RTL, the Luxembourgish national broadcaster, confirmed to ESCToday earlier this week that they will not make a return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023 in the United Kingdom.
News rather than music
Despite being a fan-favourite and arguably a Eurovision powerhouse in the early days of the competition, Luxembourg is continuing to put their return on hold.
Luxembourg is now the third country that has confirmed that they will not be returning to the competition, at least in 2023 and for the time being. They join Andorra and Slovakia by doing so.
According to reports from ESCToday, RTL has stated that its intention is to focus on news features, as opposed to music and entertainment. Funding a Eurovision participation would reportedly also place a financial strain on RTL, which is also another reason for their plans to not return to the contest at present.
Luxembourg at the Eurovision Song Contest
The landlocked country has enjoyed significant success at the contest since their debut in 1956, the year it all began. Luxembourg has participated 37 times between 1956 and 1993 but ever since their withdrawal 1994, they have not returned since.
Despite this, the tiny nation has boasted seven top 3 results, where five of those times saw them take home the trophy. Luxembourg first won in 1961 with Jean-Claude Pascal’s “Nous les amoureux”. Corinne Hermès brought the last win to the country in 1983 with her song, “Si la vie est cadeau”.
Their most recent entry in 1993 was “Donne-moi une chance” and was sung by Modern Times. It finished in 20th place and was awarded 11 points. Take a trip down memory lane and watch their performance below!
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