Iceland will select its song for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest on 9 February, it has today been confirmed. Hera Ólafsdóttir from broadcaster RÚV revealed the date speaking to Visir.is.

Anyone interested in representing Iceland in 2013 can send their entries to RÚV by 8 October. After this they will evaluate the entries and expect to know the semifinalists by the end of the month. The first semifinal will take place on 12 January, with the next two taking place on 19 and 26 January respectively. As is usual, there will be a one week break before the final taking place on 9 February.

Last night the Final of EM20 took place and UK got another victory followed by Portugal on the second place and Croatia on the third place. Now the submissions for EM 21 are open and you can apply for our contest right here. 

 The official rules for EM21 are still discussed but they will be released soon with the official dates of the Contest. You can be our hero and submit a great song and the trophy is all yours! Today the logo of the Contest was presented and more details will be launched soon. 

We're waiting to break a new record this edition even though we lost Finland due to some unclear reasons. Good luck to all the participants! 

EM Administration 

  Luxembourg – Luxembourg’s cultural minister Octavie Modert had to answer a parliamentary question concerning the Grand Duchy’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. Modert explained that the government has no say in this issue as the responsibility for a Eurovision participation lies exclusively with the national broadcasters – in this case RTL.

In order to participate, a national broadcaster must be a full member of the EBU. According to the newspaper “Wort” RTL has scaled back membership for financial reasons. Modert explains: “Why RTL isn’t taking part is something only they can answer but it’s known that active membership of the UER costs a lot of money and of course this initiative hasn’t proven successful in the past for Luxembourg.”

Luxembourg last participated in the contest in 1993. The withdrawal came after a host of disappointing placings in the early 90s. Modert went on saying that instead of sending Luxembourgian entries to Eurovision again, Luxembourg’s music reputation abroad would be served better by the export office for Luxembourg music Music: LX, which is a non-profit organisation created in 2009 to develop Luxembourg music of all genres around the world.

“This has contributed quite remarkable to promotion and visibility of our artists abroad,” the minister said, adding: “Within a few months of existence, more 470 than concerts abroad were recorded, over 20 albums distributed and more than 200 articles were published in the international press relating to specialised artist-musicians from Luxembourg,” Modert explained.

In recent years Eurovision winners Lena Meyer-Landrut and Loreen had massive hits with their winning entries in Luxembourg. Interest in the contest in the little country is rather high and thus participation in Eurovision would be a logical next step. The comments by Modert and RTL in the past seem less enthusiastic, however.

Source= wort.lu, esctoday

Poland – According to Czech Eurovision website Eurocontest.cz, a representative of TVP confirmed that no decision on the participation of Poland in Eurovision 2013 has been taken yet. It will be decided in the coming months, more precisely in October, whether TVP will send an entry to Eurovision again after their absence in 2012.

One of the main reasons for the withdrawal, was the fact that one of the biggest television events in the world, the UEFA European Football Championship was held in Poland (and Ukraine) this year. TVP wanted to focus on this major event. With the Championship over, TVP should be able to participate in Eurovision. We’ll see whether the Euro was just a pretext to leave for good. Since 2008 no Polish entry has made it to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2011, Magdalena Tul came last in the semi-final in Düsseldorf.

  Russia – A Russian girl punk band is one of the most discussed topics this summer. Three members of the group “Pussy Riot” have been sentenced to two years in prison for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred and enmity.” The girls had performed in a Russian church, wearing head masks and criticizing Russian president Putin in their performance. The trial and verdict have been called politically motivated by Western politicians. A wave of sympathy from international music stars such as Sir Paul McCartney, Madonna, Sting, Bjork, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Faith No More, voiced their support for Pussy Riot, urging the authorities to soften the punishment.

Now music producer and co-founder of Russia’s SEVER Production, Konstantin Cherepkov, has called for a Eurovision participation of the band.  “Pussy Riot has become a new music phenomenon. The band has united musicians across the world under the slogan of freedom and change. Their nomination to enter Eurovision is set to affect the destiny of the punk-rock band serving as a good reason for the authorities to favor their release from jail. Bringing their prosecution to an end and their participation in Eurovision could help compensate Russia’s loss of reputation that stemmed from the case against Pussy Riot,” he explained his position.

You can vote for Pussy Riot on SEVER’s official website!