Eurovision 2023 Facts & Figures Written by Samantha Ross on May 9, 2023 | 1 Comment

Who’ll be performing:

(37 countries in total, three fewer than 2022 following the withdrawals of Bulgaria, Montenegro, and North Macedonia)

• Solo Female (13): Armenia, Estonia, France, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
• Solo Male (10): Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Switzerland
• Duos (4): Austria, Azerbaijan, the Netherlands, Ukraine
• Groups and Collaborations (10): Albania, Australia, Croatia, Czechia, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Malta, San Marino, Slovenia

How they were chosen:

• National Final (25): Albania, Belgium, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy*, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine
  (*- The winner of Italy’s San Remo Festival is given first right of refusal for the ticket to Eurovision. This year, the winner accepted the invitation.)
• Partial National Final (1): Georgia
  (Georgia’s singer was selected through The Voice of Georgia, but her song was internally composed for her.)
• Internal Selection (11): Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, France, Greece, Israel, the Netherlands, Switzerland, United Kingdom

What language will the song be performed in?

• English (19): Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, San Marino, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
• Primarily in English, a few words or phrases in other languages (4): Austria, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania
• No English (9): Albania, Croatia, Finland, France, Italy, Portugal, Moldova, Slovenia, Spain
• Bilingual/Multilingual (5): Armenia, Czechia, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine

How many have had previous involvement with Eurovision?

• Belgium: Gustaph has worked as a backing vocalist for both Sennek in 2018 and Hooverphonic in 2021.
• Italy: Marco Mengoni returns to Eurovision after his 2013 entry with L’essenziale, which came in seventh place.
• Lithuania: Returning to Eurovision as a soloist, Monika Linkytė came in 18th place with the song This Time, a duet with Vaidas Baumila.
• Moldova: Pasha Parfeni represented Moldova in 2012 with the eleventh-placed song Lăutar, and returned the following year as a songwriter and backing singer for Aliona Moon.
• Serbia: Luke Black has not been to Eurovision before, but he did write the English language lyrics to Serbia’s 2018 entry Nova Deca.
• Sweden: Loreen lifted the 2012 Eurovision trophy with her song Euphoria, and is now returning to see if she can become the contest’s second two-time champion after Johnny Logan.

How many have had previous involvement with Junior Eurovision?

• Georgia: Iru was one of the five members of the group “Candy”, which won Junior Eurovision in 2011 with the song Candy Music.
• Lithuania: Monika Linkytė was in the running to represent Lithuania at Junior Eurovision 2007, and came in third place with her song Vaikystės pasaka.

How many have previously been involved in National Finals (not counting previous wins)?

• Australia: Voyager had submitted their song Runaway to the 2020 National Final, but was not shortlisted for the live show. In 2022, the band came in second place with Dreamer.
• Austria: Salena had sent her song Waterfall to Austrian broadcaster ORF in 2019 for consideration for the ticket to Tel Aviv, but was turned down. Similarly, Teya had submitted her song Judgement Day to ORF for consideration for the 2020 contest, but was also not chosen. She then translated the song, which had not yet been publicly released, into Serbian and submitted to Beovizija as Sudnji dan.
• Cyprus: Andrew Lambrou took part in Australia’s National Final in 2022, coming in seventh place with Electrify.
• Georgia: Iru had taken part in Georgia’s edition of Idol in 2019, which also served as the country’s artist selection process. The win eventually went to Oto Nemsadze. Iru had passed the audition stage, but failed to progress to live shows.
• Latvia: Sudden Lights had come in second place in Latvia’s 2018 National Final, with their song Just Fine just falling short to Laura Rizzotto’s Funny Girl.
• Lithuania: Monika Linkytė consistently attempted to represent her country at Eurovision every year since 2010. Her entry that year, Give Away, came in 10th place in the final. Her 2011 song Days Go By came in fourth, and she followed that up with 2012’s Happy, which came in third. She had to withdraw her attempt in 2013, Baby Boy, after the semifinal due to illness, but she returned in 2014 and came in fourth once again. (No song was linked to her at the time of her elimination). After winning the National Selection in 2015 and going to Vienna with This Time, she took a break from competition.
• Malta: Lead singer Dav Jr. took part in Malta’s X Factor back in 2020, which was the contest that chose Destiny to go to Rotterdam.
• Moldova: As the former lead singer of Sunstroke Project, Pasha took third place in the 2009 National Final with their song No Crime. The next year, after going solo, he took second place with the song You Should Like, falling to his former bandmates. He came in third place in 2011 with Dorule, and finally won in 2012 with Lăutar. He returned in 2020 with My Wine, again coming in second place.
• Portugal: Using the stage name Izamena, Mimicat competed at Festival da Canção  in 2001 with the song Mundo colorido. It did not progress beyond the semifinal stage.
• Spain: Blanca Paloma took part in 2022’s edition of Benidorm Fest, coming in fifth place with Secreto de Agua.
• Sweden: Loreen first appeared at Melodifestivalen in 2011 with her song My Heart is Refusing Me, which fell at the Andra Chansen round. After her 2012 MelFest and Eurovision win with Euphoria, she returned to the competition in 2017 with Statements, again falling at Andra Chansen.
• Ukraine: Tvorchi had taken part in Vidbir 2020, with their song Bonfire eventually taking fourth place.

