Eurovision Song Contest 2024
Country Luxembourg
National selection
Selection processLuxembourg Song Contest
Selection date(s)27 January 2024
Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1993 2024

Luxembourg is set to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden, returning after an absence of 31 years since its last participation in 1993.[1] The Luxembourgish broadcaster RTL is organising the national final Luxembourg Song Contest in order to select the country's entry for the contest.

Background

Prior to the 2024 contest, Luxembourg has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty-seven times since debuting in its first edition of 1956. The country has won the contest on five occasions: in 1961 with "Nous les amoureux" performed by Jean-Claude Pascal, in 1965 with "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" performed by France Gall, in 1972 with "Après toi" performed by Vicky Leandros, in 1973 with "Tu te reconnaîtras" performed by Anne-Marie David, and finally in 1983 with "Si la vie est cadeau" performed by Corinne Hermès. After a poor result in 1993, Luxembourg was relegated from the 1994 contest in accordance with the new rules implemented at the time, and has since opted to be absent from the event.[2]

On 15 December 2022, it was revealed that the Luxembourgish prime minister Xavier Bettel had instigated discussions regarding the return of the country to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2024, with a team later created by the Luxembourgish government dedicated to ensuring the country's return to the contest.[3] On 12 May 2023, Luxembourgish broadcaster RTL and the European Broadcasting Union officially revealed that Luxembourg would return to the contest in 2024, marking the first Luxembourgish participation in over 30 years.[1] CEO of RTL Christophe Goossens stated the broadcaster was "delighted" to return to the Eurovision Song Contest and to select the 2024 Luxembourgish delegation.[4] On 3 July 2023, RTL announced that the national entry for the 2024 contest would be selected through a televised final.[5]

Before Eurovision

Luxembourg Song Contest

Luxembourg Song Contest is the competition that will determine the Luxembourgish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. The final is set to take place on 27 January 2024 at the Rockhal in Esch-sur-Alzette and will be broadcast on RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg,[5][6] as well as on the broadcaster's online platforms. Commentary will be available in Luxembourgish, French and English.[6][7]

Format

The selection is divided in a two-stage audition phase and a televised final, all held at the Rockhal.

At the end of the first audition stage, held between July and November 2023, a shortlist of around 70 songs by around 50 artists had been selected by a panel of experts consisting of Sandra Bintz, Eric Lehmann, Jenny Fischbach, Jules Serrig, Sam Steen and chair David Gloesener.[5][8][9]

The shortlisted entries moved on to a second audition round held between 22 and 24 November 2023, where they were evaluated by an international expert jury – composed of Alex Panayi from Cyprus (chairman), Cesár Sampson from Austria, Christer Björkman from Sweden, Jan Bors from Czechia and Tali Eshkoli from Israel – who selected the finalists.[9][10][11][12]

Details on the format of the show began to be released on 18 December 2023.[6] The competing artists are being followed by vocal coaches Susanne Georgi (2009 representative for Andorra) and Francesca Aaen, starting on 21 December 2023.[13] The voting system will consist of a 50/50 combination of a jury vote and an international public vote.[14]

Competing entries

On 3 July 2023, RTL opened a submission period for interested singers and songwriters. Performers were required to either hold Luxembourgish nationality, have resided in country for at least three consecutive years or be involved with the Luxembourgish music scene, while songwriters could be of any nationality.[15]

The submission form was divided into three categories: singers without songs to submit, singer-songwriters with up to three songs to submit, and songwriters with up to three songs looking for performers. Applicants for the first category had a deadline of 16 July 2023 to send a presentation video;[16] about a hundred artists applied and were assessed by the RTL jury the following week, with a second round held among the qualifiers from this session and performers who entered the competition with a song;[17][18] applications for songwriters to pair up with the perfomers were closed by mid-August 2023,[19] with selected artists having the possibility of directly choosing a song of their preference from the received submissions.[8] Applications for singer-songwriters were instead open until 1 October 2023.[16]

A total of 459 entries were submitted to RTL,[20] including by 24-time Eurovision songwriter Ralph Siegel, who debuted with Luxembourg in 1974 and won with Germany in 1982.[21] The eight finalists were announced one by one on 11 December 2023.[22] Some of them have previously taken part in talent shows, namely The Voice of Germany (seasons 7 and 13), The Voice Kids France, The Voice Belgique, Luxembourg's Next Popstar and Top Voice Luxembourg.[23][24] Their songs were released on 9 January 2024.[25][26]

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 will take place at the Malmö Arena in Malmö, Sweden, and consist of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 7 and 9 May and the final on 11 May 2024. All nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final will progress to the final. On 30 January 2024, an allocation draw will be held to determine which of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show, each country will perform in; the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) splits up the competing countries into different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.[27]

