Edition 3

Afterglow

### Non-returning countries

  Albania,   Estonia,   Greece,   Italy,   Jordan,   Luxembourg,   Malta,   Morocco,   Slovenia,   Sweden,   Tunisia

## Vote

### Voting system

Each country awarded one set in the semi-finals, or two sets in the final of 12, 10, 8–1 points to ten songs.

## Topsical Song Contest

The third **Topsical Song Contest** took place in Geneva, Switzerland, following the country's victory in the second edition with the song "Gone With The Wind" by Roxane. Organised by TopsRadio and the host broadcaster, Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR), the contest was held at the SEG Geneva Arena, and consisted of two semi-finals on 21 August 2023 and 28 August 2023, and the final on 23 September 2023. The shows were presented by Tatum Rush, NNAVY, and Ana Kohler.

44 countries participated in the contest, with   Albania,   Estonia,   Greece,   Italy,   Jordan,   Luxembourg,   Malta,   Morocco,   Slovenia,   Sweden, and   Tunisia withdrawing,   Israel returning, and seven countries debuting in the competition:   Algeria,   Cyprus,   Czechia,   Faroe Islands,   Iran,   Kosovo, and   Latvia.

The winner of the third edition was   Armenia with the song "Mi Ari", performed by Lucy.   Norway,   San Marino,   Ireland,   Switzerland, and   Germany rounded out the top six.

## Overview

*To learn more about the host country, visit Switzerland.*

### About Geneva

Geneva (French: *Genève*, German: *Genf*, Italian: *Ginevra*), city, capital of Genève canton, in the far southwestern corner of Switzerland that juts into France. One of Europe’s most cosmopolitan cities, Geneva has served as a model for republican government and owes its preeminence to the triumph of human, rather than geographic, factors. It developed its unique character from the 16th century, when, as the centre of the Calvinist Reformation, it became the “Protestant Rome”.

The canton of Genève has a total area of 109 square miles (282 square kilometres), of which seven square miles constitute the city proper. Territorial isolation has been a basic feature of this region, which did not establish its definitive frontiers until 1815. Cut off politically and culturally after the Reformation from its natural geographic surroundings in Roman Catholic France and Savoy, Geneva was forced to establish an attenuated but powerful network of intellectual and economic relationships with the rest of Europe and with nations overseas.

A city-state transformed after many vicissitudes into a democratic Swiss canton, Genève has functioned primarily as a centre of commerce, in contact with both Germanic and Mediterranean countries. The contemporary city of Geneva is, above all, a service metropolis, retaining its financial importance and housing the headquarters of many public and private international organizations.

Geneva is located at the southwestern end of Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) at its junction with the Rhône River. The city lies at an elevation of 1,230 feet (375 metres) in the centre of a natural basin encircled by mountains. This excellent site, besides commanding the important Swiss corridor between the Alps and the Jura Mountains, is also the focus of Alpine passes leading into Italy and, along the Saône–Rhône axis, of routes to the Mediterranean.

Bisected by the lower lake basin and the river, Geneva exhibits the classic pattern of old European cities, with neighbourhoods lying in belts around the original nucleus. The Haute-ville, or upper city, centred on the city’s original hill site at the Plateau des Tranchées and dominated by the Cathedral of St. Peter, is the historic heart of Geneva. The typical medieval and Renaissance houses are crowded together along narrow streets. This neighbourhood has undergone relative depopulation as housing has given way to government buildings and art, antiques, and interior furnishings businesses.

### About SEG Geneva Arena

SEG Geneva Arena (commonly known as the *Geneva Arena*, *Genf Arena*, French: *Arena de Genève*) is an indoor arena in Geneva, Switzerland. Part of the Palexpo complex, it opened in 1995, and it currently holds 9,500 spectators and hosts concerts and indoor sporting events, such as tennis and basketball. SEG Geneva Arena is huge in every sense of the word; in size, in features and in popular appeal. The strategic location of the place with access to a lot of facilities itself is a major attraction. A diverse range of private, political, sporting and musical events are conducted here. The supreme light and sound features of the place adds to the ultra-modern ambiance of the place.

Geneva’s biggest concert venue, the Arena is where you go for big name gigs and large-scale entertainment and sporting events. So a season’s programming could include Elton John, Simply Red and Johnny Halliday (well, it does border France), along with musical Dirty Dancing and basketball stars the Harlem Globetrotters. Located next to Geneva airport, it’s easy to get to and draws punters from both France and Switzerland.

