Lily's Eurovision Song Contest 2023

The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 was the 6th edition of the annual Lily's Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Herning, 🇩🇰 Denmark, following Alba August's win at the 2022 contest in Düsseldorf, Germany with the song "Lights". It was the second time that the contest took place in 🇩🇰 Denmark, last time was in Copenhagen in 2021. The contest was held at the Esprit Arena, and consisted of two semi-finals on 9 and 11 May, and the final on 13 May 2023. The three live shows were hosted by Barbara Schöneberger, Lena and Linda Zervakis.

Forty countries participated in the contest. 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan and 🇸🇰 Slovakia returned to the contest while 🇧🇬 Bulgaria withdrew from the contest.

Venue
Merkur Spielarena, previously known as the Esprit Arena, the LTU Arena, and as the Düsseldorf Arena, is a multi-functional football stadium in Düsseldorf, Germany. The stadium holds 54,600 and has a retractable roof. Its special heating system allows the stadium to host comfortable events at the height of winter.

Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the most populous and politically central constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,[N 10] a constitutionally unitary state that includes the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland in the North Atlantic Ocean. European Denmark[N 3] is the southernmost of the Scandinavian countries, lying southwest of Sweden, south of Norway,[N 11] and north of Germany.

Spanning a total area of 42,943 km2 (16,580 sq mi), it consists of the peninsula of Jutland and an archipelago of 443 named islands, of which the largest are Zealand, Funen and the North Jutlandic Island. Denmark's geography is characterised by flat, arable land, sandy coasts, low elevation, and a temperate climate. As of 2022, it had a population of 5.928 million (1 October 2022), of which 800,000 live in the capital and largest city, Copenhagen. Denmark exercises hegemonic influence in the Danish Realm, devolving powers to handle internal affairs. Home rule was established in the Faroe Islands in 1948 and in Greenland in 1979; the latter obtained further autonomy in 2009.

The unified kingdom of Denmark emerged in the eighth century as a proficient maritime power amid the struggle for control of the Baltic Sea. In 1397, it joined Norway and Sweden to form the Kalmar Union, which persisted until the latter's secession in 1523. The remaining Kingdom of Denmark–Norway endured a series of wars in the 17th century that resulted in further territorial cessions to the Swedish Empire. Following the Napoleonic Wars, Norway was absorbed into Sweden, leaving Denmark with the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. A surge of nationalist movements in the 19th century were defeated in the First Schleswig War of 1848, though the Second Schleswig War of 1864 resulted in further territorial losses to Prussia. The period saw the adoption of the Constitution of Denmark on 5 June 1849, ending the absolute monarchy that was established in 1660 and introducing the current parliamentary system.

An industrialised exporter of agricultural produce in the second half of the 19th century, Denmark introduced social and labour-market reforms in the early 20th century, which formed the basis for the present welfare state model and advanced mixed economy. Denmark remained neutral during World War I but regained the northern half of Schleswig in 1920. Danish neutrality was violated in World War II following a swift German invasion in April 1940. During occupation, a resistance movement emerged in 1943 while Iceland declared independence in 1944; Denmark was liberated in May 1945. In 1973, Denmark, together with Greenland but not the Faroes, became a member of what is now the European Union, but negotiated certain opt-outs, such as retaining its own currency, the krone.

Denmark is a highly developed country with a high standard of living: the country performs at or near the top in measures of education, health care, civil liberties, democratic governance and LGBT equality. Denmark is a founding member of NATO, the Nordic Council, the OECD, OSCE, and the United Nations; it is also part of the Schengen Area. Denmark maintains close political, cultural, and linguistic ties with its Scandinavian neighbours, with the Danish language being partially mutually intelligible with both Norwegian and Swedish.

Voting changes
On 22 November 2022, the EBU announced major changes to the voting system for the 2023 contest. The results of the semi-finals would be determined solely by televoting, while the results of the final would be determined by both national juries and televoting, as has been the case since the 2018 final. In the event that a country cannot deliver a televoting result for the semi-finals, a backup jury result would be used, and should the issue persists into the final, the jury points awarded in the final would be doubled, replacing the previous procedure of using an algorithm to calculate and assign points based on countries with similar voting patterns. If a country's jury is disqualified, the televoting points from that country would be doubled and used as a substitute in the final. Viewers from non-participating countries would also be able to vote in all shows, with their votes being aggregated and presented as one individual set of points under "Rest of the World". Those viewers would be able to cast votes via an online platform, which requires ownership of a credit or debit card for verification.

Entries
For the third year in a row, delegations have the option to use pre-recorded backing vocals, though each delegation can still use backing singers – whether on or off stage – or a combination of live and recorded backing vocals. However, all lead vocals performing the melody of the song must still be live.

Semi-final allocation draw
The DR has commissioned an independent production company to produce the semi-final allocation draw, which will include the passing of the host city insignia from previous host city Düsseldorf to Herning. The draw will take place at the end of January 2023, though the exact date and venue have yet to be announced.

Postcards
The DR has commissioned an independent production company to create a concept for and produce the video postcards, which are shown before each act. Filming for the postcards is set to occur between January and April 2023.

Participating countries
On 20 October 2022, the EBU announced that 41 countries would participate in the contest with 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan and 🇸🇰 Slovakia returning and 🇧🇬 Bulgaria opting not to participate for financial reasons.

Semi-finals
The two semi-finals will take place on 9 and 11 May 2023 at 20:00 BST (21:00 CEST). A draw to determine the participating countries' semi-finals took place at the end of January. The results of the semi-finals will be determined solely by televoting, from participating countries in determined semi-finals for the first time ever, and from non-participating countries under an aggregated televote as "Rest of the World" for the first time in the contest's history.

Semi-final 1
The first semi-final took place on 9 May 2023 at 21:00 (CEST). Eighteen countries participated in the first semi-final. Those countries plus Denmark, Germany and Spain, as well as non-participating countries under an aggregated televote as "Rest of the World" voted in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.

Semi-final 2
The second semi-final took place on 11 May 2023 at 21:00 (CEST). Seventeen countries participated in the second semi-final. Those countries plus France, Italy and the United Kingdom, as well as non-participating countries under an aggregated televote as "Rest of the World", voted in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.

Final
The final will take place on 13 May 2023 at 20:00 BST (21:00 CEST). Twenty-six countries will participate in the final, composed of the previous edition's winner Denmark, the "Big Five", and the ten best-ranked entries of each of the two semi-finals. All forty-one participating countries with jury and televote, as well as non-participating countries under an aggregated televote as "Rest of the World", will vote in the final.