With a contest a year in the planning and with months of preparation from delegations, artists and media, the hour has now come! Tonight, the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 gets underway with the live first semi-final from the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, United Kingdom!
Fifteen countries will compete in tonight’s show, hoping to earn the public’s votes to make it through to Saturday’s grand final. They are;
- 🇳🇴 NORWAY – Alessandra – Queen of Kings
- 🇲🇹 MALTA – The Busker – Dance (Our Own Party)
- 🇷🇸 SERBIA – Luke Black – Samo mi se spava
- 🇱🇻 LATVIA – Sudden Lights – Aijā
- 🇵🇹 PORTUGAL – Mimicat – Ai coração
- 🇮🇪 IRELAND – Wild Youth – We Are One
- 🇭🇷 CROATIA – Let 3 – Mama ŠČ!
- 🇨🇭 SWITZERLAND – Remo Forrer – Watergun
- 🇮🇱 ISRAEL – Noa Kirel – Unicorn
- 🇲🇩 MOLDOVA – Pasha Parfeny – Soarele și luna
- 🇸🇪 SWEDEN – Loreen – Tattoo
- 🇦🇿 AZERBAIJAN – TuralTuranX – Tell Me More
- 🇨🇿 CZECHIA – Vesna – My Sister’s Crown
- 🇳🇱 NETHERLANDS – Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper – Burning Daylight
- 🇫🇮 FINLAND – Käärijä – Cha Cha Cha
#YOU can read summaries of the performances below;
Part 1 – Norway, Serbia, Malta, Latvia
Part 2 – Portugal, Ireland, Croatia, Switzerland, Israel, Moldova
Part 3 – Sweden, Azerbaijan, Czechia, Netherlands, Finland
Part 4 – France, Germany, Italy
What can we expect tonight?
The show begins at 21:00 CEST, with an opening showing the people of Liverpool discovering they will be hosting the contest on behalf of Ukraine and a sweet moment of unity between a British and Ukrainian child, before our Ukrainian host and lead singer of The Hardkiss, Julia Sanina, opens the show in style.
Tonight’s show will also feature a beautiful interval act of Alyosha (Ukraine 2010) and Liverpudlian X Factor favourite Rebecca Ferguson duetting on “Ordinary World”, in Ukrainian and English. The backdrop will tell the story of Ukrainians waking up to war and the subsequent outpouring of support and refuge for the displaced Ukrainian people. British pop star Rita Ora will also perform a medley of her hits, and there will be a showcase of the three performances from France’s La Zarra, Germany’s Lord of the Lost and Italy’s Marco Mengoni.
How can I watch?
There is a full list of broadcasters showing the show HERE. There will also be live streams of tonight’s show from the official Eurovision channels on YouTube and TikTok.
How can I vote?
You are more than likely able to vote via the Eurovision app, but this may depend on which territory you are in. Other than this, tonight’s fifteen participating nations and the viewers in France, Germany and Italy will be able to vote via phone and/or SMS, with the numbers to dial shown during your local broadcast.
Our coverage
Make sure to tune in to ESC United before and after tonight’s show as we bring #YOU all of the build up and reaction LIVE from Liverpool. We will be live on YouTube and Twitch, so make sure to subscribe and click to add notifications for when we are streaming!
…and don’t forget to publish your predictions for tonight’s semi-final HERE!
Who are #YOU cheering on in tonight’s first semi-final? Share your thoughts with us on our forum HERE, or join the discussion below and on social media!
