Rita Ora to perform during Eurovision semi-finals – Music News

Rita Ora has signed up to perform during a semi-final in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest next month.

The I Will Never Let You Down singer will take to the stage at the Liverpool Arena in England on 9 May to perform a medley of her biggest hits and her brand-new single Praising You during one of the intervals in the televised competition.

Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina, one of this year’s hosts, will open the first semi-final with her band The Hardkiss, while British singer Rebecca Ferguson will sing a duet of Duran Duran’s Ordinary World with Ukrainian artist Alyosha.

The second semi-final on 11 May will feature a collaborative performance between Ukrainian performers Mariya Yaremchuk, OTOY and Zlata Dziunka.

The contest is being held in the U.K. on behalf of Ukraine, which won the competition last year. The X Factor runner-up Ferguson, who hails from Liverpool, described her performance as “a celebration of Liverpool and Ukraine through music”.

She joked on the BBC’s Eurovisioncast Podcast that she is “hoping to squeeze into some kind of dress” following the birth of her fourth child in February.

She added, “I’m looking forward to it because it’ll be my first work event where I get to dress up because I’ve just been mummy for the past few weeks.”

The semi-finals will be hosted by Sanina, British singer Alesha Dixon, and Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham, while Irish presenter Graham Norton will join them for the final on 13 May.

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