 2022. It’s little more than a month away – but don’t panic, there’s time to prepare! It is exhilarating though that little by little our Eurovision diaries are getting filled!
Dates, Dates, Dates!
Alongside the stack of national final dates to organise, the contest itself now has a date. If you were planning on going to Eurovision, you might want to start thinking about how you will get and to Turin on the 10th, 12th and/or 14th May. If you are exceptionally brave you may well even want to check hotel prices! These will all inevitably fluctuate (and ticket availability and cost is yet another factor) but at least we have a concrete date now for those who are wishing to plan out a Magical Rendezvous of a Eurovision adventure.
Stream ABBA – Need I Say More
One group who’s songs are technically within the eligible date range to do Eurovision is ABBA. The iconic Eurovision winner’s broke their 40 year hiatus to release a truly nostalgic album Voyage! Please give the legends the streams (and sales) they deserve. There is no way in a month of Sunday’s they will be doing Eurovision but it’s still noteworthy enough to mention!
Europe Start Voting Now
And just when you thought you couldn’t get busy enough over the festive season, Eurovision inevitably has another present for you! As the Gregorian Calendar’s actual (we must confess) new year rolls in, it has become somewhat of a tradition amongst Eurofans to see in the year with Eurovision music. Of course, I am but talking about ESC250, Songfestival.be & ESC Radio‘s collaboration to celebrate the world’s top 250 Eurovision songs. If you want to have a say on that matter – you can! Voting has opened today and can be found at this link. Go on over and support a fellow fansite!
#ESC250
The annual question of whether Loreen will maintain her crown, that’s she held for frankly an eternity at this point will once again be answered on ESC Radio at the New Year. Favourites to take that very top spot away from her will of course be the likes of this years Eurovision winners Måneskin but will their fandom show up to vote?
Personally, I am Beggin‘ (yup its a terrible joke) you all to get Un Banc, Un Arbre, Une Rue back on the playlist but we will all see what happens. It’s going to be an exciting end to yet another strange year and whatever unexpected random songs make the list will only add to the excitement.
Is This A Weekly Round-Up?
What??? And yeah things have been calmer in the ESC world so I have done these a little less frequently of late. Needless to say though when winter comes to an end and Eurovision really becomes a full time hobby, the frequency will increase again.
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