AstroVision Song Festival 2

"Insieme Per Sempre - Together Forever"

## Dates

Semi Finals : September, 11th 2023

Grand Final : September, 29th 2023

## Host

Venue : Vitrifrigo Arena Pesaro, Italy

Hosts : Antonella Clerici, Nicola Savino & Francesco Gabbani

Broadcaster : RAI

## Participants

Number of entries : 44

Debuting countries : Albania , Bulgaria , Croatia , Czechia , Faroe Islands , Georgia , Hungary , Israel , Moldova , Montenegro , Slovakia , South Ossetia , Tunisia , Vatican City

Returning countries : None

Non-returning countries : Andorra , Australia , Canary Islands , Greece , Kazakhstan , Latvia , North Macedonia , Switzerland

## Winner

Winner : **Italy** ETEREA ft. Nashley - *"Giura"*

Points : 203

The **AstroVision Song Festival #2**, often shortened **AVSF #2**, is the second edition of the AstroVision Song Festival, a European-based fan contest.

This edition was hosted in the Vitrifrigo Arena located at Pesaro, Italy by the Italian national broadcaster RAI.

## Host & Organization

- **ITALY**  : Following their win in AVSF #1 brought by Annalisa with her song "Mon Amour", it was announced that Italy would host the next edition of the AstroVision Song Festival.

After their confirmation as the host for the edition, the national broadcaster RAI began on August, 26th 2022 their internal search for their venue. 7 venues were retained for discussion. On August, 27th, it was announced that three of these venues made it through the second phase of the selection process : the Unipol Arena of Bologna, the Mediolanum Forum of Milan and the Vitrifrigo Arena of Pesaro.

 Selected venue for hosting AVSF #2

 Venue which was eliminated in the second phase of the selection process

 Venue which was eliminated in the first phase of the selection process

     After a tight internal voting process, on August, 27th 2023 it was announced that the second edition of the AstroVision Song Festival would be hosted in the Vitrifrigo Arena in Pesaro, Italy.

     On the same day, the broadcaster revealed the theme art for this edition. The theme represents two waves and an abstract trophy represented with small light bubbles, on a modern background also filled with light bubbles. This theme art represents the modernity of 2023 Italy as well as their will of an eye-appealing abstract logo which will be used as this edition's main visual identity throughout the shows. The slogan of this edition is "Insieme Per Sempre - Together Forever" ("Ensemble Pour Toujours" in French), which refers both to the famous song of the late singer Toto Cutugno deceased not too long before the edition started, and the will for Italy to unite people together for the time of this show and beyond.

     On August, 28th 2023, the broadcaster revealed the stage design for this edition. It is composed of a massive structure made out of a total of 92 light bubbles, which are the main element of this edition's artwork and logo, all organized in two parts. First, two sets shaping an oval at the center of the backwall, surrounding four oval LED structures and a big oval screen. Second, eight sets shaping waves on each side of the stage which are along with three big wave-shaped LED bars and two bow-shaped screens underneath surrounded by LEDs. This big lighting structure is along with a podium divided into one massive trapezoidal-shaped, one rectagular shaped serving as a corridor, and one smaller oval-shaped, all made out of screens. This large podium is finished with three layers of incrusted LED bars surrounding it. Everything is set with a large amount of projectors over and under the backwall structure. The Italian broadcaster RAI justifies this stage design as *"the florishing result of two visions from the hosting team : one of them being the will of blending this stage with the artwork itself with the light bubbles which are the visual identity of this edition, the other one being the will of proposing a stage evoking the sea, with a very organic design inspired by waves (waves being also part of this edition's logotype), the blue color of the theme art enhancing this vision. All and all, this stage is modern and very organic-looking and that's what we've wanted for this project.*

     Moreover, it was also officialized that the hosts for this edition would be TV presenter Antonella Clerici, radio host and TV presenter Nicola Savino & singer-songwriter and 2017 Eurovision Song Contest Italian representant Francesco Gabbani.

## Contest

### Returning Artists

Eight artists were confirmed to take part again to an AstroVision contest.

### Semifinals

The AVBU announced that 44 countries would participate in the second edition of the AstroVision Song Festival.

**Albania , Bulgaria , Croatia , Czechia , Faroe Islands , Georgia , Hungary , Israel , Moldova , Montenegro , Slovakia , South Ossetia**  and **Vatican City**  enter the contest for the first time.

**Andorra , Canary Islands , Greece , Kazakhstan , Latvia , North Macedonia**  and **Switzerland**  announced their withdrawal from the contest.

**Tunisia**  was announced as this edition's Guest Country by the broadcaster RAI, taking over last edition's Guest Australia .

On September, 10 2023, the AVBU revealed the running orders for the two semifinals of the AVSF #2. They have been decided through three randomizations : 6 pots, 4 halves and 2 official running orders.

#### Semi Final 1

 Qualified for the Grand Final

Not qualified for the Grand Final

 Last place in the Semifinal

 Last place in the Semifinal with a -75% points penalty

#### Semi Final 2

 Qualified for the Grand Final

Not qualified for the Grand Final

 Last place in the Semifinal

 Last place in the Semifinal with a -75% points penalty

### Grand Final

On September, 28 2023, the AVBU revealed the running order for the Grand Final of the AVSF #2. It has been decided through two randomizations : two halves with a perfect balance of 5 qualfiers from SF1, 5 qualifiers from SF2 and 3 big 6 countries each & 1 official running order.

The voting scores were revealed in two times : first, the points from the Jury Voting were revealed, followed by the Televoting scores afterwards.

After the two sets of points, it was announced that **Italy**  was the winner of the second edition of the AstroVision Song Festival for the second time in a row, with a global score of 203 points. **Slovakia**  finished in second place with 176 points. **Russia**  finished in third place with 173 points, followed by **Gibraltar** , **Tunisia**  and **Guernsey**  to complete the top 6, which will be prequalified for the upcoming AVSF #3 Grand Final.

 Country which finished in first place

 Country which finished in second place

 Country which finished in third place

 Country which is prequalified for the next edition

 Countries which are tied in points

 Country which finished in last place