Today, the EBU has revealed some big changes for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden.
Big 5 to perform in semi-finals
For the first time, the big 5 countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom) and the host country (Sweden) will perform live in the semi-finals. In previous years, a short clip from rehearsals for each country would be shown in the semi-finals. These performances will be slotted in between the competing artists. In January’s semi-final allocation draw, it was revealed that Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom will feature in semi-final one. Meanwhile, France, Italy and Spain will feature in semi-final two.
Extension to voting window
There will be two changes to the voting window. Firstly, voting will open at the beginning of the grand final rather than after the final performance. Secondly, fans in non-participating countries (the Rest Of The World) will have nearly 24 hours to vote before each live show. This is to accommodate viewers from all over the world and in different time zones. Voting will open for the rest of the world immediately after the second dress rehearsal finishes until the start of each live show.
Additional News
The EBU teases “another big change” for Malmö. However, as of the time of writing, it is unclear what it will be or when its announcement will take place. However, the EBU confirmed that the semi-finals will remain televote only and the roughly 50%-50% split shall remain. The presentation of the results will also remain the same.
About Eurovision 2024
The Nordic country will be hosting the 68th edition of the competition following Loreen’s historic win at Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool. One month after the 2023 contest taking place SVT revealed the first names of the Core Team that will be working on the competition, with the team completed in September.
In July 2023, after a shortlist of four cities, it was announced that Malmö will host Eurovision 2024. The city will spend up to €2.5 million for the contest, as well as having 600 volunteers working for the show.
As for the upcoming contest, there will be 37 countries participating. Luxembourg will be returning, whilst Romania withdraws. ‘United By Music’ will be the permanent slogan for the contest. The upcoming contest will have ‘The Eurovision Lights’ as the theme art, with the stage, which is undertaken by Florian Wieder and Fredrik Stormby who are behind the concept, revealed in December.
What do you think about these changes for Eurovision 2024? As always, let us know what you think by commenting down below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Threads and Bluesky as we prepare for Eurovision 2024!
News Source: Eurovision.tv
Photo Credit: EBU
Rory Gannon
[…] today it was revealed that the host and ‘big five’ entries will also perform at the Semi-Finals. This is a change from the usual format where they only performed at the Grand Final. Because of […]
[…] in semi-final two. Additionally, the Big 5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK) and host (Sweden) will perform in the semi-finals for the first time. The show’s producers then determined the final running order, with […]
[…] month, the EBU revealed two big changes for Eurovision 2024. First, the Big 5 and host Sweden will perform in the […]