September 23, 20159 yr Last week, the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group gathered in Berlin to discuss the short-term and long-term future of the contest. Today, we can already reveal one of the decisions taken during the meeting: the so-called Big Five (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) as well as the host country, Sweden, will appear more prominently in the Semi-Finals of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest. The six countries will remain to be pre-qualified for the Grand Final. The 'Big Five' and the host country will appear in the Semi-Final in which they will vote. This will be determined during the Semi-Final Allocation Draw in late January. For scheduling reasons, Germany was already granted the right to vote and appear in the second Semi-Final. "It will look so much better to show the Big Five and the host country on the Eurovision Song Contest stage, performing their act as it will be in the Grand Final," says Jon Ola Sand, Executive Supervisor of the contest on behalf of the EBU. Another benefit of this change is the increased amount of rehearsal time for the Big Five and the host country. Due to their pre-qualification for the Grand Final, these six countries normally had less stage time than the Semi-Final participants. "More rehearsal time means better performances and a better TV show, since the production crew has more time to get acquainted with the act," says Sand. As a consequence of this change, the 'Big Five' and the host country representative will have to be present in the host city to rehearse one or two days earlier than before, increasing its promotional opportunities. "From here on, its in the hands of these six countries to pick great entries for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest," Sand concludes. http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=169073 Full on performances in the semis? Hmm. I don't dislike the idea by any means, though the results of 2010 and 2015 (highlighted for having Big 5 televote winners) show that only having one chance to make an impression isn't really a disadvantage with the right song.
September 23, 20159 yr I won't have a problem with this taking place. Finally Brits won't be able to blame lack of airtime for their abysmal result. :D
September 23, 20159 yr According to Google translate from the SVT website, it will just be longer clips of the rehearsals instead of the usual music video/NF perf recap.
September 23, 20159 yr Author I've wanted the automatic qualifiers to perform properly in the semi-finals for year so I'd be totally up for that. Showing snippets of the rehearsals doesn't sound as gamechanging, although I agree it is better than showing the preview videos. I'd rather they showed the full rehearsals but I doubt the casual fans would be excited by that. I still don't see why they don't just get 3 to perform properly in one semi and 3 in the other - everyone is on an identical playing field then in terms of airtime.
September 30, 20159 yr Author As I expected for a while, TRT have supposedly said that Turkey won't be participating after all. However they have asked the EBU for an extended deadline of November to decide instead of October, but I can't see it happening even if they had until March to decide! That said, we should still be on target for 40 countries again with Ukraine replacing Australia if the latter aren't allowed to return. Hopefully there is no surprise withdrawals and maybe we'll get a nice surprise from either Bosnia & Herzegovina or Bulgaria, although I don't imagine either of them returning as both of their provisional applications had the feeling of just going through the motions judging by the press releases and rumours that came with them.
October 7, 20159 yr Author Portugal announced their withdrawal a couple of hours ago which is a shame, but I haven't been a massive fan of their entries since 2010. Hopefully we can still reach 40 entries, but we may need Australia to join us again unless the likes of Bulgaria or Bosnia & Herzegovina spring a surprise!
October 9, 20159 yr 'Quero ser tua' was robbed but apart from that I haven't been a fan of their entries since the late 00's.
October 9, 20159 yr Author Unsurprising, I feel like Bulgaria are our most likely returnee due to the JESC hosting but I'm not convinced. Hopefully Australia come back again!
October 22, 20159 yr Author https://scontent-vie1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...amp;oe=56897B0E A new country? What on earth could this mean, someone suggested by turning the picture sideways it could be the Tele 2/Globen skyline and therefore could be ticket info? I'm prepared to be underwhelmed though as why would ESC Today of all sites have an exclusive!
October 22, 20159 yr Oh no, it's the Newborns Eurovision Song Contest. Because the Junior atrocity isn't enough.
November 3, 20159 yr Author Turkey confirmed as not participating as we've expected I think for a few months now: http://esctoday.com/105436/turkey-trt-conf...urovision-2016/
November 5, 20159 yr Nora Brockstedt is dead gvPieP0mys4 Nora Brockstedt died after a short time of illness at Ullevål hospital thursday evening. She became 92 years old and had her nearest with her until the end, family tells NTB So sad, she will always be Norway's melodi grand prix queen :( rip Edited November 5, 20159 yr by Jerick
November 9, 20159 yr Jon Ola Sand has been quoted as saying there are currently 41 participants for Stockholm next year. (Source.)
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