How Eurovision Song Contest 2023 semi-final voting system works

The first of two Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals took take place on Tuesday night.

Singers from fifteen countries took to the stage at Liverpool's M&S Bank Arena - with 10 going through to Saturday's grand final.

A second semi-final featuring another 16 countries will take place on Thursday night, with the same number of acts progressing.

There is often confusion about how exactly voting works for the Eurovision - and more so for the semi-finals which are rarely broadcast on prime-time TV in the UK.

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This year sees a big change in how the semi-final results are worked out with it being determined 100% by public vote for the first time.

Viewers in the 15 countries taking part in semi-final 1 will be eligible to vote alongside three of the countries pre-qualified for the grand final – France, Germany, and Italy.

Viewers in the 16 countries taking part in semi-final 2 are also eligible to vote alongside three of the other countries pre-qualified for the grand final – Spain, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

Those watching in the participating countries can vote using the official Eurovision Song Contest app, or by telephone or text messaging the relevant numbers displayed on screen.

Viewers watching in any other eligible non-participating country can vote via secure online platform esc.vote. This will count towards the ‘Rest Of The World’ vote.

Voting will open for around 15 minutes after the last song is performed.

When the vote closes the top ten most popular songs in each country will be allocated points from 1 to 8, 10 and 12 points. The audience in each participating country will award a total of 58 points (1 – 8, 10 and 12).

The ten songs that have received the most votes from the ‘Rest Of The World’ will be allocated points using the same scale and have the weight of one additional voting country.

Presenters Alesha Dixon, Julia Sanina and Hannah Waddingham (Getty Images)

If a national audience vote cannot be recorded in a participating country for whatever reason, the points allocated from that country will be determined using an aggregated result.

In the unlikely event that an aggregated result is not available, it will be replaced by the results of the national jury of the country concerned.

The ten countries with the highest total number of points will qualify for Saturday's grand final. The results will be announced at the end of Tuesday's show.

This year's Eurovision Song Contest kicked off on Sunday when the 37 competing acts took to a turquoise carpet welcome ceremony.

Mae Muller, 25, will compete for the UK with her track I Wrote A Song.

The Eurovision semi-finals will be broadcast on BBC One on Tuesday and Thursday, with the grand final taking place on Saturday from 8pm.

The countries taking part in semi-final 1

There are 15 countries taking part in the first semi-final on Tuesday night. Here is the running order, the act's name and their song.

1. Norway: Alessandra - Queen of Kings

2. Malta: The Busker - Dance (Our Own Party

3. Serbia: Luke Black - Samo Mi Se Spava

4. Latvia: Sudden Lights - Aijā

5. Portugal: Mimicat - Ai Coração

6. Ireland: Wild Youth - We Are One

7. Croatia: Let 3 – Mama ŠČ!

8. Switzerland: Remo Forrer - Watergun

9. Israel: Noa Kirel - Unicorn

10. Moldova: Pasha Parfeni - Soarele și Luna

11. Sweden: Loreen - Tattoo

12. Azerbaijan: TuralTuranX - Tell Me More

13. Czechia: Vesna - Tell Me More

14. Netherlands: Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper - Burning Daylight

15. Finland: Käärijä - Cha Cha Cha

The countries taking part in semi-final 2

1. Denmark: Reiley - Breaking My Heart

1. Armenia: Brunette - Future Lover
2. Romania: Theodor Andrei - D.G.T. (Off and On)
3. Estonia: Alika - Bridges
4. Belgium: Gustaph - Because of You
5. Cyprus: Andrew Lambrou - Break a Broken Heart
6. Iceland: Dilija - Power
7. Greece: Victor Vernicos - What They Say
8. Poland: Blanka - Solo
9. Slovenia: Joker Out - Carpe Diem
10. Georgia: Iru - Echo
11. San Marino: Piqued Jacks - Like An Animal
12. Austria: Teya & Salena - Who The Hell Is Edgar?
13. Albania: Alba & Familja Kelmendi
14. Lithuania: Monika Linkyte - Stay
15. Australia: Voyager - Promise

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