Eurovision Song Contest 2024

68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 was the 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. Hosted in Malmö, the contest began on 7 May 2024 with the first semi-final. The second semi final took place on 9 May and the grand final took place on 11 May 2024.[1]

A group of artists of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 at the Eurovision in Concert pre-party event in Amsterdam, April 2024

37 countries took part in the contest, with Luxembourg participating for the first time in 31 years.[2][3]

Netherlands was removed because of an incident with production crew at the contest despite having made it through to the Finals.[4] The Swedish Police Authority has launched an investigation.

The winner was Nemo, representing Switzerland with the song "The Code".[5][6][7]

Hosting

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The entrance to the contest's venue

The contest was held in Malmö, Sweden, following their win at the 2023 contest with the song "Tattoo" by Loreen. The hosts are Malin Åkerman and Petra Mede, who hosted in 2013 and 2016.

Changes to the contest

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  • The EBU (the organisation which owns Eurovision) decided that every year following the 2023 Contest would use the same slogan "United By Music".[8][9]
  • For the first time, the Big 5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the host country performed in the semi-finals.[10][11]
  • Viewers were able to vote from the beginning of the first performance.[12][10] This was done because many songs which perform earlier in the show do not often place high in the public vote.

Overview

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The Grand Final of Eurovision 2024 was planned to have 26 countries taking part. These include the Big 5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), the host country Sweden and ten countries from each of the two semi-finals. On the day of the Grand Final, the Netherlands was removed from the contest, meaning that there were 25 countries in the final.

Semi-Final 1

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The first semi-final took place on 7 May 2024 at 21:00 CEST.[13] Fifteen countries competed in this semi-final while Germany, Sweden and the UK also performed. Guest performers included past contestants Eleni Foureira, Eric Saade, Chanel Terrero, Benjamin Ingrosso and Johnny Logan, who was the first person to win Eurovision twice.

All countries from this semi-final were able to vote, as well as viewers from non-participating countries under one "rest of the world" online vote. The ten countries with the most votes qualified for the final.

  Countries that made it to the Grand Final
First semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024[14]
R/O Country Artist Song Points Place
1   Cyprus Silia Kapsis "Liar" 67 6th
2   Serbia Teya Dora "Ramonda" 47 10th
3   Lithuania Silvester Belt "Luktelk" 119 4th
4   Ireland Bambie Thug "Doomsday Blue" 124 3rd
5   Ukraine Alyona Alyona & Jerry Heil "Teresa & Maria" 173 2nd
6   Poland Luna "The Tower" 35 12th
7   Croatia Baby Lasagna "Rim Tim Tagi Dim" 177 1st
8   Iceland Hera Björk "Scared of Heights" 3 15th
9   Slovenia Raiven "Veronika" 51 9th
10   Finland Windows95man[a] "No Rules!" 59 7th
11   Moldova Natalia Barbu "In the Middle" 20 13th
12   Azerbaijan Fahree feat. Ilkin Dovlatov "Özünlə apar" 11 14th
13   Australia Electric Fields "One Milkali (One Blood)" 41 11th
14   Portugal Iolanda "Grito" 58 8th
15   Luxembourg Tali "Fighter" 117 5th
  1. Features uncredited vocals by Henri Piispanen

Semi-Final 2

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The second semi-final took place on 9 May 2024 at 21:00 CEST.[15] Sixteen countries took part in this semi-final while France, Italy and Spain also performed their songs. Guest performers included winners from the 1999, 2003 and 2005 contests: Charlotte Perrelli, Sertab Erener and Helena Paparizou.

All countries from this semi-final were able to vote, as well as viewers from non-participating countries under one "rest of the world" online vote. The ten countries with the most votes qualified to the final.

  Countries that made it to the Grand Final
Second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 [16]
R/O Country Artist Song Points No.
1   Malta Sarah Bonnici "Loop" 13 16th
2   Albania Besa "Titan" 14 15th
3   Greece Marina Satti "Zari" 86 5th
4    Switzerland Nemo "The Code" 132 4th
5   Czechia Aiko "Pedestal" 38 11th
6   Austria Kaleen "We Will Rave" 46 9th
7   Denmark Saba "Sand" 36 12th
8   Armenia Ladaniva "Jako" 137 3rd
9   Latvia Dons "Hollow" 72 7th
10   San Marino Megara "11:11" 16 14th
11   Georgia Nutsa Buzaladze "Firefighter" 54 8th
12   Belgium Mustii "Before the Party's Over" 18 13th
13   Estonia 5MIINUST & Puuluup "(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi" 79 6th
14   Israel Eden Golan "Hurricane" 194 1st
15   Norway Gåte "Ulveham" 43 10th
16   Netherlands Joost Klein "Europapa" 182 2nd

Grand Final

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The final took place on 11 May 2024 at 21:00 CEST.[17] The finalists included Sweden, the Big 5 and twenty countries which qualified from the semi-finals. A voting system of points was used to determine the winner. Half of the points were awarded by national juries from each participating country and the other half of the points were awarded by televotes from each country plus the "Rest of the World" online vote. The winner was Switzerland, with "The Code" by Nemo. The trophy was awarded to Nemo by Loreen, who also performed during the interval of the show.

