Luxembourg is preparing its dazzling return to Eurovision 2024 and has unveiled a well-known jury of international experts who will take the reins of the artistic selection. The country is refining its list to 70 artists and these judges are ready to unearth the musical gem who will represent the country.
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After receiving 459 applications from singers, with or without their own songs, Luxembourg embarked on a new selection stage. From this stage, 70 artists, with or without their own song, emerged, accompanied by songwriters, some of whom have made their mark on Eurovision, such as Ralph Siegel, who has collaborated on several occasions with San Marino.
Luxembourg’s international jury for the national final
The process then became more complex, with an initial selection of songs decided by broadcaster RTL’s production team. Now, the crucial responsibility of evaluating these songs falls to a five-member international jury made up of familiar faces for Eurovision aficionados.
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- Christer Björkman is a Eurovision icon who needs little introduction. The phoenix of Eurovision itself, he currently assumes the roles of producer and host, with past experience as head of delegation for Sweden. He also left his mark as producer of the American Song Contest and directed the 2013 and 2016 editions of Eurovision, a responsibility he will take up again in 2024.
- Tali Eskholi, a prominent figure in the Eurovision world, has frequently sat on preselection juries for the contest. She made her mark by producing the 2019 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv, and also exercised her production talents at the Miss Universe pageant in 2021.
- Cesár Sampson, Austrian singer and musician, represented Austria at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon, achieving an honorable third place. His career includes appearances on shows such as Dancing Stars and the Austrian version of Mask Singer in 2021.
- Alex Panayi, a Greek-Cypriot singer and songwriter, is well known in Europe thanks to his two memorable appearances at the Eurovision Song Contest. A former backing singer, he led his own group, The Vocal Summit, and is fluent in Greek, English and French. Recently, he has made a name for himself as a vocal coach for Eurovision contestants.
- Jan Bors, former Head of Delegation of the Czech Republic and content producer for Czech Television, completes the panel of experts.
Luxembourg’s strategy, drawing on the expertise of such a high-profile jury, is reminiscent of France’s choice in 2018 for the first edition of Destination Eurovision. However, this approach did not bear fruit for France, which ranked 14th in Tel Aviv in 2019. Christer Björkmann and Tali Eskholi are already regulars on national selection juries, having appeared in last year‘s BenidormFest.
The representative will be chosen live on January 27, 2024
The names of the finalists who win over this panel of experts will be revealed in early December. The Luxembourg national selection will be broadcast in January on RTL, with the finalists taking part in a major live show on January 27, 2024. Viewers will then have the opportunity to vote for their favorite representative, meeting the following criteria. They must:
- be at least 16 years old and have Luxembourg nationality
- have lived in Luxembourg for at least three consecutive years
- have a strong cultural background and a proven link with the Luxembourg music scene
In the latter situation, a number of other criteria were required, including active participation at national level in the field of musical practice, frequent cooperation with cultural institutions and established collaboration with well-known figures on the Luxembourg art scene.
What do you think of this jury? Do you think they will be able to choose the best representative for Luxembourg? Let us know in the comments section.
Sure, C. B. cares more about the the music sounding commercial and the entertainment aspects than many would like, but he also cares a lot about the contest and wants each song to shine.
One of many examples was when producers were about to force Salvador Sobral onto the main stage.
C. B. was the one who put his foot down and saved the staging. ‘Amar pelos dois’ was pure magic on the satellite stage in the middle of the audience.
This selection will be interesting to say the least … going through to the GF *could* be almost certain.
16 years of age AND proven link to the Luxembourg music scene? How would THAT work?
I´m absolutely against international juries in national finals.
I really don’t get the point of international juries. Letting people from other competing countries choose your song doesn’t sound like the best strategy.
It is a sophsticated way of cheating by letting others tell you what works.
But it is a proven method most countries use so it is proven it works
Why don’t we just decide the 2024 winner by looking at whoever has the most plays on Christer’s iTunes?
Brilliant idea! I wouldn’t have said it any better!
Christer, according to your unfailable godlike opinion, which song deserves to win next year? Let’s move on to 2025 already! NO, let’s move on to 2075! When is Christer finally going to be out of the picture?
I know people have… strong opinions… on Mr. Bjorkman, and fair, say what you want about his selection methods, but knows a think or two about what makes an entry competitive. Luxembourg needs to have their own version of UMK or ESCZ, not what Switzerlands had in 2016. These names, if voting with interest and care, could help with that.
Maybe that’s why they have Jan Bors and Cesar Sampson on jury – they’re going for ESCZ (Cesar is involved with ESCZ this year as well if I remember corectly).
But I agree with you – you don’t have to like Bjorkman, but the guy knows what works for tv.
Like the American song contest…..he knows what works effectively….
I swear I prayed he would win tons of awards & a lot of money & recognition & fame & whatnot, so that he would stay in America forever… Sadly, my prayers went unheard.
Interesting to see no mention of Bjorkman’s most important chapter of ESC history – his second to last place in 1992.
I don’t like Mr Bjorkman but his failure as a contestant at ESC definitely isn’t his most important chapter. The guy is brilliant when it comes to produce a show and he knows what has the potential to be competitive. He has been doing so for years. You can’t just reduce his work to 3 minutes in 1992. It’s like, I don’t know, of you have had a great career as a doctor for 20-30 years but because I don’t like you I remind you that you failed an exam in college and say you’re therefore not qualified for the… Read more »
It’s not the most important chapter – actually, it is pretty irrelevant. Like him or not, he produced fantastic shows and helped in saving Eurovision 2017 literally in the last moment. A bit of objective approach to this guy’s work wouldn’t hurt anyone.
Talking about ESC and nepotism, hey…
How Chister Björkman is allowed to do this, while he is also the Contest Producer for Eurovision this year?
Way to go Luxembourg! Ruining your first national selection by having Björkman be a part of it. This just made my interest in it drop tons. Bravo!
Plastic pop in English incoming!
I also fear it…. I´m sorry for Luxembourg
Interesting, Mr Bjorkman is everywhere, I thought he was busy to prepare the best Eurovision ever but apparently not.
Now he will produce the next Eurovision and I agree with Jonas there’s a bit of conflict of interest here…
Mr Bors…well it’s a choice.
Really curious to see the result of this.
But Luxembourg doesn’t bring some new blood in the mix at all with them, these judges have already been over seen and over used in the past in this very small esc world. The young and new generation is not represented at all here…
I did not recognize Alex Panayi from the photo. Cyprus 1995 is a wonderful song! Nice to see him back in the mix.
I would have thought that having Christer on the jury would be a conflict of interest with his role as producer next year. He might be judging based on what makes good television, instead of what is the best song. Act in the interests of the broadcast, instead of the interests of Luxembourg. Just a thought, maybe an unfair one.
There is a small difference though. International jurors are not there to find the best song overall, but what works best for ESC. A small but important difference. So based on that there is nothing that says no one can’t judge on the tv factor of a song.
Also I doubt any juror would intentionally sabotage another country’s chances to do well, just to enhance their country’s chance. If that was the case then none of the international juries on Mello would have voted for Loreen
Luxembourg is not joking around! Nice that this country absent for 30 years gets it more than some others who have competed for 30 years!