RTL Luxembourg have announced that they will be selecting their Eurovision Song Contest 2024 entry through a televised National Selection on 27 January 2024.
Since Luxembourg announced that they will be returning to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2024, speculation has been running wild about just what a 21st Century Luxembourgish participation might actually look like. In their previous participations, from 1956 to 1993, they only used a National Selection on four occasions and almost always used artists from outside of Luxembourg. However, RTL Luxembourg have surprised everyone by announcing a fully-fledged televised show focusing on Luxembourgish artists.
The National Selection will take place at the Rockhall in Luxembourg’s second-largest city, Esch-sur-Alzette, on 27 January 2024. Even the choice of venue is intriguing as it seems to be a definite signal to Europe that Luxembourg has a lot more to it than people might assume, as a lot of people are under the misconception that Luxembourg is just a small city-state.
The same logic seems to guide the rules for the National Selection which state that applicants must hold Luxembourgish nationality or have resided in Luxembourg for at least three consecutive years or exhibit a strong cultural involvement and proven connection with the Luxembourgish music scene. In the latter case, several criteria must be fulfilled, including active national engagement in musical practice, regular collaboration with recognized cultural institutions and actors within the Luxembourgish scene. This is a striking change to Luxembourg’s previous mentality when it came to the Eurovision Song Contest and seems to demonstrate that RTL Luxembourg are here to promote Luxembourg to Europe.
Additionally applicants must also have reached the age of 16 by the date of the show’s broadcast, be available and flexible between November 2023 and May 2024 and they must possess live singing abilities and feel at ease on a large stage. Already these rules are far stricter than many other National Selections if the final one is anything to go by.
Applicants can now submit their entries on RTL’s new Eurovision website (www.eurovision.lu), as an artist with a ready-to-go song, an artist without a song and/or a songwriter(s) without an artist. Applicants can submit up to three times and in multiple categories if they so wish.
The overall submission deadline is 1 October 2023, excepts for artists without a song, who must submit by 16 July 2023.
A panel of experts will select the songs and artists who will take part in the televised national final – the winner of which will have the privilege of representing the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in May 2024.