Netherlands was removed because of an incident with production crew at the contest despite having made it through to the Finals.[4] The Swedish Police Authority has launched an investigation.

  Winner
  Removed from the contest
Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024[18]
R/O Country Artist Song Points Place
1   Sweden Marcus & Martinus "Unforgettable" 174 9th
2   Ukraine Alyona Alyona & Jerry Heil "Teresa & Maria" 453 3rd
3   Germany Isaak "Always on the Run" 117 12th
4   Luxembourg Tali "Fighter" 103 13th
5   Netherlands   Joost Klein "Europapa"
6   Israel Eden Golan "Hurricane" 375 5th
7   Lithuania Silvester Belt "Luktelk" 90 14th
8   Spain Nebulossa "Zorra" 30 22nd
9   Estonia 5MIINUST & Puuluup "(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi" 37 20th
10   Ireland Bambie Thug "Doomsday Blue" 278 6th
11   Latvia Dons "Hollow" 64 16th
12   Greece Marina Satti "Zari" 126 11th
13   United Kingdom Olly Alexander "Dizzy" 46 18th
14   Norway Gåte "Ulveham" 16 25th
15   Italy Angelina Mango "La noia" 268 7th
16   Serbia Teya Dora "Ramonda" 54 17th
17   Finland Windows95man[a] "No Rules!" 38 19th
18   Portugal Iolanda "Grito" 152 10th
19   Armenia Ladaniva "Jako" 183 8th
20   Cyprus Silia Kapsis "Liar" 78 15th
21   Switzerland Nemo "The Code" 591 1st
22   Slovenia Raiven "Veronika" 27 23rd
23   Croatia Baby Lasagna "Rim Tim Tagi Dim" 547 2nd
24   Georgia Nutsa Buzaladze "Firefighter" 34 21st
25   France Slimane "Mon amour" 445 4th
26   Austria Kaleen "We Will Rave" 24 24th
  1. Features uncredited vocals by Henri Piispanen

Controversies

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Israeli participation

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The decision to allow Israel to compete was controversial because some people argued that they should have been excluded from the contest due to their actions in their conflict with Hamas, much like how Russia was excluded in 2022 for their invasion of Ukraine. The Israeli contestant, Eden Golan, was booed by the crowds during live shows. Several contestants showed their unhappiness over Israel's participation over the course of the contest including Bambie Thug and Iolanda.[19][20] Additionally, Eric Saade, who performed in semi-final 1, had a keffiyeh around his arm, which Eurovision saw as a political move supporting Palestine and decided not to post footage of his performance on social media.[21]

Dutch removal

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On the day before the Grand Final, Dutch contestant Joost Klein was not present in rehearsals. It was later revealed that there was an incident between him and a female photographer. Eurovision decided to remove the Netherlands from the contest while the Swedish Police Authority investigated the situation.

References

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  1. "Malmö will host the 68th Eurovision Song Contest in May 2024". Eurovision Song Contest. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  2. Konstantopoulou, Rina (17 August 2023). "EUROVISION NEWS: The swedish production begins, these are all the details and the countries so far!". OGAE Greece. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  3. "Belgium announces first artist for Eurovision 2024!". Eurovision Song Contest. 30 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Eurovision Song Contest: Dutch contestant Joost Klein disqualified". BBC News. BBC. 11 May 2024. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  5. "Eurovision 2024 live: Switzerland's Nemo wins Eurovision Song Contest". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  6. Oltermann, Philip (11 May 2024). "Switzerland wins Eurovision song contest after controversial grand final". The Observer. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  7. "Switzerland's Nemo wins the Eurovision Song Contest 2024". Eurovision Song Contest. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  8. "'United By Music' chosen as permanent Eurovision slogan". Eurovision Song Contest. 14 November 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  9. "Eurovision Song Contest makes Liverpool's United by Music slogan permanent". BBC News. 14 November 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  10. 10.0 10.1 "Major changes for Malmö: Big Five & Sweden perform LIVE in Semi-Finals and you can vote for longer". Eurovision Song Contest. 11 March 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  11. "Eurovision 2024: Big-5 and Sweden will perform in the Semi-finals". Eurovisionworld. 11 March 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  12. "Voting Procedures 2024". Eurovision Song Contest. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  13. "Eurovision Calendar 2024". Eurovision Song Contest. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  14. "First Semi-Final of Malmö 2024". Eurovision Song Contest. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  15. "Eurovision Calendar 2024". Eurovision Song Contest. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  16. "Second Semi-Final of Malmö 2024 - Eurovision Song Contest". Eurovision Song Contest. EBU. 11 May 2024. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  17. "Eurovision Calendar 2024". Eurovision Song Contest. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  18. "Grand Final of Malmö 2024". Eurovision Song Contest. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  19. "Bambie Thug changed Ogham message after EBU 'order'". 8 May 2024. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  20. "Iolanda's nails were a pro-Palestinian rallying cry. Eurovision "hid" video of the performance". 12 May 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  21. Adams, William Lee (8 May 2024). ""It's sad he used his participation this way" — Eurovision producer criticizes Eric Saade over Palestine keffiyeh". wiwibloggs. Retrieved 16 May 2024.

Other websites

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