As a Eurofan, the long stretch of the off-season can feel like a monotone desert with no sign of an oasis filled with sequins and pop music.
However, this is where being an OGAE member can help pull you out of that.
Every year, the OGAE fan clubs host a number of song competitions: The OGAE Second Chance Contest (a battle between songs that competed in national selections but weren't chosen by their countries) and the OGAE Song Contest!
For those not familiar, the OGAE International Network (French: Organisation Générale des Amateurs de l'Eurovision, English: General Organization of Eurovision Fans) is the network of official Eurovision fan clubs.
The OGAE Song Contest sees national clubs enter an original song from their nation released in the previous 12 months and sung in one of the country's official languages.
This year’s contest will be hosted by our very own OGAE Australia following our win last year, with the amazing Tones and I! Her song ‘Fly Away’ brought Australia its second ever trophy, after Dami Im won in 2017 with ‘Fighting for Love’.
The OGAE Australia club yesterday announced the songs that would be competing in this year's contest.
Check out the list below to find out this year's entries:
Italy: Marco Mengoni – ‘Ma Stasera’
Armenia: Brunette – ‘Smoke Break’
Russia: Leonid Agutin and Vladimir Presnjakov – ‘ДНК [DNA]’
Poland: Doda – ‘Fake Love’
Latvia: Citi Zēni – ‘Limuzīns Uz Krīta
Andorra: Julen – ‘Una Cançó’
Finland: Vilma Jää – ‘Saatanan saalistaja’
Serbia: Milica Pavlović & Albino – ‘Šećeru’
Czech Republic: Laka Malawi feat WE ARE DOMI – ‘High Speed Kissing’
Turkey: Kerimcan Durmaz – ‘Peşimde’
Belgium: Lost Frequencies feat. Calum Scott – ‘Where Are You Now’
Spain: Varry Brava and Soleá Morente – ‘Bajo la Luz Perfecta’
Hungary: VALMAR feat. Robi Szikora – ‘Úristen’
Norway: Chris Holsten – ‘Smilet i ditt eget speil’
France: Juliette Armanet – ‘Le dernier jour du disco’
Ireland: Westlife –’Starlight’
Croatia: Vlaho feat. ZSA ZSA – ‘Flowerpot’
Austria: Klangkarussell – ‘Home’
Estonia: Daniel Levi – ‘Jasmine’
Slovenia: Eva Boto – ‘Nočem, da greš’
Rest of the World: Pabllo Vittar and Rina Sawayama – ‘Follow Me’
Australia: Kylie Minogue and Years & Years – ‘A Second to Midnight’
Cyprus: Loukas Yorkas – ‘Μέχρι Τον Ουρανό [Mexri Ton Ourano]’
Portugal: Bárbara Bandeira feat. Carminho – ‘Onde Vais’
Greece: Christos Mastoras – ‘AV’
Sweden: ABBA – ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’
North Macedonia: Lara feat. Kasapski – ‘Само сврти се [Samo Svrti Se]’
Ukraine, United Kingdom and Germany previously had entries but have boycotted the contest due to he inclusion of Russia.
Could we win back to back championships with our entry this year? With an entry by Kylie Minogue and Years & Years, our chances should be high!
But there are some big guns competing with Harry Styles, ABBA and Westlife all included.
Among the names are many Eurovision artists including Marco Mengoni for Italy, Citi Zēni for Latvia and Michael Schulte for Germany.
Get more details on the OGAE Australia website or watch a snippet of each of the videos below!
Voting begins on September 17 and closes on October 28 2022.
Voting is open to OGAE members only, so be sure to check out OGAE Australia (for our Australian fans) or OGAE Rest of the World for other non Europe based fans!
For continued updates on all the Eurovision news follow Aussievision on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. All links at: https://linktr.ee/aussievisionnet