Eurovision 2023: Belgium, Australia and more locked in for finals

NME

With the second round of semi-finals of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest coming to a close, the complete list of finalists have been locked in ahead of the Grand Finals this Saturday (May 13) – see which countries have made it to the finals below.

• READ MORE: Norway’s Eurovision entry Alessandra: “My body always knew that I was gonna do this”

After a thrilling second semi-final, 10 new finalists have been announced. Newly announced entries joining the Eurovision 2023 finals are Albania, Cyprus, Estonia, Belgium, Austria, Lithuania, Poland, Australia, Armenia and Slovenia.

A grand total of 26 countries will participate in the finals, consisting of 10 finalists from semi-finals round 1, 10 finalists from semi-finals round 2, the “big 5” and Ukraine.

The first 10 finalists from semi-finals round 1 were revealed earlier this week (May 9) after a slew of performances and voting, with the following countries coming out on top: Norway, Serbia, Portugal, Croatia, Switzerland, Israel, Moldova, Sweden, Czechia and Finland.

Watch Norway’s Alessandra perform ‘Queen of Kings’ below.

The complete list of Eurovision Song Contest 2023 finalists is:

UK
France
Germany
Spain
Italy
Ukraine
Albania
Cyprus
Estonia
Belgium
Austria
Lithuania
Poland
Australia
Armenia
Slovenia
Norway
Serbia
Portugal
Croatia
Switzerland
Israel
Moldova
Sweden
Czechia
Finland

Watch UK representative Mae Muller‘s performance of ‘I Wrote A Song’ below.

The “Big 5” countries were guaranteed a spot in the finals without having to participate in semi-finals are France, Germany, Spain, the UK and Italy, as they contribute the most financially to the Eurovision Song Contest. Last year’s winners Ukraine also automatically qualified for the finals this year.

Norway’s Eurovision 2023 entry Alessandra recently opened up to NME about the meaning behind her song ‘Queen Of Kings’ in a new interview. Explaining the meaning behind the track, she told NME that the inspiration came from those moments of difficulty and self-doubt which, tackling them head-on, and becoming empowered.

“It represents someone, a queen that has gone through a lot in life, but has learned so much from it,” she explained. “She will rise up because of all the shit that she has been going through. It’s a great example of: ‘Feel the pain for one or two days, or how long it has to be, and then because you felt it, you’re going to grow out of it.’”

The post Eurovision 2023: Belgium, Australia and more locked in for finals appeared first on NME.