FYR Macedonia: Esma Blames Gay Men?

FYR Macedonia – According to a story broken on wiwibloggs.com, the Serbian website www.kurir-info.rs is reporting that FYR Macedonia‘s Esma Redžepova has blamed gay men for her lack of qualification. The story can be seen here. It claims that the “gay lobby behind the contest” was the reason for her failure to qualify. Further homophobic comments have been attributed to her.

Italy: Votes Revealed…But Did Jury Break Rules?

Italy – Controversy continues as the publication of the televoting results by Italian broadcaster RAI shows a huge win for Romania’s Cezar. Yet on the night he received only 1 point from Italy….meaning the jury must have absolutely finished him off by placing him at the bottom of their rankings. There were concerns before the contest that juries would have too much power.

Denmark 2014: Executive Producer Appointed

Denmark 2014 – Danish national broadcaster DR has today already revealed the Executive Producer the Eurovision Song Contest for 2014. The job goes to Pernille Gaardbo who has worked at DR for the last seventeen years. Twelve years of this has been in the Media Services Department, including involvement in organising Dansk Melodi Grand Prix.

UK: Time to Modernise?

United Kingdom – There were not many being quick to bash Bonnie Tyler in the UK this weekend after her 19th place finish. She is a bit of a respected legend. Instead most attention turned to the BBC with calls for the UK’s national broadcaster to modernise and send an up to date current act in future. Is it time for the UK to stop it’s withering Woganisms and start to seriously compete?

Australia Votes for Denmark!

Each year our Eurovision friends down under in Australia watch Eurovision in their thousands. They hold their own official vote and this year their winner was Denmark‘s Emmelie de Forrest. Broadcaster SBS screen the semi-finals and final, slightly delayed. The Australians have been involved for 30 years now and even got their own segment in this year’s semi-final. Check out their full results now.

Poll: Vote in Barbara Dex Award Now!

Barbara Dex Award 2013 -If you thought the Eurovision voting was over for the year (apart from Azeri recounts) you’d be wrong! The voting for the 2013 Barbara Dex award is now open. It’s the annual fan award for the worst costume worn during this year’s Eurovision. Voting closes on 25th of May at 23:59 CET. Vote now on the official voting site and also in our own Eurovision Times poll!

Azerbaijan: President Orders Recount

Azerbaijan – Hot on the heels of accusations that Azerbaijan have been rigging votes, their President, Ilham Aliyev, has ordered an investigation into this year’s voting after no points were awarded by Azerbaijan to Russia. The national broadcaster Ictimai, appear to have revealed that viewers’ votes put Russia’s Dina Garipova in second place, and the jury also supported her. 

Malmö 2013: Final Day Press Centre in Pictures

Malmö 2013 – The last day of Eurovision 2013 didn’t only see the last rehearsal and the full live show…it also saw the acts continue with interviews both before and after the show. We captured some of the moments. Some of the acts were delighted with their placings and couldn’t wait to tell the press, others planned their night of celebration with each other…

Denmark Wins Eurovision 2013!

Malmö - Eurovision 2013 just finished and we have a winner! Emmelie de Forrest wins the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song Only Teardrops ! Check out the rest of the results here! Congratulations to Denmark for their third Eurovision win, and the first by a solo artist! Just across Malmö, the Danes can celebrate!

Malmö 2013: Last Minute Preparations

Malmö 2013 – The 26 acts participating in tonight’s grand final have less than three hours left before the show starts. Some are chilling, some are eating, some are still doing interviews. We just had a very nice acoustic performance of ‘Love Kills‘ from Belgium‘s Roberto Bellarosa out in the fan area of the press centre for live Swedish TV. Have a look at a short video of it now…

Malmö 2013: Press Centre Voting

As is now traditional, the press and accredited fans that have access to the press centre have been voting at OGAE’s fan desk for this year’s winner. In the final vote yesterday and today, we have been asked to vote for our top 5, and who we think WILL win, rather than who we want to win. Check out the latest scores on the board as the last rehearsal draws to a close.

Result: Grand Final Poll!

Poll Result – We can now reveal the result of the Eurovision Times‘ grand final poll! You acted as both televoters and juries for the last 24 hours prior to tonight’s grand final, and we have combined the rankings using this year’s new voting system as best we could. The juries and televoters agreed on a winner! Have a look at who you all predict will win tonight!

Tonight: Eurovision Song Contest 2013!

Malmö - We’ve been together for the new contest rules, for the national finals around Europe, for the rehearsals, for two semi-finals and this is finally it: tonight is the night for the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013! So stay with us one more night to enjoy our beloved contest climax and deliver its verdict!

Poll: Who Will Win Eurovision 2013?

Poll – We now know the 26 finalists of the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest, and the order in which they will perform on Saturday night. But who will win??! We want you to have your final say in this year’s contest by voting for your favourite… and also to act as the jury!

Running Order Revealed!

