ǿմý

Skip to main content

Eurovision to launch Canadian spinoff battle for best song in 2023

Norway's TIX during the Eurovision Song Contest at Ahoy arena in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Tuesday, May 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong) Norway's TIX during the Eurovision Song Contest at Ahoy arena in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Tuesday, May 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Share
TORONTO -

Canada is getting its own version of the oft-outlandish musical spectacle “Eurovision Song Contest.”

Organizers of the over-the-top multinational event say “Eurovision Canada” will premiere in 2023.

It will feature musical artists and bands from each province and territory who will perform their own songs across various genres.

Like the original, participants will compete against each other in a series of qualifier competitions, leading to the semi-finals and grand finale.

The spinoff is set to be produced by ASC, Inc. as well as Toronto-based Insight Productions, known for the reality spinoffs “The Amazing Race Canada” and “Big Brother Canada.”

The broadcaster and host will be announced in the coming weeks.

Although this marks the debut of Eurovision in Canada, it won't be the first time the event is graced with Canuck talent. A 20-year-old Celine Dion won “Eurovision Song Contest” in 1988 while representing Switzerland.

Eurovision has a storied history in Europe where it premiered in 1956 as part of an effort to unite European countries after the Second World War through cross-border TV programs.

Over the years, it's helped launch the international careers of ABBA, Julio Iglesias and most recently in 2021, the Italian rock band MÃ¥neskin. It's also developed a reputation for off-the-wall performances featuring elaborate costumes and sets.

Earlier this year, NBC launched a televised spinoff dubbed “American Song Contest,” with artists from each of the 50 states competing for a top prize to be handed out May 9.

Insight Productions showrunner and executive producer Lindsay Cox called Canada the “perfect home” for the next iteration of the contest.

“The phenomenal songwriting and extraordinary musicianship in this country can stand against any in the world,” Cox said Monday in a statement.

Eurovision has amassed a significant online following outside of its broadcast countries, and was the focus of Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams' 2020 Netflix comedy “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2022.

CTVNews.ca ǿմý

Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

BREAKING

BREAKING

The New Brunswick RCMP is asking people to stay away from the Starkey Road area in Long Creek, N.B., as they search for an armed teenager.

An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

Local Spotlight

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.

Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.