The Eurovision Song Contest is well and truly underway at the Malmö Arena in Sweden, as protests continue to mount against Israel’s participation in the competition amid its war on Gaza.
The 2024 grand final is taking place on Saturday (11 May), following the first round of semi-finals that saw Ireland’s contestant Bambie Thug sailing through to the final along with Croatia’s Baby Lasagna and Ukraine’s Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil.
In the second round, contestants from countries such as the Netherlands, Israel, Latvia, Austria and Greece were also voted through.
Among the finalists are the UK’s entrant, Olly Alexander, 33, the lead singer for now-disbanded pop group Years & Years, with his single “Dizzy”.
Eurovision is widely known for its fiendishly complex voting system, with the European Broadcasting Union making some tweaks for the 2024 competition.
How does Eurovision voting work?
Viewers from all participating countries will be invited to vote for their favourite songs as the grand final gets underway.
Fans can vote over the phone, by text or via the Eurovision app. Each person can vote up to 20 times, but voters will be unable to select their own country’s entry.
The public votes make up 50 per cent of the total vote, with the other half determined by a professional jury in each participating country.
The experts’ scores are based on the Friday night jury final performances, which are not usually televised.
After viewers have cast their votes, a national spokesperson from the participating countries will be called in to present the points of their professional jury. The highest number of points any country can give is “douze points” (or 12 points).
After the presentation of the scores from the juries, the public points from all participating countries will be combined, providing one final score for each song.
What has changed for 2024?
As of 2024, viewers watching around the world can now vote for their favourite songs for 24 hours before each Semi-Final and the Grand Final.
The change was initially introduced last year, with people from countries outside the contest being allowed to vote online and on the app for both the semi-finals and final.
Their votes will be converted into points that have the same weight as one participating country.
Other changes this year see voting at the Grand Final open just before the first song begins, and will remain open throughout the performances and for up to 40 minutes after the final song is performed.
Who are the favourites to win?
There are some clear frontrunners in this year’s contest but, as any self-respecting Eurovision fan will know, that can all change in a heartbeat. The current favourites include Croatia’s Baby Lasagna, Ireland’s Bambie Thug, Italy’s Angelina Mango, the Netherlands’ Joost and Switzerland’s Nemo.
