AND tomorrow, Tuesday, the first semifinal of the 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Liverpool, United Kingdom. The second semifinal is scheduled for Thursday and the final for Saturday. From the 37 entrants to the announced major changes to the voting system, here’s everything you need to know to understand Europe’s biggest music competition.
In October 2022, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) confirmed that 37 countries would participate in this year’s edition, three less than the 40 that participated that year. Outside were North Macedonia, Montenegro and Bulgaria, which justified their withdrawals with funding problems.
Despite three withdrawals, 37 countries will participate in Europe’s biggest music competition. They are: Albania, Germany, Australia, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Slovenia, Spain, Finland, France, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta , Moldova, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine.
Australia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest?
According to the rules of the festival, all active members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) – that is, who are part of the European Broadcasting Area and who belong to the Council of Europe – can participate. It was for this reason that Israel was able to enter the contest in 1973, Armenia in 2006 and Azerbaijan in 2008.
Another requirement is to have broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest in the previous year and pay EBU fees. This is where Australia fits in. Despite not belonging to either the EBU or the European Broadcasting Area, the largest country in Oceania began broadcasting the event through the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) station in 1983 and since then has gathered a large number of audiences – even if, with the time difference, the competition does not start until 4 o’clock in the morning.
The country participated for the first time in 2014 and, given the good results, was invited again in the following years. In 2019, it was announced a five-year agreement (until 2023), which called for Australia to become a permanent member.
How many countries compete in the final?
In the end there is only place for 26 countries: 10 qualified in each semi-final and six that automatically pass to the final (the so-called ‘Big Five’ – Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the United Kingdom – and the country that won the last edition, in this case Ukraine).
Portugal, which chose the singer Mimicat and her ‘Ai Coração’ as representative, is part of the batch of 15 countries that will try to win a place in the final in the first semifinal, already tomorrow.
In addition to Portugal, Norway, Malta, Serbia, Latvia, Ireland, Croatia, Switzerland, Israel, Moldova, Sweden, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Netherlands and Finland are competing for a place in the final on the same day. The Portuguese will be the 5th to take the stage, between Latvia and Ireland.
This will be the most “closed” semifinal in this year’s contest, as it concentrates four of the ten favorites to win, according to the Eurovisionworld website, which aggregates data from the main bookmakers. The rest of the ‘Top 10’ is made up of Austria, which plays in the second semi-final, and five of the six countries that qualified directly for the final.
On Thursday, May 11, Denmark, Armenia, Romania, Estonia, Belgium, Cyprus, Iceland, Greece, Poland, Slovenia, Georgia, San Marino, Austria, Albania, Lithuania and Australia take the stage.
Here are the countries in the competition in order of performance:
How to vote? Can I vote in my own country?
In November, the EBU announced the biggest change in the voting system since 2009. public vote will count 100% for the passage to the final, which until then had accounted for 50%, to which were added another 50% from a national jury. O 50/50 method will continue in the final and, as before, it is still not possible to vote in your own country.
In addition to this change, it was also announced that other countries in the world will be able to vote for their favorite performance (yes, even those who do not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest or are part of the European Broadcasting Union). These countries will be able to vote in the Eurovision app or on the website www.esc.vote.
already the countries participating in the event can vote through the app, by SMS and by phone call, from the number that will be made available during the broadcast of the show. However, they can only vote for the semi-final they are participating in. For example, Portugal will vote in the first semifinal, as will three of the six that go directly to the final – France, Germany and Italy. In the second semifinal, the contesting countries and Ukraine, United Kingdom and Spain vote.
Why is Eurovision held in Liverpool?
The European Broadcasting Union and the BBC announced in July 2022 that the UK will host the festival next year, despite Ukraine having won the previous edition. At stake were uncertainties about whether the country would be able to host the event because of the Russian invasion.
In October, the city of Liverpool was chosen to host the festival. At the time, the EBU justified the decision with the city’s capacity to “accommodate thousands of visiting delegations, crew, fans and journalists”, in addition to the “infrastructure and cultural offer of the host city, which reflects Ukraine’s victory in 2022”.
Remember that the Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra won the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, on May 14, in Turin, Italy. The theme ‘Stefania’ collected a total of 631 votes, combined between jury and public votes.
Read Also: Eurovision week is coming, 37 countries at stake. Portugal plays on Tuesday
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