For the first time in history, the Eurovision Song Contest is finally expanding to another country. Which place will be the next competitor of the renowned music contest?
According to Billboard, the competition producers will be bringing Canada to the show in 2023.
Contestants will come from the country's ten provinces, and three territories will go against each other in one major event, seemingly similar to the original Eurovision.
As of this writing, there is still no information about the possible contestants.
Over the past decades, there have been Canadians who participated in the original Eurovision, but they never represented their own countries.
Celine Dion is popularly known for winning the contest at the age of 19. She represented Switzerland in 1988 with the song "Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi."
New Brunswick native Natasha St-Pier also competed. She represented France as she's been living in the country for a long time.
She sang "Je N'ai Que Mon Âme" in 2001, placing fourth in the event.
The three other Canadians were Sherisse Laurence for Luxembourg, Rykka for Switzerland, and Annie Cotton for Switzerland.
A Canadian company called Insight (producer of "The Amazing Race Canada" and "Big Brother Canada.) will be handling the competition.
Executive producer and senior VP Lindsay Cox said in a statement, "The phenomenal song-writing and extraordinary musicianship in this country can stand against any in the world which is why Canada is the perfect home for the next iteration of Eurovision."
She will be the competition's showrunner.
Executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest, Martin Österdahl, also issued a statement, saying it's time for Canada to "join the party and become a player."
For the next few months, the Canadian competition's team will be working to create a format for how the contest will work.
ASC's Christer Björkman said it is still a work in progress.
Eurovision's expansion comes more than a month after ASC, Inc. debuted the "American Song Contest," which featured contestants from all 50 states and territories across the United States.
Hosted by Kelly Clarkson and Snoop Dogg, the show airs for eight weeks and is set to crown a winner on May 9.
The show is currently airing on NBC, and Atlantic Records is releasing the songs from the artists.
