It’s been 30 years, but Luxembourg are finally back! The news of their return came out of nowhere last year in May ahead of the final of the 2023 contest. Fans all across the continent and beyond have been waiting to find out who would fly the Luxembourgish flag for the first time since 1993. Luxembourg has had a rich history in the Eurovision Song Contest. As one of the founding members they participated for the first time in 1956. Back then only 7 countries competed with each nation sending 2 entries. Luxembourg was represented by Michèle Arnoud, who sang both songs.
They didn’t have to wait long for their first victory: in 1961 French singer Jean-Claude Pascal was declared the winner by a panel of professional jury members with his song “Nous Les Amoureux”. He would later return to the contest in 1981. The Grand Duchy went on to win the Song Contest 5 times before their withdrawal in the early nineties. They graced us with some absolute Eurovision legends such as Nana Mouskouri, Anne-Marie David and Lara Fabian. Not to mention France Gall and Vicky Leandros who won the competition in ’65 and ’72 respectively with their entries “Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son” and “Après Toi”.
From 1987 onwards, however, Luxembourg’s fortunes in the contest shifted. After their last victory by Corinne Hermès in 1983, the Benelux country ended up in the bottom 5 four times. Eventually leading to their relegation in 1994. They declined the offer to return to the contest the year after, with the increasing cost for participation cited as the main reason. They would not return for 30 years.
Last Saturday, however, the country held its long awaited national final in the Rockhal in Esch-sur-Alzette. With a production that would even have made Christer Björkmans jaw drop.
Some 6500 spectators, along with several past Eurovision winners saw 8 contestants battle it out for the first Luxembourgish Eurovision ticket in 31 years. After a first round of voting 3 acts advanced to the super final. They were Joel Marques, Tali and fan favorite Krick. Eventually, in pure Eurovision style, an international jury and a televote decided who would go to Malmö. Whilst she lost the jury voting by just one point to Krick, it was eventually Tali who won the ticket with her entry “Fighter”. Tali is an Israeli born Luxembourgish singer songwriter. Will she fight her way to the final in May? We have provided you with our honest but fair review. As per usual we added our totally unbased early prediction!
niallpoints Review
Niall
Welcome back Luxembourg! Now I wasn’t sure of this song at first. However it is growing on me and Tali was giving it all she’s got during the live. My favourite bit of the song is the end of the chorus and it did seem that she relied on backing vocals a lot here. But there’s time to refine that. I think it’s safe to say this is an easy qualification in a televote only semi final, but I don’t think we’ll be heading to the Grand Duchy in 2025.
Early prediction: 18-22
Tomas
After listening and reviewing all songs a couple weeks back this song was my favorite. And Tali did not disappoint with the live performance. The staging package they served at the national final could well be copy-pasted in Malmö. Tali looked and sounded great, hitting every note. The choreo, though nothing new, does what it needs to to keep you entertained. Add some pyro and a good backdrop and you have yourself a qualifier. This is a solid pop song and will undoubtedly do well come May. It’s fun and bubbly. I like that we have a mixture of French and English. It makes it very accessible and radio friendly whilst fully embracing its Luxembourgish roots. Not sure about a top 10 finish but then I wouldn’t be surprised if Luxembourg receive a warm welcome back à la Italy in 2011.
Early prediction: 12-16
