It’s that time of year again – the Eurovision Song Contest is back!
After Italian rock band Maneskin won in 2021, this year’s event will be hosted by Italy, with 26 artists flocking to Turin to represent their countries in the grand final. This year’s UK entry will be Sam Ryder. Find out more about the musician here.
The semifinals concluded on Thursday (12 May), with the event culminating in the grand final on Saturday (14 May).
Everything you need to know about the Eurovision 2022 schedule
Semi-final one kicked things off on Tuesday (10 May) with 17 countries battling it out to make it to the grand final.
The countries that made it through in the first semi-final were Armenia, Greece, Iceland, Lithuania, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland and Ukraine.
The qualifiers in the second semi-final, which took place on Thursday were Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Sweden.
In February, it was announced that the European Broadcasting Union had barred Russia from participating.
“The decision reflects concern that, in light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russian entry in this year’s contest would bring the competition into disrepute,” said the EBU, who had earlier announced they had no plans to prevent Russia from taking part before backtracking on their statement.
France, the UK, Germany, Spain, and Italy are part of a group known as the “big five” who automatically qualify for the grand final on Saturday (14 May) and therefore do not need to compete in the semi-finals.
How can I watch Eurovision 2022
The Eurovision Grand Final will be shown on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 8pm on Saturday (14 May).
It will also be available to listen to on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds.