### About the hosts

Tatum Rush, NNAVY, and Ana Kohler are the presenters of the third edition of Topsical Song Contest.

Born in San Diego, **Tatum Rush** grew up between Switzerland and Italy and started playing jazz guitar in after-work wine bars at the age of 16. By 18 he had moved on to songwriting as the frontman for Swiss Indie-pop group Meadow and to study performance art at Haute Ecole Art et Design in Geneva. In 2015 he released his first solo album "Guru Child". In 2020 he released his EP "Drinks Alchemici" including the hit single "Chimera". His latest album "Villa Tatum" was released in October 2022 including the hit single "Too Late". His music style is generally categorized as RnB/Indie Pop with a wide range of influences from Jazz to Soul, House, and Latin. He has performed across Europe and in major festivals including Montreux Jazz Festival, Paleo Festival, Eurosonic, Rock in Roma, and Mi Ami Festival.

Lausanne-based Burundian artist **NNAVY** stepped into the spotlight after sharing a number of soulful covers on social media. In 2020, she released ‘With You’ (with  Larissa), a gorgeous guitar-laden and jazz-influenced song that features on her equally impressive debut project ‘Blue’. The following year, NNAVY shared, ‘PATTERNS’, her collaborative standalone single with Chelan, as well as ‘For the future’ (with Paul Silve), ‘Helios’ (with A.W.A), and ‘Caramélisé’ (with Iya Ko), all of which feature on her latest EP ‘in good company’. For her debut A COLORS SHOW, NNAVY delivers a vibrant performance of her new single ‘Come and Get It’. Opening with funky synths and bright, percussive rhythms, the track showcases NNAVY’s soulful vocals and irresistible charm.

**Ana Kohler** is a Swiss singer, model, social media influencer, and content creator who is known for lip-syncing and vlog videos that she uploads to her TikTok account. Besides that, she is also recognized for the release of various tracks. She was born in Portugal but later moved to Switzerland. She has a younger brother named Ruben, as well as a younger sister named Tamar. She dated singer Charlie Lenehan. She has most recently been romantically connected to Luca Heubl. Her great passion is music. This was the beginning of her career in the social media and has always accompanied her. Joint cover productions with the singer Alec Benjamin or an international production for Disney's "The Lion King" are just some of the projects in which she has already proven her musical talent. With her voice she feels at home in pop music and spreads a strong international flair.

### About the visual design: **Afterglow**

On 31 July 2023, TopsRadio unveiled the logo, branding, and slogan of the 3rd edition. The slogan is confirmed to be **Afterglow**. As a word, it represents light or radiance remaining in the sky after the sun has set, while symbolically it can also mean good feelings remaining after a pleasurable or successful experience.

The theme art will be used during the edition.

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## National Selections and Format

### National Selections

For more information, see Edition 3/National Selections.

### Allocation Draw

The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place on August 2023. The first part of the draw determined in which semifinal the automatic qualifiers would have to vote. The second part of the draw determined in which half of the respective semi-finals each country would perform, with the exact running order determined by the producers of the show at a later date. 21 countries participated in each semi-final. In each semi-final, ten countries joined the automatic qualifiers in the final, where a total of 26 countries participated.

The 42 semi-finalists were allocated into six pots based on their geographical location and cultural similarities. Each time a country was drawn from the pot, its semi-final and half of the semi-final were determined.

The six pots were the following:

* Belgium
* France
* Monaco
* Netherlands
* Portugal
* Spain
* Czechia
* Germany
* Hungary
* Moldova
* Romania
* Slovakia
* Faroe Islands
* Finland
* Iceland
* Ireland
* ~~Norway~~
 Pot 4
 * ~~Albania~~
* Bulgaria
* Croatia
* Cyprus
* ~~Italy~~
* Kosovo
* San Marino
* Armenia
* Azerbaijan
* Iran
* Lebanon
* ~~Morocco~~
* Türkiye
* Israel
* Kazakhstan
* Latvia
* Lithuania
* Poland
* Russia

## Participating countries

### Semifinal 1

  Egypt,   Serbia and   Ukraine also voted in this semi final.

### Semifinal 2

  Georgia,   Norway and   Switzerland also voted in this semi final.