Malmö - Now that the 26 finalists are known, and that the second semi final qualifyers picked the allocation in either first half or second half, it was down to SVT to propose a draw to make the best possible show (at least in their opinion) to the EBU to accept it or not. Set to be released at 3:00 CET, it was released 12 minutes early. Check it out here!

Semi-final 2: Krista Siegfrids Delights Fans!

Semi-final 2 – Krista Siegfrids delighted her Finnish fans this evening by dashing out of the press centre soon after the press conference had ended, to celebrate with them and thank them! The impromptu escape from the press centre saw Krista hugging and kissing all the Finns, who were thrilled that she came out to celebrate with them.  

Second Semi-final Results!

Malmö - The second semi-final of the 2013 Eurovision Song Conest is over and we have our last 10 qualifyers! Click here to check who made it to the final and tell us what you thought of the contest! Some surprises, some shock results based on the official bookmakers or the press predictions are awaiting you!

Result: Semi-final 2 Poll

Poll Result – We can now reveal the result of the Eurovision Times‘ semi-final 2 poll! You acted as both televoters and juries for the last two days prior to tonight’s second semi-final, and we have combined the rankings using this year’s new voting system as best we could. Have a look at who you predict will go through tonight and then check back later to find out how close you were!

Result: Semi-final 1 Poll

Poll Result – We can now reveal the result of the Eurovision Times‘ semi-final 1! You acted as both televoters and juries earlier this week prior to the first semi-final, and we have combined the rankings using this year’s new voting system as best we could. It was another win for The Netherland’s Anouk! See how close your voting was to the actual result now and let us know which you preferred!

Tonight: Second Semi-final!

Malmö – Tonight the second semi-final of the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest will be broadcast live from the Malmö Arena from 21:00 to 23:00 CET. Seventeen countries will fight for ten spots in the grand final to be held saturday in Malmö where twenty-six entries will fight for the title. Watch live with us!

Interview: Marco Mengoni of Italy

Interview – Eurovision Times was lucky enough to be able to speak with Italy’s Marco Mengoni this week. As you can imagine, we were very grateful to be able to chat with one of the Big Five, and a huge thank you goes to Marco and the Italian delegation for making Marco so accessible this year. Things were not made easy thanks to some very noisy Danes… but check out the interview now!

The Biggest Eurovision Quiz Ever!

Malmö 2013 – Monday night saw the biggest Eurovision quiz ever at Moriskan. Fans in their hundreds crowded in to the fan cafe until 2am to answer 23 questions on mobile phones to be in with a chance to win tickets for the Eurovision Song Contest Final. Entertainment was provided by Adrian Lulgjuraj & Bledar Sejko of Albania, Linda Martin, Glen Vella and Bobby Sox!

Poll: Semi Final Two

Poll – We’ve had the results of the first semi-final and we’re now counting down to the second semi-final this Thursday. Who would you like to qualify to the Grand Final on Saturday? As ten countries will qualify, you can choose ten out of the 17 countries below. We also thought it would be fun for you to become a jury too.

Finalists’ Second Rehearsals

Eurovision 2013 – The Eurovision Song Contest reharsals will resume today as the 6 finalists will take the stage for their second rehearsals. The first countries up to rehearse this morning will be Spain, France and Germany and later today Sweden, United-Kingdom and Italy. The second rehearsals are not held behind closed doors anymore and the press can watch and report from the Arena. We will keep you updated as soon as possible on this page !

First Semi-final Results!

Malmö - The first semi-final of the 2013 Eurovision Song Conest is over and we have our first 10 qualifyers! Click here to check who made it to the final and tell us what you thought of the contest! Some surprises, some shock results based on the official bookmakers or the press predictions are awaiting you!

Pictures from Semi-final 1 Day!

Malmö 2013 – There are some nerves across the city of Malmö today as it’s time for the 1st semi-final. Some teams looked more relaxed than others as they set off for their final dress rehearsal before the live show tonight. We caught up with a few acts to say good luck, and also managed to grab Marco Mengoni of Italy for an interview. Check out some photographs from the morning.

Tonight: First semi-final!

Malmö – Tonight the first semi-final of the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest will be broadcast live from the Malmö Arena from 21:00 to 23:00 CET. Sixteen countries will fight for ten spots in the grand final to be held saturday in Malmö where twenty-six entries will fight for the title. Watch live with us!

Red Carpet Pictures Part 2

Malmö 2013 – Last night saw the official opening ceremony event at Malmö Opera. The 39 delegations (minus Anouk) walked the red carpet, chatted to press and fans, attended the welcome meal to taste the 5 flavours of Eurovision 2013 and then went on to party at the Euroclub. We were on the red carpet to chat to the acts and take some photographs. Here’s the images from the red carpet event…

Red Carpet Pictures Part 1

Malmö 2013 – Last night saw the official opening ceremony event at Malmö Opera. The 39 delegations (minus Anouk) walked the red carpet, chatted to press and fans, attended the welcome meal to taste the 5 flavours of Eurovision 2013 and then went on to party at the Euroclub. We were on the red carpet to chat to the acts and take some photographs. Here’s the images from the red carpet event…