How many of this year’s artists go by a mononym or pseudonym?

• Armenia: Brunette’s real name is Elen Yeremyan (Էլեն Երեմյան)
• Austria: Teya’s real name is Teodora Špirić (and she’s also gone by Thea Devy in the past), and Salena’s is Selina-Maria Edbauer
• Azerbaijan: TuralTuranX is the combined artistic name for twins Tural and Turan Bağmanov.
• Belgium: Gustaph’s real name is Stef Caers, but his early work was released under the name Steffen.
• Denmark: Reiley’s real name is Rani Petersen.
• Estonia: Alika’s full name is Alika Milova.
• Georgia: Iru’s full name is Irina Khechanovi (ირინა ხეჩანოვი)
• Greece: Victor Vernicos’s full name is Victor Vernicos Jørgensen (Βίκτωρ Βερνίκος Γιούργκενσεν).
• Finland: Käärijä’s real name is Jere Pöyhönen.
• France: La Zarra’s real name is Fatima-Zahra Hafdi.
• Iceland: Diljá’s full name is Diljá Pétursdóttir.
• Israel: Noa Kirel’s legal name is Noa Kirel (נועה קירל), but she was actually born “Noya” Kirel and had her name changed in infancy.
• Moldova: Pasha Parfeni’s real first name is Pavel, but “Pasha” is a standard nickname.
• Netherlands: Mia Nicolai’s real name is Michaja Nicolaï, and Dion Cooper’s is the similarly pronounced Dion Cuiper.
• Norway: Alessandra’s full name is Alessandra Watle Mele.
• Poland: Blanka’s full name is Blanka Stajkow.
• Portugal: Mimicat’s real name is Marisa Isabel Lopes Mena, and she had released earlier music under the name Izamena.
• San Marino: All of the members of Piqued Jacks perform under stage names. Vocalist Andrea Lazzeretti goes by “E-King”, bassist Francesco Bini goes by “littleladle”, drummer Tommaso Oliveri goes by “HolyHargot”, and guitarist Marco Sgaramella goes by “Majic-O”. Former members have included “Penguinsane” and “ThEd0g”.
• Serbia: Luke Black’s real name is Luka Ivanović (Лука Ивановић).
• Spain: Blanca Paloma’s full name is Blanca Paloma Ramos Baeza.
• Sweden: Loreen’s real name is Lorine Zineb Nora Talhaoui.
• United Kingdom: Mae Muller’s full name is Holly Mae Muller.

How old are this year’s artists?:

• 18 or younger:
  • Greece: Victor Vernicos (16)
  • Romania Theodor Andrei (18)
• 40 or older:
  • Croatia
    • Mrle (Bass): 61
    • Prlja (Vocals): 58
    • Dražen Baljak (Guitar): 45
  • Germany
    • Chris Harms (vocals) 43
    • Class Grenayde (bass): 40
  • Belgium: Gustaph (42)

Who Wasn’t Born In The Country They’ll Be Representing?

• Albania: Albina Kelmendi was born in the city of Peja, which is today part of Kosovo.
• Australia: Two members of Voyager were born outside of Australia. Lead singer Danny Estrin was born in Germany, growing up near Hamburg, and guitarist Simone Dow was born in Falkirk, Scotland.
• Cyprus: Andrew Lambrou, while of Greek-Cypriot heritage, was born in Sydney, Australia.
• Czechia: While the six members of Vesna met while at conservatory in Prague, only three of them are Czech. Tanita Yankova is from Bulgaria, Olesya Ochepovskaya is from Russia, and Tereza Čepková is from Slovakia.
• Denmark: Reiley is from the Faroe Islands, which is an autonomous, self-governing entity within the Kingdom of Denmark. It’s not quite the same as “being born in a different country”, but Reiliey is the first Faroese person to sing at Eurovision, so it’s worth a mention!
• France: La Zarra is from Montreal, Canada, making her the second Canadian to represent France at Eurovision.
• Norway: Alessandra was born in Pietra Ligure, Italy to an Italian-Norwegian family.
• San Marino: Piqued Jacks were formed in Buggiano, Italy, and the group’s members are all from the Tuscany region.
• Ukraine: While Andrii Hutsuliak is from Ukraine, Jimoh Augustus Kehinde (aka Jeffrey Kenny) is from Nigeria, coming to Ukraine to study.

How many songs this year were not written or composed by the performer?

• Albania
• Cyprus
• Switzerland

How many songs this year were written and composed ONLY by the performer?

• Armenia
• Australia
• Croatia
• Greece
• Latvia
• San Marino
• Serbia
• Slovenia
• Ukraine