In Luxembourg, all three shows will be broadcast on RTL.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Luxembourg to return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2024". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 12 May 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  2. "Luxembourg". Eurovision.tv. EBU. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  3. Granger, Anthony (15 December 2022). "Luxembourg: RTL & Government Discussing Return to Eurovision in 2024". Eurovoix. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  4. Jiandani, Sanjay (12 May 2023). "Luxembourg: RTL returns to Eurovision 2024". ESCToday. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 "Eurovision Song Contest 2024: We're looking for YOU! The preselection process has started". today.rtl.lu. RTL Luxembourg. 3 July 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 "Luxembourg Song Contest". Eurovision.rtl.lu. RTL Luxembourg. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  7. Stephenson, James (11 July 2023). "Luxembourg: Public Will Have a Say in New National Final". Eurovoix. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  8. 1 2 Mantes, Ioannis (15 August 2023). "ΛΟΥΞΕΜΒΟΥΡΓΟ: Εκατό καλλιτέχνες πέρασαν τις auditions για μια θέση στο Μάλμε!" [Luxembourg: One hundred artists were auditioned for a place in Malmö!]. ogaegreece.com (in Greek). OGAE Greece. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  9. 1 2 Ntinos, Fotios (22 November 2023). "Luxembourg: The preselection's final line-up will be decided by an international expert jury!". Eurovisionfun. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  10. Koronakis, Spyros (22 November 2023). "Luxembourg: Alex Panayi will be the president of the jury of the country's national final for Eurovision 2024!". Eurovisionfun. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  11. RTL Luxembourg [@rtleurovision] (22 November 2023). "It was an INCREDIBLE first day of auditions!". Retrieved 22 November 2023 via Instagram.
  12. Schmit, Sandy (23 November 2023). "1. Dag vun den Auditions an der Rockhal: Laang gouf drop gewaart, dass Lëtzebuerg nees beim ESC dobäi ass" [1st day of the auditions in the Rockhal: We've been waiting for a long time for Luxembourg to join the ESC again]. today.rtl.lu (in Luxembourgish). RTL Luxembourg. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
  13. Granger, Anthony (22 December 2023). "Luxembourg: Susanne Georgi Preparing Artists for the Luxembourg Song Contest 2024". Eurovoix. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  14. RTL Luxembourg [@rtleurovision] (19 December 2023). "We hear you! Here are our answers to some frequently asked questions". Retrieved 19 December 2023 via Instagram.
  15. "What conditions do you have to meet?". Eurovision.lu. RTL Luxembourg. 3 July 2023. Archived from the original on 15 July 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  16. 1 2 "Luxembourg sets January date for televised national final". Eurovision.tv. EBU. 3 July 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  17. Granger, Anthony (23 July 2023). "Luxembourg: 100 Singers Participate in Auditions for Eurovision 2024 Selection". Eurovoix. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  18. "Pre-Selektioun fir den Eurovision Song Contest huet ugefaangen" [Pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest has started]. rtl.lu (in Luxembourgish). RTL Luxembourg. 23 July 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  19. "Grand Duchy of Luxembourg's national preselection". Eurovision.lu. RTL Luxembourg. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  20. Jiandani, Sanjay (2 October 2023). "Luxembourg: RTL receives 459 songs for Eurovision 2024". ESCToday. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  21. Henschen, Isabelle (2 October 2023). "Serie ESC-Produzent (1): Och de Ralph Siegel wëll de Comeback-Hit schreiwen" [Series "ESC Producer" (1): Even Ralph Siegel wants to write the comeback hit]. today.rtl.lu (in Luxembourgish). RTL Luxembourg. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  22. "Luxembourg at the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest". today.rtl.lu. RTL Luxembourg. 10 December 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  23. Schmit, Sandy (11 December 2023). "These 8 finalists have made it to the Luxembourg Song Contest". Eurovision.rtl.lu. RTL Luxembourg. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  24. "RTL Luxembourg reveals its 8 hopefuls for Malmö 2024". Eurovision.tv. EBU. 11 December 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  25. "Luxembourg 2024: RTL releases 8 songs for Malmö". Eurovision.tv. EBU. 9 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  26. Schmit, Sandy; Morizet, Tim (9 January 2024). "Se si bekannt, d'Lidder vun den aacht Finaliste vum Luxembourg Song Contest" [The songs of the eight finalists of the Luxembourg Song Contest are known]. Eurovision.rtl.lu (in Luxembourgish). RTL Luxembourg. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  27. Van Dijk, Sem Anne (13 December 2023). "Eurovision 2024: Semi-Final Allocation Draw on January 30". Eurovoix. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
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