Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024

Luxembourg is set to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden, returning after an absence of 31 years since its last participation in 1993.[1] The Luxembourgish broadcaster RTL is organising a national final in order to select the country's entry for the contest.

Eurovision Song Contest 2024
Country Luxembourg
National selection
Selection processNational final
Selection date(s)27 January 2024
Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1993 • 2024

Background
Main article: Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2024 contest, Luxembourg has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty-seven times since debuting in its first edition of 1956. The country has won the contest on five occasions: in 1961 with "Nous les amoureux" performed by Jean-Claude Pascal, in 1965 with "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" performed by France Gall, in 1972 with "Après toi" performed by Vicky Leandros, in 1973 with "Tu te reconnaîtras" performed by Anne-Marie David, and finally in 1983 with "Si la vie est cadeau" performed by Corinne Hermès. After a poor result in 1993, Luxembourg was relegated from the 1994 contest in accordance with the new rules implemented at the time, and has since opted to be absent from the event.[2]

On 15 December 2022, it was revealed that the Luxembourgish prime minister Xavier Bettel had instigated discussions regarding the return of the country to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2024, with a team later created by the Luxembourgish government dedicated to ensuring the country's return to the contest.[3] On 12 May 2023, Luxembourgish broadcaster RTL and the European Broadcasting Union officially revealed that Luxembourg would return to the contest in 2024, marking the first Luxembourgish participation in over 30 years.[1] CEO of RTL Christophe Goossens stated the broadcaster was "delighted" to return to the Eurovision Song Contest and to select the 2024 Luxembourgish delegation.[4] On 3 July 2023, RTL announced that the national entry for the 2024 contest would be selected through a televised final.[5]

Before Eurovision

National final

The Luxembourgish national final is set to take place on 27 January 2024 at the Rockhal in Esch-sur-Alzette and will be broadcast on RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg,[5] as well as on the broadcaster's online platform. Commentary will be available in three languages.[6]

Format

Details on the format are set to be released on 1 December 2023.[7] The broadcaster plans to include the public in the voting system.[6]

Competing entries

On 3 July 2023, RTL opened a submission period for interested singers and songwriters. Performers are required to either hold Luxembourgish nationality, have resided in country for at least three consecutive years or be involved with the Luxembourgish music scene, while songwriters can be of any nationality.[8]

The submission form was divided into three categories: singers without songs to submit, singer-songwriters with up to three songs to submit, and songwriters with up to three songs looking for performers. Applicants for the first category had a deadline of 16 July 2023 to send a presentation video;[9] about a hundred artists applied and were assessed by the RTL jury at an audition round held at the Rockhal the following week, with a second round to be held among the qualifiers from this session and performers who entered the competition with a song;[10][11] applications for songwriters to pair up with the perfomers were closed by mid-August 2023,[12] with selected artists having the possibility of directly choosing a song of their preference from the received submissions.[13] Applications for singer-songwriters were instead open until 1 October 2023.[9]

A total of 459 entries were submitted to RTL,[14] including by 24-time Eurovision songwriter Ralph Siegel, who debuted with Luxembourg in 1974 and won with Germany in 1982.[15] All the artists and songs competing in the national final are being selected by a panel of experts[5] consisting of Sandra Bintz, Eric Lehmann, Jenny Fischbach, Jules Serrig, Sam Steen and chair David Gloesener.[13]

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) splits up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. In January 2024, a special allocation draw will be held which will place each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they will perform in.

In Luxembourg, all three shows will be broadcast on RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg.[1]

References
  1. "Luxembourg to return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2024". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 12 May 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  2. "Luxembourg". Eurovision.tv. EBU. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  3. Granger, Anthony (15 December 2022). "Luxembourg: RTL & Government Discussing Return to Eurovision in 2024". Eurovoix. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  4. Jiandani, Sanjay (12 May 2023). "Luxembourg: RTL returns to Eurovision 2024". ESCToday. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  5. "Eurovision Song Contest 2024: We're looking for YOU! The preselection process has started". today.rtl.lu. RTL Luxembourg. 3 July 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  6. Stephenson, James (11 July 2023). "Luxembourg: Public Will Have a Say in New National Final". Eurovoix. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  7. "Eurovision". Eurovision.lu. RTL Luxembourg. Archived from the original on 2 October 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  8. "What conditions do you have to meet?". Eurovision.lu. RTL Luxembourg. 3 July 2023. Archived from the original on 15 July 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  9. "Luxembourg sets January date for televised national final". Eurovision.tv. EBU. 3 July 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  10. Granger, Anthony (23 July 2023). "Luxembourg: 100 Singers Participate in Auditions for Eurovision 2024 Selection". Eurovoix. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  11. "Pre-Selektioun fir den Eurovision Song Contest huet ugefaangen" [Pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest has started]. rtl.lu (in Luxembourgish). RTL Luxembourg. 23 July 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  12. "Grand Duchy of Luxembourg's national preselection". Eurovision.lu. RTL Luxembourg. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  13. Mantes, Ioannis (15 August 2023). "ΛΟΥΞΕΜΒΟΥΡΓΟ: Εκατό καλλιτέχνες πέρασαν τις auditions για μια θέση στο Μάλμε!" [Luxembourg: One hundred artists were auditioned for a place in Malmö!]. ogaegreece.com (in Greek). OGAE Greece. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  14. Jiandani, Sanjay (2 October 2023). "Luxembourg: RTL receives 459 songs for Eurovision 2024". ESCToday. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  15. Henschen, Isabelle (2 October 2023). "Och de Ralph Siegel wëll de Comeback-Hit schreiwen" [Even Ralph Siegel wants to write the comeback hit]. today.rtl.lu (in Luxembourgish). RTL Luxembourg. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
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