Ireland - Wild Youth - We Are One

12 - 10 pts in semi 1

The band Wild Youth sings for Ireland in Liverpool.
The fab-foursome dug up the old Malmö 2013 slogan and won the six-song Irish Eurosong on February 3.

The song was written by band members Ed Porter and Conor O'Donohoe with Swedish songwriter Jörgen Elofsson. The other band members are David Wheland and Callum McAdam.

We Are One was released as a digital single on January 27. 

A new  recorded for Eurovision is revealed on March 8..

The Acoustic version was released on March 22 (even though it syas January 27 at your digitals).

All Irish Eurosong songs have been released as digital singles. One, Hawaii by Public Image Ltd. will also get a physical release as a 7"inch single. (available here, here or here.

For Jörgen Elofsson We Are One is the 2nd Eurovision entry. He wrote Dying To Try for Brendan Murray in 2017 with James Newman. But we all know and love him for giving us Agnetha Fältskog's A.

Wild Youth formed in 2017 and released their first single All Or Nothing in 2017. They released over a dozen digital singles since then. Their 2021 mini album (EP) Forever Girl was also released on Vinyl 12" (available here). The Last Goodbye EP was released as a CD-EP, both on Imperfectly Perfect Records (their own label).

Versions:

We Are One - ESC version

- 8-3 reveal, 10-3 digital release

We Are One - original version

- digital release 27-1

We Are One - Acoustic

- digital release 22-3

We Are One - karaoke

- On the official karaoke album

Charts:

Ireland top 100 (IRMA): 93, -

Links and sources:
Wild Youth Website, Shop, FB, Linktree,
Eurosong 2023 at ESC History

Eurovision record holders Ireland may have the most wins to their name but they failed to get to the final 7 times out of the last 10 years, only Ryan Dolan and Ryan O'Shaugnessy made it. And of course we all remember Jedward and Jedward.

Greece - Victor Vernicos - What They Say

13 - 14 pts in semi 2

Victor Vernicos will represent Greece in Liverpool with the song What They Say. Victor Vernicos Jörgensen wrote the song himself.

The song was revealed on March 12. Here's the video (at ERT YT)

Fun fact, he wasn't even born when Greece won Eurovision in 2005. (G. I'm getting old....). He has released a handful of digital singles since 2021 of which Brutally Honest With You is the most recent. (pictured)

Versions:

What They Say - single version

- digital 12-3

What They Say - karaoke

- On the official karaoke album

Links and sources:
Victor Vernicos Insta, linktree

Remember Stefania, Amanda or even Sakis?

Portugal - Mimicat - Ai Coração

23 - 59 pts / 9 - 74 pts in semi 1

Mimicat is the winner of the 57th Festival RTP da Canção with her song Ai Coração (Oh Heart). The song is written by Marisa Mena (Mimicat) and Luís Pereira.

The song can be found on the FdC album (CD and digital, see below). 

A seperate single (same track only) was finally released on May 5. (Although it is dated 27-1)

An instrumental version can be found on Mimicat's Youtube.

Mimicat (Marisa Isabel Lopes Mena) recorded her first songs at age 9 but we fast forward to 2001 when she first participated in the Festival da Canção as Izamena. Her song Mundo Colorido ended 3rd in one of the 5 heats (50 songs in the race) but only the top 2 continued through the final.

In 2009 she was the singer of the Jazz/Pop band The Casino Royal with whom she recorded two albums. 

Her first solo album (as Mimicat) is For You from 2014. Back In Town, her 2nd solo album, was released in 2017 and spent one week on the Portuguese album charts. Both are English language albums.

The 2023 Festival da Canção CD was released on February 24 and is available in the Portuguese shops. I only know Fnac.pt to sell it internationally, (but they have hefty postage costs). 

Let me know if there are other online shops available.
This year's Festival da Canção semi's were on February 25 and March 4 with the final on March 11.

The only returning Eurovision artist in the 2023 line-up was Claudia Pascoal who represented the host country in Lisbon in 2018.

Versions:

Ai, Coração - original

- digital 27-1, Festival RTP da Canção CD

Ai, Coração - karaoke

- On the official karaoke album (digital)

Charts:
Portugal top 200: 76, 155, -, re: 102, 24, 80, 114, 143, 171

Links and sources
Mimicat FB, Insta
Festival da Canção 2023 at ESC History
Festival da Canção Website, FB

Remember Maro, The Black Mamba and Salvador Sobral who brought the trophy to Portugal with their 50th Eurovision entry